Clever Parrot ... Help needed !!

my ring neck is 16 weeks old today and i have had 3 weeks. He or she has been great stepping up and eating food from my hand but will only do this when i'm wearing garden gloves.

He comes out the cage every day and he is so use to this routine that once he see's me he makes his head longer and starts to climb around the cage every were all excited. Yesterday i put my hand in and he was moving away but i kept saying come on time to fly and he was impatient and just jumped onto the back of my hand moved a few times up my arm then ever so quick flew out the cage.

He was not afraid to jump on the hand and arm to get out but will he take food from me with out the glove or even have my bare hand anywhere near him NO.

So confusing. He is so smart what i would call crafty lol...

Another thing if anyone can help, he has been cleaning himself but he is pulling out the white fluffy chest feathers while doing so. He is cleaning him self because he does under his wings, his long tail and he cleans and rubs his face on his chest when doing so.

The little white feather are often stuck to his beak at times and he got one stuck in his throat earlier but somehow he managed to unlodge it. He nearly give me a heart attack watching him with his tongue out trying to swallow.

Again he was very intelligent, as i ran over to him he quickly accepted my help, as i was able to touch his beak with gloves when he would not let me touch his beak ever, even despite being able to have him sit on my glove and eat from my fingers. One smart bird here lol what am i going to do with him.

I also feel he has got himself in a routine as i feel it will be like this forever. I want a friendship with him a chance to cuddle and kiss him awww lol. He comes out, i clean his cage, and feed him, then he eats a few bits from my hand, and he sits on the edge of the fireplace for hours looking in the mirror and having a nap.

If i go over to him with no food, he fly's up onto the curtain rail. He puts himself back into the cage and his time out is getting longer and longer. 6 hours the other day.

When i have food and hand feed him, he will sit on top of my finger using gloves and will eat from my hand and i can bring him quite close to my face but i cant touch him with my other hand. Only the hand he is sitting on now i am able to lift a finger and touch his tummy.

Tried with no glove he try's to bite me. He did lightly, but then went at my finger for hard bites and i took no chances the glove went back on and he was a different bird then.

Any advice. On the white fluffy feather plucking and using my bare hand to get out the cage but afraid of it once he is out and i am forced to the glove again just to communicate / handle him.

Have you tried target training? You could eventually get to the point of targeting him on your hand without gloves but obviously in very small steps.
You can use a chopstick or something similar that is safe. Keep training sessions to a maximum of 5 mins. You can use his second or third favourite treat for repetitions but when there is a breakthrough either give more treats or his ‘to die for’ reward.
I really hope this helps.

Hi!

Sounds like you do indeed have a smart bird, and a typical ringneck

For the fluff feathers; is he getting bare patches on his chest? If yes, he needs to go to a vet to figure out the almost certainly medical reason behind his plucking (and don’t let ANYONE tell you “it’s just something parrots do”!) if no bare patches then its normal preening and nothing to worry about

As for fingers, that’s a very common ringneck trait! It will take time. I’ll attach my article on taming Ringnecks that addresses the issue of their fear of fingers.

Also, you bought a ringneck. Snuggles and cuddles probably are not going to happen. 99.9% of adult Ringnecks aren’t going to be snuggle bugs. They can be incredibly sweet, sit with you, talk to you, preen you, etc, but those “puppy-dog style snuggles are more what you would expect from a Conure. My Ringnecks are more my adventure buddies; we go to the beach, go hiking, shopping, etc together.

Best of luck!

http://www.silversageaviaries.com/tamingyourringneck-1


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