Hello All

@Bradders, this is a fantastic idea! Thank you! :) This way the bird gets a bit of peace and quiet, too and some sort of routine. We don't have children but there is always some noise or light going on in every house. If we were to cover the cage, then the bird gets the chance to have a regular night's sleep. And us, too :D .

I will have a look for a blackout cover :) .
 
Seems like I can't find a cover that fits our cage so I will make it myself. I was wondering what material would be best? I was thinking along the lines of jersey as it's washable, stretchable and not too thick.
 
I have no children at home either, Ruby tends to stay up quite late with us so it’s better she’s not up at the crack of dawn. Can’t think where we got our cover but our cage is curved at the top and especially made for that cage. It is made of a blackout material and is quite thick, you don’t want something that lets light in or as soon as it gets light, you will have a wide awake birdie! I’ll try and find a link for the cover.
 
I use a folded sheet to cover our cages, it works well and I only cover 3/4 of the cage so they can still see out a little if they wish and it allows air to circulate.
 
Hello again,

May I introduce to you: Floyd, the pineapple conure.
b9dqOk1l.jpg

He's is very confident, and already very happy to sit with his mam and dad :D . Unfortunately he attacks fingers. I suppose he associates them with something negative? So any advice on how to change this behaviour is very much appreciated as he nips really really hard. Ouch!

We got him today from Garden Feathers. I can only recommend the place. Not only are the ladies in there very nice, they're very helpful, too and made us both feel very welcome. Thank you again @Catalina and all those who recommended the place! :)
 
Awhh congratulations @MrsTea, Floyd is beautiful! I was reading a post by @Roz a couple of days ago about how to ‘shape a step up’, it’s somewere in the ‘Training’ file. May take some daily work but i’m sure it would pay off! Do you know what treats he likes? xX
 
@Jen Bell : Thank you! :) He is stepping up alright on a little branch we have and a little stick as well as on the hands. He also comes flying to sit on your arm or shoulder.. yes and head.. he is in love with my husband's hair :D . And as such it is fine, but as soon as he sees fingers he bites really hard, even drew blood earlier. It helps to keep your hands in a fist but that's not a solution. His behaviour gets worse when we try to put him into or close to his cage. He also nips ears when sitting on the shoulder. I am unsure about treats as we have only had him for about 3 hours. I have found out so far that out of his seed mix he likes the sunflower seeds best - would they be an option? He also likes blueberries. Could your recommend any treats I can try? Thanks! :) x
 
@Jen Bell : Thank you! :) He is stepping up alright on a little branch we have and a little stick as well as on the hands. He also comes flying to sit on your arm or shoulder.. yes and head.. he is in love with my husband's hair :D . And as such it is fine, but as soon as he sees fingers he bites really hard, even drew blood earlier. It helps to keep your hands in a fist but that's not a solution. His behaviour gets worse when we try to put him into or close to his cage. He also nips ears when sitting on the shoulder. I am unsure about treats as we have only had him for about 3 hours. I have found out so far that out of his seed mix he likes the sunflower seeds best - would they be an option? He also likes blueberries. Could your recommend any treats I can try? Thanks! :) x

I would still have a look at the ‘shaping step up’ post, as it can be applied to ways of getting him near your hand without biting. I’m sooo pleased you chose a Conure. They are very fun and quirky little things. Sunflower seeds should be good but in moderation too many arn’t great for them. For Seymours training I use pistachio nuts, I split 1 but into quarters so that he doesn’t get too full up, he absolutely loves them! Even though he steps up well, I’d maybe reinforce him stepping up onto hand and eventually finger with treats daily, keep the ball rolling untill he gets used to hands, he’ll soon realise he has nothing t worry about. Don’t make any sudden movements around him with yours hands for now! I’m so pleased for you guys, he will change your life! :emoji_grinning:
 
Aww Floyd is gorgeous. Early days yet time and patience and training and you will get there.
 
The conures are all £200, we have normal green cheeked, pineapple and yellow sided. All come with DNA certificate and a starter pack of seed and pellets. I think a conure could be a good choice for you, particularly if you are nervous about a larger bird. They have heaps of personality :)
The conures are all £200, we have normal green cheeked, pineapple and yellow sided. All come with DNA certificate and a starter pack of seed and pellets. I think a conure could be a good choice for you, particularly if you are nervous about a larger bird. They have heaps of personality :)
Hi Catalina, I’m looking for a had reared green cheeked Conure and DizzyBlue pointed me in your direction. Do you have any ready and available? I live in Scotland but am willing to travel.
 
I found the thread, thank you very much @Jen Bell :) . I am sure we get this sorted out. I am so in love with him already, it's unbelievable!

There’s actually quite a lot of helpful info on there, Iv been reading through the forums and learnt so much already! Thanks @Roz

How’s Floyd settling in @MrsTea - I love the updated picture he is absolutely beautiful!

Few helpful tips that we use around the home to keep Seymour safe - don’t have Floyd in the kitchen when your cooking at all - you have probably read about Teflon been harmful, don’t have him near a hot bath because they wouldn’t think twice about diving in, be careful with candles, any types of aerosols and air fresheners, especially plug in ones they only have tiny little lungs! Also be careful about any fabric type things in his cage, we had seymour using one of them cosy huts for 2 years, he was absolutely fine for all that time then one day we got back home and he was all tangled up by his neck. I had a job cutting it off because there neck isn’t any bigger than a wire, I was mortify and he is lucky to be here with us! We made him a little bed out of some guttering tube which he loves! :emoji_blush:
 
Floyd is gorgeous! Wow - what a huge tail!!! :biggrin: Glad you found the training threads useful @MrsTea and @Jen Bell

Looks like you might have to desensitize him to your fingers. It might be because they move around. Lots of animals chase things that move. So because you are aware of the problem, I would ball your hands to start with as you've been doing. I did this with my Red-lored Amazon who liked chasing toes - I hid them for a while - then gradually exposed them to her in very short sessions, keeping them absolutely still to start with. Because I caught the behaviour early it was quite quick to teach her to leave my toes alone.

Also pair your fingers with good things like treats Floyd adores. Watch what he takes out of the food bowls first and take those items out and use them as treats/reinforcers for behaviours you want to see more of. If he likes sunflowers use sunflowers, there is plenty of time to work towards switching treats if you want to. In fact later it will be a good idea to have a few different treats up your sleeve so that it keeps him on his toes... he never knows what treat he's going to get!

What is great is you have identified that he nips more if you carry him towards or put him in his cage. You may want to carry him on a hand held perch at these times. It won't be forever, but you want to do all you can now to get him out of the habit. And right now using a stick will be the easiest way. Be sure to make being in the cage highly reinforcing so that he WANTS to enter it again. You might put him back in when you have slotted in a fresh food bowl, or hand him some treats for stepping down nicely. Then pair the shutting of the door with something good - for example wait until he has a mouthful of food as you shut the door.

Also work on putting him in, but leaving the door open so that he can come right out again if he wants to. This will show him going into the cage doesn't necessarily end in a closed door. He obviously finds it more reinforcing to be out with his new flock!! :biggrin:
 
My hands look like I got a kitty rather than a bird... ouch!!!

I spent ages this morning peeling some of his favourite seeds as I have not yet been out to buy any peeled nuts etc. That surely must be love :D .

But I tried a few things that were suggested here and some I found on training websites and lo and behold he sat on my hand today for almost 3 minutes without latching on. I still can't make him step down when returning him to his cage so this is still an issue. He clearly doesn't want to be back in his cage, and I assume that this is down to him thinking that going back into the cage means that he must not come out again any time soon. Clearly this is not the case but he has to learn that first.

On another note: he found where I keep the cucumber for the guineas and quite generously helped himself. Cheeky monkey! :D

I am waiting for the DNA papers that Ray said she'd send me via email which hopefully include the ring number, and then I will register him with Pets at Home. Are there any other sites you could recommend where you can register parrots just in case they get lost?
 
Back
Top Bottom