Hello! Looking for some advice. Of course I’m already researching my self but wanted to post here. I recently purchased a baby ringneck that was “hand fed” I say that lightly because I believe he was hand fed but I think that’s the extent because he’s extremely hand scared and has no idea how to step up. Getting him out of the cage is a circus - he flies all over and is very bitey. I’ve already taken some good bites. Any suggestions for me on some good training. I bought a stand for outside. And I’ve gotten him out. I get him out everyday. But like I said it’s a circus getting there. I have gotten him on my shoulder etc but he doesn’t stay long. Clearly uncomfortable with human interaction. Breeder claims he must be going thru bluffing stage. He’s 10.5 weeks old. Thx for any all advise.
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New baby scared of hands
- Thread starter breny
- Start date
Could be that he was hand raised but not properly handled and socialized so he’s still pretty fearful
Yeah, it's not uncommon to get a hand fed bird that doesn't enjoy human interaction. It could be from rough handling, improper socialization, or just infrequent handling. It's sometimes hard to find a breeder with tame hand fed babies.
Just take it slow and work on gaining their trust.
Just take it slow and work on gaining their trust.
AussieBird
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The bluffing stage does not ever happen. @Monica
This is a common myth, but ringnecks *DO NOT* bluff. What is considered "bluffing" is a *very nice* and *very clear* way of them saying "No," "I'm not comfortable with this," "I'm scared," "I don't understand what you want" or something similar. This is them needing their space and needing to be trained to understand. I do not recommend ignoring this behavior.
This is where training can help you *so* much in getting the desired behaviors that you *DO* want! So don't ignore a bird telling you that they will bite if push comes to shove, and try not to get bit!
Do Animals Bluff?
Have you ever thought about the word bluffing? Some synonyms are conning, tricking, faking. When people use the word bluffing in rega...goodbirdinc.blogspot.com
Pepebirdie
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he could have been tube fed. It counts as "hand feeding" but the parrots get less human interaction and it is a quicker way for breeders to feed baby birds if they have a lot of them. So that could be a reason your bird is afraid of hands.
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My first thought is... stop. Just stop what you are doing. By continuing, you could be teaching your bird to bite and become aggressive.
Birds are prey. Unlike dogs and cats, many of which may take to strangers rather quickly (especially so with *many* dogs), birds are not like that. Sure, some might be! But many birds are afraid of change. Change could equal danger. You just got a baby bird and took that bird away from the only home it's known up until this very existence. Of course the baby is going to be afraid! You haven't heard your bird's trust yet! And your bird may very well still be settling into his or her new home!
In short, you are expecting too much too soon!
I would also not recommending purchasing from that breeder again... anyone who says a bird is bluffing could very well be setting that bird (or rather, owner) up for failure.
This chick MAY have stepped up no problem for the breeder, but you aren't the breeder. You are a new and scary person. Even if you haven't done anything to harm your bird, the bird still doesn't know you.
My suggestions? Stop scaring and frightening your bird and stop taking your bird out of the cage! Give your bird some time to relax and settle in! It is *NOT* imperative your bird comes out every single day, nor is it imperative for your bird to come out immediately after bringing your bird home! It's also false that you can't train a bird while they are in their cage! Actually, that's a PERFECT area to start training! The area where the bird feels most comfortable in!
Interaction should be on his terms, not yours. The more positive experiences he has, the more likely he is to repeat those experiences. The more negative experiences, the more likely he is to act out, bite, lunge, etc. Nothing you've said indicates a bird that is uncomfortable with human interaction. Everything you've said describes a bird that is afraid. It may sound like the same behavior, but it's really not. I had a bird that loved human interaction but was afraid of physical interaction. More specifically, she *LOVED* hands-off interaction but was very jumpy and afraid of physical interaction when I first got her. After a couple of weeks of having her, she did get brave enough to climb onto my shoulder and over time her fear of physical interaction lessoned. It took time and it took patience, paying attention to her verbal and physical cues to know when she has had enough and needed time back in her cage to rest and recharge. Over time, the amount of cage time she needed lessened to the point that she sought me out instead of her cage.
You need to take a step back and look at what you can do to earn your bird's trust. What can you do to make experiences between him and you positive? A very simple method is to set up a treat cup at the front of the cage and any time you walk by, drop his favorite treat into that dish. Don't stop and ogle at him, no need to talk or even make eye contact. Just drop the treat and go! You may need to walk slowly, quietly announce your presence or something to that effect. Once your bird becomes more comfortable with this, then you can move on to training through the cage bars. You can teach him to station on a perch so you can easily change out the food and water dishes without him being bothered. You could teach him to target to any location within the cage! This, in turn, can then be used to teach him to go in and out of the cage with ease, then to step up and learning other behaviors. You do not need a training perch for any of these 'beginner' "tricks".
If you would like more in depth training information, I would recommend checking out the links in the following thread.
Birds are prey. Unlike dogs and cats, many of which may take to strangers rather quickly (especially so with *many* dogs), birds are not like that. Sure, some might be! But many birds are afraid of change. Change could equal danger. You just got a baby bird and took that bird away from the only home it's known up until this very existence. Of course the baby is going to be afraid! You haven't heard your bird's trust yet! And your bird may very well still be settling into his or her new home!
In short, you are expecting too much too soon!
I would also not recommending purchasing from that breeder again... anyone who says a bird is bluffing could very well be setting that bird (or rather, owner) up for failure.
This chick MAY have stepped up no problem for the breeder, but you aren't the breeder. You are a new and scary person. Even if you haven't done anything to harm your bird, the bird still doesn't know you.
My suggestions? Stop scaring and frightening your bird and stop taking your bird out of the cage! Give your bird some time to relax and settle in! It is *NOT* imperative your bird comes out every single day, nor is it imperative for your bird to come out immediately after bringing your bird home! It's also false that you can't train a bird while they are in their cage! Actually, that's a PERFECT area to start training! The area where the bird feels most comfortable in!
Interaction should be on his terms, not yours. The more positive experiences he has, the more likely he is to repeat those experiences. The more negative experiences, the more likely he is to act out, bite, lunge, etc. Nothing you've said indicates a bird that is uncomfortable with human interaction. Everything you've said describes a bird that is afraid. It may sound like the same behavior, but it's really not. I had a bird that loved human interaction but was afraid of physical interaction. More specifically, she *LOVED* hands-off interaction but was very jumpy and afraid of physical interaction when I first got her. After a couple of weeks of having her, she did get brave enough to climb onto my shoulder and over time her fear of physical interaction lessoned. It took time and it took patience, paying attention to her verbal and physical cues to know when she has had enough and needed time back in her cage to rest and recharge. Over time, the amount of cage time she needed lessened to the point that she sought me out instead of her cage.
You need to take a step back and look at what you can do to earn your bird's trust. What can you do to make experiences between him and you positive? A very simple method is to set up a treat cup at the front of the cage and any time you walk by, drop his favorite treat into that dish. Don't stop and ogle at him, no need to talk or even make eye contact. Just drop the treat and go! You may need to walk slowly, quietly announce your presence or something to that effect. Once your bird becomes more comfortable with this, then you can move on to training through the cage bars. You can teach him to station on a perch so you can easily change out the food and water dishes without him being bothered. You could teach him to target to any location within the cage! This, in turn, can then be used to teach him to go in and out of the cage with ease, then to step up and learning other behaviors. You do not need a training perch for any of these 'beginner' "tricks".
If you would like more in depth training information, I would recommend checking out the links in the following thread.
Free Training Resources
Someone recently told me that there was only one trainer on the internet that had free training advice. This is, quite simply, false. This “trainer” they spoke of is an amateur that has taken advice from salesmen who market themselves as bird trainers. Not to say that they don't enjoy helping...
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