How to tame a parrot?

Parrots are wonderful, quick-witted creations of nature. According to many bird watchers, these are the smartest representatives of birds on earth. Domestic parrots live in many apartments as constant favorite “family members”. In families with children, these friendly pets help to bring up responsibility and care for “our little brothers” in kids. A parrot can be taught a variety of tricks and even elements of human speech. Such skills constantly amuse and delight the owners. But for your parrot to become such a "pro", you will have to work hard.

Before buying a parrot, think over all aspects of the comfortable living conditions of the pet, read the recommendations of experts, chat on the forums and among your friends with those who live with parrots. When purchasing the necessary attributes, pay attention to the materials from which they are made.

The cage should be spacious, so that the parrot can freely move along it, unfold its wings and wave them, jump from perch to ladder, play with toys. A feeder usually comes with a cage. It is better to choose a drinking bowl not plastic, but ceramic or porcelain. It is more expensive, but in such dishes, harmful microflora develops more slowly, and the water stays clean longer. Find toys made from sustainable materials with quality finishes.

In comfortable conditions, the bird will more easily transfer the stress of moving to a new home.

The timing of the domestication of parrots depends on many factors: breed, age of the bird, its individual character, occupation system, actions and character of the owner himself. But the opinion is unambiguous that this is not a matter of one day. It can take several weeks to establish contact with the bird. Young parrots (up to about 5 months of age) are the easiest to train. With constant communication with the bird and regular consecutive exercises, you can tame your pet in 2-3 weeks.

Older individuals are much more difficult to tame, but it is also possible to solve such a problem, only it will take more time. It all depends on where the bird lived before... If these were good conditions, but with limited communication with people, she needs to pay more attention, conduct daily calm "conversations" for an hour, and the bird will definitely get used to communication.

Under no circumstances, even in the case of aggression, you cannot shout at such a bird and wave your arms, this will frighten it even more, and it will finally lose the ability to trust people. Maximum patience, love and affection, constant care and lack of punishment will certainly bring results, and the pet will change its attitude towards communicating with a person.

Before you start taming your parrot, tune in to the fact that you will have to spend a lot of personal time for a successful result. Any haste and pressure on the bird is unacceptable, any action should build trust, not destroy it. The first 2-3 days after the purchase, the parrot is confused and scared, sits silently, crumpled and quietly sad. This is fine. Leave the bird alone these days.

By nature, parrots are very sociable, so even the most stubborn of them will not sit in the corner of the cage for a long time. After a couple of days, the pet will recover a little from stress, stop rushing to the far corner of the cage when you appear, and start pecking food from the trough when you are in the room. Now you can start to teach him to hand.

Bird watchers suggest you stick with taming step-by-step steps.

1. Try to get your pet interested in communication first.... At first, do not come close to the cage and from a distance talk to the bird in an even soft voice, calling the name of the pet. Then start slowly approaching the cage so that the bird knows that you are talking to it. Observe your parrot's gestures to see if he is listening to your voice. Be prepared to carry out this initial stage especially carefully, exercise maximum patience and do not rush to move on to more active actions.
2. Find out what your parrot likes to eat the most by observing. Look at what he picks from the feeder first (grain, fruit, nuts, whatever). For the duration of taming, do not put this food in the feeder, but use it as a treat to reward the parrot during training.
3. For the first time, try to grab just a little bit of your favorite food with your fingers into a pinch and offer it through the bars of the cage. You should not open the cage door and rush to reach inward - the parrot is not yet ready for this. Most likely, he will not take food the first time, even through the bars. Do not insist, wait a few minutes and move away from the cage. Offer the treat a second time before a new feed. Perhaps a hungry bird will take a treat. As soon as this happens, praise him with a kind voice, additionally encourage him with a treat. Repeat this step several times.
4. After about a week, you can offer a treat from your hands through the door. Place the treat in your open palm and wait. Calmly continue to talk to the bird, do not rush, do not persuade to eat "tasty". Wait until the pet decides to come to the hand. This should be done in the morning, when the parrot is awake and hungry. There is no need to stretch your arms far into the cage, since at first all parrots are afraid of hands, but this will pass. Do this patiently every day.
5. The moment will come when the feathered one will take food from the palm of his hand... At first, grabbing a grain or a nut, he will bounce off his hand to the far corner of the cage and enjoy the delicacy in a safe area. Remain equanimous, do not be nervous, once again show patience and in no case scold the bird. The parrot will soon realize that there is no danger, you are not trying to take food or grab it. After some time, he will boldly sit on his hands and feast on a treat, without going deep into the cage.
6. Now you can train the bird to sit on your finger. Place an outstretched finger on the perch that your pet likes to sit on. Usually this is enough - the parrot itself jumps onto the finger. But sometimes he just doesn't understand what is needed from him. Feel the feathers on the belly in front between the legs, and the parrot will quickly sit on your toe.

In the process of training, it sometimes happens that some parrots cannot be tamed in any way. Stay tuned, find another way to get the bird interested... You can try hand training using a small mirror. Quietly move the mirror in front of the bird, bringing it closer to the open palm and moving it away from the bird.

We need special care on your part. No sudden movements or hasty gestures, don't risk losing confidence. Instead of a mirror, there may be another object - a pen cap, a bottle cap, a new toy - parrots love to tinker with such things. If you can find an object that interests the bird, the rest will depend on your desire for success, the sequence of your actions, and everything will certainly work out.

There are parrots that are very shy by nature. They are afraid of everything: the owner's hands, new toys, new food, bathing, strangers, pets, some things. In all cases, try to establish the cause of the feathered phobia and correctly eliminate it or prove to the bird the safety of the situation that frightens him. You have to understand that a parrot is, first of all, a real wild bird, not a dog or a cat.

During taming classes never keep your hands above the parrot's head. A natural reflex will work: movement overhead is the shadow of a bird of prey. The association "hand - danger" will be established in the feathered brain, and it will no longer be possible to retrain the pet.

The expression "everything in good time" is the best fit for this situation. If you are ready with love and patience to persistently go towards the goal, smoothly move from stage to stage in the taming process, then for sure your pet will love you, feel protection in you, will be grateful and will completely trust.

With a tame parrot, you can easily make a fun conversation, and with full confidence, get a response. Of course, a parrot's “speech” is just a reproduction of memorized sounds, but it will bring you a lot of positive emotions and funny minutes. The main thing is to be patient and not rush the bird, to show perseverance and kindness, and then you will find a real feathered friend.

How to tame a parrot, see below.