biting/attacking her toys:S?

[abedkh]

Hey there, i stumbled across this website on google, and it seems to be very helpful from what i have read so far. I bought an indian ring neck parrot, shes 11 months old, approx 11 months old from what the pet shop owner told me. Shes very beautiful and healthy. I even took her to a local vet to make sure that she is healthy. The vet said she is very healthy and advised me to vaccinate her against any flus or sicknesses, i didn't take a quick decision with the vaccination. I thought id double check before rushing.

A couple of problems i face.
My indian ringneck seems to be very loving, Everytime i wake up and walk into the living room, she starts screaming and moving around, i think she is welcoming me after a long nights sleep, I'm not sure if this is a way parrots show love, maybe shes grumpy? She sleeps very well without making any noises or screaming.

Having said that she welcomes me every morning or when i come back home, i try to take her out of her cage. When i put my finger inside the cage, she bites and it sometimes hurts. I sometimes get a peanut and put my hand inside the cage, she doesn't bite and just takes the peanut and holds it with her feet and bites chimps out of it. Sure its a lovely thing to see, however i want to be able to enjoy my parrot and put her on my finger.

When i put my finger underneath her feet, she hops on. But when i put my finger next to her beak, a bit lower then her beak, she bites and attacks. She even sometimes refuses to hop onto my finger despite the fact that she seems to be playful, healthy and happy.

Last night something weird happened. I only had her for 5 days till now, so on the fifth day, i covered her cage with a blanket before i slept, i walked backed into the living room later on to check on her and noticed she was attacking one of her toys aggressively. When i placed the blanket on her cage, i also switched off the lights and it was a bit dark. Could it be that she is afraid of the dark and gets the feeling someone might attack her since she can't see.

So the next day i basically covered the cage with the blanket and dimmed the lights to a level where she is able to see, she slept fine from what i could tell, but she kept on attacking the toy even 2 days later which is ODD, so i decided to remove the toy she keeps attacking.

I just want to be able to have her hop onto my finger without biting me.

Any helps/tips/ideas are highly appreciated, thanks for reading this long paragraph!

[Melika]

Welcome.

Attacking the toy could be a couple of things. She might be a little hormonal, depending upon where you live, or she just chose her toy to take her aggression out on. Hane has a toy he does this with, and so does my tiel. I like to leave the toy in the cage, to give my birds a focus for their anger (or whatever it is!).

Sometimes a bird just does not want to come out. I tend to use just one or two perches for removing Hane from his cage. I ask him if he wants to come out and put my finger up by the perch. If he walks over and steps up, he's willing to come out. If he runs away I try again later. This way it's really up to him. I can't say he always gets his way in this, sometimes I know when I can push him a little but I also can usually tell when I cannot!

Try being consistent where you place your finger for a step-up. I think she imagines you are trying to touch her head and that is why she attacks when your finger is coming at her face. To keep from sending mixed messages, always put your finger by the feet to step-up.


For some insight into the mind of a bird and your relationship with parrots, I really like this video. Marc (the guy) started handling birds way back in the beginning when most were still wild-caught. He had to learn through trial and error and has so much to share.
http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Teach- ... -241278288