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Got new African Grey Approx 1 year old

Discuss the methods and techniques of clicker training, target training and bonding. These are usually the first steps in training a young parrot.

Re: Got new African Grey Approx 1 year old

Postby Wolf » Sun Aug 28, 2016 6:13 am

While parrots may have an independent streak as well as not responding well to orders, they are not really dominant in nature. Many of them prefer to perch is high places, but this is because they live high in the treetops ( canopy dwellers), where they are much safer from predators and not out of dominance. Greys, are no exception to this even though they are partial ground feeders. Any actual dominate type behaviors in parrots, it there are any must have been taught to them by humans as this trait does not appear to exist in wild parrots. Perhaps you are misreading your parrot.

Mash is nothing more than raw fruits and vegetables that have been run through a food processer or blender until they are of a consistency similar to that of oatmeal. This is often done to keep the bird from picking out its favorite foods from the mix, when the same ingredient are simply cut into pieces and served to the bird it is referred to as chop. I would not and any new pelleted foods to Alex's diet, but I would try making a mash and using one of the commercial foods that you are already giving him as sort of a top dressing for the mash until he begins to eat the mash. I feed my Grey for breakfast and for all day feasting Gloop and a fresh raw fruit, a fresh raw vegetable and a fresh raw leafy green with the fresh raw foods changing each day. I also feed my Grey a no sunflower seed mix with the addition of two or three tree nuts for her dinner. Gloop is a home made cooked food that is roughly 40% partly cooked whole grains, 40% mixed vegetables and 20% fully cooked navy beans and lentils.

What is Alex doing that makes you think and feel as if he is behaving in a dominant manner?
Wolf
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 8679
Location: Lansing, NC
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Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
African Grey (CAG)
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2Celestial Parrotlet
Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: Got new African Grey Approx 1 year old

Postby mustafarangoon » Sun Aug 28, 2016 6:56 am

I saw some YouTube videos where in they referred that thing.
mustafarangoon
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
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Re: Got new African Grey Approx 1 year old

Postby Wolf » Sun Aug 28, 2016 8:55 am

I really do not understand where this dominance thing originated. I have heard of some dominate type of behaviors in captive parrots, but they seem to me to be pretty rare and even then appear to me to be only between some bird to bird interactions. Most of the time that I hear of a bird exhibiting a behavior that some may consider to be dominate it is actually the birds natural territorialness in relation to defending its nesting space and whatever is in that space. The birds cage is its nesting space.

I like you tube as much as anyone else, but there is as much bad information as there is good information on you tube, most of it posted by well meaning people. So I take what I find on you tube with a couple of grains of salt so to speak.

Just so we have a better idea of where you and Alex are in your developing relationship, why don't you take some time to think about it and then describe a typical day with you and Alex starting from when he gets up in the morning and ending when he goes to sleep for the night.
Wolf
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 8679
Location: Lansing, NC
Number of Birds Owned: 6
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
African Grey (CAG)
Yellow Naped Amazon
2Celestial Parrotlet
Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: Got new African Grey Approx 1 year old

Postby Pajarita » Sun Aug 28, 2016 11:50 am

The dominance theory came from people who called themselves 'bird behaviorists' but who had no real background in birds but dogs. Unfortunately, in our collective ignorance of wild parrots social structure, it resonated with us because a dominance society is what we are used to in virtually all the animals we have domesticated. It 'made sense' to us. Same thing with the flooding taming techniques... when you have a dog that has been severely abused and does not want human touch, rescuers often use a mild flooding technique to get them to get it re-accustomed to it (they use something like a soft rolled up towel to caress the sides of the dog's torso through the bars of the cage).

I don't like A17. For one thing, the large size is more a gimmick than a reality because birds never perch on the side with the lower roof so they end up perching all the time in that skinny tower thing where there isn't enough room to even open their wings. And, for another, the bird's highest perch would place the bird always below a human's eye level. If I had to choose one, I would go with the A11 even though it's still too small (the width is less than 24 inches and the depth less than 22 inches -my canaries have cages with more width than that). The smallest cage I would get would be something like this one: http://www.wayfair.com/AandE-Cage-Co.-L ... C1014.html
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
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Location: NW Pa
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Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Got new African Grey Approx 1 year old

Postby Wolf » Sun Aug 28, 2016 1:10 pm

I prefer the A11 type of cage myself and I have given the measurements that are for the minimum size requirement in a cage for the congo African grey, twice I think. As well as saying that it is better to get an even larger cage if possible. I guess I wasn't worried as much about the smaller place uo top as I figured that Alex might only use it for sleeping in. Kookooloo does not limit herself to just the upper part of her cage when she is in it. Of course I let her remain out as much as is possible for me to do.
Wolf
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 8679
Location: Lansing, NC
Number of Birds Owned: 6
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
African Grey (CAG)
Yellow Naped Amazon
2Celestial Parrotlet
Budgie
Flight: Yes

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