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GenocideUnit !Pzfs.fsjKo
My parents wouldnt let me have a cat because they have asthma, so I got some birds.

I got a parrotlet and a quaker. :3 They are both very cute, but they dont get along very well, and its hard to teach them anything.

I was wondering if anyone here had any experience in teaching birds could give me some advice or the name of a few books or videos or something that help teach the concepts of free flight and behavioral problems and what not.

Heres a pic of them :3

Ann on the left, Wendy on the right.
>> Anonymous
My parents


YOU FAILED IN JUST TWO WORDS
>> Anon
I have a parrotlet too, talk about a stubborn little bird. Love her to death though.
Anyways, we've bought tons of books on teaching parrots. I found the most helpful was a subscription magazine 'Bird Talk'.
A two year subscription was actually cheaper than a bird behavioral book. It has the added bonus of up-to-date information. Touches on behavior, training, feeding, breeding, and health alerts on all breeds of birds.
>> Anonymous
>>42542My parents wouldnt let me have a cat because they have asthma

your parents lie, not all cats have asthma
>> Anonymous
dip both birds in the same fragrance for about a week.
animals smelling the same will automatically think they are related.
>> GenocideUnit !Pzfs.fsjKo
>>42584

Are you shitting me?

What do I dip them in thats safe? Mango sauce or something? O.o
>> Anonymous
Should've got two parrotlets instead. Cute little buggers they are, and the ones I've met have enough character to rival a budgie. Pity about the voices though.
>> Anonymous
Anonymous demands more pictures of these birds.
>> GenocideUnit !Pzfs.fsjKo
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>>42592

I was thinking about that but... eh. >.>
After getting the first one and finding out it was crazy I opted for a handfed quaker. :) The quaker was just weened 11 days from hand feeding so its pretty friendly. Doesnt know anything yet tho.
>> GenocideUnit !Pzfs.fsjKo
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>> GenocideUnit !Pzfs.fsjKo
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>> Anonymous
I have a quaker and congo grey who hate eachother.
I don't do much with the grey but my quaker is extremely loving and over-protective. *She only loves ME though and kills everyone else*
Perseverence is key when it comes to any behavior issues, quakers are known for being territorial and also for getting in trouble around the house. i.e. falling into toilet, pot of boiling water and so on.
There's the guide to companion parrot handbook by Sally Blanchard which is good for overall parrot care.. But eh, I don't think you need much. Just use common sense, really and I don't know what free-flight is buuut.. I trim my birds wrings myself following a simple chart for that species and she does fine.
>> GenocideUnit !Pzfs.fsjKo
free flight, as in, the ability to fly freely. :D

My parrotlet came to me with clipped wings and after the molt she had no idea how to fly, so I guess she's had clipped wings all her life.

Keeping pet birds and leaving their wings unclipped helps boost their confidence because they have control over where they want to be and they can get things that would otherwise be out of reach. After a few weeks my parrotlet grew back some of her (cardinal?) feathers and after some practice now she can fly all around the house. :) She flies to me whenever I come home from work, its cute. And when she's sleepy she'll tell me by flying in her cage and sit on the corner where her swing is and yawn. XD

Its alot better than clipping your birds wings, if you have the patience to teach them how to fly. Then you dont have to hand feed them or bring them to their toys.

The best free flight birds can go outside and fly around, and still come back to their masters when called on. Thats what I'm aiming for. Lots of birds have been able to do it but theres alot of diff methods to doing it. >.>
>> Anonymous
>>42690
Yeah, in particular if budgies' wings are clipped the birds will be have like one fourth the budgieness of birds with proper flying wings. It's like... compare it to declawing a cat, maybe, or docking the tail of a very tail-oriented (as in relying on it for balance) dog.

It's cruel, is what it really is, though.
>> Anonymous
>>42636
The quaker is bloody cute though. All fuzzy wuzzy. Prolly because it's a young bird, but still.
>> Anonymous
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Birds are cute.
>> Anonymous
Ah, I gotta take a picture of my parents' new budgie. She was already halfway tame when they got her, and hand-training her has reportedly been a breeze.