Hello,
Welcome to our forum!
Now, let's address the topic of biting. Before we get into answering how you can deal with the biting let's look at the world through your bird's eyes first.
In your post you had said the bird had not been handled, so from this I'm going to assume the bird does not know you as of yet and might be uncertain of your intentions. You also said you acquired the bird around a week and a half ago I might add. That being said, I would give the bird time to adjust to you and its surroundings. The bird might be agitated due to the sudden change in its environment and is now being asked to be handled--so give him time ;) . That being said, the bird will more than likely react by biting as it is the only thing to try to communicate its wishes to you.
So, there are two ways you can approach this biting--assuming the bird is biting due to not being well socialized and tamed. The first and highly recommended one would be to adopt a positive reinforcement program. Start by offering the bird treats and gradually persuading the bird to step up onto your hands. This is a lengthy process, but it is well worth the effort. Once the bird is sure of your intentions, and has mastered stepping onto your hand effortlessly, take the bird and start incorporating the bird into your life. What do I mean by this? This simply means that if the bird steps up, then you can handle it while you're doing dishes, watching television, or moving it to its play stand. Over time, the bird will come to associate you as something exciting and will gladly enjoy your company. Hopefully, this time spent with the bird will create a bond.
The other option would be to give the bird a few weeks to settle in then start incorporating the bird into your life without using positive reinforcement. For example, you might want to take the bird into a quiet place and just hold him there. This will help the bird get to know your intentions. Do this daily over and over, and the bird will become tame.
I should note that tame in my book only means the bird is comfortable around humans, nothing more. It does not mean the bird is bonded to you or the bird has mastered any tricks. ;)
Once you have gotten to the point where your ringneck is tame, it is important you ignore all biting. Don't react to it, don't make eye contact, or don't punish the bird. These birds do not understand punishments. If the bird bites, just pull your hand back or distract it.
Once the bird understands that biting is not an effective route of communication, it usually ceases. Your goal should be to continually reward the bird for positive behavior and ignore all unwanted behavior. If you stick to this and be consistent then you'll have a tame ringneck in no time that does not bite.
If you do go the positive reinforcement route, check our member InTheAir as she has tamed an aviary bred ringneck through positive reinforcement. She has done remarkable things with her two birds. I'm sure she'll stop in and get you started.
If you just want to work with the bird by handling it, check out or member mazziesmom as she runs a parrot rescore. Though she is no longer active on the forum, I was able to pull an old article she wrote in the past from the web archive about her bird Mazzie.
https://web.archive.org/web/20050214124 ... zstory.htm
Best of luck and keep us updated!
Best wishes, ;)
IMRAN-C