I tried coconut oil on her veg supper like you suggested, she definitely ate more than usual, but she did favour the peas and sweetcorn still! Maybe I'll take the peas and sweetcorn out of the mix next time to see whats next in line in her food 'pecking order'... that's a terrible pun, I do apologise! Maybe she'll just squawk at the remaining veg... I'll let you know how it goes! I did find your comments about Bixbys and Jollys food disapproval very amusing. Im glad I'm not the only one getting in trouble for being a bad chef! May I ask, how often can I give Bella the oiled veg? I'm guessing it's not great to give all the time. I have ordered some 'natures harvest soak mix' and 'parrot dinner' (pulses) to soak, as I've found out that the breeder had also been feeding these. Initially when I got her she was eating everything I gave her, but now she's getting super picky, so she wont be getting the right balance of nutrition. So I'll keep trying new things and different combinations. Im sure I'll work out a good balance and routine if I just keep trying.
Hahaha! Puns are quite welcome, here! The trick, btw, with the favored foods is not to put so much of it that she can get herself somewhat full on those bits alone. Especially if the favored food isn't particularly nutritious. (Fortunately for you, pomegranates are quite nutritious. Sweetcorn? Not so much.) Cut them up into small enough pieces that everything is all mixed together. Variety helps in this regard. Here is a typical example of how I prep their food:
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As for how often coconut oil can be used, I personally use it for every evening meal. (I feed 2 main meals per day. One in the morning and one in the evening, with treats given during training sessions between.) Coconut oil is quite healthy for them. But all things in moderation. I only melt a little bit into their food. Maybe a fifth of a teaspoon per food bowl? Enough to whet their appetites without overdoing things.
Violet_Diva said:
I found your comments about 'uncertainty' interesting. I had read that you must act 'confidently', but this flip-side explanation you give makes more sense to me. Maybe I was feeling uncertain in the early days, maybe that's why I got bitten so much! I'm pleased to say that I've never freaked out by pulling away or retracting from a bite with any kind of scary haste or shouting. I've been very accepting of her 'testing the perch' with her beak as I did expect an amount of this. Initially I thought it was best to let her fully express herself as I thought it would help me understand her better. I know one time early on when I tried to get her to step up and she lunged at me, it was probably just because she was enjoying being where she was and didn't want to move. So I guess it's up to me to get her to want to move, I can't believe how motivational treats are! I was wondering: Should treat rewards be given indefinitely for obedience and good behaviour or will verbal affirmation alone be sufficient enough at some point?
Treat rewards don't need to be given indefinitely. Initially they have to be given every time so that they make the association between doing as you ask and tasty goodness. And the treats should always be given in tandem with enthusiastic praise. Eventually the praise will also be associated with treats. At that point you can reward with treats just often enough to maintain the association. For instance, Jolly's recall is now at 99% (that 1% is attributable to times when unfamiliar people are in the house and he's initially hesitant to fly past them to get to me). So I only reward for basic recall on a maintenance basis every once in a while, now that coming to me has become a reward in and of itself. (Hahaha! Just read that last bit over. How conceited does
that sound? "Come to me and I shall reward thee with my very presence!" ROTFL! But y'all know what I mean.) This maintenance of association treating also applies to the "step up", "shake hands" and "go to perch" commands. I do, however, reward every time for the more complex skill sets like fetch, spin, dip or "color discernment" (Basically, color discernment is fetch taken to the next level. Now I place 2 rings of different colors in his treat cup and tell him which color ring I'd like him to fly over to me.
That deserves a treat every time! I've got to get around to doing an updated video of that. Maybe today or tomorrow?)
Violet_Diva said:
I very much enjoyed your videos. My partner was amazed with what you've managed to achieve. I think he's getting more excited about what might be achievable with Bella. I showed him the video of your son calling Jolly over, and I told him "that could be you one day if you put the work in!" I must say I found your videos inspiring. I've been trying to devise a plan to teach Bella colours and shapes. I figured if I got some plain wooden shapes I could request she "touch" a particular shape and then reward her when she does. Then later on it wouldn't be too difficult to introduce coloured ones and just keep rewarding when she's correct. I know I'm probably getting ahead of myself here, but I think it's important for me to plan things out before implementing them in order to avoid confusion, remain consistent and maximise learning potential. I feel like I'm trying to work out how to best work things out, like each learning step needs to be a bridge to another so that each thing learnt aids the understanding of the next thing. If I can teach her to "touch" with her beak, I might be able to teach her "take" where she holds something in her beak. If I can teach her "come here" then I should be able to teach "bring here" using the same vocal tone. It all seems so possible!
Another question: Do you think she could learn by example? Like, if I verbally request my partner 'does a trick', and she sees me giving him the pomegranate reward, would she be encouraged to copy? Now I've written that I feel a bit daft for asking, but it makes sense in my head! I don't know if I 'think parrot' enough, or if I just think I think parrot! <- I hope that makes sense!
I'm very looking forward to spending time with Bella and having fun interacting with her! I will be sure to share any progress or problems in the hope that you may be able to advise me based on your experience. Sorry for rambling on for so long! And thanks again for all your input so far, great stuff!
You are so very welcome! It's my pleasure, especially since you are asking all the right questions.
I'm so glad that you and your husband found the videos inspiring. Eclectus parrots are such special birds and so very intelligent. And the thing is, once you awaken their love of learning new things that eagerness takes on a life all it's own! Jolly and Maya - and Bixby (eclectus) and Suzie (cockatiel) before them - inspire me with their intelligence and the continual revelation of their increasingly colorful personalities.
Training is not only about teaching them specific behaviors. It's also about bridging the gap in communication between you and your bird. They basically speak an entirely different language, based more on subtle yet complex body language than we are capable of ever fully perceiving. So when you manage to teach them a behavior, they get excited too! Because it's yet another way in which we can communicate with one another.
But I digress. The portion of your quote above, in purple? That line right there showed me that you will probably be a natural when it comes to training. Yes, whenever possible, one learning step should indeed be a bridge to another. For instance, when teaching Jolly and Maya to fetch, I began by simply giving them a colored ring and then holding my hand out beneath them and asking for it. They chewed and chewed away at the ring, but eventually they lost interest and dropped it. Incidentally right into my waiting hand. Once this happened, I praised enthusiastically and rewarded with a favored treat. After a few times the lightbulb went off and they understood that the goal was to drop the ring into my hand. Where was the bridge? Every time I gave them one of the rings, I would say the color of said ring twice. "Blue ring. Blue ring" Why? So they would passively learn the color while I'm teaching them something else entirely. Building the blocks for color discernment even as I'm teaching the basic concept of fetch.
And as for your question about whether birds can be taught by example, I would definitely say yes! Though I would amend that by saying it can make a great teaching aid. I wouldn't rely on it as the main weapon in my arsenal... though some birds can indeed learn solely via example. For instance, (and leaving out the ultimate example of voice mimicry) my dearly departed cockatiel, Suzie, learned to wave as he (yeah, Suzie turned out to be a boy! Lol!) said "Hello, baby!" But this behavior was definitely not due to any training by me! He'd simply picked it up watching us wave whenever we greeted him. Birds never cease to amaze me.
For a more famous example of this, look up Irene Pepperberg and her work with the famous African Grey, Alex. There are videos where she would do exactly as you asked, having a human assistant successfully perform an action the grey had done incorrectly, and then rewarding said human assistant. This served to both teach by example and inspire via competition. Amazing stuff!
See? You weren't daft for asking at all! Rather intuitive, actually.
