Is my bird training me?

[1ststatestereo]

My bird Ringo has been at my house for a week now and he seems to be fond of being outside on top of the cage. When he wants to go out, which is often, he causes quite a ruckus. The worst thing he does is shovels out his food. How can I stop this behavior? Thanks

 

[Alison]

LOL Yes, your bird is definitely trying to train you.

Try using covered crock bowls. There is only room enough for them to put their heads in and pick out the food. That way they cannot empty the entire bowl in 2.2 seconds. I have had to do that with several birds to stop the "lets throw all the food on the floor" game.

he causes quite a ruckus.

If possible, ignore any other things he does. If you acknowledge him while he is in his "GIMME WHAT I WANT" tantrum, you will only reinforce the bad behavior. Good luck.

 

[1ststatestereo]

What I have been doing is covering the cage as soon as he starts revving up his foot. That seems to calm him down. Hopefully he will connect the two.

 

[sunconure]

To answer your food problem...my two suns love playing with their food that way. You can get a covered food crock bowl from www.dr.fostersmith.com or what I do is when I hear they are plying with their food is take the bowl out for about 2 or 3 minutes and put it back. That has really helped me a bit and I don't do it as often anymore....once a week maybe.

 

[Peta]

Bucc is forever throwing his food out of the bowl, but then he's a brat. I now only put enough in there for him to eat, he will soon get the message, The other day, he was in his cage and I could hear him saying "Bucc gooooooood, noooooooooooooooooooo way" there he was throwing the food out and telling himself that he wasn't good. I never ever call him Bad, have to admit it did bring a smile to my face. At least he knows that throwing the food out is not good. lol.

Ignore all the bad behaviour and soon it will stop, I can promise you that. I know from experience. They are a lot like children, throwing tantrums to get your attention, once you give in thats it, they've got ya. Ignore it and they soon realise they don't get the response they want. Good Luck keep us posted.

 

[1ststatestereo]

My bird has been MUCH better the last few days. He will still pace when he wants out, but I think thats okay. There is no more thrown food! Thanks for the advice guys!

 

[Peta]

That is great news, Hmmmmm now if only I could get Bucc to stop lol

 

[1ststatestereo]

Well its been 16 days since I brought home my first "real" parrot and I could not be happier with him. Yeah, he still poops at the worst of times, but we are working on that. The first couple of days I had him I thought I got myself into something I couldnt manage. I am so glad I did not take him back! Im sure that everyone will agree that birds are AWESOME!

 

[Peta]

I think we have all felt that we had gotten into more than we could handle when we first get our birds, I know I did, I'm really glad that you decided to keep him with you. They are the best ever. Bucc is now a year and a half and although he is toilet trained (he goes on his playstand) he still has accidents every now and then. Each time he did I would say to him "Opps, no good" now when he does have an accident he will sit on his playarea and say "Opps, no good" lol. A least I know he's gone and it can be wiped up.

The great thing about the site is that you can always come on and tell if he's done sommat that you are happy and excited about, or if you need advice there is always someone around to help out.

Good luck to you and I hope things continue to progress for you both.:35: