New 8 week old ringneck

Hi guys,

I've just got a hand-raised indian ringneck. Now I've been told that it's 8 weeks old and weaned, but I have a couple of questions I'm hoping you guys can help me with.

1) How do I go about making him feel more comfortable in his new environment? Even though he's hand-raised he's reluctant in allowing hand contact and generally hisses at you, although he's fine with being held he's quick to move away or wriggle out of any hand contact.

2) I was told that he was eating on his own, but in the day that I've had him he's not eating or drinking. Is there any special kind of foods I should give him and how do I get him to eat?

3) How do I go about socializing this young fella? He's obviously still settling in and isn't receptive to hand contact at this stage, but I don't want him to scared of human contact in future and as he's still young I know this is the right time to train him up as well.

Thanks in advance!

8 weeks? That seems a bit early for me regarding being weaned... perhaps they were force weaned instead of abundance weaned? Definitely monitor his weight. If he isn't eating and he starts regressing, contact your breeder or whomever you got them from and ask which formula they were using so that perhaps you can spoon feed as a comfort feeding. I'm a huge rookie with it comes to birds who aren't weaned, which is why I personally stay away from them. But there's a lot of experienced members on here who can likely provide better insight in that regard.

As for making him feel more comfortable, let him explore his environment and figure out where he feels comfortable. Moving right into hand contact or physical contact when he's not ready will only make him feel more unsafe. Birds generally dislike feeling restricted because they're prey animals. It takes a lot of work and training with some birds, and I find with IRN's in particular it requires a lot of work to convince them that hand-body contact can be a good thing. I've had my IRN Shiko since he was 13 weeks old, and he's now 7 and a half months old. He has JUST started trusting me enough to sit there and cuddle him, whereas Avery my GCC allowed cuddles and contact on day one.

So read his body language and if he is clearly uncomfortable, take a step back and go back to something positive you can reward him for. Always end contact on a positive note.

Another note on his food as well, there are times when birds who have entered a new environment simply do not eat or drink because of stress. Like I mentioned earlier, if necessary resort back to giving him comfort feedings and soft, warm foods (like sweet potato, rice, oatmeal, etc.).

Socializing comes with him being comfortable with you first. If he doesn't feel safe around you, it will be hard to convince him that he'll be safe anywhere else. Give him some time to become comfortable in his environment and with you. Once he's comfortable, start presenting him new materials, different objects, and different sounds. Let him beak materials and present him with things that move (such as moving a teddy bear like a puppet or letting him see the TV). As you do that, work on "passing the birdy" to those around you. Reward him every time he has a positive interaction with another object or another person. Have other individuals cue tricks for him that you have or are working on teaching him.

These guys are wonderful additions, but they are very active birds with very active minds, so they do well with busy environments and with busy minds! Congrats on your new addition

Thanks for that, it's very helpful.

I've had success in feeding him oatmeat, so I will use this for the time being. He's eager to be cuddle front of a mirror all the time and I think this is because it reminds him of his old environment where we he was in an enclosure with other ringneck babies.

Any ideas on how to stop him from lunging and biting everytime I try to initiate hand contact?

Ringnecks will often lunge as a precaution towards you. Shiko lunged at me, but I held firm with him and rewarded him everytime he was willing to step up on my hand. I also worked on finding where he was comfortable with my hand being - I'd start far away, and if he showed signs of discomfort I'd stop moving closer and reward him for letting me come close (dropping a treat in the food bowl, providing a yummy piece of banana or apple in a "safe" zone, or feeding it directly to him once he was comfortable).

Eventually your bird will realize that hands = treats, and if your bird is anywhere near as food motivated as mine, he'll learn quickly and willingly. Shiko loves almonds, so that's my training treat. Find what works for your bird and go from there.

Also, work on stick training. This means training your bird to step up on a wooden or rope perch instead of on you. It teaches the bird the crucial skill of stepping up and allows you to create positive interactions with them. Eventually you work to the point where they step up on you instead of the stick or rope perch. Barbara Hiedenreich has some great YouTube videos on this.

Training your birds to be comfortable takes time and patience, and also respect. We often want to rush in and immediately have a warm, fuzzy bond with our birds but it doesn't always (and in some cases never) work that way. So take time to learn your bird and his mannerisms, his likes/dislikes, his fears and his comforts. It's just like building any other relationship, except when you do wrong you get a nice reminder chomp

You should try and post pictures of your new baby - I love looking at other IRNs!

Thanks for that. I will certainly take your tips on board and start working with him slowly.

Here's a photo of Alexus, not the easiest job to take a good photo of him as he blends into the wall!

Wow does he ever! He's absolutely gorgeous!

Welcome and congratulations on your new baby! I have a green IRN that was almost 2 when she adopted me lol. She was not trained at all, it took 6 months for me to be able to touch her, so patience is definitely key! IRN's are super smart birds-mine picked up clicker training right away. I think many IRN's are hand shy, but Dinosrawr's advice is perfect! With my girl, it was slow going because of issues at her previous homes (we were the 3rd that I know of in less than 2 years), but with time, consistency and patience she is getting it. Since your little beauty is so young, it should go a bit faster. This forum is great!! You will get lots of help here and many questions answered. Again, welcome and your new baby is beautiful!!

Jen

I'm including the link to a thread I started 2 years ago, because I was in the same position... only I was told the bird was older than he was (and fully weaned...not the case!!!) I got some great advice and also shared my experience with getting Pippin eating!

http://www.parrotforums.com/indian-ringnecks/29511-help-my-new-feather-baby-please.html