by Pajarita » Tue May 13, 2014 12:29 pm
Ringnecks, both African and Indian, are notorious for reverting to wild behaviors if not handled constantly and correctly so, yes, this is what happened with the added problem that the stupid previous owner hit her so now she has lost all trust in humans and fears them to boot.
Now, what you need to do is put her in a nice, very large cage. This is not only because birds need the space but also because, this way, when you put your hand in it to change her food and water, she can scoot far away from it.
First thing to do is gain her trust back. This is easier said than done because it will take Wolf's recipe (two cups of patience, add two tablespoons of patience and mix, sprinkle some patience and bake in an patience oven) and work to achieve - but it can be done.
What you need to do is get her used to your presence to the point that she no longer fears it. This is achieved by figuring out the distance between you and her cage where she feels comfortable at. Without looking at her directly (avert your face and look at her out of the corner of your eye) walk toward her cage with a chair and, when you see her tensing or scrambling to put more distance between you and her, stop immediately. Place the chair sideways (not facing her) and do whatever (watch TV, read, study, pay bills, do your homework, play video games, whatever) and just talk in a calm tone of voice. Say the things you are planning to use as praise for her, things like "Pretty Bird! You are such a pretty bird - yes, you are! Good girl, Billy, you are such a good girl!" etc every now and then. Spend as much time as possible doing this with her. The longer you do it, the faster she will get used to you. As the days go by and you see she doesn't react negatively when you approach her and, when you sit down and start talking to her, you see (always out of the corner of your eye) that she is relaxed (she eats, preens, stretches, her body is not in an 'alert' position or tense in any way), move the chair just a little bit closer. Offer her treats every now and then but do it as in passing, not staring at her while waiting for her to take it.
Then, when the day comes that she no longer reacts and you are able to stand next to her cage without her tensing at all, you can start target training her inside the cage - you can even train her to step up on a stick through the bars but, if you can't, don't worry.
Now, you should let her out to fly a bit every day and for this, you should birdproof the room where she is kept making sure there is nothing dangerous for her and that all doors and windows are secured. If you house is a busy one with people coming in and out of rooms all the time, make a sign to post outside the doors so people will know not to open it. If you do this in the evening without turning on any artificial lights, as the sunset deepens and night starts to fall, she will go back inside her cage for her dinner and roosting. If it doesn't happen the first night, leave her out and wait for her to go in at sunrise but, if you can't for some reason, wait until it's completely dark and go into the room with a flashlight to locate her. Keep the flashlight pointing to the floor and just move it up very quickly every now and then to see where she is. Once you found her, gently grab her with a towel and put her back in her cage. Allow a teeny tiny amount of light in the room so she can find her roosting perch so she can settle down for the night. In time, she will learn to go back to her cage on her own and you won't need to do this - AND after she trusts you and you train her to step up, you can then put her in yourself so she can eat her dinner and go to sleep.
