Newbie needs help with 2 alexanderine parrots

[Farhana]

Hi i just adopted two alexanderine parrots and they r 10 months old male and female who were raised by a family as chicks.....i never had pets and these birds r my first and i m in love with them they do eat from my hands but they bite badly and i dont know how to train them and make them a part of my family or better to become a part of their family.... Please advise and help me.... Awaiting all ur kind responses

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Alexandrines

Hi and welcome to the forum...I don't know if this will work to get you to the Alex sub forum where someone may better help you.

Jim

 

[Scott]

Welcome to you and your pair of Alexandrines! I am unfamiliar with the species but can suggest some generic tips. How long have you had them? I especially like your respectful desire to become "part of their family." Do you intend to keep them as a pair of companions or breed them?

Developing a close bond relies on trust. This thread shares ideas: http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

All birds can bite. The goal is to minimize and reduce the severity: http://www.parrotforums.com/training/63988-bite-pressure-training.html

 

[1oldparroter]

Click Forums tab at top of page, Under Community you will find Training. Also go to youtube.com in search window put wingsNpaws watch those. jh

 

[Betrisher]

I'm so pleased you have a pair of Alexes! They're beautiful birds and quite intelligent too!

You really need to put a stop to the biting behaviour because those big beaks can inflict some pretty serious damage. My boy, Barney, bit my index finger to the bone on the day I brought him home. Thankfully, he's never done that again, but I'll always remember that special pain. I make sure I don't irritate my birds to the point where they feel the need to bite me.

You say you haven't had pets before, so that indicates you need to learn to watch your birds carefully. When an Alexandrine is angry, it will flatten the feathers to its head and body and 'pin' its eyes down to tiny pinpoints with white rings. It might or might not open the beak slightly to warn you of a bite coming. If you offer your hand and ask it to 'step up', watch what the bird does. If he steps willingly onto your hand, that's great. If he sidles away from you and tries to avoid stepping up, DO NOT force it. You'll need to go back and retrain the step up command so the bird does it willingly and without the need to defend itself by biting.

The first thing you need to do is work out *why* your birds bite. Is it because they're afraid of you? Are they afraid of each other? Is your house noisy with a lot going on (that can induce fear in a young or newly-moved-in bird)? Or, are they biting out of greed or competing with each other for food? Maybe they've just begun biting and now it's become a habit they do for no reason. Whatever, you need to figure out what the cause is. Then, we can work on ways to train it out of your birds' behaviour.

It would be useful if you could let us know some more info about your Alexes. How did they come your way? Were they abused in the past? Or, perhaps, misunderstood and punished or treated badly? Have they had any training at all (eg. 'step up' or target training)? What are they eating and are they receiving enough food? LOL! Sometimes, we old members tend to write novels at poor newbies who just came to ask a question or two, so please let us know exactly where you need the help and we'll try to keep it brief.

I'm certainly not an expert, but my Beaks came from a sort of neglectful home, where they were housed with a large collection of other parrots and lived in a noisy rambunctious environment. They were very nervous at first but with help from my friends here I managed to reach an understanding with them. All it takes is a calm approach where you break the problems down into easy pieces. Do feel free to ask questions: we're all here to help!

PS. Useful hints:
1. Always carry a chopstick when you have your birds out. If necessary, you can offer that for them to bite instead of your hand.
2. Don't seize an Alexandrine by the body or pet it on the back or head. Many of them *really* don't like it!
3. When you offer your hand, offer the back of your tightly-squeezed fist. Birds find it hard to bite that, so you can avoid a really painful nip.

 

[Flboy]

Welcome to you!

 

[Jottlebot]

Hello fellow Alex owner!! You have chosen a wonderful companion bird species.

I would suggest you start by trying to get them to be interested in you. Be the giver of treats. Alex's listen to their bellies!! I personally wouldn't try to handle them in any way until they're indicating that they WANT to be near you. Following you round the cage when you're close to them or landing on you when they're out and flying.

I hope they are not clipped? They'll really be able to choose how close to get to you and when if they haven't been.

Also start to target and trick train them while they're in the cage. It will make it easier to train the step up because they'll already understand that they need to work out what to do in order to get a treat.

Don't feel that not "cuddling" is wasting your time. Being near them and talking to them for an hour or so every day is just as important as scritches and cuddles - actually about 100 x MORE important because I've never been able to touch my Alex's body, but we have a lovely bond and are deeply in love!!!