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Dancing Senegal Parrot

Kili

Type: Senegal Parrot
Genus: Poicephalus
Species: Senegalus
Subspecies: Mesotypus
Sex: Female
Weight: 120 grams
Height: 9 inches
Age: 15 years, 9 months
Caped Cape Parrot

Truman

Type: Cape Parrot
Genus: Poicephalus
Species:Robustus
Subspecies: Fuscicollis
Sex: Male
Weight: 330 grams
Height: 13 inches
Age: 14 years
Blue and Gold Macaw

Rachel

Type: Blue & Gold Macaw
Genus: Ara
Species:ararauna
Sex: Female
Weight: 850 grams
Height: 26 inches
Age: 11 years, 9 months
Trick Training Guides
Taming & Training Guide
Flight Recall
Target
Wave
Fetch
Shake
Bat
Wings
Go through Tube
Turn Around
Flighted Fetch
Slide
Basketball
Play Dead
Piggy Bank
Nod
Bowling
Darts
Climb Rope
Ring Toss
Flip
Puzzle
Additional Top Articles
Stop Parrot Biting
Getting Your First Parrot
Treat Selection
Evolution of Flight
Clipping Wings
How to Put Parrot In Cage
Kili's Stroller Trick
Camping Parrots
Socialization
Truman's Tree
Parrot Wizard Seminar
Kili on David Letterman
Cape Parrot Review
Roudybush Pellets

List of Common Parrots:

Parakeets:
Budgerigar (Budgie)
Alexandrine Parakeet
African Ringneck
Indian Ringneck
Monk Parakeet (Quaker Parrot)

Parrotlets:
Mexican Parrotlet
Green Rumped Parrotlet
Blue Winged Parrotlet
Spectacled Parrotlet
Dusky Billed Parrotlet
Pacific Parrotlet
Yellow Faced Parrotlet

Lovebirds:
Peach Faced Lovebird
Masked Lovebird
Fischer's Lovebird
Lilian's (Nyasa) Lovebird
Black Cheeked Lovebird
Madagascar Lovebird
Abyssinian Lovebird
Red Faced Lovebird
Swindern's Lovebird

Lories and Lorikeets:
Rainbow Lorikeet

Conures:
Sun Conure
Jenday Conure
Cherry Headed Conure
Blue Crowned Conure
Mitred Conure
Patagonian Conure
Green Cheeked Conure
Nanday Conure

Caiques:
Black Headed Caique
White Bellied Caique

Poicephalus Parrots:
Senegal Parrot
Meyer's Parrot
Red Bellied Parrot
Brown Headed Parrot
Jardine's Parrot
Cape Parrot
Ruppell's Parrot

Eclectus:
Eclectus Parrot

African Greys:
Congo African Grey (CAG)
Timneh African Grey (TAG)

Amazons:
Blue Fronted Amazon
Yellow Naped Amazon
Yellow Headed Amazon
Orange Winged Amazon
Yellow Crowned Amazon

Cockatoos:
Cockatiel
Galah (Rose Breasted) Cockatoo
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Umbrella Cockatoo
Moluccan Cockatoo
Bare Eyed Cockatoo
Goffin's Cockatoo

Macaws:
Red Shouldered (Hahn's) Macaw
Severe Macaw
Blue And Gold Macaw
Blue Throated Macaw
Military Macaw
Red Fronted Macaw
Scarlet Macaw
Green Winged Macaw
Hyacinth Macaw

Glossary of Common Parrot Terms

Early Taming Steps About How to Tame a New Parrot

Comments (16)

By Michael Sazhin

Tuesday July 13th, 2010

Fortunately Truman is quite tame from the breeder. He already steps up and allows touching. However, there are some additional taming exercises that I must do with him in order to prepare him for some tricks that I would like to teach him down the line. Furthermore these taming behaviors make maintenance easier as well. The two things I am working on are laying on his back in my hand and letting me pull his wings open.

I have been using a combination of modeling, flooding, positive, and negative reinforcement to begin taming these behaviors. The modeling involves having Truman watch me hold Kili on her back and open her wings. Kili doesn't mind these at all and I don't have to give her treats but I do just so Truman can see he can get treats for it too. Flooding involves the fact that I just do it. I flip him on his back or open his wings whether he wants to or not. He just has to get used to it happening to him. The negative reinforcement is that I flip him back up or let go of his wing when he relaxes and stops resisting me. The positive reinforcement is that I give him a treat upon completion of each behavior.

By using all methods of training in combination, not only can I catalyze learning but also prevent over use of any one method. While I don't want to be too forceful by using flooding and make him phobic, I also do not want him to be overly treat dependent and refuse otherwise. Here is a step by step guide for how to tame a parrot to let you roll it on its back or open its wings:

Rolling parrot on back:

1) The parrot must already know how to step up and be comfortable with you touching it
2) Put your hand on its back and slowly roll it back
3) Stop when the bird starts getting uncomfortable (even if it is not full reclined)
4) Hold that position briefly
5) Upright the parrot and reward
6) Repeat with incremental increase of angle and duration


Opening parrot's wings:

1) The parrot must already know how to step up and be comfortable with you touching it
2) Put your hand under the parrot's wing and press it up slightly to raise the wing under armpit
3) Hold briefly, release and reward
4) Pull gently by the solid front part of the tip of the wing and hold open briefly, release and reward
5) Repeat and progressively open further and hold longer


Here is a video of a taming session with Truman. The video is quite long but I recommend watching it through entirely because I demonstrate different things throughout the video and provide helpful tips as I go. This is a real training session in progress. There are no final results yet but even by the end of the taming session Truman is less resistant to the exercises.


Taming your parrot to lay on its back is not only useful for teaching the play dead trick but also to be able to hold it to trim its nails and to be able to carry it from place to place. Taming the parrot to open its wings is not only useful for training the wings trick but also can be used to inspect wings for broken feathers, clipping, and putting on a harness. Remember that this can be a long gradual process that requires a lot of patience and practice. It can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks or months before you see results. However, if you practice these taming behaviors a few times a day over a long period of time, the parrot will get used to this and allow you to do it even without treats. Once your taming is complete, be sure to practice these behaviors on occasion so that the tameness is not lost.

Finally I'd like to mention that Kili and Truman are beginning to get along much better to the point that they were sitting together on a 12 inch perch and not even fighting.

Part of: Taming & Basic Training, Poicephalus, Cape Parrots, Senegal Parrots
Truman Cape Parrot Kili Senegal Parrot How To Taming Roll Over Wings Flock Dynamics
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Comments

Post Your Response


Brittanyv326

Posted on July 13, 2010 08:50PM

EXTREMELY HELPFUL! I had to ask the lady I got Sadie from to show me how to do this but being able to watch it right before I try over and over is very, very helpful. I have to be sure I grab her smoothly and confidently and that means knowing where to put my hand. Thanks for taking the time to show us this!


Michael

Posted on July 13, 2010 08:53PM

In your case pay more attention to how I grab Kili than Truman since you have a Senegal. However, follow the pace and technique I use on Truman cause I go faster with Kili. Also you will find this helpful and it is Senegal specific: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJpBPUtgpMY it is labeled for one person-birds but the same technique is used to tame a no-person bird! :lol:


Brittanyv326

Posted on July 13, 2010 09:18PM

Thank you!! I was at the point where I was able to put my entire hand around her body, but lately she has learned that biting gets her somewhere (thanks, boyfriend), so I'm suffering a lot of wounds here and really gotta crack down and sort of train from the beginning again. She will bite me for no reason at all and then just look at me while she's doing it. I actually heard my skin pop from where she pinched it so hard... It's not pleasant, so if it's bad, I'll blow in her face, but then she comes back and bites harder. Ahh... Well I worked with her all day instead of going to the movies like I was going to and we've made lots of progress, so hopefully within a week I can begin trying to pick her up again. Thanks for the videos!

Lewis

Posted on September 20, 2010 07:17PM

Can this be done with an older bird (5 years), im making sure blue is used to touch all over his body first. just want to be sure im not too late, or is this a case of better late than never?

cansahin

Posted on March 22, 2012 11:11PM

hello, I see you are a good bird trainer so my question is, should I just grab my cockatiel's back? here are some info. he is actually realy tame. he steps up let's me scratch his head. but I cant hold his back? what sould I do? just grab him so he gets used or have you a good tecknic for me to use so I can hold him in my hand


Michael

Posted on March 23, 2012 12:01AM

http://trainedparrot.com/toweling Follow those steps just using your hand instead of towel

Cockatielsongs

Posted on July 11, 2012 05:31AM

HELP! I really want to teach my bird to play dead etc however my 'tiel hates being touched on his back and wings, he only lets me scratch his head and neck. When I place my hand gently on his back or even brush my finger against his back or wings he would turn around and bite viciously :( I avoid reacting to the bite but it isn't plesant. However my 'tiel is tame and enjoys being scratched on his head and neck but he simply refuses to have his wings and back touched... :greycockatiel: Note: My 'tiel knows how to step up etc

Pricey_boy

Posted on November 21, 2012 01:16PM

Quickly flip their body with one hand and quickly reward them and eventually after a couple days they will start lifting their foot so you can help them flip them selfs so you don't do it because they don't like that

CaitlinRice413

Posted on December 29, 2012 06:41PM

:macaw:


Michael

Posted on December 29, 2012 08:18PM

My birds never really bit me cause I was working with them since they were very young. The only trouble I had with Kili was biting other people or Truman which I spent a lot of time resolving. The only time either has bitten me was not realizing me, in a panic, or while looking at the other bird. I didn't condition Truman to touch gradually. It was [url=http://trainedparrot.com/index.php?bid=20&article=Early+Taming+Steps+About+How+to+Tame+a+New+Parrot:35pjq5rf]just like in this article[/url:35pjq5rf]. One session to teach and then a few to solidify.

Kirito

Posted on January 24, 2013 02:12PM

Hi! i am new here. i am thinking of getting an Indian Ringneck. i am 15. i don't like loud noises or doing anything fast. i live in a medium sized household. no pets. i have at least 5 hours of free time a day. is this a good first pet for me? please help. i don't want to get a bird when i am not suited for it and i have been doing a lot of research on how to take care and interact with a bird. please give me info on if i should get an indian ringneck if not, please tell me what birds may be good for me. thanks.


janetafloat

Posted on February 1, 2013 07:35AM

To be honest, I'm not sure any kind of bird is a good pet for you if you don't like loud noises. Even my cockatiel is capable of letting out some earsplitting shrieks , and does sometimes :shock: and 'tiels are one of the quietest parrots. Also, please remember that parrots live a long time and at 15 you can't know what you'll be doing 3 or 5 years from now and whether a parrot will fit in to it. A bird is not an easy pet & is a big commitment, please think carefully about whether you can take that on at this stage of your life.


marie83

Posted on February 1, 2013 07:42AM

[quote="janetafloat":1z7n9369]To be honest, I'm not sure any kind of bird is a good pet for you if you don't like loud noises. Even my cockatiel is capable of letting out some earsplitting shrieks , and does sometimes :shock: and 'tiels are one of the quietest parrots. Also, please remember that parrots live a long time and at 15 you can't know what you'll be doing 3 or 5 years from now and whether a parrot will fit in to it. A bird is not an easy pet & is a big commitment, please think carefully about whether you can take that on at this stage of your life.[/quote:1z7n9369] +1 Sorry but I would hold off for a few years until your out of education and preferable in a stable job. Also ringnecks seem to crop up frequently in posts crying for help because of noise/biting issues. Not trying to put you off but now probably isn't the right time for you or the bird.

Hadi_Alsayegh

Posted on March 19, 2016 01:36PM

I cant make my african grey :gray: rais his wing he will bite even if he has a treat already in his mouth he dropes it and bites he is tamed he lets my toush his back but not rais his wing what can i do :(

Hadi_Alsayegh

Posted on March 19, 2016 01:43PM

my african :gray: dosent let me rais his wing even if i give him a treat thats already in his mouth she bites she dropes it and bites any advice what i can do pls reply :(

Wolf

Posted on March 19, 2016 02:26PM

Slow down and listen to your bird. Take a little time to understand the natural nature of your bird. No matter how hard we try not a single one of us are able to act in a manner that is contrary to our nature for any length of time. Greys are very touchy about physical contact and the reason that it is not allowing you to lift its wing is because it does not yet trust you enough. Take your time as these birds live a very long time and you have plenty of time to gain your birds trust, so work slowly on this issue by teaching your bird to allow you to just touch its wings and then to begin to touch the inside of the wing and then to lift it just slightly and only for a second and then put it back down, give the bird a treat and try again later. repeat this as needed.

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Trained Parrot is a blog about how to train tricks to all parrots and parakeets. Read about how I teach tricks to Truman the Brown Necked Cape Parrot including flight recall, shake, wave, nod, turn around, fetch, wings, and play dead. Learn how you can train tricks to your Parrot, Parrotlet, Parakeet, Lovebird, Cockatiel, Conure, African Grey, Amazon, Cockatoo or Macaw. This blog is better than books or DVDs because the information is real, live, and completely free of charge. If you want to know how to teach your parrot tricks then you will enjoy this free parrot training tutorial.
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