Training Your Pet Parrot

Parrots are wonderful pets. You will quickly find that these birds are extremely smart and their ability to learn makes them fun to train. Keep in mind that any animal that shows signs of high intelligence can easily get bored, so your job is to train your pet parrot and spend the time it takes to make your bird into a wonderful pet. It takes time and patience to train a parrot, but with the proper training, your parrot will provide you with many years of friendship and entertainment. African Grey Parrots are the easiest parrots to teach to speak, although mom and dad have a grey cockatiel that is over 28 years old that has a vocabulary of more than a hundred words. He learned to talk from sitting on dad’s shoulder as he read the newspaper and talked to the bird. No formal training was ever undertaken with him.

Here are some tips to help you train your parrot. Whenever “school is in” for your parrot, it is always best to remove your parrot from his or her cage and train it in a small quiet space. Your parrot is more likely to remain attentive and retain information when it is in a new environment. The next thing you have to do is eliminate all distractions in your home. If your parrot becomes distracted during training, it will not learn what you are trying to teach. That means that you need to turn off the radio, television and perhaps even the telephone. Also, remember that parrots are a lot like children. They have short attention spans, so short training sessions are recommended.

In addition, try to plan your parrot’s training time around their schedule, not yours. After mealtime is always a good time for training, because your parrot will be content and will pay attention. Your parrot will also appreciate plenty of praise. Even if you find that you are not very successful, do not let your parrot see your stress levels rise. This makes it an unpleasant experience for your bird and you will have a harder time getting your parrot interested in learning in the future. Try to make learning fun for your bird.

When you are ready to teach your parrot a new trick, your pet parrot will respond well to treats and praise. Remember that all animals respond better to praise than punishment. Try to avoid punishing your parrot, even if he or she is acting naughty. Ignoring this behaviour is your best bet when training your pet parrot. Parrots do not understand punishment or negative reinforcement. In fact, if you respond to your parrot’s bad behaviour, your pet may actually see this as positive attention. Keep in mind that while your parrot will love food treats as rewards, try to accentuate the positive and encourage good behaviour with lots of praise and play time. Otherwise, your parrot may only perform the tricks you want him to when some kind of food reward is available.

Repetition is the key to successfully training your pet parrot. Repeating these basic steps until your pet “gets” the trick is the best way to train your parrot to perform. This works well for basic commands and advanced tricks. If you have just gotten your pet parrot, start out with very simple tricks, such as teaching your parrot to sit on your finger on command. Find a word for each trick and use it every time you train. Most of all, never force your parrot to train. If you find your parrot is tired or uninterested, then stop and try again another time.

As your parrot learns more commands and tricks, you can begin moving your training session closer and closer to the bird’s cage. As he gets better at his new skill, he will feel comfortable performing in his cage and in the hustle and bustle of your household. Some birds can learn quickly and sometimes just by listening, which may cause embarrassment to you if they learn something inappropriate. One parrot mom and dad had learned things from watching television. Cisco, mom and dad’s cockatiel, learned from dad talking to him. Every night when they were ready for bed, they would say, “nighty night” to him, turn out the lights and go off to bed. After a couple of weeks of this, he would respond, “nighty night.” Now when mom can’t sleep and sits at the table reading, Cisco will put up with it for a little while and then he loudly pipes, “nighty night” until she goes to bed.

Training a parrot can take a lot of time and patience, and sometimes, like mom and dad’s parrot “Bertsie,” an Orange-winged Amazon parrot, they never learn to talk. Mom and dad no longer have any parrots of their own, but they do baby sit a friend’s African Grey parrot several times a year. “Paco” has a large vocabulary of words and sounds that he says. The interesting thing about him is that when he says something, he uses the voice of the person he learned the word or phrase from. If he learned from his “mother,” he mimics her voice and if he learned what he is repeating from this “father,” he mimics his voice. The funniest thing he does is go through the sound of a ringing cell phone, the sound of the phone being clicked open and then he says “Hello” and carries on a conversation…then he says “Well I have to go now, Goodbye”…then you hear the sounds of the cell phone being closed. He’s really funny, but when he makes some of his really loud noises he scares me, so I’m nervous when he is here. You must love your bird and have a lot of time and dedication to make this partnership worthwhile. With patient training and love, you will end up with a fantastic and well-behaved pet that will be with you for a very long time as the average lifespan of parrots is from 50 to 80 years, with some living over 100 years. They are truly unique pets. Whether they learn to talk or not, they are great to have around, as they will give you hours of pleasure watching their natural antics.

Until next time,

Teia

What You Should Know Before Buying a Parrot for a Pet

It is very delightful to be in the presence of such magnificent creatures as Parrots! Their stunning colour combinations and attention grabbing mimicry create quite an impression on both young and old alike. Mom and dad have owned three Parrots. An orange-winged Amazon Parrot called “Bert,” a lilac-crowned Amazon Parrot called “Rascal” and a blue and gold Macaw called “Bucko.” They purchased “Bert” from a pet store in Ottawa, Ontario in 1981. He loved to go camping with the family and sat on a perch mounted on the inside of the passengers’ window of the car. Once, this proved to be a problem when he decided that he wanted to visit dad while he was driving down the freeway at 100 kilometres per hour. He ran across the dashboard and jumped onto the top of the steering wheel. It’s not easy to steer a car with a Parrot blocking your view of the road. Fortunately, dad was able to safely slow the car and then get “Bert” to climb onto his hand so he could pass the Parrot to mom who placed him back on his perch. When the family moved to Regina, Saskatchewan in 1982, both of mom and dad were working full time and “Bert” got lonely by himself, so they purchased “Rascal” at a Regina pet store so he would have some company. That turned out to be a bad move. The two Parrots got along fine, but neither of them wanted to have anything to do with any member of the family. “They had each other.” Mom and dad's older daughter bought “Bucko” from a Regina pet store in 1988, when he was two years old. He was like having a permanent one and one-half year old child. He got into everything he could think of. Once, he climbed up the shelves in the pantry and removed the labels off all of the canned goods and chewed all of the boxes off the boxed groceries. For weeks the family never knew what was being opened until the lid was off the can. It’s a little difficult to make chili when you open a can of sliced peaches instead of a can of kidney beans. As the result of this incident, childproof locks were put on all of the cupboard doors.

“Bucko” did not like red hats. One day the electrical meter reader, wearing a red hat, entered the back yard. Bucko’s cage gave him a good view of the back yard through the patio doors. He spotted the red hat and let out a blood curdling screech. The meter reader jumped, looked around wildly and ran as fast as he could to read the electrical meter on the side of the house, then ran back out of the yard leaving all the gates open. He never came back again. The family doesn't know if he was assigned a different route or if he quit.

So, have you been thinking about buying a Parrot of your own? Parrots are quite unlike any other pet and they have distinct attributes that make them both loveable and frustrating. Before you choose to own a Parrot, it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with some of their qualities to ensure that they will fit with your lifestyle.

LIFE SPAN

Are you planning to commit to a pet for your entire lifetime? While a dog may average 10 to 15 years and a cat slightly longer, some species of Parrots live up to 75 years or longer. That means that not only will the bird live as long as you, but quite likely it will survive you and its living arrangements will need to be provided for. Many people who own Parrots have them provided for in their wills. If you leave your Parrot to a child or other relative, as you get older, make sure that the person who is going to get the Parrot through the provisions of the will still wants to get it. Circumstances change with time, and you may have to make different arrangements.

Because of their long lives, many Parrots find themselves in new homes several times during their lifetime. Despite your loving commitment, your bird will likely need a new home when you are no longer able to care for it. You don't want your aged bird to suffer the stress of constantly changing homes so determine what arrangements can be made to satisfy your bird's needs.

MESS

Birds are messy - no matter what species. Their natural instinct to spread seed throughout the forest has not disappeared and you will need to deal with the seeds thrown out of the cage on a daily basis. Leaving seeds strewn about can attract rodents and become a source of bacteria.

Parrots will also produce a fair amount of waste every day. Not cleaning their cages and dishes routinely can lead to infections and diseases. It is also not healthy for the humans who live with the bird.

Parrots that are allowed to roam freely can also cause extensive damage to furniture and other items. Large species like the Macaw have a strong bite and can chew furniture, rip wallpaper or knock items over.

NOISE

While you may find their calls and chattering adorable, your neighbours may not. Different species have different vocalizations. If you live in attached or semi-attached housing, you may have to rule out certain species like Cockatoos which are extremely loud. Cockatoos are also very active chewers and cannot be left unattended or your furniture will be demolished.

RESPONSIBILITY

Owning a Parrot is a privilege and with that comes responsibility. Taking care of your bird does not have to be costly if you clean and feed your bird properly but you will have to invest in proper housing so your bird is comfortable. Parrot cages are quite large, so as well as being quite expensive, they take up quite a bit of space. The family that eventually bought “Bert” and “Rascal” converted one of their bedrooms into a bird room. They put in thick wooden wallboard and mounted perches on the walls. Swings and other bird toys were hung from the ceiling. The room contained no furniture at all. When we asked why they were doing this, they responded, “Our kids have moved away and these birds are now part of the family. As family members they are entitled to their own room.” Now that is dedication to your pets!

If you have other pets, such as dogs or cats, you must protect your Parrot from being harmed. Never leave other pets alone with your Parrot. Smaller Parrots could become a meal. However, if you have a Macaw or Cockatoo, the other pets could become a chew toy. Our family was fortunate because all of our pets got along really well with each other. Even so, when the family went out, the birds were locked in their cages and the dogs were confined to another part of the house. As pet owners you are always responsible for making sure that they are always as safe as possible.

Many Parrots will also develop strong attachments for a certain individual in the family. While the growing loyalty may be appreciated by the favoured person, it can cause problems when birds become overly protective of their loved one. On the other hand, a Parrot is a social and intelligent bird which will become easily bored. A home with a number of people that can talk to and amuse the bird or a single owner who has time to give plenty of attention to the bird would be best.

You may find that your Parrot craves the company of another bird. This is particularly true when the bird matures (around 5-8 years for the larger species). When a mate was provided for “Bert” he lost all interest in the family and spent all of his time with his new mate. However, if you decide to provide a mate for your Parrot, you must also take responsibility for the increased care required for two birds and also keep in mind the possible babies that may arrive.

Parrots bring great joy to the lives of individuals who appreciate them despite the work and noise involved. You owe it to your pet to learn as much as possible about its care so you can commit to your pet and provide a loving home for as long as possible.

Until next time,

Teia