Seeking advice/help

[Moony.k]

Hello everyone, my name is Kris. I have a female Indian ringneck, her name is Eri. Her age is unknown (I guess she's 6 o something). Her backstory is pretty sad, she basically lived in a small locked room with guinea pigs for like 4 years.. her owner never let her out of her cage and just sold her on facebook. My aunt bought her and had her over a year. She tried to communicate with her, but that was it. She never really cared to let her out of her cage or anything. That's when my aunt called my mom if we wanted her, or not. Otherwise she would either sell her or let her out completely. so we took her in. I have her in my room over a year and half now, and the beginning was awful. At the beggining, she was so scared that I couldn't even go around her cage. When she got used to me a little, we tried to open her cage, hoping she would come out. When she came out, she tried to fly, but she couldn't. Living only in her cage all her live, she never really learnt how to fly. So, with zero experience, listened to my gut saying "alright, she is scared, don't know how to fly and she only knows how to make guinea pig noises. Let's take it slow,,.
It was hard. She started to scream whenether I got close to her. When she tried to fly, she bumped into everything (that's what scared me the most). My parents screamed at her everytime she made a noise and I tried to explain to them that it's a parrot. Parrots make loud noises.
Well, and here we are now. she got used to me, but only me. She shivers whenether my mom comes to my room, or my dad, or even my sister. She has a little aggressive behavior, but she is a kind parrot. Over the year and half, we managed to built a nice relationship. Whenether I have a banana or an apple, she sits on my had expecting to get some. She also likes to watch me when Im drawing. Even though she ate most of my pencils, brushes, things, the only thing I caed about was her health, how does it affect her (of course, my parents cared about the expensive pencils more that her health). I would never give her away and I love her to the stars and back.

Here is the thing that bothers me. Even though she is very much comfortable sitting on my head, shoulder, bed next to me, whenether I try to touch her, she bites me. She is comfortable with eating food from my hand, but when I try to give her my finger so she can sit on it, she bites me. This thing bothers me because Im worried that she is scared of me and that her aggressive behavior is the result. I tried everything. And that's not the only thing that bothers me. you see, my parents threatened me to sell her many times. And with everyday she is more and more aggressive. Not just Aggressive, but she also pushes herself away from me. And Im scared that one day it will be just like in the beggining. I thought that she just wanted attention, but even when I talk to her everyday, nothing changes. I want to be closer to her, but Im also scared of hurting her in any way. So Im seeking some advice? (sorry for the long backstory moment in the beggining, I wanted to make sure you know eveything)

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Hello everyone, my name is Kris. I have a female Indian ringneck, her name is Eri. Her age is unknown (I guess she's 6 o something). Her backstory is pretty sad, she basically lived in a small locked room with guinea pigs for like 4 years.. her owner never let her out of her cage and just sold her on facebook. My aunt bought her and had her over a year. She tried to communicate with her, but that was it. She never really cared to let her out of her cage or anything. That's when my aunt called my mom if we wanted her, or not. Otherwise she would either sell her or let her out completely. so we took her in. I have her in my room over a year and half now, and the beginning was awful. At the beggining, she was so scared that I couldn't even go around her cage. When she got used to me a little, we tried to open her cage, hoping she would come out. When she came out, she tried to fly, but she couldn't. Living only in her cage all her live, she never really learnt how to fly. So, with zero experience, listened to my gut saying "alright, she is scared, don't know how to fly and she only knows how to make guinea pig noises. Let's take it slow,,.
It was hard. She started to scream whenether I got close to her. When she tried to fly, she bumped into everything (that's what scared me the most). My parents screamed at her everytime she made a noise and I tried to explain to them that it's a parrot. Parrots make loud noises.
Well, and here we are now. she got used to me, but only me. She shivers whenether my mom comes to my room, or my dad, or even my sister. She has a little aggressive behavior, but she is a kind parrot. Over the year and half, we managed to built a nice relationship. Whenether I have a banana or an apple, she sits on my had expecting to get some. She also likes to watch me when Im drawing. Even though she ate most of my pencils, brushes, things, the only thing I caed about was her health, how does it affect her (of course, my parents cared about the expensive pencils more that her health). I would never give her away and I love her to the stars and back.

Here is the thing that bothers me. Even though she is very much comfortable sitting on my head, shoulder, bed next to me, whenether I try to touch her, she bites me. She is comfortable with eating food from my hand, but when I try to give her my finger so she can sit on it, she bites me. This thing bothers me because Im worried that she is scared of me and that her aggressive behavior is the result. I tried everything. And that's not the only thing that bothers me. you see, my parents threatened me to sell her many times. And with everyday she is more and more aggressive. Not just Aggressive, but she also pushes herself away from me. And Im scared that one day it will be just like in the beggining. I thought that she just wanted attention, but even when I talk to her everyday, nothing changes. I want to be closer to her, but Im also scared of hurting her in any way. So Im seeking some advice? (sorry for the long backstory moment in the beggining, I wanted to make sure you know eveything)

The backstory is very helpful. There's no such thing as too much information with things like this. You should be proud that you have given this beautiful bird a much better life_ and of the great progress you have made. I know that all PF members are also proud of you! I hope your parents someday see what a wonderful thing you have done by saving this beautiful bird.

You need to give your bird more time. Her first six (?) Years were so miserable. A year and a half seems so long for a young person but for a six year old bird, it's not much. She has made excellent progress thanks to you. Keep it up.
Many birds hate hands- even a lot of hand raised birds dislike them. Even my budgie Rocky that I hand fed from hatching seven months ago isn't crazy about hands. I can't pet her or even scratch her head but that's okay with me. She seeks us out to ride around on our heads and shoulders and interact with us (and annoy us). Many birds, if not most, do not like to be touched or petted. Don't let all the cute photos and videos on the internet showing people cuddling with their birds fool you. Its not like that for most bird owners. I think most PF members would agree.
I suggest you use a 10-12 inch long wood perch to move her around and to "hold" her and get close to her. When you talk to her, hold your hands near your face so she can see that your hands are a harmless part of you.
She may never learn to like or even tolerate hands but you can still have a great close relationship with her.
If you wear a long sleeved baggy sweatshirt, cover your hands with the sleeves and see if she will perch on your forearm if she can't see your hands. It will save you from getting bitten, too.
Good luck. Post some pictures of your bird.

 

[wrench13]

Welcome and be welcomed!

So, Ringnecks are notorious for a few things. One is that they quickly go back to an almost wild state if they are not interacted with on a daily basis. THe fact that she was in a cage for 4-5 years means she was basically a wild caught parrot when you got her. Two - ringnecks are not considered cuddly or snuggly parrots, most do not like to be touched at all and not scratched like a Amazon or a conure might. THey have a different type of feather then those species, more like Electus parrots. Scratching WITH the grain instead of against the grain of the feather lie - she might like that.

As to the length of time its taking for her to become more tame, its true - it takes time, sometimes a long time for what is essentially a wild parrot, to fully trust you. Be patient and be consistent, so you dont confuse her.

 

[Cottonoid]

I agree that most ringnecks do not want to be touched. Social media shows the 0.000001% that do, but it's normal for them to say NOPE even to other birds. They are not monogamous in the wild and don't preen each other, so they really don't touch each other ever outside of breeding season.

I think ringnecks are also just more suspicious than other types of parrots. They come from a part of the world with way more predators than prey, so fear of everything wiggly makes sense. My African Ringneck notices every movement both inside and outside the house, from airplanes to birds to little flies outside the window. My Quaker on the other hand is a very social allopreening species that has safety in big groups, and he doesn't pay attention to anything except his flock buddies

My ARN was not yet 2 when I got him, and after a year now we've progressed to trusting each other where he'll take a treat from my fingers but he won't yet touch a target stick and definitely won't step up. He can't fly but I think from his behavior lately he might have started to land on my head or shoulder in the last couple of months, but not before that.

It was a BIG mindset shift for me, trying to figure out how to know if he was happy and how to set him up to be happy, when he wanted nothing to do with me. He also hates praise or the enthusiasm that most parrots love - I think he can see right through my attention to make friends and he's smarter than that

To me it sounds like you actually have a good relationship with her! She's interested in being part of what you're doing and landing on you is great. I think it's normal for her to be suspicious or even scared of others in your family.

Does she have toys? If she likes pencils she might like chewing up popsicle sticks. Mine likes chewing soft woods like balsa, and also really likes sola and mahogany pods.

You can also interact with her in other ways, like making little foraging puzzles. I feed pellets and chopped up veggies, and I'll put some in a paper cupcake liner then hang it somewhere so my ARN has to find it. He LOVES searching for his food. If she hasn't ever done foraging, you can start by just putting a few small pieces of crumpled paper on top of her food. With my ARN this type of thing is definitely building our relationship - he sees me hiding things and gets really happy and eager to start checking all the spots.

There are lots of great ideas on the forum too if you search the terms foraging or enrichment

You're on a good path IMO and I bet she loves you just as much as you love her!