Posted by zukimud on February 21, 2003 at 18:16:13:
Hi, I have recently gotten a new parrotlet and have a few questions regarding how to train him. He has some really bad habits that I have no idea how to cure.
1. When trying to get him out of his cage, he runs away and tries to nip my finger. The only way to let him out of his cage without him doing this is to remove the whole top of the cage which is kind of a pain.
2. He has no problem stepping up on my finger and doing the "step up", but he won't stay there for long. He tries to get to my shoulder as fast as he can, or flies to his cage. His wings are clipped, but he can still fly short distances.
3. Once he is on my shoulder he runs behind my hair and starts pulling out the hairs on the back of my neck one by one. IT HURTS! When I try and get him off he bites me hard.
4. I have read that if you let them on your shoulder that they feel like they can control you, but how do you stop them from going to your shoulder?
5. One more thing. Are parrotlets snuggly? We have a sun conure that is really a love and likes to cuddle a lot. It is really frusterating to have such a nice bird like that, and the parrotlet is such a beast. Any help would be appreciated.
