ChlorineQueen
New member
- Feb 1, 2016
- 3
- 0
Hi guys,
I'm not technically a parrot owner...I've owned parakeets and finches in the past, but no large birds, and have no experience with them. However, I recently moved into a new house with several roommates. One of them is a bit of a "fashion" pet owner and gets cute or interesting animals just to have them. Mostly animals that can get on fine with minimal care, fortunately, but recently he got himself a red-fronted Amazon. The bird is full-grown and previously owned, and apparently has never been taught to step up or not be afraid of humans.
I know this bird will probably (and should) live for a very long time, and that the room mate who owns him will not have much interaction with him. So to make life a bit less boring and miserable for him I've been trying to interact with him at least two or three times a day and teach him to step up, so he can be taken out and allowed to interact with things outside his cage.
He isn't aggressive or overly timid- he usually will readily accept food from our hands, but other times he'll shuffle away. When I interact with him I talk to him or just make noises, and offer snacks. When I held my hand out for him to step up he wouldn't react, or sometimes he would lean forward with his beak open like he was about to accept food, and I would pull my hand back to avoid being bitten.
Recently though, a friend of mine said that parrots sometimes like to taste or feel your hand with their beaks to decide if it's safe or not. So next time I let him and he didn't bite hard right away, but increased pressure gradually until I decided to pull my hand back. I've let him do this two or three times now. I offer him a snack to relax him, and when he's done eating it I wait a bit longer and then try to get him to step to my hand, or at least get a feel for it. The last time I tried, he put one foot on my hand, but then stepped back and put his beak on my finger, eventually hard enough that I decided to leave him alone for a bit. He doesn't do this aggressively, but I realize that I may very well be building an undesired association between fingers and food. While this might be working- he almost stepped up today- I don't know how to get him used to my hand without causing him to confuse it with food, or a proper reaction to biting too hard that will teach him not to do it.
Sorry if this is a bit long, but any and all suggestions are welcome.
I'm not technically a parrot owner...I've owned parakeets and finches in the past, but no large birds, and have no experience with them. However, I recently moved into a new house with several roommates. One of them is a bit of a "fashion" pet owner and gets cute or interesting animals just to have them. Mostly animals that can get on fine with minimal care, fortunately, but recently he got himself a red-fronted Amazon. The bird is full-grown and previously owned, and apparently has never been taught to step up or not be afraid of humans.
I know this bird will probably (and should) live for a very long time, and that the room mate who owns him will not have much interaction with him. So to make life a bit less boring and miserable for him I've been trying to interact with him at least two or three times a day and teach him to step up, so he can be taken out and allowed to interact with things outside his cage.
He isn't aggressive or overly timid- he usually will readily accept food from our hands, but other times he'll shuffle away. When I interact with him I talk to him or just make noises, and offer snacks. When I held my hand out for him to step up he wouldn't react, or sometimes he would lean forward with his beak open like he was about to accept food, and I would pull my hand back to avoid being bitten.
Recently though, a friend of mine said that parrots sometimes like to taste or feel your hand with their beaks to decide if it's safe or not. So next time I let him and he didn't bite hard right away, but increased pressure gradually until I decided to pull my hand back. I've let him do this two or three times now. I offer him a snack to relax him, and when he's done eating it I wait a bit longer and then try to get him to step to my hand, or at least get a feel for it. The last time I tried, he put one foot on my hand, but then stepped back and put his beak on my finger, eventually hard enough that I decided to leave him alone for a bit. He doesn't do this aggressively, but I realize that I may very well be building an undesired association between fingers and food. While this might be working- he almost stepped up today- I don't know how to get him used to my hand without causing him to confuse it with food, or a proper reaction to biting too hard that will teach him not to do it.
Sorry if this is a bit long, but any and all suggestions are welcome.