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Scaredy cat..

olivierr1

Strolling the yard
Joined
6/6/20
Messages
114
Real Name
Olivier
I've had Jumble (IRN) for about 4 and a half months, making him about 8 months old. (They grow up so fast).
He was super scared and wild when I got him, now he's a little sweety.
Initially I made super great progress when it comes to trust.
He will step up to my hand, though it's only till he receives a treat, then he's off. Is he doesn't get the treat within 3 seconds he will fly off again.

He will fly to my shoulder if I ask him to, with a treat of course.
He will recall across the entire living room.
He even picks up a ball on command!
I started putting this ball underneath a metal bowl, he he has to remove the bowl before he can get the ball. It's super fun, try it!

Now the past couple of months, I feel like we've reached a standstill. He's still kind of scared of me. E.g. not staying on me for more than a few seconds, not showing any interest in interacting with me at all unless I show proof of food..

And my god, is he scared of my partner!

If she gets more than 2 meters away from his cage, he will fly around the living room in a panic!

She's done absolutely nothing to him, she tries to feed him treats, he's even flown to her hand before.
Somehow still he is absolutely terrified.

I feel like this anxiety for her is stopping him from feeling fully confident. Has anyone else had this?

He stays around his cage all day. He will fly from window to window, back to the cage.
He refuses to leave the room, or even enter the other half of the room.
I'd love him to explore the flat and eventually have baths in the bathroom. (Would stop my walls from getting so wet).

Has anyone got any tips for getting a bird comfortable around the house?
He's got a few play areas around the room he seems to ignore 99% of the time.

He's very cute and makes about 20 different noises, all equally adorable. Especially his "PEW PEW" sounds.

Also, his first peach coloured neck feathers are coming in! IMG20201020210710.jpg
 

sunnysmom

Ripping up the road
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
9/16/13
Messages
28,800
Location
Pennsylvania
Real Name
Michelle
He's super cute. I think you just need to take it slow. Having designated play areas is a good idea. I have even left travel cages out at times for my birds so they have a "safe" place. It took my first bird about 5 months before he would go more than probably 6 feet away from his cage. Eventually he explored the whole house. I think you just need to let them feel secure and not make them go where they don't want to.
 

Maggiebird

Sprinting down the street
Joined
8/29/20
Messages
564
Location
Somewhere over the rainbow
Real Name
Sally
Welcome to the avenue!Jumble is adorable!have you tried hanging out with him a lot and doing things he likes?I hope he comes around soon!
 

HeatherD

Meeting neighbors
Joined
7/10/18
Messages
40
In my experience taking care of a male ringneck for about half a year, they can be very flighty, even more fearful than African grays. You can make a ton of progress and get the bird comfortable with you, then there is a loud sound while he's sitting on your hand and he flies away and is afraid of you for weeks.

You might want to check out Birdtricks videos on youtube if you want to accelerate the training so that you make faster progress. For example, something they might recommend is having the bird in his cage and having your partner walk up kind of near the cage (not too close), until the bird shows a bit of discomfort, then stopping. Wait a few seconds, then back away and say "good job" and maybe you give him a treat. Work up to the point that she can do target training (with a target stick) through the cage bars and reward treats. Build up to the point that she can walk past the cage when he's out and such things. If he's really frightened, trying to get him onto her hand too soon might just make things worse.

Setting a particular time for training every day with treats (for example, step up and slowly increasing time on hand) could help, and maybe have your partner give more treats if you want the bird to be comfortable with her. People with calm, friendly, quieter personalities seem to make better progress from what I've seen.

I would just try to be patient and not expect the bird to be very hands-on. They can take a long time to get comfortable. Personally, I find female ringnecks to be far easier, even though it seems like they tend to be less playful and talkative. Male ringnecks are just so skittish it can be frustrating, so I know how you feel, haha.

Some people worry that if the bird gets past a certain age it's untrainable, but I don't think you need to worry about that. I've trained a few ringnecks that were over a year old and not hand tame, they are so smart and are able to learn and adapt. They are wonderful birds.

As far as play areas, birds will usually go to the highest perches available, so I'm guessing that's his cage. I bought some cheap, tall wooden screens (with nontoxic wood), and my birds like to play and chew on those, but I ended up getting rid of the super-expensive bird tree because it wasn't tall enough to get them interested :laugh:

Good luck
 
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