Update on Baby

[Hootie'sMom]

Baby is starting to act more "at home" here now. She was so scared when we brought her home. We couldn't put our hands anywhere near her without her making fearful noises and running from us. Yesterday I sat for a long time in front of her cage with the door open talking to her. She let me put a hand on her perch for a moment, ran and then came back (hand still on the perch).
I also got a small piece of paper and handed it to her throught the bars and she actually started playing "fetch" with me! We played like this for a long time with this little piece of rolled up paper, she would try real hard to stick it through the cage bars to me and when she succeeded she would play "tug of war" with me! She let me rub her beak through the bars and would gently put her beak around my finger. This morning I woke up to her playing with one of her new toys, the bell ringing woke me up.*grins* These are big steps for her!
The guy who was fostering her said the only way he could get her out and touch her was to towel her. We found this out Yesterday when we called him to give him an update, so...... no towels. This little girl is much to shy for that. If anyone has any suggestions for building trust, feel free to let me know. I need all the help I can get on this one.

[kateBird]

YAY! Hootie'sMom, you are doing sooooooooo well with Baby. I don't know the whole story about Baby - what kind of amazon is she?

I've read many books about parrot behavior and from my experiences with Pico so far (he is a yna), what helps is to sit very close to the cage and talk quietly and animatedly with your bird. I do this with Pico for at least 15mins at a time, a couple times a day. Pico loves to be scratched on the head, so i just slowly put my finger in the cage and make a slow scratching movement of my finger in the air. if he wants to be scratched, he moves his head right up to the bars. not sure if baby is that far yet? (sounds like she is quite close!)

there is also something called passive interaction that you can do with a scared bird. for example, look at your bird with one eye (being looked at straight on with both eyes is similar to a predator looking at them, so this may scared a timid bird); try blinking at your bird and see if she will blink back - if your bird is at ease, they will blink (a frightened bird will just stare); when your bird stretches out - good sign that she is comfortable - stretch with her (extend your arm and leg at the same time); another sign that your bird is at ease if she sticks her tongue out quickly and then retracts it for no real purpose. do this back at her. this will show her that you are at ease with her.

keep playing with her as you are doing. you are doing a real great job bringing her around! keep it up! Pico wasn't really friendly with me (he is more friendly with my husband) when we brought him home about 2 weeks ago. Now he is trusting me more and more each day. it makes my day!

i've been keeping a daily blog on my interactions with Pico. if you have time for some reading, here it is: http://life-with-pico.blogspot.com

good luck!

[Hootie'sMom]

Thanks, I will try some of those ideas. Haven't gotten to the head scratches yet, but it will come. Baby is a female Orange Wing Amazon, check out my thread "Soon to be Amazon owner" for the whole story.

[Cyd'sMate]

Hootie's Mom,
I was going to suggest that you sit in a chair next to the open door of Baby's cage. Talk to her and see if she will let you lean your shoulders and head in the cage under her. The blinking game helps too. I do this with my OWA Cyd and he loves it. Sometimes when he won't step up on my hand and he wants to play chase (running away from my hand), I will sit in my office chair at the open cage door and he will eventually step up on my hand or just get on my shoulder if I am close enough. He is only a year old so he can be stand-offish sometimes too and he likes to run from me in the cage because I think he thinks it's funny! Keep playing and if Baby leans her head down try rubbing her neck gently. Cyd just automatically puts his head down when he wants a scratch - he is spoiled that way! Baby will be too if she decides she likes it! It sounds like you are making great progress so keep up the good work and give her positive reinforcement when she does good. She will catch on and make a wonderful companion soon!
Donna

[Hootie'sMom]

Well Baby will not step up on our hands. She wants attention but she doesn't know how to go about getting it. She will scream when we are in the room until one of us talks to her. If you put your hands in the cage she will come up and not bite... but mouth your hand with her beak(making noises the whole time). If my husband puts his face in the cage she will give kisses.
I don't think she knows how to step up. When she screams for attention,we have started reaching in and just getting her. We sit in the floor with our feet together, kind of forming a little area that she can walk around in but not take off across the room. She will go back and forth between the two of us and let us pet her and she will let us pick her up and give her kisses, but if you try to set her on your hand she will hop off immediatly, she doesn't even try to grip with her feet. The whole time we are doing this she is making what we call her "duck noises" LOL! She doesn't seemed too stressed out about us doing this, she just won't step up. Any suggestions?

[kateBird]

hi! glad to hear things are coming along.

first of all, i would start trying to ignore her when she screams. that only reinforces her to scream all the time to get attention from someone. if she goes into a screaming fit, id leave her alone. when she calms down, praise her, give her all the attention you can offer. this will teach her that being quiet is the way to go.

seems that she has found that her cage is her safe haven and no one can really hurt her in there. thats fine, but you should definitely start teaching her to step up. it will make her a happier bird as a whole and will also show her that you are the "bigger bird" so to speak.

to teach her to step up, you need a neutral perch (thick enough for her to comfortably step and grip on it, and not a perch that she has seen or have been in her cage for her use), a neutral room (or hallway) where she has not spent any or much time in and either a T-stand or a chair with a backrest that is also easy for her to step up on...oh, and some of her favorite treats.

before you start this, make sure that the treats you select for use during your training session is left out of her daily feed. this will show her that only doing good in your training session will she be rewarded with this special treat.

take your bird to the neutral area with the t-stand/chair set up already. put her on the t-stand and softly talk to her, using her name often and animatedly since she may be a little nervous. give her a treat. once she calms down, approach her with the neutral perch and say step up. if she refuses, insist by gently pushing the perch against the lower part of her abdomen, above the feet and say in a step up in a firmer tone. when/if she steps up, praise her with words "good bird!" "[name] is a good bird!" and give her another treat. even if she steps up and quickly jumps back on to the seat, you should still reward her.

put her back on the t-stand using the step up command and praise her again with words. if possible, using just words as praise is the best because feeding of any kind of treat too much will make your bird plump. if you need to give her a treat, i suggest staying away from nuts and seeds (big fatty bombs) and try to use dried fruit, corn or pasta.

give your bird a few seconds to compose itself, and try the step up on the perch again. do this for about 10 - 15 minutes (or until the bird gets bored, agitated, upset) and then put the bird back into her cage or wherever she is most comfortable, praising her the entire time with high-pitched voices in animated fashion.

if you have the time, try doing this once in the morning and once in the evening. otherwise its best to do in the evening when they are bit more mellow. continue till you see improvement, and this is something you can do on a long term basis as well.

good luck!

[Yellow]

NIce Hooties mom! A big next step towards your Amazon! Good luck with your new bird!!