my blackcapped conure 3 months old hand fed keeps running away from me can I use a towel around him to pet him so he gets use to me.? what should I

[stephanieh]

my baby blackcapped is friendly comes close to e but runs away when I try to hold him. (3 Months old) what should I do??

 

[Zara]

@Xoetix @Leih

 

[Xoetix]

I would definitely not use a towel - that can be terrifying for birds, and might end up making the situation worse.

How long have you had him?

 

[PeterNPipe]

This same piece of advice was given to me by a vet when we got our Peter home. He is a green cheek conure and was about 3.5 months then. Honestly, we tried it, but it set us back instead of pulling us forward. Our little buddy just really needed time. He now is my cuddlebug, but he did take a while to get there.
Steps that worked for Peter and I were as follows. Got him to take treats through the bars (took a while!) Got him to take treats in the cage from pinched fingers then from the palm of the hand. Got him to come out of the cage for treats with big brother. Got him to step up for treats. This process took over a month of patience and effort. Our other l guy was stepping up day 1 (with nips...) Although the shy ones take a lot of time and patience we have found He is also a lot less nippy than the one who was bold from the start.
Not sure what your feeding your new Lil friend, but we have found that if they have a healthy diet then treats have a higher value and they are willing to do more to get them. Peter LOVED sunflower seeds initially so figuring out your birds treat of choice can be a big help. Not sure what Black capped conures prefer, our Lil green cheeks are partial to safflower and hemp seeds.
Don't sweat the bonding process too much, they come around in time.

 

[Sgittyup]

my baby blackcapped is friendly comes close to e but runs away when I try to hold him. (3 Months old) what should I do??

Don’t force it. The more you push to force the bird to accept being held against his will the less accepting he will be to getting held in the future.
Cuddling gets associated with trama
My baby parakeets didn’t allow any holding at first. I have their open cage close to where I sit on the couch and let them come to me. Only handling once a day when moving from big open cage to smaller open training cage. They still run from hands in the cage but will step up outside of the cage and hang out on my finger. Only one likes to be petted the other two just hang out no touching allowed lol. It’s been 3 months.
Put a treat in your hand and let your bird eat without touching the bird, a few times before trying to pet it… if he runs or nips back off(only allowing that type of treat to be eaten from your hand) keep repeating the process when the bird comes close till it stops running from your touch.
Give it time