by JaydeParrot » Wed May 29, 2013 7:37 pm
Woah, I was in exactly the same position with my two new bonded terrified/untame adult Senegals last year, everyone I talked to said it would be impossible but now the female is incredibly tame to the point of happily flying over to me on cue and sitting on my shoulder while I walk around doing different stuff. The male hasn't been as easy but he's getting there.
Anyways, first off, in spite of what most other people say, I would semi-clip the parrot until it's tame, mainly because it tends to shorten the process of taming down quite a bit as the bird is no longer able to fly off and so has to learn to face and embrace it's fears.
I've found that the easiest way to teach a bird to step up is to buy a bendy rope- It's a purpose made parrot toy which is basically a colourful rope with a piece of thin metal runnuing through the inside of it (costs about £5 depending where you are in the world but well worth it). Hold both ends in one hand to make it a u shape and then ask one to step up on it, when they step up quickly walk away from the cage with the bird on the rope, praise it while you walk around the room for 30 seconds or so (not too long or they can get fed up) and then take the bird back to the cage, saying step up before the bird goes back, to make it look like it was your idea.
Start to do a session a day for each bird. get a bird to step up, then walk with it to a different room where there are no distractions and no cage/mate to guard/want to go back to. Work with each bird for ten minutes and then take it back to it's room, slowly make each session time longer as the bird gets used to being out of it's room.
Don't take both birds out at the same time until you feel that at least one of them is friendly towards you, otherwise you'll end up with both birds being distracted/ignoring you.
Also, if you find that one bird seems easier than the other, work more with that one and then use it as an example for the other bird at a later date... You can be amazed, I spent ages with my female teaching her to step up and such, then when I finally let the male watch, he caught on much faster.
Remember, it's important to move the bird into a room different to it's cage so it isn't constantly concentrating on trying to get back to it's cage (out of sight, out of mind). The rope, I've found is essential in providing a reliable sturdy perch that they feel easy stepping up onto. I definetly would say seperate them for the session so that one's with you and the other's with the cage.
Do the session everyday, even something as simple as taking one to the livingroom and getting it to watch tv with you for a few minutes a day is helpful in the taming priocess- Just so they get to share an everyday experiance with you.
If you can find any youtube videos where their species of bird is interacting nicely with a human this can also be benificial in teaching them that human contact is ok (all birds are individuals, some just might not be interesed in videos).
Eventually when they've tamed down a bit you can get them to step up onto your arm by what I'd call a bit of a cheating method, wear a long sleeve shirt to minimize bites, if they won't step onto your arm from the rope by request, try holding the rope with them on it in one hand and pulling it under your stretched out other arm, as the bird runs out of rope, it'll need to step up onto your arm to prevent itself from falling to the floor, if it tries to go else where just do the method again until it remains on your arm, I used this method and had my female perching on my arm within less than two days. Cover your ears up with your hair if it decides to sit on you shoulder, or use the rope to herd the parrot away from your shoulder if you don't want it to climb up your arm and do that.
Hope that helps...