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Post by Scratchpost on Dec 15, 2021 9:37:53 GMT -7
Hi all,
My CAG, Aka, is about 12 weeks now and has recently started flying for short periods. From his cage to the floor in front, from my shoulder to the floor (when I'm sitting down), from my hands (that I met him test his winge in) to the floor etc. It's awesome and he really enjoys it, I think.
The thing is, he goes to the toilet every time he lands, without fail. Is this normal?
I know some of you might freak out that I allow him sit on my shoulders so young, this is not my decision haha. When he's on my lap or on the table after I feed him, he climbs onto my shoulder before I have a chance to react, and getting him off me distresses him quite a bit. I have my hand close to him at all times so if he falls I will catch him quickly.
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Post by Haz on Dec 15, 2021 11:19:57 GMT -7
My Chyloe has a problem with the flight feathers on one wing so she can’t really fly. She does try occasionally and inevitably leaves a deposit when she lands. Most times she walks around and does her business on newspaper at her cage.
It is not advisable to let your bird ride on your shoulder. It is not for his safety. You can’t see what he is up to while he is up there. You could get a bite on your face or ear.
That being said, I used to allow my first grey to ride my shoulder. He yanked out my earring. I had to stick my finger in his beak to retrieve it. I couldn’t wear jewelry after that.
Chyloe never tries to go up to my shoulder.
Haz
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Post by Adele on Dec 15, 2021 14:11:54 GMT -7
I used to let my first Grey on my shoulder from as soon as he can perch. It was great, cause he was flighted, so he never pooped on me. When he had to poop, he would fly to his poop perch, then fly back to my shoulder.
Since your guy is just barely starting to fly, it makes sense that he is pooping after landing and frequently. When they get a bit excited or nervous, they poop way more frequently. My guy would go every 5 min when I took him outside for walks. I wouldn't worry about it. In fact, you can use it to your advantage and get him potty trained on a specific perch.
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Post by Scratchpost on Dec 20, 2021 14:35:48 GMT -7
Hi, sorry for the late reply.
That was my thinking too Haz, about the bites on face/ear. My parrot doesn't really bite me, he nibbles on my ear and fingers, but he stops himself before he bites hard, I can almost see his resolve when he looks at me. On that note, he has bitten me once or twice but those times were absolutely my fault so I know what I musn't do to annoy him. He also stands on the edge of my shoulder so he's far away from my face (until he gets bigger). He enjoys spending time in his cage but when he isn't walking around, my shoulder is his afternoon sleeping/preening place. When he gets a bit impatient and starts nibbling harder I put him down and when he gets back on, his mood has changed and he isn't s0 feisty.
That's so cute, and messy, Adele. Great thanks for that, I will start training him to poop on a specific perch. That will help a lot since the towel only covers three-quarters of my body when I sit down haha.
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Post by Adele on Dec 20, 2021 19:10:35 GMT -7
I had heard about potty training Greys before getting mine. I thought it would be a breeze. Then after nearly a month of no progress, I was wondering if I had gotten a less intelligent one!! But at a month of consistent training, he finally figured it out, and after that, he never pooped on me when we were home. And he was basically on my shoulder most of the day.
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Post by Adele on Dec 20, 2021 19:16:18 GMT -7
The Grey that used to be on my shoulder, I had since he was a baby. I am in this facebook group, called the "Bite club" and they post some pretty crazy bites from parrots. Many of them are on their faces. I think if I saw that group when I first got my guy, I probably would have never let him near by face.
And after having African Greys, I'm pretty scared of macaws. They have massive beaks and seem like they can do really serious damage.
We grew up with cockatiels, and their beaks are so small, that even at their very worst, they can barely break the skin.
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Post by Scratchpost on Jan 6, 2022 4:51:48 GMT -7
Hi Adele, sorry for the late response. I thought I had replied already haha.
That's really cool, I will be consistent with the training then. How old was your parrot when you started the training?
Great thanks, I will check them out. Yeah, Macaws are beautiful but I'm not willing to take the risk (although CAG bites can be pretty painful too). I think if you only have one Macaw so you spend all your time with him/her and really focus on the training and socialization it should be OK, but they can still bite, even with a lot of training.
I don't really know a lot about Cockatiels, I've seen them obviously and how they interact with other animals and people, but that's pretty much where my understanding of them stays.
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