My RingNeck Is Scared Of Me!! Help!!

[RingNecked]

Hi, this is Omar, i got myself two RingNecks, oppositely gendered. I got it from a Pet Store, and i am not sure whether it is captured from the wild or raised by humans. All i know is they are really scared of me!

They are almost 6 months old. Whenever I approach their cage, they start flying around the cage, like they are panicking. I have heard that their wings need to be clipped and let go out of their cage or let them hang on to a bird stand and start taming them, but in this situation, in order to clip their wings i need to grab them forcefully, after doing so, if i let them hang on a bird stand, and whenever i will approach them, they might run away from me. I will also have to grab them forcefully to put them back into cages. I believe that this method is more bond breaking than creating one.

The female seems to be more frightful than the male. But, both of them do not eat anything from my hand, even if the treat is delicious to them. I really love these birds and i want them to love me too. So, please help me!! Provide me with any sort of advice and tips.

Thanks in advance!

[MissK]

Hi Omar,

You are right when you feel that forcing the birds hurts more than it helps.
You should try to think of them with respect for how they feel before you interact with them, and choose your actions accordingly. I believe you were given bad advice when you were told to clip the wings. Fortunately, once you stop all aggression towards them, they will be able to start learning to trust you.

[Wessel Gordon]

Omar

Don't focus on taming them to the extent that they will step onto your hand or eat from your hand. a Bird is a prey creature by nature with only two options to survive: fly away and if that option isn't available it will act aggressive in an attempt to intimidate a predator. If you clip their wings you're depriving them of their most natural defense option which mean they will bite if they feel threatened. The only reasons to catch a bird in a cage is if there's some medical issue that you need to take of or if it's life is being threatened by another bird in the same cage.

I would suggest that if their cage have an extra foodbowl to silently drop a few treats in it and then go sit in another part of the room and read a book or something. The idea is to get them to associate you with good things and thus to get them to calm down eventually. If you talk to them use a calm tone of voice as any excited noises might frighten them more at this point. While you're apparently ''ignoring'' them they might get curious about the object you dropped and they will go and investigate. Be patient: this approach takes time to work so you will have to keep it up for weeks, possibly a few months.

Some of the other members on the forum eat healthy fruits and vegetables in front of their birds to encourage them to eat it. Birds are like kids in that way: if they see you obviously enjoying something delicious they want a bite too.

Another approach you can use (especially right before entering the room they're in) is to whistle a distinctive tune or note and then dropping the treat in the bowl. That way they will realize after awhile that you are a part of their ''flock'' and that that sound is always followed by something delicious. The whistle will also warn them that you're about to come in and might stop them from getting a fright.

The biggest disadvantage in my opinion you have is that you have two birds of opposite sexes so they might end up more interested in each other than in spending time with you. I'm not saying that they won't show any interest in you...simply that it might take longer than in the case of a single bird.

Good luck and keep us up to date.

Wessel

[RingNecked]

Thank you very much, MissK and Wessel!!

The reason behind me buying a pair, was that i was afraid, if i had bought just one, It would be anxious.

And I heard that Wing Clipping is a must when your bird is fully bonded to you, which will help them to learn tricks like step up faster. Please, suggest me whether to clip their wings or not, that is when they are fully tamed.

Plus, im really worried, what if my birds dont bond with me, or am i just overreacting?!?

Thank You Again!

[Wessel Gordon]

Omar,

I think you are over-reacting a bit by wanting them to bond with you so soon. To earn an intelligent animal like an IRN's trust take a lot of patience and even longer amounts of time. If you try to rush this process (by for example clipping their wings) you might end up doing the relationship between you and the birds more harm than good.

My advice would be to take things very slowly and to reward them with a treat every time they do something you consider positive (such as not panicking when you approach the cage - the mere fact that they keep on doing what they were doing when you approached is already a positive behavior). Think of yourself as a teacher: you have to break the result you want from the pupils (in this case your birds) into tiny bits that the students can master easily and some might take a bit longer than others to understand what it is that you want from them. What I mean with that is: let the birds set the pace at which they're willing to respond/bond with you.

Personally I am against wing-clipping but that's only my opinion and I respect other members that differ from that opinion since we all have reasons to either not clip or to clip.

[RingNecked]

Thank you so much for taking your time helping me! Really appreciated!