I think I gave my bird too much attention and spoiled him. What can I do now?

[Chiriceanu]

I've only had my indian ringneck for a week. In this time he bonded a lot with me. He is now almost completely tame.


However I think I made the mistake of giving him too much attention. I've spent most of the day with him, playing, cuddling and giving him treats and toys. I recently learned this can lead to behavior problems. So how can I deal with this in the future? He is pretty needy for attention and he doesn't like being in his cage. Whenever I put him in his cage he just gets agitated. He has plenty of toys in his cage too but he just wants to get out and spend time with me on my shoulder. Any tips?

 

[Smerft85]

Not sure it would help, but we do designated play and flight time, otherwise it's cage time. I don't see a week of time being too much of an issue that can't be reversed, but I don't think you are doing anything wrong, except maybe not giving a few days in the cage so he/She can settle in to the new surroundings, may be the reason for the "attitude" when being caged. If you are home with your bird all the time, such as myself, it's hard not to have them out all day, if you have the time to do so, it may not be a bad thing to pay plenty of attention to your bird, and spoiling it. However if you aren't in a permanent situation that you can spoil every day, maybe try doing things with a schedule that fits the both of you. I could see possible issues if you are home playing with the bird for 8 hours straight, then unexpectedly get a new job or anything that changes dramatically. I'm no bird pro or anything, but hopefully I helped out a little, there should be others along that know much more than I.

 

[charmedbyekkie]

We do a variety of approaches, depending on the day.

On the weekends, one whole day is spent with him. That means we're outside flying and chilling in a cafe with him, going on walks/hikes together, attending festivals, etc. The other weekend day is maybe 3/4 spent with him chilling in the house (and he's fine with being in a separate room just chatting to himself - you can tell if he's plotting to be naughty when he's gone quiet).

During weekdays, I work full time in a country where overtime is the norm. I try to get home "on-time", but rarely do. Depending on how exhausted I am (I have a chronic nerve problem), we spend anywhere from 2 hours to 5 hours together. During those few hours together, we spend a portion of it 'training' since that's what he finds fun. When I can't keep an eye on him safely, he had to go into his cage (it's an Avian Adventures Hacienda, the biggest cage I could find without converting to an aviary).

I know for Cairo if we put him in his 'original' cage (the one his previous family gave us), he'd get so agitated because it's a tiny cage, it didn't have enough space nor enough diverse toys, etc.

For Cairo (an eclectus), that variety of time is manageable. Sure, if I get a 4-day weekend and spend it all with him, he gets confused and upset the following work days, but we manage it by going back to our normal routine. After work, I come home and bring him out for a walk, then we do some training, then he gets dinner, etc.


That all being said, you have an Indian Ringneck.


For an Indian Ringneck, it's quite important to keep up interaction with them. One of the forum members has written a couple of great articles about her wealth of experience with them:
What's so Different about Indian Ringnecks? and Taming Your Ringneck

 

[Smerft85]

^^ told ya! ��

 

[wrench13]

Parrots like regularity, but not too rigid. And after only 1 week, its too soon to have any type of expectation from your IRN about a set schedule. if he's agitated in his cage, how big is it? Does he know how to play with toys? If not show him, literally - play with them your self, and exclaim and show how much fun they are! Parrots need to know how to self entertain for the periods when we cant have them out of the cage and with us.

Great that he is bonded to you though, IRNs do best with daily interaction with their person.

Its never the fault of the parrot, it's the fault of the person - a good way to look at any issues you may have. Helps put things in perspective.

 

[charmedbyekkie]

Parrots like regularity, but not too rigid. And after only 1 week, its too soon to have any type of expectation from your IRN about a set schedule. if he's agitated in his cage, how big is it? Does he know how to play with toys? If not show him, literally - play with them your self, and exclaim and show how much fun they are! Parrots need to know how to self entertain for the periods when we cant have them out of the cage and with us.

Great that he is bonded to you though, IRNs do best with daily interaction with their person.

Its never the fault of the parrot, it's the fault of the person - a good way to look at any issues you may have. Helps put things in perspective.

Haha, tried to Upvote/Thank you twice already. You're the best, Al!