GCC scared to go near me now

[Varg]

Hello fellow bird buddies.

My apologies if this has already been covered many times but I have utilised the search function to no avail.

My little GCC has been with me for a few months now and when I first brought him home, he was hesitant to let my hand go near him but sometimes, I could get him to step up onto my finger. He'd preen me and sit on my shoulder but would flutter away back to his cage. The breeder I obtained him from had hand reared him and was fine to let him touch him and the like. He also told me to just put my hand in there and take him from his cage. I thought that may have been too intrusive and wrong so I didn't do it. I let him come to me but he never did. This being my first time owning a GCC, I wasn't sure what was crossing the line and what was meant to be done to help him get used to my hand. Now, I come into the room and he is fine with me being around him but if I get too close, he scurries off and tries to keep a fair bit of distance between us. I am not quite sure on how to train him to see that my hand is not a threat and nor am I. Should I do some training with some fruit or treats like slowly moving my hand closer to a treat and having him eat near my hand? Any and all advice would be wonderful. Thank you all in advance.

 

[faeryphoebe1]

Is he clipped? Have you tried stick training? Letting him step up onto a stick perch and rewarding him with a treat afterward? Eventually and gradually, you can transition from stick to hand. He's beautiful, btw.

 

[MonicaMc]

You don't need to clip the wings, but I would highly recommend looking at positive reinforcement, often under the guise of clicker training.


Good Bird Inc Parrot Training Talk: Help! My Parrot Wont Step Up!
Living With Parrots Cage Free: Bucky and Strider - Millet Eating Fiends!
A Question About an Issue with Nipping | Lara Joseph

 

[Varg]

Is he clipped? Have you tried stick training? Letting him step up onto a stick perch and rewarding him with a treat afterward? Eventually and gradually, you can transition from stick to hand. He's beautiful, btw.

Thank you for the reply. No, he's not clipped. He was but I let his flight feathers come back in seeing as he wouldn't let me go near him. As for stick training, he won't get near me or anything I am holding. Not in the last few times I have tried, anyway.
He's very beautiful, thank you =].

 

[faeryphoebe1]

What if you hold some millet in your hand and place the stick between the millet and your conure?

 

[Varg]

How does that particular training work? What is it teaching them, exactly?

 

[Echo]

When I raise babies, I make sure I touch and handle them everywhere on their body on a daily basis so that they are comfortable with human hands. It's important for the new owner to do that as well.
He goes into a new house where he doesn't know you, he might not readily come to you as he's not used to you but if you just stand by until his flight feathers grow back (a long time), he won't be so tame any longer.

A lot of people, especially first time bird owners, are not sure on how to proceed once their baby come home. I wish the breeder had helped you through this transition.

Taming him fully flighted can take a long time however with positive reinforcements you can get great responses.

What would I do? I would clip him.

My birds are flighted and some are stick trained. Unless you know what you are doing, have lots of patience and time, the bird is just gonna fly everywhere. And every time he flies AWAY from you, it's a step back. Flight feathers grow back....

 

[Varg]

Thank you for the advice. Seeing as he is not willing to come near me, is my only option to have them clipped by a vet or the same breeder?

 

[Echo]

Clipping can be done by either, although your breeder might do it as a service to you.

 

[Vajragupta]

Hi, I'm still new to green-cheeks, so no expert, but have learned lots in the time I've had Tashi (hand-reared, now 8 months old), a male yellow-sided green-cheek. He's not scared of me and is fully hand tame, but over the six months I've had him, he's developed fears of several things, including bright objects like a red carrier bag and a brightly coloured toy. I get him used to new things by gradually putting favorite treats closer and closer to the object he's frightened of, while using quiet and gently encouragement. I agree with some of the other posts that clipping can be helpful. The further your little bird can go away from you (while he's frightened) the more difficult it'll be to develop a bond.
Another thing could be to try and notice your response to him being frightened of you. For instance if you're hurt and upset, this could increase his resistance. Parrots can be highly sensitive to mood and need a lot of patience.
O, one more thing... is he/she getting plenty of sleep. I was surprised to find they should have 12 hours a night and my baby can be a bit out of sorts if he doesn't get a long night. Good luck!

 

[MonicaMc]

I don't believe that parrots need 12 hours of sleep year round. That's not to say that some birds don't need extra sleep, but many birds do just fine following the natural day and night hours.

Varg, did you have a chance to look through the links I've provided?


The idea is to find something that your conure finds rewarding, then pair a behavior you want your bird to do with the reward. If it's being with you, you offer favorite treats and food. If it's stepping up, you reward the bird for stepping closer and closer to you. You have your hand either flat on top of the cage or against it so it's stable and as the bird gets closer, you reward for a step closer, a toe touching, a toe on your hand, a foot on our hand, then both feet on your hand.

If a bird is not accustomed to being on your hand, don't move your hand. Get the bird to step back off your hand, then to step back on. Get the bird accustomed to being on you before you move your hand.


Believe me though, this method *DOES NOT* require clipping the wings.

 

[Echo]

The idea is to find something that your conure finds rewarding, then pair a behavior you want your bird to do with the reward. If it's being with you, you offer favorite treats and food. If it's stepping up, you reward the bird for stepping closer and closer to you. You have your hand either flat on top of the cage or against it so it's stable and as the bird gets closer, you reward for a step closer, a toe touching, a toe on your hand, a foot on our hand, then both feet on your hand.

If a bird is not accustomed to being on your hand, don't move your hand. Get the bird to step back off your hand, then to step back on. Get the bird accustomed to being on you before you move your hand.


Believe me though, this method *DOES NOT* require clipping the wings.

I see your point if the bird will let you come close enough to do this. If the bird is constantly flying away from you as you try to come closer, his reward is that eventually you tire and go away. No matter what treats you have in your hands.

 

[secuono]

I don't see why you're mentioning the vet if he won't come to you, why would he approach a vet? Why can't you just grab him, gently, and trim one wing? It takes just two seconds and then you can put him back in front of a snack.
If he's flying off when he sees you enter the room, then do what people with any other animal that flees does. Just sit in the room, read a book, take a nap, whatever and just let him get used to you being in the same area. Let him come to you.

 

[Varg]

I don't see why you're mentioning the vet if he won't come to you, why would he approach a vet? Why can't you just grab him, gently, and trim one wing? It takes just two seconds and then you can put him back in front of a snack.
If he's flying off when he sees you enter the room, then do what people with any other animal that flees does. Just sit in the room, read a book, take a nap, whatever and just let him get used to you being in the same area. Let him come to you.

I've been told that grabbing him will make him even more scared to come near me and will hurt chances of bonding. Not to mention, he won't let me get close enough to grab him, even if I was going to. He doesn't fly off when I enter the room, he just shuffles away if I get within a certain distance from him. As I said at the start, he is fine with me being around just not too close.

 

[Bandit]

I don't see why you're mentioning the vet if he won't come to you, why would he approach a vet? Why can't you just grab him, gently, and trim one wing? It takes just two seconds and then you can put him back in front of a snack.
If he's flying off when he sees you enter the room, then do what people with any other animal that flees does. Just sit in the room, read a book, take a nap, whatever and just let him get used to you being in the same area. Let him come to you.

Inexperienced people usually don't want to clip wings in case something goes wrong, which is why i'm guessing Varg is wanting to get him to a vet or to the breeder to have this done.

 

[Echo]

Unless experienced in wing clipping, it should be left to a professional. And please, do not have only 1 wing clipped but BOTH!

 

[legal_eagle]

Definitely clip his wings. You should be focused on taming at this point, rather than bonding. I think almost any bird can be tamed, but you need to require him, as a foundation, to interact with you by picking him up lovingly, gently, and persistently even when he tries to get away. Once he has learned that you mean no harm and that he can get some goodies as well (scratches and treats) by being with you, you'll be on the road to a closer relationship. Be patient and remember that each parrot is an individual, so yours may not be a super-cuddly type, but he can be tamed nevertheless.

 

[secuono]

What is there to go wrong? If the bird stays calm, you just trim neatly across.
Not my pic, but the same with all birds as to where to cut. But if you're uneasy about it or the bird wont sit for it, yea, get someone who knows what they're doing.

Then I guess just sitting around will eventually get him to investigate you.

 

[Echo]

What is there to go wrong? If the bird stays calm, you just trim neatly across.
Not my pic, but the same with all birds as to where to cut. But if you're uneasy about it or the bird wont sit for it, yea, get someone who knows what they're doing.

Then I guess just sitting around will eventually get him to investigate you.

It could go wrong because:

A- She can't go near him without him being afraid and flying away/will have to chase him and towel.
B- If he is afraid he won't stay calm
C- If she is not experienced, she can cut a blood feather(will have to safely and effectively pull the whole feather before the bird bleeds to death)

 

[Bandit]

There's really a lot that can go wrong if one doesn't know what they're doing/never clipped wings before. I've clipped hundreds of wings in my time and even I still feel a little nervous when the time comes to clip someone.