Senegal Parrot doesnt like me anymore >.<

[terminal3k]

Hi,
I hand reared a Senegal parrot (1st bird for me) from about 2 months old. The person i bought it from said if he bites just give him a flick on the beak. Turns out his advice was very wrong! My senegal is now about 5 months old and he doesnt like being touched or neck rubbed... He even sometimes runs away from me when i come close.... Is there any way to fix our relationship?

Thanks Andrew

 

[Ecclipse]

Hi Andrew, check out my thread that I posted at the end of last month called: My parrot hates me. Its under the behaviour section. I had a problem because I used to use my hand and fingers as a perch to get him from cage to shoulder and he began to "hate" me. He used to bite alot and would get so uptight that I couldn't try and work with him. You need to think about why he wants to bite you. Parrots bite when they are scared or tense so what has now happened is that he is associating your hand with pain - why did he start biting? As you will see in my thread I was told to use my arm (I started with putting my shoulder next to the cage). Hugo used to run away as well...I used treats to show him that my fingers weren't dangerous. Patience and persistance. Hugo used to hide and I would have to sit for a while calling him - I use the same command everytime and then used my shoulder/arm to get him onto my shoulder. Feed him from your shoulder so that he gets used to seeing your fingers come from that angle. Its hard to tell you everything I did in one go but the advice I was given worked. Its about building trust again. Keep in touch, let me know if I can be more help.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

...Turns out his advice was very wrong!

Good thing you have realized that. That advice is unfortunately fairly common, but it is dreadful and foolish - new bird owners can't be expected to know, but people who SHOULD know better are the ones who are dishing out this stupid idea - they need to get "flicked" in the face a few times.

Is there any way to fix our relationship?

Good news is yes, it can always be fixed. But as Ecclipse mentioned it will take time and patience. It is easier to deal with a problem caused by a previous owner, here you are the one who (through no fault of your own) caused the problem - because of that it will take a little longer. Your senegal needs to not only learn that people aren't mean, but that despite what has happened before YOU aren't mean.

Birds can forgive - but they do make sure we learn our lesson first.

The best thing you can do if he bites now is NOTHING. At least not immediately. He should see that his bites do nothing, they get no reaction good or bad. If he does bite do your best to not even flinch or get angry, but you can calmly stand up, bring him to his cage, and give him a time out for a couple of minutes (yes just a minute or two). Put him in his cage and leave the room. When you come back let him out (provided he is reasonably calm and not screaming for attention) and act like nothing happened. There is a 'time out' punishment, but there should be no anger or grudge holding - once the time out is over it's like nothing bad happened at all and life goes on.

Let him learn by experience that you no longer react by flicking him on the beak. Let him also learn that you are patient and always willing to offer treats and good stuff. You will establish rules and enforce them but you wont get angry or vengeful. You will also not force him to come to you, but you will wait for him to come to you.

 

[terminal3k]

Thanks for both your advice. One more question, you say i should leave the room... I live in a small flat and i think he is very use to me being around most of the time. (im a student and home a lot). Now every time he can't see me ( i leave the room, or leave the flat) he starts screeching really loud! like as to say "COME BACK NOW" I'm sure the people living around me don't like it... Anything i can do about it?

 

[Ecclipse]

My opinion is that you leave the room as AD said to give him his time out then you calmly return. If he is screeching wait for him to stop. Only return when he has stopped. When you leave the flat make sure that he has enough toys - bought or handmade - small boxes, toilet rolls, pine cones etc (what I use) and put on the radio or tv softly. Some people even record their voices to teach the parrot to talk. I know that the neighbours might complain but watever you do dont approach him when he is screeming. He will soon learn that when he quietens you will come and give him attention. Are you in and out his room alot during the day without acknowledging him? I know that sounds harsh but you might be getting something out of the room etc and breeze past him which makes him edgy because you are "ignoring" him. Whenever I breeze past my parrot and I cant put him on my shoulder I always stop quickly and acknowledge him. I hope this helps

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Ecclipse, you claim to be new to birds, but it seems you may have a good instinct for animal behavior.

I can only second what she has said: avoid ever approaching or giving attention when he is loud - never forget to give attention when he is quiet (catch them being good). This takes patience, and some people feel like it is not "proactive" enough, but if you stick to it it works, it will reduce excessive vocalization.

Also, if you are worried, you could hang out outside of your home just after walking out one time to see if he is really loud all the while when you are gone. Many parrots make a heck of a racket when their person leaves or arrives, but once they are alone in the home most of them quiet down. I have tested and verified this with Auggie - once he knows I'm actually gone he quiets down.

 

[terminal3k]

I do tend to walk into the room and not greet him sometimes.... My study desk and computer is right next to his cage, and thats where i spend a lot of time. Should i try move him a bit further away from my desk? But still where he can see me?

Sometimes I leave my flat and i reach the parking lots, a few minutes later and i can her him screaming, i must say he is quite loud.

 

[Ecclipse]

Thanks AD, I was brought up in a farming environment and am a qualified horseriding instructor and manager. I spent most of my time being run over and thrown off horses which helped me learn how to read behaviour. The only problem is that I dont know how to fix that behaviour - lol. Ive owned pets my whole life and am studying education. I try relate it back to the mind of a horse or dog....lol or kids. Hugo also used to go crazy because I kept walking past him and he stopped when I used to scratch his head then move on.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Ah, education training and animal behavior training is not so different. Provided, at least, the studies of education are not merely applied methods of pedagogy but also a study of learning processes. Both fields (education and animal behavior), if boiled down to their simplest, are built around Thorndike's law of effect - in fact it is the first thing I tell students, albeit in a significantly paraphrased form: "Animals do what works" Show them what works (ie how to get what they want) and that's what they'll do.

Above that one just needs to know what different animals may "want" and realize that not all animals are wired to learn the same things (ie humans are pre-wired to learn language, primates are pre-wired to acquire a fear of snakes .... also this could be called preparedness in Martin Seligman's terminology.)

 

[Ecclipse]

Your talking my language, in my 3rd year - birth to 9years old (Bachelor degree). Horses are amazing to work with as far as behaviour - only prob is you could loose a limb - lol, not that bad. I was very involved with the Monty Roberts methods - not sure you heard of him. Spine tingling stuff - opened up a whole new way of training - you became the matriach "mare" and leader of the herd - could take a wild horse and ride it within 30min without forcing it to!

I battle with hugo alot because I can spot the prob and the causitive factors but obviously horses and dogs think differently. I am using my knowledge of education and kids to try find a link. Have you ever had a moment when its all fuzzy and then its like you zone in on the problem and you are able to fix it because its like you connect with that animals soul - do I sound crazy. I was once standing in an area with a horse and it kept on trying to chop me and I stood there for ages trying to link his body langauge with his actions - it was so messed because he was so messed and was sending mixed signals all the time because he had lost the ability to actually rationalise why he was doing what he was doing. All of a sudden it made sense in my mind and then horse just walked over to me and never looked back - fluke I think.

 

[Ecclipse]

Lol my degree is with children not horse...if you got confused! Used to work with horses but not any more.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

I battle with hugo alot because I can spot the prob and the causitive factors but obviously horses and dogs think differently. I am using my knowledge of education and kids to try find a link. Have you ever had a moment when its all fuzzy and then its like you zone in on the problem and you are able to fix it because its like you connect with that animals soul - do I sound crazy.

Not crazy at all. I have many moments like that. Though I might describe them with different terminology the meaning is essentially the same. Horses, dogs, birds, and children do think differently.... but each one of them are smarter than most adult humans! (I think most of us get dumber as we grow up). Learning processes are the same with birds as humans and horses what is different are their natural tendencies and preferences. Watch enough birds and you'll start to understand those well.

Anyway, were getting this thread off topic. T3K is he normally with you when you are at the desk? I see no reason to move the cage AWAY. If he needs a time out and you can't leave the room then you can put him in his cage and cover the cage with a sheet (or other cage cover) for a minute or two until he is calm.

 

[terminal3k]

hehe, he is usually in his cage when im studying. He distracts me quite a bit while im studying (climbing all over me) I suppose when i can i should keep him on me while im at my desk? I read Ecclipse's thread about her bird, so basically i need to treat my bird eveytime i take him out or tell him to step up and gradually he'll get friendly to me again?
Thanks

 

[Ecclipse]

You are a loving parrot owner who cares so much for your lil feathered friend. Thats right, keep his experience with you enjoyable - obviously its enjoyable but dont get too ambitious (I gotta keep stopping myself) and take it slow. When your studying and you put him back on his cage does he play or clean himself or eat? The reason Im asking is because maybe he doesnt know how to entertain himself. If you can get him to be in your presence but be secure enough to play by himself it might help the seperation anxiety. I might be very wrong here but Hugo is able play while Im tutoring kids, he does sit with us now and again but he has learnt when its my time and when its his. Good luck, keep us posted

 

[terminal3k]

ya, if i put Tide back in his cage, he plays with his toys and cleans himself
What sort of things do you find is a good treat for your parrot? when i first got Tide he loved raisins but now he just spits them out. Tide wont eat nuts, the one thing i found he likes are little pink sweets, but i dont think its good to give him sweets every time i take him out the cage....

 

[Ecclipse]

Hugo loves dried chillies. I dont feed hugos nuts but you can give him nuts - PLEASE NOTE that the nuts must be packed for humans to eat and not the ones found in seed mixes as they can carry a bacteria - you do not want to go there - lol. Your right to want to stay away from sweets. Are you feeding your parrot pellets or seed mix? There are a number of birdie treats you can get from the pet shop. I also used to eat something ok for birds then give him some from my hand so he felt part of what I was doing. I found that if I put lets say an apple piece on his kebab and then ate a piece myself he would go crazy to get what I was eating thinking it was a treat and he would munch it away like it was the best treat in the world. I now put his chillies in hiding places around his log area and he finds them which he enjoys.

 

[terminal3k]

i feed him a parrot mix. He doesnt seem to eat the pellets in his mix. Maybe they too hard for him. There are chillies in his mix, maybe ill take them out and use them as treats

 

[Ecclipse]

Yes, take the chillies out - they are great treats. Hows the screaming going? I hope that you are seeing a small ray of light in the tunnel?

 

[terminal3k]

lol, he is starting to step up now if i give him a treat... The screeming is still going on when i leave the room tho.

 

[Ecclipse]

Yipppeeeeeee!!!!!! That is great T3K, awesome stuff....am so happy for you LOL Ok, I guess the screaming is going to take some time. It will come right though...have faith. Just keep the rule that if he's bellowing you wont come but if he stops he gets to be with you with lots of praise...and sum yummy treats. Keep up the good work - your doing great!!!