Need help with new timneh

[Anansi]

One of my eclectus parrots tends to drop his food as well, so I got around this by chopping up his fruits and veggies into smaller pieces. That way, there is less waste when he does drop one of his bits of food rather than the bigger chunk he'd have lost otherwise.

I also want to cosign on what Inger said. Teflon, when heated beyond a certain point, releases a gas that would circulate throughout the entire house. There would literally be nowhere in the entire house (other than a hermetically sealed hyperbaric chamber, on the off chance you have one) that could be counted as completely safe. Teflon cookware is just too big a risk. A time bomb waiting to go off.

Also, sunflower seeds are good as very occasional treats, but nothing more. They are extremely high in fatty content. Seeds in general are no good for them, but sunflower seeds are among the worst offenders. Again, no problem as a treat. But it definitely shouldn't be a significant portion of their diet.

Oh, and a few down feathers floating down are absolutely normal. As for how plucking might look, from what I've heard it does look a lot more aggressive... not to mention that you'd see the evidence on the floor of the cage. Plucking isn't the only type of feather destruction, though. Some birds are aggressive preeners. Others are barbers. And others yet will snip their feathers at the shafts. Always stay vigilant for any signs of such behavior. It can begin for any number of reasons, but once it becomes habit it is notoriously difficult to stop.

 

[Mark51]

Thank you all for all your wonderful and informative replies. There are many things to reply to but I am short for time now so I just wanted to comment on the issue of Teflon. Yes I am fully aware of the dangers. I reasoned that the farther away from the kitchen the better, but it seems the whole house maybe be a risk.. So I will make sure we don't use Teflon and IF absolutely necessary I'll make sure there are several doors closed between Timmy and the kitchen and I'll make sure the kitchen Windows are open to air it out.
Another issue that I'm thinking about is the diet. Timmy in his previous home was on a sunflower seed diet almost exclusively! With an occasional peanut (in the shell) and occasional slice of apple. Very bad diet, I know! And I plan to totally switch him to a MUCH healthier diet soon. However, I thought the first few day I'd give him a bowl of sunflower seeds till he adjusts because I want to make sure he is eating and getting enough food. However, I do feel he will be easy to transition because I have experimented with many vegetables and fruits and nuts and with pellets (from my fingers) and he nibles them and seems to eat at least a bit of each (as opposed to throwing then right away). And today he is actually going to his sunflower seed bowl readily and also going (less frequently but definitely going) to his other bowl that is filled with pellets and a bit of dried fruits and nuts (I had gotten a bag of a mix of dried fruits and nuts from pet shop). To tell you the truth, I am just overjoyed that he is down on his perch today and eating so whenever he is eating I'm staying away because I don't want to scare him and discourage him from eating. So when he is at the bowl with pellets and dried fruits I can't tell exactly what he is preferentially picking out. But from the crunchy sounds u am hearing I think he is actually eating pellets. I have an important question here: when I bought the pellets (a good brand) they had the same pellet in several sizes. African grey was listed as suggested on the small size pellets, but I got the medium size because I thought the larger size would be easier for him to grasp in his foot and eat. However I was not aware they are so hard! So when I give him a pellet, it seems like he crunches it and a big part flies or drops to the ground. And it seems they are quite hard. Do you think the smaller size would be a better choice (easier to eat and less wasting)? It is probably the same hardness but maybe the smaller size would be easier to break up in his beak? It just seems like when he is crunching the medium size it is like a child trying to crunch a hard candy with his teeth!!! Hehe! I'm worried he will chip his beak!!! Hehe! I am probably over thinking this but still I could really benefit from hearing your opinions based on your experiences
Thank you

 

[Scott]

Full disclosure, please understand Teflon is hazardous only when heated to a very high temperature. However, because the potential is irrevocably severe, and cooking error may cause an inadvertent overheat leading to death, most of us avoid Teflon and associated products. True, you may take rigorous precautions, but we are only human. You can peruse this forum and find heartbreaking tragedies under the most innocent of circumstances.

There are many techniques to weaning Timmy from sunflower seeds, perhaps the simplest is gradual reduction in availability. Both from a quantity and duration POV. Perhaps a few minutes of access a few times daily, eventually leading to becoming an occasional treat.

Pellets and sizing are judgmental, obviously we wouldn't give a budgie macaw-sized foods! I have used both medium and large Zupreem Fruitblend pellets with my Timneh, and he manages either. Parrots are terribly wasteful, take a bite or two, drop it to the ground, grab another! Just there nature, so perhaps the smaller size is best. I've noticed parrots are capable of crunching hard pellets with ease, and some will dunk them in water to soften a bit. Makes for a messy water bowl, though not all do this.

 

[Mark51]

I would like to start this post by again thanking everyone for their very helpful replies. I really feel a bit guilty because I feel like I'm not able to actually contribute by giving advise to others, but this being my first parrot, I am in no position to give advise. However, I realize that by sharing my experiences and questions and by getting answers to these questions, I am contributing to other new parrot owners who may be having similar concerns.

A quick update:
Timmy is doing well Seems more comfortable with his new cage and new home. He is eating and drinking from food bowls which is an improvement from when I got him.
He is talking a bit But surprisingly the work he says the most is "Mariam" which is the name of his previous owners wife! That is surprising because out of all the members of his previous family, Mariam was the only one how didn't like him and shouted at him several times to be quiet. After that his owner noticed Timmy 'stopped' liking Mariam and would start throwing his food out of the bowl on to the ground next to the cage. I was told he ONLY did that when Mariam was in the same room.
I was happy that during his first 3 days with me he didn't do that at all. The only thing that worried me a little bit was that sometimes when I'd give him a seed or nut or piece of fruit from my fingers, he would take it and forcefully throw it to the ground or against the cage bars, as if he was giving me attitude! But most times he would take the offered food and eat it. However today I was very disappointed because after uncovering his cage I went into the bathroom with the door open and I started hearing 'sprinking' or 'showering' noises as if he was dropping seeds to the cage floor... when I came into the room I found he had emptied half his pellets bowl (which had been maybe three quarters full) onti the cage floor and also outside the cage on the room floor! I have no idea what caused him to do this! I thought we had ended last night (before covering his cage) on a very good note. He had let me scratch his head for the first time since I got him and he was readily taking treats from my fingers and bowing his head for scratches (I was doing this with him in his cage and sitting on his wooden perch with the front door open. I didn't think that was stressful for him but maybe it was and that is what caused this morning's 'episode' . Unfortunately I didn't see how he was doing it (shoveling the pellets out with his closed beak or picking up a beakfull of pellets and throwing them out). I'm thinking if he was actually picking them up with his beak and throwing them out, there really isn't anything I can do, but if he was 'pushing' them out with a closed beak then maybe by keeping his food dishes less filled it would be more difficult for him to do this because the food would be deeper down in the dish. I REALLY hope this is an isolated incident and not the beginning if a frequent behaviour because the amount of wasted food was huge and the mess around the cage was also huge. This will really be a problem. I'm at work now so I'll have to see when I get home what has happened in my absences. Any ideas or insights from your experience with your parrots?

The last issue I wanted to discuss is Timmy's feathers. His previous owner said he never had issues with plucking and when I picked him up I looked him over and he seemed to have a full set of feathers. However, I noticed his tail feathers (although all there and with full shafts) were not in the best of condition. His previous owner said this was due to his small cage and that the tail feathers rubbed against the bars when he is climbing or hanging from cage bars... At the time I had read a lot about plucking but honestly was not aware of the concept of barbering. After reading more I learned that some parrots barber instead of plucking. So I examined Timmy and discovered that in addition to the tail feathers, there was a small patch on his chest that had feathers that were a bit chewed off (very slightly). I hope with his new home, better diet, all my efforts to try to provide a stress free environment, this will not be an issue in my home. However, in the meantime, how do I monitor whether he is barbering or not? I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between normal preening and barbering (while he is doing it). So how do I monitor? Simply by looking at the cage bottom and if there are no fragments of feathers then I can safely say he is not doing it anymore? Or may it be so subtle that I wouldn't notice anything on the bottom of the cage? Also is barbering/plucking usually a gradual thing or may someone go to work with a good looking parrot (or very mild feather issues) and without warning, come back home to find their parrot totally butchered his feathers due to the music on the radio being a bit too loud (or some other thing that annoyed or stressed the parrot?

Sorry for the long post. I would love to hear your input.

 

[Anansi]

The explanation given by the previous owner might explain the tail feathers well enough. A small cage can often lead to damaged tail feathers. But yes, the damage could also be from barbering, as well. And evidence from barbering would not necessarily be found on the floor, as they are not so much plucking the feathers out by the shaft as scraping them off from the shaft. So most of the evidence would be the sight of the damaged feathering on the bird himself.

As for your question, plucking/barbering is something that can take place either gradually or all of a sudden. Depends on the personality of the bird in question and the nature of the stressor causing the behavior.

Here is a link to a thread about plucking that you might find informative: http://www.parrotforums.com/behavioral/52217-plucking-search-answers.html

Also, you might want to post pics. Some of our members have quite a bit of experience with plucking and barbering, and could weigh in on the likelihood of this being the case with Timmy.

 

[Mark51]

Thank you very much for your reply. I will try to get some good quality photos and post them as soon as I can as you suggested.

 

[Mark51]

Hi, all I am happy to say that with each day that passes I'm making progress with Timmy in terms of building our bond. He seems more comfortable with me and we have been working on stepping up. It is almost impossible to get him to step up off his cage but what I do is i put a chair next to his cage when he is out and sit with my knee touching his cage and lure him onto my lap with treats (doesn't work every time but lots of times it does) and then from my lap I can get him to step up most of the time. One he steps up then he very willingly steps up from hand to hand (it's called laddering, right?). I wanted to ask about clicker training . I plan to start in the relatively near future but in all my reading I can't find the answer to one question I have. I understand how to associate the clicker with treats and then click and immediately give a treat whenever the desired behaviour is performed. But what I don't understand is how long does this go on for? I mean let's say I am using if for stepping up (A random example). Each time he steps up I click and give a treat. But my question is: do I keep giving a treat every single time I click? Or eventually does the sound of the click alone suffice to reward the desired behaviour? (Since in the birds brain the click has become associated with something positive... (the treat). Also, if Timmy learns a certain 'trick' such as stepping up (using clicker training) do I have to keep using the clicker forever? Or after the trick is learned and mastered, rewarding (clicker + treat or clicker alone, if that is the correct way) becomes unnecessary? I would appreciate any help understanding this concept and the correct way to go about it.
Thank you

 

[Anansi]

How long you use a clicker really is up to you. Perfect example, I started out using a clicker and it worked out great. The problem? As time went on I found myself from time to time in situations where he did something right and I was without the clicker to reinforce the behavior.

This wouldn't be a problem for someone more organized than I, but unfortunately I'm that dude who will forget the clicker on a different floor or something. So I transitioned to using "Good job!" or "Well done!" as my reinforcing bridge... as I was far less likely to forget my mouth or lose my voice (though then latter is indeed possible). I found that my voice served me just as well as the clicker did.

You also asked about the necessity of continuing with the treats and the reinforcing click (or verbal bridge, in my case.) Well, as for treats, you do eventually decrease the frequency. But you don't stop altogether. The exception to this, however, are the actions that will lead to the training/rewards sessions. For instance, I don't reward my birds for stepping up at this point. Why? Because they have already come to associate my presence with fun time. Coming to me has become the reward in and of itself (wow, that looks so much more conceited typed out than it sounded in my brain! Lol! But hopefully you know what I mean), so there's no longer any need to reward with a treat.

But other things you should continue to reward. The frequency depends on the difficulty of the task. For instance, my birds recall/target with pretty much 100% reliability. (Flighted recall/targeting for Jolly. Maya still refuses to fly, so walking/climbing recall/targeting for her.) So I'll occasionally reward them going where I ask to reinforce the association. I'll never cut that altogether, because the association must be maintained.

For harder tasks, however, like fetching on command or especially fetching requested ring colors on command, I reward every time. I'm acknowledging the extra effort required for the trick. Also, when I don't reward in that instance they understand that there is something they didn't get quite right the first time around.

Oh, and though you vary frequency of treat rewards, you always use the clicker/verbal bridge for the correct behavior. (Aside from the exception mentioned earlier.) You always want to let your bird know when he's done a good job.

 

[Mark51]

Thank you, anansi, for your reply and very helpful informatiom. It all makes a lot of sense. I have been using treats and a verbal praise (not a clicker yet). I think verbal praise is a much easier 'bridge' than a clicker because as you said you always have your mouth with you however, I do know that a clicker does have some advantages (consistent sound...etc...)
Again thank you for your reply

 

[Mark51]

Hi, all First an update: I am very happy that things are really going in a positive direction in terms of building a bond and Timmy getting used to me handling him We are making a LOT of good progress with stepping up. And he seems to like having head scratches most of the time. A quick question: Today we were practicing stepping up and I had stepped him up to his cage door (treats were used as rewards). I wanted him to step up from the door to my hand but instead he started bobbing his head up and down with his beak open and to my surprise after about 10 seconds of this bobbing he produced some food in his mouth! This is regurgitation that I have read about, right? So is this definitely a good sign that he likes me? I have read it is a sign of endearment or trust. Right? Or could it be for other reasons?
Thanks