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New bird ; Taming Questions

Discuss the methods and techniques of clicker training, target training and bonding. These are usually the first steps in training a young parrot.

New bird ; Taming Questions

Postby Wolf » Sat Jul 04, 2015 10:15 am

This actually started with questions from a new bird owner who posted his questions in the sticky " How to Teach your bird to step up and to come out of cage" the OP is MrCavyMadness. I put this information so that everyone can refer to it from its beginning, but please answer it here.

I do not pick any bird up by its neck as it is very fragile and I would not risk doing the bird harm in this manner.
In answer to how to go about taming your new cockatiel, I think that Pajarita did a fairly good explaination of what you need to do. But lets go into it a little more. The main thing at this point is just to spend a lot of time talking to your bird from outside of its cage and offering it an occasional treat such as spray millet to begin with. No putting your hands into the cage except to provide food and water and maid service( cleaning). The first 30 days or so are rather stressful to the bird as it is all new and unfamiliar to the bird. This is a dangerous situation to find yourself in even with the support of your flock and pretty much a death sentence if you are a lone bird. This is why your bird is afraid and reluctant to come to you. Talking to it will help to reassure it and I think that for the most part this birds nature is such that it will almost tame itself if you will follow these suggestions and allow the bird the opportunity to see that you mean it no harm.
Wolf
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Re: New bird ; Taming Questions

Postby MrCavyMadness » Sat Jul 04, 2015 10:37 am

Thank you! I'm sorry for all the questions, but anyone can answer :)

So I shouldn't touch my bird for 30 days???

How do I make him eat his veggies?

He loves to be rubbed on his head like all tiels - can I use that for taming?
MrCavyMadness
Parrotlet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
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Re: New bird ; Taming Questions

Postby Wolf » Sat Jul 04, 2015 1:25 pm

There is no problem with the questions, it is why we are here. Funny thing about being here answering questions is that it make you learn more about your birds faster and in addition to retaining any new information better, it causes you to think a lot more about the practical application of all that you know and learn. It also makes you feel better when you hear someone say that you helped them have a better relationship with their bird. And yes, anyone can answer and hopefully you will have responses from several members, which is why I wanted this moved to this area, so that more people would see it and hopefully respond to you.
I am familiar with bean cuisine and it is not bad, but it has too many of the red beans in it which I would end up sorting out or adding more whole grains to it. I would also increase the amount of vegetables in it by for every cup of the bean cuisine I would add a cup of frozen mixed vegetables to it. I don't feed pellets to any of my birds, preferring to feed a seed mix instead which in you case would be a budgie mix. I would feed a cockatiel a couple of fresh vegetables and a leafy green in the morning and follow through with the modified Bean cuisine giving enough to last the day and then feeding the seed mix for dinner. If you will feed him in this way he will start to eat the vegetables pretty soon, But if you feed him either pellets or a seed mix during the day he will go for these instead of the healthier foods.
No, I am not saying that you can't touch or handle your bird for 30 days, I am saying that you should not worry about training during this first 30 days or so as the bird is scared and needs reassurance from you at this time, there will be plenty of time for training later on. If the bird will come out of the cage and let you scratch its head then by all means use this as it is a bonding activity as well as something that will help his trust in you to grow stronger. You really don't have to train a bird to step up for you as it will begin to do this on its own when it feels that it can trust you enough and all you need to do is to add the verbal cue. I am saying to take your time and don't push for results as you will most likely interfere with the bird learning to trust you as you and it need it to do. When the bird is ready to progress to the next step it can let you know if you pay attention to its body language. If you try and ask for the bird to do something and it doesn't do it, back off and try again in a few minutes if it does not do it this time then shelf it until later or wait until the next day before you ask again. This will help you to earn your birds trust as it will begin to see that you are listening to it. This is perhaps the most difficult time to make suggestions on how to proceed with your bird because first we don't know much about this bird and because it is an individual and intelligent so no two of them are the same and that which works for one bird may not work as well with another bird.
Wolf
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Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 8679
Location: Lansing, NC
Number of Birds Owned: 6
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Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: New bird ; Taming Questions

Postby MrCavyMadness » Sat Jul 04, 2015 1:52 pm

Thank you so much. So i should feed veggies in the morning, and pellets at night? Okay, that makes sense :)

He likes scratches, but he doesn't come out on his own. I have to ask him to step up, and sometimes he doesn't want to, so I just let him stay in his cage..
MrCavyMadness
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Re: New bird ; Taming Questions

Postby liz » Sat Jul 04, 2015 4:58 pm

MrCavyMadness wrote:Thank you! I'm sorry for all the questions, but anyone can answer :)


So I shouldn't touch my bird for 30 days???
You should never force your bird to do anything.


How do I make him eat his veggies?
Eat in front of him and with him.


He loves to be rubbed on his head like all tiels - can I use that for taming?

Let him set the pace. He will come to you when he feels safe.
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Re: New bird ; Taming Questions

Postby MrCavyMadness » Sat Jul 04, 2015 7:59 pm

Liz, thank you for your reply.

So I shouldn't take him out of his cage until he wants to come out? How do I make him eager to come out? Thanks
MrCavyMadness
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Gender: This parrot forum member is male
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Re: New bird ; Taming Questions

Postby Wolf » Sat Jul 04, 2015 11:08 pm

Pellets are not high on my list of foods to feed a bird and I don't use them myself for any of my birds, but like seeds ( which I do feed), they should only be fed in limited quantities and only for dinner. Don't worry too much about the vegetables in his bean cuisine as he will begin to eat them over time on his own. As for getting him to eat fresh raw fruits and vegetables, which he should have every day, the best way is to eat them in front of him. Let him see you eating them and make a big show of how great they are, let him get curious and ignore him, keep nibbling on them and he will start to ask you for some, keep eating them, he will begin to beg for them and at the point that he tries to steal some let him have a tiny piece to try and then if he eats it let him have more. Keep doing this and he will begin to eat more and more of them when you give them to him as part of his breakfast.
If you ask him to step up and he doesn't wait a couple of minutes and ask again if he doesn't come back in half an hour and try again, don't ask him more than three times in any single attempt. Some bird prefer to have their cage door opened and to come out on their own before they are willing to step up. but in no case should you force the issue, let him come to you. You will have better results this way as it builds trust in you with the bird.
Wolf
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 8679
Location: Lansing, NC
Number of Birds Owned: 6
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
African Grey (CAG)
Yellow Naped Amazon
2Celestial Parrotlet
Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: New bird ; Taming Questions

Postby liz » Sun Jul 05, 2015 7:59 am

MrCavyMadness wrote:Liz, thank you for your reply.

So I shouldn't take him out of his cage until he wants to come out? How do I make him eager to come out? Thanks



You should not make him do anything. Wolf and Pajarita are always right as well as others in the forum that I rely on. I knew nothing about parrots. I have to depend on the Mom instincts.

Open the cage door and do something else in the room. Let him watch you. He will probably go to the top of his cage for a better view. Just like a kid he will learn from what he sees. ( My nephue demanded his share of spinach just because we liked it.) A little girl will get into Mom's makeup because she wants to be like Mom. Birds are attracted to keyboards more than their own toys because it seems to be our toy.)
In the wild young birds learn from older birds even if the older birds are not their parents. The more you do and say in front of him the faster he will learn. Just like kids the birds are little sponges soaking up knowledge. Eat in front of him and give him something off your plate. ( I had to do this with Myrtle because she had only been fed seed. She now has her own plate at the dining room table but will always look in my plate to make sure she has a little of everything I have.)
Get the knowledge from the others but also use the instincts of a Mom.

Rambo says "huh" when he wants something. Myrtle will say "Myrtle?" to remind me she wants a share.
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liz
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 7234
Location: Hernando FL
Number of Birds Owned: 12
Types of Birds Owned: DYH Amazon Rambo
BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: New bird ; Taming Questions

Postby Pajarita » Sun Jul 05, 2015 9:59 am

If I am not mistaken, this bird is only 8 weeks old so he needs soft foods for a couple more months. Breeders will tell you the bird is weaned when it's eating on its own but this is not 100% correct. A baby bird that leaves the nest will start eating on its own imitating its parents BUT the parents are still supplementing its intake several times during the day so, when you get a baby, you need to help him by offering soft foods served fresh (and warm) twice a day. This way, you are not only providing all the nutrition he needs but also the comfort and emotional support they still need when they are so young. It's like children. A 3 year old can eat on his own but you still need to feed him in his mouth or he will not eat enough.
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Re: New bird ; Taming Questions

Postby MrCavyMadness » Sun Jul 05, 2015 11:25 am

What do you mean by soft foods? Like hand feeding formula?
MrCavyMadness
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