New here, Want some advise on getting to know my new bird

[Carley]

Hi All,
I have just purchased an Indian Ringneck named Georgie, dont think it's hand reared, it is 11 months old and i don't know it's sex and have decided it will be more fun to wait until the ring appears (or doesn't) to find out its sex, figured it would be more fun that way like waiting to find out your new babies sex So i have a few questions about it, mainly about getting it used to the new environment, i really don't want to do anything to scare it, just want my baby to be happy here and love me as much as i love it. So Georgie seems to be pretty happy so far, loving the cage (although won't go down the bottom), enjoying all the food i'm offering, and pooping well, seems pretty good with people. I haven't handled Georgie at all yet, tbh i'm sorta scared at how i will react if it bites me, and i have heard i shouldn't react at all, so first question how much does it hurt? lol. And the other reason for not handling is i figured it would need to get used to the new environment and me before i scare the crap outta it and try and get it out. I know it bites as it bit the chick in the pet store when she got it out, and she handled it perfectly (like it didn't happen). Georgie wont let me hand feed yet, but i am still trying to find it's favorite foods, so i'm hoping when i find the food it can't resist, it will happen and with time i'm guessing. What milestones would you guys suggest we reach before we attempt getting Georgie out of the cage, and when we do should we just leave the door open and hope it comes out, or should i be able to handle it without stressing it out before i attempt to get it out of the cage, cause i'm figuring even if it wanders out by itself i'm still going to run into problems when i want to get it back in. I really don't want to ruin any trust i have gained with Georgie, and i feel it is settling in very well, and has been chirping today and been a lot less jumpy. At the moment i have set myself a goal of getting Georgie to eat out of my hand to start with, so any tips on that would be awesome. Also any threads, websites and video's u guys could suggest would be really helpful. I have been doing a lot of research online, but sometimes it's hard to know who knows what they are talking about, so any past experiences with your birds would be great to hear about. Thank you in advance for your advise and let me know if i have missed anything (such a long post). Look forward to getting to know everyone and sharing our awesome pets.

[Blueberrybird]

Well you have definitely come to the right place for great info and advise, I would give you some, but I am brand new at this myself, and have relied heavily on this forum for tips. I can tell you I was scared of getting bitten too, I wrapped both of my index fingers with medical tape before I braved the brak, it kept the skin from getting broken lol, I'm a dork, but it worked. Once he figured out he wasn't hurting me he eased up on the bites. Will he take food from you through the bars?

[Carley]

nah won't take food from me yet, i have tryed placing it between the bars and resting my hand on the cage below to get it used to my hands but it wont eat it, so i am just going to be very persistent and take the food away if it doesn't eat it while my hand is there

[ShirleyBird]

Hi and congratulations on ur new love! We are also newbies to ringnecks...we got drawn in by a pet store and ended up with 2( we were planning on adding a bird, kind undecided, and didn't plan on 2. Lol) Mine are not tame either, they are almost 9 mths. I was extremely afraid of getting bit! I just reminded myself they don't have hands and use their beak for everything aggressive or not. We can feed them though bars and get close to them( still can't touch and its been almost 2 mths). They love coming out of the cage and are trying out different sounds....I guess my advice is take ur time. Let them tell you how far to go.Try something and if they seem to get stressed then stop. I did learn That birds don't hold on to things, if they bite out of fear/anger, they sent you a message and its over with, they don't sit a plan to rebite once your finger is available.lol. There is a bunch of useful info in forum, Just remember every bird is different, like every human, so try not to expect the same results. Welcome and best wishes.