How should i bond with my parrots?

[Martin93]

Hello,
I've got an eclectus parrot who is almost 14 weeks old now, i got him when he was 5 weeks old and i hand fed him.
I also have a conure who is 1 year old now.
And last but not least i've got a macaw of 7 weeks old who is currently being hand fed.

Now i noticed that when my eclectus was about 12 weeks he started to show an interest in things around him, including my conure. And now thats pretty much all he cares about. The same goes for my conure, he only cares about my eclectus. When i seperate them into diffrent rooms its easier to do stuff with them but when they're in the same room there is no attention for me.
Now i'm kinda bummed out by that becouse i really want to bond with my eclectus. (The conure will be fine, he's my girlfriend's bird)
The only times he comes to me is when i've got a plate of food. When he sees that he will fly towards me and tries to jump on my plate, i sometimes let him eat some too if its ok for him to eat.
Will my eclectus show more interest in me when he gets older? Any advice on what to do?

Also this makes me afraid that the same thing will happen to my macaw, if so what can i do to prevent the same thing from happening? Or am i worried about nothing?

The birds have their cages all in the same room a.k.a. the bird room.

 

[wrench13]

That's the chances you take with multiple parrots. You just might get left out in the cold.

 

[Martin93]

That's the chances you take with multiple parrots. You just might get left out in the cold.

Thats what i feared

 

[Scott]

That's the chances you take with multiple parrots. You just might get left out in the cold.

Thats what i feared

But.... it is well worth trying to bond closely. Sometimes we are "chosen" by a bird and it's unconditional love. Other times they tolerate us. Hopefully you will not experience anything worse. Try giving them additional interactive time, well rewarded with a treat. Just be careful to not overdo the treats, particularly if high-fat nuts, etc.

These threads may be of help: http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/60435-clicker-target-training.html

 

[Martin93]

That's the chances you take with multiple parrots. You just might get left out in the cold.

Thats what i feared

But.... it is well worth trying to bond closely. Sometimes we are "chosen" by a bird and it's unconditional love. Other times they tolerate us. Hopefully you will not experience anything worse. Try giving them additional interactive time, well rewarded with a treat. Just be careful to not overdo the treats, particularly if high-fat nuts, etc.

These threads may be of help: http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/60435-clicker-target-training.html

I try do some training with him now but i dont think he understands it yet...
Keeps flying on my head after a minute haha.
I use a stick to learn him to step up at the moment.
As for treats, he wont eat nuts or sunflower seeds. his favorite thing is corn so i use corn to reward him, also he likes apple a lot, altough i think he likes it more to destroy the apple then to eat it ._.

Also as far as bonding goes, i've read that it may take up to months even years to bond with a parrot, also they really start bonding as adults (thats what i found) and mine is still a baby and what he's doing now is probably exploring other things right now, i dont think i have to worry but i'm just a little scared he might 'love' another bird more than he would love me..

If i've been out of the room for more than 15 minutes he will usualy fly right at me when i enter the room, also today when i went to take a nap on the cough he landed on my chest and started cuddling me (and try eating my beard haha)
So that melted my hearth when he did that.

 

[Scott]

I think you are making good progress! Slow and steady, sometimes two steps forward, one or two back.

A parrot that doesn't like nuts or sunflower seeds! Might try plain Cheerios or some sort of wheat chex with little to no added sugar.

 

[Martin93]

I think you are making good progress! Slow and steady, sometimes two steps forward, one or two back.

A parrot that doesn't like nuts or sunflower seeds! Might try plain Cheerios or some sort of wheat chex with little to no added sugar.

Cheerios.. Is that like some breakfast cerial? Also i was thinking about feeding him oatmeal. Today he ate quite a bit of pineapple and also a whole corn cob, tomorrow i'm gonna try giving him some peppers and some spaggethi, maybe he'll like that

This evening he slept on my chest again, even laying on his back for a while when he rolled over, that was kind of cute

 

[Scott]

I think you are making good progress! Slow and steady, sometimes two steps forward, one or two back.

A parrot that doesn't like nuts or sunflower seeds! Might try plain Cheerios or some sort of wheat chex with little to no added sugar.

Cheerios.. Is that like some breakfast cerial? Also i was thinking about feeding him oatmeal. Today he ate quite a bit of pineapple and also a whole corn cob, tomorrow i'm gonna try giving him some peppers and some spaggethi, maybe he'll like that

This evening he slept on my chest again, even laying on his back for a while when he rolled over, that was kind of cute

My apologies, Martin! You were kind enough to include location but I just assumed you were in the U.S. (A tribute to your excellent written English!)

Cheerios is a toasted oat cereal in the shape of a tiny donut. Produced by General Mills and seems not available in the Netherlands. Low sugar/sodium and recently became a non-GMO product. An advantage to dry cereals is they are shelf-stable and easily sourced for an immediate treat without cooking!

Cooked pasta is often loved by parrots. All of mine enjoy 100% whole grain spiral pastas, often available with added ingredients such as kale, ground chickpea, black bean, etc.

Cheerios:

Very beak friendly!!

 

[Martin93]

I think you are making good progress! Slow and steady, sometimes two steps forward, one or two back.

A parrot that doesn't like nuts or sunflower seeds! Might try plain Cheerios or some sort of wheat chex with little to no added sugar.

Cheerios.. Is that like some breakfast cerial? Also i was thinking about feeding him oatmeal. Today he ate quite a bit of pineapple and also a whole corn cob, tomorrow i'm gonna try giving him some peppers and some spaggethi, maybe he'll like that

This evening he slept on my chest again, even laying on his back for a while when he rolled over, that was kind of cute

My apologies, Martin! You were kind enough to include location but I just assumed you were in the U.S. (A tribute to your excellent written English!)

Cheerios is a toasted oat cereal in the shape of a tiny donut. Produced by General Mills and seems not available in the Netherlands. Low sugar/sodium and recently became a non-GMO product. An advantage to dry cereals is they are shelf-stable and easily sourced for an immediate treat without cooking!

Cooked pasta is often loved by parrots. All of mine enjoy 100% whole grain spiral pastas, often available with added ingredients such as kale, ground chickpea, black bean, etc.

Cheerios:

Very beak friendly!!

Ah thanks ^^

Well getting him to eat more than the seed mix is difficult :\
He'll just eat a little bit and destroys the rest or starts throwing it on the ground. But i won't give up... I've been told that eclectus can be difficult eaters.

But about bonding with him, tonight he didn't want to have much to do with me, in fact he's been flying away from me all day. he's been playing a lot on his playstand and just flying through the house, now its all normal i guess and i wont worry and i think i'll just have to be very patient about bonding with him.
I guess that becouse i handfed him i assumed he'd love me all day every day afterwards. Thats what some guy told me at least who has handfed about 14 parrots.
He's got like 20 total and says that those he handfed show much more affection to him than the others.
Now whats myth and whats fact about this?

My other parrot (macaw 7.5 weeks old) is growing very fast!
Any advice on what to do with a macaw to bond?
They're quite more demanding that eclectus i believe.

 

[Teddscau]

Here's my advice: buy "The Parrot Wizard's Guide to Well-Behaved Parrots". It'll tell you everything you'll need to know. Also, I'd recommend watching the Parrot Wizard's videos, as well as reading his blog.

Also, I'd recommend reading to your birds, listening to their favourite music with them, and eating with them. I'd definitely recommend doing target training with them, as I find it creates a special bond between human and bird. When you successfully target train a bird, it creates an amazing sense of trust and friendship. Through target training, you create a fun, easily understood, hands off way of communicating your intentions to your bird(s).

Music is the language of many animals, especially birds. Almost all animals use tone, pitch, etc., to communicate. Regardless of what language someone speaks, or what species one is, you know when someone (human or animal) is angry based on the way they vocalize. You can also if an animal is happy/excited just by listening to a audio recording of them. If you can discover what songs and types of music your birds like, you can find a common ground. If it turns out they're crazy for "Seven Nation Army", and they see you singing and bobbing your head to it, they'll open up to you and will be more communicative with you.

 

[Martin93]

Here's my advice: buy "The Parrot Wizard's Guide to Well-Behaved Parrots". It'll tell you everything you'll need to know. Also, I'd recommend watching the Parrot Wizard's videos, as well as reading his blog.

Also, I'd recommend reading to your birds, listening to their favourite music with them, and eating with them. I'd definitely recommend doing target training with them, as I find it creates a special bond between human and bird. When you successfully target train a bird, it creates an amazing sense of trust and friendship. Through target training, you create a fun, easily understood, hands off way of communicating your intentions to your bird(s).

Music is the language of many animals, especially birds. Almost all animals use tone, pitch, etc., to communicate. Regardless of what language someone speaks, or what species one is, you know when someone (human or animal) is angry based on the way they vocalize. You can also if an animal is happy/excited just by listening to a audio recording of them. If you can discover what songs and types of music your birds like, you can find a common ground. If it turns out they're crazy for "Seven Nation Army", and they see you singing and bobbing your head to it, they'll open up to you and will be more communicative with you.

I'll check out parrot wizard, thanks!
Also gonna try the music thing

But i'm kinda wondering if it's maybe just a thing with eclectus behavior to be more on his own. My conure does not come to me on his own a lot but whenever he does or when i go get him he'll stay with me and seems happy about it. my eclectus is happier on his playstand or the conure's cage...
He seems happy being in a smaller cage than his own, i have a weird bird haha.

Anyway thanks again for the advise i'm gonna try it!