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R+ training with other species!
Hey y’all! Don’t know if this is appropriate to post here but I am interested in learning more about bird behavior and training with positive reinforcement methods! I would love to hear about what y’all do with your parrots or any resources you recommend!
I attached a pic of my green cheek conure Vinny for tax lol
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22 Replies
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Yes! You are not the only one playing with other animals. We have several members who are into positive reinforcement training with different species, including birds. I’ve done a bit, and I’m thinking of:
@bernerlabreclectus @WaiThePuaPup @virginiad
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I like Barbara Heidenreich’s YouTube channel. She has a lot of great bird videos.
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Yay! Thank you!
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@Gabbyff @catherine
Thanks for tagging me, Catherine! Yes, Gabby, I also have a parrot, whom I’m attempting to train with positive reinforcement methods. I like Bird Tricks as the main program I am using, but also find a good resource as Avian Behavior International, which is all kinds of birds, including birds of pet and they have a wealth of freebie info in their newsletter! Especially enjoy their stuff on enrichment.
http://www.birdtricksstore.com
Your green cheeked conure is adorable! How’s the training going? What do you like about the method you are using currently? What’s his or her name and age?
My parrot is a female Eclectus parrot, named Stella. She is 13 years old and isn’t training up super fast because she also needed a diet conversion because she was extremely hormonal and plucking and it seemed like before getting the information from these two sites, I was doing so much wrong! (Covering her cage at night, not letting her get enough sleep, not getting her enough of the right fruits and veggies seasonally, etc)
She is doing much better and I’ve done a consultation with the behaviorist on one of the sites and turned a corner with things. She is currently my only pet, as both of my dogs passed in 2020.
I’m enjoying clicker training with her and she is getting the hang of targeting to a chopstick, touching it with her beak or tongue, not biting it. Sometimes she isn’t in the mood, sometimes she accepts the high value treat (a seed, which is no longer part of her diet) but then she takes FOREVER to eat it! (Ha.) Eclectus are especially shyer than most birds and contemplative as a species (did you know, people used to think they were not intelligent as a species, and somewhat dumb or rewarded competitively to other parrot species).
I hope you enjoy learning and please keep posting here! We would love to hear your progress with your sweetie! Here’s my girl, waving “hi”, like she loves to do!
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Thank you for your response!!! Vinny is a rescue so we are not sure his age! I’ve had him for 3 years now! We’ve done some target training and taught him wave! I also worked with him on some handling stuff so getting him more confidence when stepping up on to my hand! He’s quite outgoing and confident so sounds like the opposite of your girl! I’m also working on switching him over to chop rather than pellets as I want him to have that variety and more natural diet!
Thanks for all the info and I’ll definitely keep y’all posted on our adventures!
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Apologies, you said his name was Vinny! I didn’t remember when I posted that reply.
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Vinny is gorgeous, @Gabbyff !
Though I was tagged, I’m sorry to say I don’t have training experience with birds. When I was taking Susan Friedman’s behavior analysis course, I recall some neat bird training featured within the curriculum.
If anyone wants to talk about training rats or agoutis, I’ve got some solid experience there, plus a bit of dabbling with cats, horses, goats and lemurs. ????
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Whoa lemurs! ???? That must have been so much fun. ????
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I loved them to bits! While teaching at a week-long trainer workshop at a private zoo in Spain, I had to organize training sessions for my students, so we worked with goats and lemurs. The lemurs learned how to head target! The goats learned all kinds of fun tricks. ????
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???? That’s sounds like you had a blast! And in Spain too! ????
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That must have been very cool teaching in Spain! I’m jealous. Already wishing I could stay here in Paris and do my dog-training thing. Of course, this next year, I have to intensively start learning French! So cool. Also, work with other species teaches us a lot about dog training…ie. what is similar in body language, what is different in comprehension from the animal…I am jealous again! Goats are fascinating and make great pets, from a few people I know who have goats.
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@bernerlabreclectus , will you be moving to Paris at some point? What keeps you there now? Are there a lot of positive reinforcement trainers there? It’s such a lovely city!
When I first began training other species, it really reinforced the fact that our training techniques work beautifully on any animal. I also love to just observe other species to learn more about the way they move, what they focus on, what matters to them, what can be used as reinforcers for them, etc. Watching animals never gets old!
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Hi @Gabbyff , first Vinny is stunning! ???? I don’t have much experience with birds. I have pet sat for one, Godzilla the Macaw. I haven’t done any training with him though.
I do R+ other-species training mostly with my goats and my horse. One thing that I have found that my animals LOVE is the clicker stick. I wasn’t able to pet sit long for Godzilla but I’m sure that it would have been fun for him too. ????
I couldn’t find any videos of my horse playing with the clicker stick ????, but I did find one of my goat Elizabaa-Rose. I call her Elizabaa or Baba for short ☺️. My first clicker stick had to retire and I needed to make a new one for her birthday (she turned 3 in May ❤️ ). Here is my makeshift clicker stick made from a horse crop and a clicker, duck taped on. ????
The other video is during my pet sit, this is Godzilla saying “hi”. He already knew this trick, and I could resist giving him a special yummy treat. ????
My best wishes to you and Vinny! ????
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@bernerlabreclectus I LOVE Stella’s wave hi! ???? She looks so fancy and royal-like. ❤️
I feel like when Godzilla does his wave it’s more like a slow gimme-the-treat-now motion. (insert slow gollum’s voice “Gimmeeee it noooooowww” ???? ) It must be with Godzilla too, he takes FOREEVVEERR to eat anything. ????
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Ha!
That’s cute. Birds are such individuals. Stella loves when we board a dog at our home. She tries waving at them and throwing them little pellets as treats.
@WaiThePuaPup
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Aww that is so cute Stella does that! ☺️ ❤️
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@catherine @bernerlabreclectus @virginiad @Gabbyff
Here is a picture of the Clicker Stick I made for my little goat Elizabaa. Made with an old horse riding crop, tape and a spare clicker. This was a last minute make before (my last minute party for my goat, I almost forgot her b-day again. ????). With no time for a trip to the store or speedy deliveries, here is my crazy creation. ????
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Nice, innovative work. And I love that you are having a birthday party ???? for Elizabaa… of course we need photos of that! ????
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Yes! ???? This was her 1st (or was it second ???? … lol ???? birthday party). The theme was Alice in Wonderland. I had created a treasure hunt that ended with a Piñata ????. I created the Piñata in the shape of the Queen of Hearts head and filled it with carrots ????! Her presents were PJ’s and Alice in Wonderland book (for me ???? ). Enjoy! ????
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Lol sorry just realized that was the wrong bday pics. ???? Sorry, my bad! The birthday she got her clicker stick was not so glamorous. ???? She got a bandana and treats that day. Lol! ????
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Creative cobbling at its best!
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