3 queries about Alexandrine Parrots

[APPK1234]

Hi,

I have the below 3 queries about Alexandrine Parrots:

Question One:
At what age does an Alexandrine Parakeet start to have the ring formation? When does the light / shadow black line around neck starts? The complete black takes place in a three year span but when does this very light tinge of black line around the neck start?

Question Two:
When does bluffing stage start and when does it end in Alex?

Question Three:
I really need help here:. I have a very sweet Alexandrine Parrot of 2 years brought home two weeks back. Unfortunately he is extremely scared and aggressive when he sees hands and fingers. He is fine with nose touching but hands and fingers is a huge problem. He bites and will show all signs of 'stay away' aggression. I have tried to feed with hand - still no results - the moment food is consumed he resorts to biting.
I do not want to give up hope as I can see that he does not mind being petted by nose hence he is not totally against humans. Maybe there is a past negative exposure of being mis-handled and hence he has associated this with fingers and hands. He has no problem with people being close to him as long as hands are kept away.
Am reading a lot of techniques and none seem to show progress.
Is there anyway in which I can have him trust hand and fingers? Please share your experience and views.

Please help me with the above three questions.

Regards

 

[BanalityBob]

No clue on the first two questions as I don't have an Alexandrine.

As for the third question, however, when I first got Penelope (after the first day when she latched on to me), she was very anti hands. She does love (and still prefer) kisses and nuzzles from my face, and I used that to bridge the gap. Basically, I pressed my nose or lips against her beak firmly. She could still move, and I wasn't restraining her in any way, but she couldn't whip her head around to bite as easily. Then, I would gently touch the top of her head with a finger, moving slowly, and making kissing sounds (they calm her down, find what sounds calm your bird down). This progressed to her letting me pet her, and now, about three months later, she is stepping up about 75% of the time. Now, I have interacted with her a lot, and it may take longer for your bird to warm up to you. Some birds never like being petted.

 

[dragonlady2]

Alexandrines are part of the ringneck family and unless they get daily handling they can revert to wild quickly. I have 4 Alex's and they will let me pick them up off the floor but not off their cage. I would suggest that you get a playstand that you can move away from its' cage. Spend time away from the cage and try to stick train by using treats to get it to step up. Only time and perseverence will make the difference. I'm okay with them not wanting to spend time with me and I don't need them to step up out of their cage. I have other birds that are friendlier. Don't have too high of expectations of an Alex as compared to a conure for example. Alex' tend to not be "cling on" birds. Just my opinion.

 

[mrob]

Hi!
1. my alex had a light grey ring around his neck from about 6 months, and got the full next ring over 2 succesive moults just before 2 years old. If theyre not DNAd have a look at the head.....male head seem to be a little bit flatter than the rounded female...that was my guess anyway! we guessed Booger was a boy because he was talking up a storm at 6 months

2. Bluffing for us started at about 1 year and lasted 3 weeks or so. It was very painful and drew blood many times, but i got really good at gritting my teeth and enduring it. After it stopped, he NEVER bit me again. Ive heard it can last up to 6 months but i think thats at the longer end of the scale.......

3. Booger also hated hands and fingers. He was happy to step up but i found the only way was to not push him with petting or fingers, because he just hated it so much. They are not really cuddly birds and may never enjoy petting, but they do love faces and smooching so you may just have to be satisfied with that. Booger came around to petting eventually with just playing with him while holding his favourite toy and id touch him on the sly...but he never really liked it....It takes a while but they do make HUGE progress, you just cant push them. Treats are good but just take things really slowly and incremetally. I had to restrain myself to just spend time with booger without trying to pick him up or touch him all the time and eventually he came to me!
Hope this was helpful, and goodluck, please let me know how you get on...!