Really Mean Black Capped Conure

Hello, I recently bought a black capped conure from the not best place so he is not hand tamed. I have spent over a week trying to get him to like my hand, but it is not working. I would leave my hand in the cage and not do anything while he runs around frantically for 10 minutes. Whenever I hand feed fruits, he will take it quickly and run away. I leave the cage open for him almost the whole day except nighttime, so he likes to spend his time on top of the cage. He does not explore the house or anything, but just stands at that same spot the whole day. However, if I put my hand near it, he will run as quick as possible. I have not been able to hold him even once. The only time I can SOMETIMES touch him is if the cage is closed and he lets me scratch his neck through the bars.
I have 2 other conures who are extremely tame so I do not understand why this is like this.

This is really frustrating me and I really don't know what to do. I don't want to give up on him since it looks like he had a bad past, but I don't know how to tame him.

Start over. Parrots hang out with us because they know that only good things come from humans and they trust us. Right now your BCC has no reason in the world to trust you. So start over, like he just come into your house. And SLOW down, a week is nothing. Some parrots can take weeks and months before they start to trust and build a bond with anyone. Start with reading out loud to him in a soothing voice, anything. The Bible, the phone book doesn't matter. And keep a couple foot from the cage at first, gradually moving your chair closer. And every time you do this or pass the cage, offer a small treat, like a pine nut ( most parrots LOVE pine nuts). Do this EVERY time, so he learns that you are not scary and that good things come from you. And this might take a few months, maybe less, but always go at your parrots pace, and not yours.

Hi,
Congratulations on your new birdie. I’m glad you already have burd experience, that should help give the confidence to work with your new one.

A week is nit long st all. Having to work a little harder for trust will make your bond do strong when he is ready to trust you. It doesn’t matter where he came from he is still an increase beauty, and smart and will be a wonderful friend.

He isn’t mean, it’s miscommunication, misunderstanding, and fear on his part, and rushing on your part.

I like safflower seeds as treats. Taking treats is a great first start.

Glad you joined , lots of great people and ideas to help you on your journey with your new conure

Yes of everything said! He is terrified! And you forcing your, big, dangerous, hand into his private space is reinforcing this! From his point of view!

At one week he is still getting used to his new surroundings. You must have patience and don't let yourself be frustrated. Remember -- what's important is that he's getting food and water and has someone that can keep his surroundings clean that cares about him. It shouldn't matter if you can hold him or not as long as he is healthy. I have a few that would much rather sit on a perch and hang out with their own kind, and this is okay.

It will take months or patience and dedication to his care to earn his trust, so stay calm around him and make sure only good things happen when you're around. No pushing him to step up for a while. Why not start your relationship off right by offering him tasty treats through the cage bars? Try different ones to find out what he likes. Eventually, he'll come around. You can even let him see you put it in his food dish for him if he won't approach yo at all.

Even if you had a hand-tamed adult re-home, you could end up getting similar reactions until you had built trust (most adult birds in a brand new environment aren't just going to trust someone new right away). When you force it by trying to touch him and scaring him, you res-set your trust bank back to 0 each time..Think of trust as a bank..you can deposit, spend all of your money or even go into dept if you over- withdraw. Now, you can make deposits to rebuild your savings, but it takes time, and you have to pay off debt first.

You can still build trust with this bird, but you have to get better at reading your bird and understanding how this all works in terms of building trust. He doesn't know you, he doesn't know your house, he has had a rough time of it and heck, if he was never let out before, he could also be cage-bound (cage-bound birds can become un-cage bound, but you have to start by understanding all of this).

By ignoring his body language, you are likely frightening him. You should never ever try to contact a brand new bird right away unless they show interest..It's a lot different from dogs and cats who adjust much more quickly to new people.

Here are some sort of goofy scenarios to help you understand a bit better how your bird may be feeling....Not saying you are trying to date your bird, but it's the best thing I could come up with...LOL- It's not a perfect analogy....

Scenario 1: You smile at a cute stranger on the street as you are passing them. They run over to you and give you a kiss right on the lips. Your reaction would probably be fear, anger, shock, panic, confusion, nervous laughter? Now imagine of this person was trying to do this each day...At first, they were just unfamiliar because they were a stranger, but after the whole incident, you would be on the look out and cautious of this person. If it happened once, it would be weird and startling/upsetting, but if it kept happening, I imagine you would become super scared and start preparing to defend yourself etc. If you didn't already the first time.

Scenario 2: you smile at a cute stranger on the street. They smile back. You see them the next day at a coffee shop and they strike up conversation about whatever, but you both do your own thing after the brief chat. You bump into them a lot because you work in the same area and you both like coffee blah blah. You join that person for coffee one day and give them your number because you've spoken with them quite a few times and they seem interested. They call you and invite you on a date. You go on a few dates (ALWAYS LOOKING for any red flags on those early dates)..Is he/she a weirdo? Does he/she respect boundaries? Does he/she treat you/ others well? Eventually, you may decide you really like this person etc...

Scenario 2b- alternate ending:
* Now, in scenario 2, you might go on a date with the same nice person from scenario 2, but they tell you they are 41, live in mom's basement, never had a job, and only eat foods that start with the letter z... you might lose some of that trust that you had for that person, right?

Trust is fluid...it can be built or destroyed. Luckily for you, humans in the dating world are not likely to recover from mis-steps, but YOU can re-build trust with your bird, as long as you are patient and realize that you can make things worse if you keep pushing.


Slow way way way down.
I got a tamed but adult cockatoo and couldn't touch her consistently for about 2 months and she wouldn't step up until 3...My bird knew how already, but I was her 4th home...yours may or may not know how to step up and everything is new right now (including you and your 2 other birds)..so a week is like 1 second in bird time.

Also---putting your hand into the cage is not the first place you should start if you do touch your bird, and none should be attempted right off the bat unless the bird is cool with it. That is often their safe-space and a hand reaching in can feel like they are trapped and also that you are invading their space. Eventually, once a bird trusts you, you will likely be able to do this, but that is a ways away.

During bonding, keep yourself as low-stress as possible to the bird. If you standing by the cage upsets the bird, don't get so close right away. Hang out in the same room, maybe 10, 8 or 4 feet away (depends on the bird) but read quietly outloud...or as you do things in the room, talk about what you are doing.
I am not saying walk on egg-shells either-- I mean, you have to be able to pass by the cage etc-- so don't think I mean that you have to tip-toe around, but if your presence is frightening to your bird early on, then try to back off a little to show that you are not a threat.

Let the bird see you put a treat in its bowl, but don't try to feed from your hand if the bird hesitates (again, you have to move at the bird's pace and your goal should be NOT to scare him, even if you think he''s silly for being scared). So, you can feed the bird from your hand if the bird doesn't hesitate, but if it does, that alone could be a source of stress initially.


Questions for you that could help with further trouble-shooting:

1. Can your bird fly?
2. Did it ever spend time out of its cage in the past/was it handled in its past situation?
3.Can you describe the situation it came from?
4a. How old were your other conures when you got them?
4b. How old are they now *current age really does matter*?
4c. Where are they located in comparison to this new bird?
5.Has the bird been checked by an avian vet?
6.How much sleep does he/she get nightly?
7.Are there any shadowy spaces (huts, boxes, tents, tubes, hammocks etc in the cage)?
8. How big is the cage?
9. What does his diet look like on a daily basis?
10. Do you allow him to go back into his cage when he chooses, or have you been toweling him to put him back in?

My $.02...and how I've handled all of my birds...

**DON"T STICK YOUR HAND IN HIS CAGE / BEDROOM...

First Day:

1) Drive home, open up large cage door that bird will reside in and call his home

2) Set carrier cage down in front of birds new home cage and open door

3) Walk away and start going about my business

4) Make sure I only do activities where the new family member can see me

5) Make myself some birdie edible food...spinach/kale salad with a few seeds and other veggies like carrots

6) Sit back and watch new bird get excited and leave the cage

7) Share his/her first meal at home with them

8) NEVER have I ever stuck my hands inside my birds cages, I always come home from work or wake up in the morning and just open the door; always permission based interaction.

I never pressure my birds to spend time with me, I let them make that choice. Usually, that type of nonchalant behavior gets them more interested in getting to know me. It's a psychology game with birds.

Do you have any tasks or chores like wrapping gifts, wood working, or washing dishes by hand that you can do to inspire his/her curiosity? All of my birds on their first day, have actually started following me around my place and watched my routine. Folding clothes ALWAYS seems to be a beloved activity for my birds even on day one!

Summary... leave the cage door open and go about your business, they'll come out when they are good and ready.

Hello thank you for all the replies but I do not how to reply to everyone individually!

The guy who sold the bird just told me he was an adult and was not sure of his actual age. I feed him treats such as fruits and occasionally a few sunflower seeds through the bars and whenever he is on top. His normal diet is pellets and alternating vegetables as my other 2 birds. My other 2 female birds are a sun conure and a green cheek conure who are really bonded together and my new bird (Matcha) will occasionally leave his cage and walk across the whole room just to go inside those 2's cage and start a fight with them. Matcha still does not like hands and whenever he leaves his cage, its only to stand on top. But the only time he will walk on the floor is to get to my other birds' cage and bite them, which I do not know why since they are really far apart.

I've been giving him his space and still hand treating him, but he still doesn't trust anyone to go on their hand. However, if you reach your hand through bars to rub his neck, he will allow that.

His cage is also almost open 24/7 except nighttimes where I lure him in for dinner since he doesn't let me catch him still.

keimeko said:

Hello thank you for all the replies but I do not how to reply to everyone individually!

The guy who sold the bird just told me he was an adult and was not sure of his actual age. I feed him treats such as fruits and occasionally a few sunflower seeds through the bars and whenever he is on top. His normal diet is pellets and alternating vegetables as my other 2 birds. My other 2 female birds are a sun conure and a green cheek conure who are really bonded together and my new bird (Matcha) will occasionally leave his cage and walk across the whole room just to go inside those 2's cage and start a fight with them. Matcha still does not like hands and whenever he leaves his cage, its only to stand on top. But the only time he will walk on the floor is to get to my other birds' cage and bite them, which I do not know why since they are really far apart.

I've been giving him his space and still hand treating him, but he still doesn't trust anyone to go on their hand. However, if you reach your hand through bars to rub his neck, he will allow that.

His cage is also almost open 24/7 except nighttimes where I lure him in for dinner since he doesn't let me catch him still.

Click to expand...

You said you have had him for a very short time and are trying to get him to step up. That is definitely not giving him space...No offense intended, just saying..

Hi there. Congratulations on your new bird.

I just wanna take a minute and help see this from that poor birds perspective...You HAVE to SLOW DOWN! It doesn't matter the age of this bird, or any bird, when it comes to being scared. You're going 100 MPH right now and the little one is going 2 MPH. Meaning this: The bird has come to take a piece of fruit from your fingers BUT is running away after. The bird is going 2 MPH.

Just please stop putting your hands in his/her cage. Cage = The birds SAFE SPACE. You're literally losing trust and you are demanding it trust you, instead of allowing it to acclimate and become comfortable. Slow. it. down.

I hope you are really reading all of these phenomenal comments above, they offer you excellent guidance. Also, please read some articles on scared birds and how to proceed with them. Knowledge/Education is SO important!!

I had a cockatiel once and was mean from day one bit to make you bleed and would go out of the way to do it. I had him for 10 yrs he never changed. It was when I got a second cockatiel that I learned birds can be sweet. She was loving and affectionate and so we're the 2 budgies and my conure now. Maybe some birds are just butt holes. But as mean as he was I learned to love him very much and would not have traded him. He learned to love me too cause he bit me the least.

Take your time and give the bird its space. Keep an even quiet tone and feed a treat often (same thing). Watch step up training, Touch stick/clicker training with a daily time schedule. Try to keep these events away from the other birds, for a time. jh