Is it possible to train a kakariki with another near him?

[Martin Dean]

Hiya I have a kakariki that I have had for years and he will fly to my hand when I put it near, however he lost his friend a few years ago so I got him another who he is getting along with, however this new one isnt hand tame and Im wondering if its possible I can get this other onbe hand tame with my old one in the cage with him? I was thinking of letting him see the older one eating millet from me and maybe he might get the idea that im not this monster trying to get him as prey! Is that a good idea? Is what im doing possible? Please Help!!!

 

[RoyJess]

Taming your bird around others tame ones is great as you say, they get to see that you are not a threat. This is what we do. However we don't have a Kakariki, so I can't say if this type of bird is different to tame.

However, if you are after clicker/target training, I would do this with all the other birds out of the way, on a one to one basis.

 

[Martin Dean]

Should I put in the millet and hang it up or try to feed them it through the bars? Which would u say would be the best method of hand taming them?

 

[Michael Reynolds]

the answer is yes work on training the most friendly of the two first, then do the training with the things that that bird has learnt in front of your less trained bird. the first stage of gaining confidence is hand feeding through the bars of the cage, if you are using millet you hold one end but as your bird accepts your treat you can slowly reduce the length of the millet from your hand. Millet can also be sprouted giving your birds an extra treat that is very good for them. hanging the millet in the cage will not help them get trained to the hand and can be counter productive when training as it will not be seen as a treat.