question regarding trainning to fetch

[amia]

Hi Kathleen,
Thanks. That's quite a list. Can you comment regarding which are easier to train and which are more difficult (according to the number of session that were required to each) , or maybe all of them are similar difficulty?

[Kathleen]

The tricks that require specific props/objects: jump through a hoop, go down a slide, climb a rope, climb around a perch, ring a bell. These can be obtained. All materials/objects need to be nontoxic/safe for parrots.
A hoop maybe through a hardware store or a suitable non flexible bracelet.

A slide may be built yourself, or possibly some kind of kid's toy slide, or specifically a slide made for training a parrot on, may be used but use caution and I recommend a wood slide or a slide that isn't too slippery so there is a little bit of traction for the bird. The slide I used for my now deceased budgie was a small, custom built wooden slide which appears in some of the youtube videos.

A rope may be found in a hardware store but should be safe, untreated rope which is thick. Untreated cotton rope may be suitable. Thick rope that sort of has "grooves" in it (I can't explain this well I don't think) would be best for climbing for a bird's little feet. This rope would only be meant for performing a trick and shouldn't be hung in the cage or anything like that.

A bell could be obtained in various ways. Bells are usually included on some parrot toys so hanging a small, plain parrot toy with a bell, or taking a bell off a parrot toy and hanging it in another way, could be a source of a safe and suitable bell.

Play dead and roll over are almost identical using very different cues and teaching one, and then the other at a much, much later time will hopefully avoid confusing the two tricks. Kisses, wings, shake head, nod head, and shake finger also don't require props.

It depends on your experience how long these tricks could take but tricks that stand out to be most that would be the most difficult are: play dead and roll over, bat, wings, shake its head, wave, fetch. These tricks may take longer because the bird is smaller or because the trick needs more perfecting even after the bird learns the general mechanics. Some of these require tameness.

Here's a classic example of a problem that I had training a budgie. I had a budgie named Duke and all Duke seemed to be interested in was millet. This made it hard to train Duke fetch. With other larger parrots, or even parrots who are more interested in toys, maybe this would be easier. But Duke was poorly raised and I think he spent a lot of his early life without toys. He wasn't interested in toys or objects. I had to start out teaching him to fetch by rewarding him for touching the object that I wanted him to fetch. I had to make him to touch it with his beak and I gave him a reward. I put it on the floor and he started touching it himself because he learned. Then I rewarding him more when instead of just touching it, he accidentally "flicked it". Then he learned to pick it up more and he started picking it up in his beak to get millet. Then I manipulated the situation and put a little dish under him and he picked it up and inadvertently dropped it in the dish. This went on for a long time, and with a lot of trial and error, slowly shifting the dish away but still giving him some "easy" tries, he finally figured out it had to go in the dish and he finally did it on his own.

If I had a suggestion for the next trick you should try, I would suggest climb a rope. If you're unable to get a suitable rope soon, then maybe try a trick that doesn't require a prop, like lifting/spreading its wings.

[amia]

Thanks Kathleen for your detailed response.
BTW why is it not good to hang a thick rope in the cage?