Taming a parrotlet

[Konabird]

I've read that an all pellet diet isn't good for a parrot.

Where did you read this?

Several places. I did a lot of reading in several different places on the internet before I even tried to get a bird. I don't remember exactly where I read it, I just know that it is one of the things that i did read.

[Konabird]

I did a quick google search and found this. While I'm not sure that it is one of the ones I read, it says about as much.

http://birds.about.com/od/feeding/f/seedsorpellets.htm

I didn't include fruits and vegetables in the list of things I feed him because I'm still trying to get him to accept them

[Dave & Karen]

We've had our parrotlet for a little over 3 months now and he's been tame as can be for the last 2... but things didn't start out that way. he was a little biting terror with his wings trimmed just enough to where he could still fly but not lift off very well so he gould still get away pretty quickly when trying to get him to stay on our hand... he had no problem flying over and landing on us... mainly to take a bite of skin then zoom off again.. lol
Anyway we did work with him a lot by having him fly from one of us to the other and he loved to land on top of my head. I took advantage of this since I didn't want a wild baby biting bird up where he could nip an ear, so I would block his flight path with my hand, forcing him to land on my hand. After he got used to this and gave up on trying to land on my head, he would land on my hand if it was up every time. I got him to stay put mainly by flying him back and forth several times so he would want to stop and rest for a minut or so, then I just put up my thumb instead of my finger for him to perch on. Having him on my thumb meant my fingers could sneak up from behind him and ever so gently pet the back of his head, he would enjoy this immensely, then realize I was petting him and he'd fly off again, but after several days he'd land on my finger or thumb and tilt his head as far over as he could so I could scritch under his jaw and beak... and the bonding began but the biting hadn't stopped yet, nor did his tendency to stay put on my hand.
I noticed how much he loved his millet so I took it out of his cage and off his play stands and used it only as a reward from this point on, now it was really easy to bribe him into coming to me and staying on my hand while I fed him millet and pet the back of his neck and under his jaws and beak where he wanted to be pet. After another week or so I began letting him on my shoulder and he would step off when asked so he became fully trusted on my shoulder and I've only been bit 2 or 3 times but it wasn't serious and more of him getting a bit over zealous about "grooming" my ear.
We bought some broccoli at the grocery store and he LOVED it so we keep it in the house all the time now for training and treating purposes, and now he knows several tricks to earn a bite of the broccoli, he'll even start doing some of the tricks I've showed him without cue just by saying the word broccoli. He'll summersault on my fingers or his perches for a bite or he will turn around and look at me expecting a bite as well as doing a few other tricks we're working on. He's been afraid to hang like a bat but he's even doing that on his own now as well.
Try to tame your bird enough to stay on your hand and work mostly on bonding with him by petting and offering him different foods to see what he likes best, you'll find one food he goes crazy for and can use that to your advantage, then take it as slow or fast as your new little friend wants to go... You can also try almonds or pecans as ours loves both these treats as well.

[Michael]

I did a quick google search and found this. While I'm not sure that it is one of the ones I read, it says about as much.

http://birds.about.com/od/feeding/f/seedsorpellets.htm

I didn't include fruits and vegetables in the list of things I feed him because I'm still trying to get him to accept them

Ok, they say to supplement pellets with some other stuff, but they're not saying to base diet on other things. Here's my take on it which is based on a lot of research. Basically 50-100% pellets is good. Probably somewhere around 70-85% pellets. I think all pellets is safer than just some made up diet. I think 100% pellets is safer and more likely to be the right nutrition than 100% fruit and vegetable. Mostly seeds, fughetaboutit.

[Konabird]

Ok, they say to supplement pellets with some other stuff, but they're not saying to base diet on other things. Here's my take on it which is based on a lot of research. Basically 50-100% pellets is good. Probably somewhere around 70-85% pellets. I think all pellets is safer than just some made up diet. I think 100% pellets is safer and more likely to be the right nutrition than 100% fruit and vegetable. Mostly seeds, fughetaboutit.

Thanks for the advice :>

[Konabird]

Good news! Taking a few steps back helped quite a bit. I just started feeding him treats in his cage for awhile. Then when he got more used to that, I started moving my hand toward him without a treat, til he started to freak out, then treated him when he calmed down. After that I began putting my finger against his underside and asking him to step up. Long story short, I can now take him in and out of his cage with little to no fuss, and he steps up on command! :>

I'm gonna keep working on this a bit longer and then see if I can move on to letting me touch him without a panick. He seems a little okay with touching his beak but still tries to bite some times.

[friend2parrots]

awesome to hear that youre making progress!! good work!