Determined toddler

T00tsyd

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May 8, 2017
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Green cheek conure - Sydney (Syd) Hatched 2/2017
Ok here we are in Summer and short sleeves, lower necklines and a little more skin is on show. The problem is that Syd is not taking no for an answer and is determined to go inside any opening in my clothing that is available. Necklines, sleeves even trouser legs. He's driving me crazy.

'No ' works for a few seconds, putting him away from me works a little longer, leaving the room is ok until he flies after me. I am already limiting his out of cage time to 15-20 mins at a time but is there any advice that might be effective without hurting him mentally or physically.

At the moment he is becoming an obsessive leech. Help!
 

SailBoat

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Jul 10, 2015
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DYH Amazon
I'm by no means an expert on this species. Every one I have ever met quickly disappeared into my shirt pocket or any other like sized opening.

None of our Amazons have ever displayed any interest in such hiding places. They all sought out much larger places to disappear.

With hope this bump will attack someone who has experience.
 
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Jen5200

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Mar 27, 2017
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Baby - Sun Conure;
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I have 5 conures - 3 of which love to hide in clothing. Stanley loves pockets and cleavage, Bindi and Baby both go for sleeves and shirts if they can get there. “No” hasn’t really ever worked well with mine. I do make efforts if they are obsessing about getting in my clothes. Distractions are most effective in my house - like putting a favoured treat on the play stand that will take a few minutes to get through. I also will find clothing that doesn’t allow them to do their “preferred” activity - tying up the neck of my hoodie tight so that they can’t get in, snug sleeves that they can’t get into, shirt with no pockets for Stanley, etc. It generally keeps mine from getting fixated, and they find other things to do that are more interesting.
 
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T00tsyd

T00tsyd

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Green cheek conure - Sydney (Syd) Hatched 2/2017
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Thank you I had a feeling I was going to have to work on more distraction techniques. Today is another day so Syd will get distracted!
 

ParrontMitch

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Aug 1, 2019
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Only chickens right now!
My chihuahua loves to go inside my shirt when it thunders, LOL. My Sun Conure did too back in the day, just for the heck of it. Of course, “no” NEVER worked for that silly thing, but I used clicker training methods (just using my “horse cluck”, as I call the clicking sound I can make with my mouth) to teach him he got rewarded for being able to sit on me and not go under the clothes. I did not reward him for coming out, as then he would be Mr. Sneaky and only go in more so he could come out and get rewarded!
 

Skittys_Daddy

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Jan 6, 2014
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Lewiston, Maine
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Neotropical Pigeon - "Skittles" (born 3/29/10)
Cockatiel - "Peaches" (1995-2015) R.I.P.
Budgie - "Sammy"
(1989-2000) R.I.P.
Budgie - "Sandy"
(1987-1989) R.I.P.
I got my Skittles 'color trained'. Amazingly, he ONLY chews on my 'white tshirts'. I got him trained by letting him chew on them and 'encouraging' it. The same day, I'd change to a colored shirt and when he'd try and chew on it, I'd say "no". At first I thought it'd confuse him and perhaps it did in the beginning. But now he knows and its given me a bit more freedom around the house. But I stick to white shirts mostly and just do a colored shirt every so often to maintain the training.

I know that birds are the opposite of dogs when it comes to colors. Dogs are color blind while birds are attracted to 'vibrant colors'.

My point is this, if you have a certain style of clothing that you wear that you don't want your conure to go in (or chew or hide etc) then try training him by distracting him away from certain things. Eventually, he'll put two and two together.

Skittles is actually very fond out outsmarting me and he's done it on numerous occasions. Even recently. He KNOWS which Harrisons bag is 'regular food' and which one is 'treats'. They are the SAME style of bag, but the regular food has a red label on the front and the treats have a purple label. He knows the difference and I've no idea how he figured it out. Well, I do, I just like to pretend I don't cause otherwise it makes me look stupid. It's almost like he knows why I did the 'shirt retraining' and he's like "I sees what u try, I play dis game too. U want colored shirts safe, I want purple treat bag."
 
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T00tsyd

T00tsyd

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Green cheek conure - Sydney (Syd) Hatched 2/2017
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That's so funny. Well done Skittles!
 

YSGC

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Jan 6, 2019
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Pico, gender unknown, is a hand-fed Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure, born 2015.
Only rarely will Pico crawl into a shirt.
I think I know why.

He comes with me almost every time I leave the house.
He loves getting out and meeting new people.
He's been on hundreds of shoulders; the experience is magical for the people.
Never a bad experience ... but I take many precautions.

When we're in a place he shouldn't be, like a grocery store, I'll put him into the bottom of my shirt.
He immediately crawls up to the collar because he's excited and wants to look around.

Sometimes he'll just chill inside my shirt at the collar with his little head sticking out.
It's is sooooooo cute that (mostly) women and children go crazy.

But usually he tries to crawl out to get onto my shoulder.
Then I put him back down into the bottom of my shirt, but with my hand placed on my chest so he can't get out at the collar.
Then he'll turn around and climb down to the hem to get out, but he is again stopped by my arm.

After all that he gives up, stays silent and chills, and takes a nap in my shirt and the store/restaurant/bar is none the wiser.
They just think I'm this weird guy who holds his arm on his chest.

So I think Pico only rarely crawls into a shirt because he associates it with being restricted and controlled, rather than free.
He loves his freedom.
 
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T00tsyd

T00tsyd

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Green cheek conure - Sydney (Syd) Hatched 2/2017
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Just an update. I have persevered for the last couple of days using distraction techniques and rewards where appropriate. He's a clever chap. He seems to have sorted it already - or is he lulling me into a false sense of security ready for a weekend onslaught? LOL

Strangely we have been working on 'Good boy' at the same time to see if his language skills had diminished - no - this morning he flew onto my shoulder looked me in the eye and offered 'Good boy' as clear as a bell.

The work continues!
 

Skittys_Daddy

Well-known member
Jan 6, 2014
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Lewiston, Maine
Parrots
Neotropical Pigeon - "Skittles" (born 3/29/10)
Cockatiel - "Peaches" (1995-2015) R.I.P.
Budgie - "Sammy"
(1989-2000) R.I.P.
Budgie - "Sandy"
(1987-1989) R.I.P.
Determination, patience and persistence are KEY factors in re-training. They WILL look for weaknesses and exploit them when they can. Don't be fooled by their 'sweet and innocent' looking demeanor. lol. Its a trap! lol. There's a hellion in there just waiting to knock you down a peg or two. lol. Even when the re-training is complete, the training doesn't stop. They wait and wait and wait til BOOM! They catch you with your guard down! lol. Its all true though, but hey, we love them anyways.
 
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T00tsyd

T00tsyd

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May 8, 2017
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Green cheek conure - Sydney (Syd) Hatched 2/2017
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Oh yes agreed. The same goes for dogs, horses, children and husbands!:D
 

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