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| Name: |
Zazoo
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Age: |
One year old
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| Gender: |
Male
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Kind: |
Pacific Blue Parrotlet
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| Home: |
Florida, USA
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Zazoo has a fiery personality, is fun to train, and is always hungry. Whenever he flies away, I always find him stuck inside a bag of food. I couldn't imagine life without my special buddy!
I got Zazoo last January; he had just turned a month old, and he was one of the hungriest birds I have ever met! I got him cheap for $75 from a guy who had a bunch of babies. (Basically, I don't think he was handfed). He was so bitey! But I knew he was just going through some stages.
I had been told by a fellow parrotlet owner that I had not trained my bird properly, and if I started now, I wouldn't be too late. My friend helped me locate the problems, but then tried to fix them. The methods she used on her bird were not working. When Zazoo attacked the spray bottle, or bit someone's finger, we would stick him in a corner and ignore him. I saw pretty quickly, that the methods she used to train her bird, weren't working for mine. I felt awful ignoring him, and he didn't respond to it very well. Luckily, that night, I found a solution.
Every bird has a different personality. What methods work on some birds, might not work out on others. If you take the time to observe your bird, and really focus on what he likes, what he gets excited about, what he's scared of, and what he doesn't like, you can solve the problem!
In my case, I saw that Zazoo gets extremely excited about food. Anytime there's someone opening or crumpling a bag, he's there, trying to get the food. I started with my first victim: my dad. Zazoo for some reason, tries to rip my dad's finger to shreds whenever it comes into sight. So, whenever Zazoo stepped up onto my dad's finger, he would get a treat. Pretty soon, Zazoo was stepping up onto my dad's finger without hesitation - or violence. I am very glad I discovered this little trick.
Now, I no longer carry a stick, or a squirt bottle, because those frightened my bird and made his attitude worse. If you tap into their brain and figure your bird's preferences, life suddenly gets a whole lot easier!
Zazoo is my pride and joy.
Talk about Zazoo in Pet Talk!
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