I'm happy, really happy

[Valo's Moirana]

God, it feels good to be back... I'm back at work, which makes me feel a lot better (started to be bothered by not doing anything but socializing when I was home).
The birds are being great - Valo is super cuddly and behaved... I could spend an entire day just with him (which is my plan for Sat). Bella is a bit difficult... she started being a diva - not stepping up when she's told (not even if Valo tells her ), nipping sometimes, and screaming, which is a little bit of a problem in the light of the complaint...
Nino is - wow, don't know what to say... great, wonderful - in the light of his shyness. He's watching everything around him carefully and he doesn't really hide. Shortly after we got home yesterday, he took a few bites of food (which was birdie bread with veggies) and drank some water. We had to leave for work, but when we got home, he ate some dinner and drank some more water. Yet again, he didn't really retreat but followed what was going on around him.
We did not take him out of the cage yet, since we don't know yet how to handle the situation. We're planning on carefully trying to offer him a perch to step up either later today or tomorrow as it would be great if we could somewhat stick train him. For now, I'm planning on leaving him in the cage until later this week before letting him check out the new environment (also, because I would like to have time in case I have troubles returning him to his cage).
This morning he was munching on some pellets that we keep in the cages over night, which I found interesting in the light that they don't feed pellets at TGF. He's a dunker btw For breakfast he was chomping down on the birdie bread which he really seems to like. I talked to him a bit this morning, and he came to the front from his little spot in the back to look at me, turned his little head and seemed to be really interested
I have a real good feeling about this guy - I'm not blinded by things as they are now, I know it'll be difficult, but I'm also confident that we'll work things out just fine in the long run.....

Did I mention that I'm really really happy to be back home with the fids?

[svolk]

Welcome back! And congrats on the new addition!

Good call on letting Nino check out his surroundings for a few days - with my two boys, who were not tame as you know (and I don't know the story with Nino, but I'm guessing he hasn't been handled much or at all), I allowed them to observe for awhile. And I do think that this has merit because both boys now view their cages as their safety and comfort zone and both willingly go back to them at the end of the day.

I'm sure things will work out wonderfully with Nino - he'll learn a ton just by watching Valo and Bella and watching them interact with you (have they seen him yet?).

[Valo's Moirana]

Originally Posted by svolk

Welcome back! And congrats on the new addition!

thanks..... good to see you!

Originally Posted by svolk

Good call on letting Nino check out his surroundings for a few days - with my two boys, who were not tame as you know (and I don't know the story with Nino, but I'm guessing he hasn't been handled much or at all), I allowed them to observe for awhile. And I do think that this has merit because both boys now view their cages as their safety and comfort zone and both willingly go back to them at the end of the day.

i thought of you and your 2 boys regarding the shyness.. you did such a wonderful job with winston, that i'll probably knock on your door for advice here and there if that's fine with you.
Nino hasn't been handled much in the past years - we don't know any history on him, and at the foundation there's very little time for one-on-one interaction given the fact that they care for over 400birds daily. A shy one like Nino of course is not in the best position to be handled.
I was thinking of building it up the way you describe it - letting Nino settle in in his cage (despite the fact that I could tell this morning, that he thought it was out of the cage time), so he sees it as home - little draw back: the current cage is his temporary cage as his mansion is on backorder, and should arrive middle to end of jan. At the foundation, he always went back to his cage by himself when the birds went back inside for dinner...

Originally Posted by svolk

I'm sure things will work out wonderfully with Nino - he'll learn a ton just by watching Valo and Bella and watching them interact with you (have they seen him yet?).

yip, they have... we're not quarantining... the reason for that is the strict quarantine the birds have to go through at TGF. He's had a vet check in late November, and all came back fine... no birds were added to the conure station since then, and also any birds that enter TGF do have to go through quarantine. therefore, neither us nor the TGF staff think it's necessary to quarantine... and it'll make it easier for him as he doesn't need to go through changes again.
Valo and Bella are both interested, and he returns the interest... he watches them spending time with and on us curiously

[Kevin]

welcome back

[ROYJOY]

sounds like your having a great time. today would be a good day to be you.

[svolk]

From what you describe Nino sounds shy but curious - I think that's great! Feel free to ask anything about my process with Winston and how to translate that with Nino. They sound pretty similar in personality but at least Nino had freedom and good care at the foundation. But these days things are wonderful with Winston, he flies to us (and the boy will do nearly anything for food!) and he even puts himself away at night to the "go home" command (he still doesn't step up really, but that's ok).

[Abyssinian1]

Congrats on bringing Nino home and good idea, letting him adjust. We left the boys in their cages for a couple of days when we brought them home to get used to the new digs, as well as putting their toys in the same configuration they were in the cages at the Foundation. It was something familiar.

It also sounds as if your established birds are taking it better than ours did. At least, it sounds a tad more peaceful