Bonding! How to proceed from here? :)

[Viatrixa]

Figured I'd make an entirely new thread for now!

Things seem to be going wonderfully with little Simo (a parent raised IRN boy for those of you who don't know!). There's nothing wrong or anything, but merely pondering how to proceed from this point on? We seem to be bonding beautifully and made a point of giving him his food at the same time as we eat (breakfast, lunch, dinner) Wake up & bed times are consistent (rhythm is a healthy thing for all of us!).

Other than that, me and my husband have made a point of interacting with him very actively every day - we use the clicker with him. As in, click, and offer a treat: the treat is a grape or other fruit, a piece of dried fruit (without sugar or flavorings or anything extra), or a tiny chunk of millet. He happily takes the treat every time, regardless of where I offer it from. I've made a point of offering it from different places in his cage (we let him out for a flap in the mornings to get out his excess energy but keep interaction to a minimum during this time )Sometimes he will however, hesitate just a little bit before going for the treat. Anyway! I'm simply wondering if I could get some suggestions about how to proceed from here?

Shall I attempt some very slow paced target training with him, or wait until he takes the treat without any hesitation what so ever? Other than this he's honestly just being a happy parrot, playing with his toys and practicing his speech (which, I have to say, sounds quite hilarious). He seems to particularly react to laughter: when me and my husband are chuckling at something he will usually move to the perch closes to us and squawk along. He's also at peace if I'm standing right next to his cage and rest my hands on it. So I guess we're off to a good start!

But yes, I'd love to hear some suggestions about how to take bonding to a next level?

[Wolf]

By all means you should begin target training and then flight recall, provided he is not clipped.

[Viatrixa]

Allrighty then; lets hope he won't be too afraid of the targeting stick!

And absolutely no clipping here - I may be new to all of this but somehow the very idea leaves a stale taste. :/ I mean, parrots were sort of built for flight. I do hear about the "good sides" of clipping but I frankly don't know. It seems to be one of those things that's more of an ease for the owner rather than the bird. Unless it's truly one of those last resort things I don't think it's a good option, for anyone ><;. Hope this opinion doesn't offend anyone.

Just recently there was a person who keeps some pet birds in an outside garden cage. Unfortunately they were clipped, and despite how the cage was well built and sturdy, a rat or other creature like that somehow managed to get inside the cage and nipped at one of the cockatiels. It got lucky and wasn't hurt all too badly, and I don't wish to diss the owner nor their choices at all, but I'm thinking the tiel could have saved itself from that nasty business had he been flighted.

Just an edit: My goodness he's such a good boy; I expected him to get spooked at the stick but nope, he touched it, and on the very first try!

[Wolf]

Whoever it is that has the aviary that allows a rat to gain access to a bird the size of a cockatiel needs to locate how the rat got in and fix it. A space that a rat can get in could also allow a bird of this size to escape.
Clipping a birds wings rarely solves any type of problem and can create problems where there should be none. I agree that it is most often used as a means of controlling a bird when the people don't feel like putting forth the effort to live with the entire bird, or they just are not aware of the ramifications of clipping.
Good for you and Simo !

[ParrotsForLife]

Hi would you mind showing me a picture of your IRN I have a plum headed parakeet and am confused with his size because he weighs less than my cockatiels now and I see videos where they are the size of Indian ringnecks and people have told me they are around the size of Ringnecks and since they are in the same family it might be true.Thanks

[Viatrixa]

Hi would you mind showing me a picture of your IRN I have a plum headed parakeet and am confused with his size because he weighs less than my cockatiels now and I see videos where they are the size of Indian ringnecks and people have told me they are around the size of Ringnecks and since they are in the same family it might be true.Thanks

Oh, sure thing! My photos aren't the best quality but okay!



(he got REALLY curious about the camera.)

[ParrotsForLife]

Thanks yeah Mango is about that size does he weigh around 70 grams Mango is 74 grams now.They are two seperate species just in the same family but they could have similar weight.

[Wolf]

Ringneck Parakeets depending on the actual species average between 116 and 140 grams.

[ParrotsForLife]

Ringneck Parakeets depending on the actual species average between 116 and 140 grams.

Why is it some parrots look huge in videos and pictures lol and I used to think parrotlets were a little bigger than budgies lol and I thought Lovebirds were as big as a cockatiel.

[Viatrixa]

Videos have a tendency to distort and make creatures look a bit bigger or smaller than what they are in reality Also some silly factors can affect it, such a bird fluffing up it's feathers or if the owner takes a photo right after she's preened herself. Sometimes they can end up looking really fat!

http://s2.glbimg.com/ZtXJEFC7b2UFv_Cu6P ... g_neck.jpg Here's a random picture of a ringneck holding some corn. For some reason I think he looks a lot bigger than what they are in reality