Help please from experienced owners/trainers

[Joolesgreyuk]

I think this is day 4 now and Argyle is allowing me to feed him, stroke his feet, head and beak through the bars of the cage and he also closes his eyes when I speak softly to him. I think he likes the new position on the cage and he seems to bask in the sunshine when it is on his cage I feel it's time to take the next step but wanted to put it to you first, is it too early? What is the next step I should take? I'm thinking of opening the door and offering a treat, is this the best approach? Argyle doesn't (has never) stepped up but I don't want to try this until I've tried opening the door and getting him used to my hands first because this seems to be his fear.

 

Is this the best approach or does anyone have any better ideas? I really feel I need to get this right and can't afford any slip-ups which might lead to the loss of Argyle's trust. Any help would be appreciated, thank you.<br><br>Post edited by: Joolesgreyuk, at: 2010/02/12 14:56

[Joolesgreyuk]

Ok well I'm obviously boring the pants off everyone because I've had no replies to this request, however it just felt like the right time to take the next step today so I went ahead and opened Argyle's door, I'm not going to further bore everyone so I'll just say that we have moved forward today and have made good progress.

[Dave007]

I don't think that you're boring people but you're talking about a bird which many people don't own or have experience with. Second, there's a section here called TRAINING and that'll be more specific to what you're looking for. Right now, people don't even know what kind of bird you're talking about since many don't visit OTHER BIRDS because they don't have other birds.

 

That's the place where people can tell you about similar birds. TRAINING ROOM isn't only for greys. If there's other birds that people own then they too can go to that room and ask anything they want.

 

But, you wanna know about an older Hahn's macaw. Well, if that type of older bird has been cage bound for quite a while, it'll get very used to being cage bound and show little interest in coming out. So, the main thing to work on is trust. Only you know the bird's past and you are obviously working on the trust issue and making headway. So, step one is good but step one will have to continue for a while longer until it's a routine. So, that time comes when you wanna let him out and feed him treats. First off, have the type of treats that he can't refuse nearby. When he's out of the cage, instead of giving a trat immediately while he's out, make sure he sees the treat and slowly put it back in the cage. He'll go and get it. After a while, you graduate to giving that treat when he's out. That whole process takes a while with a hand shy bird.

Hahn's, Severe and yellow Crowned Macaws ( all in the mini macaw class) aren't into flying alot until they can see a specific place to fly to. So after a while take a simple play stand and put it right next to the cage. He'll eventually step off the cage and onto the stand. This also takes a while to succeed. All birds have different amounts of time to go from step to step.

As time goes on you'll get closer to the bird when outside and start giving the treats. Again it takes a while.

I won't tell how long it's gonna take for him to get used to stepping up on your hand. You'll have to supply information at a later date, speak of your progress and success and then a method can be suggested in order to accomplish that action.

Mini macaws are different then greys as far as accepting things.

Your bird is approx 3 yrs old so it'll take longer to accomplish things. If you had a yellow crowned macaw, he would bite more and get loud. Hahns and severes aren't that loud until they're trained and relaxed in a house.

So, this whole thing is a basic start.

As you can see, I wasn't being bored nor was I resting on the couch with a beer and watching TV.

[Joolesgreyuk]

Thanks for the advice Dave, it has been a good day but I'm expecting the odd setback.

[dhorje]

Someone offered me a baby Hahn at a very good price last week. I was very tempting to get one. Getting a 2nd parrot is a big commitment. I can't commit myself into caring another one now so I turned down his offer.