Training older Conures?

Monkeybuttorama

New member
Jun 6, 2012
4
0
Wisconsin, USA
Parrots
2 Green Cheek Conures, Alien (believed female) and Predator (believed male)
When my mom passed 2 years ago, I inherited her 2 green-cheek conure babies, only... they aren't babies anymore... Quite far from it, in fact; They are currently around 7 years old (exact age unknown), renamed Alien and Predator. I believe, because of what she told me, that they are a mated pair, however eventually I will get them DNA sexed to be sure (doesn't matter right now, anyway).

Nothing was ever done with these birds (and to boot, these are my first, other then a 'keet I had for about 3 months when I was a kid), before I got them; no substantial talking, no hand-feeding, no touching; they were, sadly, largely ignored. Even feeding was impersonal, as the cage sides had doors just for food that didn't require a hand in the cage at all.

I have been told by several people that I will never be able to train them, but I am not willing to accept this, and have been working with them for close to two years; they are now willing to take grapes, nothing else, directly from my fingers, albeit with much hesitation at first, and they startle quickly if I move too much.

They will not let me touch them (closest I have come is gently touching the tip of tail feathers until they notice), and although I have changed their cage once (from a cage intended for large parrots that had very little flight/movement room to a cage almost triple in interior space), they are iffy about leaving their established habitat, and refuse to come near an open cage door (both, on separate occasions, have gotten out exactly once, and have not tried since)

I am wondering if there is anything I can do differently or that I am not doing now to accelerate this process safely (for them and for me) and securely. I currently talk to them when they get chatty (repeating a single word in a friendly, quiet voice with a smile), I mimic their calls, which they seem to like, and I try 2+ times a day (when I can) to hand-feed them different foods, but they don't come near anything but grapes.

I would love to be able to treat these more like pets and less like decoration, and I feel that yes, I'm making progress, and because of the age, this should be enough, but I also want them to be happy with me, where right now, they shake themselves silly when I come near the cage. They DO NOT BITE, but they do beak, ever so slightly (and very very infrequently) when I give them grapes

Any insight would be greatly appreciated! ^_^ :green2:
 

friedsoup

New member
May 5, 2012
503
1
North Carolina
Parrots
Senegal Male Bogart
You've worked with them for 2 yrs? and all you can do is get them to accept a grape. wow I've heard of patience but really. it's time to change up their daily routine, Now this is what I would do you can take any of the following suggestions; first a nail and wing trim, (time for dependent transportation) you need a "T" perch either a table top or one you can stand or sit in front of yet still be a head taller than the bird. Sessions should start out at only 3 to 5 mins.twice or three times a day or every other day for each bird and you can increase as they start enjoying the time out of the cage and learning time with you. Try and make a schedule you can keep like say 8:00 am to 8:20 am and again at 5pm to 5:20 whatever works for you.You can try fingers for step up training but I suggest chop sticks or wooden spoon handle both can give a good strong perch and help you save on bandaids . You might have to towel the birds at first to get them out of cage as they have almost never been allowed outside in all their lives so understand when they run from you and the towel, but you know in your heart your trying to better their lives an this too will pass. Soon they will be meeting you at the cage door or calling you to hurry up because your late starting their fun perch time. Start with step-ups then step-back (now I get confused looks for some parrots owners when I say step-back as a command but I find it very helpful if a bird step-back without looking because you asked him too) step-back in short is placing the tail just over the perch and slowly dropping your hand saying "step back" . Ever had keys in one hand bird on the other and the phone rings? having a bird that will perch on whatever you offer without resistance is a god send.
From step-up progress to the wave, or turn around or nodding their head, I've had little smarties whim I've had to teach three tricks at once because while I'm reaching for a treat they are starting without me one foot up for a wave and body starting a turn around before I can ask for a response. Most of the easier trick can be found on youtube. I even learned one that kept me from having to pick a bird up from the floor who's favorite game was jump from the perch and wait for me to pick him up, it was called climb the rope a piece of small rope with knots every few inches was fixed to the perch and hung to the floor, You started by placing the bird half way up the rope and calling "Climb the Rope." and up he'd go you praise and give him a treat when he was back on the perch soon when he was on the floor I'd call "Climb the rope and he'd dash to the hanging string and climb right up (no more crawling under the table or behind the sofa to fetch the bird) I hope this helps and get you and your fids talking and working together to better their lives.
 

amysaviary

New member
Dec 16, 2011
179
0
Chambersburg PA
Parrots
African Grey-Kenya
Blue and Gold- Baby
Jenday Conure- Izzy
Hahns Macaw- Derby
Cockatiel- Lemon
Senegal-Dylan

I breed, Sun, Green Cheek, Black Capped and Crimson Bellied Conures. Also IRN's
I think u have a long way to go before u do any of what friedsoup has said not that anything is wrong with what was said I just think they r no wear ready for any of that.

1. If u want them to be pets and want them to trust and need u I would trim wings(and nails at the same time) that way if they do come out they will need u to move them around they can't just take off flying.

2. get them to want to come out of the cage. I would not towel them, u will just break trust this way. That said u will have to towel them to do wings and nails I am sure but u don't want to keep ripping them out of the cage with the towel u want them to want to come out. U can start buy taking the food dish out of the cage and sitting in on the door(if u can with ur cage) or on top the cage for a few hours. put fav. treats in the bowl so they will really want them and only give them this treat when they r out of the cage. If u can feed them grapes make them come to the door to get the grape and keep working till they get closer and closer to the door or even out of the cage to get it.

2. As far as other food to try to get them to take from u try to eat stuff in front of them! Make a big deal over how good it is and yummm all that stuff so they thing "Wow that must be good" will take time but this normally works for people

3. after they trust u more and want to come out of the cage start the step up training and I call it down not step back. Step up and Step back sound a lot alike to a bird so down seems to work better but use what works for u.

Good luck and keep up the good work!!
 

friedsoup

New member
May 5, 2012
503
1
North Carolina
Parrots
Senegal Male Bogart
One point on Toweling a bird to get it to come out it usually take less than three days of this before the bird realized that going out of the cage is fun and he is having a good time out of the cage something your bird haven't had ever, Mother birds push their young out of the nest when it's time to fly and very few fall to their deaths, I think after two years it's time to fly.
 
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Monkeybuttorama

New member
Jun 6, 2012
4
0
Wisconsin, USA
Parrots
2 Green Cheek Conures, Alien (believed female) and Predator (believed male)
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Sorry for the delay in reply, I've been out of town for a cpl days. Thank you all for replying, the input is greatly appreciated

Unfortunately, some of these suggestions, such as taking them out of the cage, are currently dangerous (hence not having done it already; it's not that I want to keep them caged, I have so much furniture from my mom's estate that they can very easily get stuck, and I'm not sure how to prevent this until I move into a house, which will hopefully be this winter)

I have tried the eating in front of them, yumming and the like, with pineapple, mango, and other delicious fruits that I almost always have around, and I've tried adding the fresh fruits to their treat cup (they like the dried stuff, after all) but they won't touch it :( I'll have to keep trying; I want them to be comfortable with me being there with things other then grapes in-hand (they currently go crazy when I have anything black in my hands, or if I move any large objects, like pillows (they were kept in a secluded, low-traffic area) so I've been parading past them holding cats, pillows, duffle bags, etc, and they are starting to the the idea that movement from me is OK (I noticed this behavior was consistent about a year ago, and have been trying since then to fix it.)

I have been putting my face up to the cage (through the bars to make them more comfortable) and quietly talking to/mimicking the soft noises they make; one of them, after a few weeks of doing this, is almost to the point of touching my nose with her beak, but is still shaking like crazy, and won't actually do it.

I really wish I had a more bird-friendly setup to offer them; everything just happened so fast that I couldn't plan for it, and the best I could do was get them a much larger cage.. When I do, though, I will certainly try these suggestions (and any others I can before then) Thank you so much for the help!
 

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