Avian vet told me a strange taming technique (+ unrelated question)

[BlueBull]

Hello again

I am making great progress. I managed to get him to step on to my finger by offering millet he can only reach by stepping up. He doesn't hesitate anymore, just steps right up and has been for a few days now. With previous birds I then first offered the finger and gave the millet as a reward afterwards as soon as they stepped up, to teach them to step up without having to lure them on. However, this bird does not seem to understand what I want when I try this, which is of course not his fault, it is mine. I've been trying for the past few days and the furthest I've gotten is having him put one foot on my finger very briefly and hesitantly, after which I immediately offered the millet. That was a few days ago though, haven't gotten him to do that since. Should I just keep trying this? Or do you have a technique for making clear what I would like him to do? The reason I want to speed up the process is not because I'm impatient but because I really want to let him out of his cage, I feel sorry for him being locked in there day in and day out. But I don't want to have to catch him as I already explained, so I need to teach him to step up without the millet first, since there is no guarantee that he will do it even with the millet outside of the cage

Thanks again for all the information, it has been an amazing help

Tom

[linda040899]

Thanks for the great update! You are making progress, even though it's slow.

You may find it's easier to get him to step up onto a perch rather than your finger. Many parrots view human hands as evil while a perch is non-threatening. You can continue to offer the millet. You also have to remember that he views his cage as "safe." You haven't had him very long and he's still learning. A trust relationship takes time and there really are no short cuts. You have to go at their pace. I have an imported African Grey who has been with me since 1991. She loves to interact with me but she's the original touch me not! She will take food from my hand but if I try to touch her, she growls and screams like someone is killing her! I've come to accept the relationship as she wants it, even though I have to towel her occasionally to trim her nails. That is an adventure in itself. She doesn't hold the toweling against me. She just doesn't like her nails trimmed!

[BlueBull]

Thanks for the great update! You are making progress, even though it's slow.

You may find it's easier to get him to step up onto a perch rather than your finger. Many parrots view human hands as evil while a perch is non-threatening. You can continue to offer the millet. You also have to remember that he views his cage as "safe." You haven't had him very long and he's still learning. A trust relationship takes time and there really are no short cuts. You have to go at their pace. I have an imported African Grey who has been with me since 1991. She loves to interact with me but she's the original touch me not! She will take food from my hand but if I try to touch her, she growls and screams like someone is killing her! I've come to accept the relationship as she wants it, even though I have to towel her occasionally to trim her nails. That is an adventure in itself. She doesn't hold the toweling against me. She just doesn't like her nails trimmed!

Thank you for your answer. So, to be clear, you don't think I should continue on the path I'm on with trying to teach him to perch on my finger? Reason I ask is because it appears that he isn't afraid of my hands anymore, or almost isn't, because he jumps on without hesitation and without fearful body language. He also continues playing with his toys like normal when my hands are in the cage, something that would have been impossible just a few weeks ago. It seems like he just doesn't understand I want him to jump on without the millet. But, if you think that continuing like this would have some negative effect, I will take your advice and move to teaching him to step on a perch. I do hope then that some day I can teach him to step up on my finger, because if he won't, of course things like head scratches and other activities involving hands would be impossible. Like you say, if that is what he prefers then that is how our relationship will be, as I said I never force my birds in to anything, however if it is a possibility I do have a preference for teaching them to step onto a finger

Take care

Tom

[linda040899]

I would work with both hand and perch training. He doesn't seem to be terrified of your hands but he may step up onto a perch without millet bribery and then you can transfer him to your hand. You may have to try different things and see just how he responds. Obviously, he's comfortable being around your hands.

[BlueBull]

I would work with both hand and perch training. He doesn't seem to be terrified of your hands but he may step up onto a perch without millet bribery and then you can transfer him to your hand. You may have to try different things and see just how he responds. Obviously, he's comfortable being around your hands.

Understood. I have started with perch training and already the second time I tried, he hopped on without first offering the millet, that was really surprising. I will continue this and gradually try to make him more comfortable with hands as well. Though it doesn't appear that he is fearful of my hands, the difference in response to a perch shows that it's not only a matter of him not understanding what I want, since he jumped on the perch right away but doesn't do so with my finger, at least not without the millet. I do think that finger perching will be possible eventually, judging from the fact that he isn't completely terrified of it, just apparently a little apprehensive. Thank you again

[linda040899]

Understood. I have started with perch training and already the second time I tried, he hopped on without first offering the millet, that was really surprising. I will continue this and gradually try to make him more comfortable with hands as well. Though it doesn't appear that he is fearful of my hands, the difference in response to a perch shows that it's not only a matter of him not understanding what I want, since he jumped on the perch right away but doesn't do so with my finger, at least not without the millet. I do think that finger perching will be possible eventually, judging from the fact that he isn't completely terrified of it, just apparently a little apprehensive. Thank you again

This is a good thing! He's familiar with perches so it appears that he's readily accepted and understands what you want so you can work from the perch to your hand. I've always said that a trust relationship can be formed with any parrot. The only unknown is how that relationship will play out. I have several that want interaction but don't touch. I have others that will follow me everywhere and yet others that fall somewhere between that. You simply have to get to know your own bird and do what's best for it.

[BlueBull]

This is a good thing! He's familiar with perches so it appears that he's readily accepted and understands what you want so you can work from the perch to your hand. I've always said that a trust relationship can be formed with any parrot. The only unknown is how that relationship will play out. I have several that want interaction but don't touch. I have others that will follow me everywhere and yet others that fall somewhere between that. You simply have to get to know your own bird and do what's best for it.

Indeed, he seems to understand. I'm going to concentrate on perch training but will occasionally alternate with finger training. The coming weekend I'm going to let him out for the first time. I'm going to open his cage door and let him decide if he wants to come out or not. I'm going to do this early in the day so there is ample time for him to return to his cage on his own volition, which makes sure I won't have to go catching him. I can't wait, finally I can give him the freedom he deserves, I think he's going to be overjoyed. I have put up perching spots that have toys, food and water throughout the entire apartment, high up, so I think he's going to like it

Sounds like you have a lot of birds, that must be so nice, never a dull moment in your house too bad I have neigbours on all sides, so I can't get the really big birds because of the screaming and I can't get too many birds either. One day when I have my own house, it's going to look the same as yours, I've always wanted to have a real flock of birds

[linda040899]

Hard to predict what will happen when you open his cage door so he can come out if he wants to. His cage is safety and he may hesitate or he may feel safe enough and come right out. The perch training might come in handy if you need to help him return to his cage so you don't have to catch him. I actually have different perches for different birds, mostly because I have a combination of large and smaller parrots.

This may surprise you, but the larger bird that seems to be the least noisy, as far as squawking, is the African Grey. Mine don't screech. They talk or whistle. My female Grey has a very limited vocabulary but can mimic a police siren to perfection. You can't tell the difference! She's an import from Africa and when I first got her, you would have thought that Africa was my back yard. She can do lions and monkeys quite well when she wants to.

Macaws and Amazons make the most noise and most conures can put out some decibels, too. I have 2 Green Cheeks who are relatively quiet. About half of my larger birds are rescues. Their owners didn't want them and they found homes with me. My male Amazon came from abusive homes and it's taken him probably 10 years to unpack the baggage from what he went through. No one really knew how old he is but lately, his amber colored eyes are beginning to turn red and that's a sign that he's probably somewhere between 30 - 40. He's been with me for about 12 yrs and he will never be re-homed.

[BlueBull]

Hard to predict what will happen when you open his cage door so he can come out if he wants to. His cage is safety and he may hesitate or he may feel safe enough and come right out. The perch training might come in handy if you need to help him return to his cage so you don't have to catch him. I actually have different perches for different birds, mostly because I have a combination of large and smaller parrots.

Well, it was mostly a positive experience for both of us. I left his cage door open and placed some millet on a kind of platform in front of the cage, then I retreated to a distance. He came out almost immediately and started nibbling on it. Then he flew a bit, though quite panicky and wildly in all directions, which is normal since it is a strange environment. A few times he landed somewhere and after that was looking around pretty bewildered, again normal. What made it a positive experience for me as well is that as soon as I moved over to him and held up a perch a little distance away, he immediately scooted over and jumped on, after which I could bring him back to his cage. It seems he trusts us enough to know I want to help him. He did this every time, always instantly and always without apparent fear. He is now back in his cage though the cage door is open, so I'll leave it open permanently from now on. Going to keep a close eye on him though for a while, to see he doesn't panic too much

This may surprise you, but the larger bird that seems to be the least noisy, as far as squawking, is the African Grey. Mine don't screech. They talk or whistle. My female Grey has a very limited vocabulary but can mimic a police siren to perfection. You can't tell the difference! She's an import from Africa and when I first got her, you would have thought that Africa was my back yard. She can do lions and monkeys quite well when she wants to.

Macaws and Amazons make the most noise and most conures can put out some decibels, too. I have 2 Green Cheeks who are relatively quiet. About half of my larger birds are rescues. Their owners didn't want them and they found homes with me. My male Amazon came from abusive homes and it's taken him probably 10 years to unpack the baggage from what he went through. No one really knew how old he is but lately, his amber colored eyes are beginning to turn red and that's a sign that he's probably somewhere between 30 - 40. He's been with me for about 12 yrs and he will never be re-homed.

That is indeed surprising. I have a friend with 2 African Greys and while I love those birds it would be very hard to live with for me personally, they screech almost constantly and are extremely loud. They are sweethearts though, both of them. I find it to be very admirable that you have so many rescues, since that is no easy tasks what with all the ingrained habits and fears and such, which I assume can be quite difficult to work with. I am truly glad they found a good home with you, I never understood how you can get rid of any pet, even if there are behaviour issues (that are probably caused by the owner in most cases). People should read more about what an animal is really like and what behaviour they can display if not handled correctly, before going out and getting one. This should never be done on a whim. I would rather seek out a bird psychologist or trainer or something like that, or accept the behaviour than I would get rid of my birds. But, luckily they are better off now. I can understand even less, people that would abuse an animal. In my opinion if someone can abuse an animal they have a dark personality and are capable of doing the same to humans without a doubt. Horrific and despicable. Thank you for being there for those poor animals

[linda040899]

I'm so glad the perch training is working out with positive effects!!! In case of an emergency, he will come to the perch without hesitation! Sure beats having to chase them and towel them. Once he is comfortable going to the perch and once he is totally familiar with his environment, you can also teach him to go into his cage on command. I use the phrase "in your cage" and my larger birds know exactly what I want and they go to their cages. Sometimes they are stubborn and don't go on the first command, so I simply repeat what I want until they do. It's all about communication and being consistent with them.

I agree that there are far too many misunderstood birds. People purchase them on impulse and don't do their research. Parrots are not for everyone and many don't find good loving homes. That bothers me to no end but I can only take just so many rescues. This board exists strictly for education and I try my best to help, based on my own experience. Now with covid-19 and loss of income, there are all sorts of animals that have been displaced. Not knowing where things will go, I'm trying to plan ahead so that I will always be able to take care of the feathered creatures that live with me, and that included about 20 chickens!