Should I take the mirror toy out of my new parrotlet's cage?

I just adopted a parrotlet that is a couple months old. He is supposedly friendly, however that is only when he is across the room from his cage. He has bit me a couple of times. He is "obsessed" with sitting in front of his mirror toy, chirping to it, and he wanders around it in an apparent attempt to open it up and free the other bird inside! It's hard to get him out of that corner. I'm trying to teach him to step up. I want him to be comfortable with his familiar things but I do not want him to become too cage protective and become a biting bird. As long as he thinks theres a bird in there it seems he doesn't want anything to do with me! So should I just take it out?|||Yes, if you want to try to hand tame your bird, definitely take the mirror out. However, if you're not so concerned about that, why not get him a real friend?





If you'd rather him be hand tamed, remove the mirror and then work with him away from his cage. Birds can become very territorial around their cage. If you want to try to let him know that just because he lives in the cage, doesn't mean he can can be a nasty little booger about it... then do the following:





Start by approaching the cage and hugging it, or resting your arms on the top of it, for 5 - 10 minutes at a time. Do this several times a day and just talk sweetly to him while you're doing it. Make sure his cage is not in a position where he can be above your head level at any time. Every 3-4 days, if his cage is small enough, move it to another area of the room or house and continue with the hugging ritual and sweet talk. Try it for a period of about a week or two. Hopefully, this will convince him that you're the real owner of the cage but you mean him no harm.





As silly as this may seem, it works most of the time if you put the time and patience into it. Then, if you overcome this obsticle, he'll be much easier to train to step up out of his cage. Make sure you use positive reinforcement to reward him whenever he's a good birdy and when he's bad, turn your back for a minute and say nothing. Even when he bites, try not to say a word (as much as it may pinch!)... any emphasized words or reaction are only rewards to a parrot who loves drama! If he's on your finger when he bites, do what's called the wobble technique... gently wobble your finger back and forth to make him lose his balance... but be very gentle, you don't want him thinking that your finger is an unsturdy place to perch. You can also try giving him a dirty look for about 2 seconds, but say nothing. Any verbal reprimands will only serve as rewards to him!





Once you've calmed him down a little, the two of you can look forward to many hours of snuggling in front of the TV or a good book with him perched on your shoulder.





I wish you the very best with your little guy!|||He is obsessed with the mirror because he thinks it is another bird. He seems to have bonded to it. If he becomes hormonal, the aggression may increase as the bird has a stronger desire to protect the mate.





Take out the mirror and replace with species appropriate and safe chewing toys. Also consider acrylic toys.|||this is why i always tell people to never put another bird or mirror in with a hand tame bird, they bond with the other bird / mirror and dont want anything to do with you afterwards, if you want the bird to tame down again the only thing to do would be to remove the mirror