Training questions for my new Ringneck

[Eralus]

I just brought home a young Indian Ringneck, just off being hand-fed, and I wanted to get some advice for training and socializing him.

Some info to begin, I just brought him home on the 23rd and spent most of the following two days around him. Either handling him when he was feeling social or just being in the room while he was in his new cage. He has adjusted surprisingly well, he flew to my shoulder not long after I brought him home to examine and try some of the veggies I was chopping up. And he had no issue interacting with my partner when she visited either. So far he is not biting, but he is still quite young, is slow to move around his cage, and is still unfamiliar with "Step up" commands.

My question is this: How soon should I start doing training sessions? And beyond simple "Step up" commands, what kind of training should I do with him first? I'm not overly concerned about tricks right now, just trying to get the basics down. Any tips for how to actually do the training would also be appreciated, I'm just operating under the assumption I simply reward desired behaviour with a food treat, which at the moment is corn since he has shown a particular interest in it.

Sorry if this was a bit rambling, happy to answer any questions if I wasn't clear or left something out. Any help is appreciated, thanks!

 

[wrench13]

Start training now. Never too early once he is weaned. IMHO regular training with your parrot is a great way to reinforce your bond with him. These are all suggestions from my experience with Salty. Find that treat the your parrot loves above all others, and that becomes exclusively used for training. we use pine nuts. THey can be cut into small pieces because you dont want to feed a lot of one thing to your parrot, as his training sessions progress. Corn is OK, but loaded with sugars. Try some different type of nuts.

Establish a set time for training to take place every day. Keep sessions short at first, like 5 minutes at first, for 2 reasons. At first his attention span will be short, and you will only have 1 or 2 things to teach him. As you progress with more things, lengthen them. THe other reason is parrots get bored doing the same trick or action over and over. as you add new actions or tricks lengthen the session time. He will understand that this is teaching time and will be eager to learn new things. Parrots have an amazing ability to understand things, which you will be reinforcing. Its very rewarding for you both.

 

[Eralus]

Start training now. Never too early once he is weaned. IMHO regular training with your parrot is a great way to reinforce your bond with him. These are all suggestions from my experience with Salty. Find that treat the your parrot loves above all others, and that becomes exclusively used for training. we use pine nuts. THey can be cut into small pieces because you dont want to feed a lot of one thing to your parrot, as his training sessions progress. Corn is OK, but loaded with sugars. Try some different type of nuts.

Establish a set time for training to take place every day. Keep sessions short at first, like 5 minutes at first, for 2 reasons. At first his attention span will be short, and you will only have 1 or 2 things to teach him. As you progress with more things, lengthen them. THe other reason is parrots get bored doing the same trick or action over and over. as you add new actions or tricks lengthen the session time. He will understand that this is teaching time and will be eager to learn new things. Parrots have an amazing ability to understand things, which you will be reinforcing. Its very rewarding for you both.

Thanks for the suggestions wrench. I'm still learning what kind of foods he prefers since I've only had him a couple of days. So far he has had a massive reaction to corn but that might be due to the sugar. I didn't realize it had a lot of sugar in it, so I might start reducing how much of that he gets daily. As for nuts, so far I've only tried giving him Cashews, which he wasn't overly interested in. I'll try and pick up some more nuts later in the week and hopefully, I'll find something he really likes.

Will it cause problems if training does not occur at the same time every day? Or if a day is missed? I ask because, while I'm on a fairly regular schedule at the moment, I sometimes do shift work and switch between day and night hours.

 

[wrench13]

RE: NUTS, make sure they are not salted or glazed. Peanuts, if offered should be shelled, they can harbor fungi.

Salty and I train every day, except for rare occasions, or days he doesn't want to (which does happen). When I have to skip one, he is PO'd at me the next day. As far as regularity, parrots thrive on this, I find. We do ours at 8:45 PM, after dinner and an hour or so before its bed time for him. LOL at 8:50 if Salty sees that I am not getting ready (clearing the 'training' coffee table off), setting up the toys and tricks for the session, he gets loud and pacing back and forth. If your schedule doesn't allow a set time every day, well what can you do. Is there another family member who can help regularize that? WHen I am out of town, my wife takes over the training session with Salty. He is maybe not as cooperative, but he does do most tricks and it also helps her keep her connection with him.

Honestly I find that he is so receptive to learning during these sessions, its pretty amazing. Last few tricks I introduced he got them in 1 or 2 tries. I just introduced a new one last night, its a rolly toy cylinder with bars in the middle, and I want to train him to stand and balance himself on it. He literally climbed up onto it when I presented it, and got the idea right away. It will take a few more times for him to get the balancing part down, but thats just muscle memory. He knows what I want him to do.

 

[Laurasea]

Silver sage Aviary has articles on IRN
Home - Silver Sage Aviaries

 

[john8terry]

I concur with the above. Let me add that once the skill is learned, turn it into play. Parrots enjoy showing off what they have learned. Lots of praise. Reward treats. Reward the behavior. Smile!

Sent from my SM-J320V using Tapatalk

 

[Eralus]

RE: NUTS, make sure they are not salted or glazed. Peanuts, if offered should be shelled, they can harbor fungi.

Salty and I train every day, except for rare occasions, or days he doesn't want to (which does happen). When I have to skip one, he is PO'd at me the next day. As far as regularity, parrots thrive on this, I find. We do ours at 8:45 PM, after dinner and an hour or so before its bed time for him. LOL at 8:50 if Salty sees that I am not getting ready (clearing the 'training' coffee table off), setting up the toys and tricks for the session, he gets loud and pacing back and forth. If your schedule doesn't allow a set time every day, well what can you do. Is there another family member who can help regularize that? WHen I am out of town, my wife takes over the training session with Salty. He is maybe not as cooperative, but he does do most tricks and it also helps her keep her connection with him.

Honestly I find that he is so receptive to learning during these sessions, its pretty amazing. Last few tricks I introduced he got them in 1 or 2 tries. I just introduced a new one last night, its a rolly toy cylinder with bars in the middle, and I want to train him to stand and balance himself on it. He literally climbed up onto it when I presented it, and got the idea right away. It will take a few more times for him to get the balancing part down, but thats just muscle memory. He knows what I want him to do.

RE: nuts. Are roasted nuts safe? Unsalted of course.
Unfortunately at the moment, I live alone. My partner will be moving in when her lease runs out, but that's still almost a year away. I should be able to keep a regular schedule most days, just not necessarily the same time every day. I'm going to try and start with "Target training". I'm told it's one of the best as an introduction to training since it's super simple. Going to do a session with him a little later this morning, he's just had his breakfast so I'll get him out in about an hour or so.

Thanks for the tips, info, and links! I'm new to all this and appreciate the input.