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.

 

[Reemonita]

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.

Thank you so much for your reply and all the tips. You are spot on, he is fine with my face and body!! He wpuld climb on my shoulder when I am leaning close by to grab something , but would run like the plague if he saw my hand approaching him. I will order some pool noodles to stuff some areas when he is out of his cage and take this month as a get to know time from his side. Thank you again

 

[JjEjFjF]

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

There is no set time limit. Birds are very much individuals just like people. It all depends on your bird, how much time you can devote to him etc. With the perch hes willing to jump onto, maybe you could start holding it shorter and shorter , if you know what i mean.
Although my conures aren’t afraid of my hands, they dont always want get on my finger. It depends if they feel like it or not. Im alright with that because they can make up their own minds. Mine dont care for head scratches either whereas my cockatiel loves it.
As for him hiding in furniture, thats generally nesting behavior. You should discourage that especially if he turns out to be a she. Mine will occasionally crawl down into the couch but only for a minute or two.

 

[rheashard2]

I agree with all the above. It's important to block under furniture. There's the added concern of 'forgetting'. Then you or a guest are at risk of a fall trying to miss him. Or worse stepping on him.

 

[onamom]

Hi there @Reemonita ! I would suggest slowing down and backing up a bit. Try some more cage time (make sure you have plenty of toys and enrichment in there) and feed him treats through the cage. Repeat multiple times. Then open the cage door and feed through the open cage door. Repeat again. This alone could be all you do for a day or two. Try to spend a lot of time in the room with him while he is caged so he gets used to your presence as well. You don’t have to interact with him, just be there in the room and be nice and calm.

Next, offer the treat just behind your finger in step up position. See if you can lure him forward toward your finger. Does he back up actively move away from you? That’s your sign to stop and go back to treat feeding only - he’s not ready. Does he inch forward but not step up? Great! That’s still progress. Repeat until he eventually steps up!

 

[GivemeSeedsorgivemeFlesh]

I agree with all the above. It's important to block under furniture. There's the added concern of 'forgetting'. Then you or a guest are at risk of a fall trying to miss him. Or worse stepping on him.

They are super cute running around on the floor but I never let Ollie stay there because of that risk.

 

[rheashard2]

They are super cute running around on the floor but I never let Ollie stay there because of that risk.

I agree but....in mid 7th decade of life so having trouble out maneuver or out run an energetic determined CAG! Plus she plays peekaboo and I have have to find her.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I hate it when I can't find a budgie! We were out at work yesterday from 3 until 9 and the birds were put as usual. We got home and I did my usual which is putting them in their cages for the night. Usually only a few of the 9 free flyers are out at 9pm. Most are back in their cages. There are five cages. Two large flight cages house the boys and girls that aren't tame enough to free fly. One of the big English budgies. Mariah, was missing. She normally doesn't come out much and we couldn't find her. After an hour looking I noticed that the 2x4 at the base of the girls flight cage that blocked a small crack was moved aside (I forgot to replace it well) and Mariah was inside the cage sleeping on the swing! I still can't believe she squeezed her way through that crack and just went to sleep. She had never been in that cage and the door to her cage was open. I realize that letting them free fly unsupervised is potentially risky bit ive been doing this for six months with no real problems. Whenever a budgie has been "missing" we always find them safe and sound, but they don't help us by making any sounds while we're searching.