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Naughty nine month old grey

Beano

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Carol
I have a nine month old Congo grey .He was hand raised from six weeks bu myself and has done well with all the main development stuff.He eats everything given to him and I believe his diet is good .He flies well and has developed good skills he is also well socialised and loves his toys and bath.
So my problem ,For some reason I can't seem to get his motivated to clicker train.he just isn't interested in the clicker or the rewards.I have tried various ways but the little beggar tries to grab the chop stick and throw it on the ground.He is also 8n the last months becoming a little nippy.He will fly over to me and land on my hand give me a nip and fly away quickly It's as if he is getting too big for his birdie bootsI a, firm with him in saying a firm no dont bite but he doesn't seem to care one whit.Suggestions pull be valued
 

MommyBird

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What is his very favorite food? Never give it unless as a training reward.
OR ---Perhaps he likes drama better, so give a big cheer or clap.
There are things you can train without a chopstick. If you are really good and fast with the clicker you can capture behaviors and put them on vocal command.
Like stationing on a perch, Waving his foot, Big Eagle wings, turning in a circle, and Recall (fly to you)
 

Beano

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Thank you for your reply.My problem is I can't actually tell his favourite food cause it seems to change like the weather.He is an extremely confident fellow and behaves like a recalcitrant three year old child lol.He is very cheeky liking nothing more than to swing off my hair into my face.I don't allow him to do this but he has a go anyway .He also loves to swing off my clothing when I am sweeping the floor and will try to hang onto the broom handle.
Fortunately he enjoyed his big cage and does play for hours and sings his head off
 

Icey

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:hello:Welcome to the forums.
It sounds like your baby is doing great, apart from the clicker training. I had the same problem before so I just used my voice, and for mine, pine nuts did the trick.
I did get a new clicker and it has a whistle at one end, so if mine ignore the "click" sound the whistle gets their attantion.
I had to laugh at his antics of hanging on you while you do your chores. Lol
Please post some pics when you get time
 

Beano

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Thank you.I think he is going well .He is not in any shape or form a cuddly bird even though he was given plenty of closeness as a tiny chick.I have encouraged independence.He adores our tiny wee dog and she loves him to bits .They play very well together always closely supervised.
I think he is rude and cheeky and he definitely thrown his weight around and I do need to learn to reign him in lol so he doesn't turn into a bossy baggage.He loves going out in the car and whistles beautifully .It's just the more formal trainimg I'm struggling with
 

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Lady Jane

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Just let the clicker training stay on the back shelf for a while. Try again in a few months. Its not really that important.
 

Beano

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So should I set boundaries on his cheeky stuff like the nipping then flying away or dive bombing my head and swing off my hair and clothing.Is this just normal happy exu in a very young confident grey or should I be setting clearer rules and if so how do I do that.It's funny but I raised children on the basis - you do what your told when your told but strangely this doesn't work for my feathered pal He just takes the Micky out of me lol
 

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Shezbug

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Dive bombing and nipping needs to stop and so does the hanging from your hair if you do not want it happening.

Anytime things are done to you by your bird that you do not like you need to calmly and promptly remove him from you and remove your self from his presence- if he is on you you safely get him off you and onto an appropriate surface asap. If he wants to be with you he will soon connect that every time he nips you he is put onto his perch or a chair etc and you leave him for a bit, but when he is being well behaved you stay with him.

My bird thought divebombing might be fun for a short while, I know that if I pretend to sing opera it frightens him (kinda frightens me too to be honest lol) for a second- nothing significant but he sees it as an alarm call I think so he would divert what he was doing to land somewhere safe which very quickly stopped the behaviour and he no longer does it for fun.
Nipping I would say "NO" sternly put him off me and turn my back for a bit, he soon learned that it was not as fun as when he did not nip me.
 

Beano

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Thanks so much for your helpful reply.This is what I needed.So when I leave him should I ever pop him into his cage and leave the room and if so how long do I leave him for.Naturally I can't leave him out of the cage unsupervised as he lives free flying in our main sitting room.I could set him down and leave him for a minute or two.Is that all that is required.Do you think this behaviour is him being naughty or playful or a touch of both lol.
 

Beano

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As to the nipping ,let me say he does not appear aggressive as such ,the nipping is more like a gesture of mischief.He flies onto my hand twirls around upside down ,nips me then flies away.He is a little ratbag and very very full of his own importance.
 

Shezbug

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Never use the cage for this sort of thing, the cage is the safe happy place your bird goes to rest, be alone and sleep and you always want him willing to go back in there as it should always be a positive place to got to- just use the closest appropriate surface (for me it is the couch, bed, stand or whatever other surface my bird is allowed on that is closest). You do not have to leave the room or anything, just letting them know what they did is not something you want to engage in by turning your back for a few seconds is usually all that is needed.

I find Burt will usually return to me within a few seconds of me putting him off me and walking away and he will try to engage again with a different game or just sitting on my arm calmly once he realises his behaviour wasn't welcomed by me.
I do not think it is naughty- he is learning and just needs your direction on what kind of play is acceptable to you.
 

Beano

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Thanks so much for your help.Are you in the Uk by any chance.I can see the potential for this fellow growing into either a wonderful friend or a little pest depending on my ability to learn and raise him correctly and input from folks like yourself is invaluable.I owned a grey many many years ago but he was clipped as was the norm back then.Now the idea of clipping horrifies me but I am aware a flightEd grey is a whole different level of husbandr.I really really want to educate myself and get this right.
 

Beano

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So here I am back again still with the same challenges lol.Beano still flys onto my hair or clothing only now when I remove her she nips me.I'm stumped .When I try to remove her gently or get he to step up she pushes my hand away and if I persist she will nip.I don't respond to the nip and continue to remove her but she has become less confiding .I have had no success in target training her I think she is too well fed .
 

Wally&Eva

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So here I am back again still with the same challenges lol.Beano still flys onto my hair or clothing only now when I remove her she nips me.I'm stumped .When I try to remove her gently or get he to step up she pushes my hand away and if I persist she will nip.I don't respond to the nip and continue to remove her but she has become less confiding .I have had no success in target training her I think she is too well fed .
My birds can get really obsessive about flying and climbing on my hair or clothes. I can put them down, easily 50x, but before I even take one step, they are back on me. At the end, I just need to get ready so I just let them. Otherwise, I have to get ready outside of my room and that’s not always possible. So I’m curious what I can do as well
 

Beano

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The problem with Beano is that she is becoming sassy and too big for her boots.This morning she is in her cage with no food at all.This afternoon I begin target training in earnest.If she does not respond to the food incentives she's going back in her cage till tea time still with out food.One way or another I need to get this little critter working with me as I don't want her becoming a little horror.Saying that any worthwhile input will be greatly valued as despite trolling online for education I am still a tad stumped.
 

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Sorry to hear you are still having issues.
You really need to enforce the "no" word and put her on a playstand or other safe area and ignore her for a minute or so. If she flies back, repeat the process. You need to be firm and nip it in the bud now while she's young.
If you can't use a clicker, and she's not food motivated, use your voice.
 

Beano

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I do exactly this but she is nipping quite hard when I remove her .She moves away down my back out of my reach lol.I even took my sweater off over my head to get her off and the little minx just help onto my sweater
 

Beano

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I'm an old school 68 year old Scottish grandma and no push over but she is a little beggar.
 

Icey

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I think you've let her get away with doing it for so long, you almost need to retrain her not to do it.
It will be hard and will take ALOT of patience and time but you can do it.
From another Scottish lady lol
 

Beano

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I have Never let her get away with it .I just have not found a way to stop her.I always remove her off my head or shoulder but no amount of strong vocal scolding stops her.She has just started nipping me .Yesterdaybshe flew over to me nipped my face then flew away.little !!!
 
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