Trained Parrot BlogParrot Wizard Online Parrot Toy StoreThe Parrot Forum

Destructive behavior

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

Destructive behavior

Postby Hong&Rupert » Sun Jan 05, 2020 5:45 pm

Hiya everyone! I know that a parrot is constantly chewing screaming and ripping things off, but lately Rupert has been doing it...a little bit...over the top ?
Whenever I put his feeder he will grab it and drop it inside his cage, he would do it only with the food one but now he does it even with the water one, he's also hitting his cage? Like he would make noise grabbing the cage with his beak and use it like some kind of chord whenever he sees me :shock: I get it as a "get me out" signal but I'm afraid he can hurt himself
All this behavior is dangerous since he won't left anyone touch his cage and during classes I won't be around for like 7 hours daily,
What can I do about this?
Hong&Rupert
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 9
Location: Paraguay
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Quaker Parrot
Flight: Yes

Re: Destructive behavior

Postby liz » Mon Jan 06, 2020 6:27 am

All parrots need out time. Sounds like yours really want it. His personality will be a lot different when he gets out.
At this time his cage is his whole world and is defending what little belongs to him.
Let him out. While he is out you can take care of his cage.
User avatar
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: Destructive behavior

Postby Pajarita » Mon Jan 06, 2020 12:45 pm

I am with Liz.: he is desperate to come out! Birds are not meant to be kept in jail (which is what a cage is for a bird) for hours and hours and hours, my dear. If you are out of your house for so many hours every day, I don't see how you can keep any bird happy and healthy... Isn't there somebody in the house that can let him out to fly for, at the very least, 4 or 5 hours? Because this is standard procedure for all parrots: 4 to 5 hours of out-of-cage time and, at the very least, 2 to 3 hours of one-on-one. Added to this, you need to keep in mind that quakers are not tropical birds so they are VERY sensitive to the number of daylight hours you are giving them and need to be kept at a super strict solar schedule with two full hours of dawn and dusk for their endocrine system to stay in tune with the seasons. Failure to do this for the entire life of the bird will result in screams, aggression, plucking, etc. And quakers can be VERY aggressive and VERY loud when unhappy - PLUS they tend to pluck. Also, check the diet because you can't free-feed them any protein food (seeds, nuts, pellets, etc) - if you do, they end up overly-hormonal (read screams, aggression, plucking, etc).

Quakers can be the sweetest, easiest birds in the world to keep but they can also be terrible pets - it all depends on whether they are getting the proper care or not because they are highly intelligent as well as fearless and do not have any patience when not treated right. My own quaker, Keku, is one of the best birds I have and have ever had. Now, I will admit to being a bit biased when it comes to quakers because they are one of my favorite species but this is not only my opinion, my husband (who is NOT a parrot person) agrees and even my children and grandchildren comment what a sweetheart she is. She is super affectionate, never bites, never screams, bathes regularly, eats a huge range of produce (LOVES her greens with a passion and eats A LOT of them every single day), is very obedient (she even drops whatever she has picked up when I tell her to 'Drop it!), goes into her cage without a single problem and talks up a storm... Why? Because she gets the right diet, is kept at a super strict solar schedule and is out of her cage flying around and interacting with me and the other birds from 6:30 am (without any artificial light on because I only turn them on at 8:30 am this time of the year) to 2 or 2:30 pm - I turn off the lights at 2:30 and feed them dinner at 3 or 3:15 pm (she is asleep by, latest, 6 pm).

Parrots are not easy birds to keep happy and healthy... you need to be there for them all day long because they suffer loneliness something terrible, you need to keep them the way nature meant for them to live: following the sun schedule as it changes from day to day and season to season, you need to feed them the right diet for their species (people think all parrots eat the same thing but they don't), they need to fly for hours and hours (not only to exercise and as a form of entertainment but also because it's the only way to keep their respiratory system healthy and to dissipate bad hormones -like stress or sexual) and they need physical interaction with their chosen human for hours and hours every single day. If I had to rate pets in terms of how easy it is to keep them healthy and happy, I would say that, from 1 to 10, 1 being the easiest and 10 being the hardest, parrots are always a 10 with dogs being a 3 (because you need to walk and groom as well as feed and water twice a day) and cats a 1 (feed, water, clean litter twice a day and that's that).
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: Destructive behavior

Postby Hong&Rupert » Mon Jan 06, 2020 12:49 pm

Of course I thought about that but I don't completely get it? Since Rupert is always out with me, I used to leave him arpund my roon while I took care of his cage I just don't leave him alone anymore because he's flying now and I'm super afraid of it, I even thought about getting his wings clipped again.
He got a change of cage recently so I also took that into consideration.
I'm just afraid he will fly and hurt himself :( my son is kinda dumb and I have seen him fly against the wall while keep going up
Hong&Rupert
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 9
Location: Paraguay
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Quaker Parrot
Flight: Yes

Re: Destructive behavior

Postby Hong&Rupert » Mon Jan 06, 2020 12:51 pm

Also I'm so sorry If my replies get mixed up since I'm having a lil bit of trouble with the forum, it logs me out every 5 secs
Hong&Rupert
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 9
Location: Paraguay
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Quaker Parrot
Flight: Yes

Re: Destructive behavior

Postby Hong&Rupert » Mon Jan 06, 2020 1:09 pm

Ms Pajarita is there any way we can get your phone number so you can instruct us?
When Rupert was handled to me he was really all like that, he got really aggressive with everyone and everything, he was really screaming all day, When I asked how he was living previously they said that they just feed them corn every morning and night(in fact he just wanted to eat that and was hard to change) so he was really problematic for a month or so, as I tried to make him aware of my presence and get him to trust me. Then we started interacting and we reached the point where he comes running to me and asks me to pet him! And It was really hard to get him to talk as well
I know my conditions are not ideal rn but I really try every day, Is hard when u depend on someone else that believes that animals are just a disposable object, I wouldn't really trust Rupert to anyone else, :monk: everyday I get in arguments because people tell me that I'm just exaggerating and that he doesn't needs anything but sunflower seeds, I'm sorry If I sound a lil bit childish but I really do love my baby and I really see wrong at how people handle parrots where I live :(
Hong&Rupert
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 9
Location: Paraguay
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Quaker Parrot
Flight: Yes

Re: Destructive behavior

Postby liz » Tue Jan 07, 2020 7:40 am

Please do not clip his wings. It is natural for a bird to fly. Physically he needs to keep his muscles strong to be healthy. Emotionally they can become quite fearful. That would destroy the bond between you two.
User avatar
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: Destructive behavior

Postby Pajarita » Tue Jan 07, 2020 9:47 am

My dear, I would have no problem giving you my phone number but I suffer from a mild case of nerve-end deafness and have trouble understanding speech over electronic devices so I only use it in emergencies or to talk to my husband or children (for some reason, I usually understand them but I have a lot of trouble even with my grandkids). I do know what you are saying about people in South America not really knowing how to even feed parrots correctly and I hope that you are giving him a good multivitamin/mineral supplement because having being fed only corn for so long must have left him severely malnourished. Quakers are great eaters as long as you feed them at the right time and teach them what to eat. My Keku came to me when she was already 4 years old and did not eat very well but she is now one of my best eaters so keep on trying. Corn is not bad for them as long as it's fresh (never the dry one! it's always too high in aflatoxin and bad for them) and not the ONLY thing they eat. Try cooking whole grains like wheat, barley, oat groats, brown rice and mixing them with corn, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli, etc. If you make a big batch and freeze daily portions, you will always have good food for him ready (all you have to do is leave it out of the freezer the night before to thaw). As to not trusting anybody... well, I am afraid that if you are out of the house all day long, you will have to because he can't stay in his cage for so many hours all alone. Either that or make your room a safe place where he can stay out all day long (he will poop everywhere though) and get him a friend (another quaker) so he is not alone. I am sure this is not what you want to hear but I cannot think of another solution to your problem because you can't keep him caged all day long and clipping his wings will not solve anything - it never has and it never will. As to his banging himself against the wall... only birds that are either trying to get away desperately do that or birds that have never had unclipped wings so they never quite learned how to maneuver correctly but that is just a matter of time because they do learn pretty quickly.
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 Taming & Basic Training

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 15 guests

Parrot ForumArticles IndexTraining Step UpParrot Training BlogPoicephalus Parrot InformationParrot Wizard Store