How to get a rehomed parrot to feel comfortable?

[Vettechjamie]

Hello all I've rehomed 2 parrots.. a DYHA named cricket he is 7 and a CAG named Grey-C who is 5. Grey-C has been with the DYHA since she was 7-1/2 weeks old. They have only had one home.

I received them 1/18/14 and im a fairly need parront with rehomed birds. I am probably moving to quickly and have received a few well placed love bites.

They are flighted and my issues currently are as followed. When they are on top of their cage which is about 6 feet tall. they get cage aggressive. I cant pick them up or have them step up with out the growling and biting and the will just lunge and bite.. They will usually fly off to another spot in the house where I can go to them with mixed results. If they are off the top the is a love bug and will sit on shoulder and sleep and let me play with head and neck and preen the pinnys. the is a little more timid and will sit on shoulder for a short time I cant touch or do anything to her.

What i want to work on is getting them to not bite when I try to have them step up. I want to be able to get them back in their cage (I should mention they share the cage and have been for years. they will snuggle on the perch together) when I need to leave or night time.

What are some nice training methods day by day or week by week methods I can try to get them to trust me. The is coming along much better than the . I should also ask if clipping their wings so they cant fly all over the place would be a good idea.. they usually only fly from their cage to my red lored amazon 's cage or to a ledge near a window behind the couch.

Video of Cricket being sweet

 

[MamaFuzz]

Wings clips would probably help. Also try stick training them to avoid bites. If their scared of the stick try a small perch from their original setup. I had to do that with my rehomed Sennie that was stick train with a pen & kept freaking out over anything I used until I used this tiny perch I was gonna toss from her cage.
If the grey will take treats from you then target training should help too. Great way to bond without touching. Also turns out to be a good thing if a bird bonds too much.

 

[Vettechjamie]

Ive tried a stick with little results... They shy away or launch into flight. The grey I have to chase her a few times (not run after her) but follow to were ever she lands and when she gets a little tired she will step up defeated.. I hate that feeling. The DYHA will step up while off the cage with out issue. On the cage with CAG he is a little testy and what works is if i wrap a towel around my hand for him to grip on. Usually he does then climbs to shoulder.

 

[MikeyTN]

It is not wise for you to have a untrusted parrot on your shoulders!!! They can do a lot of damage that's unforeseen. I had a customer that had her grey since he was a baby and he's 30+ years old. He bit her one day on her lip and tore it down. She had to hold her own lip up to her face while driving herself to the ER to have it stitched back up.

Because they are flighted the training stick method would take a bit to work on but the way to work with them on a training stick is in a enclosed room where they can't go no where. Have two sticks with you and work with them. This works with flighted birds!!!

 

[MonicaMc]

If you hate that defeated feeling, then clipping them isn't going to help.

You need to try and create a positive relationship with them by trying to keep every interaction with them a positive one. This means that every time you go by the cage to give them both a treat. When you ask them to step up, give them a treat, but teach them to step up in increments. Don't expect them to step up and receive a treat! First you need to get them comfortable taking a treat from you, which involves walking towards your hand for a treat. Once they are ok with this, you can place your step up hand on or against the cage and encourage them to walk towards your step up hand by providing treats in your other hand. Reward them each time they get closer. Reward them when they touch your hand. Reward them when they put a foot on your hand. Give them a ton of rewards for putting both feet on your hand!

The idea is to make it something they want to do because it's rewarding, not something that they *HAVE* to do. If they desire to do it, then they'll become eager to do the behavior without even being asked to.