Help Please

[laurab]

i've just aqquired a alexandrene parakeet (blue) i've been told he is about 8 months old. only had him 1 day so i know he will be a bit nervous,but does anyone have any tips for taming them?thanks.

ltndy (new member)

[angie7777]

Find out what his fav food is and start slowly offering it to him in the cage. he might go nuts to start with but dont give up it can take a long time, once he is taking food from you start making it hard for him to get it (but your other hand in the way so he has to stand in it to get to the food).

http://www.cockatiel-mad.co.uk

[Tomir]

One of the first things you two must do is learn patience. Get to know each other first before embarking on training him or taming him. Get used to each other; this will take time, perseverance and patience. If you rush in within days of getting to know each other it will make both of you wary to try something new and distrust will set it rapidly especially for the bird.

As mentioned above, find out what he likes to eat. Find out what he doesn't like (sounds obvious but some people don't look or learn!). I have parrots that I’ve had for months and they we just starting to come around to each other. Intelligent birds - intelligent compared to a zebra finch - take....time and patience. I repeat myself deliberately ;)

[Strawblady2000]

Hi Laura and All!

Yeah, patience. It is hard. It is now almost September...and I've had my little parrotlet since June. We've made some progress, lol!

I still cant and wont try to pet her. She hates it. BUT...she will step up with no probs. I cant reach into her cage...but she comes out willingly and climbs on top of it to her playstand. Also, if I forget to lock the door, she pushes it open and sneaks out...unless she sees me...and quickly sneaks back in and looks at me like "what?"

She actually bit at a strawberry I offered her while perching on my finger. Usually, she bites my finger, lol.

It's taken a LONG time...probably not as long as it seems. I know it will take LOTS more patience!

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Laura and Itndy,

I'm sorry for not noticing this thread before,:roll: the replies from Angie, Tom and Nikki are A1 and will set you up very well from the start!

But as with all Birds/Animals and people, we/they all vary in what we/they like, so if a particular bird is proven over time to dislike being stroked on the back or other areas, don't assume that it will become accustomed to it after time, it may never happen?

Some birds can become so tame that you can do almost anything with them, but there will always be others that will demonstrate their boundries.
I know that Parakeets are on a different level to Parrots in some ways, but there are certain things that apply to both.
I have hand reared Cockatiels over several years in the past and every one was an individual character, as I mentioned above some birds would let you do anything with them, some would allow you to physically pick them up in your hand with no problem at all, they will suspend upside down from your finger without any fear at all.
Others would only allow tickling of their cheek, ear, jaw, neck and nothing else, any attempts towards touching their back was a no no.
Years ago I hand reared a Lineolated Parakeet that was the softest muppet on the planet and ended up with the name Muppet, the bird was absolutely bomb proof, it would allow me to cradle it upsidedown in my hand, spin upsidedown from my finger and be stroked all over, but other birds of the same species may be restrictive in what they will allow you to do, or what they prefer?

This needs to be respected when taming a bird of any species.

Another tip is once you have gained the birds trust is to stop stroking or tickling the bird before it is bored with you doing so and place it back in it's cage, in a way this will let the bird know that petting is on your terms and not the birds.

Itndy I wish you all the best of luck with taming your Alexandrine Parakeet, but please remember not to push the boundries set by the individual bird.:wink:

Please come back with any more questions you may have.

Paul.;-)