Trainging to talk?

[Randyh55]

Iv recently got a alexandrine parrot.I think he's probably about a year old.I took him to petsmart and they told me that.I was wondering the best way to teach him to talk,at the moment he's pretty silent.

[Chrissy]

Repeat the same word to him in a happy, cheerful voice. Don't teach him how to whistle because sometimes that makes them lose interest in learning to speak.

I hope I helped a little!

[Vankarhi]

If your Alex is only a year old, you probably can't sex him yet. I say that because from what I have read, the males don't get their ring around their neck until about 2 years old, and you said "he". I have read that Alexandrines make lovely pets and are extremely intelligent and can talk also. I was going to get an Alex before I bit the bullet (the Alex fell through as the eggs were infertile) and paid the extra for an Eclectus. I had been researching Alexandrines and Eclectus for about 1 year, and my son is now getting an Alexandrine in about 3 weeks. Most of my birds that I have owned have said at least one word. My galah that I have owned for 14 years has a one word repitoire of "hello". My Eclectus on the other hand says many things and I have only owned her for 6 weeks. She was 4 months old when I bought her and she was saying hello. She has picked up things she hears said around the house (have to be careful of people swearing). She says hello, hello bo, what ya doin, what's your name, what's going on, what's wrong now, I'm sorry, good girl, and wolf whistles constantly. She is saying other things too but I can't quite make them out yet. I think I heard her call out mum today. Basically to get your bird to talk it is just repitition and once they say their first word, the others usually come easier. Be patient, some birds take longer than others, some birds may never talk or may not say much when they do. Like I said my galah only says hello.

[DylanK]

Most people cannot tell alexandrine parrots sex before 2yrs of age. UNLESS u know how :P Male alexandrines have a flat head! SOunds weird but yes. Females heads are nicley rounded while males is flat for awhile then curves down. Thats a big give away on sexing them. Also at 1 yr old their feathers shuld b darker than a females. Iv taken my alex to my friends place, he gots a female alex. Much lighter in colour and as i said, rounded head. Hope this helps.

[Monica]

The head seems a good (although not accurate) way of sexing various species.... I've noticed similar features in (x-mas) conures, bourkes, and quakers.

[DylanK]

lol of course its not accurate wen u compare it to dna testing. But without that its the best way to sex.

[Monica]

LOL! Actually, in budgies I have noticed that males have just a slightly longer tail. I haven't noticed this in other species, however. One person was has been able to determine sex of B&G macaws by looking at nares and head.

Sadly, DNA sexing isn't always accurate, and sometimes (rarely?) there can be no results!

[Pinfeather]

Our alexandrian started to sprout misc. pink feathers really early on. (not that he had the full ring) but you could deffinately tell he was a male. The other odd thing i found is he would only practice words while he thought we were out of the house. finaly he would say them but not while you were in the same room with him. he seemd Extreamly shy about talking untill he was about 2yrs. old. after that he wouldnt pipe down lol. I always say he sounds like a smurf!
Tiffany