Hello for Sydney, Australia

[minhta]

Hi Kimbo

Yes I have a chop stick already but I was also thinking of using a skewer stick as it's thinner and might be easier for the parrot to bite and I have seen videos of target training being done with a skewer stick. Do you think my skewer stick idea is better or is a chop stick better? Thanks.

[Michael]

Chopstick is more resistant to being destroyed (for a small parrot, for a macaw you might need something more like a cane! ). You don't want the stick to bend either or it may misdirect the parrot. I've used a dowel prior to chopstick. I've found chopstick to be perfect though because the tip narrows out to a point.

Here's a tip for you: always teach the parrot to target only to the tip of the stick. I was sloppy when I trained Kili and rewarded her to touch anywhere on the stick. Duke was trained to touch only the tip, so it was easier to use the target to train additional behaviors because of the accuracy with which he would come specifically to the tip only.

[minhta]

Hi everyone

After much delays due to some renovations (which is still on-going), we've finally have enough space to bring our parrot home. Meet "Roger", a 6 months old male Princess Parrot. I've picked him up on Sunday (yesterday) and today have taken him to the vet. The lady I bought him from said he has a curious personality, which I think is great. Currently he's still a bit quite and probably haven't adjusted to his new environment yet. Here are two photos of him, once he's settled and more confortable, I'll take more photos to show.

[MandyG]

He's adorable! Congrats!

[craftsmaster]

Hello I'm new here. Seeing what I can share and learn from this community. Here's something about me. Well I'm Carmel I live back in my hometown in Australia. I have 2 fun loving parrot , the other one past away when my Japanese dog name chito bite him. So only chiki is now living with us. Chiki is a boy, what I love most of him is his human quality. Chiki can socialize with us. By the way, Chiki is a african grey parrot. one of the most famous parrot species.

Hope to hear back from your experience guys.