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Care and Training of Parrots

General Parrot Care
Parrots are gregarious birds that thrive on company and love in general, they do not like to be left alone for long periods and will call for their companion to atract attenion. Their home should be large enough so that they can spread out their wings and not be able to touch the sides of the cage. It should be kept in a room with good ventilation but not draughty as near to the family as possible. Never house a parrot in the kitchen as cooking odours and poisonous gases from non stick pans will do your bird harm. Perches need to be big enough that the birds claws do not meet or cross under the perch. It is better to have perches which are iregular in thickness so that the bird has to move his feet and this helps to prevent problems later. Water and food dishes need to to made of stainless steel or other products that the bird can't destroy. Provide adequate amounts of food to keep the bird healthy, remember to change it regulary, do not leave fresh fruit in to go rotten. Provide a good seed mixture as the basic food with fresh fruit and vegetable, clean drinking water must also be provided every day. Toys can be provided for your parrot so long as they are safe for them. Most birds will try to chew any thing and they will quickly destroy any soft wood articles placed in the cage. I have known where parrots have swallowed soft wood splinters and they have become trapped in the crop causing infections and leading to vet treatments or worse. All birds will want to fly if allowed out of the cage and the home can be a very dangerous place for an untrained bird. Any door or window left open is an invitation for them to escape and once they are outdoors they will not last very long. They do not know where to get food or water, native birds will attack this stranger on their territory and if it is cold and wet they will quickly die from hypothermia. A bird left free to fly in the house can cause untold damage to property, their natural instinct is to chew on everything to investigate all the nooks and crannies they can find. If frightened birds can also fly into mirrors or windows thinking that it is away to escape, birds can break their necks flying into solid objects like this. The parrot will also leave it's droppings under anywhere it perches so it may be better to control him rather than to let it fly free. Wing clipping can be done so that the bird has enough power in it's wings to be able to fly a short distance or be able to stop itself from crashing into the ground and hurting itself. THIS SHOULD NOT BE ATTEMPTED IF YOU HAVE NOT HAD THE PROPER TRAINING. Please take advice from a professional about the effect that clipping will have on your bird.

General Parrot Care

Parrots are gregarious birds that thrive on company and love in general, they do not like to be left alone for long periods and will call for their companion to atract attenion.
Their home should be large enough so that they can spread out their wings and not be able to touch the sides of the cage. It should be kept in a room with good ventilation but not draughty as near to the family as possible. Never house a parrot in the kitchen as cooking odours and poisonous gases from non stick pans will do your bird harm.
Perches need to be big enough that the birds claws do not meet or cross under the perch. It is better to have perches which are iregular in thickness so that the bird has to move his feet and this helps to prevent problems later.
Water and food dishes need to to made of stainless steel or other products that the bird can't destroy.
Provide adequate amounts of food to keep the bird healthy, remember to change it regulary, do not leave fresh fruit in to go rotten.
Provide a good seed mixture as the basic food with fresh fruit and vegetable, clean drinking water must also be provided every day.
Toys can be provided for your parrot so long as they are safe for them. Most birds will try to chew any thing and they will quickly destroy any soft wood articles placed in the cage. I have known where parrots have swallowed soft wood splinters and they have become trapped in the crop causing infections and leading to vet treatments or worse.
All birds will want to fly if allowed out of the cage and the home can be a very dangerous place for an untrained bird. Any door or window left open is an invitation for them to escape and once they are outdoors they will not last very long. They do not know where to get food or water, native birds will attack this stranger on their territory and if it is cold and wet they will quickly die from hypothermia. A bird left free to fly in the house can cause untold damage to property, their natural instinct is to chew on everything to investigate all the nooks and crannies they can find. If frightened birds can also fly into mirrors or windows thinking that it is away to escape, birds can break their necks flying into solid objects like this.
The parrot will also leave it's droppings under anywhere it perches so it may be better to control him rather than to let it fly free.
Wing clipping can be done so that the bird has enough power in it's wings to be able to fly a short distance or be able to stop itself from crashing into the ground and hurting itself.
THIS SHOULD NOT BE ATTEMPTED IF YOU HAVE NOT HAD THE PROPER TRAINING.
Please take advice from a professional about the effect that clipping will have on your bird.

Do you want your parrot to talk to you?
If you do then the best thing to do is to talk to it. Many people are very happy when their parrot repeats the whistle that they have repeated to every day since they got it.Very soon this whistle become annoying and the bird thinks that it is pleasing you when it does it all the more. The best thing to do is start as you mean to go on and talk to your parrot IN A NORMAL VOICE whenever you pass its home. When you first go to your parrot in the morning greet it with " HELLO OSCAR" or whatever you have called your bird and do this every time you go near it. Eventually your bird will say it first as you go into the room, please answer it and this will reinforce whatever you are trying to teach it. There are certain times of day when the parrots are at their best to learn and this is first thing in the morning and at twilight when the parrot is preparing to go to bed. Any time spent talking to your bird morning or evening will be well rewarded. Once your parrot is saying "HELLO" and his name then vary what you are saying to it. Try asking it a question like " HOW ARE YOU?" and then repeating this until it asks you . Then you can answer with" I'M ALL RIGHT. HOW ARE YOU?" this will lead to you haveing a conversation with your bird eventually. If it says some thing that you don't want it to say then totally ignore it, if you rush over and react to the bird by asking it "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY" or laughing at it then the bird will repeat all the more just to get a reaction from you. Please don't teach your bird to swear, it might seem funny at the time but it will make your bird totally unwelcome if you ever try and board it with some one while you go away on holiday. Leaving a radio or television playing while you are out may seem a good idea, but because you do not know what is going on when you are out this can be deterimental to teaching it to talk. Also the bird will react better to you rather than a disembodied voice. Remember what you are doing is teaching your bird the flock language so try not to repeat sounds it makes that are not something you are teaching it. If it whistles please ignore it, when it says something that you have taught then reward it by talking to it. Be kind to your bird at all times , he might get tired very quickly and will get bored if the lesson goes on too long. Treat him as you would a four or five year old child and keep the lessons short and interesting.

Do you want your parrot to talk to you?

If you do then the best thing to do is to talk to it. Many people are very happy when their parrot repeats the whistle that they have repeated to every day since they got it.Very soon this whistle become annoying and the bird thinks that it is pleasing you when it does it all the more. The best thing to do is start as you mean to go on and talk to your parrot IN A NORMAL VOICE whenever you pass its home.
When you first go to your parrot in the morning greet it with " HELLO OSCAR" or whatever you have called your bird and do this every time you go near it. Eventually your bird will say it first as you go into the room, please answer it and this will reinforce whatever you are trying to teach it.
There are certain times of day when the parrots are at their best to learn and this is first thing in the morning and at twilight when the parrot is preparing to go to bed. Any time spent talking to your bird morning or evening will be well rewarded.
Once your parrot is saying "HELLO" and his name then vary what you are saying to it.
Try asking it a question like " HOW ARE YOU?" and then repeating this until it asks you .
Then you can answer with" I'M ALL RIGHT. HOW ARE YOU?" this will lead to you haveing a conversation with your bird eventually. If it says some thing that you don't want it to say then totally ignore it, if you rush over and react to the bird by asking it "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY" or laughing at it then the bird will repeat all the more just to get a reaction from you. Please don't teach your bird to swear, it might seem funny at the time but it will make your bird totally unwelcome if you ever try and board it with some one while you go away on holiday. Leaving a radio or television playing while you are out may seem a good idea, but because you do not know what is going on when you are out this can be deterimental to teaching it to talk. Also the bird will react better to you rather than a disembodied voice.
Remember what you are doing is teaching your bird the flock language so try not to repeat sounds it makes that are not something you are teaching it. If it whistles please ignore it, when it says something that you have taught then reward it by talking to it.
Be kind to your bird at all times , he might get tired very quickly and will get bored if the lesson goes on too long. Treat him as you would a four or five year old child and keep the lessons short and interesting.

Training tips
Does your bird want to come to you? Does it need to come to you? Do you want it to be your friend? How can you get it to come to you? If you know what his favorite treat is then make sure that you have some available at all times. The first step is to get him so that he needs to come to you and the best way is to get him slightly hungry. I do not mean starve him but make sure that he has food available in the morning and to remove it at about mid day. Then in the evening try and tempt him to come to you with a treat such as fruit or fresh sweet corn. If he comes over to you reward him by giving him something. don't chase him around the cage or he will hide away from you. Be patient and let him come to you. It may take a week before he accepts that you have something he wants and he can trust you. When he is coming and asking for a treat, I do not mean speaking, then try and tempt him over to the open cage door. If he comes to the door then place your other hand between him and his reward. He will test you by seeing if it is safe to step on to your hand by gripping your hand with his beak. This is not a bite so do not pull away. If you pull away he will not trust you and may bite. If you want him to trust you, you have to trust him. Most parrots do not like new things so try and do this as regulary as you can and get into a routine that he will understand. If he is kept with full food bowls and food on the floor of his cage he will not respond quickly so remember keep him slightly hungry so that he has to come to you for some of his diet. If you keep his favourites for you to feed him he will react all the quicker. Never wear gloves during this training as most birds are frightened of gloves. Also you want him to be tame enough to come onto your hand with out biting. Do not show any fear when you are with your bird or he will try and dominate you. If he screams and flaps about just ignore him and try talking in a gentle quiet voice, he will love it if you shout as that is exactly what he wants. He is trying to get as big a reaction from you as he can and to react reinforces anything he is doing as good in his mind. All he wants is love and atenion from whoever is with him the most and you can use this to you adsvantage by rewarding good behavoir and ignoring bad behavior. If you child swore and threw his food about you would not give him more food and try and give him a love. So ignore the behavior and he will soon realise that it is pointless doing it. When he is good by coming to you or sitting quietly reward him with attention and a piece of fruit,ie: half a grape or a fresh sweet corn kernel , as small a piece as possible so that he wants to come back for more quickly. Remember that this is an on going thing and cannot be done over night.

Training tips

Does your bird want to come to you? Does it need to come to you? Do you want it to be your friend? How can you get it to come to you?
If you know what his favorite treat is then make sure that you have some available at all times.
The first step is to get him so that he needs to come to you and the best way is to get him slightly hungry. I do not mean starve him but make sure that he has food available in the morning and to remove it at about mid day. Then in the evening try and tempt him to come to you with a treat such as fruit or fresh sweet corn. If he comes over to you reward him by giving him something. don't chase him around the cage or he will hide away from you. Be patient and let him come to you. It may take a week before he accepts that you have something he wants and he can trust you.
When he is coming and asking for a treat, I do not mean speaking, then try and tempt him over to the open cage door. If he comes to the door then place your other hand between him and his reward. He will test you by seeing if it is safe to step on to your hand by gripping your hand with his beak. This is not a bite so do not pull away. If you pull away he will not trust you and may bite. If you want him to trust you, you have to trust him.
Most parrots do not like new things so try and do this as regulary as you can and get into a routine that he will understand.
If he is kept with full food bowls and food on the floor of his cage he will not respond quickly so remember keep him slightly hungry so that he has to come to you for some of his diet. If you keep his favourites for you to feed him he will react all the quicker.
Never wear gloves during this training as most birds are frightened of gloves. Also you want him to be tame enough to come onto your hand with out biting.
Do not show any fear when you are with your bird or he will try and dominate you.
If he screams and flaps about just ignore him and try talking in a gentle quiet voice, he will love it if you shout as that is exactly what he wants. He is trying to get as big a reaction from you as he can and to react reinforces anything he is doing as good in his mind.
All he wants is love and atenion from whoever is with him the most and you can use this to you adsvantage by rewarding good behavoir and ignoring bad behavior.
If you child swore and threw his food about you would not give him more food and try and give him a love. So ignore the behavior and he will soon realise that it is pointless doing it. When he is good by coming to you or sitting quietly reward him with attention and a piece of fruit,ie: half a grape or a fresh sweet corn kernel , as small a piece as possible so that he wants to come back for more quickly. Remember that this is an on going thing and cannot be done over night.