Nothing was ever done with these birds (and to boot, these are my first, other then a 'keet I had for about 3 months when I was a kid), before I got them; no substantial talking, no hand-feeding, no touching; they were, sadly, largely ignored. Even feeding was impersonal, as the cage sides had doors just for food that didn't require a hand in the cage at all.
I have been told by several people that I will never be able to train them, but I am not willing to accept this, and have been working with them for close to two years; they are now willing to take grapes, nothing else, directly from my fingers, albeit with much hesitation at first, and they startle quickly if I move too much.
They will not let me touch them (closest I have come is gently touching the tip of tail feathers until they notice), and although I have changed their cage once (from a cage intended for large parrots that had very little flight/movement room to a cage almost triple in interior space), they are iffy about leaving their established habitat, and refuse to come near an open cage door (both, on separate occasions, have gotten out exactly once, and have not tried since)
I am wondering if there is anything I can do differently or that I am not doing now to accelerate this process safely (for them and for me) and securely. I currently talk to them when they get chatty (repeating a single word in a friendly, quiet voice with a smile), I mimic their calls, which they seem to like, and I try 2+ times a day (when I can) to hand-feed them different foods, but they don't come near anything but grapes.
I would love to be able to treat these more like pets and less like decoration, and I feel that yes, I'm making progress, and because of the age, this should be enough, but I also want them to be happy with me, where right now, they shake themselves silly when I come near the cage.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated! ^_^
