Parrot proofing

[snakesentwined]

Hi guys

Isis has developed a real obsession with flying up onto shelves at the moment - and systematically hurling everything on them onto the floor. The worst is our extensive collection of CDs and DVDs - which she cracks the cases of first, before flicking them over her shoulder and onto the floor...

We've tried everything we can think to stop her and let her know that this is inappropriate - from cajoling and sternly telling her "No!" to finding other distractions - but nothing works. Any ideas - either of how to stop her (besides clipping her wings, which we really don't want to do), or for 'Parrot-proofing' the shelves so that she can't get to them?

David

[liz]

Clipping her wings would be like putting a hobble on a toddler.

Myrtle will be 2 in April. I am giving her the benefit of the doubt that she is in her "terrible twos".
All surfaces have been cleared off and Myrtle safe. To keep her from chewing the curtains I put a hanging toy with a bell on the rod. I get poop on the window sill but at least I know where to find the poop and clean it. No cabinets are left open. All candy containers have lids. Now that she knows how to open drawers, I have blocked them any way I can figure. She has become confident to walk on the floors so now I have to monitor the dog toys and take away the ones she can destroy.
If I have to leave the kitchen while I am cooking, I turn off the burners and put lids on everything.

That little girl has complicated my life. I used to just Rambo proof the floor. But I remember how boring my life was without them. They are well worth the work for the love and attention they give me.

[Polarn]

basicly i put away anything i dont want my lil fella to destroy, some stuffs i want to have out like ornamental stuffs... I put glass infront of the shelfs... and i must say... them stuffs gets a lot less dusty now as well hehe. but yeah cutting sheets of glass will add an additional cost but it wasnt as expensive as i thought it would be... also i try hand stuffs from the roof that he will land on before reaching what i dont want him to reach... the cubicle swing infront of the window posted in another thread is one example, he hasn't been on the curtainrod since i hung it there, but then... i have to walk around the swing to get to the window as well...

[Michael]

We've tried everything we can think to stop her and let her know that this is inappropriate - from cajoling and sternly telling her "No!" to finding other distractions - but nothing works. Any ideas - either of how to stop her (besides clipping her wings, which we really don't want to do), or for 'Parrot-proofing' the shelves so that she can't get to them?

First of all, you gotta stop positively reinforcing the parrot for doing that. Giving attention, other things, etc is all great for the bird. And if not, playing on the shelf definitely is. Like most bird owners, you gotta get used to buying closed cupboards with doors. Anything that is accessible is game. Over time I've been getting more closed cabinets and plastic bins to keep stuff out of parrot's reach. By preventing the parrot from having a chance to play with that stuff, you eliminate the reinforcement of it. I doubt any kind of punishment can be effective here. Prevention is the way to go.

[liz]

With my human kids (single mom and working) I chose my battles. I eliminated or ignored things that were not really important to me instead of constatly policing them. I stood my ground on the things that must be.

[Maria]

Hi guys

Isis has developed a real obsession with flying up onto shelves at the moment - and systematically hurling everything on them onto the floor. The worst is our extensive collection of CDs and DVDs - which she cracks the cases of first, before flicking them over her shoulder and onto the floor...

We've tried everything we can think to stop her and let her know that this is inappropriate - from cajoling and sternly telling her "No!" to finding other distractions - but nothing works. Any ideas - either of how to stop her (besides clipping her wings, which we really don't want to do), or for 'Parrot-proofing' the shelves so that she can't get to them?

David

Interesting snake. Here is a suggestion that may work for you. This is because my parrot would climb down from his cage onto the dresser. On the dresser I had some essential oils, and christian things, etc. I was training him the same way you were, with saying, "No!", and everytime I would even see him starting to climb down in that direction, I would say, "No! EEEHHH EEEHHH EEEHHH! UP UP UP UP UP UP!" (pointing upward toward the top of the play top cage). He finally caught on and when I would say that, he would stop, and go up the cage (climbing back up), shying away from the dresser. Sometimes he would get on the dresser, etc. Then after 3 times in a row (cause they will keep going back repeatedly, until they learn to understand, or try, etc.) - after 3 times, put them in the cage. (3 times and you're out). Then they learn that way.

When you're trying to teach them not to do something you don't want them to do - or not to go somewhere you don't want them to go, after you use this process 3 times, taking them back to their perch, etc., with the "No! eh eh eh!", and they keep going right back to the forbidden place repeating THAT 3 times, - in a row - - - . . . . then you put them in the cage after 3 times of
(? disobeying ?), with time, this is how they learn not to go there. What helps them catch on is partly that they don't necessarily want to go in the cage; they want to stay out and play, etc. And they know that if this keeps happening, they go into the cage, so eventually that's how they learn, and they stop doing it or stop going there. If you keep the process consistent. Also keep it consistant because you don't want to confuse them. I'm using the word disobeying for lack of a better word, because they're not actually disobeying; they have to learn to understand. This is how they learn to understand these types of things, by this process, because then they will associate the forbidden place with going into the cage (which is not what they want to do; they would rather stay out, be free, play, etc.)

Put back in cage for a while, then let him out a little later, like, ya know? - trying again. Keep consistant with this process. The other thing I did in combination with that, eventually, is that I took everything off the dresser and found/made other places for those things. But I still keep up the training process, and he has gone to get on the dresser less and less. See? He hardly goes on it anymore. He understands now that - that is a forbidden place. (Even when he tries to reach over from the cage and chew on the dresser - same process). He would try to get on the dresser, you see, and chew things up, etc., and also take the little bottles of essential oils and put them in his mouth trying to chew them up too. Essential oils bad for birds - not safe.

Now, things were off the dresser for quite a while. Then came christmas, and I put christmas decorations on the dresser. When I then put the christmas decorations on the dresser, he still, then, hardly went to the dresser, for the decorations. He did go, though, only sometimes, (oh boy new toys! new attractive stuff for me to play with and chew on! LOL!), and I would still use the same process of shooing him away as explained above, with distracting his attention each time with playing with him with his foot toys on top of his play top cage. Or giving him one of his favorites ("Mama get the nut!") - oh boy, he goes crazy happy when he hears that, cause he knows the nut is coming, etc., you know? The point being, he hardly goes to the dresser anymore because with that time he's learned that mommy doesn't want him to go there.

He's trying to communicate playing with you, actually, it's called "bird-fetch". When he throws the things, he wants you to get them, pick them up, and toss them back at him, so he can get them and toss them back at you again so you can fetch them, repeating. This is part of their playful interaction. Try putting his foot toys up there instead, in a decorative way, and also in an attractive way for him, if that option is also ok with you, and if that is a place which he feels comfortable perching on. Or for that matter, move the shelves and try mounting perches onto the walls where the shelves were, putting newspaper under the perches on the floor to catch the poo droppings. You can actually make that area a play area for him, see? I think you get the point. Hope that helps.

[Maria]

They are well worth the work for the love and attention they give me.

Liz, I loooooove that part in your post (smile) ….. I feel the same way. I am committed to my baby.

And it is too cute how they learn to open drawers, mine was doing that when he would climb down the side of the cage, then holding onto the cage, he would lean over and pull open the dresser drawer with his beak LOL - - - like – “oh boy! Look at all this stuff in here to play with and tear up! What an exploration adventure!” lol - - - - He has learned that is another forbidden area (smile)

Polarn: You are very good at parrot proofing (smile) – cubicle swing - - - -

Yes people, this is just like toddler proofing …. And you also have to be careful about not leaving them unattended when they’re out of the cage, always keep an eye on them, to make sure they’re not getting into something that can hurt them, or that you don’t want them to get into. Like mine can be playing on top of his playtop – top of cage, and I can walk into the kitchen, but I peak in on him every few seconds, to make sure he’s not climbing over to dresser, etc. And I make sure he’s preoccupied by giving him a foot toy or a few almonds with the shells on them, to keep him busy, if I’m going to be a few minutes in another room, still peaking in on him every few seconds. Or I put him on his tree, where I know he can’t get into anything I don’t want him to, and it keeps him pre-occupied because it also has hanging chew toys as well as feeding bowls attached to the tree, so I give him treats in those bowls on his tree too, etc.

Michael: Also good points on prevention.

[snakesentwined]

Thanks for the helpful responses guys!

We've been trying the 'no' and '3 strikes and you're back in the den' method for any inappropriate behaviours - often accompanied by us leaving the room for 5 minutes or so too. It does seem to work quite well - although as you say, it does have to be a process of consistency and patience...!

Good advice about glassing over any open cupboards, and replacing with doors whenever possible. Can't quite afford to do that at the moment, but it's worth remembering when the time comes. Meantime we moved all of our CDs down from the top shelf, and Isis seems to have lost interest anyway - I guess like most things, it's only interesting whilst it's new. We've got plenty of other more interesting toys to play with too - her favourite being the rope spiral and bell hanging in the window which she can hang upside down from and merrily bash away at

And yes - our lives have changed and become more complicated because of having Isis - and I guiltily admit to occasionally threatening her that she could be sent to an the orphanage (which is better than the cats - who get threatened with being sold for medical experiments when *they* are really bad ). BUT she makes me laugh twice as often as she makes me frustrated - and I really don't think I could now ever imagine life without her.

[Grey_Moon]

Honestly,

You've got two options in this scenario

A) keep running over and either stepping her up/shooing her off
B) move the CD's and make it a parrot spot (if they're not really expensive shelves)

Making her other areas interesting and full of toys will help curtail her urge to wander, but really at a certain point...its sorta like parrot poop---you learn to live with it and pick your battles. I'll give you an example, i *Could* shoo my timneh off of everything that wasn't made for her to land on---but I'd be at it all day. Plus I love seeing her confidence grow as she learns independence and coordination.

With the exception of the small folding table and chairs in front of the tv (because its got that weird faux-leather padded texture which is so apparently appetizing to beaks---so its now got chunks missing in the padding so unless its training time its off-limits) and the old mattress of the futon (again, texture-wise so tasty ) and the floor (she turns into mama crocodile)----she can go anywhere.

I'll give you an example:
In the morning after she crawls out of her sleep carrier onto my pillows and under the blankets for cuddles, she'll usually have a shower and breakfast with me and then be placed on her cage top for some 'sun' from the uv lamp/or her playgym or its stand (its a hanging one---more often that not she climbs it to be up on the stand instead).
From there, she can:

Fly to the futon and clamber up from its back to my dresser and go check out the lizard/crickets (or try to open my jewellery box to fling hair elastics )
Fly to her portable stand
Run around the table her cage sits on (don't quite get this one, she drops her head down to the ground and uses her upper beak point almost as a front balancing leg and zooms around in circles---but its cute)
Flutter over to the bed and check out what I'm doing/crawl into her sleep carrier for a snack
Fly over to my rubbermaid storage tub and kill all the stuffed animals on top of it/my gloves
She can sit on my partner's laundry hamper and check it out (she loves this and snoozes here often)
Head over to my partner's dresser and knock things around
She can zoom over to the top of the treadmill across the room and hang out up there (also likes to nap here--this and the old chair are in front of sunny windows)
She can flutter up to the old chair and sit on top of it and take a nap, from which she can launch herself and land perfectly on the cage door, propelling it forward till she drops down inside and takes a drink from her water bottle...then like a lot of us she likes to chill in front of the tv and climbs up her cage, pulls the lamp arm down and climbs onto the lamp pole for her fav sitting spot (best view of the tv I guess XD)

Most people would go OMG its so destructive its not in the 'approved parrot gym/spot i bought it to sit on when i cant/dont wanna hold it'---but really---i'm the one who brought home the toddler with wings---so long as she doesn't permanently damage things poop can be picked up/blankets washed and she can hangout there. It's more peaceful and easy for all of us---we *did* bring the jungle home after all when she came into our lives, we all cohabit in the space and as a member with her own agenda, sentience and needs she deserves not to be stuck in one spot that 'i' picked out for her. She likes the shelves and in return will not destroy something else---now can you give those up?

Its sorta like what was said before, don't demand excellence, learn to comprise and know when to pick your battles. Those battles will be the things you need to confront her about--otherwise just let it go and adapt---like we all did you brought the jungle home and its alot easier to control the environment (whats left out, what's where etc) and control your reactions/expectations than it is to control her. If you don't want her somewhere you'll have to keep moving her, put away what you dont want her to get into and compromise on other things.

I use 'AH-AH!' and i clap my hands in order to distract her if she's about to do something she shouldn't and usually she changes her mind and does something else for which i praise her. But thats all you can do.