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Post by boobaby on Dec 30, 2013 0:31:17 GMT
Hi everyone! I just thought I'd update you on Miss Boo, since she's been such a stinker to "fix". I do believe that you all are geniuses. All of these six years I've tried training tactics and treats and such to try to win over her affection to no avail...she still hated me, bit HARD, and always sat in the same spot in her cage. And yet the thing that ended up helping her get out of her funk was a little tough love! Ever since rearranging (I actually bought a bigger cage too, and new toys to cycle out later on) her cage she's become MUCH more lively. For a while she got even angrier, but now that she has settled she's actually showing what might possibly be at least tolerance of me.
I think I was also misinterpreting some of her sounds and body languages though. I'd always thought that the beak coming towards me was a sure sign of trouble, but that is not so! For the past week or two I've been a "mean mom" and made her come out of her cage, but after the first four days of her being extremely reculent to get out, she is now actually coming to her cage door, stepping out, and flying around on her own. I'm now letting her out the better part of two hours a day, although she perches on the outside of her cage most of that time. She does make 5-6 short flights though and has been getting much better at controlling her flight. Yay for building muscles! And then in the past two days I've gotten really brave and decided to try hand taming her again...but very slowly. Before the change she attacked my hand if it was even within a foot of her, but I've been slowly inching my way towards her and today got my hand about 3" from her. She reached out with her beak open and I was just waiting for the blood drawing to begin, but to my surprise she just very carefully tapped my index finger from top to bottom (I guess to make sure it was safe?), pulled at my nails a little (didn't hurt at all), and STEPPED UP without me even asking her to! She got back down about 30 seconds later, but its has been YEARS since she stepped onto my hand, and even then it was because I put my finger there and pushed on her above her feet. Never just because she felt like it.
She has also been hopping/climbing towards me when I get near her cage. Again, this has always been an aggressive thing with her snapping at my fingers, but now she talks to me in chirps and follows my hand without offering to bite. She does do this weird head thing though where she rubs the colored top part of her beak/head on the cages roughly a few times though. Anyone know what that means?
Anyways, I'm so thrilled to have a happy bird back, even if she doesn't yet want to be petted or anything. And to think the solution was just rearranging her cage all of these years!!! I feel so bad. She's an old gal (at least 7) but I'm hoping that from now on we can at least coexist peacefully if not as friends. She is now eating treats (carrots, broccoli, apple, blueberry, cucumber, corn, and cauliflower so far) too so that her diet is more varied. I'm so happy!
Here are a few pictures and videos of her. How does her cage look? Too many toys, not enough? She has MANY perches of different types to choose from, but is it too many? Could it be set up a better way? I'm really clueless! She still has her mirror...should I try taking that away from her or would that devastate her? She no longer sits at it all day which is awesome so I'm not too worried, but I also don't want to be tricking her into thinking she has a friend...
I actually considered trying to get her a budgie friend but 1. I realize that budgies are a huge commitment of many years and while I'm able to make the commitment, I'm really wanting a male budgie next time. 2. male + female = babies right? I definitely don't have the time for properly socializing with more than two birds. 3. The last bird we introduced to her, she tried to kill. Or at least it appeared that way...she was pecking his face and knocked him on the cage floor. What if I bought a friend for her and she hated it? I would only be getting a second bird for her benefit (although I'd love a nice bird who liked to socialize with me too) and don't really want to be stuck with two budgies in separate cages who don't even like each other.
ANYWAYS, this has gotten super long but thank you all so much for your help so far! Sorry about my talking in the first video xD she responds to "pretty bird" now though, and it learning "step up" and "go fly boo" though!
pictures:
she has carrot on her face. LOL
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Post by dianapalmer on Dec 30, 2013 0:41:13 GMT
That's great news! I'm very happy for you. I see four cute pictures. No videos, though.
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Post by boobaby on Dec 30, 2013 0:54:56 GMT
oh darn...looks like they didn't work. I'm trying to re-upload but it may be a while. Old computer y'know! xD
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Post by Pammy on Dec 30, 2013 0:58:17 GMT
Such a wonderful post, filled with progress. Like Diana, I'm very happy for you!
As for getting a companion bird, while I normally say YES! In this case, I'm not so sure. Especially since she did attack another bird in the past. You definitely wouldn't want to go to Petco and buy a young companion for her, because at her age, she's just not going to be impressed with a youngster's silly antics. If you can comb Craig's List and find a senior bird she could be friends with, that might be lovely for both of them.
As for boy + girl = babies, a 7-year-old hen should never lay eggs. I don't even know if that's physically possible. Still, there are steps you can take to prevent breeding, such as covering the cage for a good 12 hours each night, mimicking winter's darkness and non-breeding season, and feeding a low fat diet with plenty of vegetables to both male and female birds. You are already doing an amazing job with getting some veggies down her little throat. And of course, no nest, no tent, no snuggly, no nothing that could be considered a comfy place for laying eggs to a female bird.
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Post by boobaby on Dec 30, 2013 1:12:37 GMT
Maybe that's worth looking into. There has to be someone out there with a senior bird that needs a friend right? If that doesn't work though, I guess she'll just have to remain single. Now that she is tolerating me more though I'm in with her a good three hours or so a day doing homework near her, and I go in to check on her/talk to her periodically throughout the day. I also keep her music playing all day and she gets a kick out of that. She even recognizes her favorite artist and starts singing up a storm when she hears him! LOL.(bird crush anyone?)
Its so, so odd. I KNOW she's at least 7, because I've had her 6 years, 3 months (she appeared in early September of 2007) and she was an adult (white irises and no head barring at all...at least 8 months old right?) when I got her...she could very well be older than 7. But just last year is the first time I ever saw her lay an egg, and she laid 4 in a row...then stopped and hasn't done it since. She would have been 6 at that point. She has no nesting box, no fluffies, no male...I have NO idea why she did it, and if she did why she waited until she was 6+ to do it, but she did. Weird, weird bird. She did have a fairly high fat diet ( this was before she was eating any veggies from me) but that's all.
Its great to hear that if I find an old man bird in need of a friend though, that all hope is not lost xD
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Post by luvsanimals2 on Dec 30, 2013 1:42:45 GMT
wooohoo, that is awesome
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Post by Sarah on Dec 30, 2013 3:09:16 GMT
Its great to hear that things are improving - but I would suggest giving her more variety in terms of playthings. Also, have you considered purchasing a birdie play gym for outside the cage?
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Post by Bluebirds on Dec 30, 2013 12:28:24 GMT
Yay! Thats great news! baby steps!
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Post by boobaby on Dec 30, 2013 23:02:05 GMT
What are your suggestions as far as toys go? I also have two other toys but they're similar...another ring thing that has some bells along one side and a pom-pom type toy that hangs from a string. Is there anything I can make her or give her that I might have around the house? I'm really not sure what is 'safe' and 'not safe' given that she has never had any interest in playing before. She's super mouthy though and loves her sliding beads...maybe something like that? And where from? I've looked at Petco, Everything Pets, and Petsmart and all of their toys are essentially the same unless I want to pay $20+, and given that I'm a college student with ridiculous amounts of expenses and very limited income, I'm really not able to buy extravagant things for her at the moment.
I've never heard of a play gym for birds. Where would I get that?
Its quite hard to find anyone knowledgeable about birds and their care around here, it seems. I was talking to some people at Petco (where I bought her cage) and petsmart, and they didn't have a clue about what I should be giving her, how I should be socializing her, etc. Apparently around here you just stick a bird or two in a cage, feed it, and call it good. Since I live in Texas, most people keep their birds outside too. Boo doesn't stay outside, she only goes out for a few hours a day on days when it is above 65 degrees and not too hot either.
Sorry for all of the questions...like I said, I'm utterly clueless. What is the best way for me to reprimand her for biting too hard? She doesn't particularely seem malicious at times, but at others she gets very rough with her nips (she especially likes to bite down around my the tip of my finger and the skin between my fingers...OUCH) and I'd really prefer that she didn't. I read somewhere that a quick shake of my hand will discourage her because she'll associate rough bites with unsteadiness, but that just makes her bite harder and become angry. I also tried giving her a warning word "Gentle!" and if she doesn't stop, a quick (careful) tap with my finger on the beak, but again she bites harder. Its almost like she's looking for a pain reaction from me because she always goes for the sensitive part of my finger and gradually gets rougher until I respond. I try very hard not to flinch or anything and rarely ever do, because that seems to be the only thing that gets her to stop...seeing that she "isn't hurting me" and giving up. But I really would prefer to eliminate the biting all together!
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Post by dianapalmer on Dec 30, 2013 23:20:45 GMT
You could try crumpling up some white paper into a ball and put it in the bottom of the cage. She might enjoy shredding it. My budgies like anything hanging in the cage that they can chew on. Do you remember making rings of paper and interlocking them into a necklace when you were young? That might also be good. I think something made out of construction paper in different colors would be attractive. I tend to think construction paper would be safe since it's made for children. Let's see if anyone else has a comment on that. As I'm making these suggestions I am getting enthusiastic about making some things for my own birds!
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Post by Sarah on Dec 31, 2013 1:16:31 GMT
There are lots of fun chew toys you can make for your birds out of every day or inexpensive things: yarn, paper,beads, Popsicle sticks, q tips ect ect, but avoid dyed things unless they are for children and explicitly claim to be non toxic.
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Post by Pammy on Dec 31, 2013 1:55:45 GMT
I'm a knitter, and when I clip short ends off of brightly colored cotton yarns, I will sometimes tie them to branches inside my cage. My boys didn't seem to notice, but I have seen one of my new girls picking at a red piece with interest. Made me happy that I bothered.
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Post by boobaby on Jan 4, 2014 2:27:50 GMT
Here is the video that refused to load. s1117.photobucket.com/user/asylumescapee95/media/DSCN0057_zpsf95478f9.mp4.html
Ok, so a few days ago I started making her some toys and I added a few of them in to her cage. She has been her typical "Change? I HATE CHANGE!" squawky self, but is slowly warming up to them and I even caught her playing with the beads today...but shhhh. She doesn't know that I saw!
We have: part of an old necklace that I put a hook onto (excuse the dog...she's the old daschund mix I talked about and is terrified of fireworks so she has been like glue to me the past week)
a fuzzy perch of softness for her feet
I felt like a genius with this one. Its an old thimble that I put a hole into, attached a string with jingle bells onto, and put on the perch. Its "birdie basketball!" She doesn't get the concept yet but does play with the bells.
a string of beads that slide around. She likes this one!
yarn. she hates this one and stays away from it.
and paper! She doesn't like this one either, much. I don't think she realizes she can rip it.
so her cage now looks like this:
I removed her mirror in hopes of getting her 'over' her addiction to it, and really she doesn't seem to care. I think that's a good thing! She does stay on the right side of the cage as her perch of choice, but jumps around and plays a lot too. She just always ends up back in this spot.
I have a question re: the cage floor though. It is the type with a metal grate, then a pan underneath which I have been filling with bird litter (EXPENSIVE considering how much she poops!). But I own a horse as well (yes, lots of animals...I admit it!) and buy pine shavings in bulk for her stall...can I use that in the bird pan? I figure she doesn't touch it and it isn't scented...so it should be ok right? No chemicals or anything are in them.
Other than that, Boo and I are great! She's still quite nippy but getting better and is now responding to my voice very well...unless she doesn't want to go back in her cage! LOL. I let her sit outside with me (in her cage) today though, since it was a nice 68 degrees out, and she enjoyed her hour or two of sunshine after being cooped up for so long. She sang and danced the whole time!
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Post by dianapalmer on Jan 4, 2014 3:04:29 GMT
Nice toys! It sounds like things are going so well. I'm happy for her and you. I put newspaper in the pan under the grate on the bottom of the cage. It works for me.
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Post by Sarah on Jan 4, 2014 3:26:39 GMT
You could put pine shavings if you wanted to, but there isn't a real reason. You don't need any kind of litter in a bird pan. Newspaper, paper towel or scrap paper does just as well if not better!
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