My parrot has just started trusting me. Whats the best way to start training him?

Question

I'm 14 and when i was 10 my parents decided to go and buy a parrot. They came back with a georgeous Green Cheeked Conure. He never really seemed to "like me" which i presume was mostly my fault as i was always jumpy and scared around him as he had nipped a few times! Recently i've been getting jim our of the cage for an hour in the morning and evening and feeding him and just generally spending time with him as my parents are busy at work etc. I was wondering can i still train him at this age (4/5) if so what is the best way? Im asking here as everywhere i have looked is "Training your new baby parrot" or "Training a new parrot in your home" =]

Answer 1

he needs to be out for more than 2 hours a day. get a standing perch for him to hang out on, he'll be soo much happier. make sure you get his wings clipped or he could fly away forever!! clipping his wings might also help with his behavior. find a bird specialist, dont trust just anyone with your birdy.

after you get his wings clipped [if they arent already], you can start training him with balls and a cup. its a pretty easy trick, just choose wise materials. have him put the balls in the cup after watching you. some birds cannot be trained to do tricks, like my cockatoo. he does all sorts of cool things like spreading his wings out wide when i call him "crazy bird", but he just never could grasp the concept of tricks. good luck!!

Answer 2

you dont need to clip his wings. and be more spacific what do you want to train him?

Answer 3

it's ok if you don't clip it's wings, i find it unnatural for a bird which was made to fly made to walk all it's life. Just don't open windows ect. near where your parrot stays. Establish more trust with your parrot and give him or her a treat when it does something you want it to do. It depends on luck. Teach it to fly from it's perch to you by holding something it likes to eat over your arm. i bet that those birds with clipped wings can't get their birds to do that

Answer 4

Yes, parrots don't follow the "you can't teach an old dog new tricks". You can teach them at any age. However, at 4 he is still not very old.

Each parrot learns different.  You might have to show him, he might have to figure it out himself :P

You can use the same instructions on him as the ones for teaching a baby or the "new" parrot.