[email protected]Hey all...

I have a male olive coloured indian ringneck. Ive had him for 2 years now and I feel I have tamed him half way but don't make any more progress with him! I take him out often, and play with him etc.

He is half tame. When I say that he's half tame, I mean that I can put my hand in the cage and command him to get onto my hand and sit on my shoulder and he will obey the command. He also takes any food from my hand with pleasure! And when I walk up to the cage he hangs on the side of the bars and waits for me to give him a treat or a kiss. He loves kisses and also makes the kissing sound when he puts his beak against my lips!:D

But the problem comes in here :

When I take him out and he sits on my shoulder, he wants to bite my ears. He doesn't attempt to bite my ears too often. He does when he sits on my dads shoulder though. And when I say that he bites.. I MEAN HE REALLY BITES!! How do I stop him from biting ears? There are no warning signs before he does bite, and its almost always unpredictable!:(

Another thing is that he will allow me to pick him up at all times without hassel, and listen to me when I tell him to go back to his cage. But if I try touch him he pins his eyes and gives a bluff to bite and moans at me, telling me that I'm a naughtly bird. LOL:eek:
So I can never pet or rub him. Other than that he is a really great bird.

How can I get him to stop doing this and be a normal bird??

ANY help will be welcomed!! Thanks:D

Ringnecks are very full of themselves. I have two. The quick answer to the ear biting is to not allow the bird to sit on shoulders. It doesn't sound like playful or exploratory biting, he does it to cause pain. Sometimes a bird will bite just because they like the reaction too.

My female Ringneck, I got as a baby, was a little brat for the first 6 months or so. Now (at 4 years) she doesn't behave badly often. Snapping at people gets her put back in her cage. She hates being confined. Try using a step-up stick when your bird is snapping, pinning his pupils and moaning.

My male Ringneck was an ear biter at first. He never drew blood but was fascinated by earlobes and the entertaining noises humans make when they get bitten. I would slap my head when he got close to my ear. Not liking that, he learned to stay away from my ears. He will even ignore earrings.

They think and move fast and will push the rules as far as possible. Let him climb, a curtain, a rope, whatever. A tired bird is usually easier to handle, unless they're grumpy and need to sleep. Make sure he gets at least 10 hours of dark and quiet each night.

A "normal" bird is difficult to get when you are dealing with a Ringneck's intelligence and restless nature. They frequently dislike petting and cuddling. They prefer to climb and to communicate with you. They are food motivated, use a treat as a reward for good behavior.

Hope some of this helps.

Birds are territorial and order orientated,
This means the higher up they go the higher in a group they consider themselves...
If you want to tame a bird or stop it from biting then it is best at all times for the bird not to be allowed any higher than the hight of your shoulders,keep him on your arm or chest this means sitting ontop of cages, curtain poles, are a big no no..
Make yourself higher than him at all times, you are his owner/leader and he should look up to you not down!
Every time he bites say in a loud voice DON'T this is sharper in itself than the word no and so the bird knows you are not messing around,
If he bites, do not jerk away quickly but slowly and gently take hold of his beak, remove it and say DON'T...
If he is sitting on your arm and he bites, tilt your arm to release his balance and again say DON'T... persistence is the key with birds behaviour and they are very intelligent,

Use ropes at low levels for him to walk across, keep his perches low and a routine will also help,
If the bird bites and he likes the crys he soon makes it into a game,. if I do this... I get this reaction and it sounds funny :D that is what will be running through the birds mind,

An adult bird is hard to tame so you have done well to get it this far so I congratulate you

I am assuming you have had him since he was young , so pretty soon he is going to reach maturity age (3 years in males 18 month to 2 years in females) this is when their temprement has to be kept ontop of, keep him to the rules, if he bites don't put him back in his cage but carry on with him... if you put him in the cage every time he bites he will associate biting with when he has had enough and wants to go back in... just keep talking to him in a interesting voice, keep him amused with puzzles, give him things to chew while he is sitting on you or a shineykey to play with, this may help to distract him away from the ear... if he climbs up you , make him step up and move him back down... keep him on your arm for a period until he learns that is the way and settles and becomes more interested in other things than ears, then it will be safe to let him venture further up, but only once he has established that he is not the leader... you are and you must be obeyed...

There is another handy tip to getting him to put more confidence in you...
Take him out on a daytrip, visit the vets, a family member who he hasn't seen often, a strange surrounding where he is safe out of the cage and where there are also other people about... this will give him a reflex to gain security...
If you go to a strange place where you don't know anybody , the first thing most people do is look for somebody you know, even if it was somebody they are not really comfortable with it is better than having nobody familiar...
So basically in essence you are forcing the bird to associate you with safety and security and building an even bigger bond with the bird and yourself by taking him out to somewhere unfamiliar... he will see you as a safety net , somebody who will protect him and may help to stop him biting...

I read that it was your dad that was getting the most of his bites so it may be an exercise that your dad should do instead of you.. try and build the bond with him that little bit more to stop him biting or reduce the impacts,

Really do hope you manage to sort it out with the little guy , they really are full of carchter :)
Best of luck
Katie