Training parrots can be taxing and time-consuming. Even the best trainers and pet owners have to agree that though it can be fun it takes hard work and much patience. To help lighten the load various parrot training aids were developed. There are a lot of different parrot training aids out in the market with the training aids varying in its function and addressing different aspects of parrot training. There are training aids designed to help modify unwanted behavior such as biting and screaming, there are those that help keep your bird fit and alert and so hopefully be easier to train, and there are of course those designed to help in trick training and speech training. Listed below are some interesting and useful training aids.
Parrot Sprays
One of the one ways you can stop your birds chewing, licking and plucking or feather picking behaviors is by using bitter tasting sprays on them. Good examples of such sprays are the Synergy labs’ Flooey and Grannick’s Bitter Apple for Birds. Both sprays are very unpleasant to the taste but are safe for your bird.
Parrot Toys
There are so many bird toys in the market designed to keep your bird happy. A happy satisfied bird is always more receptive to training. So it is important to buy toys for your parrot. Just make sure that you choose toys that will provide enough challenge and entertainment to you parrot so it doesn’t get bored or lonely. A good toy would be colorful. It is also a good idea to choose a toy that makes soft sounds when played with to stimulate your bird. Shredding bird toys are also great but are not meant to last like other toys. Buy your parrot several different types of toys and rotate using them to make sure you pet doesn’t grow tired of its toys.
Parrot Play Gyms
This is great for keeping your bird fit and happy. Allowing it to play on the play gym can also be used an incentive for you bird after a satisfying training session.
Parrot Treats
There are so many bird food to choose from. Buy your pet its favorite treat to be used as reward during training. For treats to be effective do not include it on your bird’s regular diet. Use it only as reward.
Tape-recorded/Computer-aided speech lessons
For those interested in speech training their parrot but do have the time to do it very frequently tape-recorded or computer aided lessons can work. For tape recorded lessons you simply play the tape while you’re gone or doing something else and the tape will keep on repeating the same word or phrase until your parrot hopefully picks it up. The same is true for computer-aided speech lessons except that being more hi-tech you get to record what word you want your parrot to learn and the computer will automatically play back your voice for several minutes before pausing for several minutes to give your bird some rest and then repeating the same procedure over and over depending on how long you have set the computer to do it. This can be effective in teaching you parrot new words but your parrot might learn to speak only when there is no one around and refuse to speak when there are people present.
Parrot training books and videos
There are countless books and videos to help pet owners train parrots. Make sure that you choose one that is written by someone knowledgeable and has had plenty of first hand experience with pet parrots.