New Mini Macaw behaviour

[macbrush]

Hi all, I adopted this one year old Mini Macaw last Sunday from a friend, and I called him "Junior". He was a very happy bird, never properly trained, but would said "Hello", and his own original name which was not "Junior" , also would instinctually kiss your nose when you approach if he likes you, and would step up readily... in the first few days anyway.

He was friendly, and clever. I taught him to say "no" in his own birdie way instead of run away when he didn't like something and he catch that in just a few mins. Target training also was quite easy.

The thing is that in the first 3 days, he liked being picked up, and would step up excitingly. So I immediately proceed to target training, and trained him to stay on my hand instead of going for shoulders every time he's been picked up. Went well for a few days, and in the fourth day (Wednesday), he suddenly turned 180 degrees, and wouldn't willingly step up at all. He would ran away if I tried to pick him up (I took this chance to teach him to make a noise instead of run or nip, he did nipped slightly), if I left the cage door open, he would still came out by himself and tend to stayed on top of the cage, but getting him back to the cage was not as easy as first few days, now I had to corner him until he would step up.

Is this normal behaviour? Maybe he was a little bit confused, and now he grew more comfortable with environment so not to afraid to show what he wants? He would take food from my hands or kiss my nose from the moment I met him, so I am quite sure he's not afraid of me.

I grew too accustomed to my grey's behaviours, and I found it a little hard to understand this little guy.

Any advice or comments would be very much appreciated.

Cheers
Kenneth

[macbrush]

One more thing, not sure if its worth to mention. He never had any toys, so he had no clue what to do with them when I put some chewing toys in his cage. He wouldn't touch them if he's inside the cage, he shown some very slight interest if he's outside the cage looking in by nipping the hanging clip from the top. But generally, he doesn't play with toys at all (yet).

[janetafloat]

I think you've really rushed him and made him uncomfortable so now he's losing trust. You should have done nothing but let him settle in for the first few days and engage in some gentle socialisation so he can get used to you. He's gone through a massive change. Cornering him is a very bad idea too! I don't think you're paying attention to his body language but just ploughing on regardless. I would suggest you go back to square one and just spend time with him. If he wants to sit on top of his cage, fine, respect that and just talk to him gently. Work on encouraging him to come to you, with treats and soft words, don't go after him. Training needs to be fun, you're looking to engage the bird not push it into doing something it doesn't want to do.
And, out of interest, why did you change his name? If he knows his name that would be another bridge for you to use between his previous life and this one.
On the toys front it's common for birds to take some time to accept a new toy, and even more so if he's not used to having toys.

[macbrush]

Thank you for your input, Janet. I think you're right, I probably shouldn't have made him do so much before he feels comfortable in my home. But then after letting him out of the cage, I had to pick him up for bed time (or cooking time, just in case) one way or another, maybe I'll let my brother do it this time... (when we got our grey, I was the one doing all the catching, and training, my brother was the one just play, praise, and feed, now our grey really bonded with my brother, and only tolerate me).

As for the name change, I really had no choice, since he's got the same name as my friend's wife, not just the real name, you know the sweet name only my friend calls his wife... I really don't want anyone got the wrong idea... LOL But then Junior kept correcting me by saying his old name when I called him Junior... I might have some explaining to do next time my friend and his wife visit me... LOL

[janetafloat]

Haha...understood! I guess Junior's got his own ideas on the name front though.

With regards the returning him to his cage, is there some favourite treat that you can save for such occasions? My Sennie will do anything for a bit of candied ginger so I use it only for the most important situations...like returning him to his cage after I've given him some medication and he's wary of me, for example.

[macbrush]

I put him on food management this weekend, and managed to have Junior step up about 50% of the times. If he refused, I withdrew straight away, if he stepped up, I gave him a small piece of power treat, then play with him for a min or two before putting him back on top of his cage. And I found a surefire way to have him step up, just ask my dad or brother to stand close by, then Junior would really want to step up and hide behind me.

Thanks
Kenneth

[janetafloat]

Oh yes, the old carrot and stick, you can't beat 'em