Indian Ringneck Help/Advice!

Hi everyone,

I have an Indian Ringneck which I got around 3 months or so ago.

When I asked the shop how old he was they said he was 'from last year's stock' (as if he was simply another item of stock ) so I am guessing he is nearly a year old, as he had been in the shop for a while.

We have him in our front room, and he usually twitters to himself and says 2 words - 'hello' and 'alright'. Usually he talks more when the TV is on.

We are currently trying to tame him as he is very skittish and seems to panic when to open his cage to change his food and water.

We sit near his cage and say his name and talk to him and put our hand in his cage just to try and get him used to our presence. At first he goes into panic mode but after a few minutes seems to calm down a bit. We do not push him or try to touch him but I was wondering if anybody could give me any tips on this matter?


Thanks

Sounds like you are doing the right things. It just may take this bird more than 3 months. If you know his fav. treat try to offer this when you go near the cage. Ringnecks are gorgeours birds.

He loves monkey nuts but they're in his food usually, he has eaten apple before. We have grapes growing in the greenhouse so I may try offering him one of those?...

What is monkey nuts?

Your IRN needs to learn to trust your hands, especially after being in a pet shop for a long time. What you are doing is 100% correct but how often and for how long are you doing it? If you have been doing it for say 10min then step it up to 20min. Try and follow a routine, he will start to know what to expect next and this will make him feel more comfortable. He will start to trust the routine. Treats are a wonderful object to use to get him to come closer to you. My IRN chooses raisins and dried cranberries as a treat.

First start to give him the treat through the cage bars and then move to the next level.

Sit by the cage with the cage door open and hold the treat in your hand, with your other hand eat some and show him how nice it is. Move your hand closer to him until he backs off, if that happens then you need to stop and move away. Take note of the distance that you could approach him without him getting scared. Eat the one that he ran away from and show him just how NICE it was. Then after a couple of minutes hold it out to him again but only up to the distance that he was comfortable with. Hold it for some time and eat it again, you really need to make a fuss about how NICE the treat is. Do this over and over again and see if you can go closer and closer, trying to NOT scare him. The chances are that he will come forward and take it from your hand or that he will allow you to come close enough to give it to him. Dont push it, you need to do this on his terms - but you have to do it cause only talking to him everyday is not going to make him trust you.

Remember to talk softly and in a very kind and loving manner.

How big is the cage? They tend to be very scared in a small cage because they feel trapped and do not have any space to flee.