Newbie and confused!

[Reemonita]

We have recently adopted a GCC who had his wings clipped (he can fly somewhat though). We also do not know wether its a boy or girl , but we named him Ricky. He is supposed to be about 5 months old. The first 3 days we thought he was physically mute lol, he was on a complete seed mix and transitioning him wasnt difficult honeslty once i removed sunflower seeds completely and now he is having about 30% seeds and 70% harrison's pellet , hopping he will completelyshift to pellets in another 2 weeks.. He also gets about a tablespoon of fresh veggie chop daily, but doesnt really finish it and weirdly is iffy about it if its frozen and thawed, so i make a little every 3 or 4 days .

He has now been with us for a total of 2 weeks and we started target training him using sunflower seeds (we watched and read so much too) as a reward and everything was going smoothly except for the fact that although he doesnt mind stepping up on a stick, but he would never step up on a finger.. so we might have tried to rush the finger bit and it backfired. He usually spends 90% of his time out of his cage, and these past couple of days he suddenly just wants to run off and hide under furniture. It has become a power struggle and as much as I have researched I cant for the life of me figure out how to proceed..

How do i reset and start from scratch as he is obviously upset and I dont want to ruin the relationship, at the same time I cant keep fishing him out / or wait for him until he is thirsty or hungry to come out from underneath. Do I keep him in his cage for linger periods and only open the cage when i am facing him or what do I do? I cant confine him to a room with no furniture and also I cant parrot proof my home in all honesty..

Apologies for the long questions and hoping for your advice , help out a new parrot mom out

 

[Reemonita]

Anyone please..

 

[JjEjFjF]

Im not sure how to “reset” a bird but i will say youre pushing alot on the little guy. Is there a reason youre in such a hurry?

 

[Reemonita]

Im not sure how to “reset” a bird but i will say youre pushing alot on the little guy. Is there a reason youre in such a hurry?

Thank you for your reply, Yes I know, it was such a huge mistake on my part , we just fell in love with him so much and we want him around us as much as possible.

I didnt really mean a reset hehe but more like gain back his trust without confining him in his cage . I think i also made a mistake by letting him out from day 3 (whuch was super early)for very long periods of time, but in hindsight he was pretty happy with his home and us, he would explore and return shortly.
I am trying to be very relaxed around him today and letting him go wherever he wants. He seems to want to be around us more today and I am not approching except for water and food changes etc.. he seems better but still going under furniture however not lingering long. I hope i am making sense..

 

[JjEjFjF]

You could try making foraging tray, then pretend to forage yourself. Conures are very curious. Let him come to you and interact with the items in the tray.
Does he come to you for millet or anything like that?

 

[Reemonita]

You could try making foraging tray, then pretend to forage yourself. Conures are very curious. Let him come to you and interact with the items in the tray.
Does he come to you for millet or anything like that?

Yes he is super curious and would come flying or running when there is something new in my hand. He apparebtly isnt afraid of me as he doesnt mind going very close and nibbles my finger (doesnt bite) to get to the item, but I am not allowed to touch him with my finger and he would easily hop on a perch i am holding but not my finger/hand even to get a treat. He loves millet and sunflower treats. I made him a foraging basket of sorts today and he loved it. 2 hours later he came to me signaling somehow that he cant go to his cage so i held his perch and he jumped on it and i took him to his cage!! He then had a snack from his food bowl and then he went back under the couch!

Thank you so much for the tip I will look for more interesting stuff from him to distract him from his hideouts .

Wanted your opinion, how long should i wait before i start training him again to step up on hands etc?

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I would try to block spaces under furniture so he can't get under. Prop some pillows as blockers when he's out.
I wish breeders spent more time getting their babies comfortable with hands. They have a tendancy to syringe feed them quickly and put them back in the brooder until their next feeding and neglect handling and playing wirh them. I adopted a hand raised cockatiel and a hand raised Goffins Cockatoo, and both had been handled a lot by the breeder so by the time I adopted them they were weaned and 100% comfortable with hands.
You really just need to take your time and have low expectations for now. When hes out of his cage, approach him slowly and keep some distance to make him feel safe.
I would wait to try to train him to step up onto your arm or finger until he's very comfortable with you approaching him when he's out and when he's in his cage. One thing I've heard is good is to try to associate your hands with your face. Birds get comfortable with human faces getting close more quickly than they do with human hands. When you approach him, put you hands near your face so he doesn't view your hands as a separate threat.