Taming a Plum headed parakeet

[ParrotsForLife]

Ok so Mango has progressed a lot he is still a little afraid of my hands but will step up on my arm and he uses his beak to grab on and also if im wearing gloves he will step up on my hand,not my finger but grabs on to my hand on gets up.I have been working very patiently with him I have just been feeding him his food and water and talking to him and sometimes I drop a treat in his bowl.Should I start moving on to something else or continue what im doing? Also his diet consists of fruit for breakfast (I try to give him different fruit everyday) he likes Mango,Watermelon,Melon,Apple and Strawberries he will probably eat anything he is given.And later he gets some veg (Sometimes he gets a little veg in his breakfast bowl) and he loves the lentils.And he also gets some seed.I haven't tried the pellets with him yet but so far he loves tasting new foods also because he eats all this healthy stuff sometimes the cockatiels get curious and go to see what he is eating and want some.

[liz]

It is great that he is an adventurous eater. The cockatiels will learn from him what is good.
I personally believe the next move should be his to come to you without you asking. Remember, he is not wild he is scared. Let him come to you. Myrtle came to me for help long before she let me touch her. She realized that I was her human and could depend on me even before she fully trusted me.

[ParrotsForLife]

It is great that he is an adventurous eater. The cockatiels will learn from him what is good.
I personally believe the next move should be his to come to you without you asking. Remember, he is not wild he is scared. Let him come to you. Myrtle came to me for help long before she let me touch her. She realized that I was her human and could depend on me even before she fully trusted me.

What do u mean let him come to me,What if he doesn't need help

[Wolf]

If you are not into cooking whole grains al dente for your birds you could try soaking them to soften them some and giving them some along with the rest of their breakfast. Just be sure to rinse them after soaking them.

[ParrotsForLife]

If you are not into cooking whole grains al dente for your birds you could try soaking them to soften them some and giving them some along with the rest of their breakfast. Just be sure to rinse them after soaking them.

Thanks what type of grains do you feed.Is Millet an unhealthy grain?

[seagoatdeb]

Millet is healthy and it is one of the grains i sprout for my birds.

[ParrotsForLife]

Millet is healthy and it is one of the grains i sprout for my birds.

Are there certain types of Millet that are healthier than others? Mine is yellow millet 100% Natural.

[seagoatdeb]

They are all good, this is a link for humans but it tells you what nutrition is in millet. http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tnam ... ce&dbid=53

[Pajarita]

The thing with millet is that it has less protein (which is good) but also less fiber than other grains and no calcium whatsoever so, although it's not bad, it's not the best nutrition, either. It's mostly used for fattening birds (it has a glycemic index of 71, which is quite high)... especially with sick ones that might have lost some weight because it's a 'soft' seed so it's easy for them to eat.

Why do you wear gloves with him? It's not really recommended, you know... If he bites, there are other ways of preventing this without using gloves (it's a very old-fashioned way of handling aggressive birds and only breeders use it now). Also, is he clipped of flighted? I forget if you told us.

[ParrotsForLife]

The thing with millet is that it has less protein (which is good) but also less fiber than other grains and no calcium whatsoever so, although it's not bad, it's not the best nutrition, either. It's mostly used for fattening birds (it has a glycemic index of 71, which is quite high)... especially with sick ones that might have lost some weight because it's a 'soft' seed so it's easy for them to eat.

Why do you wear gloves with him? It's not really recommended, you know... If he bites, there are other ways of preventing this without using gloves (it's a very old-fashioned way of handling aggressive birds and only breeders use it now). Also, is he clipped of flighted? I forget if you told us.

Its Winter I wear gloves when going out and even if im just in the car going somewhere with Mango I still wear gloves.He was flighted for 2 weeks when I got him and I gave him a light clip but he can still fly a little high but im ok with that.He is still afraid of my hands but not much and he isn't aggressive at all.