by Pajarita » Thu Nov 09, 2017 3:04 pm
Well, the thing with all parrots, and particularly with babies, is that they feel scared and confused when they are alone as nature never meant for an altricial infant to be on its own so no matter how you approach your leaving, it will still be pretty distressing to a parrot - even an adult one. Parrots evolve to be born, live their entire lives and die surrounded by their large extended family. These are not domesticated animals so their needs are exactly the same as the wild ones and, in truth, being pets is not the best situation for them no matter how hard we try. But things are as they are and all we can do is try to minimize the stress of captivity and, the best thing for that is strict and never changing routines. Following a strict daily routine and saying the same thing every time gives them a sense of control over their lives which, in turn, reduces stress. So, if you are going to go out for a little while, do say that you are coming right back or whatever phrase you use BUT, if you are going away for the entire day, use a different phrase so he knows what to expect.
I don't train my birds in the sense of having sessions, giving them rewards, etc. I teach them by always doing and saying the same exact thing every time and you would be surprised how incredibly effective a training tool this is! I hardly ever go out and, when I do, I always do it at a time when they are used to being caged so as not to 'cheat' them of their out of cage time but, when I do go out, I always say the same thing to all of them and, although what I say was originally meant for my dogs, the birds learned that, when I say this, it means that I will be out of the house for a while. Parrots are highly intelligent and learn very fast when a phrase precedes or follows an action. I am going to give you an example: my male redbelly, Davy, knows what 'Come here!' means but he hardly ever says it himself UNLESS it's dinner time for the cats. My cats eat dinner on my dining room table and I call them by going 'BSSSBBBSSSSBBBBSSS Come here!' but the 'come here' is said in a mewling kind of sing song and it sounds more like 'comeeer'. Well, as soon as I come out of the kitchen with the tray holding all the cats dishes and barely start going 'BSSSSBSSSSS' Dave goes: "COMEER COMEEER" and doesn't stop until all the cats are on the table. I did not teach him that but he learned it on his own by hearing me say it every night and seeing the same action taking place immediately after. What I can't figure out is how he knows if all the cats are eating or not because it's actually pretty dark when I feed the cats dinner this time of the year and, as far as I know, he should not be able to count them.
So, I would recommend you use one phrase for when you are coming back soon and another for when you are going to be out all day. I would leave a radio on with the volume low and, right before I leave, give him a treat [I would use a nut - like half an almond, for example] so, although he will learn that the phrase means you won't be there -which he will not like- he will also learn that he will get a goodie which, will distract him while you actually walk out.