Ricky's Parrot Training Update

I thought I'd share with you how some of my most reason parrot training sessions have been going with the newest addition to our flock... Ricky "the Parrotlet" Ricky has now officially reached the first stage of being hormonal. It's that time of year when the days are getting longer, and his breeding hormones are in full swing. Which means he's now started biting for the first time. But this is no shock to me... I've been through this with all of my other parrots, and I knew it was only a matter of time before my parrotlet went through the same phase. But there is one major difference between my parrot getting hormonal, and thousands of other parrots getting hormonal. I know how to handle it, don't get stressed out thinking this is the end of my cute little parrot's loving relationship with me, and have a step-by-step plan to implement. While other parrot owners have no idea how to train their parrots, and throw in the towel... giving up on a bird that needs nothing more than a little instruction. So I thought I'd share some of what I'm doing with Ricky's parrot training schedule with you over the next couple of weeks. Right now Ricky is at the stage where he wants to defend his cage by attacking anything that comes near it, hauls off lunging at fingers and guests, even if they're just walking by. You'll see the feathers go up on his back, and he paces the perimeter like a sentry guard. ... that is until I used a few techniques on him ;) The first thing I did was set up Ricky in a cage where he could get 14 hours of sleep every night. This way I could get him out of the cage he was so territorial of, and cover it for 12-14 hours every night, getting him the sleep he needs to better control his hormonal triggers flipped on by the longer daylight hours. The cage only had water in it, and no food. I did this because Ricky's main cage is an aquarium, and he's constantly hiding food in the floor, and saving it for later... which makes a training diet impossible, because he's always full, and has access to food he's hidden even if I take out his food dish. And I needed to set him up on a modified training diet where he would at least be hungry when he woke up in the morning and thus more willing to work for treats. So his new parrot cage was set up for SLEEPING ONLY and when he woke up I immediately fed him through rewarding him with treats for performing tasks, immediately followed by full access to his food dish for the rest of the day. This way he's getting more than enough food to maintain a healthy body weight. Do not STARVE your parrot. This worked wonderfully as last night he got plenty of sleep, and when he woke up, I gave him several target training sessions while he was still in his cage, maybe 5-10 clicks and rewards for touching the target stick. I want to get to the point of doing more of this, but his attention span has not been developed yet for long training bouts. Then I let him out of his sleeping cage, and did 2-3 click and rewards for targeting on his cage top, let him hang out for a few minutes and then put him in his main cage for breakfast and access to his toys... which he LOVES! The first days RESULTS... He's attacking about 50% less as we walk by his cage throughout the day, and calms down quicker when we're persistent about letting him out. Pretty good for day one, I'll be keeping you posted often as we progress throughout the days and weeks ahead.