Attention Please

I do hope everyone is enjoying my more fanciful “Tuesdays with Ty” posts, but I realize I have been neglecting what was initially the core of this blog–   training and behavior advice. I need to get back at that as well.

I love writing the little essays for Tuesday, pondering what it is that the parrots remind me every week about what it means to be human. I’m lucky to be so easily inspired by my avian friends. Just don’t think for a minute that I think my parrots are little people or a magical mystery. What the birds do in my home, they do because I asked for it.  Every behavior my parrots repeat is a product of the consequences of that action.

Speculate, imagine, engage and have fun with your parrots! Just don’t ever forget the every behavior that repeats itself has been rewarded (likely by you). If you enjoy something your parrot does–  stop a minute and pay attention, give him a treat or a scratch on the head. If your parrot does something you don’t like, ignore it and do your best not to reward it. (ie– asking for a peanut while you’re working like Ty has been doing for the last ten minutes. Don’t turn and look at him, don’t talk to him and for goodness sake, don’t give in and get him a peanut. He’ll never never never stop asking for one. And you’ll never get to finish the article your writing.)

Behavior is simple and you are always shaping it. This is the key to animal training. If you ask me, it’s the crux of every rewarding relationship. What are you rewarding?

©2010 Heckled By Parrots. All Rights Reserved.

Aloha Cockatoo by Mordy Steinfeld

From time to time someone who is thinking about getting a parrot asks me what my opinion is. Should I get a cockatoo? Or do you think an African grey? Wow. Those are two very different species. And if I don’t know you, I probably don’t have a very valid opinion. It’s all about your personality.

Honestly, there is no best parrot suited for the life of a pet. They all have major challenges if having a pet that isn’t perfect bothers you from time to time. Is noise an issue in your house? Get tired of cleaning? Hate dust? Then you better make sure that the species you choose is the one that appeals to you the most, because all parrots are going to have their drawbacks.

So choosing the best species of bird for your home (and hopefully for the next several decades) is a very personal decision. Cockatoos are wonderful birds for the right person. Not for me. That ‘too voice makes me jump out of my skin, especially when I’m trying to write. And I’m not a constant cuddler. I work best with birds that are happy with interaction and don’t mind that I’m not hands-on all the time. I love to visit with my friend’s Mollucan, but I’m very glad I don’t have her in my home. Although, she sure is pretty!

Don’t be seduced by the package either. The parrot you choose should be one that you think is gorgeous, of course, but find out which species best fits your personality. Talk to people who love that species, breeders, experts, long-time owners. Then also talk to folks who have had bad experiences with the species or would never have one in their home. There is no one best species, but there may be a particular type of parrot that’s the right one for you.

©2010 Heckled By Parrots. All Rights Reserved.

Parts and Pieces

Constructing

 

 

Sunday morning is my favorite time to make toys. A cup of coffee, a power drill, what morning could a girl ask for?

New toy!

©2010 Heckled By Parrots. All Rights Reserved.

KoKo by DDanzig

You think I’m nuts, right? In fact your parrot is screaming right now. A normal serenade, the sort of noises parrots make in the jungle is perfectly acceptable and should be accepted. Not everything is screaming, some noises are natural behavior.

Screaming is a learned, not a natural behavior. At least, the sort of screaming that makes us the most crazy and that can be managed. Screaming is something that a bird learns to do in order to control its environment. Want attention? All you have to do is scream. So screaming is a frequent, prolonged, repetitive behavior.

Don’t want your parrot to learn to scream? Start by only responding to sounds your parrots make that you do not mind so much. All your parrot really wants to do is interact with his environment, so give him a whistle or sound you will answer or appear when he makes. Try to make sure that raucous noises are never followed by attention or treats. Be clear with how to get rewarded. You parrot and your ears will appreciate it!

©2010 Heckled By Parrots. All Rights Reserved.

Ahhh Spring.

It’s been a regular avian grumpfest around here lately. The falcons are on an all-you-can-eat diet and the molting has commenced, meaning falcons who have no use for me and are nearly impossible to handle. The pigeons or making ostentatious and impossibly loud overtures to one another. Meanwhile, the parrots are touchy and feathers abound in the house. Tis the season. What I wasn’t expecting though, was Loki’s first egg. Fifteen years old and my little hen Senegal parrot decided this was the year to settle down and get to business.

I watched her closely as soon as I realized she had made herself a newspaper nest and that she was bulging about the cloaca. I expected aggression, but what I got was adoration and regurgitation. She turned to goo, literally. I tried not to encourage her while watching for signs of egg binding. I was relieved when the first egg arrived and then the second. I might have one more to look forward to and then hopefully we’re done.

Egg laying can actually be dangerous business. An egg the parrot is unable to pass is a death sentence and not uncommon. First time egg layers and older birds may be more likely to become egg bound so keep an eye out. Egg binding can also occur because of compromised health, poor nutrition or simply because of genetics. If your bird is puffed, bright-eyed, interactive, but obviously just nesty, she’s probably fine, but watch closely for signs of distress. Watch for a distended abdomen and straining to pass something through the vent, drooping wings, fluffed feathers, loss of appetite and difficulty breathing. And if there is any question at all in your mind, best just to get to the vet!

Here are a few tips to avoid egg binding:

• Get your bird DNA sexed so you know whether or not to suspect egg-laying
• Try not to encourage nesting and bonding behavior during the breeding season.
• Make sure your parrot has a nutritious well balanced diet with sufficient calcium (smooth muscle requires calcium to function and of course, calcium is required to create fully formed shells)
• Get that bird some exercise! Obese birds are more likely to become egg bound.
• Talk to your vet if your bird lays eggs excessively. Your vet may suggest hormones to get the egg laying to cycle more normally.

If your bird does become egg bound get to the vet right away! Your avian veterinarian can help the egg pass or remove it surgically if necessary before the situation becomes deadly.

Hope you all have a great Spring. It’s gonna be a long one around here…

©2010 Heckled By Parrots. All Rights Reserved.

Angry Dil by Windelbo on Flickr

Someone asked me the other day, “Do parrots have feelings?” She apologized in case it was a dumb question, but she was curious to know. This makes a difference doesn’t it? Or does it?

Of course parrots have feelings. I imagine that all animals have feelings. I simply don’t know what those feelings are at any given time. Think you can tell what a parrot is feeling? You are going to have a hard time convincing me of that. We like to think we know, but really, we’re guessing. Hell, we don’t even know what our spouses are feeling most of the time. How many times have you told your husband that you’re not upset even though if it were legal you would likely be strangling him. And he believed you when you said you were fine, didn’t he?  How many times has a colleague not even noticed that what she said just infuriated you? Lot of good feelings do us in managing behavior.

Happy, sad, glad, mad, jealous, angry and grumpy. You parrot may be any or several of these things at any given time, but you’ll never know for sure. He won’t tell you. Even if he did tell you, how would you know he was telling the truth? If you want to have a bird who is well-behaved, lives nicely within the expectations of your household and never takes a chunk out of you, then you cannot depend or even lean on the “feelings” guessing game.

When you interact with a parrot you should base what you do on what is quantifiable – behavior. What a parrot does tells a story that can be changed and shaped. What he’s thinking is not for you to know or manage. Not unlike the people around you. Don’t guess if your parrot is “grumpy”. Instead break down the behavior that you can see. If when you approach the cage he steps to the back, he probably does not want to be picked up. That is quantifiable. If you go to pick him up, he may bite you. You can’t do a whole lot about what he’s feeling, but you can certainly avoid the behavior of biting.

So it was a great question! Sure, parrots have feelings, but if you don’t want your own feelings and fingers to get hurt, keep them out of your training!

©2010 Heckled By Parrots. All Rights Reserved.

Parrot at the Lincoln Park Zoo circa 1900

I had a dream the other night…a nightmare, really, that I couldn’t take it anymore.

The animals were too much.  I decided that I had to give up my African grey, Ty and my Brittany spaniel, Booth. Worse. I was desperate. I wanted them out of my life immediately.

And so, I left the grey in a park and the dog on a street corner and I swore to myself that I was doing the right thing.

Oh, the HORROR.

If you know me and my menagerie, you would understand that this was a dream about the two animals I would only give up last and in utter desperation. Don’t me get wrong. I love Anakin, the peregrine (and if you aren’t sure why, you should read LIFT ) and I love my other two parrots too. However, I would have to be crushed to lose the bird that narrates my idiosyncrasies and the dog that takes care of my falcons and warms my nights. My other birds would be fine in the right home, but these two animals are a piece of what keeps me human and whole. And after so many phone calls from people wanting to give up parrots on a whim, my disdain for someone doing as I did in the dream is immense.

So it wasn’t long before I realized the horrid mistake I had made in this dream. And I managed to get my animals back. Booth and Ty weren’t the same though. Ty was missing most of his feathers (plucked by rats) and Booth didn’t trust me much anymore. I woke up terrified and reaching for my dog, then jumping out of bed to make sure the parrot was safe and sound. And for the rest of the day I found myself thinking and humbled.

These are bad times and pets suffer for it. The people who have to relinquish their pets suffer for it too. So many of us are in a panic. And I think I understand.

Don’t panic. Think. There may be solutions, even temporary solutions before you have to relinquish your pets forever. Before you do something drastic, consider the following.

1. Consider solving behavior problems before you decide there is no possibility of moving you parrot or other pet to another home. We’re all hurting for money, but talk to your local rescue. There may be a resource for getting you the help you need to problem solve for free. You better be committed and serious, but you’ll get to keep your pet. I for one, as someone who consults, would lend a hand to someone local if it were a matter of keeping their parrot or relinquishing it.
2. Consider being creative. Explain your situation to a rescue group and see if there is a temporary alternative. Maybe you can afford food, medication etc. for your animal but, it is a question of housing. Be creative. Bad times don’t last forever and animal people who work in rescue are giving and flexible.
3. Join a local parrot group. (Or other enthusiasts depending on your animal.) I have heard several stories of people who have agreed to long-term arrangements for “fostering” someone’s pet because they knew that person and understood that it was tough times and a temporary situation. And generally it turned out it was temporary.
4. Get support. We’ll all struggling. Believe me, as someone who works in fund-raising with major donors I know what the economy is like. I also know that I feel guilty because I’m not yet in dire straights like so many others. I also am depressed because I have watched so many people that I admire and really like lose everything and have to start over. What most of us need is an understanding ear, a friend, someone who can tell us honestly that they love us and it really will be okay. Sometimes that’s all you need to get you past the panic that would cause you to relinquish a pet that you love.

Stay strong. Look for help.  And much love to you and your parrots.

©2010 Heckled By Parrots. All Rights Reserved.

Paris' new grey parrot

I realize that you have already chosen a new BFF and I was never possibly going to be a contender anyway. But Girlfriend, you have GOT to call me. That parrot isn’t a plaything.  I know you were smitten by Joey McFarland’s parrot, Smokey.  And I understand that meeting an amazing grey parrot makes you want to rush off and buy one, like you did yesterday. (Right after meeting Smokey, in fact.. although I know its been on your mind for a few weeks.) Heck, I understand. We parrot people don’t want to admit it, but most of us have added a parrot to our flock on impulse, but you have to promise me, PROMISE ME, that you’ll do your homework.

Here are five quick tips to get you started:

1. African greys likely live 60 years. So please don’t teach it to say “that’s hot” or anything else that will become outdated, annoying and is likely to make the poor bird impossible to place in a new home. (Including cursing) I wish you the best, but just in case you plan on “leaving a beautiful corpse” you should make sure he remains a desirable companion.
2. African greys are prone to plucking. Do not buy it designer clothes when this happens. Even if he does look “hot”, dressing him up won’t help. Get him to a vet and consult a behaviorist. In fact, do this right away and start doing all the work to make sure you never have to consider covering up his ratty feathers with designer hoodies.
3. African greys are prone to calcium deficiency.  I know you’re not a big fan of eating, but make sure your new parrot gets a huge variety of healthy food. The phrase “eat like a bird” may apply to you, but not your parrot.
4. African greys are more charming when they aren’t your own. I’ll admit, that guy looks pretty awesome on your hand, but without a lot of interaction and mindfulness to appropriate behavior he is likely to bite you, chew on other things he shouldn’t and pick up horribly annoying noises that make hangovers even more hellacious.
5. Not all greys are Alex. Alex started out as an exceptional bird and only reached avian mensa status with a great deal of training. In fact, Alex was trained by a woman who is a likely a genius in her own right. Hours of working with Dr. Pepperberg or the Dr.’s proteges in the lab are what made him amazing. It takes a genius to train a genius and well, um …never mind.  Dr. Pepperberg is pretty, but you’re way hotter.  

So have your people gather up every bit of parrot information they can and give you the Cliff Notes. Then make sure they are scheduled to give him plenty of enrichment, interaction and that everyone who goes near him completely understands positive reinforcement. Better yet, call me. I’ll buy you a cosmo and I’LL give you the Cliff Notes. And you can meet my grey parrot of 15 years, because well, your parrot may be hot, but my parrot is HUGE.

©2010 Heckled By Parrots. All Rights Reserved.

Riamfada's first shower by Shan Lung courtesy of Creative Commons Licensing on Flicker

Several days of thunderstorms have caused my bird’s waterbowls to be suspiciously empty the last few days. I suspect there’s been massive bathing parties while I’m at work, so I’ve left bathpans at the bottoms of their cages…not that they’re being used…  Apparently, there’s something irresistable about bathing in the drinking water.

Even the grey, shunner of unwanted water loves to get down in his water bowl. He also enjoys sitting in the shower and getting the occasional spritz, but mostly he likes to choose his own bathing moments. The Senegal and red-bellied are more likely to go for a good soaking, but Ty has his doubts about the necessity of bathing.

Every parrot is different though. Take for example this little guy here, with his head upright, neck stretches, eyes not quite completely round, he looks pretty okay about his shower. I’ve heard many grey owners, however complain that this is never the case with their own birds.

So should you make a bird who won’t bathe wash off the dust? Do birds need baths or not?

There’s no doubt that the bathing is a healthy habit. Feathers have a lot of detritus lurking in their layers and a good bathing washes the unwanted and unhealthy away. Rainforest parrots, who would be subject to frequent soakings in the wild whether they were willing or not, seem to be the most amenable and even joyful about a bath. Perhaps greys, who frequent a dryer habitat just don’t embrace a cloudburst in quite the same way. And on top of this, every parrot is an individual and the sum of their experiences. Some birds don’t find bathing a joyful experience and it only takes one bad experience with a misting or in the shower to shift this attitude toward pure hatred. All the same, baths are good. Should you make your bird bathe though? Absolutely NOT. The good news is that you CAN train you bird to happily take a shower.

How to Train Bathing

Start with a spray bottle set on a fine mist and introduce bathing slowly. Mist away from your bird, if he sits calmly and unconcerned, say “good” and reward with a treat. Mist a little closer and do the same. Continue until you are gradually rewarding your bird to sit calmly as the spray get closer. If at any time your bird looks uncomfortable or leans away from the water, back off and start from the last position he was comfortable in. You want your bird to learn that water is a positive and that sitting calmly gets him a reward.

Once you are right next to your bird with the sprayer, continue spraying and hold a treat where he can only get to it by getting into the mist just a tiny bit. When he leans in say “good” and let him have the treat. Make sure the “good” coincides with leaning into the water. This is the behavior you are rewarding. Then gradually ask him to go a bit further every time. Once he seems comfortable stepping into the spray and then getting a treat, stop holding the treat out. You want him to understand that the cue for stepping into the water is you spraying. You can show him the treat, but see if he will step in without being led. (You can always go back a few steps and lead him in if he doesn’t get it or forgets.) When he does step into the spray on his own, praise and reward.

From here you can approximate by lengthening the time in the spray and the number of times you spray in similar small steps until you’ve trained your bird to bathe. This may take one session or several months, but it’s worth the effort. Because he has made the decision on his own to walk into the spray for treats and because bathing has been paired with positives, a treat, or even just your praise and excitement if he isn’t interested in food, bathing itself will be a positive and welcome experience.

Good luck with your bathing beauty!

©2010 Heckled By Parrots. All Rights Reserved.

From Wingless_Girl via Flickr courtesy of Creative Commons Licensing

So you’ve done it. Despite all of the reasons I have given you to never ever get a parrot, you’re a lunatic and decided you couldn’t live without one. So what now?

My number one most favorite piece of advice is simple…have fun! Don’t over stress, don’t be too hard on yourself, don’t freak out about every little thing. Enjoy your relationship with your bird. The feather gods willing, it’s going be a long one. So do the best you can. Do right by your parrot, but give yourself room to have fun. No one has EVER called me and said, “I have so much fun with my parrot, but I have to give him up.”

Beyond this little tidbit, here are a few things that can get you started on helping your bird grow or adjust into a happy healthy life.

1. A Variety of Treats

Make sure your bird is cool with eating the biggest variety of healthy goodies possible.

2. Daily routines

Don’t completely change your routine so you can stay home with your parrot for the first few weeks. Jump right in to a natural routine and let your parrot start his new life with an introduction to his daily routine.

3. Different toys

Also make sure your bird is cool with all kinds of interesting and new toys. A parrot who will investigate and play with everything has a great life ahead of him.

4. Members of the household

Agree with everyone on how they will interact with the parrot and make sure that all interactions are positive.

5. Visiting friends

Make sure your parrot has positive and numerous experiences with people of all shapes and sizes.
What’s the most important thing you taught your new parrot?

©2010 Heckled By Parrots. All Rights Reserved.