My ringneck doesn't seem to like me
Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 2:25 pm
Hi Everyone,
Just some background on my experience with other birds... I grew up with two parakeets (budgies) and a cockatiel. All three of them trusted me and bonded with me, especially the cockatiel, who loved head scratches...
Two weeks ago (on October 11) I went to a small pet store by the beach in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware (it's called Farmer Girl - Exotic Birds), and I found an Indian Ringneck. The store's records showed that he hatched on May 16, 2015, so he's only 5 months old. They put him on my finger and he was fine. I took him home, and I also bought the cage he was in at the store (I think this was a mistake...), and of course he was scared for the first day or so, but then he got comfortable - as long as he's in or on top of his cage... and keep my hands away from him. Anytime he's on or in his cage, he runs away and will not let my hand get near him unless I'm holding food or a toy.
Strangely, whenever he tries to fly off his cage and he falls to the ground (they clipped his wings at the store), he comes running to my finger for me to pick him up. I usually use this opportunity to keep him on my finger to see if that will help him stop being scared of my hand. He then calms down and starts fixing his feathers while on my finger, and he puffs up, so he's clearly content. So I don't understand why he's comfortable on my finger when he's on it, but when he's on/in his cage, it's impossible to get him on my finger without him getting scared. I NEVER force him to do anything. He's already been on my finger many times before, so I don't get why he still runs away and panics when he's at his cage? He doesn't act like this when he's on a piece of furniture or somewhere else in the house.
What is the solution to this? I feel like 2 weeks is starting to get too long to be running away from me (our cockatiel let us scratch her head from day one...), but I also never had a ringneck and understand that every bird is different. Is this just a bad personality match and should I just give him away? Should I keep him away from his cage? He tries to spend the entire day on his cage, even when I open it and let him go wherever he wants to, and he won't let me pick him up when he's at his cage, only when he's away from it. Ughhh -.-
Just some background on my experience with other birds... I grew up with two parakeets (budgies) and a cockatiel. All three of them trusted me and bonded with me, especially the cockatiel, who loved head scratches...
Two weeks ago (on October 11) I went to a small pet store by the beach in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware (it's called Farmer Girl - Exotic Birds), and I found an Indian Ringneck. The store's records showed that he hatched on May 16, 2015, so he's only 5 months old. They put him on my finger and he was fine. I took him home, and I also bought the cage he was in at the store (I think this was a mistake...), and of course he was scared for the first day or so, but then he got comfortable - as long as he's in or on top of his cage... and keep my hands away from him. Anytime he's on or in his cage, he runs away and will not let my hand get near him unless I'm holding food or a toy.
Strangely, whenever he tries to fly off his cage and he falls to the ground (they clipped his wings at the store), he comes running to my finger for me to pick him up. I usually use this opportunity to keep him on my finger to see if that will help him stop being scared of my hand. He then calms down and starts fixing his feathers while on my finger, and he puffs up, so he's clearly content. So I don't understand why he's comfortable on my finger when he's on it, but when he's on/in his cage, it's impossible to get him on my finger without him getting scared. I NEVER force him to do anything. He's already been on my finger many times before, so I don't get why he still runs away and panics when he's at his cage? He doesn't act like this when he's on a piece of furniture or somewhere else in the house.
What is the solution to this? I feel like 2 weeks is starting to get too long to be running away from me (our cockatiel let us scratch her head from day one...), but I also never had a ringneck and understand that every bird is different. Is this just a bad personality match and should I just give him away? Should I keep him away from his cage? He tries to spend the entire day on his cage, even when I open it and let him go wherever he wants to, and he won't let me pick him up when he's at his cage, only when he's away from it. Ughhh -.-