Are You Really Ready To Get Another Parrot?

cockatiel

I love watching the exploration that goes on with new parrot owners. It’s such an exciting time. Everyday is an adventure as you learn one amazing parrot fact after another, and you can’t even imagine that there is any creature on this planet that is cooler than your bird.

You start making new friends (because your other ones think you’re crazy). Right about this time, you begin thinking about how great it would be to bring another parrot into your home.

The math seems simple enough: 1 bird = love, therefore 1 ...

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Overcoming Hand Hatred with Alexandrine Parrot

Alexandrine parakeet Rasta stepping onto my hand for the first time ever after having him 2 months

 

It took 2 months but I finally earned Rasta the alexandrine parrot’s trust enough to get him to overcome his hand hatred and step up onto my hand for the first time.

 

This consisted of working with him at least once every day, sometimes twice and never ever forcing him to do anything at all. Not even to come in or out of his cage. His cage was left open all the time and in the beginning ...

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Selecting The Proper Indoor Parrot Cage


Male eclectus parrot (Pepi)

Have you ever blown an entire week’s wage on a new indoor cage for your parrot and then discovered that it sucks? I challenge anyone who has done that to refrain from complaining about it!
About 6 months ago, that’s exactly what happened to me. I decided to ‘upgrade’ my male eclectus parrot’s cage. Stainless steel cages aren’t readily available in Australia, so his old cage was a powder coated one. Unfortunately, they ...

 

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Still Dealing with Breeding Season Behaviors? Here’s How To Help Your Parrot…

Blue fronted amazon

Q: June is almost over and my bird is still being nippy and trying to build nests. Is it normal for a parrot to still be thinking about breeding season ?
–Jacob C., Davenport, IA

A: Your cockatiel’s behaviors are the result of hormones that begin flooding the body at the onset of spring. Hormones are chemicals which are released into the blood stream causing reactions in other parts of the body. It’s like a communication system. In the springtime, chemicals are released telling a bird that it is ...

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Alexandrine Parakeet Trick Training “The Wave”

Rasta the alexandrine parakeet waving on cue

 

Using capturing, I was able to teach this alexandrine parakeet trick training, tricks like the wave (shown above) on cue. I wave, he waves back.

 

I did this by waiting for a natural behavior to capture, and then shaping that captured behavior into exactly what I wanted with a clicker.

 

So, I would wait for the alexandrine parakeet to scratch his head, click and walk over and offer him a treat. If your bird is too mean to take a treat from your hand, use a dish to ...

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The Great Grey Owl

Isaac, Great Grey Owl, at 6 weeks old, photo by Ben Coulson

I’m very happy to introduce you to Isaac, our Great Grey Owl! Literally a couple of weeks after Odin the Raven became grown-up enough to move into big aviary… we got a new baby bird who is now almost 7 weeks old, I must admit I was thrilled because Odin’s baby stage just flew by.

Collected at 3 weeks old, he was already much less intensive ...

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