Is it possible to tame a 5 month old ringneck

[Kiwiblue]

Hi,
I bought a ringneck of 5 months and as a history he was hand fed but did not have any human interaction after as he was in a petshop. When I went to buy him he was fighting with another bird. He is scared of us when we try to touch him but he likes my room and his cage and even made a new sound.
I hope he will be able to bond with me seeing as he is not hand fed by me as they say older birds are harder to tame.

 

[Shezbug]

Your bird is very young so not an older bird by any means. Take things slow and try not to force him to be your friend by touching/grabbing when he does not want it. You can find lots of helpful tips on taming and training in the training court. The Training Court

 

[Emma&pico]

Hi
The thing is there’s a difference in hand fed and hand reared if they are grab just to be fed and put back in brooder that’s not actually a positive association with hands a good breeder will interact with their birds make sure they aren’t scared of hands

being in a pet shop another thing all them faces fingers hands etc in their cages noises of other birds pets people in and out must be so overwhelming
Then no bout grab put into a box take to your house

new cage new home new environment he’s going to be scared

just start by sitting by his cage chatting have a treat bowl drop a treat into it once he’s used to that and eating by bowl try offering millet through cage bars
Tell him what you are going it’s ok name just changing your water or food etc
Once he see you are here to fetch good stuff he will soon come around he’s a baby still there’s loads of time I know it’s hard you just want to interact with him play etc but you just have to let him see how nice you are first it will come

 

[Pixiebeak]

This article, talks of tucking fingers, as it's are especially fearful of fingers. And shared some other tips .

Be sure you have room for the bird to retreat while you service cage. A perch in upper corner maybe with a toy in front of it.

Be predictable. Bribe . Talk to your bird and explain stuff. Time and patience

TAMING YOUR RINGNECK - Silver Sage Aviaries

PLEASE NOTE: When you pick up your handfed “tame” ringneck, the bird should step up easily and be eager to interact with you. Do not believe sellers who claim the bird is tame but “just nervous” if the bird is clearly afraid to be handled. That is how you end up needing to know how...

silversageaviaries.com

 

[Parutti]

Aw he sounds adorable! I adore ringnecks! Welcome! Ringnecks tend to have a reputation for taking a lot longer to trust new people than other species, and this can happen even if he would have come from a home where he already stepped up.

Lots of patience, and really watching him to learn his body language so that you can tell when he's relaxed and when he's nervous will help you a lot.

Basically you want the times you try to interact with him to be when he's calm, but at first when he's nervous after this big change in his life he'll probably be scared more than he is calm and happy.

Like others said, for now, just sitting next to him without paying him direct attention, but do something like read out loud or just talking and describing things.

The biggest thing that helped me was to always be talking quietly any time I was moving near his cage. A noisy predator isn't as dangerous as a quiet predator, and right now he's not sure if you're safe.

Another great tip I got was to put a little bowl inside the cage where I could easily drop in a treat from outside. I used a small metal food bowl that attached to the inside. Every time I walked by, I would drop a little piece of a walnut which I'd discovered was his favorite food. The idea is that every time you're around he gets something he really likes. It might take you a little while to figure out what foods you can use, but pieces of walnuts or pine nuts are usually pretty well liked.

My African Ringneck was 18 months when I met him, was originally from a pet shop that kept him in a fish tank where he was likely never handled and was surrounded by lots of different types of parrots. I've had him about 18 months at home now, and we are still very slowly working on training behaviors where he interacts with me, but he definitely trusts me and he's SO fun to be around! He's super gentle and LOVES foraging and puzzles and studying EVERY thing I do. I'm pretty sure he has a whole notebook full of observations about me. He's always watching

He is still scared of fingers and hands and does NOT want to be touched, but he is always very interested in whatever I'm doing and over about six months we worked up to him taking treats from my fingers. The first time he did it I'm pretty sure I cried! First through cage bars where he felt safer, then in the open.

My ringneck loves being at the party but hates having attention on him, and any big drama move or acting goofy, things that a lot of parrots like, just makes him stare at me like I'm a total idiot lol.

With your little one being so young still, I bet with a gentle heart and patience you two will be buddies sooner than you think!

 

[Kiwiblue]

I am just talking to him but not touching him because he will move away. However, he is making some sounds and he seemed happy in my room. But people are telling me that he will stay like this because he is old but 5 months is not that old compared to a 1 year old parrot which is probably harderto tame.

 

[AussieBird]

5 months is not old at all. My slaty first took a treat from me after 6 months, he was almost a year old at that point. He was also parent and aviary raised, as far as I'm aware zero early human interaction outside being DNA'd and being transported down to me. With time and patience I'm sure you can make some progress

 

[Parutti]

I agree, he's almost a baby still so you have lots of time to build a great relationship.

 

[Xoetix]

Totally doable! People have tamed down fully adult birds before, you can absolutely do it!

 

[Kiwiblue]

as an update he is getting treats from me and is not shying away from me when I approach him in the cage. he even kissed me but I am not going to handle him for now in fear he will get more nervous of me.

 

[Kiwiblue]

5 months is not old at all. My slaty first took a treat from me after 6 months, he was almost a year old at that point. He was also parent and aviary raised, as far as I'm aware zero early human interaction outside being DNA'd and being transported down to me. With time and patience I'm sure you can make some progress

wow that is a long time, my parrot was hand fed I think but apart from that he had no human interaction but now he is getting treats from me after two days as long as I do not put my hand in his cage as I do not think he is ready for that yet

 

[Emma&pico]

as an update he is getting treats from me and is not shying away from me when I approach him in the cage. he even kissed me but I am not going to handle him for now in fear he will get more nervous of me.

This is really positive keep doing this until you feel he’s 100% comfortable then try opening door and offering treats stand near door so he can’t get out yet though

 

[Pixiebeak]

It took one of my quakers six months to step up. And a year before cuddle.

Excellent progress!!!!!! Keep up the great work!

 

[Aestatis]

Sounds like you have the perfect attitude! Looking forward to hearing how you guys get along.

 

[Kiwiblue]

He gets treats from my hand but he does not want me to go near him bc he is a bit skittish. Also I do not know why he paces on his perch

 

[Emma&pico]

He gets treats from my hand but he does not want me to go near him bc he is a bit skittish. Also I do not know why he paces on his perch

I think they pace their perches for a number of reason anxious excited scared a mix of it all and being new they don’t know which one to go with so anxious your in room excited you will fetch treats interact with them but also scared and nervous of the interaction

I think @Xoetix caught best example of this with Isadora when she first came home the shaking back turn but still crying out for that interaction at same time

 

[Emma&pico]

I think they pace their perches for a number of reason anxious excited scared a mix of it all and being new they don’t know which one to go with so anxious your in room excited you will fetch treats interact with them but also scared and nervous of the interaction

I think @Xoetix caught best example of this with Isadora when she first came home the shaking back turn but still crying out for that interaction at same time

Maybe she can help you how she overcome it

 

[Xoetix]

I got pretty lucky in that Isadora (16 year old cockatoo) was already tame, she was just super stressed out when I got her - she'd been with her previous owners for 15 years.

I do have a couple of budgies though that are not particularly people friendly. One is young, under a year, and the other is anyone's guess for age (he was found outside, and no telling how long he was out), but my vet and I think he's probably somewhere between 2 and 3 years-ish. For those two, especially the older one, they've really gotten WAY better since I've had them. Davey (older) used to freak out if I got too close, but a few days ago he willingly landed on me, so HUGE step in the right direction. Tito (younger, definitely more outgoing of the two) takes treats from my fingers now.

What I've primarily been doing is just hanging out in the same room, reading out loud, talking to my other birds, and honestly ignoring the presence of the budgies. It sounds weird, but I think it's helped a lot that I'm not giving them direct attention - to them, I'm probably some massive predator. So by giving them direct attention, they could construe it as I'm "hunting" them. By not paying them any mind, they see that I'm part of the flock. I eat around them, give them food, talk, sing, hang out and relax, and in turn it relaxes them.

If you don't have other birds to talk to, just clean the room his in while talking out loud. Read, sing, just be relaxed. The more anxious you feel about befriending him, the more anxiety he'll pick up on. So just be calm, relaxed, and know it'll eventually get to a chill point with y'all

 

[Kiwiblue]

I got pretty lucky in that Isadora (16 year old cockatoo) was already tame, she was just super stressed out when I got her - she'd been with her previous owners for 15 years.

I do have a couple of budgies though that are not particularly people friendly. One is young, under a year, and the other is anyone's guess for age (he was found outside, and no telling how long he was out), but my vet and I think he's probably somewhere between 2 and 3 years-ish. For those two, especially the older one, they've really gotten WAY better since I've had them. Davey (older) used to freak out if I got too close, but a few days ago he willingly landed on me, so HUGE step in the right direction. Tito (younger, definitely more outgoing of the two) takes treats from my fingers now.

What I've primarily been doing is just hanging out in the same room, reading out loud, talking to my other birds, and honestly ignoring the presence of the budgies. It sounds weird, but I think it's helped a lot that I'm not giving them direct attention - to them, I'm probably some massive predator. So by giving them direct attention, they could construe it as I'm "hunting" them. By not paying them any mind, they see that I'm part of the flock. I eat around them, give them food, talk, sing, hang out and relax, and in turn it relaxes them.

If you don't have other birds to talk to, just clean the room his in while talking out loud. Read, sing, just be relaxed. The more anxious you feel about befriending him, the more anxiety he'll pick up on. So just be calm, relaxed, and know it'll eventually get to a chill point with y'all

Ah thank you but my sister really likes to look at him and getting really close to his cage which I do not like bc I can clearly see him moving away from her. however he is now being close to take treats from me but still does not like my hand I think. I talk to him usually when I am doing my homework and I think studying aloud clearly helps as well even though I am not talking directly to him

 

[Kiwiblue]

this is my parrot Kiwi but I am wondering if blue eyes are normal in ringnecks?