my new one won't take treats.

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aliyaamelia
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2014 11:09 am

my new one won't take treats.

Post by aliyaamelia »

I just recently got a 12 week old indian ringneck. Had it for aprox a week now.
im going to call it she although i dont know what sex yet.
she comes out of her cage on her own.
steps up on my hand when i approach her and lets me scrach her neck and seems fine with me touching her. Not so much inside the cage, But outside shes fine with it.
But, she dont want to take any treats from me. She eats her food from her dish fine. But shows no interest to anything i offer in my hand.
Maybe shes nervous maybe uncomfortable still. Everything is still new?
But does anyone have any tips on how to get her to take treats.or does this usually take time.
It will be hard to train with no treats :/
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InTheAir
Posts: 2040
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2013 4:24 pm

Re: my new one won't take treats.

Post by InTheAir »

This seems to be the most common question on here at the moment.
I haven't had that problem with either of my birds, but I do remember reading that parrots are less food motivated while they fledge and finesse their flight skills.
I didn't actually do any real training with mine until they were over 4 months old. With Nila we just let him do his thing and he was tame anyway. With Sapphire we made friends with her and, when she was functionally tame, let her do her thing... though we did reinforce almost every interaction with her during that time. With Nila we were too ignorant to realise that we should reward him for stepping up.

I believe some people class company as a primary reinforcer for flock animals, so I think the attention an imprinted bird gets for stepping up is enough of a reinforcer for some birds anyway. Keep offering treats and I'm sure she will accept them one day.
aliyaamelia
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2014 11:09 am

Re: my new one won't take treats.

Post by aliyaamelia »

Thank you.
I hope she will in the future.
il keep trying, was reading that getting a training perch with a little bowl attached to it might be useful in training if she dont take treats from me directly i can drop the treat in the bowl when she does good. Might try that. But for now as you said im going to let her do her thing, and keep interacting with her. Maybe when shes more settled she will trust me more and than it might work :)
Wessel Gordon
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Location: South Africa
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Re: my new one won't take treats.

Post by Wessel Gordon »

aliyaamelia,

A week is a very short time to convince a bird to take a treat from your hand. I have a young bird (hatched in October last year and supposedly hand-reared) that it took me till about 2 months ago to convince him to take a treat from my hand.

So be patient and consistent. In the end you will succeed.

Wessel
aliyaamelia
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2014 11:09 am

Re: my new one won't take treats.

Post by aliyaamelia »

Thank you for your reply.
Yes i have come to understand that patience is a big one when it comes to ringnecks :)
but were getting there. Yesterday cookie took sunflowerseeds from my hand for the first time and now i can give her bits of fruit etc. If shes not interested i put it in her bowl and wait for next time. Were getting along good and im sure with time this will be really good ;) thank you
Wessel Gordon
Posts: 408
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:02 pm
Location: South Africa
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Re: my new one won't take treats.

Post by Wessel Gordon »

That's very good progress.

Just don't get discouraged if she doesn't take a treat from you every single time you offer it. My youngest bird sometimes still does a "grab and run for your life" when he takes treats from me but that might just be because he shares a cage with two other IRN's that seem to suck up treats faster than a vacuum cleaner.
InTheAir
Posts: 2040
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2013 4:24 pm

Re: my new one won't take treats.

Post by InTheAir »

That's great progress, Ali.
Just think, some people spend a fortune trying to learn patience from meditation techniques and stuff, we get to learn it for free from our birds. :mrgreen:
GeveZe
Posts: 142
Joined: Sat Jan 25, 2014 3:39 am

Re: my new one won't take treats.

Post by GeveZe »

InTheAir wrote:That's great progress, Ali.
Just think, some people spend a fortune trying to learn patience from meditation techniques and stuff, we get to learn it for free from our birds. :mrgreen:

:lol: :lol:
aliyaamelia
Posts: 27
Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2014 11:09 am

Re: my new one won't take treats.

Post by aliyaamelia »

Lol :D
Yes thats so funny, and very true
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