What should I do?

[caliopi]

I am after some advice. Last year when I first decided the time was right for me to fullfil my desire to have a parrot I made a huge error and bought what I believed was a hand raised king parrot. After we received him I discovered he was not hand raised at all and had never lived inside and was never going to be the companion bird I so wanted.

I still love Boo and he is a treasured member of our family however I feel so bad each day when I feed him to see him in the avairy outside all alone except for the pigeons that come to pick the excess of his food that he throws out and the left over seed that I leave for them.I have tried to buy a female to keep him company or even another male but had no success and I hate him being there all alone when I know they are a flock bird.

So feeling awful especially when Puffin gets so much attention ( I take Puffin out to see Boo twice a day when I feed him and Boo looks at Puffin sitting on my shoulder and sometimes I swear he is thinking "I wish I had the guts to get that close to her" I thought maybe I should give him away to someone who is looking for a King Parrot and has other kings he could bond with.

My husband wants to keep him and keep trying to find a companion for him but I don't want him to be alone for another couple of months or longer. So my question is, what would you do?

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Tough decision. Though if it were me I think I'd keep him and work on bonding over time. It sounds like he had a great home there - he gets to interact at some level with Puffin and the pigeons (sounds like a 50s rock band). I doubt you'd find a home for him that could do any better.

You describe what you've done to try to find him an avian friend, but what have you done to work on having him bond with you? 'Taming' a hand raised parrot is easier that a wild one, but either can be done.

 

[antoinette]

A agree with AD, rather try and bond with the bird, than him going to another home.

Came across a great link, with great info, pertaining all you need to know about the Eclectus Parrot King. So many wonderful tips and advise given. Sure this will be help to you.

BirdsnWays - Articles & FAQs on pet birds, pet parrots & exotic bird species - Eclectus, Finches, Loris, Lovebirds

You mentioned that he has never lived inside.....
A suggestion, would you consider having him in the house in a smaller cage, just for short periods, for the bonding purpose?

Keep us updated, with whatever you decide.
Either way, we are all here to support and help one another.
Good luck

 

[caliopi]

Thanks for the info. Just to clarify Boo is an Australian King Parrot not an Eclectus king Parrot, if he was an eckie training would be easier. King Parrot

I have spent the last year trying to bond with him so he would hand feed but the second he sees me coming to the avairy he flies off to the perch that is the furtherest away and he won't go near his food until I have walked away. Once I leave he starts singing and it's like a "thank you" song. I would love to keep him but I hate him being alone. Another option would be trying to find another bird that is compatible with him as it is so hard to find female king parrots.

Antoinette, I absolutely would consider having him in the house however I am concerned about the stress I would put on him trying to catch him in order to move him.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Have you ever tried a shaping procedure? If you're not familiar with the term the answer is probably no - in which case I'd be happy to describe it, but before I do all the typing I thought I'd check if it'd been tried yet.

 

[antoinette]

Thanks for the info. Just to clarify Boo is an Australian King Parrot not an Eclectus king Parrot, if he was an eckie training would be easier. King Parrot

I have spent the last year trying to bond with him so he would hand feed but the second he sees me coming to the avairy he flies off to the perch that is the furtherest away and he won't go near his food until I have walked away. Once I leave he starts singing and it's like a "thank you" song. I would love to keep him but I hate him being alone. Another option would be trying to find another bird that is compatible with him as it is so hard to find female king parrots.

Antoinette, I absolutely would consider having him in the house however I am concerned about the stress I would put on him trying to catch him in order to move him.

I salute you for trying almost anything possible.
Read AD reply, see if perhaps it will be of assistance.
Let us know ....

 

[caliopi]

AD I have not heard of the shaping procedure and would be very interested in anything that may help?

 

[Auggie's Dad]

There are other names, but it is the best approach for nearly any phobic / wild / scared animal.

The basic idea is building trust in baby steps. The first day he only needs to be in the same room with you, then less than ~9/10th of the room away, then 8/10, etc etc....

So to start I suppose it'd be good to know a little about this aviary he's in. Is it more like a flight cage, or is it a substantial aviary that you can walk into? If it's the latter the first step would be to pull up a chair in the aviary and read a book right after putting his food out. If it is the smaller sort then have the chair outside the aviary but close enough to see you.

Either way you should be far enough away that he's willing to eat, but close enough that he knows you're there.

Try not to react in any way to anything. Just sit their minding your own business. He needs to learn that it is safe to be in the same area as you.

After a couple days of this, move your chair a little bit closer (little = inches!)

Each day move just a little closer. Put his food out then sit and do some reading, or thumb-twiddling ... but don't pay much attention to him - certainly don't look directly at him.

Eventually you'll be putting out his food (in some sort of bowl I assume) and you'll be sitting right next to him while he eats. At that point you can start talking quietly to him ... but perhaps not even TO him, just near him. Again don't try to look directly at him much, just talk a bit - maybe start reading the book aloud.

Further steps from there would be to work up (similarly gradually) to holding the bowl of food, or holding some of the food itself as he eats.


This is a simplistic overview - but this sort of technique works incredibly well. It takes a bit of patience, you won't see a change over night. In fact it is much like watching a kid grow up: you never notice a change from one day to the next, but after a period of time you'll look back and be astounded at how much has changed. In the case of socialization with an animal it luckily does not take years, but it may take weeks.

Tell me a bit more about the aviary set up and the area around it and I can give more specifics. Also I'd stress again that this is just the general outline - there WILL be problems along the way. Keep me informed and I can help solve them. Training is always an interactive process or problem solving - there is never one prescription that will just 'work' perfectly the first time.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

In fact depending on the layout of the aviary what I described may not be the best way of doing this. Rather than putting his food in the same place and gradually getting closer to him it's better, if possible, for you to sit in the same place every day but have his food bowl getting closer and closer to you.

It's a subtle but important difference. It's less about teaching him to tolerate your invasion of his space than it is an encouragement for him to come out of his comfort zone.

 

[caliopi]

Thank you so much AD!

The avairy is more like a flight cage and it is positioned close to the rear of our house and next to our outdoor entertaining area ( paved courtyard) where we sit on most summer nights for a few hours in the evening and on weekends my teenage daughter sits with a few of her friends so it would be very easy to incorporate the chair part of the procedure. The food bowl part may be more difficult as the food trays are in a fixed holder in the cage but there is a basket close to the door that I could use. I usually use this to place treats in like a corn cob or larger whole fruits for him to eat.

We chose this location for the cage as he gets the most protection from the sun and wind and it is close to the house so we get to be around him when we spend time outside. I think I would get my husband to turn the cage around though if we do this procedure as he would then be facing the courtyard fully rather than just one side of it facing us.