Alexandrine's

My Alex (his name is Bertram) is about 12 weeks old and I have had him for 4 weeks now. I am finding it very hard to find any websites dedicated solely to Alex's, their personalities and how to train them.

I knew before getting Bert that Alex's were not a very lovey, cuddly bird, which for me was what I was looking for even though I would have loved a velcro bird, as I'm quite an affectionate person. So knowing that I want kids at some point in the future, I didn't want a jealous type of bird AND I saw Bert and fell in love!

Now my point is that Bert is very fond of biting and is not overly vicious, but still it hurts when he bites! I know the signs that he wants to be left alone and try to follow them so that he doesn't have to resort to biting me to get what he wants.
I want to train him and encourage our bonding and not have him try to bite me every time I approach him and I know that this comes with time and patience, but I'm not exactly sure where to start and what techniques work with Alex's.
I don't quite have the heart to be stern and discipline him, so he has become quite dominant, which is not how I want our relationship to be as I am not going to spend the next 30 odd years with a bird as my boss!

So basically I was just hoping for other Alex owners to share their experiences/stories and their birds tendencies and personalities with me and any advice on where to start would be much appreciated!

I'm so excited for when Bert gets his bright feathers and red beak! They're such an amazingly beautiful bird!

Sorry for rambling

My Alexandrtine Mr Parrot or Alex (He has two names ) was a biter when I got him.
Well he wasn't use to human handling (he was an aviary bird).

I was told he was he was nearly a year old when I got him. Ive had him for a few months. I pretty much guessing he was from last breeding season.

What I did to build up his trust was talk to him, he didn't like us near his cage (would squawk). It took a few days getting him use to me near his cage. Like changing his foods/water/toys + cleaning his cage.

After many days of trying to get him use to me. I started clicker trainer/target training. This works very well. It helped me build trust with Mr Parrot. You probably can find some guides on youtube or something. It did take a while for him to trust me, to give him his treats.

Then he trusted me with that, he let me touch him. Slowly he would let me touch his beak, feet etc. I did this slowly. Every time he looked like he woud try to bite me I would say no in a gentle voice.

During the time I also taught him "Step up". This helped me with his cage aggression he use to have.

Now my frightened, untame Alexandrine, is now an extremely gentle and quite bird. Besides from his talking.

Was even able to teach him a few tricks

I haven't been bitten by him since I got him. So clicker training/target worked really well for me.

I do have another Alexandrine, about the same age as yours. Im also trying to teach her target training. She was never a biter when I got her, but I would just like to build up my trust with her.

She also was an aviary bird, but she's a lot easier to train. I guess it's because she's young

I also have an Alexandrine, his name is Max, and I love him to bits...

Max doesn't like to cuddle, but he certainly loves my company, sit on my shoulder and give kisses... He also allows me to 'tickle' him, but he doesn't enjoy it... Maybe he will one day...

I have always thought it good that birds bite... that's the only way they can learn bite inhibition.. I say 'gentle, Max, gentle' in a calm, soothing voice, if I think he's going to bite... He hasn't bitten in a long time, maybe because I get in the the 'gentle' before he does.

Max is fully flighted, as I live alone with my animals, so no doors will open, unless I open them... These birds love to fly (so I've read in a book about ring necks)... I never have to catch him, as he'll always fly down to me, even when he's up high... In the beginning it was a bit harder, and I had to try and keep him flying, until he got tired and land on the back of a chair, where I could pick him up.

In the beginning he would also try to bite, when I asked him to step up to go back to his cage, but I then used a firmer voice for 'step up', and now he knows, when I say 'step up', you step up... lol

I work full time (12-hour shifts).. On day shifts (7am-7pm) Max is out for 2 hours in the morning, and about an hour at night... On night shifts (7pm-7am) he's out for 2 hours in the morning and 3-4 hours in the afternoon... He goes into his cage by himself, if he gets hungry or thirsty.

Max will be 4 months old on 19th December.

My alex doesn't like to be pet but like people around him. He likes to bluf whenever you try to pet him but he is a sweet bird just doesn't like to be pet and really easy to handle and talks up a storm.

My alex sounds alot like kobe's. She doesn't like to be petted or even really held, but there are times when I can tell that she wants to be held and then I will pick her up and hold her for a few minutes, until she starts acting like she wants to go back to her cage. She does bluff a lot and I've honestly never really took a serious bite from her. She will avoid confrontation at all costs before trying to bite. And when she does bite it's still just a bluff, she will stretch out her neck, pin her eyes and then whack you with her open beak. But aside from her anti-touching tendencies, she likes to be around people. If either of us leave our room she will squawk and squawk until we either come back or she realizes we've left the house, which is kind of funny because other than that, she is really really quiet. She talks a little bit but only when it's just me and my boyfriend and it's usually late at night. She will turn her back to us and then start mumbling and laughing to herself. I have to pretend I'm not listening or she will stop and pretend she wasn't doing anything. She is constantly out of her cage though, I don't think her cage door has been closed for about 2 months. She is clipped at the moment but we are letting her wings grow out. She spends most of her day on top of her cage and then just goes in to eat and drink as she pleases.

My alex Jimmy is alot like Icy Wolf and Kobe doesnt like to be petted but loves to be part fo everything and likes to be around people. He does get a bit snaky if I put a hand in him cage at bedtime but hasnt bitten more of a lunge and a bat with his beak.

Thanks every one!
Bert has come out of his shell so much, I am so proud of him
He loves being up on my shoulder and he loves to play in my hair! It's so adorable. He doesn't bite any more, I think we trust each other a lot more now. He's not super cuddly but he loves to be around me and around lunch time and in the evenings, we'll chat to each other an hour at least. It's beautiful!
Lene, I also read that they like to be fully flighted and when I got him his wings were clipped but I am thinking about just letting his wings grow. But I'm still not sure.

We also have a cat, the other day Bert was out of his cage and Alien sauntered out to the lounge room and Bert made a big fuss and flew to the floor. I have never seen a cat run away from a bird so fast! It was the funniest thing to watch, he's never actually done anything to Alien but she is terrified of him! I think it's all the noise he makes

I think it's great to keep him flighted but before he grows his flight feathers again be sure to do extra bonding and training with him because i have heard that once birds are flighted they can get a little aloof and less friendly but that can easily be avoided with more bonding and training, just a heads up, but it sounds like your doing great . I think a flighted bird is wonderful because when they sit with you, it's because they want to, not because they can't fly away