Training to do Tricks!

Have you ever wanted your bird to do a trick or say something? Here I will be providing some tips to help teach your birds how to talk and do tricks. It will take a lot of time and hard work, but it will pay off by watching your bird do amazing things!

To get a bird to do a trick, it will take a lot of preparation and repetition. First, start by

introducing the trick to the bird. Show the bird videos or have the bird do the trick with you. Another way to introduce the bird is to guide it through the trick with your hands. This process can take a very long time, because your bird will have to take quite a bit of time to get used to the trick. For example my conure, Hershey has been working on a trick for about half a year, but she is just now really getting the concept. The trick I have been teaching her is hanging upside down. I flip her over and she will climb back up to the top of the hand.

Teaching your bird to talk takes a very long time. It takes a lot of repetition of the words, noises, or phrases for the bird to finally learn the words. For example if you are teaching a bird to say hello, you wold need to repeat hello to them every day. The first thing I taught my birds to do is make kissing sounds. They can both make the sound, and now they make it whenever they want lots of attention. My cockatiel, Snickers, also knows how to say Pretty Bird from me repeating that phrase to him so many times.

You can either teach the birds by word of mouth or play a recordings or phases from a device to teach the bird. The birds will imitate what you sing or say, so be careful. A bird can pick up bad words even if they only heard it once. Your birds will then continually

repeat phrases, once they know them. A helpful tip for teaching songs is knowing how to whistle. This gives the birds a good way to really hear the song and mimic it. My cockatiel, Snickers knows how to do a whistle that goes “Wooo-Woo”

Have fun training! Birds are great and will always be fun to be around. They will learn tricks and sing songs for your enjoyment. Just work with them for awhile, and they will know their tricks and songs to entertain you with.

October 23, 2018 0

Bird Safety Tips!

In this bog today, I will be talking about bird safety. I will cover where to put cages, how to keep away from other animals, and more!

When you get a bird, you may need to make sure you have a proper spot to put a cage. You want to put the cage some where that does not have direct sunlight hitting the bird. You also don’t want to put the cage in a spot that is to cold or warm. If a bird gets to hot, the bird could get overheated and die. It is similar if the bird gets to cold,they could get very sick. You also want to refrain from putting a birds cage outside. It is okay to have an out door and an indoor cage, but the bird should not be left outside all the time.

Another tip is if you have other animals then just a bird, try to keep them away from the bird. If the bird is in their cage, it should be fine for other animals to be around it, just

keep the cage higher up. Also whenever you take your birds out always check for other animals before the bird is taken out. I have a dog and cat along with my two birds, and I have once found a cat hiding under my bed or in a box, so make sure to always, always check before handling the bird. If you do discover another animal in the room with you and your bird quickly put your hand over the birds wings and hold them until they are back in the cage. This will prevent them from flying and you can get them back to their cage safely. They may struggle in your hands by biting you and squirming, but it will be worth it to know that your bird is safe and sound

There are also lots of things that need to happen to make sure your birds and that includes their health.Make sure to always give your bird food,

and fresh water. Replace their water everyday, and always check their food. It may seem like they still have lots of food, but the seeds, could just be shells. The shells are seeds that are empty, so they have already been eaten from. An easy way to tell if there are shells is to blow on the birds food, which will cause the shells to just blow out of the food dish. Also make sure to clean out their cages every week. This will help keep them at their optimal health.

Another tip to keep your birds safe, is to know when they look sick. Some signs of sickness are trembling, being huddled, eyes dull or sunken, drooped or elevated wings, and several more signs can show that your bird is sick. Plucking can also be a sign of sickness or of your bird being stressed out. If you notice signs like these, then take your bird to the vet to get proper treatment. Just always make sure your bird is safe, and receives proper care at all times.

Example of plucking, my bird does it from stress.

October 7, 2018 0

Working With Your Bird

A recurring challenge that can be found with birds is finding a way to play with them

while multitasking. Your bird may have an attitude, and only want you to pay attention to them. You must multitask while playing to get your job done. They will really want to be out no matter what you are doing.

How this challenge of multitasking first comes up, is that they will try to distract you from your work. They could scream, bite,

annoy you, and more. They will continue doing this until you pay attention to them, and only them. If you give them attention and go back to work they will start distracting you again, so be prepared.

But, since this happens, just give your bird lots of love when you

are not working, also try different things with your bird. You could also take breaks every now and again to play with your birds. Also talking to them while you work distracts them. Another tip is if your hair is long to let it down, for your bird to play with.

How I met this challenge with my birds, is by moving them around. I will have both my birds out at the same time, but I have to keep them separate. For example I might have one bird on my knee, while the other is on my shoulder as I

work. I will talk to them and let them play with my hair while they are out to distract

them. I will also move them around to different spots on me.I might move them to my opposite shoulder, knees, or head. One of my birds really likes the top of my head. and will be calm there.

This still challenges me because my birds find new ways to get my attention to them. My conure, Hershey, finds ways to prevent me from doing homework all the time, and I just have to find ways to get her to stop. Like one time, I was reciting the Gettysburg Address, and she would stick her head in my mouth! So, find methods that work for you, and have some fun with your birds while you work.

Holding birds together, but keeping separate

September 25, 2018 0

Welcome!

Hello! In all of my blogs I will be talking about my own bird experiences, bird facts, give

tips, and more. I have two feathered friends. One is a male Cockatiel named Snickers, and the other is a female Green Cheeked Conure. They are both very different and I will have lots of experiences and tips to give from what I know works with my birds. I hope you enjoy.

In this blog today, I will be giving tips on how to train a new bird. So, if you just got a new bird, Congratulations! Birds are very interesting fun, and exciting creatures. However,you must know how to train them to work with them and to bond with these magnificent creatures. If the bird is very new and you brought it home today, do not try to do anything with it until twenty four hours after the bird moved into its new home. They will be trying to get used to their new home and you do not want to stress them out. After the twenty four hours are up, then you can finally start training the bird.

The first steps to training your bird is making sure they are used to your hand. Start by holding your hand inside their cage until they seem comfortable with your hand. Once the bird seems comfortable with your hand, you can move onto trying to get the bird to step up. To get the bird to step up, press your finger gently against the birds chest. If the bird is being stubborn, it is okay to apply some more pressure to the chest for the bird to step up. Once the bird has done this repeat this several times with your bird. Make sure to always compliment your bird or give them treats as a reward.

Your bird will get more and more used to stepping up, but always make sure to give compliments and treats every now again to your bird. This is the basics to train your bird.

September 10, 2018 0