Hi all,
I have had my conure Roy who was a hand fed baby for about 3.5 months now and he is about 6 months old. When I initially got him we went through a really bad random bitey phase and that has thankfully improved significantly since, he still nips here and there but it is very far and between.
The reason for this post is that I am at a loss of what I need to do to get him back to his cage peacefully. He either flat out refuses to get off my shoulder and will hide in the middle between my shoulder blades biting my hand (sometimes really badly) or he will fly off my shoulder and proceed to run around everywhere (still clipped and cannot wait for his wings to grow back fully). Initially I would chase him, but I have since learned to walk away and he will follow me and then I can pick him up in another room usually where I then have to basically grab him and put him in his cage or else he will fly off again and we repeat this cycle forever.
It is just increasingly frustrating because I can have him outside of his cage for 4+ hours and I will try to put him back to either use the bathroom, shower, cook...etc and it becomes a huge challenge and I feel like it is significantly damaging our relationship and trust every single time. He is not normally scared of my hands until it's time to put him back in the cage (or he is on my shoulders) where he will run from my hands and get all bitey. I have already tried to reserve his favorite treats for when I need to get him into the cage and it worked the first 2 times, now he flat out refuses to listen to even that, in general getting him off my shoulder is impossible (he runs away from my hands and hides in the middle of my back or bites), but when he realizes he is going back to his cage he goes wild. He is a velcro bird and will let me scratch his head and get his pin feathers but he also seems to randomly decide to be terrified of my hands sometimes and I can't seem to understand when that becomes the case.
His cage is a large Vision L02 cage filled with a variety of rotating toys, has diffused UV capable lighting, no drafts and in the corner of the main living room which always has people in it or near it in the kitchen. I've also tried the thing where I put him in and then let him out a few minutes later to teach him that it isn't always the end of play time; but the fight it takes to get him into the cage feels like it completely blows any trust we've built and I am starting to consider giving him away, not because I don't love him, but because I feel like a horrible owner who is not qualified to have him. I feel like I am not good enough and that he deserves better.
Any advice or ideas would be highly appreciated. I am also open to input about how I can build our trust and also maybe if I should be trying to start from the ground up, i.e we never did target training but maybe should be?
Thank you
Photo attached for the bird tax.
I have had my conure Roy who was a hand fed baby for about 3.5 months now and he is about 6 months old. When I initially got him we went through a really bad random bitey phase and that has thankfully improved significantly since, he still nips here and there but it is very far and between.
The reason for this post is that I am at a loss of what I need to do to get him back to his cage peacefully. He either flat out refuses to get off my shoulder and will hide in the middle between my shoulder blades biting my hand (sometimes really badly) or he will fly off my shoulder and proceed to run around everywhere (still clipped and cannot wait for his wings to grow back fully). Initially I would chase him, but I have since learned to walk away and he will follow me and then I can pick him up in another room usually where I then have to basically grab him and put him in his cage or else he will fly off again and we repeat this cycle forever.
It is just increasingly frustrating because I can have him outside of his cage for 4+ hours and I will try to put him back to either use the bathroom, shower, cook...etc and it becomes a huge challenge and I feel like it is significantly damaging our relationship and trust every single time. He is not normally scared of my hands until it's time to put him back in the cage (or he is on my shoulders) where he will run from my hands and get all bitey. I have already tried to reserve his favorite treats for when I need to get him into the cage and it worked the first 2 times, now he flat out refuses to listen to even that, in general getting him off my shoulder is impossible (he runs away from my hands and hides in the middle of my back or bites), but when he realizes he is going back to his cage he goes wild. He is a velcro bird and will let me scratch his head and get his pin feathers but he also seems to randomly decide to be terrified of my hands sometimes and I can't seem to understand when that becomes the case.
His cage is a large Vision L02 cage filled with a variety of rotating toys, has diffused UV capable lighting, no drafts and in the corner of the main living room which always has people in it or near it in the kitchen. I've also tried the thing where I put him in and then let him out a few minutes later to teach him that it isn't always the end of play time; but the fight it takes to get him into the cage feels like it completely blows any trust we've built and I am starting to consider giving him away, not because I don't love him, but because I feel like a horrible owner who is not qualified to have him. I feel like I am not good enough and that he deserves better.
Any advice or ideas would be highly appreciated. I am also open to input about how I can build our trust and also maybe if I should be trying to start from the ground up, i.e we never did target training but maybe should be?
Thank you
Photo attached for the bird tax.
