Aggresive or scaried lovebird

[jancijen]

I ll do this. Thx for advice. I ve just got clicker in other petsho for 2,5€ and one perch with bamboo cotton (it is elastic so I ll arrange it strange, crookedlo). And I ll make natural-wooden toy maybe tommorow. Should I start clicker training today and how often should I do it? (If I start today I ll do only a while cause night is near ) srry for mistakes iam in city (where I ve bought things) so I dont have google translate and there is little keyboard

Btw: this is the rope perch which i have bought: http://www.trixie.de/productimg/hu_21230.jpg and it is long enough to do strange shapes with it and this clicker: http://www.trixie.de/productimg/20343.jpg

[Eric&Rebecca]

Be careful with rope! It can get frayed then ingested and can cause infections. Just keep a very good eye for damage!

Nothing beats natural wood perches.

I would start clicker fresh tomorrow. I would say once per day for half an hour maybe shorter depending on how quickly he gets full up or loses interest.

[jancijen]

kk. and what do u think with infection ? Riki ( ) bird have a lot of frayed ropes on toys and bited off too and he didnt get any infection o.O

Btw: it is made of pure cotton (perch).

An one more question. Is it okay that my parrot is whistling mostly only when nobody is in room? He doesnt whistle when i am training him, or when i am there (only sometimes- really only sometimes.

[Eric&Rebecca]

He's not comfortable whistling around you yet... George my cockatiel only whistled when we weren't in the room for a while. Now he whistles and talks constantly. He probably won't whistle during training, training is a different thing.

Just because one bird didn't get an infection doesn't mean another won't. There's another thread on this forum about a bird that got a crop infection (the throat) because of a fibre from a rope toy that remained in the crop. It doesn't matter about what the rope is so much but if the bird eats or chews on it this can quite easily happen.

Don't worry you're learning, its ok

[jancijen]

So i should remove it when it ll be frayed ? i started clicker training and he is really clever thx for answers and : about food: i didnt see parrot food with somethinng other as sunflower for small birds there is sunflower, millet, woodensticks ... So what were u saying about sunflower ? Srry if it sounds rude (it should not) i am not so good in english

[Eric&Rebecca]

Yes... not only could your bird ingest the frayed fibre but they could get nails or toes stuck in the fibres... even get it stuck around their necks!

Sunflower seeds are almost 40-45% fat even with the shell off they cause high cholestrol, fatty blood and fatty iver if fed daily as a staple diet or in large quantities. You can make your own treats or buy them online.

You need to go online to buy the foods... Tidymix is a good brand that ship worldwide. It'll cost a bit but that's part of the expenses of having a bird.

[jancijen]

So what should be in food? What seeds? And so I have to buy new rope/perch ever when it ll get frayed? :O

[Eric&Rebecca]

Yes or trim it or just don't use them at all- again that's another expense of having a bird. I don't use rope perches personally for this reason... way to expensive to keep replacing them.

There should be various seeds but very few sunflower or safflower. Look up Tidymix Parakeet Diet. That is an ideal seed mix or Beaphar!

Also you need to feed regular fruits, veggies and pulses/grains. So COOKED brown rice and COOKED beans. Check online for a list of safe beans because some are not.

Also you need to try and find a way of getting pellets as you are first/second time bird owner these will help get the right nutrition for now but you need to combine with fresh foods, TOPS pellets are ideal, they are a food you feed like seeds but they are wayyyy healthier.

Birds aren't supposed to be on all seed diets. Look in the health, diet, section of this forum. Here is a great article about love bird diet- http://www.africanlovebirdsociety.com/lovebirdcare/

It's quite simple. You need to go straight to brand website to get worldwide shipping.

http://www.windycityparrot.com/Smallest ... -Food.html

[jancijen]

I combine sunflower with Apple and millet as trest or with fresh bannana and when I have some dryed fruit I give him.... Riki had this rope perch really frayed and nozhing happens now parrot of my grandparents has it. IF I read well it is only about factory if parrot can get infection and I think that rixie is good factory.

[Eric&Rebecca]

It's nothing to do with the factory.... that's to do with toxic materials. Bad factories use bad dyes which actually kill the bird. Crop infections caused by fabric toys is different.

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10294&p=70667&hilit=rope+fibre#p70667

This happened to a bird on this forum... crop infection from accidentally eating the fibres. The rope cannot be digested in the crop/throat so it sits there in the warm and moist which creates bacteria and the bird gets an infection. Bird's don't digest like we do.

Ok so it hasn't happened so far to your birds but why risk it? I wouldn't. So please read and listen to my advice... I wouldn't tell you if it wasn't right. There's nothing wrong with using the rope perch if you trim the frayed ends or replace it when it becomes worn.

Trixie is ok... not the best though to be honest. Java is the only really good brand around but I get all my perches custom made.

Sunflower should only be used as treats, seriously its soooo bad for birds. Its like giving them chips every day. You can still offer but only 2-4 seeds per day.

The rest should be fresh fruits, dried is ok for during the day when you're not there but lots of nutrients are lost in the drying processes, also vegetables. Fruits are quite sugary you need to be feeding leafy green vegetables more than fruits. Apple is good and banana is good but there needs to be more variety...

my birds eat about 35 different things... I'm quite experienced but you need to start expanding the diet young because its more difficult when they are older and then they refuse to eat it and it just becomes very difficult.

I'm sure you can get TIdymix shipped to you.