Hello from Holland!

[Bohasu]

Hello,

I will take this opportunity to introduce myself and my IRN.

My name is Peggy and i live in a small town in Limburg in the Netherlands. I am 34 years old and i work as a nurse in a home for the elderly that have illnesses like dementia and alzheimer.
I live together with my girlfriend for over 13years and we have two dogs, cavalier king charles spaniels named Fleur and Yindi.
Also we have a little Forpus named Pucky and since 12 may a Indian Ringneck named Ollie, Ollie is as far as i know hand-fed by the breeder, but he didn't do much more with the birds.. just feeding and back on top of their cage.... Ollie is named after the character Oliver Queen from the series Arrow. He is born end march.
A cute little bird witch i don't know if he is male of female. But i always say him and he ;)
I noticed that taming him is "just" a little bit more work then i had with my forpus and my agapornisses i had before. They were much easier.
Ollie is scared, he is won't eat from my hand or even if my hand is in his cage. When i ask him to step up, mostly i have to try a couple of times during that hour before he has the trust to step up, but when he has the chance he wil fly back to his cage
When i am to close for him he threatens to attack or bite, but he doesn't more than opening his beak and flapping his wings. For me a sign to go out of his space that he doesn't like it at all.
The whole day he can sit on top of his cage, and that is just fine with him, he likes sitting there doesn't try to go flying, climbs up and down the bars, i can walk by the cage without him to freak out, but as soon if i stand still in front of the cage panic is in the house he starts flapping and try's to get the heck out of the space were i am.
The aga's and the forpus were within 4 weeks tamed, well they trusted me, they came to me, ate from my hand, sit on my head and stuff like that.... Ollie is more work as i can see
I will explore this forum some more for tips and tricks, but if anyone want to share anything that will help me with taming him all tips and advises are more than welcome.

Hope my story is understandable if not, i am very sorry for my poor English i did my best and google translate is not much of a help

Regards,
Peggy and Ollie

[MissK]

Hi Peggy, and welcome to the Forum! You did a very good job with your English; I had no trouble at all with understanding. I guarantee you would not be understanding anything I might try to say in Dutch! I am delighted that you made the effort.

Hoi Peggy, en welkom op het Forum! U heeft een zeer goede baan met je Engels; Ik had geen moeite met begrip. Ik garandeer je zou niet alles wat ik zou kunnen proberen om te zeggen in het Nederlands te begrijpen! Ik ben blij dat je de inspanning.

You have had your Indian Ringneck for less than three weeks time. He may need more time to be comfortable. However, as long as you two practice the skills he has already, it will get better. When you ask him to step up please give him wonderful treats. My bird will sit on my arm and eat treats almost as long as I have treats to give him. It seems that getting many tiny treats makes him feel he deserves more and more, and to get them faster. This makes him impatient and bold. He might forget he is uncomfortable with something and will do it so he can get more treats quickly. Perhaps your bird will be the same.

U hebt uw Halsbandparkiet had minder dan drie weken tijd. Hij kan meer tijd nodig hebben om comfortabel. Echter, zolang je twee oefenen de vaardigheden die hij al heeft, zal het beter krijgen. Mijn vogel zal op mijn arm zitten en eten behandelt bijna net zo lang als ik traktaties om hem te geven. Het lijkt erop dat het krijgen van vele kleine traktaties maakt hem het gevoel dat hij verdient meer en meer, en om ze sneller te krijgen. Dit maakt hem ongeduldig en vet. Hij zou vergeten dat hij ongemakkelijk met iets en zal het doen, zodat hij kan meer traktaties snel. Misschien is uw vogel zal hetzelfde zijn.

Regarding the bird not wanting you to come near -- you should discover what distance is comfortable for him and then place your chair that same distance from where he spends all his time. You spend a lot of time there too, so he gets accustomed to you, and then you start inching the chair closer. Another way to do the same thing is to sleep with your bird. If you can easily get him into your bedroom it would be OK. Otherwise you could bring your mattress near the cage. My bird is mainly comfortable with me, but I found that when he sleeps in my room he relaxes even more.

Ten aanzien van de vogel niet te willen je in de buurt komen - je moet ontdekken wat de afstand is comfortabel voor hem en plaats dan uw stoel die even ver van waar hij besteedt al zijn tijd. U besteedt veel tijd er ook, dus hij raakt gewend aan u, en dan begin je tippen de stoel dichterbij. Een andere manier om hetzelfde te doen is om te slapen met de vogel. Als je hem gemakkelijk kunt krijgen in je slaapkamer het OK zou zijn. Anders kun je je matras te brengen in de buurt van de kooi. Mijn vogel is vooral comfortabel met mij, maar ik vond dat als hij slaapt in mijn kamer hij ontspant nog meer.

The secret to the Indian Ringneck is their greed. They LOVE their treats. This is most of what you need to know! Find the preferred food and give it to him through the bars of the cage. When the bird will take the food that way, everything else will come in time.

Het geheim van de Halsbandparkiet is hun hebzucht. Ze houden van hun lekkernijen. Dit is het meeste van wat je moet weten! : lol: Vind het aangewezen voedsel en geef het aan hem door de tralies van de kooi. Wanneer de vogel het voedsel dat weg zal nemen, zal al het andere komen in de tijd. **Google Translate did this!

[Bohasu]

Hi MissK,

Thank you very much for your reply and your compliment Typing English is good for me, i am back at school at the moment for getting a higher degree in my nursing, and next school year i have an exam in English So this is a nice training for me But back to Ollie

The "problem" with Ollie is, that he won't eat from my hand, so if he steps up if i ask him i can't reward him with treats because he is scared to take it from me. Someone at a dutch community said i had to give him less food, so he will get hungry and will eat from my hand... i definitely refuse that! ....But i really tried so many kinds of food to try if he wants to eat it from my hand, but with no success!

I give him every day vegetables and fruit in a bowl, he takes it and drops it on the flour, when it is on the flour he leaves it there, sometimes he eats some apple.

A couple of times i noticed that he likes showering (i shower him with a spray bottle what normally is used for plants) At that time he trust me totally, i can come so close to him that i am aloud to touch him, he steps ups and stays on my hand. So now i am "training" with him, and if he does what i am asking him, i will spray him, he realy enjoys that! When he is enjoying i will try to get him so far that he will trust me with treats.

I know i am a little bit inpatient with him, i think because my forpus and aga's were so easy with taming. But i won't give up and will keep on training with him. Today a day with showering he stept up without problems, he didn't threatened me or tried to bite, but when he stepped up he wants to get right back on his cage, so i am easy on trying to get him to stay on my arm longer.

Ollie

[MissK]

Ollie is certainly beautiful. I have not heard of a bird getting a shower for his reward before, but if it is working, then that's the thing to do! It's wonderful he can relax for this. I bet you love it!

Keep trying to find a food he really likes. Offer some small bit of bread or cracker or even dry breakfast cereal. Try some nuts. Try oats. My bird even likes chicken! You can offer all these foods, I'm sure you know the way, to find out which one he likes. I don't think he will want to take food from you while he has the shower, but try it. Especially try it with the food he loves, if you discover what that is.

I have not trained Lovebirds or Parrotlets, but I imagine there would be a number of similarities in the method. Maybe what you just really need is a friend to discuss it with and not feel all alone in it.

[Bohasu]

Lovebirds and Parrolets... i knew they were called different, just didn't know the names anymore hahaha. My lovebirds were just a little bit harder to tame then the parrolet... The parrolet was 6 months old when i got him and within 3 weeks he was my "biggest" friend ... The lovebird always kept a mind of his own, after a while he didn't liked me anymore and was totally fan of my partner, every time i want to change his food or water he bit me just so hard, wasn't fun anymore hahaha

Yeah Ollie is a bit a strange bird in that case, he just won't eat from my hand... he tried to take a pecan nut from my mouth once... he took it and threw it on the ground, he didn't ate it. Showering he just love!
And yes i was totally in love with him, that he trusted me that much, so i could tough him, without him being scared, i was really surprised, was happy like a child with a new toy He even played/ sit with me a little time on the dining table. As soon as a walked by his cage, he went back on to it, it is really his safe-zone.
We have a sort of rail on top of or ceiling were ropes hang from, so you can hang pictures or paintings on them without putting nails or screws in the walls, so he discovered that rope and that is very fun to play with They hang right above his cage.... So i will hang some toys from him at the ropes so he has some real toys to play with when he is on top of his cage, not just a rope.

You are absolutely right i just need a friend to discuss with, who have some more experience, that can tell me i am doing good and that i am not alone. That is why i want to thank you again for your time to read my post and answer them with so much love and passion, it really helps