Taming Azure, Indian Ringneck, WITHOUT Clipping Or Upsetting Her
I’m trying to be quiet in this video to not throw Azure, our new Indian Ringneck (IRN) off…
Got her for my IRN. Well, pluck me!
I wanted Azure to be a “he” and he aint!
And I wanted my IRN to have a companion, but so far, she isn’t having it!
Anyway… I’m working on taming Azure. Ah, parrots! You never know with them… So, to tame Azure, I brought her into a “safe” room – no other parrots. A room for her to hang out in as I work on my computer. She was doing fine and hanging out on a perch, but she jumped off. I approached her and she jumped onto my shoulder. Pretty sure she didn’t mean to come to me! I took advantage though, and let her hang out on me and discover that I’m not THAT bad! LOL
Azure has a damaged wing. The avian vet did an x-ray and said that she may be able to fly some, but the injury isn’t new and scar tissue has formed. Nothing we can do now.
It’s a shame, but Azure need not worry. She doesn’t have to be able to fly and she can fly a little. I have seeds for her to try to give her a wonderful experience she’ll want to repeat, and we’re giving her lots of time. Taming this way requires patience on our part because it’ll take days of several hours stretches to break her current fear-based perception.
She’s already relaxing some. I’m pleased that she hasn’t tried to bite me, while sitting on my shoulder– not that I’m offering my finger or doing anything to surprise, agitate or push her. Instead, I’m letting her relax into a new experience and begin to bridge a connection to people.
Holding “it” isn’t good for humans or parrots. There is talk about potty training being unhealthy for your parrot because encourages them to hold it and not release. True or not, I think the take-away is that you need to make sure your parrot is healthy.
Parrots Poop Often
The smaller the parrot, like a Lovebird or a Parrotlet, the smaller the poop and the more frequent. The bigger the bird, the less often they poop — but when they do, watch out! We sometimes call them “Elephant poops!”
Regardless of size, parrots have a natural inclination to poop and not get themselves dirty. They tend not to walk in their poop or do anything to get themselves dirty. Use this in training your parrot.
Parrots Get It
I find that my flock is intelligent. They seem to know what I’m doing and why I”m doing it, most of the time. They take cues well and, for example, my Yellow-naped Amazon will spend an hour or two on me as I watch a movie or take a nap, and she’ll wait until we get up and go to a perch to poop. Most of the time. The times she doesn’t, it’s often my fault.
A Poop Perch
The part of my flock that I aim to train has a “poop” perch. This perch does not have food and water for them. It has one purpose only.
I don’t train most of my flock. My Macaws, for example, don’t poop on my husband or I. They don’t poop often and they get off of us when they need to poop. This means that, if you have a clipped parrot, they wont’ be able to choose to get off you to poop.
In that case, you may want to do what my daughter does with her Green-cheeked Conures: she puts them on their poop perch every 15 to 20 minutes – even though their wings are not clipped. She doesn’t pick them back up until they have pooped.
This is interesting because this means that some of our parrots aren’t “trained” to poop on command, but are encouraged to poop in a certain area – and they are taught they will be given “poop” breaks at predictable times.
Parrots like patterns and predictable behaviors and routines.
Have a questions about parrots?
As the author of “The Parrot Bliss Bond,” I love and welcome questions about having a parrot and creating one of the best experiences of your life!
When it comes to a parrot that you have rescued or otherwise acquired as an adult, especially one with an unknown past, well… it’s like a box of chocolates. You never know if you’ve gotten something sweet and loving, scarred and afraid or mean…
Well, our Orange-winged Amazon (a name I don’t understand, he doesn’t have orange on his wing) is gorgeous! We’d given him a name, but he quickly corrected us, calling “Tiko” Tiko had taken to my husband, which is why we brought him home, but at home he was reserved and non-engaging.
To Tame Or Not To Tame
In some ways, he’s perfect in our flock. With a parrot like Tiko, I feel you have to decide whether you want to try to bring out the cuddly and engaging side of your parrot or whether you are happy to let them just have a safe, loving home.
Tiko used to have a cage, but I lean towards an open-door policy whenever possible. Tiko enjoyed this policy and would come out of his cage, but still didn’t engage. He’d talk some and would sometimes bow his head for my husband to pet him as he warmed up, but that was about all the human interaction he would take.
Because I have a flock with over a dozen species of parrots and because I breed Parrotlets (and a few other parrots), and have parrot pets, it works perfectly for me that Tiko just likes to hang out in the bird room. He is currently cage-less. He spends his time on his perch, which has food and water for him, or on top of another’s cage. He is great about not disturbing other parrots and getting along with the other cage-less parrots, like my Cockatiel and Lovebird.
I encourage Tiko to engage with me, talking to him or responding when he talks first. I give him the hand signal for skritches, which he agrees to by bowing his head, or disagrees to by ignoring me. If he is in a bind, because he flew away from his area and got stuck upstairs or some place like that, then he will allow he to offer him a ride back to his area, stepping up. But only when he’s in a bind.
It’s been a couple of years and Tiko is getting more comfortable. With a parrot like him, like I said, you either let him slowly work out his discomfort or you can work to tame them. I’ve let him take his time because there’s no reason to push him. I’m happy to let him be a parrot doing parrot things.
How I Handle My Timid Amazon Parrot
We have given Tiko a space in the bird room to do his thing. We offer attention, verbal and pets, when he’ll take them. I sign to him and praise him often, but otherwise we like to ensure, as best we can, that he can feel that this is a safe and secure place for him.
Safety and security are the first thing any creature must have to relax and come out of their shell. They must have it to maintain physical well-being and to try to bring back their emotional well-being. So, we are letting Tiko find his safe space so that he can come forward on his schedule.
Have a questions about parrots?
As the author of “The Parrot Bliss Bond,” I love and welcome questions about having a parrot and creating one of the best experiences of your life!
Yes, generally a parrot from an exotic bird store is tame and friendly. That is one advantage to getting your fid from a shop. However, sometimes it takes a little while to sell a parrot and they don’t always get handled and loved while they wait. So, they can ‘forget’ how to be tame.
You can re-tame them, especially if they have been hand fed. It just takes time and dedication.
Decide how quickly you want to tame your parrot. The more time you spend with your parrot, the faster the taming will go. When I’m taming a parrot, I try to spend 6 hours a day with them. For that time, I have them either on me or at least in my proximity. They can be near by on a perch or on my shoulder (shoulder is only for a small parrot or one I don’t think will bite/hurt me or my ear or face).
One problem people run into is that they only spend a little time with their un-tame or less tame parrot and then give up because the parrot isn’t being friendly. That is discouraging and doesn’t work out. On the other hand, if you spend hours and hours with your parrot for five days, you will see a drastic improvement (or at least I have – it also depends on the parrot’s history and age).
Be persistent – parrots are very flock-oriented and mine always seem curious about people. The more time I have to spend with them, the more they bond and enjoy my company.
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Have a questions about parrots?
As the author of “The Parrot Bliss Bond,” I love and welcome questions about having a parrot and creating one of the best experiences of your life!
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Reading Basic Body Language In Parrots: Harry, Senegal Parrot
“Is that a happy fluff or an angry fluff? Can I pet him or not?”
Your Parrot Communicates Whether He Talks Or Not
That’s right, Harry my male Senegal parrot, communicates with me even though he doesn’t use English words.
All parrots tell you when they are angry, getting ready to bite and even hungry. The problem is that a beak, not hard enough to be a bite, can be “I’m hungry, give me seeds!” or it can be “Get away!”
How can you tell the difference? I got tired of asking my daughter, who is a natural parrot whisperer, and then having her say, “I knew he was going to bite you. He was fluffed up.”
Ugh!
Basic Red Light, Green Light
Humans are very complicated beings and can be complex in their communication. Its not to say that parrots are simple in comparison, but think of it that way. Generally speaking, you’ll have an easier time understanding what your parrot is communicating if you don’t think of their communication as complex, but simple.
Just think of them as giving you a red light or a green light.
They are either warning you, being defensive and trying to remove themselves from your immediate space or they are engaging you, approaching you and seeking your affection and attention.
Red Light Means “No”
I don’t know Harry’s history, but I’m guessing that he was hand-fed but never really handled. He doesn’t know how to step up and tends to want to be left alone. Harry is untame.
Harry’s red lights are obvious: tonight he furrowed his brow and the feathers on his head were standing up!
As if Harry were in the army and standing at attention to salute his captain, when he is showing me a red light, he’s at attention! His chin is elevated, his shoulders are stiff and he looks like he’s standing straight up.
Any parrot will also communicate a lot to you by their position in their cage. When they are as close to you as they can get from within their cage, they want come to you – and have come as close as they can. Green light.
When they are in the back of their cage almost trying to be invisible, they don’t want to engage; sometimes they don’t want to be seen! Red light.
And, in case some of their posturing or positioning isn’t clear enough, parrots will also start to communicate a red or green light with their beak. A beak aimed up at you and open is ready, like an alligator, to chomp down! Bloody-red light!
On the other hand, a relaxed beak looks like a hook in the sense that your parrot’s beak will likely be curving down – since it’s not in a defensive position. Their body may be relaxed, not perfectly upright, and their wings may ‘rest’ a little lower.
Watch Harry Tell Me How I Can Connect
In the video I tell you about how I approach a parrot I’m working to tame. I also point out the body language that Harry is teaching us and, best of all, I show you how Harry lets me know that I have permission, and he wants me to, pet his beak – but really nothing more!
I hope Harry helps you understand your parrot’s body language better so that you have a more positive experience taming your parrot.
After all, one of life’s greatest gifts is bliss, parrot bliss! There is nothing better than having a BFF – a best-feathered-friend. Parrots are companions: they share our meals, they talk to us and can even cuddle — and talk!
Have a questions about parrots?
As the author of “The Parrot Bliss Bond,” I love and welcome questions about having a parrot and creating one of the best experiences of your life!
Whether you have a parrot or another animal, I believe that this can be one of the most special and loving bonds. However, some people have difficulties with their parrots because they either need:
– to be tamed
– to be trained
– to be taught not to bite
It’s not uncommon to have a combination of these problems – an un-tame parrot is likely to bite out of fear.
I believe you can tame your parrot! And improve your relationship so that you both enjoy each other more so.
Taming a parrot requires getting past the emotional charge of fear that they hold. One of the best ways to do this is to work your way through the fear by spending 4 to 6 hours (or more) with them. It’s not to say that you have to engage with them all of that time. Your parrot should have a perch or play area (not their cage) where they can be comfortable, be in “common space” and have food and water available.
Being with you or being on your shoulder for so many hours day after day for a week or two (depending on their age and history – an older or emotionally damaged parrot will likely require more time) should make a huge difference in the level of comfort you both experience.
Keys to help you tame your parrot include:
1) Diet –
Make sure that your parrot ONLY gets seeds/treats when with you. Seeds in their cage, including a seed mix, means your parrots only eat what they want – the seeds, which are like candy to them, and you end up having to buy more food. This is because they don’t get the nutrition they need so they eat more, getting fat, and costing you more money.
Plus, you aren’t special!
Additionally, seeds impede a parrot’s ability to absorb calcium. If your parrot is calcium deficient, this can make them moody and harder to enjoy or tame.
The healthiest diet is about 70% pellets and 30% veggies. A seed-mix diet or an all-veggie diet is not recommended because it is difficult to provide your parrot all of the vitamins and minerals they need.
Keep seeds for special time with you!
2) Have patterns or habits –
Taming your parrot will be easier when you have a couple of things that you always do the same way. They like patterns or habits. For example, when I was taming Gail, my turquoise Green-cheeked Conure, I would get him in the morning every day, keep him on my shoulder and often take him to the park. I put a harness on him to keep him safe. At the park, we’d sit on a bench and I’d take a seed-mix out for him.
He got to the point to where he soon expected me to get him out of his cage in the morning (so he fought me less to come out) and he started to get himself ready for his seeds once I sat on the bench!
Gail became comfortable with me and even cuddled into to me about a week and a half in!
3) Clip their wings –
I’m one of the first people who likes to see the stunning and brilliant colors on a parrot’s wings; I also love watching my Hyacinth Macaw flying, she is majestic. However, when it comes to my parrot’s safety and training, I think that wing clipping is a must. When our parrots are flying into windows and potentially hurting themselves, or going into smaller parrot cages and hurting others, then clipping becomes a matter of safety and security for my flock.
Please be sure to either take your parrot to a groomer who knows what feathers to clip unless you have training yourself, as clipping the wrong feathers can cause your parrot to bleed and, in a worst case, be very seriously injured.
The same is true when I’m training a parrot. An un-tame parrot is unfamiliar with people. They don’t know how people will behave or what they will do, so they feel scared. Even though parrots don’t have their own houses in the wild, they do have territories and a parrot’s cage is his home or her territory. Trying to take an un-tame parrot out of their home is, therefore, a threat to them. A large hand attached to a large animal (the human) is entering their space and trying to take them away. This is why they flee and bite. It is a situation that call for protection, from their perspective, and this gets reinforced when their human tries taking them out of their cage again.
The same is true for us. We mean to be loving with our parrot, but when we try to pick up an un-tame parrot, we are bitten! We may not understand why our good intentions are drawing blood! Now we’re upset, our parrot is upset and when we think about one-another, we immediately feel fearful or attacked. We both have an emotional charge- or a fear-based association to the other.
The way to work past this is to use a glove or a stick to get your parrot out of their cage so that you don’t get bitten. Next, if your parrot’s wings are clipped, it will expedite the process of getting them past the fearful charge because they will have to stay with you or in your proximity. In other words, a parrot’s fear will increase if you get bitten and then don’t try to take them out of their cage again until tomorrow, when the cycle repeats. On the other hand, if you both spend time together and you both experience nothing – meaning that being with you and in your proximity has no negative outcome for your parrot, then your parrot will move past the fear more quickly. In this way, clipping their wings helps move them through their fear more quickly so that you can both start to enjoy each other sooner rather than later.
You can also tame your parrot without clipping their wings, but they tend to fly away and hide. The best place to tame is in a different room than the one their cage is in, but even so, your parrot will have to face her own fear of being with you if she has to stay nearby (or on your shoulder, depending on how comfortable you both are). A perch for her with food, water and a toy will show her that her needs are being met. She will quickly find that you are ‘safe’ to be around.
In addition to this, as you add patterned behaviors, such as feeding her a seed, singing to her and doing a few things that she likes, then she will learn, within a few days, what she can expect and the good things that are coming.
4) 4 To 6 Hours A Day For 2 Weeks
Make sure that you can give your parrot 4 to 6 hours a day for about two weeks. Giving him consistency is a must. You don’t have to engage with your parrot the entire time. On the contrary, it is great for you to both ‘live’ together, meaning that your parrot can play, eat and spend time in his play area while you are spending time doing what you need to do. This is a great way to enjoy his company and let him do his thing, and it allows him to quickly learn that being with you is enjoyable. Be sure to schedule times to engage with him, maybe every hour, so that you are creating positive and fun interactions too.
If you work out of your home, you can spend these hours with your parrot in the evenings. They can participate in your activities: if you take a shower, have them on a perch in the bathroom. If you are making dinner, cut a carrot or another treat and offer it to her, just make sure that you kitchen is parrot-safe. An enclosed kitchen may have smoke and fumes, for example from Teflon pans, that can be harmful or deadly for your parrot. Be sure that your parrot is not in an enclosed space in a kitchen to avoid smoke or other harmful problems. An open-concept kitchen in which the parrot can be away from the oven and closer to a living room is best.
Birds Will Be Birds
Of course, the size, age and history of your parrot will affect how long it takes you to tame your parrot. Parrots each have their own personality, and some are naturally more curious and interested in people than others. A happy parrot who has enrichment (things to stimulate his mind), a clean living space, good food and gets to spend time with you will be a friendly companion that you can bond to.
Have a questions about parrots?
As the author of “The Parrot Bliss Bond,” I love and welcome questions about having a parrot and creating one of the best experiences of your life!
What Do I Do About My New Indian Ringneck Parrot That Bites?
Parrots Are Animals, And Animals Bite
Actually, people do too – but that’s a different psychological world. My good friend was visiting and she was asking about a couple of my parrots and whether or not they bite.
“If It Has A Hookbill, It Bites!”
I respond. Like every other creature, parrots bite in self-defense, because they are angry or because it’s their way of saying, “I said, ‘No!”
What Do You Do With A Parrot That Bites?
In the video I’m addressing a question I received: a person had an Indian Ringneck (IRN) and got a second one. The second one is an un-tame two-year old that is meant, in part, to keep the first company. However, the new IRN bites and doesn’t stop! She’s made the time that the person spends with her IRNs painful.
What to do?
In the video I talk about a couple of options and things to consider:
1 – Is this your parrot’s parrot and, if so, do you want to tame it?
2- Are you ready to spend several hours a day with your parrot? Just being with them makes a big difference.
Parrots Should Be Blissful!
Yes, being with your parrot should be like being with the best of your best friends. Your parrot is like a confidant that is always on your side, always happy to be with you and that talk to you! If you are having problems with your parrot biting, turn that around! Spend time with your parrot and join my Parrot Bliss Flock Group on FB today and learn more about how to tame your parrot: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pbflock/
Your parrot is social and wants to be your best feathered friend! If you have the time and inclination, then you can turn those bites into kisses!
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Have a questions about parrots?
As the author of “The Parrot Bliss Bond,” I love and welcome questions about having a parrot and creating one of the best experiences of your life!
Kalyn hand-raises Indian Ringnecks in West Palm Beach, Florida, handled daily from the start — which is a very different beginning from most biting birds. See the Indian Ringneck page.
2) Have patterns or habits –
4) 4 To 6 Hours A Day For 2 Weeks