[Advice] Trying a New Training Method

[Hoshi]

Long story short, I have had my Indian Ringneck for 6 months now (got him at 3 months) and he still doesn't trust me and is very afraid of me. He was living in the corner of the cage and bashing into the walls of his cage the moment he saw me for months. I tried my best to go on the normal regimen of having a bird but he wasn't responding.

A couple months ago he started to miraculously step up occasionally. He still flies away when I get close to him and doesn't allow me to touch him, he is not aggressive though. All of the behavioral actions he is showing are completely fear and anxiety.

He was shipped from Texas from a breeder that did not take care of him, my vet said he was not fed correctly, he has a crooked beak. Also his feathers look like they were 'cut by a 6 year old'. He is unable to fly due to the breeder's butchering of his wings. On top of that he barbers a lot, when he falls off of things when trying to fly away from me he crashes and bends his feathers-- which he then chews off. He now has no tail due to this. I'm guessing all of his behavior issues are stemmed from this. As he acted this way since I opened his crate.

Now, back to my new training idea.

I feed him one tablespoon of veggie chop, two almonds, and one nutriberry two times a day. He loves nutriberries. However he won't take food from my hand and doesn't trust me at all. So starting tonight I'm only feeding him veggies normally in his dish, and the nutriberry will be on my hand.

As I just started this minutes ago, I stood by his cage (he is out of his cage all day and plays on top) with my arm extended, looking away, with a nutriberry on my palm for 10 minutes. He took no interest in my hand and shuttered to the other side of the cage. After that 10 minutes I proceeded to get his food bowls off of the top, he finally doesn't fly/fall off the cage when I reach for his bowls (so this, at least, is progress). I put the food bowls back as normal (minus the nutriberry) and then I go sit down to eat dinner myself. About 5 minutes later he starts screaming, guess someone misses their nutriberry. I'm about to try again to offer the nutriberry on my palm, I will update this post as I go.

Do you think this is a good idea with trying to train him? I am not expecting results overnight and I know this method may not even work. He has never been food motivated. I'm just running out of ideas and I know he loves nutriberries. He still gets all of his veggies so I'm not worried about him being underfed. It has been 6 months of trying many different things to help build a bond with him, but as you probably have guessed, none have worked. I'm not sure what his issue is? Even my vet is confused. I know it may take years for him to warm up to me but I'm willing to try anything.

 

[Lady Jane]

Sounds like a case to start target training with your bird. There are videos on YouTube.

 

[Hoshi]

Sounds like a case to start target training with your bird. There are videos on YouTube.

Just ordered a clicker.

 

[Begone]

Do you think this is a good idea with trying to train him?

Yes I think so. Sometimes you must convince them that they must at least try to trust you.

Best way is if you never demand anything and don't touch them. Let them come to you, but don't touch them until they trust you. It will go much faster to train them with that "method".

And as he is both afraid of you and anxious I would not train him. So much can go wrong so he only gets more scared.
Just hang out with him and spoil him as much as you can.

 

[Hoshi]

Update 1/20/19: alright so it's been just over a month since I have started trying to get Hoshi to take a nutriberry from my hand. After just over a week, he did start cautiously going over to my hand, snatching the nutriberry, and running back at full speed. This hasn't changed. He still hasn't seemed to get any more comfortable with my hands, but it has only been a month. I am not going to give him treats or nutriberries any other way than him having to take it from my hand. This is a slow process but there have been some positives along the way!

 

[Begone]

I am not going to give him treats or nutriberries any other way than him having to take it from my hand. This is a slow process but there have been some positives along the way!

I think it's great that you have all this patient with him.
I will suggest that you don't focus so much on that he must take them from your hand. He can have bad experience with hands.
Place the nutriberry on your leg, knee, arm and the days when he seems more scared just place them near you. It's also important that he gets his nutriberries that he likes so much so he can see you as the nice one that give him his favorite treats. Even if he don't take them from your arm or leg he still build confidence as he has to go near you.
And I also always suggest that never looked at them, we have predators eyes so with all new contact with animals it is better to look down then to look at them or in their eyes.

After just over a week, he did start cautiously going over to my hand, snatching the nutriberry, and running back at full speed.

This made me laugh because I can see that in front of me.

 

[Megamacawlove]

Aw it seems like you really care about Hoshi! It seems like you've made a lot of progress if he's willing to approach your hand! Before it sounds like he was actively avoiding you and now he is seeking you out, that's big progress. I'd keep offering him high value treats multiple times per day but not just from your hands. Sometimes simply seeing you drop this awesome treat in his food dish is a rewarding interaction that shows you're a good thing to move toward. I'm assuming his crooked beak is a "scissor beak?" like my B has? There are two common ways that a bird can get this, trauma to their head/beak or improper feeding during weaning. Sounds like the vet thinks Hoshi had to deal with the second, but in my opinion that still sounds somewhat traumatic to a baby bird. It makes sense he's a little nervous around human hands. I think he might also enjoy you sitting by his cage at a comfortable distance. Go the amount away from the cage where he doesn't seem anxious sit in a chair, and sing softly or read a book, or even. Like @Eloy said try to avoid eye contact or if you do maybe just peek up with one eye and take long slow blinks.