Baby Ringneck scared of me

[Beakz]

I have a baby Ringneck, about 4months old. I let him fly around the house and he’s always been very sweet and has never been afraid of me. Yesterday he got on top of a cabinet and wouldn’t get down I made the terrible mistake of making him come down, he squawked and tried to bite me (something he’s never done) and ever since he hates me.
yesterday I tried doing a training session with him in my room and he spent 10 minutes flying away from me. Eventually I somehow got him to land on the T-stand but every time I get close to him he tries to fall away. I’m near tears, Blue has never been like this, and I know it’s my fault because I shouldnt have forced him to come down Will I ever regain his trust? I’m stressing out over here, he won’t let me anywhere near him, and he’s flighted so it’s difficult getting in his cage, I can coerce him with some formula but that doesn’t change the fact that he hates me. :/

 

[expressmailtome]

Bump.

 

[Beakz]

Any help on how to regain his trust would be awesome. Thank you guys

 

[cassiesdad]

Mistakes were made... now we'll work to repair the situation.

Begin at the beginning...slow, calm movements around Blue...calm attitude always...avoid a lot of direct eye contact...talk to him...read books to him. You have to prove to him that you're not going to harm him in any way...you're not going to push him to do any thing he doesn't want to do.

IRNs are intelligent souls...and, for the most part, are very forgiving us crazy humans...IF you prove to them that you're not a threat to to push yourself on them...that's the independent part of the species coming out. He's just a youngin'...and he's sorting out a lot of things because of that fact.


And no...he does not hate you...what you're seeing is the reaction to a situation that evidently scared him.

One final thing...as I said, Blue does not hate you...you have to clear that thought process out of your brain...begone with it...if you let it hang around, Blue will feel it within you, which will make the situation very difficult to improve...so...upward and onward!

 

[Beakz]

Thanks so much for the advice!
I should mention I’ve let blue roam around the house because he goes absolutely crazy when I put in the cage, but it’s so hard for me to get him back in! Should I just keep him in the cage for now until he learns to trust me? I usually open the cage door for him and he immediately flies out, I hate putting him in the cage but chasing him around isn’t any better.

 

[Fuzzy]

As Bob said, he doesn't hate you. This is a temporary set back. He paired you with an aversive and you may well have to go back to the beginning with training - which is fine (it happened to me too with my used-to-be untame Amazon, Ollie). Keep pairing yourself with good experiences for him and you will earn his trust again. Because he hasn't got a long history of positive reinforcement with you (4 months or less), it will take longer for him to bounce back than a bird with a much longer history - but he will bounce back.

Sounds like formula is reinforcing for him, so yes, reinforce his going back into his cage with formula. Plus, if you feed him formula, you are also pairing yourself with the wonderful experience, so your presence will become something he begins to look forward to again!

With the training, take some steps back - you don't want the consequence of him "falling away" from you each time you go near him. Begin again, right from the beginning. Aim to keep his body language relaxed at all times.

As for being caged, why not put some of his food in there so that he learns to go back to eat. That way being inside the cage becomes paired with a good experience.

 

[cassiesdad]

As for being caged, why not put some of his food in there so that he learns to go back to eat. That way being inside the cage becomes paired with a good experience.

...a very good technique to try...

 

[cassiesdad]

Should I just keep him in the cage for now until he learns to trust me?

...that will work against you...Blue realizes that you open the cage every day (which is good!) if you stop doing it, then he's going to think that something is wrong...

 

[Beakz]

Gotcha. Super helpful thank you!