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Aviary boys

2K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  Malachi 
#1 ·
Hi all,
This is my first time on a forum so I am hoping you can all guide me well :)
2 weeks ago I bought my first pair of parrotlets, two boys. The birds have come from an aivary and are roughly a year old. My problem at the moment is that they flip out whenever I open their cage. I have begun sitting with them when watching telly and just resting my hand in the cage so they know I am not there to harm them. Also I have been weighing out their food so that they eat it all and are hungry when it is feeding time so they begin to associate me with the grub and see me as a nice person. Also I have been doing some millet training with them, they are getting better but still don't like my hands very much.
Is there anything else I should be doing to increase the bonding?

Thank you in advance
:)
 
#2 ·
Hi Welcome to the Forum! Sounds like you are doing a very good job so far. The only thing that I could recommend although I don't know if you would want to do it. Is that it is easier to train separately. So if you have them in separate cages and deal with them separately it can be easier. But some people have had success with two at a time so it all depends. It just takes time and patience. P'lets are aggressive and bitey. Think Napoleon syndrome. They are tiny birds but they think they are big birds so they have more to prove to everyone. I would just keep having them around, talking to them, keeping your hand in the cage, great job with the feeding and maybe leave the cage open but if they are flighted it may be very difficult to get them back and into the cage. I would recommend clipping for training 2 birds at once. It's just easy handling them and then you can open the cage while they are with you so they can explore on their own and come to you on their own.
 
#3 ·
Wow thank you for your reply. I have considered separating them however I feel mean as they cuddle up all the time and preen eachother. I will see how it goes on in the next couple of weeks. In regards to clipping, is it something I could do myself or would it be better to take them to someone?
Thanks again :)
 
#4 ·
I would take them the first time so you can see it being done or you can go on you tube there are a lot of clipping videos. I do my own now but you want to make sure not to do to drastic a cut that they go thud and hit the ground instead of getting just a little flight. No problem. I know it's hard to separate them when they are too cute together. I am haivng trouble wth a female cockatiel that I brought home because immediately she wanted to be with my male who she thinks is her big brother she's only about one month old but she won't leave his side and it's hard training her but we are making a little progress.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Hello and welcome to the forum!! We all love pictures, pictures, and more pictures :)

Looks like you're doing everything right. With more time they'll love you more. Birds can be slow sometimes. I'd second the clipping. For the training, maybe train them in different rooms but keep them in the same cage. They tend to distract each other when together.

As for the clipping, what I do when I have a bird for the first time is just cut a little then test, if they're still amazing fliers, cut some more etc. (if you're gonna look up videos). I've had a bird that even when I cut his primary and secondary feathers he still flew amazing compared to his mate where I just trimmed half her primary feathers and she went straight to the ground (so I never clipped her wings).
 
#7 ·
Thank you all for your help. Once I build up their trust some more I will clip them. At the moment I don't want to make them more scared of me by grabbing them. :D

View attachment 16153
They are adorable. If you need to grab them do it with a washcloth and they will forgive you as long as you don't make a habit of it. They don't associate the washcloth withyour hand for some reason or at least my feather ball doesn't.
 
#9 ·
Never GRAB a bird in his cage! That would scare them even more.
Patience is the key----they are bonded to each other, and don't really need you except for food & hygiene. They will learn over time to be more sweet with you, keep up your good work. I have to share Ollie with my budgie, the budige preens Ollie, it's a one-way relationship. I take time out of the day to be one-to-one with Ollie, hand feed Nutriberries, a great treat. He starts talking to me when I do. He's a sweetie finding me in another room of the house. Best to you.
 
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