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Post by dianapalmer on Jan 24, 2014 0:11:25 GMT
Emma has been with me for nine weeks now.
I think she is happy here. She eats well, plays with her toys, and will sometimes perch on my arm until I give her a sunflower seed. She will sometimes perch on my shoulder in order to play with my earrings. However, I don't feel that she is particularly fond of me or interested in me. Things see to be at a standstill in terms of my relationship with her. I love her and I am glad I am giving her a good home.
I was hoping for a pet bird that would be more affectionate toward me. I don't think Emma is going to be that bird.
So, I am thinking that, come spring, I may look for a young hand raised cockatiel that I have a chance to interact with before purchasing. I now know of a couple of sources.
If I do get a handraised bird, I plan to cage it separately and try to get it to bond firmly with me.
Do you think there are any flaws in what I am thinking?
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Post by lisamarie on Jan 24, 2014 0:17:30 GMT
I see nothing wrong with what you are thinking  I know what you were looking for. I was looking for that in Lucy and lucky for me i do have it |
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Post by Sarah on Jan 24, 2014 0:21:05 GMT
No, I don't think there will be any problems! Just make sure that there is proper room in your home and your life for a new animal!
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Post by luvsanimals2 on Jan 24, 2014 0:36:25 GMT
hm, that may help your relationship with emma, time will tell tho.
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Post by Pammy on Jan 24, 2014 5:04:57 GMT
I don't see any flaws in your thinking, Diana. From what I know of you, you think things out very well before you do them. A hand raised, tame baby is a wonderful companion, and oftentimes (oddly enough) is available for a far more affordable price than a wild bird from the pet store. I don't understand that one. My relationship with Mistletoe is everything I could have hoped for in a companion bird, and more. He is precious and loves me very much, and wants to be with me. It's a lovely feeling, and I hope you will have the opportunity to enjoy what Mistletoe and I have yourself.
I do suggest locating your potential baby and getting a reservation in. Hand tamed babies need to stay in their first home for several weeks, if not a few months. Mistletoe was 3 months old when I brought him home. So if your baby is currently an egg, or if his parents are just starting to breed, your adoption date could be around May.
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Post by roxhum on Jan 24, 2014 14:05:13 GMT
I too don't see any flaws in Your thinking. I selfishly want that for you so I can hear your stories and I think you deserve that type of pet bird. I think hand fed is the way to go. I lucked out with my two older birds and they are so tame because first they were hand fed and secondly they were in homes that didn't screw them up.
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Post by dianapalmer on Jan 24, 2014 15:29:59 GMT
I do appreciate your feedback. I am a little bit concerned because I think that, in the search for the perfect bird, I could end up with six or seven (kidding--LOL--but I think some danger lurks here).
I don't know of anyplace where I could reserve a bird that is now an egg. However, the bird store in Scarsdale does have young cockatiels that are in the weaning process. The associate said that they have them frequently. She offered to let me handle one if I was interested in it. I think in March I may go down and see if they have one that is just weened that seems friendly and easy to handle.
Update of Emma's training:
Emma comes out of the cage right away when I uncover it in the moning. This morning I decided to close the door, leaving the budgies in.
Emma is on her porch, and I am offering her sunflower seeds. She will readilly come onto my arm, where it is covered by my shirtsleeve. If I change the position of my arm, she is reluctant to come onto the uncovered part of my arm. After some procrastination, she will do it, but she immediately retreats to where my sleeve is once she has the seed. That is where she breaks it open and eats it. When it's gone, she jumps back to her porch. She has had three seeds in this manner. Now, she's up on top of her cage.
Oh, now she's back. She actually just took a seed and stayed on my Uncovered Wrist to eat it!
Now she's back on top of the cage.
I am thinking about the fact that she won't come onto my arm from the top of her cage. I think it is because, when I am in my chair, i am going to stay put. If I am standing, there is a chance that I will Take Her AWAY from where she is. She doesn't want to be taken away!
I have experimented with trying to get her on my wrist when she wants to come out of her cage. I open the door just enough for my hand to get in. She immediately retreats to the other side of the cage. Despite the fact that she really, really wants to get out of the cage, getting on my hand is a NoGo.
Oh, she just came back to her porch. I held the seed over the base of my fingers on the back of my hand. She actually came up there and ate her seed. Then, she seemed to realize where she was, and flew off to the top of the cage. It reminds me of the cartoon characters that run off a cliff and don't fall until they look down LOL.
Another complication with Emma is that, I think, she has chosen Piper as her mate. I would not have predicted this, because of them being different species. But, it is so. I have had them on 12 to 13 hour nights for a little more than a week. The mating frequency may be a bit less, but they are still mating occasionally. Piper seems very passionate about her. When my brother was over we were speculating about what he was saying to her as they were mating: "Oh, baby, you drive me crazy! You're such a great big Mama!" etc. etc.
Emma just came back and got another seed. However, she seemed to be mindful of how she had, last time, lost track of where she was and ended up on my hand. She flew off with the seed right after taking it, and ate it on top of her cage.
I think I am making a little progress this way, and will try again each morning.
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Post by Pammy on Jan 24, 2014 20:23:21 GMT
Your persistence with Emma is something I admire, Diana. While the two of you may never be super lovey-dovey BFFs, I do believe that your relationship with Emma will ever so gradually grow more comfortable. I had to laugh about cartoon characters, like Wylie Coyote, who don't fall after leaping from a precipice until they've looked down and realized they were standing on air. Silly Emma. Kringle perched on my finger and crawled up to my shoulder to nibble millet for the first time in probably two weeks this morning. It made me happy. He did fly off to his cage before he even finished the little cluster of millet, but that's okay. Mistletoe wants me anytime I am willing to hold him. I'll take any togetherness I can get from my budgies. December is playing with a string of red and green bells I have hanging in the cage. She just stuffed her face up into one of the bells. It was very cute. Mistletoe is chewing on one of the rungs to the ladder on the tiny play gym that Natey uses to play with December. I have noticed that Mistletoe is much more destructive than the budgies are. The budgies chew on things they are supposed to chew. Mistletoe chews on anything he wants to chew. |
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Post by dianapalmer on Jan 24, 2014 20:46:35 GMT
So nice to hear news of your budgies and Mistletoe. Does he whistle yet? I've been seeing videos on youtube of male cockatiels whistling. They are very, very cute.
I agree with Cockatiels being more destructive than budgies. Emma wants to chew on any piece of wire she comes across: the wire to my headphones, the wire to my laptop, lamp cords. I have to keep a close eye on her. It is a little easy because she likes to stay on top of her cage or on her porch.
I just had to get a new laptop. It has a "skin" over the keyboard. This is a big improvement vis-a-vis Emma, who was trying to remove the keys. Also, when I give her seeds, sometimes the debris was getting into the laptop. Now, that is not possible, so I am Very Happy with the new arrangement.
I recently removed the second, smaller cage. I will keep it handy in the event that I get another bird. But, for now, all my bids are cohabiting.To create a porch for Emma, I now pull the bottom grate out six inches or so when I am sitting next to the cage. Then, I can push it back in when I go into the other room, so she is not sitting in reach of a cat should it come by. Oh, yuck! she was just sitting on my laptop and pooped on the screen. I sort of knew it was coming, but not quite in time to take evasive action. This seems to be a place she likes to poop. She has never pooped on my clothes, tho, which I appreciate!
So, what's happening with Noel and Clausy? Haven't heard about them in a while.
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Post by Pammy on Jan 25, 2014 3:03:00 GMT
Funny you should ask. I posted about everybody earlier today in another thread.
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Post by lisamarie on Jan 25, 2014 3:27:41 GMT
Diana, you and Emma seem to be doing just fine! So i would not fuss. I forget - are her wings clipped? Lucy has created a stronger bond with her play top than with me. But that's ok. She still gets super happy when I come home and she constantly flies from the play top, to MY HEAD, chirps, then flies back to the playtop, chirps, and back to my head. She does it all the time and it cracks me up. I've been trying to get a video because my boyfriend has been asking for one because he loves her little antics As long as she lets me pet her as much as i want (she begs for it) and as long as i can hold her from time to time, we are both happy! |
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Post by luvsanimals2 on Jan 25, 2014 15:49:33 GMT
I think we are all looking to have cuddle time with our birds
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Post by roxhum on Jan 25, 2014 16:04:16 GMT
You know I want a tame bird that likes getting attention from me, but I don't want to be the birds everything. My birds climbing on me while I read or watch tv for an hour a day and maybe ten minutes of focused one on one time is all I have to give. This is why I am so happy that sweetie and Pearl are content cage mates.
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