New Alexandrine owner

[bonnie.bon]

Hi!
My name is Miruna, I am a very new bird parent, I never ever had a bird. I bought 2 big alexandrines, aged 5 months, female and male.
It's their 3rd day in my house, and they seem active and happy, but I am still freaking out because I don't know if I'll do anything wrong..and screw it up or something...I bought a pretty large cage, lots of toys, I fed them vegetables,fruits, and a seed mix from the pet shop... they only have wooden toys which they chew a lot. They aren't noisy at all, but i noticed that in the evenings, somewhere between 4-6 pm, they give 1 or 2 minutes of sounds, i mean like a scream but not in terror or anything, they seem pretty relaxed when they do it. Maybe it s just their normal sounds, right?
Anyway, i managed to feed them directly from my hand, the male lets me touch its beak, and head a little bit, although i didn't train them to leave their cage yet...
They have their own room, I control the temperature and humidity, temperature between 20-24 Celsius , humidity around 40%... Any advice for a good relationship and bonding with them?
Thank you in advance !

 

[foxgloveparrot]

Welcome, Miruna and your alexandrines! Congrats on becoming a parront! I am glad you are worried about caring for them improperly, it shows you really care about them. However you do seem like a good owner, so don't worry!

For your taming question:
https://www.parrotforums.com/threads/tips-for-bonding-and-building-trust.49144/

I hope you learn a lot from being here and enjoy the forums!

 

[bonnie.bon]

Hi guys, this is their cage, you think is big enough for the moment?
I think about buying a much bigger one after some months,when they will get bigger

 

[Flboy]

Hello and welcome!
That cage looks pretty good! For sure, get some natural wood perches! Only round dowels are bad for their feet!
The cage appears to be on the floor? They will feel safer if you can get them higher!

 

[Laurasea]

Hello and welcome to the forum!! Congratulations on your new friends!

The cage does need to come off the floor. Tge common recommendation is to have length be 2.5 of your birds standing with wings outstretched , and width to be 2 of your birds with wings outstretched
size is not bad, pretty darn good, , and if you have your birds out for most of the day and only caged when you aren't home and at night it great. Bigger is always better of course,
Definitely need to add some different perches, and some wide ones to support good and spread weights . Most people don't offer a few wide enough perches. So at least have 2 that are as big around as when yiu make the ok sign snd spread the pointer finger and thumb apart 2 inches. Or even a larger one is fine, lol you almost can't go to big, my budgies love to sit on logs best. I try to have only one perch that goes all the way across, the rest are varied lrngth that gives them staggered jumping options and can maximize cage spsce use.

You want a selection of chew types, some stuff easy to bite off chunks and stuff that's much harder. Coconut shells, yucca chips, safe wood of different hardness.

On toys, offer at least one of each type , a noise maker, a foot toy, a chew on type, a foraging type, and a movement type something with moving parts they can manipulate, like beads or hoops that slide around, or knots they can untie, or a toy tied thst they have to pull up to chew on.

This covers a lot of normal bird body language and behavior, and farther down covers basics if screaming, bites, ect.

Pet Bird and Parrot Behavior – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.

Pet bird and parrot behavior information.

lafeber.com

Foraging!! Great fun!!@ often you have to teach them and start easy till they get the idea. I like doing it together for fun and play, but I always set up some stuff in the cage, and do this with a small part i
of their diet.

Target training

 

[bonnie.bon]

Hello and welcome to the forum!! Congratulations on your new friends!

The cage does need to come off the floor. Tge common recommendation is to have length be 2.5 of your birds standing with wings outstretched , and width to be 2 of your birds with wings outstretched
size is not bad, pretty darn good, , and if you have your birds out for most of the day and only caged when you aren't home and at night it great. Bigger is always better of course,
Definitely need to add some different perches, and some wide ones to support good and spread weights . Most people don't offer a few wide enough perches. So at least have 2 that are as big around as when yiu make the ok sign snd spread the pointer finger and thumb apart 2 inches. Or even a larger one is fine, lol you almost can't go to big, my budgies love to sit on logs best. I try to have only one perch that goes all the way across, the rest are varied lrngth that gives them staggered jumping options and can maximize cage spsce use.

You want a selection of chew types, some stuff easy to bite off chunks and stuff that's much harder. Coconut shells, yucca chips, safe wood of different hardness.

On toys, offer at least one of each type , a noise maker, a foot toy, a chew on type, a foraging type, and a movement type something with moving parts they can manipulate, like beads or hoops that slide around, or knots they can untie, or a toy tied thst they have to pull up to chew on.

This covers a lot of normal bird body language and behavior, and farther down covers basics if screaming, bites, ect.

Pet Bird and Parrot Behavior – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.

Pet bird and parrot behavior information.

lafeber.com

Foraging!! Great fun!!@ often you have to teach them and start easy till they get the idea. I like doing it together for fun and play, but I always set up some stuff in the cage, and do this with a small part i
of their diet.

Target training

Target training

Ohhh, thank you so much for the great piece of info , you are great! ❤
As a new parront I am a bit anxious about doing everything perfect for them. Today I'll search for some new perches since this plastic ones suck, and are way too easy for them to break down and get scared.
I'll search for some wooden bigger ones in some brico store around my place.

And as for the 'out of the cage' part, I am struggling to get them out because I don't want to push it if they don't want to.

An (the male) tends to bite me whenever i put my hand in the cage even with food. He doesn't bite agressively, but he bites hard and quick .
Anyway, I think about getting them out with stick play and seeds maybe today..It's their 6th day in my house and they aren't scared of me anymore, when I enter the room they act pretty happy and come to me, I give them food through the bars.
But they don't want outside the cage

 

[bonnie.bon]

Hello and welcome!
That cage looks pretty good! For sure, get some natural wood perches! Only round dowels are bad for their feet!
The cage appears to be on the floor? They will feel safer if you can get them higher!

Heyy! Thank you very much for your attention ❤❤
I def need to find some nice wood perches

 

[bonnie.bon]

Soo guyz
I moved them higher as you suggested
But I am having a hard time changing their perches. They literally go MAD when i try to put any perch or toy inside their cage. Fly and scream.
Any suggestion ?

 

[Laurasea]

All burds tend to freak when you bring stick "snakes " and hands " claws" into cage.
Take the cage to a bedroom, SHUT DOOR, have blinds or curtainsacross window( they can learn window, but at first you might have panic flights, and you can't take them around on a tour tapping wind yet. Its time to start having them come out of cage in a controlled environment, since they are new to you and you to parrots. I'd attach perches to the outside sides and top, so they have a place to climb out too. Then yiu can set up cage as you like while they are out. but you need to plan on all of this first outside of cage to take time. Ideal is you open door and wait and hang out till they come out on own. And hopefully have some type of Playstation or perch area they can climb over to letting you mess Wirth cage.
If/when panic flying happens, hold still and wait till they land. When they land yiu can talk to them and walk over calmly and normally don't look like a stalker. And offer your hand. Most birds want to be saved and will step up even if haven't before because your hand arm is a perch higher than they are. But if you walk over and they freak out again, you wait again and repeat when they land. They will tire pretty fast and will be able to get them. Or you can use a shirt wide sturdy perch to offer to them to step up. Or if all of that just isn't working. Then ignore them, put lots if yummy stuff in and on cage, go sit away from cage, and they will work their way back to cage. Might take a couple of hours. Don't be between them and the cage. If needed you might have to have lights on around cage and rest if room dark, as birds will move towards the light. Stay calm. They get better and better about understanding returning to the cafe, and if course you be getting better st working with them.

I was able to do this with 3 untamed flighted budgies . It really only took a few days to get them to return to cage when asked. It took some herding, staying just at edge of their flight distance response, stopping and praise when ever they moved towards cage, and taking a step tiwards them when they stopped, always using the same phrase, lots of millet waiting for them , abd a lit of patience at first. I pout stickers all over windows after a few days of blinds and curtains to help them learn.

When I got my terrified of hands quaker, I used the same technique to have her return to cage. I wanted her out, I wanted her engaged, and I think its easier to work with them outside of the cage. We are buddies now but she still puts herself up whenever I point to her cage and tell her time to go back. Infacr she hates fir me to take her to chafe wants to do it herself!! And she always does whenever I ask, I still praise her lavishly and give a treat .

Then you can put cage back in its place. Or makeeverything safe and cover windows, and try right where you have the cage now.

 

[bonnie.bon]

All burds tend to freak when you bring stick "snakes " and hands " claws" into cage.
Take the cage to a bedroom, SHUT DOOR, have blinds or curtainsacross window( they can learn window, but at first you might have panic flights, and you can't take them around on a tour tapping wind yet. Its time to start having them come out of cage in a controlled environment, since they are new to you and you to parrots. I'd attach perches to the outside sides and top, so they have a place to climb out too. Then yiu can set up cage as you like while they are out. but you need to plan on all of this first outside of cage to take time. Ideal is you open door and wait and hang out till they come out on own. And hopefully have some type of Playstation or perch area they can climb over to letting you mess Wirth cage.
If/when panic flying happens, hold still and wait till they land. When they land yiu can talk to them and walk over calmly and normally don't look like a stalker. And offer your hand. Most birds want to be saved and will step up even if haven't before because your hand arm is a perch higher than they are. But if you walk over and they freak out again, you wait again and repeat when they land. They will tire pretty fast and will be able to get them. Or you can use a shirt wide sturdy perch to offer to them to step up. Or if all of that just isn't working. Then ignore them, put lots if yummy stuff in and on cage, go sit away from cage, and they will work their way back to cage. Might take a couple of hours. Don't be between them and the cage. If needed you might have to have lights on around cage and rest if room dark, as birds will move towards the light. Stay calm. They get better and better about understanding returning to the cafe, and if course you be getting better st working with them.

I was able to do this with 3 untamed flighted budgies . It really only took a few days to get them to return to cage when asked. It took some herding, staying just at edge of their flight distance response, stopping and praise when ever they moved towards cage, and taking a step tiwards them when they stopped, always using the same phrase, lots of millet waiting for them , abd a lit of patience at first. I pout stickers all over windows after a few days of blinds and curtains to help them learn.

When I got my terrified of hands quaker, I used the same technique to have her return to cage. I wanted her out, I wanted her engaged, and I think its easier to work with them outside of the cage. We are buddies now but she still puts herself up whenever I point to her cage and tell her time to go back. Infacr she hates fir me to take her to chafe wants to do it herself!! And she always does whenever I ask, I still praise her lavishly and give a treat .

Then you can put cage back in its place. Or makeeverything safe and cover windows, and try right where you have the cage now.

All burds tend to freak when you bring stick "snakes " and hands " claws" into cage.
Take the cage to a bedroom, SHUT DOOR, have blinds or curtainsacross window( they can learn window, but at first you might have panic flights, and you can't take them around on a tour tapping wind yet. Its time to start having them come out of cage in a controlled environment, since they are new to you and you to parrots. I'd attach perches to the outside sides and top, so they have a place to climb out too. Then yiu can set up cage as you like while they are out. but you need to plan on all of this first outside of cage to take time. Ideal is you open door and wait and hang out till they come out on own. And hopefully have some type of Playstation or perch area they can climb over to letting you mess Wirth cage.
If/when panic flying happens, hold still and wait till they land. When they land yiu can talk to them and walk over calmly and normally don't look like a stalker. And offer your hand. Most birds want to be saved and will step up even if haven't before because your hand arm is a perch higher than they are. But if you walk over and they freak out again, you wait again and repeat when they land. They will tire pretty fast and will be able to get them. Or you can use a shirt wide sturdy perch to offer to them to step up. Or if all of that just isn't working. Then ignore them, put lots if yummy stuff in and on cage, go sit away from cage, and they will work their way back to cage. Might take a couple of hours. Don't be between them and the cage. If needed you might have to have lights on around cage and rest if room dark, as birds will move towards the light. Stay calm. They get better and better about understanding returning to the cafe, and if course you be getting better st working with them.

I was able to do this with 3 untamed flighted budgies . It really only took a few days to get them to return to cage when asked. It took some herding, staying just at edge of their flight distance response, stopping and praise when ever they moved towards cage, and taking a step tiwards them when they stopped, always using the same phrase, lots of millet waiting for them , abd a lit of patience at first. I pout stickers all over windows after a few days of blinds and curtains to help them learn.

When I got my terrified of hands quaker, I used the same technique to have her return to cage. I wanted her out, I wanted her engaged, and I think its easier to work with them outside of the cage. We are buddies now but she still puts herself up whenever I point to her cage and tell her time to go back. Infacr she hates fir me to take her to chafe wants to do it herself!! And she always does whenever I ask, I still praise her lavishly and give a treat .

Then you can put cage back in its place. Or makeeverything safe and cover windows, and try right where you have the cage now

Yeey ,thx soo much! I got one out to fly a little bit today❤ All went great! I take him back to the cage on a stick and he seems to be ok with it!

 

[Laurasea]

Fantastic!! Keep it up !@ awesome

 

[bonnie.bon]

Guuuys! He came on my shoulder finally
The female is still pretty scared and skeptical about being friends with me but hopefully she'll get better