How to unvelcro the Velcro Kenickie

[Rizosmom]

So I've had my little bundle of squawks since mid February and I love him to pieces however.....lol there's always a however.....he has become my Velcro baby which is fine but....he could spend hours sitting on my lap chatting away with me ( we have developed our own language lol)... He will not play on his play stand I have tried everything treats lots of toys etc.....I keep attempting to put him on there by himself or even with rizo but he immediately flies to me ....he is currently supervising me while I type this and is quite content.....if I put him on the play stand he will last 30 seconds tops....he loves his cage and has no issues being in there but when he's outside of the cage he's simply my Velcro baby....how do I get him to enjoy being outside of the cage without being on me or my husband ( I can sometimes convince him I deserve a pee break alone and he will stay with my hubbie) .... Thoughts?

 

[MonicaMc]

If Kenickie will stay on the play stand for 30 seconds, then reward Kenickie every 20 seconds. You can try using food, verbal praise, petting or even a toy. Keep rewarding Kenickie for remaining there.


You might also want to find some easy foraging toys that Kenickie can do and try giving those to him while he's on his stand.

 

[ParkersMom]

You can also work on teaching him to station. Once he learns that he will know that you want him to stay put. Just keep the sessions short at first with lots of rewards, then gradually increase the time you want him to stay.

 

[Birdman666]

"stay put" training is hard to do if the bird is not clipped.

 

[MonicaMc]

Funny, Lara Joseph has taught flighted birds to station. Lara trained Rico, her umbrella, to station, so as to stop him from chasing after Rocky, a moluccan. She has videos of stationing a flighted pigeon. Then there is a video of her working with two hawks - one is trained to station while she works with the other hawk.


Training a Bird to Station & Its Importance | Lara Joseph




If you know how to train right, training a bird to station, flighted or not, is not too difficult! Even if you clip a bird, that bird could still try to take off! It's just a matter of finding the right rewards that work for the bird and then setting a strong history of reinforcement for desired behaviors.

 

[Birdman666]

I didn't say it couldn't be done. I just said it was a lot harder.

 

[Rizosmom]

Thanks everyone for your replies.....I fight with myself on the wing clipping....Rizo's wings are clipped or were (from the breeder) but they have grown back....I have a feeling that she was never given the opportunity to learn to fly prior to clipping because she never attempts to fly nor does she even seem to "grasp" the concept....occasionally she will attempt a short voyage not even 2 feet to me and she usually just glides to the ground (not that gracefully)....thanks for the link to the lara joseph website that will def come in handy....if anyone has any other suggestions please let me know as I always like to consider different methods to see what will work best with my baby! Thanks!

Kenickie is a pro at flying....he is just being introduced to Rizo....and I had thought I would be trying to get a flightsuit for him this spring so we could go outside and do some flying....My concerns with clipping are that right now if he is not comfortable being around Rizo he can simply just fly away....Rizo rules the roost so she tends to be a bully even though he's bigger then her lol....their introduction has been a slow process with good days and bad days...part of the problem too is he's a suck so when things aren't going his way he flys to me lol....I know I have created a monster but its only been a few months so hopefully we can nip this sooner then later....

He listens quite well, understands and for the most part, listens to me like when he wants on someone's shoulder I just tap my wrist and say down and he does it everytime.....he is learning that when I say gentle he is biting too hard....loves beak playing and wrestling and will lay on his back with a sappy look on his face. I am fairly certain that he is picking up words as he does quite a bit of closet(cage) talking....what I am trying to say is I know he's able to learn whatever task it will just take time...its the method of training that I needed to figure out....

 

[MonicaMc]

I have videos of Barbara Heidenreich target training/syringe training two macaws, but no personal videos of teaching a bird to station. I don't think it's too much different to be honest, since you are rewarding a bird for desired behaviors. At least with stationing, you would want to start out with short but frequent rewards of desired behaviors and slowly increase the time between rewards. You would also want to encourage your bird to interact with his environment more. If you want him to station on a play stand, it may help to have toys and foraging activities there so you can reward him for keeping himself busy. You can shape a bird for looking at a toy, moving towards a toy, licking/beaking the toy and then playing with said toy.


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4DjiRJu5gQ"]Part 1 - Target Training B&G Macaw with Barbara Heidenreich at Rodies Feed & Pet Supply - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnlHAHKmP5c"]Part 2 - Target Training B&G Macaw with Barbara Heidenreich at Rodies Feed & Pet Supply - YouTube[/ame]



[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEPmNtrZkXg"]Part 1 - Syringe Training Scarlet Macaw with Barbara Heidenreich at Rodies Feed & Pet Supply - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdQNvJBvuVY"]Part 2 - Syringe Training Scarlet Macaw with Barbara Heidenreich at Rodies Feed & Pet Supply - YouTube[/ame]

 

[MonicaMc]

PS, this might also be a good read!


Question on behavior . . . Cockatoo wants to be on us at all times! | Lara Joseph