Hey Lafeber, I have a Indian Ringneck who is about 1 year old I believe and I’ve owned for a few months now. When I first got her I left her to be alone for a few weeks to settle into the house and get used to everything, then I started to slowly start the taming process but I dont know what more to do, she can take treats from my hands I don’t think its working, any tips?
Hi,
The process of taming a wild parrot is usually very, very slow. Even when bred in captivity, parrots are still an exotic species, and if they are not hand fed or socialized during the parent feeding process, then you basically have a wild parrot. Other than being more familiar with people, the bird is wild. Even if the bird was hand fed, if she was not handled a lot, then she reverted to being wild. As for taming her, the fact that she does accept food from your hand shows that you have made some progress. IRN parrots have the tendency to be hand shy and stand offish anyway, even when hand fed. It comes down to a bird’s individual personality. Don’t give up on her – she is learning to trust you. Try not to have expectations of how she should interact with you. Do things to encourage her to approach you. Pretend to ignore her while you eat something she would enjoy, or handle a bird toy she might like. This will make her curious and want to join you. Never reach for her or try to pet her – let her approach you. She is a prey animal, so when you reach for her, she feels like a predator is trying to catch her. I’ll give you the links to our pages on behavior and training and I think those will help you a lot.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
