'Taming' Parrots

[Jag]

I have 2 male conures, a Sun and a Jenday that I am working on 'taming'. Right now they can't be handled, and have been that way since I got them about 6 weeks ago. They are a bonded pair, and are two years old. They still shake sometimes...they are scared still. I've been working every day to talk to them, give them treats, etc, but still I haven't been able to tame them. It's going to take me a lot of time, and I haven't had to try to tame a parrot before. It's a lot of work, and I'm not even to the point that they can be touched yet! They may never get that way.

I was given a lot of suggestions to work with them, including basically forcing them to be held and see that they aren't going to get hurt. I'm planning on working on that with them tomorrow. Right now I just get bit when I even try to put clean water in their cage or give them food. It's very difficult, but with a lot of time and patience, you may be able to get them tame. I agree that clipping wings is a good start, at least you won't have to chase them down which just puts more fear into them.

They do get each other 'wound up', so the more untamed birds you add, the harder of a time you're going to have.... I also don't know how you'll have time to work with all of them, so I'd start with one...and only one for now. I'd suggest taking it away from the others to work with it, so it doesn't get spooked while you're trying to handle it. Things suggested in books (or anywhere else) may or may not work. It's always up to the bird, and I'd count on it taking a LONG time to do. My guys made some progress, but it wasn't a lot.. I still can't touch them. However, they have eaten out of my hand a few times, but they did bite a little at that point, too. I hope you'll keep trying with your birds to work with them.

After you get them tame, then I'd suggest covering windows and any other glass including mirrors before having them out to fly. That would help them not to run into them. My boys haven't been on the playstand that my other two play on, either. I can't get them onto my finger or a dowel to get them onto it. So they miss out. They don't seem to care... because I'd think if they REALLY wanted to get onto it, they'd accept the help of my hand to get them there. I even moved it very close to their cage to move them onto it, and they just tried to bite. Sooo... they don't get to play there. It's something they're going to have to wait for. When they can decide that I've never hurt them and never will, and stop being so insanely aggressive, then they will get to be out more and to play on the playstand. I hope this helps to some degree.

[SerBonz]

Do you think I should just leave the bird I'm working with in its cage? Or would it be beneficial to remove them from their element to lessen their resolve?

Thank you for your help I appreciate it.

[idrial]

If this were facebook, I would have tagged this post with "idrial likes this."

Your comments are very well written. I especially like how you stress that taming is a process, not something you can wave a wand at. Patience and time are a big part of the solution.

Thank you very much for this post. :)

[hollyhawkz]

Ya! Jag Rocks!

[Jag]

Originally Posted by SerBonz

Do you think I should just leave the bird I'm working with in its cage? Or would it be beneficial to remove them from their element to lessen their resolve?

Thank you for your help I appreciate it.

This depends... can you get it on your hand or arm without it biting you? If not you may have to start with it on its cage. I was at first just working with them in their cage, but now I have them out on top of their cage. I want them to know that if they are out of the cage, I am still not a threat. If you can move them away from their cage, that would seem to me to be better, as they would have less aggression (I think anyway) because their 'home' isn't right there for them to defend... it's not possible for my boys yet. However, my goal is to get them away from their cage. I took them out of their cage that they had, and moved them into a new cage. One, the old one wasn't big enough and two I wanted to make them less cage aggressive. However, now they are feeling more comfortable in the new cage, so I have lost that second benefit.

[Jag]

Originally Posted by idrial

If this were facebook, I would have tagged this post with "idrial likes this."

Your comments are very well written. I especially like how you stress that taming is a process, not something you can wave a wand at. Patience and time are a big part of the solution.

Thank you very much for this post. :)

Thank you. Hollyhawkz, thank you also. I'm finding it to be a VERY long process, and my rowdy boys are teaching me patience!

[SerBonz]

I can get the Grey Congo up on my arm then he randomly bites but I am sure I could get him away from his cage and place him on something else until I buy a play stand or other similar perch. The Cockatoo will bite anything that is close to him. He is very big and frightening. He is the one I fear I will not be able to tame.

[Jag]

OK, then start with the Grey. They are huge thinkers... they want to process everything prior to making a decision. So, you have to go super slow. Use lots of treats and soft words. Don't react when it bites NO MATTER WHAT. It's VERY hard for me to do this. Angel got me really good the first day, and I had to do nothing. Papi bites frequently, but not nearly as hard... he's testing still. If you can move the Grey away from the cage and talk softly to it, praise ALOT when he doesn't bite and show him that you're not a threat.

With the Too... you're showing fear, I think. He's going to hold that against you. Wipe all the fear from you before going near it. Go with treats, and praise for not biting..or even for just accepting the treats. Don't give the chance for him to bite. Use something else to give the treats on until he will take it without biting. Too's are also HUGE drama queens... they LOVE it!! So if you show NO fear, and have NO reaction, he will lose interest in biting you. It won't be any fun.

Watch your birds body language carefully, for shaking feathers on the belly, for eye pinning. If either of these are present, back up a little and don't reach for them or even reach to give treats... you're going to get bit. I try to avoid bites, but my boys have gotten crafty and faster. I can't always get in and out without a bite. So, I started using a dowel to 'back them up'. Every bite they get in is a point for them, and I don't want them to have any. So, the only way to avoid the bite is to make them back away.

[SerBonz]

I would like to sincerely thank you for your help. That helped me alot. I will post updates as it goes along.

[jenseits]

Originally Posted by Jag

I was given a lot of suggestions to work with them, including basically forcing them to be held and see that they aren't going to get hurt.

This is basically "flooding" and I wouldn't recommend it. It's not trust-building, but basically tells the bird that you are bigger and stronger than them and they have no choice in the matter so they better just give up.

It's the opposite of taming based on positive reinforcement principles, which shows the birds that they have choices and that certain choices result in big rewards. That's the method modern bird trainers/behaviorists recommend, and what worked for me.

Whenever I see someone recommend forcing a bird to subject themselves to being handled against their will, I basically think "What if that were me?!... What if some big, huge guy I didn't like pinned me down and groped me in order to show me that he wasn't going to hurt me." That wouldn't exactly inspire me to trust him, would it. If on the other hand, he let me set the pace and made me want to spend time with him by figuring out what I enjoyed doing, then I might just learn to enjoy his company.

I really recommend that everyone who is having trouble taming their bird pick up a copy of Melinda Johnson's clicker training book or training materials by Barbara Heidenreich. You'll notice they'd never recommend brute force as a method for taming or building trust.

It's also important to understand that the taming process is not one that should be expected to deliver results in a few days or even a few weeks. Consistent POSITIVE interactions build a foundation that will reap rewards over the long run. Birds can live decades... a few weeks of patience in that taming process is nothing in the context of a bird's lifetime, but you can set the taming process back irreparably by forcing and rushing things.

Please read about positive reinforcement training, which has really replaced these outdated flooding techniques that were in vogues long time ago. I know there are still people peddling that advice even now, but I think (and professional trainers agree) that flooding is counterproductive.

Good resources for taming birds include:
http://tinyurl.com/dontshootdog
http://tinyurl.com/clickertraining
http://goodbirdinc.blogspot.com <-- anything by Heidenreich

I really recommend getting a current book by a respected trainer and reading it cover to cover, and really absorbing the principles behind the advice, not just looking for individual tactics that might producer faster results.