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Why do you clip your parrot?

Chat about general parrot care and parrot owner lifestyle. Bird psychology, activities, trimming, clipping, breeding etc.

Re: Why do you clip your parrot?

Postby MandyG » Wed Jan 20, 2010 12:05 pm

To be honest, I'm not really sure. I have a few ideas just off the top of my head, but because those weren't steps we took I can't say whether or not they would have worked.

- More hands on interaction and training when Mojo was a baby. Although the sources I found for advice on parrot training said you should only have one person training the bird in the beginning because it can get confused. Now I know that we could have trained him separate tricks, just not worked on training the same trick to him.

- He should have been the main person to interact with Mojo once he started showing preference towards me. Although my husband was the one to take him out of his cage, to hand him to me, and would even take him out to play on his play stand when I wasn't home. He's also the one that feeds him most days. My interaction with him wasn't limited though, my husband was too frightened of birds to be the sole person caring for him, plus he didn't know anything about training him or his body language.

Those are a couple of things that I would try and do more of if we could do it over again. Again, I don't know if those steps would prevent the aggression that we're seeing now. Amazons are known for getting extremely jealous, possibly the extra training and handling wouldn't have been enough to overcome that tendency. Unfortunately there's a lot of information I didn't come across until after there was a problem, before Mojo was flighted he would allow my husband to handle him without any problems.
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Re: Why do you clip your parrot?

Postby Kathleen » Wed Jan 20, 2010 2:01 pm

Maybe your husband needs to take over training and feeding Mojo for a while until things are more balanced. It's easier to clip Mojo, but a lot harder to fix this problem. Hopefully, you can get the bond with you and the bond with your husband to be more balanced, and you won't have to clip him again.

If Mojo becomes aggressive at a distance with your husband being present (present but far away), you should probably start using negative reinforcement outlined in this article: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=227 (push the threshold of the bird's aggression a little until the bird calms down, then reward by having your husband go away), and then transition to some training. Have your husband teach Mojo a new trick and have him do the training sessions for a while until you see some improvement. Pick Mojo's favorite treat and have only your husband hand feed it to Mojo. Then have him hand feed Mojo's favorite treat for stepping up a few times (click and reward it to at first, and eventually phase the click out) etc. If you can, try to have your husband wear pants, a long sleeved shirt, protective shoes and a glove on one of his hands to try to prevent some injury from any biting

Your husband is part of Mojo's life. He may not have been interested in taking care of Mojo, and now he is probably even more weary of doing it because of the circumstances. Mojo may always like you/bond with you more than with your husband, but you have to make your husband's presence rewarding to Mojo so that they can at least tolerate each other.
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Re: Why do you clip your parrot?

Postby Michael » Wed Jan 20, 2010 2:53 pm

What I find interesting is that your parrot became more aggressive with flight. Kili definitely mellowed out when she started to fly cause she can choose where to go rather than have forced interaction. Kili may bite if someone reaches for her but almost never bites if she flies to someone on her own. Dunno what to tell ya. Let's see what Mona can suggest.
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Re: Why do you clip your parrot?

Postby MandyG » Wed Jan 20, 2010 3:16 pm

Clipping definitely isn't a solution, it's just to make training possible and to prevent any more attacks.

Kathleen wrote:If Mojo becomes aggressive at a distance with your husband being present (present but far away), you should probably start using negative reinforcement outlined in this article: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=227 (push the threshold of the bird's aggression a little until the bird calms down, then reward by having your husband go away)


I just made him watch all of my videos on the 'power pause' over the weekend ;) Also I have some videos on parrot fear and aggression that he wants to watch with me because he knows now that interacting with a parrot is very different from interacting with our dogs. He's become very willing to learn what he can about parrots, Mojo's body language, and he's determined to work with Mojo to improve their relationship now that he's slowly getting over his fear of birds.

Kathleen wrote:you have to make your husband's presence rewarding to Mojo so that they can at least tolerate each other.


Right now we're taking it slow, he gives Mojo sunflower seeds (his favorite) whenever Mojo allows him to come up to his cage, his perch, or me while holding him without getting upset. He's learning to watch his body language before approaching him to see if he wants to be bothered or left alone as well.

Next we'll be working on him target training Mojo and then move on to step ups. Taking it slow and one step at a time ;)

Michael wrote:What I find interesting is that your parrot became more aggressive with flight. Kili definitely mellowed out when she started to fly cause she can choose where to go rather than have forced interaction.


Even though Mojo can still fly to an extent the clipping seems to have really affected him. Exactly for the reason that you just mentioned, I was worried about him becoming aggressive towards me after. But he has been so sweet and cuddly! He hasn't even growled at my husband since! He's had more luck going up to him to give him a treat in the last few days than he has in the last few months. I think it's a combination of the clipping and the amount my husband has been learning.

Maybe it's because we don't force interaction? Like I'm trying to teach my husband, watch the body language to see if he will be open to the interaction, then approach. If he's showing signs that he clearly wants to be left alone of course you're going to get bit ;)
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Re: Why do you clip your parrot?

Postby Michael » Wed Jan 20, 2010 3:24 pm

A problem with clipping is that it takes away a major warning sign. A fearful flighted parrot can just fly away. If it is flying to get away from you it's pretty obvious that it does not want to be near you. You'd just be asking for a bite to keep going toward it. On the other hand, if it's clipped, it is stuck with you. And a parrot that cannot get away will resort to biting. From what you are describing, you are having the opposite affect and I really want to know why. I don't know if it's a difference between Senegal/Amazon or African/American, but it would be interesting to figure out why.

If you haven't already checked out the Senegal Parrot Biting topic you should take a look. While the species are different some of the same cautions and tips might apply.
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Re: Why do you clip your parrot?

Postby MandyG » Wed Jan 20, 2010 3:57 pm

I've been meaning to read that article, it just looks long so I haven't had the time to sit down and read it yet ;)

I don't know much about senegals, but I do know that it's very easy to read an Amazon. That's actually one of the many reasons I went with a Zon for a first bird, they're able to make what they want and don't want very clear. Many birds won't show they're uphappy until a) they fly away; or b) they bite.

It's definitely not the reaction I was expecting, and it's only been a few days so maybe it's just because he's adjusting right now? I'll definitely let you know if his attitude changes in the next week or so.
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Re: Why do you clip your parrot?

Postby kimbo » Wed Jan 20, 2010 5:12 pm

i was advised by a woman from a bird shelter to have chico :senegal: clipped as he kept flying up to the light shade and i was scared he may bight the wires. since he has been clipped hes much easier to handle and friendlier. he needs us more to get where he wants to go.
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Re: Why do you clip your parrot?

Postby Kathleen » Mon Jan 25, 2010 1:57 pm

How have things been going lately with Mojo?
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Re: Why do you clip your parrot?

Postby pchela » Mon Jan 25, 2010 2:19 pm

I guess all birds react differently to clipping. Three of mine are unclipped and are fine. My senegal is clipped. He is much more aggressive when he is flighted. Clipped he is the sweetest bird in the world. I am letting them grow out because I'd prefer them all to be flighted but if he starts being mean and aggressive and chasing the other birds again I will probably clip him again. (he is a very strong flier... even clipped he can fly around the room and get where he wants to go, he just can't sustain a long flight without gliding to the ground)
"I bet the sparrow looks at the parrot and thinks, yes, you can talk, but LISTEN TO YOURSELF!" ~ Jack Handy ~ Deep Thoughts
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Re: Why do you clip your parrot?

Postby MandyG » Mon Jan 25, 2010 4:21 pm

Kathleen wrote:How have things been going lately with Mojo?


Great! Even though Mojo can still fly across the house when he wants he hasn't attacked my husband once. He can go up to his cage or his play stand and hand him a seed without any problems too! And the other night I fell asleep while Mojo was still out and sleeping on his perch and he was able to wake him up and take him back to his cage. That's something even I have trouble with!

We haven't started any step up training yet with the two of them, just trying to take it slow and get Mojo used to his presence being a good thing and to build their trust. I am getting him used to stepping up onto sweater covered arms and the glove, I recently hurt my hands and can't have him stepping up onto my bare skin. He did NOT like the sweater at first, but he's getting used to it! Once he's stepping up 100% with the glove and is comfortable with my husband just being near him we'll start target/step-up training with the two of them.
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