2 Bratty Yellow Collared Macaws

[aboyce76]

I have 2 YCM's, Faith and Liberty (6 months old)...I have been the happy mommy of these two babies for almost 2 months now. I visited Liberty at the aviary 4 times a week for several hours at a time, until they had completly weaned her. Faith unfortunantly we didn't handle at the aviary as much becuse we weren't planning on bringing 2 babies home at the time. Although we (Larry and I) didn't spend a bunch of one on one time with her she was handled a lot but other visitors and was one of the favored babies in the aviary. We only decided to get both of the girls right at the end when Liberty really started showing signs of separation anxiety when not being with her sister. I LOVE both of my girls so much but am really starting to become worried that I am causing them and us a lot of un-due stress, I hope that I can find some guidance here.

They both knew step-up really well in the beginning...now while they still know what it means and can say "step-up" getting them to do it on demand has become quite frustrating. They try to bite me and move away from my hand and run away from my husband. Faithy loves walnuts so we (my husband and I) have tried bribing her with walnuts, she wants to take the nut but not step up. So we walk away with the treat. I feel like we are just teasing her with this tactic. Liberty on the other hand doesn't seem to care about any treat I try to give her, or if we happen to find something that strikes her fancy she does the same as Faith and goes for the treat but fights us with the command. Neither girl is comfortable with us scratching their heads so we can't use that as a reward either. I know that YCM's can be hard headed but the biting when we try to pick them up is no fun for us or them. I have bought numerous books regarding how to train the girls and I am trying to be patient and follow what the books say but I feel like I am frustrating them and pushing them farther way.

Is the stubborn behavior normal for 6 month old babies, is this just the typical attitude of a YCM or am I doing something wrong?

Here are the girls on Daddy's shoulder... :smile015:

 

[weco]

I think you made a mistake when you brought both birds home...unlike puppies or kittens, nestlings that are brought home together will bond & more often than not, leave the humans little more than servants, with an occasional bite or two.

I have a pair of conures that, while they are an item, they will each interact with me, though the nanday prefers to be standoffish when I've got his girlfriend out.

If you are interested in trying to recover any possible relationship with either of these birds, you may want to consider re-homing the least friendly bird.

 

[FineFeatheredFriend]

Your birds are beautiful. I would not give up on them. Now do you them housed together or they in separate cages? If the answer is yes then please cage them separately.

They are young so you still have time to bond with them. I would spend time with them individually. It should be in a separate room. All the best and do not give up. Peace be to you.

 

[aboyce76]

Your birds are beautiful. I would not give up on them. Now do you them housed together or they in separate cages? If the answer is yes then please cage them separately.

They are young so you still have time to bond with them. I would spend time with them individually. It should be in a separate room. All the best and do not give up. Peace be to you.

Thank you so much for your input FineFeatheredFriend. Weco's response had me upset all night. There is no way that I was going to re-home one of my babies...I knew that there had to be a more reasonable way.

Yes, the girls are currently housed in the same cage, but I just purchased an A&E CAGE CO 42-Inch by 26-Inch Split Level House Cage with Divider, Sandstone so they can have some more room. Do you think if I put the divider in the cage but house them in the same large unit it would help or should I let one of the girls stay in the original cage and put the other one in the birdy mansion? Liberty most certainly wants to be with me. She will fly off of her cage to sit with me while I work during the day, but if she has it in her mind that she doesn't want to be bothered then she lets that be known as well. Faith on the other hand...once you get her off the cage she is the sweetest girl. It's just a matter of getting them off the cage.

 

[Kiwibird]

Awww, they are still babies (and very cute at that!), you shouldn't give up on them so soon. Parrots of all kinds are pretty much feathered toddlers who sometimes test their boundaries and throw tantrums. Having 2 of them is just double the trouble. And just like with human toddlers, you (the authority figure) cannot let them get away with the bad behavior or they will actually start to train you. It sounds like they are learning biting is an effective form of communication because your letting them get away with it. Our 15 y/o BFA (who was never handled until we adopted him 5 years ago) still occasionally throws a tantrum about stepping up, where he runs off and lunges at your hand. Neither my husband or myself permits that behavior. More times than not, his lunges are empty threats, and he will step up when we continue commanding him to and leave our hand there. If he does nip us, he gets a final warning (he knows what the word "glove" means) and if he doesn't step up, we get the leather training glove we used with him when we first got him. He knows he can bite the glove as hard as he wants and it still won't get his desired reaction (it protects our hands too if he really wants to misbehave). The key with parrots is being consistent, and not backing down. Now in our case, Kiwi was vicious because he had been mistreated by humans for years, so it was more difficult to deal with. With your birds, it sounds like they are just normal babies learning what they can or cannot get away with. Either way, you can't let them train you, and you need to teach them biting isn't going to yield a reaction.

 

[aboyce76]

Awww, they are still babies (and very cute at that!), you shouldn't give up on them so soon. Parrots of all kinds are pretty much feathered toddlers who sometimes test their boundaries and throw tantrums. Having 2 of them is just double the trouble. And just like with human toddlers, you (the authority figure) cannot let them get away with the bad behavior or they will actually start to train you. It sounds like they are learning biting is an effective form of communication because your letting them get away with it. Our 15 y/o BFA (who was never handled until we adopted him 5 years ago) still occasionally throws a tantrum about stepping up, where he runs off and lunges at your hand. Neither my husband or myself permits that behavior. More times than not, his lunges are empty threats, and he will step up when we continue commanding him to and leave our hand there. If he does nip us, he gets a final warning (he knows what the word "glove" means) and if he doesn't step up, we get the leather training glove we used with him when we first got him. He knows he can bite the glove as hard as he wants and it still won't get his desired reaction (it protects our hands too if he really wants to misbehave). The key with parrots is being consistent, and not backing down. Now in our case, Kiwi was vicious because he had been mistreated by humans for years, so it was more difficult to deal with. With your birds, it sounds like they are just normal babies learning what they can or cannot get away with. Either way, you can't let them train you, and you need to teach them biting isn't going to yield a reaction.

Thank you so much for your guidance . I was so upset when Weco said to re-home the least friendly baby. I just didn't see that as an option. Neither one of them are not friendly birds and I love them both dearly. They just have their own personalities and wants and boy do they know how to get their point accross.

I am going to look into the glove. They do bite down sometimes and pretty hard (OUCH!!)when they choose. They don't normally break the skin or draw blood but there have been moments.

 

[Kiwibird]

Just so you know, I don't think they make special parrot-specific gloves. We just got a pair of heavy, padded leather work gloves at a local ranch store. It really does save your fingers, and gives you a better ability to not react to a bite. I suppose thick winter gloves may work too, but may scare your bird if they are fancy colors (ours are plain, tan leather).

 

[aboyce76]

Just so you know, I don't think they make special parrot-specific gloves. We just got a pair of heavy, padded leather work gloves at a local ranch store. It really does save your fingers, and gives you a better ability to not react to a bite. I suppose thick winter gloves may work too, but may scare your bird if they are fancy colors (ours are plain, tan leather).

Haha!! Thank you for letting me know that... I was actually looking for training gloves...LOL...couldn't find anything. I think I will take a trip to the local TSC tomorrow and pick up a pair.

 

[Grinder]

I'm very interested to know what others think about you housing them in the same cage with the divider as I am planning on doing the same thing.

 

[MonicaMc]

Might I ask, what training books have you bought?

Personally, I don't recommend using a glove. Sometimes they can cause more harm than good. Some birds are terrified of them and some come to accept the glove and will willingly step up onto a glove, but become afraid at the site of a bare hand.


Good Bird Inc Parrot Training Talk: Help! My Parrot Wont Step Up!
Good Bird Inc Parrot Training Talk: Respecting the Bite
Good Bird Inc Parrot Training Talk: A Sun Conure Training Success Story


Have you tried training them first thing in the morning before they've had anything to eat? Have you tried picking out their favorite foods from the foods that you provide them in their dishes?


A ?Bird Attacking? Question « Lara Joseph
A Question About an Issue with Nipping « Lara Joseph