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Alexandrine clumsy

g_tok

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Hi everyone
New to the site and just had an alexandrine parrot 3 months old.
Has anyone ever experienced that their youngster very clumsy.Mine appears to have floppy feet his big toe crosses over the other one.I have spoke to breeder and he says this is fine and I should juat uncross it when I get him out.I only had him 3 days and got him out yesterday he was pretty good sat with me for bout 15 minutes.I did move his toe and it did stay but as soon as he back in cage went back.
Is this normal
Thanks
Mark
 

zoo mom

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Welcome.

I am not sure about the toe but I would have it checked by an avian veterinarian. It is bezt to have a new bird checked by a vet anyway.

Baby birds are clumsy. It takes them a little while to get used to a moving around in their cage.
 

cassiesdad

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Welcome to you and your bird. :)

Young ones are clumsy at times. If you are concerned, then maybe you should have checked out...
 

kitsunebandit

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Young birds can be clumsy. Is the toe stiff when it's moved or does it feel normal? If it were stiff I would be thinking that it could have potentially been broken at some point but it's not something I would be too concerned with as long as s/he can walk and get around with no issues etc.
 

Tiel Feathers

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:hello:
:welave:
 

expressmailtome

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Welcome, and enjoy the site!
 

Cynthia & Percy

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welcome
 

Shinobi

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The Alexandrine I had, would do the same when he was that young. It's just part of the learning to walk process.
 

g_tok

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Ok thanks foe all info put my mind at rest.
One other thing was wondering should I leave him for a few days longer before getting him out of cage regularly I have had him out after a bit of squawking and he has been stepping up onto diferent hands(after one or two bites ouch!).
Didn't know if I was pushing him too quickly.
 

Shinobi

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The cage is the Parrot safe haven and any attempt to enter, add or remove items and this includes forcefully removing the bird, will most likely trigger a bite response. This why you first build trust with the bird in the cage (safe haven). Trying hanging a chew toy on the outside of the cage.

No putting hands inside the cage and chasing the bird around the cage or room. (forcing the bird) instead Conducted lots of trust building and bonding sessions (training). I have had great success with the following method to bond and build trust. If needed, I would use a T-perch to handle him. When you have built enough trust you can train your bird to step up and down from within the cage. (good for emergencies)

This how I bonded and built trust with an aviary bred bird and have used it on other birds. I obtained an aviary bred IRN a quite few years ago who we named Bluey. When people approached Bluey he would thrash around the cage in fear. So I needed some tools to address this problem. 1 was a clicker, 2 was training treats, 3 was T-perch.

Clickers are the best for training. Do some research? B F Skinner is a good start. Clicks won't confuse the bird. Where has words can. Without realising, words can be changed. It doesn't seem much, but it is to a bird. Has an example you might be saying "good boy". Then you say "that's a good boy" or you’re a good bird. Clickers are a bridge to identify wanted behaviour between you and your bird.

Second by putting five different foods on a plate and watch which one Bluey ate first I worked out what Bluey favourite food. I used sunflower seeds, corn kernels, pine nuts, grapes and balls of millet. This became Bluey's training treat and I removed this food from Bluey diet. Whatever your bird picks, it must not be part of the bird’s diet otherwise it defeats the purpose of being a training treat. It was sunflower seeds.

These are the procedures I used to calm and interact with him.
Bluey was in a cage in the lounge room. With the clicker in my hand, I entered the lounge room and went to the furthest point away from the cage. Then I would slowly approach the cage until Bluey showed signs of fear. When your bird becomes small and "skinny," and the bird's crop often looks sucked in, and all the feathers lie flat on the body. It usually means the bird is scared.

I would stop and stand there until Bluey relaxed.
Relaxed feathers and wings, standing on one foot, preening and /or grinding his upper and lower mandible together to produce a scratchy or "zippy" noise. The bird is probably content and relaxed. But the bird might not display all these signs but relaxed feathers and wings, standing on one foot are a sure sign.

When Bluey relaxed, I click the clicker and took 3 slow steps backwards waited 20 to 30 seconds. Then, again I would slowly approach the cage until Bluey showed signs of fear. But this time I got a bit closer to the cage. Then I would stop and stand there until Bluey relaxed.

When Bluey relaxed I click the clicker and took 3 slow steps backwards waited 20 to 30 seconds. I repeated this procedure and with each approach, I would get a bit closer to the cage until I was standing next to the cage and Bluey was relaxed.

When this was achieved I would leave the room for 20 to 30 minutes. Then I would repeat this procedure for 5 to 7 times that day. By the end of the day you should be able to slowly walk up to the cage and the bird should stay relaxed. This whole process might need to be done for 2 to 3 days.

I then used a spray of millet first has it was a larger food treat and it allowed Bluey to get use to my hand. Once Bluey became use to my hand I started to reduce the size of the millet until I could use sunflower seeds.

Note: This is important and that is, not to force the bird to do something it doesn't want to do. Let it approach the millet.

Once I was able to walk up to the cage without Bluey being scared, I then started to train Bluey to come out of the cage.
The first stage is with the clicker in one hand and a spray of millet in the other.

I would offer the millet to Bluey through the cage where the perch is attached. If he didn't take a bite of the millet within 15 seconds, I would remove the millet from his sight for 20 to 30 seconds.

Then I would re-offer the millet. When Bluey took a bite I click the clicker and withdraw the millet but kept it in Bluey sight. When Bluey finished eating the millet. I repeated the procedure and did this for 15 minutes then took a 30minute break and repeated this 3 more times.

Note: By removing the Millet from the Bird's sight you encourage the "what have I just missed out on. Was that food? Where did it go? Then when you re-offer the millet. The bird thinks I'm not going to miss out again.

The next stage. With the clicker in one hand and a spray of millet in the other. Open the cage door and offer the millet at the entrance of the cage.
Note: Don't put your hand inside the cage has the bird could see this has invasion of their territory.

If Bluey didn't approach the millet within 15 seconds, I would remove it from his sight for 20 to 30 seconds. Then re-offer the millet. When the Bluey came to the cage entrance and took a bite I click the clicker and withdraw the millet but kept it in Bluey sight. I did this for 15 minutes then took a 30minute break and repeated this 3 more times with a 30 minute break between.

The next stage is to place a T-perch just outside the cage. When Bluey flew to the T-perch and took a bite I click the clicker and withdraw the millet but I kept it in Bluey sight. I did this for 15 minutes then took a 30minute break and repeated this daily.

You can use the T-perch to return the Bird to the cage. I found that a T-perch is better than a piece of dowel. The bird can run down a piece of dowel and bite the hand. But with the T-perch the bird can run from end to end but the hand is out of reach.

This is more towards interacting with your bird to build trust/bonding. Once you have establish a bond of trust with your bird you can start to train basic tricks. Then advance to more tricks if you desire.
Use the clicker to identify the desired behaviour and the training treats and praise to reinforce that desired behaviour.

The clicker is the bridge between you and your bird and you use that bridge to highlight the bird’s desired behaviour to your bird.

The advice I can give is
1 move slowly around the bird
2 let the bird come to you.
3 Don't force the bird to do anything that it doesn't want to do.
4 make the trust building and bonding sessions (training) fun
5 end all training sessions on a positive.
6 patience.

Remember food is a great motivator.
 

g_tok

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9/17/17
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Thank you very much excellent advice my bird(chico) wont take any food from my hand as yet but will try the millet trick
He hasn't really moved around much which is why I was a bit worried but saying that I have had him out but now can see doing wrong ro push him as I do have to chase him around the cage .I will give him some space and try as yo said.
Thanks
 
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