Check out the cute video below to see the fun new game we taught our Rose Breasted Cockatoo (aka. Galah, for you Aussies)

If you’re interested in teaching your parrot to play fun games like this, you can sign up for a free 30 day subscription to Parrot Magic… which is a monthly program where we teach you how to play a new game with your parrot, or teach a new trick every single month.

You can learn more about this program here:

http://www.birdtricks.com/ParrotMagic

Until Next Time, Happy Training!

Chet

P.S. If you liked this video feel free to leave me a comment. Would you like us to share more videos like this with you?

Is it too late to hand-train my parakeet?

I got it about four years ago, and hand training was going well until it got face mites and I had to take it to the vet. I had to grab the poor bird and squirt medicine in its mouth to get rid of the mites.

Needless to say it lost its trust for me. Now it just bites the heck out of my hand if I go near it. Is it possible for the bird to slowly regain its trust and hopefully come onto my hand and out of the cage? – J

It is never ever too late to train ANY bird. A great example of this is a lady that Dave and Chet talked to a while ago… she trained an 84 year old macaw to be quiet on cue! This is a bird who has it ingrained in its head that screaming works as a means of getting attention and has had this habit for 84 long years!

Thank goodness she didn’t give up on this bird.

You can earn your parakeet’s trust back if you go about it the right way. Sometimes we have to do things our birds don’t think is in their best interest and they lose trust in us. However, if you do more things that make it trust you than break it, you can get to the point where you can do those things because you bird knows that you are thinking of its best interest.

At our Total Tranformation Training Seminar in Florida, we had “Mr. X” speak who was a trainer by the name of Glen Foster. I really thought he put it best when he said, “You should look at your relationship with your parrot like a checking account. If you make enough deposits, you can take some withdrawls. But if you take too many withdrawls, you will get yourself in the negative.”

What that means is the most positive interactions (trust and bond building experiences) you have with your bird, the more “deposits” you are making towards a happy and trusting relationship. You didn’t make enough deposits to match how many withdrawls you made when you gave your bird the medication in the beginning, therefore, you ended up in the negative.

You are going to have to work extra hard to get yourself back to zero (out of the negative red zone) before you can make any withdrawals again. You need to really build up that bank account. Anything negative to your bird is a withdrawal so it’s important that when you are training – it’s fun and positive for the bird.

This is why we always tell people to start with touch training! This doesn’t cross the line with the bird, invade space or anything like that. It allows the bird to make the decision to learn, we simply allow the opportunity to be there and reward when he makes the choice to interact.

You can train your parakeet from inside his cage using touch training and slowly work to outside of the cage and eventually stepping up and performing tricks that all build a great relationship between you and your bird. Touch training even transfers over to flight training easily! And parakeets don’t require that much space to learn how to fly well.

Use touch training first and then move onto tricks. I promise it will all create the relationship you had in the beginning, before the mites, only 10x stronger!

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I have two cockatiels and one?is always getting picked on by the other. The one gets bitten, thrown off his perch, and gets his feathers plucked by the other. I want them in the same cage without fighting, but how do I do that?
- Clara

Safely socializing parrots can be tricky depending on their specific situation. Here are some things to consider when attempting to house two birds together who are not comfortable with each other: Age, Size, Breed/Species, Gender, Location/Environment.

Age: Don’t mix mature with immature.

It’s not safe to attempt to house a baby bird with an adult and fully matured bird. If one of your cockatiels is under a year, and the other is around 4-5 years old or older already… the mature bird will naturally pick on the younger one because it can. You should really wait until the younger bird is fully developed and can hold his own before putting him in with an older, more mature bird.

Size: It matters when socializing.

You don’t want to be attempting to socialize a budgie with a macaw; keep the birds very close in size so it’s an even battle field. Intimidation plays a role.

Breed & Species: Different side of the planet, different ways.

Some research says not to mix African species with South American species. I, for one, successfully socialized my Australian Galah (also known as a rose breasted cockatoo) with my Congo African Grey to where they could share a cage happily together. However, it is something to keep in the back of your head when it comes to making your own decision about this.

Gender: Males and females.

Keep in mind that males and females can bond to where they decide to be mates and that can give you more than you bargained for. They can also reject one another as mates and severely pick on one another when breeding season comes around and they both have different ideas for the season.

Location & Environment: This is the biggie.

In order to two birds to get along and live happily together in one cage, you have to start NEW. This means a brand new cage that neither bird has ever been in before. By starting with a new cage, neither bird has the option of being territorial and each one will be more focused on the cage itself and their new environment than one another.

Another huge factor with their environment is that you must provide more food and water dishes than there are birds and they must be on different sides and parts of the cage. This is just in case one bird picks on the other and defends the food bowls. If both birds realize they will always have enough food for the both of them early on, it won’t become an issue and you can eventually take out the extra dishes as time goes on and the two birds get more comfortable with one another and their surroundings.

And I know we talk about food finding toys, a lot… but that’s because we want to beat it into your heads! Birds NEED them! Especially in this situation; they can keep busy and focused on something OTHER than each other.

If one bird is naturally more possessive of food, make sure you feed that bird first AND last, always.

The steps you take with your current cockatiels are to socialize them OUTSIDE of their current cages first. This may take you a few days, it may take weeks or even months. It goes faster if your birds are fully flighted. This comes down to the “fight or flight” in the wild. Birds see conflict as having to do one or the other, and if they can fly away, they are more likely to get to know another bird and less likely to fight because they don’t feel like they HAVE to. If they can’t fly, then fighting is their only choice and they often feel too pressured.

Your socializing space should be your house or large area where both birds can fly around and have plenty things to do. You don’t have to start them next to each other – you want them to choose to check out one another and not make them meet. Start them a comfortable distance away from each other and give them both something to do. Reward calm and happy behavior. You don’t need to spend a lot of time doing this. 5-10 minutes or less is fine and ALWAYS end on a positive note.

Back in their cages, it’s best if they can see and hear one another to get used to the other bird’s presence.

Do this type of socializing in a large area with no pressure and constant rewards for leaving one another alone. They will naturally come into contact and feel each other out. If they are reacting fine with one another, use another person or yourself (if possible) and put one on each hand and place them into the new cage at the exact same time. Make sure food finding toys, water and food is already placed inside before putting the birds in. Place them on opposite sides of the cage and watch them.

From my own experience doing this with the above birds, they both had their “sides” of the cage (keep in mind I was dealing with birds of the same gender) and always respected the other bird when it was on one side. With time, they loosened up about having sides.

Just make sure the birds are getting along in the huge area outside their cages before ever attempting to put them into a cage together. You also want the biggest cage possible as they HAVE to be able to get away from each other if they feel the need.

“I also would like to know if birds should be in separate cages? I believe that I’ve made a mistake, by putting two blue and gold macaws together. Before they used to love me and now that they have been together all they do is attack any body who comes near the cage. don’t know what to do, when we separate them they scream and scream. can you help me? i love them both” – Marie

This is very common with birds. They often become more attached to one another than the human in the household. However, the problem is not the cage and the fact that they are sharing it with one another. The issue is the motivation – right now they see more motivation to stay in the cage and be with one another than they have motivation (or reason) to come out and be with you. Why is this?

The benefit you have to have two birds is that you can use “observational learning” to your advantage. We use this a lot when working with multiple birds as it speeds up the learning process for the bird falling behind.

For example, if you decided to touch train these macaws, they would learn faster because they would have one another to learn from. It took me one training session to train my rose breasted cockatoo, Bandit, to touch train. The reason it took only one session is because I used my other cockatoo, Bondi, who already knew how. Once he saw her earning a reward for touching the stick, he wanted to do it too! Even if one of your macaws doesn’t already know touch training, you can still use this technique to speed up the learning curve. Once one bird is interested, the other will follow.

To learn how to touch train your parrot, check out our Taming, Training and Tricks course where the FIRST THING we teach you is how to touch train your parrot and use it to train many other behaviors as a way to positively tame your bird while having fun in the process!

If you give one bird a reason to think you’re great enough to come out the cage for, the other will realize the same. This works in many different areas of training – including flight!

You can use the touch training method and begin INSIDE the cage… slowly working your way out and getting them to step up. Once you get them out of the cage where they are in training mode and earning treats, you can begin putting natural behaviors on cue (a great way to interact and teach a behavior that’s fun for your bird to learn) as well as trick training with or without props. The more fun and interactive you are with your macaws outside of their cage, the more they will long to come out and enjoy your company.

You don’t always have to train, either. Once they enjoy your company you can take them out merely to play or just be on your hand or shoulder. I love spending cuddle time with my parrots – they enjoy it and I enjoy it. So vary it up and make sure every interaction you have with your birds is positive because every time you handle or interact in any way with your birds, you are literally training them. They are paying attention to things and interpreting things through what happens on a daily basis.

And don’t feel bad if one bird seems to be more interested than the other – this is natural. Reward the bird that is showing more interest in you and if one steps up nicely and the other refuses, leave the refusing one in the cage while the other gets one-on-one fun time with you. If you are doing something this bird enjoys doing, he won’t scream back to the other bird when he is doing it. When I take one bird from my aviary, they will call back and forth because they want to know where the other is going. But once the bird I take out is cuddling or training with me, he doesn’t return the birds’ in the aviaries calls. This teaches the refusing bird that he misses out if he doesn’t willingly step up, but it never ever forces him to do what he clearly doesn’t want to. This makes coming around and nicely stepping up his choice, and builds his comfort in knowing you will never make him do something he doesn’t want to do.

Make sure you know what you are going to use for their motivation; there are many types from food treats to training to activity. Birds work for different rewards. If you feel your parrots need some independence, you can try “howdying” them which just means putting them in separate cages next to one another. However, I really don’t think it’s necessary if you create the right environment and motivation for them to interact with you and really set them up for success throughout the entire process.

PS! If you can’t tell, I have 3 macaws in that photo above cuddling with me and they all share a large aviary together. I actually house all 4 of my macaws together in one aviary full time and they still interact with me (and Dave) this way. The 4th was with Dave when this image was taken!

I have a young green cheeked Conure and?he simply will not go back into his cage once he is out, any help?
- Alison

I know it doesn’t seem like it, but this really is a positive thing! It’s a sign that your bird enjoys your company. Usually bird owners have issues getting their bird OUT of the cage so it’s kind of nice to have your issue be the complete opposite.

I had this same problem (or I should say, we had this same problem since it was me, Chet and Dave) with our military macaw. His name is Cash, but I’m sure you’ve all heard us call him his nickname “Crash” which he got during flight training…

What happens when your bird refuses to go back inside the cage is that he is having too much fun outside of his cage and there is ZERO motivation to go back into it.

As humans we have to remember that just because we really really really want our bird to go back inside his cage so we can go do whatever it is we want to do… is not a good enough reason for THEM to want to go back.

There a few changes you can make to your bird’s environment to encourage him to go back into his cage when you ask him to:

Make your bird’s cage more fun!

You may need to make his cage a more fun place for him to be. You can do this by adding what I like to call “shreddables” which are just toys he can tear apart. Food finding toys are great for mentally stimulating your bird and giving him something to do. You may also look at adding a variety of perches; ones that he can eat and others that are of different textures like sandy, rope or different types of wood. Rotating toys regularly is?a MUST with these parrots. They need change and constant stimulation. The idea is to make his cage a positive place for him to be.

For our Swainson Toucan we put shredded strips of newspaper on top of her cage because she absolutely loves playing with them! This creates a great motivation and excitement when putting her back into her cage.

Offer a reward for going back.

When I say “reward” I don’t always mean “food”. A reward can be ANYTHING your bird likes; including time outside of the cage with you! If you teach the bird that if it goes back, it will come out again, it will be more willing to go back into the cage.

We had to use this technique with Cash as a food reward didn’t do much… (but you can do that too and only offer his favorite treat INSIDE the cage using the Touch Training technique.)

Every time Cash went in the cage nicely, he got to come right back out again! You must vary up your actions for your bird so your movements don’t become predictable. Dave talked about birds needing?”consistent inconsistency” at the Seminar and it is so necessary.

If you choose food as your bird’s reward, work around feeding schedules to set your bird up for success. If he ate all day and you take him out only to put him back for the motivation of food… you are setting both you and the bird up for failure. Think about taking him out in the morning and putting him back in his cage with his breakfast once you’re done with your quality time.

And?make?sure that every time you take your conure out, you do something different with him. And put him back in the cage when you can immediately take him back out again. If he doesn’t know whether he’s going to get a big jackpot reward of treats, or a new toy or even going to come out and play? again – he is more likely to go back inside his cage. But if every time you put him in his cage you leave him alone for long hours to do nothing as fun as hanging out with you – then why would he ever want to go back?

Is it OK for my parrot to shower with me?
- Carly

It is MORE than OK for your parrot to shower along with you!

All you need is your parrot and a shower perch. You can find shower perches online or at your local pet store.

All my parrots take showers with me – they love catching the mist off?my back and sometimes, my birds stay in longer than I do! Showering along with your bird is a great way to encourage your parrot to shower at all. This where “observational learning” takes place; if they see you do it and you’re enjoying it, they will want part of the action too!

I’ve even had my parakeets hop on a shower perch and join me! This method can be used to shower all sizes and types of parrots, from small parakeets to large macaws.

We as humans prefer pretty hot showers, so it’s important to be aware of how your parrot is responding to the heat. If too much humidity is happening and you notice your parrot panting, you will want to end the shower for your bird.

On average, a parrot should be showering 3-5 times a week in the winter months and 5-7 times a week in the summer months. The more baths your bird prefers to take, the better. Regular bathing keeps a bird’s feathers and plumage in good condition and color, and keeps any skin or feather irritants off.

If you notice your parrot chewing his feathers often, this can be your bird “over preening” in an attempt to feel clean. More baths can help this as well as looking at his environment for what might be causing an irritant of his feathers.

For more methods on how you can get your parrot to bathe, check out Bathing Your Parrot Properly. If your bird doesn’t like showering with you, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t like to bathe… it just means he prefers a different method and/or temperature of water!

Be sure to never FORCE your parrot to take a bath. If you parrot really doesn’t want to, and you force it along, it not only destroys trust between you and your bird, but it also doesn’t really get the bird clean like its body and feathers need.

When a parrot is truly enjoying a bath, you will know!

For more photos of parrots bathing, check us out on Flickr.