MonicaMc
Well-known member
- Sep 12, 2012
- 7,960
- Media
- 2
- 43
- Parrots
- Mitred Conure - Charlie 1994;
Cockatiel - Casey 2001;
Wild Caught ARN - Sylphie 2013
grahamland6753 You're right, I don't know. I don't know what work you have done with him through positive reinforcement.
From my own observed statement in this thread alone, you "took many bites", you say "NO" to him, you cover his cage as punishment, your husband ignores Charlie's bites, Frank must show Charlie who is boss...
None of this is positive reinforcement. This is flooding and positive punishment and it sounds like your husband keeps wanting to put both birds in a dangerous situation to allow them to figure things out.
The only bite that can't be rewarded is the bite that never occurs.
*IF YOU DO GET BIT* don't [positively] punish the bird, and don't ignore the bird! Simply get the bird off of you and go nurse your wounds. As you are spending some time alone, figure out what happened before, during and after the bite. How can you avoid this in the future?
When I say get the bird off of you, I don't mean take the bird to his or her cage and lock them up! I mean, wherever you are at, get the bird off! If you are at the cage, then great! You can set the bird down on the cage! But if you are not near the cage, don't walk over to the cage to put the bird down... putting them down on a table, a chair, or even the floor is perfectly fine, too!
By allowing a bite to occur, you are reinforcing their need to bite. I realize this goes against what the majority of people say and believe, but if you follow professional bird trainers and behaviorists (such as Barbara Heidenreich, Lara Joseph, Susan Friedman, Hillary Hankey, Pamela Clark, etc) then you'll see where these people don't recommend getting bitten, then punishing the parrot for biting. Instead, they take the approach of "Why is he biting?" and "What steps can I take to avoid getting bitten?".
But then, maybe parrot owners are just gluttons for punishment? I mean, how many large dog owners do you see out there who will just stand there and allow their dog to maul their flesh and not do a thing? Act like their teeth ripping into their flesh doesn't hurt them so that they can show the dog that they are "boss"? That doesn't make any sense to me! But when it comes to parrots? Many owners are "quite happy" to have an artery severed by their bird and not do a thing because it somehow teaches the bird something. (not literally speaking, of course!)
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html
Okay, so you said that you've worked on positive training with Charlie. Is Charlie target trained and station trained? If you have used positive training, is it safe to assume he knows these behaviors? And you can thus work on keeping Charlie engaged in training when Frank is around? And teach Charlie to ignore Frank so that they can "get along" within the same air space, if not the same cage or gym?
From my own observed statement in this thread alone, you "took many bites", you say "NO" to him, you cover his cage as punishment, your husband ignores Charlie's bites, Frank must show Charlie who is boss...
None of this is positive reinforcement. This is flooding and positive punishment and it sounds like your husband keeps wanting to put both birds in a dangerous situation to allow them to figure things out.
The only bite that can't be rewarded is the bite that never occurs.
*IF YOU DO GET BIT* don't [positively] punish the bird, and don't ignore the bird! Simply get the bird off of you and go nurse your wounds. As you are spending some time alone, figure out what happened before, during and after the bite. How can you avoid this in the future?
When I say get the bird off of you, I don't mean take the bird to his or her cage and lock them up! I mean, wherever you are at, get the bird off! If you are at the cage, then great! You can set the bird down on the cage! But if you are not near the cage, don't walk over to the cage to put the bird down... putting them down on a table, a chair, or even the floor is perfectly fine, too!
By allowing a bite to occur, you are reinforcing their need to bite. I realize this goes against what the majority of people say and believe, but if you follow professional bird trainers and behaviorists (such as Barbara Heidenreich, Lara Joseph, Susan Friedman, Hillary Hankey, Pamela Clark, etc) then you'll see where these people don't recommend getting bitten, then punishing the parrot for biting. Instead, they take the approach of "Why is he biting?" and "What steps can I take to avoid getting bitten?".
But then, maybe parrot owners are just gluttons for punishment? I mean, how many large dog owners do you see out there who will just stand there and allow their dog to maul their flesh and not do a thing? Act like their teeth ripping into their flesh doesn't hurt them so that they can show the dog that they are "boss"? That doesn't make any sense to me! But when it comes to parrots? Many owners are "quite happy" to have an artery severed by their bird and not do a thing because it somehow teaches the bird something. (not literally speaking, of course!)
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html
Okay, so you said that you've worked on positive training with Charlie. Is Charlie target trained and station trained? If you have used positive training, is it safe to assume he knows these behaviors? And you can thus work on keeping Charlie engaged in training when Frank is around? And teach Charlie to ignore Frank so that they can "get along" within the same air space, if not the same cage or gym?
