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Help Me With Training My Conure

Exchange information about how to teach specific tricks to parrots. Most of these techniques should apply to all bird species. Share your success stories.

Help Me With Training My Conure

Postby Andrea_Michelle » Thu Feb 06, 2014 12:00 am

Hello. I adopted my Pineapple GCC about two months ago. He's about two years old. He is friendly, steps up and has no cage aggression. However he doesn't like being petted or cuddled. And when he perches on my finger he will just sit there and nibble it if I'm not engaging him in some kind of activity, even then.. He still likes to bit at my fingers and nails. Usually not too hard. Sometimes though, hard enough to break the skin and I bleed. I was told to completely ignore any aggressive/bad behavior. I've never told him "No!" When he bites me. I just sit, and endour the pain. What do you do to stop biting/teach your parrot to stop? Also, how can I teach him to perch on my finger and not jump right up onto my shoulder? Once he's up, he will avoid coming down at all costs. He is a great bird though, and very very sweet when you're interacting with him. Recently, I taught him how to "wave" he does this on his training perch. I am still working with him on it, however when I have him perched on my finger.. He will not do the trick. He will just sit there, is this common? Do bids not do tricks whilst perched on you? This is the first bird I've began trick training, any help would be much appricated. Thanks so much. x
Andrea_Michelle
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
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Types of Birds Owned: Conure, Budgie.
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Re: Help Me With Training My Conure

Postby Weka » Sat Feb 08, 2014 2:55 pm

Hi and welcome --

Two months is not a whole lot of time -- hang in there! Some birds can take a long while to warm up to their human caregiver. How would you feel if an alien giant that was hundreds of feet tall tried to "cuddle" and "pet" you? If he doesn't want to do tricks on your hand, just work with what he's currently comfortable with. In the long run, patience and loving consistency should win him over.




All the best for you both,

Weka
She was not quite what you would call refined. She was not quite what you would call unrefined. She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot. -- Mark Twain

Providing a forever home for Skeeter, an 11-year-old male red bellied. :redbelly:
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Weka
Conure
 
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Re: Help Me With Training My Conure

Postby Scotty » Thu Mar 06, 2014 9:07 pm

Learn what Target Training is and go from there, you need to start teaching the bird tricks and in time things will change...

So READ READ READ! :)
BeBe :gcc:
Scotty
Conure
 
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Re: Help Me With Training My Conure

Postby Pajarita » Fri Mar 07, 2014 4:19 pm

GCCs all LOVE to perch on our shoulders -at least, all four of mine did! They love the closeness and, often, all they do is just nap there, so there is nothing really wrong with your bird wanting this. It's perfectly normal.

As to not showing pain or any type of reaction when they bite, I know this is what everybody says you are supposed to do but I don't believe in it. It makes no sense, actually. It's not as if another bird would just 'take' the bite and not do anything so it's not a natural avian behavior (a weaker bird would fly away and a stronger bird would retaliate -not that I am telling you to retaliate because I'm not!). People say one needs to do this so they don't keep on doing it confusing an exclamation of pain with the 'drama' they love but that implies they are stupid and would get pain and enthusiasm confused and I don't believe in that (they are excellent body language readers because they are born highly altricial and need to learn behaviors from their parents through observation and imitation). The only other 'explanation' would be that they like causing us pain and when you show them they did, they keep on doing it so as to 'reward' themselves... as if they were sadistic. But I know for a fact they are not. Quite the contrary, they are very empathetic and once they love us, they hate to see us suffering and would often try to console us and love us when we are sick or down or whatever. But the only way they would know that they are causing us pain is if we show them they did, don't you think?

Personally (and I deal with aggressive birds), I make a big deal out of it when I get bit. I don't punish them in any way but I do tell them Bad Bird!, scare them (I caw real loud and make a 'beak with my right hand and move it up and down on top of their head as if the 'beak' was going to bite them -but I never actually touch them), and turn away from them. I have wild-caught male amazons that were ex-breeders and are now mate-bonded and they don't bite me - not even during breeding season. Yesterday alone, one of them grabbed and squeezed and let go my right index finger but he did not break the skin or even bruise it and believe me when I tell you that this is FABULOUS restraint for a bird like him! (I only told him Bad Bird, I did not make the 'beak' because he had not really bit me). He ended up with me because his third owner ended up in the emergency room twice from his bites.

I also had GCC male that had been neglected and possibly abused and he was VERY bitey but he came around in a matter of a few weeks and I didn't really do anything but tell him Bad Bird and put him down whenever he would bite me.
Pajarita
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