On my previous post, I mentioned about helping my friends, William and Amelyn to parrot-sit their parrots, the 3Ts for 10 days. The 3Ts (namely Tweety, Tyson and Teri) are gorgeous, fun-loving little parrots, but there was one big issue.
Tweety (the Lutino Lovebird) and Tyson (the Blue Pacific Parrotlet) are such tame sweethearts. Unfortunately, Teri (the Peach Faced Lovebird) wasn’t as cooperative like the other two. He’s aggressive and very territorial! He would lunged at anyone who tried to pick him up.
Teri gave me a hard bite when I wanted to offer my fingers for him to step-up. The bite was really bad and drew blood instantly. *Ouch*
So never ever underestimate the bite power of lovebirds!
In fact, I wasn’t the only victim. Everyone in the family had gotten a nasty bite from Teri. That’s really one big problem if no one in the family can handle him.
While Tyson and Tweety got to enjoy their out-of-cage sessions, Teri was the only one left in his own cage. I felt sorry for him. Seriously, I do not hope to see him ended up cage-bound after his 10-days stay at our place.
I strongly felt that I ought to do something to improve the situation.
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Tags: Agapornis, Bird, Bird Tricks, Bird Video, Companion Parrot, Lovebirds, Parrot, Parrot Training, Parrot Tricks, Pet Bird, Positive Reinforcement
Posted in Behavior Problems & Trainings, Youtube | Comments (14)
Are Punishments Accepted in Parrot Training – Part 2
Last Sunday after I posted the article titled “Are Punishments Accepted in Parrot Training?”, I received a few emails about their honest opinions on negative punishment.
Rick, one of my reader brought up some points. He indicated he also uses negative punishment in parrot training with his lovebird, and found that using punishment did eliminate unwanted behavior effectively and almost instantly. Furthermore, he indicated he had yet to see any behavior problem arise from his lovebird. He felt that since negative punishment seems to work out pretty well in his training routine why consider stopping this technique?
Well true, I do admit negative punishment can be effective at a stage and it does eliminate the unwanted behavior instantly. I saw the effectiveness when I conducted negative punishments on Kermit and Kiki before, but I also see other problems start to surface like increase in excessive vocalization (i.e Screaming Problem).
What we see are just the surface, a temporary remedy to the problem. In a long run, we are bound to see numbers of behavior problems arising. I will still insist don’t take the risk, try making all trainings positive will be ideal.
I’m sure many readers might be asking isn’t there any workaround for the negative punishment? There is a workaround which is to enforce the punishment without your presence. That means giving the punishment where your parrot cannot see you giving the punishment. By doing so, the parrot will link you up with all the hatred and fear caused by the punishment, thus this will not put the relationship and bond at risk.
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Tags: Positive Reinforcement
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Are Punishments Accepted in Parrot Training
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 by majority of parrot owners (including myself in the past) whenever their parrots misbehaved:
- Jail the parrot into a cage with no toys and isolate him whenever he/she misbehave.
- Squirt water on his/her face.
- 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.
- Yelling back at the parrot.
- 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.
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Tags: Barbara Heidenreich, Good Bird Inc, Positive Reinforcement
Posted in Behavior Problems & Trainings, Recommended Books | Comments (1)
Many behavior problems start to float out when young parrots in the developmental stage start to mature. It’s the greatest fear to see turning from a nice cuddly baby into a notorious monster once after sexual maturity. No doubt, my Kermit, the Senegal Parrot is also no different from any other parrot. He starts to pick up screaming whenever I disappear from his sight, from this he’s more likely to become a “one person” bird very soon.
Among all behavior problem, parrot screaming is always the primary issue among all parrot owners. Owners usually ended feeling upset and angry over the unwanted loud vocalization.
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Tags: Positive Reinforcement
Posted in Behavior Problems & Trainings, Kermit's Daily, Recommended Books, Recommended Products | Comments Off on Curb that Kermit Scream