PLEASE don't make this mistake!!!

[StormyPica]

So BirdTricks had been promoting not letting your bird have food all day, so they'll be more motivated to train (because they're hungry). They also encourage people to essentially deprive the bird of food if it's above a certain weight. It's just obsessive and bad for the birds. Picasso, for example, is about 40 grams, while Pepper is about 20. They are both CAV confirmed to be healthy, not obese or underweight.

I mean, it's super dangerous for small birds (like budgies), because they're stubborn, and eat randomly during the day, not all at once... So PLEASE don't make this mistake and starve your birds so they get the "perfect weight" or anything like that. There are other problems with BirdTricks, but they're not nearly as detrimental as this one. I'm open to discussion on this, but I just wanted to make you all aware.

 

[ravvlet]

This is 100% correct, especially for smaller birds. Also always, always monitor your bird’s weight when changing their diet, even if it seems like a small change! You cannot know how much they are eating if you are not weighing them, especially small birds. That mistake cost us our cockatiel. If your bird suddenly drops in weight, more than 5% of their total weight, call your CAV (certified avian vet), because you never know what could be going on and weight is one of many tools at your disposal to determine a bird’s health.

I would not wish what happened to us on anyone else, ever. There is a lot of bad advice, especially regarding diet, being spread out there with the best of intentions. Bird Tricks are not certified vets, they do not have the training or expertise to speak about avian nutrition, nor do many other popular bird trainers.

 

[wrench13]

Not a fan. Saying it mildly.

 

[Bebe'smom]

REALLY NOT A FAN!!!!!! Saying LOUD AND PROUD!!!!!!!!

 

[StormyPica]

REALLY NOT A FAN!!!!!! Saying LOUD AND PROUD!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately they're good at drawing new parrot owners in

 

[texsize]

I can’t say I approve of their training method or the near scam marketing “there own brand” of food.

but I do watch some of the video.
I like watching the free flight trips.

 

[Cottonoid]

Unfortunately they're good at drawing new parrot owners in

Their production quality and the YouTube algorithm make sure they're seen, for sure. But it's also hard because there aren't a ton of videos out there that are easy to find that demonstrate some training concepts as plainly as some of theirs.

I know a few people who already owned parrots who were inspired to start working on recall and foraging and switching to a varied diet only because they came across BT videos. There are just SO many people that use video format and social media to get their information now, good or bad :/

 

[BirdyBee]

So BirdTricks had been promoting not letting your bird have food all day, so they'll be more motivated to train (because they're hungry). They also encourage people to essentially deprive the bird of food if it's above a certain weight. It's just obsessive and bad for the birds. Picasso, for example, is about 40 grams, while Pepper is about 20. They are both CAV confirmed to be healthy, not obese or underweight.

I mean, it's super dangerous for small birds (like budgies), because they're stubborn, and eat randomly during the day, not all at once... So PLEASE don't make this mistake and starve your birds so they get the "perfect weight" or anything like that. There are other problems with BirdTricks, but they're not nearly as detrimental as this one. I'm open to discussion on this, but I just wanted to make you all aware.

I definitely don't reccomend them anymore. This is cruel.

I understand taking food away for 30min or so before training, but this is the whole day!! Would you starve your child to get them to do what you want??

 

[Squeeing_Onion]

Unfortunately they're good at drawing new parrot owners in

I was definitely one of them!
I was brand new to parrots and trying to find as much research material as I could, and you can guess it, I pretty quickly ended up repeatedly back on their website. I likde the videos I saw and the training techniques, and they seemed like they were very knowledgeable...

...until I started watching older videos and learning more, and realizing they seemed to really only know a bit more about parrots than I did, and mostly only how to direct and shape their behavior.

Since then, I have been trying to find more information from other sources, and this forum is one of my favorite stops for being redirected to good resources, and personal member's experiences.

I was reading a thread on here the other day, discussing people's experiences with Bird Tricks. Someone brought up the fact that they replace already established scientific terms and training techniques with a new name -- such as a time out becoming a "power pause" -- which means that when a new bird owner all excited about training wants to know more about these concepts and theories....

....I am feeling pretty duped and angry and foolish after spending some 6+ years missing a whole bunch of SUPER useful information, exactly what I was looking for, all because I had the wrong keywords to look up!

Now that i've learned what I need to search, I got some great resources on my first few google searches. Right in front of my face this whole time, but I just didn't find them.

I appreciate the fact Bird Tricks has caused some very wonderful impacts -- their training videos certainly helped me understand bird behavior and get to understand and work with my own birds over the years -- but I am not sure if I'll ever trust them again. I like when a trainer is willing to link me to other avian specialists and trainers and such. It tells me they're up to date and engaging with others' experiences for learning as much as possible.

 

[kme3388]

I also like to watch their videos on YouTube. I’d watch any parrot video on YouTube. I just like to learn what I can about them as I have 2 of them.