Hello from Malta

[chrisp]

Hi all.

I am a new parrot owner.

I have a 5month old Senegal Parrot we named Percy

Only had him for a couple of days! He is very smart and a lot of fun. Loves climbing his cage and hanging upside down. I already managed to feed him seeds by hand through the bars of his cage.

Was looking around for as much information as I could and i ended up on this site. Love it. Very informative! Cannot wait to try out some of your tips. Very inspiring!

Chris

[liz]

Welcome to the forum.

Open the cage door and make him come to you for the seed. He will step up on a finger if you have the seed in your other hand.

It sounds like you are already having fun together.

[chrisp]

Hi Liz.

Thanks for the welcome

I have already tried that. He doesn't trust me enough yet.

Already making some progress though. First couple of times I tried he got spooked. Then after a couple of days I tried again, and he did not get spooked immediately. Instead he looked at my hand and you could tell that he was thinking about it. Then after a long 3 or 4 seconds he decided it was still too early. hehe.

As I said, it has only been a couple of days and in my eyes it's already good progress. Percy was hand-handled by the breeder but then he went to a pet shop from where I got him. So he has spent some time just being in his cage and I guess he needs to relearn to accept human touch plus he needs to trust me personally.

I intend to start target training him soon. Hopefully today or tomorrow. Looking forward to it.

Chris

[liz]

He is a baby and will learn fast. Other than being caged for a while he has no bad memories from his past though he is probably afraid of hands since people have been grabbing him to get him out.

[brfussne]

Trying reading some of Michael's Trained Parrot Blogs to help you tame your little Sennie.
http://trainedparrot.com/taming/#handling

[chrisp]

Hi brfussne.

That is exactly what I am doing There are some really GREAT tips there!

In fact yesterday evening I had another little breakthrough.

I followed Michael's tip and did his `training` before his dinner time. I starting by passing him pieces of apple through the bars of his cage and he was very eager. Then I opened the cage and stuck my whole arm inside holding a piece of apple for him. Usually he doesn't like that, so I got to the middle of the cage and just stood there waiting for his response. I didn't move for a good 5mins, then he came and ate it Now I can just open his cage door and feed him by hand from there, which is awesome!

This morning we had a bit of an incident though. Was doing the same thing when someone else came near the cage and spooked him and he flew out of the cage. So I went around trying to get him back in his cage using a towel which I managed to do. However he was obviously very scared and was breathing heavily After a few minutes he seemed to have calmed down and accepted some more food. So hopefully it wasn't too much of a shock for him!

Chris

[brfussne]

I'm glad your little Sennie is coming around & learning so fast! I like to think birds are unpredictable, in a sense. You don't really know what will scare them or make them upset unless its a repeated behavior towards a certain person or object. Your Senegal should come back around from it's little spook. Just remember when making moves towards your senegal that they be slow, and deliberate.

[chrisp]

Thanks for the tip

When I got back home from work yesterday he seemed fine. It's like it never happened.

Also, I started click training him. It's amazing how quickly he associated the sound of the clicker with getting a treat (I'm giving him pieces of apple or almond). Even when he starts to play inside the cage, as soon as he hears the clicker he stops what he is doing and steps down, waiting for his treat. Actually, the clicker is not only a audible que for him. It's a visual one as well. When he notices that I have the clicker in my hand, he just stays there and looks at me, knowing that food is coming.

Also, after using the clicker for just one day, he is already much more friendly and cooperative. Up till now he wasn't letting me touch him at all. Then this morning I approached him slowly and lightly touched his beak. He backed off but i hit the clicker and gave him a treat. He got the point right away. Now he is letting me touch his beak softly with one finger, with the expectation of getting his treat soon afterwards.

I am really finding it amazing how quick learners these birds can be


Chris

[brfussne]

Thanks for the tip

When I got back home from work yesterday he seemed fine. It's like it never happened.

Also, I started click training him. It's amazing how quickly he associated the sound of the clicker with getting a treat (I'm giving him pieces of apple or almond). Even when he starts to play inside the cage, as soon as he hears the clicker he stops what he is doing and steps down, waiting for his treat. Actually, the clicker is not only a audible que for him. It's a visual one as well. When he notices that I have the clicker in my hand, he just stays there and looks at me, knowing that food is coming.

Also, after using the clicker for just one day, he is already much more friendly and cooperative. Up till now he wasn't letting me touch him at all. Then this morning I approached him slowly and lightly touched his beak. He backed off but i hit the clicker and gave him a treat. He got the point right away. Now he is letting me touch his beak softly with one finger, with the expectation of getting his treat soon afterwards.

I am really finding it amazing how quick learners these birds can be


Chris

Keep us updated on your little Sennie, and we would love to see pics of the little booger!

[chrisp]

Here are some pictures from the day we got Percy. That is, last Saturday

Pictures aren't that great because I took them from outside the cage. He isn't as camera shy now, so I'll try and get some better ones.

Also his cage is much more nicely furnished now. He has plenty of stuff to chew on and climb.







Chris