hi everyone, I am new to this and new to raising ring necks, I bought one about 5 ths ago when he or she looked like a chicken hehehehe, he is tame well he was until we had a party and now he bits, but I still love him..he loves peanut butter not sure if thats good for him so should I stop giving it to him ? also yesterday I went and saved a 2 year old male ringneck that was forsale online, god his living conditions where so terriable,Im glad I saved him, he really bits but ill try and train him not too, any ideas ? my house is turning into an avery but I love birds , so no doubt ill buy more and more, but first I have to try and get these 2 under control hehehe..anyway im happy to be hear and read all your advise all the best from Julie
the ring neck bird lover
In my experience, the best way to prevent bites is to figure out what is causing them and avoid getting into that situation again. Unfortunately it isn't always easy to figure out what is causing the bite but in my experience, a bite always means something such as "I'm scared", "I'm defending my territory / my favourite things / my favourite person", "I don't want to do that right now so don't make me", "what is that weird thing?" or "I'm excited". Generally you want to interact with your birds when they are calm. The other thing that can be helpful is to learn about the bird's natural instincts because a bite my appear to be "for no reason" to us but it will have a very good reason for the bird. For example, I was holding our IRN Janey the other day and all of a sudden she flew from me to my husband's hand and proceeded to bite into his thumb over and over again. She drew blood and left a scar. My husband figured out what caused it though. Just before she flew at him, he had opened a cupboard that she has a nesting interest in... so she flew at him to protect her possible future nesting site. He's learnt now to not open that cupboard when she is in the room.
I'm sure others can share their approaches too.
This approach is perhaps more work than others but I find it does serve to build a bond of trust with your bird.
Good luck and best wishes. Well done for saving your male.
Ellie.
P.S. I think peanut butter is okay but only in small quantities because it's so fatty. Just give it as an occasional reward.
thanks ellie , for your advise, the boy is named ringo which is strange because mine is called star, so I had to buy him, I let him out of the cage tonight and he wasnt that bad , I could get him back in the cage with a stick, I think he must be happy in his new house.. As for star I will start giving her the peanut butter as a reward for not bitting, already its working..thanks again for your advise..Im sure ill be asking more questions when they want to mate..if star is a girl that is hehehe..
Thanks for your advise, Last night after a few too many wines I took the IRn boy ringo out of his cage, I have only had him 3 days , I saved him from a bad home, Well since I had more courage I though I must of been a bird whisper and attempted to try and hold him. LOL my god my girl star doesnt bite compared to him, WOW blood every where I wont be getting him in my hands for a while, He hops on a stick no problems so ill keep using the stick and not my fingers lol..
The wild IRNs around here bite only when other birds encroach too closely on their space. The sparrows, for example, night jump on an IRN's back at the feeder to try and bump him off. The IRN will bite the sparrow and make the poor bird scream like a banshee. Otherwise, the IRN will not bite. I think you can extrapolate from that to any "personal space" issue if you want to avoid getting bit. Keep out of their space, and also take a lot of time with these birds and don't expect too much out of them. Let them gracefully grow into their petitude.
hi everyone, I am new to this and new to raising ring necks, I bought one about 5 ths ago when he or she looked like a chicken hehehehe, he is tame well he was until we had a party and now he bits, but I still love him..he loves peanut butter not sure if thats good for him so should I stop giving it to him ? also yesterday I went and saved a 2 year old male ringneck that was forsale online, god his living conditions where so terriable,Im glad I saved him, he really bits but ill try and train him not too, any ideas ? my house is turning into an avery but I love birds , so no doubt ill buy more and more, but first I have to try and get these 2 under control hehehe..anyway im happy to be hear and read all your advise all the best from Julie
I wont be getting him in my hands for a while, He hops on a stick no problems so ill keep using the stick and not my fingers lol..