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Post by Scratchpost on Oct 31, 2022 17:26:53 GMT -7
Hi,
When Aka was younger, we had a bit of an issue with him biting us. This was probably because he was still very young and wanted to test the waters/fingers, and I'm assuming to get to know how hard he can bite just as a parrot thing. Obviously we had to fix/change this because a bite from a 3 month old parrot isn't so bad, but one from a thirty-year old parrot would be.
We didn't want to shout or raise our voices or use any other 'punishment' method for obvious reasons, so we assigned a couch as the 'naughty' couch. Whenever he would bite us, we would put him on this couch and ignore him. The time we ignored him was reliant on the severity of the bite, but a few minutes of silence from us did the trick (if there was blood, the silence was normally for about half an hour). We don't use the couch as the naughty couch anymore because he doesn't bite us that often anymore, and when he does, it's almost always our fault, (not paying attention to signs, accidentally scaring him, etc.)
Anyway, Aka was a bit grouchy today and he bit my husband when he went in for a scratch (after he put his neck forward, asking for one). I put him on the naughty couch and after about a minute, he started doing the poo wiggle so I took him to his toilet. When he was on his toilet, he started preening, looking very chuffed with himself. He didn't go to the toilet then, nor for a while afterwards. He did the wiggle so I would take him off the naughty couch.
Well played, parrot. Well played.
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Post by Jane on Nov 1, 2022 2:15:27 GMT -7
That is funny. Clever Aka, he is learning exactly how to train you to do what he wants!
Jane
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Post by Haz on Nov 1, 2022 4:52:42 GMT -7
These greys are very good at training us.
Haz
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Post by Scratchpost on Nov 2, 2022 6:50:47 GMT -7
Hi Jane,
Yeah, he is training us alright. I just wish he could train us without the 'scratch-biting' game haha.
Hi Haz,
They are. He has also started telling me when to start dinner. He eats with us so if our dinner takes a while to prepare and cook, Aka eats late sometimes. For the past month, he has started chirping, then the chirps become squeals, at about 4 pm because he knows if I don't start supper at 4 pm, he will eat after 6 pm and that is apparently unacceptable for him. If I don't stop what I'm doing and start supper, the chirping and squealing becomes louder and louder until I go into the kitchen and start food. When I come out, I find him playing and enjoying himself, as if nothing is wrong.
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Post by Jane on Nov 9, 2022 9:35:34 GMT -7
Has Aka trained you to play fetch yet? Give him a small ball or toy and he will toss it and if he is like Mitzi he will have you running all over the place to bring it back and so it goes on.
Mitzi will even look as if she is going to throw it in one direction and then change at the last minute just to confuse me.
Jane
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Post by Haz on Nov 10, 2022 14:52:18 GMT -7
My first grey trained me to play fetch. He had a bowl of bottle caps which he used to throw for me to fetch. One cap was red, and he threw it too far, so I left it until later. I put the other caps back in the bowl but Max said, "No, the red one".
That was when I started to teach him colours.
Haz
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Post by Scratchpost on Nov 10, 2022 16:37:21 GMT -7
Hi Jane, not quite fetch but more "pick up". We have a friend who is a CNC machinist and when there is a surplus at work, he brings the extra plastic (hard plastic, like they use in toys) rings. Aka loves these so I tie them onto his toys using the rope from the toys themselves. He undoes the knot in two minutes and drops the ring on the floor of his cage. He waits for me to pick it up and give it to him, then he walks to another part of the perch and drops it in a different spot, and waits for me to pick it up again. He can do this for an hour, except I don't normally last that long haha.
Hi Haz, that's so cool. It's always interesting to hear parrots speak like that, I haven't heard any parrots with a big vocabulary, or the ability to use the words in context so I'm still in awe when I hear about things like that. I think Aka is going to be a big talker, he has started practicing sentences in his bird language as he did with the "hello". That is awesome. How old was Max when you taught him colours? Aka has a colour thing above his cage but he doesn't seem too interested when I try to tell him what they are. I want to get coloured lights, like coloured LED lights so it's a bit more exciting.
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Post by Haz on Nov 11, 2022 12:17:55 GMT -7
Max died very young. He must have been around 18 months when I taught him colours. Both my greys were/are super talkers. Chyloe will say her first and last name, address and telephone number. Occasionally, she leaves off the last digit of her telephone number and I remind her that she knows better.
I have told this story before but it is funny. We had delivery men come to the house. On their way out, one noticed Chyloe. He said, "Oh, a bird". He came up to her cage and started whistling. Chy just sat there and watched him. When he finished whistling, she said, "Well, are you going to say hello?" The man's reaction was priceless.
Haz
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Post by Scratchpost on Nov 17, 2022 3:18:08 GMT -7
Hi Haz,
Oh ok cool. Aka has just turned a year so I might wait a bit then. Still want to get the coloured lights, he is interested in training but gets bored quickly so I have to make it fun haha. How did Max die? I have read the post about you feeling guilty for not being with him when he died but I don't know if I've read the post (if there is one) about how he died.
That's really cool, how did you teach Chyloe your address? Just repetition? Hahaha I can imagine. Most people see a parrot and think "ooh, a bird", instead of thinking "oh, a young child with feathers." It's really cool that he acknowledged her though, I get a bit annoyed when we have guests over and they walk in without saying anything. Like, the cage is right by the door, you can't miss it. Say hello, haha. You would (normally) greet a dog or a cat.
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Post by Haz on Nov 17, 2022 13:21:34 GMT -7
When I got home from work and let Max out of the cage, he came to me as usual but was quite droopy and I realized that he was sick. My husband and I rushed him across town to the avian vet. They kept him overnight. The next morning, the vet called to say he had died. They did a necropsy but couldn't find out what happened. I last saw him cradled in the vet's arms.
Haz
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Post by Adele on Nov 18, 2022 9:17:39 GMT -7
That's a great story of Aka getting out of the naughty couch! They are such smart little guys.
Manzi mostly had free reign of my place when I was home (and I worked from home most of the time, so he was almost always out). He went through a stage where he used to drop all the keys off the key holder thing, and it was above the piano, so all the keys would drop and be inaccessible. I'd have to move the piano (fortunately it was on wheels, but still really heavy) to get them.
Anyway, when he would look over to the key holder, I had 1/2 second before he flew. I would try to beat him over there, but often he was much faster. He could go to the key holder and get most of the keys off in just a couple seconds, then he would fly to his cage and go inside, so I couldn't "put him there" in time out. He would act like it was totally worth it!
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Post by Scratchpost on Nov 18, 2022 17:40:28 GMT -7
Hi Haz,
I'm so sorry, that must have been so painful. Thanks for telling me.
Hi Adele,
Haha that is so cute. I saw a Youtube video of a grey flying to the counter, taking the person's keys and fly away (in the house) with them. Apparently, that was a daily occurrence and the parrot would always bring the keys back, after some time.
Aka isn't really interested in my keys but I have a hard plastic ring (CNC ring, I don't know if there is a specific word for it) on my keyring and he loves playing with that. The one I have on my keys now is a second ring because Aka claimed the first one. He would play with it (keys still attached) and then growl every time I needed to take them away to use my keys. My friend is a CNC operator so he just made me a new one (that's where I got the first one from as well). I have attached these rings (there are a few now) to his toys and he spends more time playing with those than the other toys haha.
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