IndianRingNeck.com

Hello All,

I got my baby boy yesterday from a local breeder. She said he was hand fed and about 6 months old. He is not yet hand tamed. I have him set up in his cage in the kitchen and he is very nervous, sitting in the corner shaking. She gave me a bag of the mix he has been eating but he has not eaten a thing since he has been with me! Or made one sound. I am worried. He will let me walk past his cage without freaking out and I even put my hand in for a second. I wondering, is it normal he has not eaten? Also, What is the first step to hand taming him?

He is probably just very scared right now but if he goes another day without eating I would at least call an avian vet to see what they say. Another thing is to buy a bird scale and if you see a drop in the bird's normal weight that is more than 10% then that is no good. They hide their illnesses very well.
When I brought my guy home he was very scared as well and had not been paid much attention to for his whole life which was 1.5 years. Thank goodness his strikes are all just fake! He does not seem to know how to bite. He used to jump off my hand and everything scared him. He still is a little flighty but he is getting more comfortable by the day. I would just sit next to his cage a lot like at least an hour a day and read a book preferably aloud so that he gets comfortable with you. Also, watch Tv and have the cage very close to where you are sitting. Another thing that works is to put a big comfy comforter or blanket, pillows in your tub and just sit there with him for a while because this way he has no where to go but be by you. If you do this don't push it too far just let him explore.
I hope this helps!