Taming

[tdmsu]

Fidrych is becoming more comfortable with his new home, but I was wondering if there is anything I should be doing, besides waiting and earning his trust by practicing step ups, that would encourage him to become tame? He does not bite, and he steps up for me and my wife. He still gets startled fairly easily.

Thanks for any advice!

[bethn]

Sitting next to his cage talking and/or reading to him with the door open, will help him get used to you, if the door open bothers him, close it and continue to talk etc. When he
is feeling more confident and secure you can try placing a treat in his dish while he is watching, if he accepts the treat, try offering it in your hand. All should be done slowly, at his pace, so that he doesn't feel rushed or threatened. He may come around very
quickly, or it may take quite a while, every bird is different, but it is well worth the time and effort.

[Pepper's Pa]

The best thing you can do is to be consistent in your response to Fidrych’s behavior. Let him know the consequences (this does not mean negatives) to his behaviors. Always reinforce the behaviors you want to maintain and ignore the behaviors you want to eliminate. It’s amazing how effective a quick and calmly spoken “No” and turning away and making no eye contact for 15 seconds makes a bird aware that the behavior isn’t appropriate. Even more effective is giving praise, scritches, and food treats for the behaviors you want.
Fidrych may not be perfect, but you can do a lot to train him to be a “good bird”.
A great way to build a relationship with a parrot, at least once a bond is already there, is to work on trick training and/or clicker training. Both of these are based on positive interactions and are usually considered fun by both the parrot and the person being trained, ooops, I mean trainer.
Good luck.