Parrot Progress

Carl_Power

New member
Oct 3, 2017
542
21
England
Parrots
Quaker Parrot
Hi guys, hope your all good and well.

As you know I'm a newbie Parrot owner still but the last few days Xander is really getting used to my hands, he has even started preening them and biting them gently ect and he isn't so scared of them any more.

Should I try now to teach him to step up? and is there a correct way to do this because I have tried but both of us don't really know what to do properly lol.

Also what are your thoughts on clicker training and target training?

I also hear a lot that its important to make training fun and always make things a positive experience but I'm not too sure how to do that, I give him treats when he does things right though as I do understand the positive reinforcement part I just really appreciate you guys input as Xander has come on tremendously since I joined this forum and were both eternally grateful.

Thank you x
 
Last edited:

LordTriggs

New member
May 11, 2017
3,427
24
Surrey, UK
Parrots
Rio (Yellow sided conure) sadly no longer with us
definitely a good time to teach stepping up

what I would do is hold a treat just out of his reach so he is leaning out towards the treat, then have your finger held in front of him slightly higher than his current perch and he should take a step to get that treat. Personally I started by using a perch to get them used to it without the nerve of fingers coming into it, then you can start getting fingers closer and closer until they're doing it without a perch there

as for clicker and target training I never got to those. Clicker I'm just not that co-ordinated to do it and I never understood how to start off with target training
 
OP
Carl_Power

Carl_Power

New member
Oct 3, 2017
542
21
England
Parrots
Quaker Parrot
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #3
Thanks for this, just one finger? and he has never bit me when my hand has made him uncomfortable he just flies off then I leave it so he doesn't get stressed so I might just try the hand some more then a perch if it doesn't work.
 
OP
Carl_Power

Carl_Power

New member
Oct 3, 2017
542
21
England
Parrots
Quaker Parrot
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #4
OMG!!! LordTriggs I love you :)

I've just tried the T perch and he stepped up 5 times on it no problem :) wow you have made my day, thank you so much and Xander is all excited and chirping away at the praise too so you have made him happy also, wow this is a huge step for us thank you.

How many times should I practise this a day? This is huge for us :)
 

LordTriggs

New member
May 11, 2017
3,427
24
Surrey, UK
Parrots
Rio (Yellow sided conure) sadly no longer with us
yeah one finger should be enough for a quaker, they're not exactly big

haha good to hear! The first time they start doing it is really fun

whenever really. A quick little session for a couple minutes until he's bored of it, then go do something else
 
OP
Carl_Power

Carl_Power

New member
Oct 3, 2017
542
21
England
Parrots
Quaker Parrot
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #6
Thank you so much.

I will do that and pop him back on his cage after nice and safe so he knows he his going back into his comfort zone after stepping up x
 
OP
Carl_Power

Carl_Power

New member
Oct 3, 2017
542
21
England
Parrots
Quaker Parrot
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #7
I know I'm a big excited girl with my lil Quaker buddy but he started letting me pet him last night which felt great as you guys probably know so I'm thinking this must be a good thing in our bonding process? he was literally terrified of my hands 4 days ago still.

I'm wandering what I could risk doing with him now, we are practising step up but he will only go on the perch at the moment.

Also he looks like a cactus at the minute and has some pins on his head. I presume they are just new feathers coming in? Do I need to worry? am I gonna start getting molested like Jim is at the moment lol?

Thank you x

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcd0hDtQL_M"]Xander letting me pet him :) - YouTube[/ame]
 

wrench13

Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Parrot of the Month 🏆
Nov 22, 2015
11,383
Media
14
Albums
2
12,567
Isle of Long, NY
Parrots
Yellow Shoulder Amazon, Salty
Nice video Carl. Tip: try and keep petting scraching to the head, cheeks, back of the neck. Other areas can be erotic zones later on in life. Tip: Parrots mostly like to be lightly petted and scratched opposite the grain of their feathers. Some like it lightly and some like it harder, and pin feathers make it hard to figure out which. For stepping up I would use your hand , thumb tucked in, fingers held together. Treat held in the other hand, just out of reach so he has to step up on your hand to get it. Use the same verbal command every time, dosn't matter which, but be consistent. Tip: I would also give a "Down" command when you set him back down on his cage. Lets him know he is being put down. Useful when he is being put down on other surfaces.

I find parrots attention span for training is about 15 minutes or so, some less , some more. FOr a simple 1 trick, I'd keep it to 4 or 5 times, then go on to other things. So whats your next trick to teach him?
 
OP
Carl_Power

Carl_Power

New member
Oct 3, 2017
542
21
England
Parrots
Quaker Parrot
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #9
Thank you for this great info Al.

I guess first and foremost I've got to get him used to stepping up on the hand first and being petted properly and more comfortable with my hands and getting him back in his cage at bed time too without having to use 3 pumpkin seeds lol :)

Maybe to wave first? something small and easy if you have any advice please. I love the videos of Salty doing tricks.

I do want to teach him flight and flight recall when the time is right, he's already a good flyer as his cage is always open at the top when I'm home so he's kind of taught himself that.

I'm gonna build him some training perches too, do they have to be a certain height? will I need 2 etc, I really don't know.

Thank you x
 
OP
Carl_Power

Carl_Power

New member
Oct 3, 2017
542
21
England
Parrots
Quaker Parrot
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #10
So Xander now steps up and down onto his cage if he is there but still only onto his perch and he is so eager to do this every time, he's already stepping down straight after stepping up because he knows the drill and a treat is coming but I just cant get him onto my hand even though he will hop on maybe once a day for a rub and he's not scared anymore and I pet him all the time.

Do I just keep going at his pace and keep offering the hand occasionally? its only been a month still together.

Also as soon as he hears the seed tub he flies onto his cage because he knows that's were we are training for now coz its his safe zone, I want to get him stepping up from anywhere he is and get him in different rooms and used to them.

He has also not wanted to go to his cage at night and sleep on top of my tv and its taking me 20 mins and treats to lure him back but tonight he's figured me out and refuses the treat lol and ive got to laugh at him being smart but I don't want to grab him and put him in or leave him out his cage all night even as sweet and happy he looks on the tv, what can I do please?
 

chris-md

Well-known member
Feb 6, 2010
4,349
2,119
Maryland - USA
Parrots
Parker - male Eclectus

Aphrodite - red throated conure (RIP)
You taught him this TV thing, believe it or not. Your mistake was drag him to the cage right away when he comes to you. What he learned was “on tv, human picks me up = CAGE!”

It’s like with dogs. People often make the mistake with puppies of IMMEDIATELY taking them inside right after a poop, make a big rushed fuss over it. The association is then made that pooping results in being brought back in. He doesn’t want that. As a result the pup may start to act up after pooping cause he doesn’t want to go back inside.

Break up the tv routine association. Get him on your finger, then simply chill for a minute or two. Do ANYTHING fun other than go right to the cage. This will make coming to you from the tv a positive experience and he’ll more readily come down.

It’s all about associations. IMMEDIATE cause and effect. That’s what they know. Sometimes you’re training them and don’t even know it. Many problems with excessively screaming parrots is behavior people teach. How? Bird screams - and it’s usually for attention - human comes running. Yes to shut him up, but the bird learns quickly that screaming gets you to come to him. That is why with screaming you need to literally WALK AWAY when It happens, and reward with your presence the instant he stops.

Sounds like you’re doing great and really moving at his pace. Pushing the boundaries where you are able. Keep that up!
 
Last edited:

wrench13

Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Parrot of the Month 🏆
Nov 22, 2015
11,383
Media
14
Albums
2
12,567
Isle of Long, NY
Parrots
Yellow Shoulder Amazon, Salty
Good for you, things seem to be progressing. So try to wean him off stepping up to a perch only. He really should sleep in his cage, it just safer ( you dot want him pooping on your TV, right? ). But do not towel or other wise grab him to do this, you should have him step to the perch or your hand and in the cage he goes. Salty likes for the light to be gradually turned down when its bed time, so one by one I turn lights off until its pretty dark in the room, so he knows its bed time. I train Salty on our coffee table - its roomier and when you start to do advanced tricks you need the space and a place to work. Suggest next trick could be turn in circles, by leading him with his traiing treat, so he follows it. Start with one circle and go from there. Use the same command every time, reward him when he does it right. I use both voice and hand signals for several tricks. End your sessions by him stepping up correctly and a treat ( see - positive note). Good Luck.
 

Inger

Well-known member
Parrot of the Month 🏆
Mar 20, 2017
3,395
826
Everett, WA
Parrots
Bumble - Pacific (or Celestial) Parrotlet hatched 02/19/17
Al (wernch13) is the trick guru for certain. Only thing he didn’t suggest that I would is target training. It’s very easy and comes in really handy when you want to move them somewhere since they’ll follow the target. I don’t use a clicker because that’s an extra thing to manage; I use an enthusiastic YESSSS as the bridge. Other people use different words, different tones, just pick what you like and then stick with that. I’ll say click for simplicity. We use a knitting needle that has lost its mate, but a chopstick would work too.

Start by gently touching his beak with the stick, click, treat. Do it again. A few times. Now put the stick in front of his beak but don’t touch. Wait. He’ll touch. Click and treat. Keep doing this gradually moving farther away. Bumble learned it very quickly and she will now follow her stick anywhere. But no click/treat for close! That beak touches that stick or it doesn’t count [emoji846]

As for other tricks, besides Al’s mentoring, I watch FlockTalk videos on YouTube. She breaks the tricks down really well and makes it easy. She has parrotlets but her principles should apply to all parrots.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

LordTriggs

New member
May 11, 2017
3,427
24
Surrey, UK
Parrots
Rio (Yellow sided conure) sadly no longer with us
for stepping onto your finger more readily try slowly sneaking your finger up the stick, it's what I did with mine. Just going inch by inch until eventually the stick could be removed from the equation
 
OP
Carl_Power

Carl_Power

New member
Oct 3, 2017
542
21
England
Parrots
Quaker Parrot
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #15
Thank you everyone, I'm gonna put all of this into practise. He does seem excited and eager to be trained always so Ill work on the turn trick so he has 2 things to train at and I eventually always get him in the cage it just takes time lol id never let him sleep out of it.

Ill go get a target stick later and ill use the word nice or something because that's short and sweet and I never say it near him, ill do an update in a week, thanks guys id be pretty lost sometimes without your guidance.

Just another question, how many treats a day is it safe to give them, he likes the small black pumpkin seeds but I split them in half, he maybe gets 14 max a day ,we do 3 15 minute sessions x
 
Last edited:
OP
Carl_Power

Carl_Power

New member
Oct 3, 2017
542
21
England
Parrots
Quaker Parrot
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #16
Been target and clicker training the green one. Took 4 days to get him used to the target stick. He has suprised me yesterday and today. He has learned touching it means rewards and ive got him moving for the stick now with the intent of getting him to move further every day and then onto my hand to transition into flight and recall.

Im really happy he has got the basic jist of this. Its exciting. Any tips are welcomed x
 

Sunnyclover

New member
Jan 11, 2017
1,646
43
New Jersey
Parrots
Sun Conure - Ollie- Hatched 08/18/16*

Nanday Conure -Finley- Hatched 10/07/17*

Turquoise Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure -Paris- Hatched 03/03/18*

Black Capped Conure -North- Hatched 10/10/18
Omg Xander is suck a cute little fluff! I want a Quaker but they're illegal here in NJ and I'm so jealous. Good work!
 

GaleriaGila

Well-known member
Parrot of the Month 🏆
May 14, 2016
15,045
8,742
Cleveland area
Parrots
The Rickeybird, 38-year-old Patagonian Conure
This is all so heartwarming!!!!
Congratulations!
By the way... Quakers and Patagonians are illegal in NJ!!!
Apparently, they're thought to have huge invasive potential, and of course, Quakers have established many feral communities around the world. I haven't heard of a Patagonian invasion. What a thought.

Anyway, congrats again and again, Carl AND XANDER!
 

Sunnyclover

New member
Jan 11, 2017
1,646
43
New Jersey
Parrots
Sun Conure - Ollie- Hatched 08/18/16*

Nanday Conure -Finley- Hatched 10/07/17*

Turquoise Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure -Paris- Hatched 03/03/18*

Black Capped Conure -North- Hatched 10/10/18
Ugg I wanted my own little Ricky too! No fair lol. Why!! I want a goffins so Scott will probably chime in and tell me they're illegal in NJ too lol.
 
OP
Carl_Power

Carl_Power

New member
Oct 3, 2017
542
21
England
Parrots
Quaker Parrot
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #20
Awww thankyou guys. He is really picking this up now. I got him jumping from one perch to another and moving a few feet. Seems shorter sessions are working great so we are doing 6 2 minute sessions a day. I figured out he was associating longer sessions with boredom and thats why we wasnt really getting anywhere. He has started mimicking the clicker lol after he touches the stick. Gotta feed him quicker lol.

I like watching the vids of Ollie and Finley and seing how Conures act and reading about the Rickeybird always makes me laugh and scares me lol. Its like a Steven King novel haha. I bet he is behind the Patagonian invasion for sure x

.
 

Most Reactions

Latest posts

Top