Last Updated on February 16, 2023 by Mitch Rezman

Sarah A. relates,

 

Hello, I am looking for help in training my parrots.

 

I have two African grey parrots.

 

They are 21 and we have had them their whole lives.

 

My mom used to handle them, however, she began to have severe allergies from their dust. 

 

If I am unable to learn how to train them we will end up having to give them away.

 

 

The girl Maya is semi approachable.

 

She will allow you to handle her at times but can get aggressive.

 

Marco the boy is untouchable.

 

He is very aggressive and they both pick out their feathers constantly.

 

I don’t know what to do or if there is anything I can do.

 

Do you provide training services or have any referrals for exotic parrot trainers in the Chicagoland area?

 

Dear Sarah,

We are very sorry to hear that your family pets have gotten so out of hand. Parrots are not like dogs where you can give them to a trainer to be trained.  Even then, you must accompany them through much of it to learn the commands as well.

 

That cannot be done by strangers and then you expect to have a couple of happily trained parrots.

 

You may be able to find someone, an animal trainer that works with birds to work with you but we do not have sources.

 

Clicker Training is useful to build a positive connection.

 

Build trust with your bird using clicker training ~ Video

 

The person or persons that will be keeping the birds will need to be the ones to regain the trust of the neglected birds.

 

We recommend that you separate the birds and work with each separately. 

 

Don’t wait, they are your family.

 

Regards,

Catherine

 

MitchR here Sarah,

 

It would be beneficial to see cage setups and a general out-of-the-cage environment.

 

Lighting can really be your friend, please read this article for starters.

 

How Pet Bird Keepers Get The Lighting Thing Wrong

 

Best