2BadBadger
New member
- Nov 23, 2015
- 34
- 1
- Parrots
- "Mama,Papa" Green Cheek Conures,"Judge" a Black Capped Conure,Fudgie the Budgie,Charlie the Patagonian Conure,Titan and Pearl the Diamond Doves.
Hi guys,
My Patagonian Conure is a rescue bird that amongst other serious issues had literally lived alone in a cage from being bought without any human interaction once the last keepers realised how loud a Patti can be at full whack.
He was fed budgie seed had no toys,no human contact and was kept with curtains closed mainly to try and subdue the noise.
Once I collected him he instantly craved contact and I quickly saw the real bird his last keepers didn't and he was stuck to my shoulder as his best friend.I tried to tempt him of with every trick in the book with no luck and toys were just an abstract concept that made no sense to him at all as he'd never seen them let alone chewed them.
But in time he did start chewing the zipper and string on my indoor "bird jacket" hoodie as it went around my neck.
Obviously the metal of the zip wasn't good for him though and after a little thought I realised i could use a long leather cord and string as many different textures of wood,sponge,leather,plastic,rawhide,sisal etc etc as I could on to it to wear as a necklace that was safe for him but also introduced the various textures his toys were made of whilst reassuringly for him still sitting on my shoulder safely learning what he had to do namely "destroy....destroy.....destroy" as a good parrot should!
Within minutes of me wearing it he was mouthing the wood then the leather but he really loved the rawhide and from there I had full on Parrot destruction mode around my neck.Over a week or two I introduced toys of similar materials in and around his cage and stand and even on the floor to encourage him to use all the surfaces he was allowed to.
It took about a month of being covered in bits of wood and leather plus I looked like I'd holidayed in deepest Africa with it on but I'd managed to get him of my shoulder and introduced him to toys to help fill his time when he wasn't being smothered in love by his new flock.
That was 18 mths or so ago and he's doing great now destroying anything and everything that dosn't run away.
Ive heard many people struggle trying to get some birds to interact with toys especially if the birds hard bonded to you but this method seemed to work really well for just for a little time and effort and may be a useful tool for somebody in the future.
Enjoy your birds!!
My Patagonian Conure is a rescue bird that amongst other serious issues had literally lived alone in a cage from being bought without any human interaction once the last keepers realised how loud a Patti can be at full whack.
He was fed budgie seed had no toys,no human contact and was kept with curtains closed mainly to try and subdue the noise.
Once I collected him he instantly craved contact and I quickly saw the real bird his last keepers didn't and he was stuck to my shoulder as his best friend.I tried to tempt him of with every trick in the book with no luck and toys were just an abstract concept that made no sense to him at all as he'd never seen them let alone chewed them.
But in time he did start chewing the zipper and string on my indoor "bird jacket" hoodie as it went around my neck.
Obviously the metal of the zip wasn't good for him though and after a little thought I realised i could use a long leather cord and string as many different textures of wood,sponge,leather,plastic,rawhide,sisal etc etc as I could on to it to wear as a necklace that was safe for him but also introduced the various textures his toys were made of whilst reassuringly for him still sitting on my shoulder safely learning what he had to do namely "destroy....destroy.....destroy" as a good parrot should!
Within minutes of me wearing it he was mouthing the wood then the leather but he really loved the rawhide and from there I had full on Parrot destruction mode around my neck.Over a week or two I introduced toys of similar materials in and around his cage and stand and even on the floor to encourage him to use all the surfaces he was allowed to.
It took about a month of being covered in bits of wood and leather plus I looked like I'd holidayed in deepest Africa with it on but I'd managed to get him of my shoulder and introduced him to toys to help fill his time when he wasn't being smothered in love by his new flock.
That was 18 mths or so ago and he's doing great now destroying anything and everything that dosn't run away.
Ive heard many people struggle trying to get some birds to interact with toys especially if the birds hard bonded to you but this method seemed to work really well for just for a little time and effort and may be a useful tool for somebody in the future.
Enjoy your birds!!
