I Can't pet my Indian ringneck although he's tame

[Abhi Patel]

[size=85][/size]Hi, i have a Indian ringneck parrot . His name is MITHU . he is hand tamed but he never let me touch it. He steps up, but when he's near cage or near his pearch he starts to open his wings and try to fly towards it. all he does is just step up. I eant to pet him i want to show him that how much i love him. can you please tell me what can i do ? he's around 6 months old.

[sidech]

From the pictures, he's afraid of your hands. Hands can be overwhelming for such small animals. Being petted on the head is the ultimate sign of trust. Although some birds don't like it at all (like mine).

Start with gaining his trust. Try petting the feet first, it will be a lot less intimidating. It it goes well, then the bellie. Then the back, and ultimately, and maybe never, the head. You can also try the side of the beak.

Go very slowly. And always remember that petting is for humans, not for the bird. We need to pet to show our love, but the birds don't need it. Also, too much petting in certain areas (back, tail under wings, beak) may be taken as sexual by the bird and lead to undesirable behaviors.

[Pajarita]

And never put your hand above his head the way you are doing. They would interpret this as a predatory action. Start with his feet, as the previous poster recommended, and by caressing his beak.

[Abhi Patel]

And never put your hand above his head the way you are doing. They would interpret this as a predatory action. Start with his feet, as the previous poster recommended, and by caressing his beak.

but starting from his feet is not helping he tries to bite every time i put my hand near his feet.

[sidech]

You have not earned your bird's trust yet. Just because he's yours doesn't mean he's going to like you.

Stop trying to pet him for now. Let him come to you. When he does, then you can try. Sit next to him close to his cage, read outloud, talk to him, sing, just have him accustomed to your presence.

It might ake 3 weeks, or it might take 2 months. When he's ready to trust you, he will tell you. The, don't blow it by going too fast.

[Abhi Patel]

Thank You very much. I think this would help...

[liz]

Say "tickle tickle" before reaching out one finger to touch his feet. If he bites you do not react. After a while he will associate the words with just a light touch on his feet.

I rescued Myrtle 2 years ago. We started playing tickle feet right away. We now do tickle leg and tickle belly. She will not let me reach over her head yet but will put her head down with tickle feet while she is on my shoulder so I can scratch her head.

[JaydeParrot]

A year ago I brought two completely terrified, unsocialized Senegals who screamed and shook in their cage when any human was within sight. A year later they are both friendly and step up onto an out streched arm when asked. The male lets me stroke his beak and scape stuck food pieces off it, and the female of these two even lets me put my hand around her and itch her head and neck with my thumb.

To get this close you need to start off with the easiest part which is the beak (others have said the toes but mine still aren't keen on having their toes touched, plus it's much easier to get bit if you touch the toes).

To start, choose a phrase like 'Can I touch your beak?' and use that phrase everytime before you try to touch your bird's beak so it knows what you're going to do.

When touching the beak, touch your index finger to the top part of the beak (the only place they can't bite you from) if he opens his beak in anger just say 'Ay!' and then go straight back to touching the beak, (the first time) try to touch the beak twice, say good bird and then leave it. The next time try to touch the beak three times and then just keep on building with that until the bird no longer seems bothered by having it's beak touched.

After that either try touching the bird's head: Make sure the bird is lower than your neck, touch the birds beak and slowly move your hand further forward, towards the top of the head (the bird needs to be lower than you so that it's easier to pull your hand back if it tries to bite).

Or touching the birds wings: Try to get the bird standing on a shelf or flat area (if it's perched it may be too worried about you accidentally knocking it off), ask 'Can I touch your wing?' And then try to touch the side of the wing, say good bird after you've finally managed to touch the wing unscathed. Slowly try to get the touch to last longer until the bird will happily let you hold your hand against it's wing for at least 15 seconds.

After getting through these three steps, getting the bird to let you touch it's head and back shouldn't be too difficult, just keep going slow and make sure it always ends on a good note, with enough persstance it shouldn't take longer than 2 to 3 weeks.

Hope it works out, .

P.S, Try to make sure the parrot can't fly over your head, I had a bird try to fly over and away from me, it used one of it's claws to grab the top of my eyelid aso it could get itself more lift (pain).

[Eric&Rebecca]

Also not all birds like to be pet... they not dogs or cats. You also may have to consider that you will never be able to pet him, like some people don't like being cuddled some birds don't like being pet. Give it some time and try what others have said but also accept you may never be able to because your bird doesn't like it.

[Pajarita]

Rebecca is 100% correct. You can try and you can cajole but, if the bird doesn't want it, don't insist. It's a matter of respect - and, although it sounds funny using this word in relation to a bird, respect for its feelings inspires trust, which is the foundation of a good relationship with any bird.