Most of us including myself, regard our parrots as our kids. Like any other kids, they sometimes get nasty and cranky at times and many resorted to punishments to stop the unwanted or negative behaviors immediately.

Are these punishments accepted in parrot training? Are they really that effective?

I’ve identified some common punishments adopted my majority of owners (including myself in the past) whenever the parrots misbehaved:

1. Jail the parrot into a cage with no toys and isolate him whenever he/she misbehave.
2. Squirt water on his/her face.
3. Whenever the parrot misbehave (like biting your finger) while perching on your hand, giving him/her a strong firm shake also known as earthquake to stop the negative behavior.
4. Yelling back at the parrot.
5. Throwing things at the parrot.

Some owners might see effectiveness in the beginning but in actual fact it’s not going to help in the long run. Why is it so? Punishment is a form of negative reinforcement, and taking note that negative reinforcement is never recommended in parrot training.

No one likes to be punished, including ourselves we never like to be punished by others. Not only it may affect us physically, but the damage done emotionally can be difficult to remedy then after. Emotional damage are usually permanent, especially parrots are highly intelligent animals they can clear remember the negative punishment conducted on them, thus affecting the parrot and owner’s bond and relationship.

Below are some possible consequences of using punishment in the long run are:

1. Negative behavior can be accidentally reinforced.
2. Biting problems and aggressiveness.
3. Damage the bonding and the relationship between the parrot and the owner.
4. The parrot can become more fearful and less confident.

I hated myself in punishing Kermit and Kiki in the past, the negative behaviors did stop immediately, but I also felt that they were afraid of me and avoiding me after the punishment. It’s not a fantastic experience, and they totally ignore and avoiding me for the whole day, and I had to end up rebuilding the trust all over again the next day. From then I’ve stopped all negative punishment and tried using other positive method instead. Why putting the bond and the relationship at risk?

Many will asked if punishments are not accepted, what other method can be used to stop the negative behavior?

Simply ignore it or using distraction. These are two best methods to help reshaping and eliminating the negative behavior, but of course it requires sometime and consistency in executing these methods whenever a negative behavior arises.

So when to use them and at which situation? Well it’s definitely important to know which to use and at which situation. I’m not expecting you to ignore your parrot and endure the pain when he tries to bite or is biting you, that could be the silliest way that I doubt anyone will do. For example if the scenario is when your parrot tried to bite you when perching on your hand, try using the distraction method. Distract the your parrot with his/her favorite little toy (e.g. Little Bell, Balls, Chewable Wooden Toys). I will recommend a bell toys cause the sound catch his attention. Offer the toy to him or her whenever he/she tries to bite or even chewing at furnitures that he/she not suppose to. That’s one way you can stop the behavior positively. As for unwanted vocalization like screaming, ignoring it (not giving any eye contact) will be advisable. By doing so you will not accidentally reinforce the screaming problem.

These are some ways to help managing negative behavior positively in some situation. Always access the problem and try identify the possible cause of the problem before executing these methods.

Personally I’ve one great book to recommend for reading. I ever mentioned this book on my earlier post, but I guess it will be great to recommend the book again:

The Parrot Problem Solver by Barbara Heidenreich

Finally got to showcase Kermit, my Senegal Parrot’s first prop trick, the Kermit’s Retrieval Trick. Compared to Kiki, Kermit took a longer time to understand and master the trick, but he didn’t disappoint me in the end.

In comparison, Kiki seems to be a fast performer in her retrieval trick whereas Kermit seems to be a little laid back, slow but steady. Overall I’m still impress with Kermit’s performance, it’s already a big step and great progress in his trick training.

This round, I used the usual training techniques and similar teaching concept that was enforced on Kiki, instead of using the clicker method. Initially, I planned to use the clicker method on Kermit for this prop trick, but I found it rather difficult to manage. Difficult as in, I will appear to be “handicapped” during the training. A use of clicker in the training means an additional hand required in the training, thus I decided to use back the usual training techniques I’m more familiar of.

Related Post:
Kiki doing the Fetching Trick
Introducing Clicker Training
Clicker & Target Training for Kermit
Introducing Target Training

Many people who have never own a parrot or have very little knowledge on parrots will misunderstand the concept of Wing Clipping. Some even mistook as deliberately clipping the wings with cloth pegs or any foreign object so that the parrot will not be able to fly!

This might sound funny, how could someone come out with such crazy senseless explanation? But it’s true, that crazy senseless explanation actually came from a friend of mine. He had great misunderstanding about the concept of wing clipping and rating it as an immoral act.

Misunderstandings happen because of ignorants or little knowledge in parrots. So overall, we can’t blame people for labelling wing clipping as an unmoral ethic.

Thus, starting this blog to share my parrot training experience, parrot tricks and stories of Kiki and Kermit are not only my sole objectives, but also as an informative channel to educate and share knowledge on parrots, correcting any misconceptions in the aviculture.

Back to our topic, so what’s actually wing clip?

The term “Wing Clipping” in aviculture doesn’t refer to clip the wings of the parrots with cloth pegs or whatever foreign objects. To be correct “Wing Clipping” is actually trimming the primary feathers also known as flight feathers trimming.

This led to another question, so what are flight feathers? What are the purpose of flight feathers?

I found a better answer to these questions on Wikipedia. Flight feathers are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (singular remex) while those on the tail are called rectrices (singular rectrix). The purpose of flight feathers provide aids to lift and thrust during flight.

So to conclude trimming flight feathers is just a painless procedure and it shouldn’t cause any injuries or harm to the parrot at all. Trimming of flight feathers is of no different from any other grooming routines. It’s just like people visiting the barber to get a hair trim. Flight feathers do grow back over time just like human hairs. Flight feathers return back to its original length after each molt.

Back to the general question which most parrot owners always pondered about: To wing clipped or not to wing clipped?

Personally I feel that it’s a personal preference, up to each individual to decide after considering and weighing on the possible pros and cons of wing clipping.

Below are some of the pros and cons of wing clipping that I’ve identified:

Pros of Wing Clipping

• Easier manage and tame during trainings (That’s why Parrot Tricks Books or Video CDs always tell owners to wing clip their parrots).
• Ensure safety and prevent any accidents or injuries caused by household hazards. (e.g. Crashing into mirrors or windows / Fall into toilet bowl, pools or boiling water)
• Prevent escape.

Cons of Wing Clipping

• Overly dependable on owners (Less independent compared to a fully flight parrot).
• May result on “One Person Bird” behavior also known as Overly bond issues.
• May result in screaming behavior.
• Trigger biting behavior and other aggression (A full flighted parrot usually fly away if he encounters any dangers but parrots with restricted flight abilities will use biting as a replacement action of flying away).

I hope with the list of pros and cons will assist parrot owners in coming out with a wise decision on whether to wing clip or not to wing clip.

For me, I trimmed Kermit’s and Kiki’s flight feathers. The purpose is not to take away their flying abilities completely but restricting their capabilities to an acceptable distance and elevation. Kermit and Kiki are housed indoor and I lived in a high rise apartment. By doing so, I can prevent my parrots from fatal accidents caused by household hazards and ensuring the safety of my birds.

So you’ve decided to wing clip but how to wing clip your parrot?

Wing Clipping is conducted by trimming the first five to eight flight feathers on each wing. I wouldn’t recommend wing clipping your own parrot if you didn’t have any prior knowledge on how to identify the flight feathers and trimming them. The results of improper wing clip are fatal (e.g. Parrots won’t be able to glide and land safely / Injuries of the leg joints or impact on the keel bones due to crash landings).

Thus it’s always advisable to get someone experienced or knowledgeable like your own avian vet to show you.

Herbal Remedies have been becoming more and more popular this day. Partly because many see the effective of long term usage of herbal remedies, furthermore they are natural and do not result in any negative side effects after prolong usage.

Previously I’ve mentioned about Kermit’s screaming problem, till now I figuring out an effective solution to minimize the problem. I don’t really wish to see Kermit turning into a screamer. Through my daily observation of Kermit, I noticed there are a few possibilities that lead Kermit into screaming:

1. Over-Bonding Issue (Whenever I’m out of sight, he will scream!)
2. Calls from other bird/flocks (Kermit’s scream most of time are triggered due to Kiki’s high-pitched calls)
3. Fear & Stress (It’s probably difficult to remedy due to unknown factors leading to fear & stress)

Possibilities 1 and 2 can be remedied with day to day training over time to time, but as for fear and stress can be difficult to deal with as most the triggers are unknown.

I remembered at one occasion when Kermit was with me in the living room. I was reading a book and Kermit beside me playing with his toys and shredding paper boxes, then suddenly Kermit break into his notorious screams again and flapping here and there continuously. There were several occasions that this similar scenarios happened.

At that moment, I knew he’s afraid and in FEAR. Many times, I tried hard to think back that I’m actually doing and what could be the trigger to the scream. Unfortunately, there’s no lead and I totally have no idea what led him to be so afraid of. Possibly could be he just want to vent his frustration, like humans we do get moody too.

This led me to finding solution in dealing with emotional stress and fear, I’ve been researching for natural sedative or depressant that is suitable for the avians. Soon I came across with an article online indicating Chamomile Flower as an effective stress reliever with calm soothing effect. The good news is that it is natural and safe for birds. I’ve decided to give it a try on Kermit.

So how do I introduce the herbal remedy into Kermit’s body? Giving fresh chamomile flower as daily diet? Well getting fresh chamomile flower and getting them to eat the flower can be difficult and a daunting task. Instead I got Chamomile Tea Bags from the local supermarket, brewed and dilute them as the drinking water for Kermit.

How do I prepare?
1. One pack Chamomile Tea Bag with 1 Cup of boiling water (leave the tea bag for 3-5minutes).
2. Dilute the tea with 4 cup of water.
3. Once the mixture is cooled can be use as daily drinking water.
4. Chill/Refrigerate the leftover (Possible of keeping the tea for up to a week).

Direction of Use:
2-3 times weekly.

Kermit had tried the remedy for a week and I’ve yet to see the improvement. I do hope that the effects of Chamomile Flower can help Kermit in any way.

Post Related:
Curb that Kermit Scream

Kiki has coming to 11 months old and soon be turning 1 year old by late June this year. Kiki was merely with us since August 2007, with a short 9 months companionship she had learned a surprising numbers of tricks.

Last night, I was updating the “About” section, suprisingly I notice I’ve taught 16 tricks and commands in total. Till date, she’s able to perform each and every tricks and commands with no problems at all (although at certain occassion there might be hiccups here and there, but minor mistakes can easily be fine tuned).

I do hope her enthusiasm in learning tricks never ends!

Kiki’s back again with her new trick. Although it is not possible for Kiki to drive a car, but I’ve managed to teach her how to pull a car instead.

It’s definitely fun watching her so into doing this. It’s like Kiki cruising around with her own Formula 1 Race car.

How do I teach?
The Pull a Car Trick is rather a simple trick, that any parrot owners can teach their parrots. The trick share the similar principle of a Retrieval or Fetching trick, the only difference is the prop. Kiki easily understand the whole concept mastered the whole trick after 2 sessions in a day.

First Step, like I always do for a new trick training, props introduction for Kiki. Kiki totally had no issue of accepting the red ring, but I met some problems with the purple race car. Kiki was totally fearful and frightened by the Purple Race Car, perhaps due to the irregular dimension of the object.

With the help of the target stick and treats, I managed to get Kiki to overcome her fear factor. She soon willing to touch and play with the 2 new props.

I moved on with teaching Kiki on how to retrieve the red ring only. She had no difficulty in achieving the task, because she had learned the Retrieval/Fetching trick some time ago.

As she had achieved on the retrieval of the red ring, I then tied the string to the red ring and the purple car. I began the training with a short distance right in front of the prop. Upon my “Fetching” cue, Kiki retrieved the red ring and place back on my hand. I praised and rewarded her immediately. I repeated the sequence several time.

I slowly add-on the distance at every session to add challenge to the training. Now, Kiki is able to perform and retrieve the car that is few inches away. It’s definitely exciting enjoying the sessions.

I’ve highlighted the breakdown of the steps below on how I guided Kiki on to accomplishing the Pull a Car Trick:

The Breakdown Process of the Cups Stacking Trick

1. Introduction of New Props (The Red Ring & Purple Race Car)
2. Learning How to Retrieve the Red Ring only
3. Learning How to Retrieve the Red Ring tying with the Purple Race Car
4. Continue training Retrieval of the Red Ring with the Purple Race Car

I probably going to teach Kiki on how to flag raise on her next trick training. Good luck to me and Kiki!

Related Post:
Kiki’s new F1 ride

After so long, I finally manage to upload to YouTube and share with everyone Kiki’s Cups Stacking Trick. That’s definitely a long wait, but hope this is a worthwhile one and everyone should enjoy watching the trick performance.

It’s fairly simple trick for Kiki. There isn’t much difficulty for her to understand the whole sequence and master the whole trick.

How do I teach?
Before I can really introduce Kiki into this trick, she must be able to master some of the basic trick component like the Retrieval/Fetching Trick.

Kiki had mastered the Fetching Trick and the Coin Depositing Trick, thus it’s definitely no difficulty for her to complete the task. The only differences is the prop. Like I always said, the first thing to do before moving into actual training, is to introduce the props.

Once proper introduction of the props have been conducted, the actual training commenced with teaching Kiki to pick up the cup upon cueing. When she achieve that, I slowly added another cup labeled with a green label identifying it as my master cup. The objective is that Kiki have to stack the cup onto the master cup.

This portion of the training can be the most challenging one, as Kiki had no idea how to stack the cup. Thus I had to conduct a live demo in front her, thereafter when she holding the cup I had to guide the cup slowly push it onto the master cup. Once she achieved it, I praised and rewarded her. I continued to assist her and complete the sequence several times until she truly understand that she had to stack the cup in order to be rewarded.

At the stage when she’s able to stack the cup on her own, I moved on adding 2 other cups to add challenge to the training. Every successful tries of stacking the cups, I praised and rewarded her.

Below I’ve highlight the breakdown sequence on how to train Kiki to accomplish the whole trick.

The Breakdown Process of the Cups Stacking Trick

1. Introduction of New Props (The Cups)
2. Learning How to Hold/Lift the Cup (Restrict to one Cup)
3. Learning How to Stack the Cup (Restrict to 2 Cups)
4. Add-on of 2 others cups into the training (Total of 3 Cups to stack into the master cup)
5. Full Training Sequence

Remember always be patience, be consistent in your training. Some parrots might take quite a while to understand and master the trick. Good luck to all parrot owners!

Related Posts:
The Cup Stacking Props
New tricks for new year

All parrots deserve a 10-12hours of total darkness and undisturbed sleep every night. Parrots having a proper sleep and rest throughout a night can prevent possible health problem and behavior problems.

Currently, there are all sorts of cage covers available in the market. Some owners may like the idea of covering the cages, some may not. It’s much more depending on each individual preference.

For me, I use cage covers on Kermit’s and Kiki’s cage. Personally, I find the cage covers essential and useful especially in a busy household during the night. I live in a small apartment in Singapore and sharing a common space with my elder brother, thus space is pretty much limited. Worst I can’t provide a dedicated bird room for Kermit and Kiki.

The cage covers come in handy ensuring Kermit and Kiki have total darkness during bedtime, while family members and me still staying late night. This ensure Kermit and Kiki can easily sleep without the disturbance due to the bright light.

Many might wonder what wrong about birds sleeping under bright light, as long they get their rest what’s to worry? All birds and parrots are photosensitive creatures, a longer daylight may trigger them into breeding mode, potentially lead to behavior problems and health issues. Thus we should always limit the number of daylight hours, thumb rules ensuring at least 10-12hours of darkness and undisturbed sleep will prevent these potential problems.

Kiki did it again! Remember on my last post, I mentioned that Kiki is a boy when “she” was caught doing “that thing” again. Perhaps the right word to use to explain “that thing” should be MASTURBATION!

Last Evening, I caught “her” on tape, doing “that thing” to a face towel. “She” has been doing that so frequently, partly due to maturity and triggered into breeding behavior. High sexual drive and simply hard to stop for “her” from doing it, I guess. “She” just one horny freak!

Till now we still assume “her” as a female and still calling her Kiki, although should be time to rename “her” to boyish name. We are so used to calling “her” Kiki. I’m also sure that “she” is already conditioned to the name, Kiki for so long. Changing to a new name, will just make “her” more uncomfortable.

Related Posts:
Kiki might be a Boy!

The first ever Formula 1 night race will be held in Singapore at the late quarter this year. The Formula 1 fever is rising, and everyone is excited!

Kiki is also looking forward for the race too, so I got her a new ride! It’s a purple race car, and Kiki loves it so much!

In fact it’s not really only a new “toy” for Kiki, and a prop for Kiki’s new trick. I’m planning to teach Kiki to “drive” a car, or should rephrase it as pulling the car!

Lately I haven’t manage to teach Kiki a new trick, partly because I’m running out of ideas of new tricks and she’s undergoing a molting for the past weeks and months. I wouldn’t want to stress her too much either.

With the new trick being introduced to her, I’m sure it will once again unleash her deep passion and enthusiasm in learning new things. I will say the trick is of not much difficulty to Kiki, as she had learn fetching, the retrieval trick.

The Car Pulling trick is of the similar concept in the retrieval trick, the only difference is the retrieval object is used as a pulley to car. Whenever Kiki is cued to fetch the retrieval object which is the red ring, the car will be pulled along during the fetching process. It’s gonna be fun and entertaining.

I’m looking forward to share the Youtube video with everyone real soon! Stay tune!