Treats

[Ray P]

When Cricket came to us she was well let say not pet quality and we will leave it at that.

She came in a cage that was 16"w x 16"d x 24"h and she lived in that for years. It had a swing for a perch and a old brass bucket for a toy. She was on a all seed diet over weight and could not fly.

That is how we started out and at first when asked to take her I said no so we will start from there.

 

To start out with we put her in a larger cage took away the seed and went with a better diet.

 

I put a stool by her cage and would sit there and talk to her every time I came by her cage and offer a treat and some times she would come over and take the treat. After 2 or 3 days when ever she saw me come in to the room she would go to the side of the cage wear the stool was and wait for me to give her a treat. I started to leave the door open so she could come out and go to the top of the cage and she would sit near me and take treats.

 

One day I walked away to do something a cross the room and she took off after me in flight. She was still over weight and went about 10 feet and hit the floor. At this point I had never picked her up and I though this could be trouble. I put my hand down to pick her up thinking this is going to be a bad bite. I said step up and to my suprise she did. I made over her and told her what a good girl she and than I took my other hand and said step and she slowly picked up her foot and steped up on to my other hand and I told her she was a good girl again and made over her again. I did not give her a treat for stepping up I gave her attention made over her told her she wes a good girl.

 

Giving her treats was an ice breaker to help build trust and a relationship to start with but I do not use treats to reward good behavior I use affection and interaction when they do something good that way they want to be with us and not just for the food because you know a zon likes to eat.

 

We always have a treat in thair cage so when it`s time to go back they have something to look foward to and it`s not a punishment to go back to the cage. A treat is a treat and I do not use it to bribe them (I know at first it was a bribe) But that can be an easy change.

 

Replacing treats with with attention interaction and affection builds the bond that is strong and last a lifetime and as far as treats go some times I give then a treat just to give them a treat.

 

Just a note Cricket does not expect a treat to be around me she just wants to be around me and that is good(That`s my treat)

[judygram]

It certainly is Ray, she enjoys just being with you and not just looking for a treat, she knows what side of her bread is buttered, thanks for sharing that with us as it will help many others to understand.

[Luvparrots]

Thanks oodles for this thread Ray, I have been waiting to hear how you and Cricket got to know each other. It's a heartwarming story and shows that it takes love and patience to build trust between our parrots and us!!! Treats are a great way to get things started but I agree not the way to build a long and warm relationship! You must post more about Cricket. Amazons are just as smart as greys, and for some reason I feel more warm and fuzzy around Louie than my grey. He wants so much to be loved.