Help with scared conure (green cheek)

[SSGSS]

Hello everyone I bought a green cheek conure 8 weeks ago he's still a baby as he was born earlier this year. I did clip his wings as soon as I got him home because the owners told me he was very tame but once I got him home I received an email saying that he was never tame. I've been attempting to tame him for 8 weeks now, I spend lots of time around his cage talking to him, bringing him food etc but he is just as terrified of me now then what he was when I first got him home. He tries to get as far away as me from possible when I'm a few inches away from the cage. He won't let me touch him, feed him or anything. I feed him and change water twice a day but still nothing. Sometimes when I whistle he will chirp and attempt to get close before going away as quickly as possible. But when I go and sit on the sofa which is about a meter or so away from his cage he will come close to the bars and chirp at me a few times and when I go over he cowers away one more thing he likes is when I ring his bellin his cage. He rubs his beak on his bars and puts his tail feathers really close to the area of the bars where my other hand is letting me touch it for about 10 seconds before freaking out. I know I have to gain his trust but I thought after 8 weeks he would at least be a little used to me. Any advice am I doing something wrong ? Thank you

 

[ZephyrFly]

I would personally allow his wings to grow back and in that time continue as you are doing.
Maybe once he's confident with taking food from you through the bars of his cage you can get a chop stick and start target training him (he grabs the stick with his beak or foot, click, give him a treat (clicker training too helps, same as a dog near enough)).

It's just a combination of him being in a new place (if he's from a breeder then that world as all he knew before this) and probably being clipped that's got him scared for now. Talk to him, feed him treats through the bars (not when he misbehaves though), millet is great but when he's getting braver try fruit and sticks of carrot (my bird doesn't eat sticks of carrot when offered through the bars but he likes tearing it up while I hold it for him).

TL;DR
You're doing fine at the moment, he's just shell shocked. His world got bigger but he's been grounded so he might not be feeling too brave.

 

[mh434]

A couple of months isn't much time to tame him. He'll need to do it on HIS terms, and birds are slow to learn to trust. Don't push him - give him the space to do it himself. Birds are flock creatures, and crave closeness - he'll come around. Do give him lots of opportunities to get out & get close to you...when HE chooses to do so.

We recently adopted a Conure that had never been hand tame, or even had physical contact with people. He's getting there, but it's been several (8? 9?) months. He simply won't step up if he's on his cage - it's his "refuge", and he defends it. Off his cage, though, he'll step up and, once he does, he's a little sweety - preens your hair, makes cooing sounds, very very gentle. He STILL won't allow hands near him, but we're working on it.

It's a slow process, but a rewarding one.

 

[Precious]

Oohh believe me,your lovely bird will definitly start coming closer when its ready.Me+my beautiful gc/ys conure Coco are pure proof of that...I had Coco 12wks ago,he was just as frightfully scared+shocked as your conure.I did try him a few times with the step-up commands,but he kept doing a runner from me..or..anyone else.But,I kept talking to him,feeding him a grape from my fingers on top of the cage every morning no matter how long I had to stand there waiting,hanging around his cage.NOW....he says "MA-MMY",I LOVE YOU,MAMMY'S BOY,he takes off my laugh(green cheeky thing),+thankyou.He comes to look for me out the kitchen,+walks up the side,across the arm,and over the back of the chair that im sitting in.So you see....that's all im waiting for now to kick off my "2016"is for me and my feathery faithful friend to connect.DON'T EVER GIVE UP HOPE..... :-D

 

[Mallory]

My GCC Eva was terrified of people and especially of hands when we took her in. We gave her a little to settle in to a new cage, new environment, and new routine and then we moved her cage right next to the sofa where I spend a lot of time working, gaming, doing crafts etc. If she ever showed fear I would immediately stop what I was doing and go back a step or more, I never intentionally scared or her pushed her past her limits. It took patience. I never pushed it with her, but once she was comfortable with my hand inside her cage (not touching her at all) I would play with her toys and put treats around the cage. I found ways to interact with her without touching her and this built trust. I would also leave my hand against the cage bars for long periods of time, and she eventually decided to come up and start investigating my hands. After a long time of patience, this led to her allowing pets through the cage bar, then once she realized she liked getting pets inside of her cage we really started progressing.

Now in a matter of months she's gone from extremely phobic of humans and hands to stepping up confidently, wrestling us on her back especially in her food bowl, riding shoulders with her aviator on to new places, and lots of other new adventures too. She has met new people and now loves spending time with us grooming our hair, playing and unfortunately, investigating everything we do including computers and naughty foods.

Give your conure time! It is MUCH better to be patient and let them come around on their own than to scare them and make the problem worse. If you force it, you will only prolong the taming process and potentially force your bird to use biting to communicate with you. I know it is difficult to believe things will get better when months go by and you see very little progress, but sometimes stepping back and letting them observe you without trying to push for interaction is the way to go.