help needed..!!

[aasiaafzal]

@pennyandrocky..
thanx for the nice suggestions, about keeping my home parrot safe...if he keeps on giving me the warnings, ill definitely do that:)

[Andromeda]

Ahan gr8...btw in this recipe can i replace corn meal with something..its difficult to get here....only corn flour is available here....

I don't know if corn flour will work. You could replace the cornmeal with grits or polenta but if you can't find cornmeal I don't know if you'll be able to find those, either.

I made that recipe last night and it was really dry so instead of just adding a bunch of water (like I did the last time I made it) I added more baby food vegetables and some fruit juice. I measured everything and wrote it down and posted it here, so if you do find something to replace the cornmeal I'd follow that recipe instead.

n here is a gr8 news...i tried doing clicker conditioning n target conditioning...., n only in 2 days, i was able to get him follow the stick over a distance of abt a feet//..thats kinda fast i thought...

That is such good news! It sounds like as long as he is motivated (hungry) he will train. I'd try targeting for maybe two more days and then move on to using the target to get him to step up onto your hand.

I wanted to link Michael's video of teaching step-up but for some reason it's been removed from YouTube, so here's what you want to do:

The correct way to hold your hand is to extend all of your fingers straight out and hold them so that they are touching each other and your hand is flat. Then move your thumb down so it's kind of tucked into your palm.

Hold the target stick in your other hand and place it over the hand you want to use for step-up. Hopefully he will touch the stick even though it's near your hand. Click and reward him. Try this for a day or two until you're sure he's comfortable with your hand, and then move the targeting stick further back so he has to reach OVER your step-up hand to touch the stick. Try this for a few days until he's comfortable reaching over your hand to touch the stick. Once he is hold the target stick far enough away that he will have to step onto your hand to reach it. If he won't step up onto your hand to reach it you might have to break it down a little more, so first reward him if he puts one foot on your hand and work up from there.

The first time he does step-up onto your hand it's important that you stay still. If you immediately try to carry him around he might be scared. You want him to be comfortable on your hand before you try moving it, so click and reward him for just standing on your hand while you keep it still. Target him back off and on again repeatedly. Once he's comfortable with that you can start moving your hand a little bit and soon you will be able to carry him around on your hand. Once he will step-up for you and let you carry him around on your hand you can stop giving him treats for doing it.

n he even stepped on my arm twice, ..so not bad:)

It's good that he's stepping up onto your arm but be careful about that because it's hard for him to grip your arm and if he loses his balance and falls he might decide that your arm isn't a "safe perch" and then it might be harder to teach him to step up.

I'm not saying don't carry him on your arm, but just be really slow to make sure he doesn't fall. Hopefully now that he's targeting you'll be able to get him to step-up onto your hand soon and it won't be an issue for long.

n yes he is try to fly on his own....he remains open for most of the day, n usually he remains sitting peacefully, on the perch above his cage...feels safe there...sometimes he climbs up n down the cage.,but at one time in day, he kinda stretches his wings....flaps them a lot, n takes 1-2 short flights....landing or sometimes crashing quickly...

Oh, okay, so he's just trying to fly because he's a bird and that's what birds do. As long as he's landing on the carpet it's okay. You have to be careful with clipped birds, especially the larger ones, because if they crash on a hard surface they can injure or break their breastbone.

anyhow, ill try my best not to get him clipped again, if he starts flying....lets c

You'll know when he's molting because you'll see lots of feathers on the ground every day and you'll see he has pinfeathers. His clipped feather will fall out and news ones will grow, which will take some time. Pinfeathers look like this:



It could be anywhere from four to 12 months before he molts (depending on his age now) and by then he should be much more tame since you're working with him every day and I don't think the flight will be an issue.

[Utoomom]

hey guys,
im new to this forum, as well as to the parrot world, so i seriously need the guidance of many experts here on many matters..i have recently gotten myself a CAG..named him 'jazz'.roughly 6 to 8 months old...gender still unknown....though i plan to get it DNA sexed as soon as the oppurtunity arises...before this bird, i kept a few birds butcouldnt keep them for very long...

so the thing is that jazz is not very aggressive, but not very friendly either...he sometimes tries to bite my finger, if i approach him quickly, though after some gentle patting, n talking, he stops...i believe he is much improving...now mostly he bites, not because of aggression but out of curiosity...what should i do to avoid this biting habit? also he doesnt step up on my finger, n if i forcibly take him on my hand, this biting thing worsens....n in those times, he actually bites my fingers quite sharply....n if given a chance, he prefers to go back on his perch, rather than spending time with me....in the initial few days, it was impossible to get him on my finger, i tried using that clicker condition n target conditioning with him too, but he soon lost interest...now i used another approach, just when i knew he was hungry, kept his food at a small distance in the air, so that he wud eventually have to come to my finger to reach there (as he cant fly, wings were clipped by the pet shop owner), n he obliged....i put him back again n tried doing the same without food, n he didnt budge at all...so what do u guys suggest? am i being impatient...or what?
overall i think he has a good temperament, has been with me only for a week or so, n he has adjusted to all the changes, quite well..


my second issue is when should i clip his nails?? they seem quite large to me, today i just tried clipping one of his nail, he gave a loud cry...made me a lot apprehensive, if it was painful for him, or he just didnt like it?
my 3rd question is that i just keep him in the cage only when there is no one to watch over him, n at night, otherwise he just sits on the perch above his cage..n if i dont get him out, he is quite mad at me...as soon as he comes out, he spends most of his day peacefully at the perch...Being clipped, he just makes short flights, landing on the carpet, n then walking back over to the perch,i read somewhere that little but personal time out of the cage is better than, more time, without personal touch,..so do u guys think, i should start keeping him inside the cage more??

sorry for such a long post...but i have been reading most of the posts in this forum, love this plat form, where i can talk about my absurd n silly concerns...otherwise at home, everyone laughs at me:)

Please educate yourself on the many toxic elements your household can contain as well as training and diet factors...good luck to ya