Help Training a Red Belly

[rrhodes]

So for a little background. I have owned birds in the past when I was younger. African and a Quaker. Well a year ago my Mother sent us home with a Red Belly. The kids wanted it and he took the 13 hour ride home with us. I think the only time the bird was taken out of the cage was to have it's wings clipped by a vet so needless to say he is not happy when I reach my hand in his cage.

The good, He is very vocal, He thinks my wife's name is Daniel which is actually my sister's name who lived with him in NJ. If my dog leaves the room he starts chanting Choco until the dog returns. He will ring like a phone until someone in the house says hello. Gives kisses through his cage and when I sit next to the cage he will move to the bottom and talk with me and let me rub his beak. The dog will actually approach the cage and exchange kisses with the bird.

I can feed and water him with no issues but anytime my hand is near him he has no issue trying to take a bite at me. He does not seem afraid but rather aggressive. The bird is about 7 years old. The last time I let him out of the cage and picked him up I got a nice hole in my hand. I think I have become less tolerant of pain because I flinch when he tries to bite which was not an issue when I was younger. I also believe he prefers women (Can't blame him) but the wife is flat out scared of him.

So now that I have written this not so short story does anyone have any advice or suggestions on steps I should take to tame Oscar?

[coolhady13]

you should by reading the taming topic here

http://trainedparrot.com/taming/

feel free to ask if you have more question . the topic have everything

[Michael]

You will need to start completely over again. Forget everything that has happened and have a determined approach. Start with just being able to spend time near the cage without aggression. Progress to providing treats through the bars and clicker condition. I suggest target training in the cage and getting the bird to be expert at it (could take a few weeks or more) before targeting it out onto a perch to take it out. Then you can proceed with training outside the cage. Notice none of this requires hand to bird contact until you are well into the training.