My indian ring neck wont take any food from my hand.

[Annatema]

Hi Everyone!

I have got an Indian ring neck parrot , that is around 3-4 years old, I call him Charlie now.
I´ve had him for one week now, but the owner before didn´t work with him at all,he just had him inside the cage all the time, so when I got him, he was afraid and just wanted to fly away when I tried to touch him or get him on my finger. But never showed signs of aggression or bitting.

He is a very kind and clever bird so after a few days he now steps up to my finger, and I can touch him sometimes like, when he´s sitts in a corner and has no oportunitty to fly away, but he doesent react with aggression, like bitting and stuff, he is really kind.The only thing he does when he doesent like what Im trying to do with him, is flying away lol

The only "Problem" is that he refuses to take or eat any food from my hand. I tried to leave him without food up to 8hours but he wont take any food even of that. He just gets the seed from my hand and throws it away. I´ve also tried with spary seeds it work once for like 2 bites on it and then he refussed again.
Tried even with fruits and vegitables, he loves apples but dont want to eat it from my hand neither.
I´ve tried to feed him inside the cage but that does neither work.
He eats normally like 6 or more times a day, and He is comfortable eating in my presence, but only if I dont pay attention to him while eating, when I turn my head and watch him eat, he immidiatly stops eating and just looks back to me.

Hope you can help me and finde a solution for this thing, so I can continue to train him with the clicker and give him award after that, wich is impossible now when he refusses to take any food from me!

thanx a llot

Respect Anatema!

[Jamiepd]

Hi I have never had that problem but I think you are doing the right thing. I think if you keep trying in time he will trust you. They get interested in what you play with so maybe just play with the food a bit while you chat away to your bird.

[Jamiepd]

Another thing could be he may be scared of the palm of you hand because they know you can grab them and put them back in the cage try putting the food on top of your hand.

[ellieelectrons]

Hi Anna

Welcome!

Try offering your bird first thing in the morning before you refresh his food for the day... as this is when he will be hungriest. Even if he won't take the food the first few times (maybe even lots of times), watch for little signs of encouragement such as taking one step toward the apple... and know that when you see that you are making progress. Also, if apple is his favourite food, you can remove it from his normal diet and use it just as a treat that he gets when he takes it from you. I'm not suggesting you deprive him of a healthy diet - just reserve his favourites for treats when working with you.

I'm going to offer a personal opinion here... I don't mind if you disagree... but just wanted to tell you what I thought in case it is helpful. Generally, I wouldn't be trying to touch your bird when he is more or less "cornered" and has no other choice but to allow you touch him. Although he may not bite you (perhaps because he has a gentle nature), that doesn't mean that he likes it... and it may encourage him to learn to bite you as he gets older.

I hope that is of some help.

Training birds is hard. Takes a lot of time and patience and love... but ultimately it is worth it.

Good luck.

Ellie.

[bec]

try popcorn!!!
put a couple of peices in his bowl just till he gets the taste for it
(if the previous owner didnt spend much time on him he probably has never tasted it
once he likes it try having a bowl of it on hand when you have him out of the cage
its a food that ALL my irns love and it can be taken out of the daily food with out your bird missing out
another thing that worked for me with a bird i got as an adult was offering a small bowl in my other hand
hands can be very scary sometimes to birds also as jamiepd said riku at first would only take food from my hand when i made a fist then stuck apple pieces between my fingers