Often people expect more of their parrots than they can possibly be: quick to tame, friendly to everyone, brilliant talkers, quite when not talking, nondestructive and compatible with all other household pets. This is just not realistic. The bird needs time, patience and understanding while it adjusts to its new surroundings and learns to accept the new people in its life.
Quaker Parrot - Click to Enlarge
Like children and other type of pets, parrots need discipline to be enjoyable. If you let the bird out of its cage every day when you come home from work, it will expect its door to open daily at 6 o’clock. If you feed your bird table food while you have dinner, you have established a pattern that is difficult to change. If you run to the cage every time you hear a squawk, your bird soon knows how to fetch you. The consequences of such human actions are trained owners and spoiled parrots. Remember, birds live a long time, and changing undesirable behavior patterns after years of reinforcement is a challenge not easily understood by the parrot.
Green-winged Macaw - Click to Enlarge
Some problems also occur when the novelty of owning a bird wears off, especially when you get sick of seeds spewed all over you floor . There will be times when you have to work late, have company for dinner or simply are too tired or busy for parrot playtime. This break in your bird’s routine can create a screaming maniac, but it’s what the bird was carefully conditioned to do – by you.
Blue fronted Amazon - Click to Enlarge
Ideally, your parrot should not be given any more attention the day or week it joins your household than you plan to give it for the rest of its life. It must learn to play happily in its cage by itself. It must learn that you won’t be there all the time to pick it up when it screams. It should, however, be included in your life at a level you can consistently enjoy.
Each bird is individual, but most parrots go through predictable, sometimes obnoxious states. The teething stage usually happens between 3 and 6 month of age in small birds, and occurs somewhat later in larger parrots. Of course, birds don’t have teeth, but they do spend time exploring their world with their beaks. Young parrots chomp on anything available without realizing that their bites hurt. With consistent verbal discipline and manual diversion, you ca teach your bird that it’s okay to bite food and toys, but it’s not okay to bite people and other pets.
Red - Sided Eclectus - Click to Enlarge
Next come the terrible twos, not necessarily when the bird reaches the age of 2 but, like a 2-year-old child, when its personality matures enough to test limits. A young parrot asserts itself through stubbornness, defiance, mischief and destructiveness. This it the time for tough love. If you lose control during this stage, you may never regain it.
As the bird makes the transition from adolescence to full sexual maturity, it is not unusual for the bird to want an exclusive relationship with the owner as its mate.
To condition your parrot to positive, desirable behavior, avoid repetitive schedules except for feeding and bedtime. Vary the routine for everything else. Provide appropriate toys (varying them periodically), car rides, baths.
Well - behaved parrots are not biters. may spoiled birds have not learned to amuse themselves, so they quickly become bored. Some will scream, other may self-mutilate. Neither birds nor owners are very happy.
Green cheek Conure - Click to Enlarge
Correcting undesirable conditioning is difficult and sometimes impossible. It requires endless patience and dedication. It is much easier to provide proper training from the start than to attempt lengthy corrections once the damage is done.
Play with your parrot, love your parrot and entertain your parrot, but also remember to give your pet the space and understanding it needs to be what it is : a bird.
