Help: advice needed.

[Birdman666]

I've done this little dance a few times...

Glad I could help.

Macaws are the most toddler like of all the parrots. In both the good ways, and the bad ways. You raise them the same way you raise a human child. With firm boundary setting, nurturing guidance, and lots of love and attention...

Do that and they will thrive and become Mush macs!

Don't do that, and you have an out of control toddler on your hands that can easily snap a 2 by 4 in half with it's beak...

 

[Birdman666]

hey i just have a lovebird,so im not sure, but i read somewhere that sometimes birds trick their owners, like they seem really happy to see you and then they reach out and give you the bite of the year.... idk, they find it fun? i really dont no

Those are birdie practical jokes...

I had an evil ruby macaw rehab, and we used to warn people about her. She would go poofy, put her head down, and beg for scratches, giving you the macaw "pathetic" look...

What she was really doing was seeing who she could sucker into sticking their hand in her cage...

That bird was EVIL!

Worst of both worlds. Scarlett "beakiness" issues and Greenwing "dominance" issues. Smart and manipulative as hell. Not a bird to be trifled with...

 

[4hallie]

Torie, I have a green wing that is only 5 months old. She has just started her nipping at me. I will not tolerate a biter, well, I try not too lol.... When I take her from her outside kennel and bring her in the house or go into her inside cage, she knows where I
I'm taking her, so she will sneakily grab a piece of my flesh and clamp down, now she doesn't hurt, so I know she isn't being mean, she is just letting me know that I'm doing something she doesn't like. So I do grab her beak but I don't yell, just grab her beak and say no. But I always know that what I'm doing she doesn't approve, that's her way, the worse thing you can do is let her get an reaction from you, and certainly don't be fearful of her cause she will pick that up and then she rules and basically you will have to go through extensive time training with your baby. Good luck

 

[LiL_Caity413]

 

[Birdman666]

Objection: Assumes facts not in evidence. We don't know what the routine is with this bird, or if that has changed.

You may not agree with my method, but it worked in one simple lesson. And the bird is still playing with her, and not demonstrating fear behaviors, only now he behaves.

Large macaws have approximately the same IQ and attention span as a human toddler. They absolutely do! Study after study has shown that!

YOU CAN TELL A CHILD HE OR SHE IS IN TIME OUT. Then after that all you have to say is do I need to put you in time out? To influence their behavior.

A PARROT NEEDS TO BE SHOWN A TOWEL TO GET THE CONCEPT OF TIME OUT. They get that. Do it once, and all you will have to do is show them the towel. You don't even have to use it!

For example, when my RFM is being a bit too vocal... (screaming prevention.) All I have to do is take the cage cover out of the cage and throw it on the ground next to her cage. She doesn't become fearful of me, but she does quiet down. Because if she doesn't she is going in the cage and will get covered til she quiets down... (Then you let them out AND PRAISE THEM FOR BEING GOOD! THE POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT NOT THE NEGATIVE.)

My CAG HATES bathing... but he gets weekly showers anyway. Sometimes he is stubborn and does his "we shall not be moved/poofy bird thing." I go and get a towel and show it to him. He stops the poofy bird thing and steps up. He knows I will do it, and he knows I won't sit there and argue with him while he runs around on top of his cage and tries to bite me to avoid doing something he doesn't want to do... (and that bird has a beak like a scissors when he doesn't want to do something! Chances of me curbing the bad behavior WITHOUT ever toweling him? NONE! Chances of my getting bit for giving him a bath? Significantly greater than none.)

My CAG does not pluck. He does not bite. He is not neurotic. And he still climbs down, waddles across the room and gives me kisses... so I don't think this training has damaged him in any way, shape or form.

And besides, he needs to bathe. It improves his feather quality, and keeps the dander down.