how do I teach my conure to wave.

[jaatee]

I saw a guy on YouTube who was showing off his Conure doing some tricks. One of the tricks consisted of the conure waving with his claw on command. My conure is 6 months old and is just getting started with his trick learning. as of now he steps up and steps down with no problems. He also will shake hands with me. I would like to teach him to wave but I don't know how to get this started with him so he will understand what I want him to do. Can anyone give me some ideas. thanks

[Kathleen]

http://www.theparrotforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=227

You need to check this article and go through it. You can skip the part about stepping up and overcoming aggression, but you should start by finding out your bird's favorite treat, setting up a treat feeding regime, and conditioning it to a clicker (or if you must not use a clicker, to the sound of you saying good, but a clicker is just much, much easier and more consistent for the bird to understand).

You MUST complete these steps. The prerequisites for teaching a trick are teaching step up, overcoming most aggression (so that you can at least approach the bird) and basic tameness, being conditioned to a clicker with the bird's favorite treat, and a food regime.

Duke my ex-budgie was difficult to teach to wave because Budgies are ground feeding birds and don't hold their feet up high. I taught him to wave by tricking him. I would hold my finger out to have him step up, but I didn't want him to step up. I wanted him to anticipate my finger by holding his foot up and trying to step on it. I held my finger a bit too high for him to reach so that he wouldn't actually step but still lift his foot, then I clicked.

Duke had this problem. He would lift his foot up and down and up and down, desperately trying to step. I had to show him that he didn't have to lift it over and over. I had to click immediately when he lifted it once. He realized that he didn't have to make so much effort to keep lifting it, and that's how I eventually solved his tapping and made it into a little budgie wave.

As far as establishing a wave cue, you simply do the cue at the same time (verbal/hand cue) as approaching the bird with your finger to step, and you eventually phase out the step up faking finger.

[Michael]

Senegal Parrot Wave:

[bmsweb]

Kathleen that's a clever way of teaching duke! I would have never thought of it!

Michael, how did you teach Kili to wave? Might try this for the first trick for Jazz (Cockatiel).

[Michael]

Cockatiels/budgies suck at wave cause they are ground feeders and don't hold food in their foot like larger parrots do. While for larger parrots wave is an intro level trick, it's actually very advanced for cockatiels.

[jazzyjessie1353]

That's pretty cool, Kathleen! I've never heard of using a clicker before! Where can I get one? Pros and cons?

[Kathleen]

Clickers can be obtained from a typical chain pet supplies store. They may be in the "dog" training section of the store. Or, you can order online:

http://www.google.com/products?q=traini ... hl=en&aq=f

Since they are so cheap, I would recommend buying quite a few at once (to make use of the shipping cost) if you order them online. Clickers do get worn out after a few months of constant use.

Here are some links to other discussions on this forum about clickers:

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=824
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=278

[bmsweb]

Clickers do get worn out after a few months of constant use

I never considered this, I might buy another right away then. Thanks of the tip!

Cheers
Paul

[Suzzique]

That is to cute to see the keet wave! I will have to try the wave with Alex he already does shake.

I normally shop at petco and they have the clickers at the register. It was $2.18 with the tax. I don't have to worry about making a special trip when it's time for a new clicker. We have fish and reptiles as well as the birds so I'm over there a couple times a month anyway.

[kimbo]

suzzique what reptiles you got?