I am new and need advice

[riosmama]

Hello everyone. I just bought green check conure from petsmart. Problems is is that he is untrained. I have only had him/her since the 22nd. He/she doesn't know how to perch and runs all over the cage when I open the door. Any advice on how to help him/her trust me. The lady at petsmart didn't help me out much by catching him/her by the tail feathers.

 

[greencheekachick]

-Hello and welcome.
-Sounds like he needs more time to adjust to his new home.
-To help with him trusting you, try offering his favorite treat to him. If he doesn't take it right away just hold still and wait untill he comes to you. If he still doesnt make a move to get the treat then back off and try again later.

 

[kiwiS]

I would give her some time to get used to her new surroundings. This could take a few days, or even weeks. In the mean time, you can sit by her cage and just talk to her, sing to her, read out loud etc..
There's a lot of things you can do first while you are waiting for her to get used to you. You can start reading up on how to provide a good diet, and a good sleeping cycle - maybe research toys and activities you can provide to your bird ^.^

When she starts calming down and actually showing interest, hopefully by then you would be more familiar with your bird and would have done a ton of research and would know what the next step would be.

If you haven't already, you probably should take her to your local avian vet for a check-up. Your vet should have some good advice for you too.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[Kiwibird]

The lady at petsmart didn't help me out much by catching him/her by the tail feathers.

:11: I think my hand might've "accidentally" "caught" that employee on the face!

Anyways, congrats on your new bird! Obviously, he/she is going to have some human trust issues at this point, but with some love and patience you can definitely overcome those! Right now is critical in proving to your new friend that you want to be his/her friend and won't hurt him/her. One of the best methods of gaining trust with a bird is food. Calmly offering tasty treats (bits of fruit or veggies, or certain "safe" human foods) through the bars is a great way to introduce yourself to a bird in a positive way. Another is sitting near the cage and talking to the bird in a low, soft voice (perhaps read something, doesn't really matter what) every day and just get him/her used to your presence. Don't worry about him/her coming out of the cage right now. Just work on him/her getting used to you and building trust. You will be moving on to stepping up/outside cage time soon enough, but rushing that now can unintentionally break down trust.

You also need to get him/her on a routine- A sleep/wake cycle, i.e. wake up at 7am betimes at 8pm, or whatever works for you. They need a time for interaction with you (which at this point would still be while the bird is in the cage and will evolve into time outside the cage) and a time for independent play/foraging where you are not around/in the room so they do not become dependent solely on your interaction for entertainment. Well-adjusted parrots need consistency and structure in their lives, so they feel secure and know what to expect each day. It is VERY important to set a routine now that you can adhere to more or less every day.

As for the perching, try a single branch positioned just high enough he/she can reach the food/water dish and the tail doesn't touch the floor. If he/she has to get up on the branch to get to food, he/she will learn fast enough. Keeping the branch low will prevent injury in case of an accidental fall while the bird is getting used to it. A old towel on the floor will also help cushion any falls. Once the bird is confident with perching, then you can add different kinds of branches in different positions in the cage.

Most importantly-don't rush your bird. Let him/her learn on his/her own timescale. And there are a lot of very knowledgeable people on this forum, so please don't be afraid to ask questions when you have them. People want to help others learn the RIGHT steps to take so they have a happy, healthy bird!

 

[MonicaMc]

Here's some links worth checking out.

Working with Fearful Parrots: A Study in Videos | Learning Parrots


These more so if you are unfamiliar with training animals. (if you are familiar, then these will just be a refresher!)

What TO do | Learning Parrots
Biting parrots | Learning Parrots

Part I: On positive reinforcement | Learning Parrots
Part II: R+ needs a strong supporting cast | Learning Parrots

 

[riosmama]

thank you everyone for the great advice on my little rio. I sat by his cage yesterday and sang him songs. he really seemed to enjoy that. I will be sure to ask more questions when they come up and I do agree with kiwibird. I was astonished that she would catch a bird like that working in a pet store.

 

[riosmama]

I got rio to get some seeds from my hand. I am so excited that he did that. we will keep working on it.

 

[riosmama]

I got my little rio to actually take seeds from my fingers. He is allowing me to get closer to him. I am gonna take it slow with him because he still scares easily.

 

[Katiejayne]

Glad to see you are making progress with him, it can take some time and patience but ul get there eventually you've been given some good advice further up so just keep going wih that

 

[MonicaMc]

Any progress is good progress. Hopefully he will settle in and become less afraid.

 

[riosmama]

is it ok for my conure to almost be infatuated with himself in the mirror?

 

[MonicaMc]

Birds who are bonded to their image shelf may become aggressive to others. Birds don't realize they aren't looking at another bird, and this can cause behavior issues to arise, especially if you ever plan on adding more birds in the future.

Mirrors are not recommended.