Trained Parrot BlogParrot Wizard Online Parrot Toy StoreThe Parrot Forum

New and excited to learn more!

New to the parrot forum? Introduce yourself and your flock to us.

New and excited to learn more!

Postby libbysdad » Wed Jan 31, 2018 1:09 pm

Hi, my name is Ben and my family and I have one baby Congo African Grey named Liberty (Libby for short). She got her name since she was born 7-4-2017. She came clipped but we plan to let her primaries grow in and hopefully teach her to fly. She is a sweet girl and very tame but we have begun training in earnest! She does get to spend much of the day with me since I work mostly from home. Our kids are grown up enough we could safely bring on a new lifelong pet. Looking forward to learning a bunch!Image
libbysdad
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 3
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: CAG
Flight: No

Re: New and excited to learn more!

Postby Navre » Wed Jan 31, 2018 4:38 pm

She's beautiful!
Navre
African Grey
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 1909
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Turquoise Green Cheek Conure
Hooded Parrot
Flight: Yes

Re: New and excited to learn more!

Postby Pajarita » Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:19 am

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new family member! Now, please, do not 'train in earnest'. You have a VERY young bird there, pretty much still a baby so I suggest you wait until you are dealing with a juvenile because grays tend to be naturally high-strung and you don't want to cause it unnecessary stress that will damage the bird for life [there are studies that show that when a baby bird is stressed out, it remains high-strung for the rest of its life]. Babies are for bonding, loving and cuddling... This doesn't mean that you are not teaching the baby manners as you go along [things like 'step up', 'step down', 'come here', etc.] but the same way that you would not expect a toddler to sit down at a desk and attend school, you should not have training sessions with a baby bird. It backfires.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: New and excited to learn more!

Postby libbysdad » Thu Feb 01, 2018 12:12 pm

Pajarita wrote:Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new family member! Now, please, do not 'train in earnest'. You have a VERY young bird there, pretty much still a baby so I suggest you wait until you are dealing with a juvenile because grays tend to be naturally high-strung and you don't want to cause it unnecessary stress that will damage the bird for life [there are studies that show that when a baby bird is stressed out, it remains high-strung for the rest of its life]. Babies are for bonding, loving and cuddling... This doesn't mean that you are not teaching the baby manners as you go along [things like 'step up', 'step down', 'come here', etc.] but the same way that you would not expect a toddler to sit down at a desk and attend school, you should not have training sessions with a baby bird. It backfires.


Ah yes. I should have been more careful with my words. I was not meaning lots of training. I was referencing basics that you mentioned as well as teaching extremely slowly what are good foods versus treats, how to be safe, how to target and hopefully someday when feathers molt, to fly. Thank you for helping clarify. I agree, we do not want a stressed baby. We watch her body language for cues and provide plenty of rests and extremely short training sessions that are more like play and bonding than real hard core training. Yes, she is just like a human 6 month old at this stage. I think we are being trained more than she is. :lol: :gray:
libbysdad
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 3
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: CAG
Flight: No

Re: New and excited to learn more!

Postby Pajarita » Fri Feb 02, 2018 10:40 am

Yes, all of us ended up being trained by them! :lol: They are very smart and learn our 'buttons' very quickly! I have a relatively new adoptee, Davy, a male African redbelly, which tends to be a pain in the neck when it comes to stealing food and chewing things he is not supposed to and, the other day, he was chewing on the computer cable so I told him: "NO! Don't touch!" [all my birds know what 'No' means as well as 'Don't touch' mean and they usually obey me] so he let it drop from his beak and looking straight at me, he said in a very soft voice: "I love you..." Needless to say, I melted right then and there :roll:

If you are not really holding training sessions, then you are doing everything right. The thing that I recommend the most when getting a new bird [and it doesn't matter if it's a baby or a rehomed one], is to start off with strict daily routines that will continue throughout the entire bird's life. There is nothing better for them than consistency in everything.

And good for you and better still for the bird if you are teaching it to eat a wide range of produce :thumbsup: because grays tend to be VERY picky eaters so it's always best when they learn while babies.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes


Return to Introductions

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests

Parrot ForumArticles IndexTraining Step UpParrot Training BlogPoicephalus Parrot InformationParrot Wizard Store