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CRAZY RINGNECK

attar.toor

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attar toor
Hey guys I’m new to this website and I really need help. So I have an African Grey and one indian ringneck. My ringneck is crazy, he was handfed and does not like hands whatsoever. He has been like that since he was born. Can someone please tell me what to do. I really want him to trust me and love me. I want him to step up on my fingers without biting me, I want him to trust me and him to know I’m not a bad person. Someone please tell me what to do. Also I have a play stand which I want my birds to both play on can someone also tell me how I can get both of them to like each other. Please lemme know how to tame my crazy bird.
 

tka

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This says a lot about what you want, but not much about your bird. In order to help you, we need to know the following:

- How old is your ringneck?
- How long have you had him?
- Where is he caged? How big is the cage? What sort of toys and other enrichment does he have?
- What is his diet?
- How are you interacting with him? Are you trying to touch him when he doesn't want to be touched, or trying to force him to step up? What are you doing to earn his trust?

You need to have a lot of patience and sensitivity to tame a parrot. If you try to force him to do anything, you will damage any trust he has in you. You have to take things at his speed, watching him carefully for any signs of discomfort. He's not crazy - he's probably scared and unhappy, and biting is the only way he has to tell you that he's unhappy. If you want him to trust you, you have to work hard to gain that trust.

It may never be safe to let your Grey and ringneck out together - the difference in beak size and body size means that your grey could seriously hurt your ringneck.

Other people will be able to help you more, but for now, I suggest that you back off completely apart from to offer treats, and don't try to force him to do anything.
 

attar.toor

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attar toor
This says a lot about what you want, but not much about your bird. In order to help you, we need to know the following:

- How old is your ringneck?
- How long have you had him?
- Where is he caged? How big is the cage? What sort of toys and other enrichment does he have?
- What is his diet?
- How are you interacting with him? Are you trying to touch him when he doesn't want to be touched, or trying to force him to step up? What are you doing to earn his trust?

You need to have a lot of patience and sensitivity to tame a parrot. If you try to force him to do anything, you will damage any trust he has in you. You have to take things at his speed, watching him carefully for any signs of discomfort. He's not crazy - he's probably scared and unhappy, and biting is the only way he has to tell you that he's unhappy. If you want him to trust you, you have to work hard to gain that trust.

It may never be safe to let your Grey and ringneck out together - the difference in beak size and body size means that your grey could seriously hurt your ringneck.

Other people will be able to help you more, but for now, I suggest that you back off completely apart from to offer treats, and don't try to force him to do anything.
He’s less than a year old
And I had him for a month from December to January and I gave him away and now I’m getting him again so that’s why I’m preparing
He’s now getting caged in the living room with everyone, the cage is pretty big
He has a ladder and some chewing toys
His diet is mostly pellets cause he doesn’t like fruits and veggies
I used to sit by him and talk to him and try feeding him treats from my hands he would take them sometimes but sometimes he would miss the treat and purposely bite me and he would not let go and someone said to get him wrap him around a towel and then pet him but that made our trust worse
I just want him to trust me just once.
 

Yoshi&Raphi

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He’s less than a year old
And I had him for a month from December to January and I gave him away and now I’m getting him again so that’s why I’m preparing
He’s now getting caged in the living room with everyone, the cage is pretty big
He has a ladder and some chewing toys
His diet is mostly pellets cause he doesn’t like fruits and veggies
I used to sit by him and talk to him and try feeding him treats from my hands he would take them sometimes but sometimes he would miss the treat and purposely bite me and he would not let go and someone said to get him wrap him around a towel and then pet him but that made our trust worse
I just want him to trust me just once.
Wrapping him with the towel would have destroyed a large amount of trust. You need to walk with him daily, talking to him, offering him treats etc. Can you upload a picture of his cage?
 

attar.toor

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Wrapping him with the towel would have destroyed a large amount of trust. You need to walk with him daily, talking to him, offering him treats etc. Can you upload a picture of his cage?
I don’t have a picture of the cage but it’s pretty big like he has enough room to fly from one side to another. Can you please tell me tricks and stuff to do to him for him to trust me and him to sit on my hand and go places with me like basically trust me and be like other birds
 

tka

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There are no tricks or shortcuts. Instead, you have to do a lot of hard work to regain your bird's trust. At the moment, you are someone unfamiliar and scary. Why should he trust you? He doesn't understand what you say - he can only go by your actions. Doing things like wrapping him with a towel and forcibly petting him would have destroyed a lot of trust. He's biting because he'd like you to go away, and this is the only way he can get you to do that.

Read this by @JLcribber Connecting and Communicating with your Highly Intelligent Parrot.

You will need to learn how to read his behaviour. Parrots don't immediately bite. They do a lot of things to tell us that they're gradually getting more upset - eye-pinning, changing posture or raising feathers. You need to learn his signs so you can back off before he bites you.

Slow things right down. Try sitting next to his cage and talking gently to him without looking at him - direct eye contact makes a parrot think you're a predator about to eat him or her. Don't expect your parrot to come to you. You're just trying to get him to relax around you and to stop seeing you as something frightening.

Try dropping a treat into his food bowl every time you walk by his cage. Again, don't try to make contact. You're just trying to get him to associate you with good things.

I'll tag in @Monica and @Fuzzy for their perspective.
 

attar.toor

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attar toor
There are no tricks or shortcuts. Instead, you have to do a lot of hard work to regain your bird's trust. At the moment, you are someone unfamiliar and scary. Why should he trust you? He doesn't understand what you say - he can only go by your actions. Doing things like wrapping him with a towel and forcibly petting him would have destroyed a lot of trust. He's biting because he'd like you to go away, and this is the only way he can get you to do that.

Read this by @JLcribber Connecting and Communicating with your Highly Intelligent Parrot.

You will need to learn how to read his behaviour. Parrots don't immediately bite. They do a lot of things to tell us that they're gradually getting more upset - eye-pinning, changing posture or raising feathers. You need to learn his signs so you can back off before he bites you.

Slow things right down. Try sitting next to his cage and talking gently to him without looking at him - direct eye contact makes a parrot think you're a predator about to eat him or her. Don't expect your parrot to come to you. You're just trying to get him to relax around you and to stop seeing you as something frightening.

Try dropping a treat into his food bowl every time you walk by his cage. Again, don't try to make contact. You're just trying to get him to associate you with good things.

I'll tag in @Monica and @Fuzzy for their perspective.
Ok I’ll read that and can you tell me other things I should do to get him to trust me and step up on my finger and I won’t do the towel again and I’ll do the talking and sitting by his cage and offering him a treat
 

TikkiTembo

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I've got one bird who has never stepped up to me, and he's been around for almost a year. He simply doesn't want to yet, he's not ready. Every day, I give him treats and he comes towards me willingly, but I've never been able to scratch his head or have him on my shoulder. I really want those things for us, but we're taking tiny steps to get there. Recently, I've been placing my hand on his playstand and giving him treats with the other. I hope that one day, he'll follow a treat closer to my hand and maybe step up, but I'm sure we're still months away. And that's OK... Birds are not pets that aim to please us like dogs, and don't need physical affection like dogs or cats. They need time, patience, love, and consistency.
If you are looking for a quick way to get things moving, you're about to be disappointed.
I'll tag @Khizz , she's got two birds that she's working with.
 

fashionfobie

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Don't stare, try softly reading or speaking to him without looking at him. Always be calm, always ..birds are highly empathetic and if you are stressed or frustrated he will get very distressed also. Read all the positive things you can. Remember this is an adult animal. He will do what he wants. The only way you can develop a friendship is through slow patience and warmth. You CANNOT rush this. There is no quick fix. You need to reestablish yourself as a positive force with this little guy. He won't trust you until you can prove you are trustworthy. No reaching at him. No grabbing at him. Just take it slow.

Try to think of it as a relationship with a human. If you grabbed a stranger and tried to wrap them in a towel, they would find your actions very confusing. Birds have an added complication because you can't explain your intention later. The only way they communicate to you in these early days in through your actions.

There is also the added complication that parrots are prey animals. This makes them natural wary of things that could potential kill them and eat them. This is why staring at a parrot is extra upsetting.. you are looking at a prey animal with binocular vison.


This video may help you understand how your bird sees the world. Though it is finch in this video the information does apply to parrots.

 

Khizz

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I've also had mine for a year, and they don't step up. However, one will accept treats and let me get really close and just chat with her.

I think learning about their body language is key. With tiels it's all about crest and wings. Plus I can usually just tell if she's going for a bite instead. I'm sure some ringneck owners can point you to some links about body language. Fortunately for me, when Mabel bites me I hardly notice :laughin:

As far as tips go, I don't have some fast and loose ones. It's time and patience I'm afraid!

However, what does help is routine. Almost every morning I sit and have my coffee and let them out. As I come to change their food bowls, I feed Mabel a bit of millet. Now she automatically comes to meet me in a specific spot.

Also lowering my expectations helped too! You see so many videos of cuddly birds, shoulder birds, little clowns that love their humans. The truth is not all birds are like this. I eventually realised I just like their company regardless of how they see me. As long as they don't fear me and take interest in what I do, I'm content. Since I changed my mindset, I'm more relaxed in what I expect from them and they can feel less pressure.

Sorry I can't offer specific tips, but there aren't really that many when it comes to taming birds. What works for others doesn't always work for yours.
 

PufF

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Also do you know what kind of treat he likes?An occasional seed here and there as a reward is fine.Also you could try to get him to acknowledge your presense better by offering the reward whenever he chills in your presense (eg. you being next to him) and signs of calmness include fluffing of feathers,closing their eyes,lifting a foot,or even not darting around could be considered.But if someone he was comfortable enough to sleep or close his eyes,wait until he opens his eyes again to offer the seed or just don't offer at all (I don't know which one works better) as he might want to enjoy some sereinity.
You might want to try target training too which is basically getting him to touch a specific target (do not change that target) and getting a reward.Obviously if he is afraid of the target (which is usually a stick or some sort) that is another issue that should be addressed.Not muchg more that I can chip in for now since the other members gave decent advice.Good luck too.
And again this is all my opinion so take them with a pinch of salt if he doesn't like what I offered.(my suggestion).You should know your bird best. :)
 
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attar.toor

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attar toor
I've got one bird who has never stepped up to me, and he's been around for almost a year. He simply doesn't want to yet, he's not ready. Every day, I give him treats and he comes towards me willingly, but I've never been able to scratch his head or have him on my shoulder. I really want those things for us, but we're taking tiny steps to get there. Recently, I've been placing my hand on his playstand and giving him treats with the other. I hope that one day, he'll follow a treat closer to my hand and maybe step up, but I'm sure we're still months away. And that's OK... Birds are not pets that aim to please us like dogs, and don't need physical affection like dogs or cats. They need time, patience, love, and consistency.
If you are looking for a quick way to get things moving, you're about to be disappointed.
I'll tag @Khizz , she's got two birds that she's working with.
Ahhh I really just hope he steps up because I love him so much I want him to trust me
 

attar.toor

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attar toor
Don't stare, try softly reading or speaking to him without looking at him. Always be calm, always ..birds are highly empathetic and if you are stressed or frustrated he will get very distressed also. Read all the positive things you can. Remember this is an adult animal. He will do what he wants. The only way you can develop a friendship is through slow patience and warmth. You CANNOT rush this. There is no quick fix. You need to reestablish yourself as a positive force with this little guy. He won't trust you until you can prove you are trustworthy. No reaching at him. No grabbing at him. Just take it slow.

Try to think of it as a relationship with a human. If you grabbed a stranger and tried to wrap them in a towel, they would find your actions very confusing. Birds have an added complication because you can't explain your intention later. The only way they communicate to you in these early days in through your actions.

There is also the added complication that parrots are prey animals. This makes them natural wary of things that could potential kill them and eat them. This is why staring at a parrot is extra upsetting.. you are looking at a prey animal with binocular vison.


This video may help you understand how your bird sees the world. Though it is finch in this video the information does apply to parrots.

This helps me so much I will do everything you said to do I’ll watch that video too I’m taking notes haha is there anything else I should do to try to get him to step up? I get the part of getting him to think of me as not a harm like talking to him and giving him treats but anything for him to step up on my finger?
 

attar.toor

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attar toor
I've also had mine for a year, and they don't step up. However, one will accept treats and let me get really close and just chat with her.

I think learning about their body language is key. With tiels it's all about crest and wings. Plus I can usually just tell if she's going for a bite instead. I'm sure some ringneck owners can point you to some links about body language. Fortunately for me, when Mabel bites me I hardly notice :laughin:

As far as tips go, I don't have some fast and loose ones. It's time and patience I'm afraid!

However, what does help is routine. Almost every morning I sit and have my coffee and let them out. As I come to change their food bowls, I feed Mabel a bit of millet. Now she automatically comes to meet me in a specific spot.

Also lowering my expectations helped too! You see so many videos of cuddly birds, shoulder birds, little clowns that love their humans. The truth is not all birds are like this. I eventually realised I just like their company regardless of how they see me. As long as they don't fear me and take interest in what I do, I'm content. Since I changed my mindset, I'm more relaxed in what I expect from them and they can feel less pressure.

Sorry I can't offer specific tips, but there aren't really that many when it comes to taming birds. What works for others doesn't always work for yours.
Ok thank you :)
 

attar.toor

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attar toor
Also do you know what kind of treat he likes?An occasional seed here and there as a reward is fine.Also you could try to get him to acknowledge your presense better by offering the reward whenever he chills in your presense (eg. you being next to him) and signs of calmness include fluffing of feathers,closing their eyes,lifting a foot,or even not darting around could be considered.But if someone he was comfortable enough to sleep or close his eyes,wait until he opens his eyes again to offer the seed or just don't offer at all (I don't know which one works better) as he might want to enjoy some sereinity.
You might want to try target training too which is basically getting him to touch a specific target (do not change that target) and getting a reward.Obviously if he is afraid of the target (which is usually a stick or some sort) that is another issue that should be addressed.Not muchg more that I can chip in for now since the other members gave decent advice.Good luck too.
And again this is all my opinion so take them with a pinch of salt if he doesn't like what I offered.(my suggestion).You should know your bird best. :)
I’m honestly not sure what he likes he loves millet and oat sprays it’s so cute haha but I don’t think I’m going to target train him he’s way too scared
 

PufF

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Hmm... then every time you pass by him give him some of those. Also try to reduce the amount fed in his cage,gradually,if not it might have the opposite effect.
 

fashionfobie

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I’m honestly not sure what he likes he loves millet and oat sprays it’s so cute haha but I don’t think I’m going to target train him he’s way too scared

Even if he is scared you can start offering him these options in a dish. You don't have to be present whilst he eats them. It is also HIGHLY important that you provide an IRN with ample veg and some fruit. Look over some of the diet info here. You MUST provide fresh rich green and orange veg at the very least.

Feathered Food Court
 

Monica

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If your ringneck isn't comfortable with you sitting near the cage, then don't. If he is, then great! You can offer treats into a dish any time you walk by the cage or if you are simply near the cage and the ringneck is comfortable with this.

ANYTHING can be used as a target. This could be a toy, a stick, a chopstick, a knitting needle, etc. If your bird is afraid of a target, you can desensitize him to it by standing 10' or so away from the cage with target in one hand, treats in the other. Hide both behind your back and slowly show the target. No reaction? Good! Slowly walk towards cage and drop treat into dish. Rinse and repeat - slowly moving closer and closer to the cage with the target and moving slowly with it. If your bird freaks out at any time, move further away!

Once next to the cage, you can then work on rewarding your bird for looking at the target and moving towards the target.


If your grey is target trained at all, you could do some of these same practices in front of your ringneck so your ringneck kind of learns about the "game" without actually getting involved in it until you work with him more. It might help.



Due to the size differences between them however, I would not recommend having them together.
 

attar.toor

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attar toor
If your ringneck isn't comfortable with you sitting near the cage, then don't. If he is, then great! You can offer treats into a dish any time you walk by the cage or if you are simply near the cage and the ringneck is comfortable with this.

ANYTHING can be used as a target. This could be a toy, a stick, a chopstick, a knitting needle, etc. If your bird is afraid of a target, you can desensitize him to it by standing 10' or so away from the cage with target in one hand, treats in the other. Hide both behind your back and slowly show the target. No reaction? Good! Slowly walk towards cage and drop treat into dish. Rinse and repeat - slowly moving closer and closer to the cage with the target and moving slowly with it. If your bird freaks out at any time, move further away!

Once next to the cage, you can then work on rewarding your bird for looking at the target and moving towards the target.


If your grey is target trained at all, you could do some of these same practices in front of your ringneck so your ringneck kind of learns about the "game" without actually getting involved in it until you work with him more. It might help.



Due to the size differences between them however, I would not recommend having them together.
Ok so my ringneck and grey do not like each other like my grey is terrified of my ringneck but he is not target trained he’s just my little baby he’s my little cuddle bug and everytime I’m cuddling or like playing with my grey infront of my ringneck he gets jealous I think and I think he kinda wants the same but he’s super terrified and I’m just so confused on what to do because everyone is telling me a different story. He lets me sit by his cage. He can eat some stuff from my hand but only if I’m a little far away and the food is closer too him. I can talk to him and he won’t get scared. It’s only hands he’s terrified of like he won’t lemme get him to step up on my finger he won’t try trusting me.
 

Monica

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If your ringneck isn't comfortable with you being near the cage then it would be better to drop a treat and go. Once he gets more comfortable, then work on target training through the cage bars.

Target training can be used to teach him to step up confidently.
 
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