Hi everyone! This is my first post on Avian Avenue. I was directed from Reddit to come here because I really need help with my bird.
I have a violet indian ringneck who’s 17 weeks old. I got him at 15 weeks and he’s extremely scared of people. I haven’t been able to hold him yet, have him take food from me, he gets scared when I enter the room!
He was shipped from Austin, TX to Detroit, MI from JC Aviary. When I opened his crate he flailed out and all over the room. I ended up catching him when he slid off a bag of bird food and put him in cage.. that was the only time I’ve ever “held” him. Whenever I entered the room where he’s kept he spazzed all over the cage and bangs into the walls of the cage. I always enter calmly and I don’t make eye contact. I gave him the two days the breeder said to leave him be (minus the times I went in to change his food and water), hoping he would calm down, but it never happened.
On the third day, I was allowed to open his cage and get him out. That didn’t go well. When I got close to the cage he flew to the back of the cage and when I stuck my hand in he started screaming and was flailing all over the place. I wasn't moving fast or being loud at all during this. It was just him and I. I tried opening the door and letting him fly out and while I waited I started calming talking to him. Everytime I got a about three feet away from the cage he would start flailing all over the cage. So much his wing feathers are now tattered. He eventually flew out of the cage while he was doing he spazzy flailing thing. I tried approaching him calmly and not making eye contact and he would just flail away. I tried several methods of approaching him; sitting on the ground and moving a little closer every few minutes, luring him with millet and treats, laying on the ground, and just sitting and waiting to see if he comes closer. None of them worked. I tried for well over an hour just to get him back to me so I could put him back in his cage. All in a quiet room, it was literally just me and him in the house. I needed to get him back in his cage so I had no choice but to scoop him up in a towel and put him back. I felt absolutely terrible and I really felt like I was doing something wrong.
After that fiasco, I tried a different approach of not opening the cage (not entering his space) and keeping a certain distance away and slowly each day I'd get a little closer. I'd sit by his cage for a couple hours and just sing to him in a calm voice. I'd do this a couple times a day for about a week. Despite my efforts, this too did not work.
I was getting very worried about why he wasn't warming up to me. He had his own quiet space, I was always quiet and calm when I talked to him, I never showed any aggression, and yet he wants nothing to do with me. With all this going on I took him to the vet a couple days ago to make sure there was nothing physically effecting him.
The only way the vet was able to hold him and examine him was while holding him in a towel. He screamed a lot during the entire visit, he didn't have anything physically painful done to him. The vet found he had a yeast and bacterial infection, I was given three medications for him. My vet's advice about him being scared was to get him out with a towel every day and hold him; to teach him that he's okay while being held.
I apologise for such a long post, I just wanted to give as much information as I could. If anyone out there has any advice at all, I'm willing to try anything!
I have a violet indian ringneck who’s 17 weeks old. I got him at 15 weeks and he’s extremely scared of people. I haven’t been able to hold him yet, have him take food from me, he gets scared when I enter the room!
He was shipped from Austin, TX to Detroit, MI from JC Aviary. When I opened his crate he flailed out and all over the room. I ended up catching him when he slid off a bag of bird food and put him in cage.. that was the only time I’ve ever “held” him. Whenever I entered the room where he’s kept he spazzed all over the cage and bangs into the walls of the cage. I always enter calmly and I don’t make eye contact. I gave him the two days the breeder said to leave him be (minus the times I went in to change his food and water), hoping he would calm down, but it never happened.
On the third day, I was allowed to open his cage and get him out. That didn’t go well. When I got close to the cage he flew to the back of the cage and when I stuck my hand in he started screaming and was flailing all over the place. I wasn't moving fast or being loud at all during this. It was just him and I. I tried opening the door and letting him fly out and while I waited I started calming talking to him. Everytime I got a about three feet away from the cage he would start flailing all over the cage. So much his wing feathers are now tattered. He eventually flew out of the cage while he was doing he spazzy flailing thing. I tried approaching him calmly and not making eye contact and he would just flail away. I tried several methods of approaching him; sitting on the ground and moving a little closer every few minutes, luring him with millet and treats, laying on the ground, and just sitting and waiting to see if he comes closer. None of them worked. I tried for well over an hour just to get him back to me so I could put him back in his cage. All in a quiet room, it was literally just me and him in the house. I needed to get him back in his cage so I had no choice but to scoop him up in a towel and put him back. I felt absolutely terrible and I really felt like I was doing something wrong.
After that fiasco, I tried a different approach of not opening the cage (not entering his space) and keeping a certain distance away and slowly each day I'd get a little closer. I'd sit by his cage for a couple hours and just sing to him in a calm voice. I'd do this a couple times a day for about a week. Despite my efforts, this too did not work.
I was getting very worried about why he wasn't warming up to me. He had his own quiet space, I was always quiet and calm when I talked to him, I never showed any aggression, and yet he wants nothing to do with me. With all this going on I took him to the vet a couple days ago to make sure there was nothing physically effecting him.
The only way the vet was able to hold him and examine him was while holding him in a towel. He screamed a lot during the entire visit, he didn't have anything physically painful done to him. The vet found he had a yeast and bacterial infection, I was given three medications for him. My vet's advice about him being scared was to get him out with a towel every day and hold him; to teach him that he's okay while being held.
I apologise for such a long post, I just wanted to give as much information as I could. If anyone out there has any advice at all, I'm willing to try anything!