bslicknaz

Hi all , My parrot ( 4 months) was very spoilt in her previous house until she came to my house( 5th month) where she was allowed to go anywhere in the house from morning till night . Even though i am trying to set a decent training programme , everytime i ask her to step up , she climbs onto my hand but flies onto my head . I cannot stroke her on the back or head without her screaming or walking / flying away from me ... :-( Ive been training her for 2 weeks consistently .. any sugesstions ? Love Naz xxx

****UPDATE**** Hi all I really appreciate all the positive comments i have recieved on my article . This has given me a general idea of the do's and dont's and has already improved my relationship with Honey . Since i work on shift i get 3 days off in a row. My entire 3 days were spent in Honeys sight from inside her cage . I had been worried about leaving Honey in the cage for a week so i though that ill let her out and whatever happens , i will have to face . ( after all , if i was left in my house for days , id go crazy too) So here how it went , she came out and i looked stupid with a treat in my hand , looking up at the curtain rails IN FRONT OF MY WINDOW. ( god know what bypases thought when they looked in !!) ' comon Honey Bunny , her girl, preety bird , i love you , step up ' whilst tapping my hands in desperation ... i tried the lot . After 30 min i gave up and thought i leave her in peace and sit on my bed and read a parrot manual . As i was concertrating on reading HOney started to wolf wistle and i felt like tried to get my attention . As i wanted her to relax i left here alone dispite all that i remain tucked into my book , smiling and nodding when i was reading . All of a sudden i heard Honey flap her wings on which i didnt look at as i was reading .. and i felt her claws and weight on my head !! Yes .. she landed on my head !!! This was the first contact id had with my darling and she was on my head . I thought id try my luck , slowly stand up and go towards a mirror and put my arms near her feet and ask her to ' step up' . To my surprise she put one of her claws on my hand.. paused , hesitated and then put the other on on . I slowly lowered my arms to sholder length and brace yourself.. i had her on my arm.. looking at me directly .. i squinted my eyes tried to look sidewards to look friendly ... whoo hooooooOOOOOO All the time and effort had payed off , and yet i thought i was getting no where. At PRESENT time she does step up ..and i do offer her treats . If she tries to walk along my arm i put my other and in the way so she steps up . Theres no way im going to let her up there until i have given her a decent behaviour management. Now that she comes onto my hand , i try to touch her feet , so that she get used to it ... go technique for putting Honey back into the cage. Yestaday i let her roam aroung my room she happily stayed on the pearch and occasionly went onto the curtain rail.. most of the time she would land on the bed and get closer and closer to me, and as she did she get a treat . She become obsessed with on of my pens that i use to hightlight my parrot manual whilst reading but hey !!!! She even was cheeky enough to get it of my bed and fly away with it AND drop it into her cage !!! This is a bird im talking about !! Anyways .. i think i have written too much in excitment .. but i know that theres a long way to go for me and Honey to become better comapinions. I will continue to read my manual and read these forumz.. and keep everone informed about progress . In the meantime.. thanks again .. until next time :-) Naz xxx

ok great cheers , shes going to have a bath tonight. Woo hooo ! Naz xxx

Hi all, I have been reading threads and have got the jist about using Aloe Vera and palm oil when bathing . How many times a week should she be given a bath ? :silly: Naz

Thanks alot guys for all the information . This has given me a general idea of what to do . I would like to do the best i can for Honey without causing any early mental health problems that could affect the future. I work on a shift pattern so 2 days i never get to see my bird as im at work and the following 3 days im off, ( have people to sit in and wath out for Honey when i not there by the way ! ) on my next days off i will spend all my time and effort to see that Honey is with me prodominatly of the day and will try the stepping up inside the cage. Hopefully this will not take to many weeks and then Honey will have the whole house to wonder and fly in ..... supervised !!! I will let you peeps know on the progress and no doubt you will see more questions to come by me .... :-) Thanks again Naz xxxxxxxxx

Thanks for the advice.. Honey lives with me in my bedroom , its not so noisey and i get me personal space with her . Theres two more issues i have thought of : 1) If the cage is Honeys own space then it would mean that when i train her she would need to be out of the cage . I have no objections with that but how on earth will i get her to go back into the cage once im finished ? she wont go in without a bite and a scream !!!! Would teaching honey to step up on a walking stick be idea, or a towel over the body ? 2) how can i train honey to step up , when she keeps her space from me , in and out of the cage ? Arrrrrrrrrrrhh !!! Sorry folks i am very new to this , i have done some reasearch but getting experience is another thing altogether !!

Hi Everyone , I brought a parrot a week ago, names Honey and she is 5 month old . The previous owner let it out and about all day around the house , that lived with another gray, but didnt get on . At night time they could get the gray on a stick and then attempt to get her into the cage before they went to bed. Now i have her in my house , she woudnt talk for two days and all of a sudden shes off .. never stops .. bless her ! The problems im having is that i am trying the gain the trust of Honey so that she can ' step up' onto my hand .The closets i have got is that she now eats food from the back of my hand IN THE CAGE and i can just about touch her feet a cople of time before she moves away from me . If i try to get close she starts growling .. worst is she tries to snap at me ... hurts !!! I have been told that when shes growling its best to ignore it and try to get you hands to touch her on the chest that she goes off balance and she HAS to stand on your hand / arm . Also that if she bites to tap her beak with an evil eye saying NO !! Appartantly i have to let her know whos boss. I havnt tried any of these tactics yet as i feel that it might be better to get the views of other owners first if they have had simular problems . After all if this is all incorect i woudnt like the feather plucking or biting to happen on a regular basis !!! I dont feel happy to let HOney out of the cage until she starts stepping on my hand so that its easier to get her back in . I have already had a bad experience to when she got out - towel job that freaked her out - do not wish my traing to go back a week evertime she gets out ! Can anyone please give me sugesstions as i am very keen to do the right thing so that me and her can have a happy and ultimately loving relationship ! Kind Regards A very sad Naz xxx