Quaker and Tween

[NewQuakerMom]

So my tween (12 yrs old) and I adopted this adorable little quaker parrot bc he just sort of showed up in my neighborhood after a storm, and someone grabbed him and brought him inside bc it was freezing cold outside. They couldn't keep him bc they have too many animals inside, and tried to get a rescue to take him, anyway, long story short, we brought him home. My tween has been begging for a parrot for a year now. Earned the money to buy a giant cage, and toys. Was about a month away from earning the money to buy a parrot, so I figured she'd shown the level of responsibility and so on. Well, she's overwhelmed! I swore from the beginning that this would not be my bird but I struggle every day to remind her to sit with him and talk with him. He is (THANK HEAVENS) a friendly little guy. He seems to like both of us quite a lot, and is happiest with a face approximately 6 inches from his, talking to him or singing to him quietly. She is homeschooled, so she has the time - for now, she wheels his cage to sit by me while she runs around doing her daily scheduled chores and then she'll kind of flit in here and there to talk to him every once in a while. I just think we dramatically misjudged her attention span.
I am trying to make sure she works with him every day with the clicker, and she's managed to clicker train him to follow the chopstick, and get up on a perch with the clicker.. but it's a real challenge.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcome. I told her from the beginning that she would be responsible for the cleaning & feeding and so on bc I am disabled and simply can't do the stuff, lol. She's very very good about chopping him up fresh veggies every morning, and getting him fresh food, and changing his paper and all that. I don't even know exactly what I'm worried about here, lol, just I guess that she won't bond enough with him and he'll be mine when she goes off to college? LOL!
Anyone with kids & birds and suggestions would be welcome!!

 

[Laurasea]

This will be your bird. College, moving, social life and activities. Young ones just arebtvst the best time in their life to have a parrot child. Hopefully you can manage with your disability, .
There is no reason you can't both bond with the bird.

Parrots are to much like children, and so children having children usually doesn't work out....

!

 

[NewQuakerMom]

I'm not really asking what's going to happen 10 years from now, but more to the point of ideas for people who have kids to get the two interacting more.

Today, he's been really keen on having her scrub the back of his neck, which has done wonders for her interest, lol, she's spent most of the day so far sitting and talking to him and scritching his neck. Perhaps she just needs to bond with him more.
He calls for her when she leaves the room for more than a few minutes. He calls her by our dog's name, haha!! But he gets that 'this is what you yell when you don't like what someone is doing' (Our dog is outside only, and I say her name emphatically (not yelling, but scolding) when she starts digging in my roses, or eating the chicken poop, or whatever)

 

[Inger]

Have your daughter start doing some clicker training (you don’t have to actually use a clicker, voice works) and teaching him some tricks. It might make him more interesting, and if he is a fast learner, which is sounds like based on the dog name thing, it will be very rewarding very quickly.

FlockTalk on YouTube has great trick training videos. She has parrotlets but I think the techniques would work for any bird. Have your daughter start with target training (which is going to be useful in a million situations anyway) and move on from there.

Just as a precaution-are you aware that nonstick cookware, candles, smelly stuff, and chemical cleaners are all a big no-no? Deadly, in fact. And interacting with other pets that are predators is also a very bad idea.

Also could you make his care/training part of her home schooling?

Finally, the fact of the matter is that he may be your bird, as Laurasea said. Now, 10 years from now, or both. As our kids grow into their teens, things other than home and family become important, as they should. Pulling away is a normal developmental stage. You may be the one called upon to care for the bird because it simply won’t be possible for her developing brain to grasp the importance.

Glad you’re here asking for help. Please stick around and share pictures of the bird and his progress!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[NewQuakerMom]

Yes, we put away all the candles, have only used stainless steel for umpteen years, and use lemon/baking soda/salt for cleaning everything except the toilet - and I have an air purifier with hepa filter running in his room and all doors closed when I clean the toilet at the other end of the house, lol. We're being super careful with his environment.
We do have a cat indoors, but she's not allowed in the room (door shut) when he's out, or in the room at all if he's alone. We're both very vigilant about this. Kitty is not trying to get at him, she sleeps in the sun all day, and on my bed all night. Lazy kitty. But if she were in a room with him, I'm sure it'd be different, so I'm keeping them very separated.

She's been clicker training him to touch the end of a chopstick. Finally got to the point where he'll get on a t-perch for her, which is awesome. Now to get him to get on a perch without biting the living daylights out of it, haha - because eventually he should be stepping on fingers/hands, and I don't really want my hands all bit up, haha! Teaching tricks is a good idea for both of them, I think. He doesn't play with any of his toys - so until she can teach him to play with them or not be scared of them, all he has is what we find he likes. He really likes to rip paper out of books - not plain paper, or newspaper, has to be out of a book. (Preferably a book we're reading, but I won't let him have that, hah) sSo I got an old book we were going to donate to goodwill and we attached it to the outside perch on his cage, so he can sit there and demolish it to his hearts content while we're reading. Also he likes to rip up playing cards, so I keep a few extras from a deck missing cards next to me and if my tween and i are playing cards, I put one of the extras in my hand sticking way up and 'accidentally' let him sneak up and take it, haha. He thinks he's getting away with something and has a ball biting bits out of the card.

I need to get more pictures from my phone on the computer. I have a million on my phone, lol! I will post some later on. Thanks for your feedback!