Asking the Brain Trust

[slaneyder]

You guys might be tired of hearing from me by now, but I definitely need some help on this one.

First of all, it's worth noting that my husband renamed the newly adopted blue crown conure Beaker, due to their striking resemblance from the front.

Comments

[rumorofrain]

THIS. He clearly loves attention, so make sure you give him attention for being on something other than you. The best way to approach training any animal or human is to think of what you DO want him to do instead of what you don't.

e.g. Instead of "I don't want him to scream," reframe it as "I want him to stand on the playstand without screaming," or "I want him to play with toys on his playstand." Then you have a concrete goal you can work towards.

Here's what I'd do: Ask Beaker to step up, then put him on the playstand. AS HE IS STEPPING ONTO IT, click (or verbally mark it with a "Yes!" or whatever you like) and give him a small but delicious treat and IMMEDIATELY let him step back onto you. (Getting to come back to you is part of the reward!) Click and feed BEFORE he has a chance to scream. If he is screaming before he gets to the stand, click as you move your arm towards the stand.

Gradually introduce a slight hesitation - maybe half a second - before the click. (And always reward him after you click!) If he doesn't scream, click and treat! If he does, he's not ready for that yet. Go back and practice the previous step some more.

Training sessions are great because you are paying such intense, single-minded attention to the parrot as you train. That's very rewarding! What you're doing is building positive associations with being on the playstand as well as teaching a concrete skill (stand on the playstand quietly).

At the same time, I'd definitely recommend (as bloolark mentioned) teaching him to forage. My caiques are really people-oriented birds, too, and they're flighted, so we can't just put them on a playstand and expect them to stay there. To get them to hang out off of us, I give them exciting things to do on their playstands. Here are some ideas:

- Cut a banana in half. Poke a hole through the end and stick a quicklink or zip tie through it, then hang the banana on the playstand.

- Get some stainless steel hanging skewers and put good stuff on them. My guys like apple, banana, or anything spread with peanut butter (or other nut butters).

- Take an empty egg carton and put some treats inside (Nutriberries are good for this), then hang it on the playstand. Show Beaker the treats through the holes in the top, then put him on the playstand and let him go to town.

- There are lots of commercially-made, reusable foraging toys that are great "intro" foraging toys. Look for ones where the treats are obvious through the holes in the toy. Clear plastic toys are even better, since the treats are very visible.

- Instead of feeding him in his cage, feed him on a playstand! If you meal feed, he's likely to be hungry, so the allure of the food may win out over the desire to hang out on you.

Good luck! Beaker is very cute (although I am now picturing him with orange fake-fur hair on top of his head!).

[slaneyder]

Wow, thank you both so much for the info. I started some basic clicker training with Beaker tonight (targeting), and he picked it up almost immediately. I think that I can extend his new knowledge of "click = good bird" into his everyday behavior soon.