Success!

[willowbirdy218]

A lot of good bird news lately!! I will start with Mango first...Well, when I got Mango almost three years ago, he was scared of people and would eat only seeds. I was determined to tame him and worked with him for almost four months before he would even come out of his cage and I also switched him over to Kaytee Exact pelleted diet. I was quite happy with this food until I read about it containing Ethoxyquin and recently I decided to switch him over to Zupreem fruit blend. I am happy to report that he has fully switched over!! Also, since I have gotten him, I have been trying to get him to eat veggies with no luck until a few months ago. Since then, he has eaten (or at least tried) peas, corn, carrots, wheat bread, broccoli, and brown rice!!!! I have also noticed that now when I put fresh food into Mango's cage he is more willing to try them, even seeming to be excited, and often hops right down to the food bowl within minutes to see what it is!


And now for Willow's good news. He has learned to whistle the song "charge" and I have also taught him to turn around. It is so cute! I was almost going to give up trying to teach him how to turn around because it seemed he would only do it when I was luring him with food and would just look at me if I told him to turn around without a treat. Willow really surprised me and showed me how smart he really is because when I gave him the cue he would turn around half way, I would praise him and give him a treat then when I noticed that he was going to turn the rest of the way I would tell him "all the way" and praise him again and give him another treat. Then, one time I gave him the cue as I had done several times before, expecting him to go halfway as usual but he didn't, he turn all the way around!!!! I got so excited that he would do it with out me even asking him to just so I would praise him and give him another treat! Also, Willow was always been afraid of the vacuum and would scream and growl everytime it was used around his cage. But about a month or two ago, Willow decided that it wasn't scary any more!

And after all that, here are some new pictures of my awesome birds:

[Doubleyolk]

Congrats on your success with Willow. I was wondering how hard it was for Willow to accept the harness?

[willowbirdy218]

Thank you!

Actually, Willow doesn't like it that much. He growls and sometimes even screams at me when I put it on him but once it's on he tolerates it but chews on it most of the time he is out. I am hoping to get him to be more accepting of it so he can go outside more often. Here is an excellent article I have found on harness training:

http://www.parrotchronicles.com/2005...ss/harness.htm

[The Outlaw]

BRAVO! GOOD JOB!

[cfulhage]

They are both beautiful! Willow looks so handsome in his harness!

[TooLover]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOh - I love success stories. They both are beautiful!

[Tiki]

Congrats Willow! You are doing great and your birds are just gorgeous!