Hello from Singapore

[toshinobu]

Hello all, I am a US expat working in Singapore now. A week ago, I was given a parrotlet by my irresponsible in laws who are terrible pet owners. They got the bird a month or 2, and the children got tired of it, and cannot stand the noise anymore. After only one night, my wife wanted to give it away again already because he started chirping at 630AM. I really wanted to provide a good home for this animal for all the crap he has gone through already. Good thing is I am usually pretty good with animals as I was a biology major back in college.

I have no idea what the heck I was doing at first. Thanks goodness for Michael advise on the most basic training and all the helpful info here, I am amazed how intelligent and how much progress this little bird and I made just within a week. Now the parrotlet is happily living in my office. He has human attention 7 days a week.

I am very grateful to have the opportunity to get to have this relationship with this little bird. And the people here are great. I am also using this chance to teach my own kids responsible pet ownership

[Wolf]

Thank you for your concern and dedication to this adorable little bird. I know that their happy or impatient chittering can be hard on some peoples nerves although I sort of look forward to mine greeting me first thing in the mornings and everytime that I return home from being out and about.
Teaching your children responsible ownership and compassion for animals is something that will serve them well for a lifetime, again thank you.

[liz]

Isn't it strange that the sounds of a bird can be annoying to some and soothing to others.

I have one little cockatiel on her own schedule. Lola calls me before daybreak. The first few times she did it I ran to find out what was wrong. Now I consider it a warning that I have to wake up soon.

I have adjusted to Rambo and Myrtle yelling hello back and forth in the afternoon. I have learned to tune out the squawking disputes. My son lives next door and when he comes over every thing in the house greets him and he just can't tolerate the noise.

Rambo has his own window and sounds the first alarm that Chuck is outside. That sets off the others and Myrtle lands on him before he can close the door behind him.

[Pajarita]

Welcome to the forum and thank you for taking this little bird under your wing (pardon the pun). And, yes, not everybody is a bird person... even most people who own birds are not really bird lovers. But, at least, your in-laws realized this and instead of leaving the bird in cage in a basement or something like that, they did try to find it a good home -which they did!

Now, take it easy with the training and concentrate more on bonding because plets suffer terribly been alone (they all end up plucking sooner or later) and need A LOT of loving and not so much training. Of course, you could always do the kindest thing you could do for him and get him a wife...

[toshinobu]

In my office, he can sing and chirp all he wants. I think his volume is reasonable, at least its not like a Macaw's screaming. Our home is a bit tough, because we got neighbor close by. I think his first morning also alerted the neighbors....

Yeah, I think I should take it easy with the training on the little guy a bit. But the past few days he's been making such good progress, I was so amazed. But today we have a little set back. I think my kid is so excited with the target-click-treat exercise, she went to my office and played with him without my supervision today morning. Dont know what trigger it, but today I offer him a sun flower seed, he would bite my finger (and hard bite, which makes 2 holes on my skin). I dont know or if he is just not in a good mood because I was away at the office this morning and I didnt get a chance to play with him until 4pm... Maybe he has every day mood swing just like us. But today he still let me touch his beak and a few gentle touch on the body without making too much a fuss... Hopefully he will get better tomorrow.

Today his new Vision cage also came. So he doesnt have to be stuck in that "toy box" cage. I probably will use the old cage only as a transport or holding cage. But I havent had the chance to show him his new home yet. The cage got delivered in the evening, and after I assembled it, it was after dinner already. I checked on him and he seems to be tired and tired already. I open up the cage and he doesnt want to get out. So I guess Ill transfer him tomorrow morning.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. I told my wife that I have big plan for him. My goal is let him fly from my hand to my daughter's hand across the small bay in front of the Merlion here (a local attraction here, the statue of a lion with a fish body) LOL

[Wolf]

Although free flying parrots is popular in the area that you are in it is very risky. The parrots that they are free flying have been doing it since they could fly and were purposely taken outside to acclimate them to this activity. Most parrots that are not brought up to do this are lost in the first few flights if not during the first flight. Please reconsider doing this.

[liz]

Most free flying seems to be with the big birds and in groups. There is safety in numbers. With a bunch of big birds looking around they would see a hawk. A little bird alone is just lunch.

[Pajarita]

Well, over-training is completely counterproductive so that might be the reason why he bit you. -children not having very good sense of when something is enough. Another reason could be the fact that his routine was screwed up. This is one of the most common reasons for birds taking to biting, the fact that they need VERY steady routines and that means every single day of their lives -no weekends, no vacations, no sick days, no nothing!

Please don't even consider free-flying him! I don't think that any bird should be risked that way but much less such a little one -another member just took in a plet he saved from a cat.

[toshinobu]

Guys, guys please calm down. Not to worry I am not that type of person who just hastily go out and put my pet in danger just for my own personal amusement.

I was just doing some research when I got this little guy, and found out that there is an organized parrot society locally. They offer training classes by professionals in enclosed facilities. Sometimes they offer some flight outings. I just think it might be something interesting for him to get some of this type of training. In a way, its for his own safety because I dont want him to fly off and become something's dinner. I would never ever do anything like this to risk my little bird without proper training or supervision. Whenever I start a new project, I always like to set a goal first, and I always want that goal to be as far reaching as possible so that there is room for improvement all the time.

Anyway today everything is great again. I got him into his new home without any incident. I think he should enjoy the extra room. Let him took a little bath by himself and even let me towel dry him a bit LOL

Good thing about me, and the bird, is that I have to work 6 days/ week. And even on my only off day, I still has to go into the office to check on things.... And my last vacation was like..... 2 years ago..... Yeah.... what a life right....

[Hookturn]

Welcome ! And thanks for taking on this little guy! Don't be put off by some of the posts. Just know that the peeps here really have your bird's best interest at heart.
It's interesting that when I first got a parrot, I just thought that wing clipping was what you were supposed to do. I was given lots of reasons why that was the "right" thing to do. And please, I'm really not trying to rehash the clipped vs not debate. But I did my own research and decided that letting my baby's wings grow back was the right thing. Others come to a different conclusion. And that's fine. There are so many different opinions it's hard sometimes to know what's right.
My advice is read, read, read. And then after you have all the info, follow your heart.
My heart told me not to clip, not to feed just pellets, and to have fun training my bird to do "mindless tricks".
Yours might tell you different. And more importantly, as you learn more about your new family member, you might learn that the path you've chosen needs some adjustments.
For now, I would advise to take it slow and enjoy your new addition.
Good luck!