Hello! & Help with an IRN please

[ropotan]

Hello!

My name is Alex, I'm 22 years old, from Romania (Eastern Europe) . I received an Indian Ringneck as a gift 2-3 years ago. Although I'm completely against giving live animals as gifts, I couldn't refuse it so I did my research as best as I could in an effort to make her life as good as possible (it's a she , and her name's Taco).
Unfortunately, she was bought from a local pet store and not only did I "receive" her in an awful condition (her feathers were all messed up and she was incredibly scared), but the people at the store said she was actually a "he", so I patiently waited until about 2.5-3 years old to see if a ring would finally grow, but it didn't.

Due to the fact that I had to go study at a university in another town and the dorm conditions weren't fit for a parrot (8-10 hours of uninterrupted sleep, etc), I left Taco home in the care of my mom, a huge animal fan that took good care of her, in terms of socializing, cleaning and making sure she has toys to play with, but she made a big mistake in letting Taco out of her cage constantly. Basically Taco hasn't spent 1 night in her cage for about 2 years now (she's 3 y/o). She had boings and playstands installed in the room her cage was in and in the balcony aswell. My mom also moved the water and food bowls outside the cage.

When I sometimes returned home for the weekend I tried moving the food and water bowls inside the cage as to try to get her readjusted with getting in and out of the cage, but she just wouldn't eat or drink all day long, so I ended up in moving the bowls just outside the entrance, and then gradually moving them inside. As soon as they're inside Taco will stop eating period.

So this is the story so far. Now I've moved to an apartment and I feel I can take proper care of Taco, so I'm taking her with me. I have a few questions:

1. I toweled her and put her in her cage but it's too small, about 60x33x80 cm (23" x 13" x 31") L x W x H. I want to buy a big, comfy cage for her but there aren't many big cages I can find (online and local pet shops). I've somewhat made my mind on buying this one, it's rather large - 86*75.5*166.5cm (33"x29"x65"), although I would have preferred a flat-top one or a playtop one, but can't afford one of similar size. Is this a decent cage? Would it be a decent choice?

2. I'd really need some help taming-wise. Taco is semi-feral: although she likes to bring a toy and chew it on my arm and takes food from our hand, that's about as far as socializing goes. She is quite territorial, bites and is absolutely terrified of open palms / hands (I suspect she was handled a lot at the pet shop), and we couldn't fix this all these years: I tried clicker training, but couldn't go past "touch", where she would touch a wooden stick and receive a reward. Upon gradual removal of the stick and / or moving my hands closer to her (in attempt to try to make her sit on my finger), she would just back off. I went back a step and tried again for about one more month, but then I gave up.
As far as biting goes, I tried to do what everyone's saying, don't back off, it's just a bluffing stage etc., but she has this chewing motion as opposed to just biting and backing off as I see other birds doing in various clips and I don't know how to handle that.
I would greatly appreciate some tips on bonding with her, because I'm terribly confused as what to do: my dream is to be able to let her out of the cage and play with me, or sit on a playstand, when I'm around and can supervise her, and also be able to pick her up and put her back in the cage for the night or when I need to go.
What should I do at this point? Should I try bonding with her within her new cage and let her out only after ( if ) she's tamed enough to sit up/down so I can retrieve her?
I know about wing clipping but personally I feel that I'm creating a handicap and forcing a bond on her, and I don't trust vets around here aswell (there are no good avian vets that I'd trust my bird with).

Thank you so much and I'm very sorry for the long read, I just wanted to describe the situation as best as I can. Also, excuse my English. Looking forward for some tips!

[ropotan]

and some Taco pics

[ropotan]

Hello Ariahna!

1. I don't know the exact inside height of the cage, it isn't specified, but it's almost the outside height apparently (I've attached an image of the cage below). PJ's cage is very nice, I originally looked for something similar

2. She is territorial on her boing and playstands aswell, but she's most aggressive on her cage. She will usually lunge at my fingers if i put a toy that she particularly enjoys playing with, on her cage.

3. I'm a big fan of clicker training, my dog responded very well to it, so I'm definitely giving it a shot again . I'll try to be more consistent and patient.

4. I'm thinking of trying a method I've seen recently to stop the biting, where I move my hand closer to the bird and use clicker training to reward her for not biting, and gradually move closer.

5. The going in and out of the cage part is by far the most difficult, she definitely hates the cage and it seems she'd rather starve than go into the open cage just to eat, so I'm not sure how to manage this. Maybe after she gets comfortable in the new, more spacious cage, she'll change her mind about spending time inside?

6. The biggest concern I have about clipping her wings is that vets around here have little to 0 experience with parrots. There are no "dedicated" avian clinics or vets, and I really don't trust most of them, as there are very few vet clinics that are actually good with "more common" pets such as cats and dogs. I know that, if they don't cut the flight feathers properly, they can hit a vein and the parrot can bleed to death. This is my biggest concern.

This is the cage:


Just watched PJ playing "the shell game"! He is so cute and learns so fast

[oneconfusedcat]

Hi! I'm also from Romania (Bucharest by any chance?). I just got my INR on Sunday and I am all stressed out here, especially with food. People think I'm exaggerating, but the last thing I ant is to get Ozzy sick.
As you had Taco for a long time now and we both live in the same area, at least the same country, I would like to ask you a few short questions:
1. Bird seeds? Do you have a fav brand?
2. Inshell fresh peanuts? yes or no?
3. How many seeds all together / day? 20 gr, 30gr?
4. I know you're been having a hard time getting Taco into her cage, but I have a q about the cage? Do you have anything on the bottom? Mine is a bit scared to step off on th bottom as it is slippery and she has nothing to hang on to.
5. Is it ok if I let her out after 10 days? Should I clip the wings?
6. Did you feed Taco any type of bread/cereal? If so which?
7. What else, besides fruit and veggies, do you feed Taco?

Thanks very much in advance!