new parrotlet

[catmillk]

Hello! I have just gotten a new parrotlet, and have many questions.

1. I tried cutting up veggies finely and giving them to my parrotlet, but she only seems to eat when I handfeed her. I cut up kale, bok choy, carrots, apples, etc. but she won't eat unless I hand them to her. She used to be handfed, but has been weaned. How long will this last? She's about 3 months old.

2. I have a stand in my room with many toys, but she only seems to be interested in me. She will fly to me, even though her wings are clipped, and no matter how many times I put her back, she will do it over and over again. This would be amazing normally, but she still is not potty trained, and I have long hair, so she often gets tangled when she climbs up my shoulder. How do I stop this behavior?

3. She chirps and screams constantly. I try to feed her, play with her as much as I can, but as soon as she's put in her cage, she starts screaming. As soon as I get her off my hands, she starts screaming. My apartment neighbors must not be too happy with this, but I have no idea how to stop it.

4. She seems to bite my hand often when she thinks it's food. Any way to stop this as well?

Thanks

 

[fashionfobie]

Welcome to the forum

I will do my best to help with some of your questions. The responses are based on the information you provided and I can't answer accurately without more info. Please regard some of the follow up question.


1. Try offering her the veggies first thing in the morning. She will be hungriest then and she could have more courage to try them on her own. After a few hours you can give her back her normal meal as well as the veggies.

2. Parrotlets need their wings. Please let them grow back. These are high energy little birds and without a way to burn off that energy she can get life threatening health issues from obesity, fatty liver disease or uric acid build up (gout). Gout is especially common in parrotlets on high protein diets. Let her fly her little heart out.

• Try moving the play stand close to where you are sitting, reward her with attention, praise and a treat when she is on the stand. After she is happy to stay and interact with the stand..you can slowly over many days start to move it to the intended location. Very small increments and keep rewarding her for being on the stand. Let her know that when she is on the stand, she is still awesome and you love her. Look at her often and tell her so. --for example..playing a comp game or reading a book? Take a look at her and tell her how much she rocks. She is just as important on the play stand as when she is on you.
• Maybe try more exciting toys. She may not find what you have to be as exciting as you think they are. So it could help Mine really like shredding and ripping toys they don't care so much about solid plastic toys. Popular toys: cork, parrot safe twigs with leaves and bark, bark, balsa wood blocks, sisal rope that are left hanging loose like vines. They run up and down them and fly in between.
• Potty training will never be 100% -- you just need to gauge how long it has been between poops and get her to a poop safe area before she goes. Make sure to pick her up again after she poops...pooping doesn't mean the fun is over. I wouldn't train her strictly, just use your good sense and learn about her little poop clock. Birds poop, nothing you can do about it. Over time she may get the pattern and fly to her own place to poop. They aren't like dogs so potty training shouldn't be expected in the same way. Sometimes overly potty trained parrots can have problems.. waiting for a command to poop.. they hold it in and can hurt themselves. Learning her clock and being proactive will reduce the poops on you..but they will still happen from time to time. -Never EVER punish pooping.
• You could try putting your hair in a pony tail, styling it out of the way.

3. It sounds like she is having a hard time entertaining herself. She sees you as the only source of enrichment. Try rewarding her intermittently for just being in her cage. Let her know she is still important to you when she is in there. I leave my parrotlets cage next to my desk. When I am working I can stop look at them and tell them how cute they are. She needs to understand that being in the cage doesn't mean she is separate from you.

• Cage size is another consideration. Parrotlets need a flight cage.. I would consider anything smaller than a 900 mm by 600 mm foot print to be too small. They need the space to fly in there and swing about the fun sisal toys

4. I doubt she thinks your hand is food. Parrotlets are intelligent animals. Parrotlets are very beaky. They are beaky with their own species too. To avoid bites you must respect her boundaries. If she doesn't want to step up, don't make her. Learn how to gauge her body language.

• Parrotlets are opinionated. They are not a calm go with the flow sort of bird. They don't like being told what to do. They like telling you what to do!
• Respect her boundaries and you won't have problems.

Follow up question:

How long have you had her?
What is her normal diet like?
What kind of toys are you offering?
What is the cage size?
What is the play stand?
How often are you home with her?

 

[Beasley]

1. What other foods do you offer? I’ve found with new and wet foods it takes time for them to try it, patience and persistence is key. If you don’t want to feed it to her, I would just put a little of the fresh food mix in her dish and throw out what she doesn’t eat in a few hours. She’ll learn to eat it while it’s available.
2. Do you have food on the stand? Mine fly from me to the stand to just playing flying around the room. When they land on the stand it’s to eat and preen each other..they don’t really play with the toys. I can’t advise on potty training, but food should keep her interested in the stand, and just the repetition of putting her back should eventually teach her that’s where you want her to stay. For your hair, wear it up.
3. She’s in a new place with a new flock, she’ll adjust and the screaming will happen less over time. I would flock call back to her a few times to reassure her you’re still there. I taught my lovebird not to scream at me for attention by leaving the room every single time she screamed. It is annoying in the process but once you teach them a scream means no attention at all, they stop.
4. When she bites say firmly, no bite. And start observing her, parrotlets will warn you with body language and clicks/growls etc. before they bite.

 

[catmillk]

Welcome to the forum

I will do my best to help with some of your questions. The responses are based on the information you provided and I can't answer accurately without more info. Please regard some of the follow up question.


1. Try offering her the veggies first thing in the morning. She will be hungriest then and she could have more courage to try them on her own. After a few hours you can give her back her normal meal as well as the veggies.

2. Parrotlets need their wings. Please let them grow back. These are high energy little birds and without a way to burn off that energy she can get life threatening health issues from obesity, fatty liver disease or uric acid build up (gout). Gout is especially common in parrotlets on high protein diets. Let her fly her little heart out.

• Try moving the play stand close to where you are sitting, reward her with attention, praise and a treat when she is on the stand. After she is happy to stay and interact with the stand..you can slowly over many days start to move it to the intended location. Very small increments and keep rewarding her for being on the stand. Let her know that when she is on the stand, she is still awesome and you love her. Look at her often and tell her so. --for example..playing a comp game or reading a book? Take a look at her and tell her how much she rocks. She is just as important on the play stand as when she is on you.
• Maybe try more exciting toys. She may not find what you have to be as exciting as you think they are. So it could help Mine really like shredding and ripping toys they don't care so much about solid plastic toys. Popular toys: cork, parrot safe twigs with leaves and bark, bark, balsa wood blocks, sisal rope that are left hanging loose like vines. They run up and down them and fly in between.
• Potty training will never be 100% -- you just need to gauge how long it has been between poops and get her to a poop safe area before she goes. Make sure to pick her up again after she poops...pooping doesn't mean the fun is over. I wouldn't train her strictly, just use your good sense and learn about her little poop clock. Birds poop, nothing you can do about it. Over time she may get the pattern and fly to her own place to poop. They aren't like dogs so potty training shouldn't be expected in the same way. Sometimes overly potty trained parrots can have problems.. waiting for a command to poop.. they hold it in and can hurt themselves. Learning her clock and being proactive will reduce the poops on you..but they will still happen from time to time. -Never EVER punish pooping.
• You could try putting your hair in a pony tail, styling it out of the way.

3. It sounds like she is having a hard time entertaining herself. She sees you as the only source of enrichment. Try rewarding her intermittently for just being in her cage. Let her know she is still important to you when she is in there. I leave my parrotlets cage next to my desk. When I am working I can stop look at them and tell them how cute they are. She needs to understand that being in the cage doesn't mean she is separate from you.

• Cage size is another consideration. Parrotlets need a flight cage.. I would consider anything smaller than a 900 mm by 600 mm foot print to be too small. They need the space to fly in there and swing about the fun sisal toys

4. I doubt she thinks your hand is food. Parrotlets are intelligent animals. Parrotlets are very beaky. They are beaky with their own species too. To avoid bites you must respect her boundaries. If she doesn't want to step up, don't make her. Learn how to gauge her body language.

• Parrotlets are opinionated. They are not a calm go with the flow sort of bird. They don't like being told what to do. They like telling you what to do!
• Respect her boundaries and you won't have problems.

Follow up question:

How long have you had her?
What is her normal diet like?
What kind of toys are you offering?
What is the cage size?
What is the play stand?
How often are you home with her?

I offer her veggies in the morning as soon as I wake up, she still won't eat most of it. She will eat the mung beans I sprouted for her though I've had her since last Friday, so 5 days now. I have perches, wood chew toys, paper toys, and cork toys. Right now I have her on Harvey's cockatiel diet, and no pellets since I've read they might cause problems, and veggies in the morning. I sit with her and watch her eat. She never wants to not step up, I don't even have to put my finger near her and she'll come flying The cage is 18x20x30. I made the play stand myself using a youtube tutorial

(

and I'm home with her 24/7. I didn't clip her wings btw, was planning to let them grow out anyway, but unfortunately received her like that.

 

[catmillk]

1. What other foods do you offer? I’ve found with new and wet foods it takes time for them to try it, patience and persistence is key. If you don’t want to feed it to her, I would just put a little of the fresh food mix in her dish and throw out what she doesn’t eat in a few hours. She’ll learn to eat it while it’s available.
2. Do you have food on the stand? Mine fly from me to the stand to just playing flying around the room. When they land on the stand it’s to eat and preen each other..they don’t really play with the toys. I can’t advise on potty training, but food should keep her interested in the stand, and just the repetition of putting her back should eventually teach her that’s where you want her to stay. For your hair, wear it up.
3. She’s in a new place with a new flock, she’ll adjust and the screaming will happen less over time. I would flock call back to her a few times to reassure her you’re still there. I taught my lovebird not to scream at me for attention by leaving the room every single time she screamed. It is annoying in the process but once you teach them a scream means no attention at all, they stop.
4. When she bites say firmly, no bite. And start observing her, parrotlets will warn you with body language and clicks/growls etc. before they bite.

I offer kale, bok choy, broccoli, sprouted milk thistle, quinoa, sesame seeds, sprouted mung and adzuki, bell peppers, apples, bananas, grapes, carrots, can't remember them all lol.. I've had her for 5 days now, and I often place the leftovers in her cage, but she seems to only be interested in looking for me. I have a water bowl on her stand, but I will try to add on a food bowl as well

 

[fashionfobie]

I've had her since last Friday, so 5 days now.

This answers all! 5 days! Give her time, keep doing what you are doing. She is probably just nervous in her new setting. Once she gets her wings back she will have much more confidence. Their first adult molt happens between 4-5 months, varies a little depending on the individual. They get new primary feathers in this molt.

If the problems are continuing 2 months from now or more we can brainstorm other ideas!
It sounds like you are doing well by her! Well done

Little tip on the bell peppers, give her the seeds. They love any chili or capsicum seed.

 

[Beasley]

Ditto absolutely everything @fashionfobie said you’re doing great!

 

[finchly]

She likes you! Most people come here asking how to get them to be friends—/ you’ve got that!
Right now you’re her security, so give her as much time as you can.
Let her see you eating the veggies, that will help. Also offer the same one for a few days in a row, so she can get used to it. I recommend sweet potato. Sprinkle some seeds over it if you want.
The hair, if you have have long hair they’ll get in it, period.
Re: screaming, reward quiet and ignore screams. You might want to get a clicker and do some clicker training.

 

[Zara]

Welcome to the forum @catmillk

The first comment by Natalie @fashionfobie is excellent.

So I don´t have much to add, just a couple of things;
I like to have a few ¨bird shirts¨, basically some old tee shirts that I don´t mind being pooped on and nibbled (something young birds love doing). The blue top in my pic is one of them - just a cheapo teeshirt. Small birds will poop on you. I would suggest you just forget potty training such a small bird.

Have a read of some of these links RE clipping birds too; Should I clip my birds wings? | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

The food you are offering is great. But it usually does go mostly wasted while they adjust and start to eat it. I offer fresh food first thing in a morning or my picky eaters won´t touch it. Sprouted lentils are a good food to add too. I sprout lentils and mung beans together. I also sprinkle some natural millet on top of the food and hide in one sunflower seed. I´m sure your hard work will pay off in the end

 

[Zara]

I forgot to say,
RE your hair, don't be mislead into thinking it is safe if you tie it up, the bird will mess it up anyway by picking at it, flapping wings and blowing it everywhere and then pooping in it
My birds prefer to poop on my boyfriend (buahahahaha) , but they still make a mess of my hair by playing in it, munching it and flapping on it, I found the funny side and so it doesn't bother me

Welcome to bird life!

 

[sunnysmom]

Welcome. My foster parrotlet loved little toys he could throw. For instance he had a little wicker ball with a bell in it. He loved to throw it and shake it. He also liked little wicker balls he could chew.

 

[Beasley]

Oh yes! I forgot to say Parrotlets are chewy babies, it’s best to have some bird shirts for them to turn into Swiss cheese and they’ll definitely still get in your hair, wearing it up just lessens the tangling..slightly

 

[catmillk]

thanks for the advice she seems to be doing better today but still very clingy lol

 

[fashionfobie]

Awe she doing so well with her fresh sprouts! So cute


One tip on the toy: Try hanging it or attaching it to the main stand post so that it is at her eye level. She will be more likely to poke at it if she can stand next to it

 

[laracroft]

Hello! I know things can seem puzzling and/or worrying when you first get a new bird, but from the sound of things you are doing awesome! Your girl is beautiful. (I love blues, and blue pieds even more). What's her name? You've gotten great advice, the only thing I would add is that sometimes birds mean you need to sort of shift your thinking. Like the poop issue, think of it less as training her, because there are problems with that which have already been mentioned, and more as training you. Sometimes it's a lot less making the bird fit you and your life than it is making your life fit the bird. But in general it sounds like you're doing really well, especially considering how little time you've had her. You got a good one!

 

[Ken2]

What a cute parrotlet

 

[Beasley]

I love how she’s as close to you as possible on the stand, such a sweet girl!!

 

[fashionfobie]

I love how she’s as close to you as possible on the stand, such a sweet girl!!

And so content! Look at that fluffy muffin. SO CUTE