NEED SOME ADVICE ON HAND TAMING MY SUN CONURE PLEASE PLEASE!

[Wolf]

Good! Now that things are back on the right track, lets see if I can be a bit more useful by seeing if I can help you to understand your parrots a little bit better.

Allow me to start this off by saying that for the most part, most of us have been raised around dogs and cats either those of our own or those that belong to other people and this is what forms our initial ideas of what to expect with a companion animal. We find it very easy to relate with dogs and cats and this is because they are domesticated, give their affections very readily and because they are like us in that they are mammals, are predators and evolved with a similar social structure. For all practical purposes we understand each other.

Now, regardless of how it came about we now have a parrot, or if afflicted with MBS ( multiple Bird Syndrome) parrots. My first parrot, Kiki, a female Senegal, escaped from a bad situation and flew to my home and demanded and received sanctuary. The problem is that they don't act anything like we have come to expect from a companion animal. We give them a nice cage, which we keep clean for them, we feed them and give them treats, we attempt to pet them or play with them and the either run away, fly away or bite us very hard and generally show no affection towards us, it is as if they don't even like us. The truth is that we try and try and end up hurt and frustrated by their lack of appreciation, in short we just can't make heads or tails of this, we simply don't understand them. Does this sound familiar to you? I am very certain that it does and to be honest with you, I went through this all with Kiki. For the entire first year of life with Kiki my hands and forearms were a mass of scabs from her repeatedly removing chunks of flesh from me. It was a difficult and painful period of time for me.

Parrots are very different than what we came to expect with the usual companion animals, so what is it that makes them so different from the others? Saying that they are birds is the truth, but it is also a cop out, lets look a bit deeper. Parrots are not domesticated, they are for all practical purposes still wild themselves and are only just a few generations removed from the wild ones still living in their natural habitats, and they retain all of these natural drives and instincts as do their wild kin.

Parrots are prey animals so their natural reactions are not anything that we are really familiar with, they do not perceive the world around them in the same manner as predators do and make no mistake about it, humans are as much a predator as is a wolf or a lion. We are also mammals while they are not and we have no real experience with reading the body language of a creature with feathers like we do with other mammals, who all have hair. They do not live naturally in the same type of social structure that we do. We and all of the other animals that we are familiar with live in the same type of social structure as we do, a dominance base society. This makes it difficult for us to understand them as they think and react to everything in a manner that we are unfamiliar with and it confuses us. Then to top all of this off they are self aware and intelligent. We like to think that dog and cats are self aware and intelligent, and this is a good thing, but they are truthfully no where near to being on the same level of being self aware or intelligent as a parrot is. Parrots are much closer to the level of self awareness and intelligence of humans than that of any other animal that I have ever met or lived with.

I should perhaps continue on with a basic Parrots 101 type of approach with this but lets jump ahead a bit to where you have acquired a parrot and you have brought it home with you.

You have just brought your parrot home and it won't come out of its cage or have anything to do with you. This is because of several things going on in its head. first of all it is afraid of its new home and the strange new human that now has it and it can see that it is a predator and doesn't know if it is on the menu or not. It has also been taken away from everything that was familiar with and that it felt safe with.

This is the explain as I go part of this. Parrots are territorial and do not readily accept change. They are flock animals and because of this they derive a certain amount of their sense of safety, security and wellbeing from their flock, such as their parents, their siblings other birds that live with them and even the humans that they have been with and have bonded with.

So how do you approach this scared little bird and make friends with it? You have to begin with accepting that this bird is going to require some time to adjust to its new environment which also includes you. The first inclination that we have to deal with this is to leave the bird to itself so that it can relax a bit, and this is a great ideas for a very limited period of time. Some humans like to allow a dat or so, but I really think that this is a mistake. First it will take a lot longer than just a few days and then there is the matter of them being flock animals that require the company of their flock for their feelings of security and well being. You may be the giant human predator that it is also afraid of, but you are also their new flock and if your bird is still a juvenile bird and not an adult then you are also its surrogate parent and it is dependent on you to take care of it and to teach it all of the things that it is going to need to know to live in its new environment with humans and any one else in it. you will also have to teach it what to eat and just about everything else, It will begin to develop a bond with you very quickly, even before you fully win its trust because it knows that it must depend on you. I told you that it was intelligent and self aware, right? So you start off by giving it a little space but you also need to be in the same room as it is and talk to it a lot. Let it see you as you go about your business while apparently not really paying attention to it other than by talking to it. It needs to get used to the sound of your voice as well as your presence so that it can get past its fear of you. Don't forget to name your bird as quickly as possible as its parents would have given it a name that they would have used all of its life when referring to it. They are self aware, they know who they are, so their name is as important to them as yours is to you. You spend a couple of days just hanging out in the same room as it is in talking softly to it using its name while giving it a huge amount of good bird type of praise and perhaps passing close to its cage and dropping a piece of sprig type of millet into its food dish and going back away from the cage. Of course there are the duties of cage cleaning and of providing food and water. Then on the morning of the second or third day you make two or three special times of 10 to 15 minutes each to work more specifically on earning your new birds trust without pushing it. You will come into the room and stop. Look at the bird and then start watching it from the corner of your eyes, so that it does not perceive you as a predator and begin softly talking to it, giving good bird praise and using its name in the process and when you see that your bird is relaxed and standing on one foot, start moving closer to its cage in a round about manner, stopping your approach every time that the bird starts getting nervous and moving closer when it relaxes. You may or may not make it to the cage during this first time period. If you do then spend the remaining time talking to it while next to its cage and offer it a piece of sprig type millet. When the time is up tell it good bye, using its name and promise to come back later on, and leave the room. After a few minutes you can go back in but keep your distance from the cage and just watch TV, read a book or whatever, even clean up the room. Do talk to the bird whenever you are in the room with it. After a few sessions, maybe even on the first one the bird will come over to take a bite or two from the sprig millet that you will offer it two or three times during these sessions, if it does not then leave a piece of the millet in its food dish before you leave and if it does take some of it from you , leave the last piece of millet for it in its food dish, This has the advantage that the bird learns that you are the bringer of good things for it to eat and also helps to build trust in the bird for you. Once the bird is taking bites from the millet that you are holding and calmly remaining there to get a second bite from you. it may be a good time to begin target training using these sessions for this purpose. Here is a link for doing this viewtopic.php?f=11&t=227

This is long enough and I am getting tired so I will pick on this next time.

[Pajarita]

The most important thing to remember with parrots is that you need to earn their love and trust BEFORE you start training them. Then, when the parrot likes, loves and trusts you, you can start training it BUT you cannot overwhelm it, either. You should only do three training sessions a day, none longer than 5 minutes each, never when the parrot is tired, and never insist on a command if the parrot doesn't do it after the second time you ask. Parrots don't live in a society where they need to obey or please a 'boss' but they don't mind doing nice things for the birds they love so the key is not concentrating so much on them doing tricks but to make them love you - the tricks will come after.

[sunconuresunny00]

my parrot sunny comes out of cage but never leaves the top or side, I read that your not suppose to train them on there cage cause they just want to be territorial and bite in instead of concentrating on training!! I've been working with him the last couple days consistently using his favorite treat. should I try having him step up on my shoulder first the when he does that consistently move around my room a little bit??? any advice will help PLEASE AND THANKS!!!

[sunconuresunny00]

when my bird is coming closet to my fingers to trying to get him to set up hr reaches over my fingers or forearm but won't let his feet touch my arm or fingers!! if they accidentally do then he backs away fast what else can I try??? please and thanks!!

[Wolf]

Please use this topic for your training questions, you can ask several questions in the same post and in the same topic. I merged two of your questions with this topic to help keep the forum neat and to keep all of the questions and answers together and making sense. Think of it as being like a journal or a diary of your training activities with your bird.

Just so you know, I work with my birds on top of their cage, on a perch placed on the outside of the cage, on the floor, on the sofa, on a table and pretty much everywhere except for in their cage except for when just starting out with them. The first target training and step up exercises are done with the bird in its cage. Once the bird starts trusting me and wanting to be with me then I move the training outside of their cage. This is because just like us they need a safe place that they can get away from all of the stresses of life in general, a place where they can say, no, I am not ready to perform just yet, a place that they can just relax in if they want to.

Please use the information in this link to begin your training for both hand taming and step up
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=227

[Wolf]

Last night I spent several hours trying to teach you a little bit about parrots and their nature as well as sharing with you the very first steps to use to begin to earn your birds trust so that you would be able to begin your first training sessions with him. I then provided you with a link that teaches you how to begin the initial training of your bird. It is the same link that I have just given you in the reply that I just made before starting this one.

One of the factors that I may not have yet made very clear is that you need to take your time with your bird, patience, upon patience, upon patience are required of you and then when you are frustrated and at your wits end and don't know what to do add two more doses of patience with a couple of nice long deep breathes between them so that you can pull yourself back together.


Trust is the only way that you can develop a good relationship with your parrot as it forms the basis for everything that you can ever do with your bird. Without the bird trusting you it will never form the bond that allows you to touch and interact with the bird. Without this trust you have nothing. You also need to bear in mind that this trust is a two way street and not only must the bird come to trust you, you must learn to trust your bird and in both cases this takes some time.

Do not get concerned about how long it takes to teach your bird anything, Learn to watch your bird and learn about his body language because this is one of his primary ways of trying to communicate with you. Your bird actually spends a great deal of time studying you and your body language as well as in trying to communicate with you.

Talk to your bird and give him lots of praise and when he allows it scratch his head, he will even ask you to do this. When you are interacting with your bird ask him to do what you want him to do, then show him what you are asking him to do and then give him the opportunity to do it. You may have to do this many times while he tries to figure out what you are asking him to do and if he makes even the slightest move to try then you need to reward him for it.

For instance your bird is on top of his cage and you want him to step up for you so that you can move him to a more comfortable place so that you can sit and watch TV and scratch his head and just hang out with him and he has not done this before. You would start by saying his name so that he knows that you are speaking to him and then you place your hand or forearm just barely above the top of the cage where it will be easy for him to just step onto it. Then you ask him to come to you and tap your arm or hand to indicate that you are asking him to come to there. Since he has not done this before you watch him and if he looks at where you are showing him, offer him a bite of millet and then ask again and show him the millet by the hand you want him to go to and ask him to come to you and tap the hand. If he only takes a step or two in the right direction then again give him a little bite of the millet. By the third time he will probably make the connection and come over to you. If so then reward him and ask him to step up. When they are just learning a thing from you reward each step in the right direction as this tells him that he is doing the right thing and making the right connections. Always quit after the third attempt so that you give him the chance to think about it and just come back later and start all over again.

Even if he does not understand enough to make an attempt, don't get frustrated, find something that he has learned to do already and ask him to do that so that you can give him the treat and praise and come back later and try again. You don't pressure him into doing what you want, you gently teach and allow him to figure it out for himself. This will always build more trust with him and will pay big dividends in time. You just have to be patient with him.

[Pajarita]

If he avoids getting on your finger, hand or arm, he still doesn't trust you so be patient and wait for it. Just spend time with him without asking him to do anything. Talk to him, offer him a treat every now and then, let him out of his cage but don't stare at him, just do 'your' thing (watch TV, homework, read, play video games, etc) and, eventually, he will want to be on you. By the way, the way to get them to do anything is by rewarding them with a 'high value' item (this is something they like very much -usually a seed or a nut- and do not get regularly so you can't really free-feed protein food or the system will not work).

It doesn't matter where you do the training, it can be on top of the cage, on a perch, on the back of a chair, or -as in my case- wherever the bird happens to be perching on at the time (I don't do training sessions, I simply teach them as we go along).

[Wolf]

I don't often use regular training sessions either but they do work for many people, but since I rarely train a bird to do tricks, I just work with them anywhere except in their cage. I do start with a new bird in the cage, but just until I get them to coming out of it. From that point I talk and ask them to do what I want of them and show them so that they can see what I want and then reward every step they take in the direction that I want of them. I limit treat type rewards to no more than three treats for any thing that I am teaching them.