Arika's world, from the beginning

[Anansi]

Sounds like Kelly did for you what my wife Aida did for me. After my 'tiel had died (after 17 years worth of the deepest of bonds) I went a few years without a bird. It was my wife who nudged me back into the avian world, knowing better than I how much happiness it would bring back into my life.

Hahaha! Yes, full flight can have its challenging aspects. But it is so worth it! Especially once they are fully trained. The trick is just working them and tiring them out. Flight drills will be great for her overall health, and they'll also drain the extra energy out of her... which in turn will cut down on some of the crazy flighted antics. Here's a great video on in-home flying: [ame="https://youtu.be/NzyZGdMp9kM"]https://youtu.be/NzyZGdMp9kM[/ame]

You can also combine the flight training with other kinds of skills in order to keep her fully stimulated and happy. With Jolly, for instance, we combine a game of fetch with teaching him color discernment. He currently chooses reliably between three different colors and enjoys this game very much. And after several rounds of this, as well as a few laps around the house interior, he settles down a bit. Keeps nutty antics to a minimum. Here is a link if you'd like to see some of what I'm talking about: http://www.parrotforums.com/training/64364-jolly-s-progress-color-identification.html The first video shows his flight drills.

Station-training is the toughest part, but with consistency they do get there.

And yes, the inevitable harness tangle! And they just lose their ever-loving minds once that foot gets caught in that neck loop, don't they? And those loooooooong memories! Geez! Yeah, I feel your pain. But she'll come around... eventually.

 

[Tami2]

Levi and I were progressing very nicely until he got tangled and panicked as well. I put it away for a while. I was hoping to get him good with it for the warm weather, but my goal expectations were not realistic. That’s okay, maybe he’ll be ready for next spring. We still go out for walks & hikes in his POB.

For now we are still working on honing his flight & landing skills.
He is very cautious and somewhat apprehensive, which is understandable.
Once he’s feeling more confident, I’ll move on to landing on my hand.
He did it once, but it was clearly accidental.

I agree w/ Anansi, I’m ready for more pix & videos.
Your videos always evoke emotion with the music. So nicely done.

 

[ChristaNL]

Same here with the aviator-work.
Somehow they *have* to get stuck in it, and usually just at the point where you think you have progress.

Sunny is halfway to destroying hers, the little T-pieces really get it (where the loop is around the long part ) the material is stiffer there and more annoying (?) or easier to bite (?) - and she is obessed with the 'buckle'.

Did you get any further?
Or did you take a break as well?

 

[WakaWaka]

Kelly gave it a break for about a week then started again.
It went a little slow at first but she bounced right back and is making more progress.

She will take a treat through the hole and leave it on for a few seconds, the Kelly says "off" and slowly removes the harness. Fortunately the foot tangle was a minor setback and in the process she has picked up "High Five" because that was also part of the reward for doing good.

 

[Tami2]

Sounds like Kelly did for you what my wife Aida did for me. After my 'tiel had died (after 17 years worth of the deepest of bonds) I went a few years without a bird. It was my wife who nudged me back into the avian world, knowing better than I how much happiness it would bring back into my life.

Hahaha! Yes, full flight can have its challenging aspects. But it is so worth it! Especially once they are fully trained. The trick is just working them and tiring them out. Flight drills will be great for her overall health, and they'll also drain the extra energy out of her... which in turn will cut down on some of the crazy flighted antics. Here's a great video on in-home flying: https://youtu.be/NzyZGdMp9kM

You can also combine the flight training with other kinds of skills in order to keep her fully stimulated and happy. With Jolly, for instance, we combine a game of fetch with teaching him color discernment. He currently chooses reliably between three different colors and enjoys this game very much. And after several rounds of this, as well as a few laps around the house interior, he settles down a bit. Keeps nutty antics to a minimum. Here is a link if you'd like to see some of what I'm talking about: http://www.parrotforums.com/training/64364-jolly-s-progress-color-identification.html The first video shows his flight drills.

Station-training is the toughest part, but with consistency they do get there.

And yes, the inevitable harness tangle! And they just lose their ever-loving minds once that foot gets caught in that neck loop, don't they? And those loooooooong memories! Geez! Yeah, I feel your pain. But she'll come around... eventually.

Wonderful Video Anansi, I watched it when you first posted it & again just now.

 

[Anansi]

Thank you, Tami! I have to find time to do an update video. He's moved up to three colors, now. (Probably could've been 4 or 5, but life has been a bit hectic the past year. But we'll get there!)

 

[Tami2]

Thank you, Tami! I have to find time to do an update video. He's moved up to three colors, now. (Probably could've been 4 or 5, but life has been a bit hectic the past year. But we'll get there!)

Don’t I know it. Life does have a way of disrupting the fun stuff. Ha
I look forward to your update.

Do you have a thread for you beautiful Ekkie Duo?

 

[Anansi]

Not a dedicated one like this thread, or yours for Levi. Just a scattered bunch of threads largely in the Ekkie sub-forum. Though I may eventually have to change that.

 

[WakaWaka]

I know it's been a really long time since we've done an update on Arika.
We've been pretty busy but rest assured, she has not been neglected one bit and most of our busy time is spent with her.

So, what's been going on?
Well, number one... Arika is doing fine.
She is fully flighted, her vocabulary is increasing, appetite and weight have been good and she even survived boarding for a few days while we had a mini-vacation late last year.

Actually, I think she looked at it as a spa visit They took excellent care of her, had her out every day for socializing, flying, talking with the other birds, and of course, watching some TV with a few of the people there.

We were very glad to see her when we went to pick her up and she was extremely excited to see us.
Kelly got her out of the boarding room, walked into the hallway, Arika saw me at the front of the store and took off flying as fast as she could to meet up with me.
Needless to say, we were all very happy to be reunited with her even if it was only for a few days of separation.

Christmas came and went, she reluctantly opened a few presents and is enjoying her new wooden and foraging toys.

Lately though, she has been acting a little strange.
We've upload a video to show her behavior and thought perhaps someone could chime in on what they think may have started it.

Her feathers have also shown some strange markings on them and we decided it was time to get her to her CAV.

We got an appointment for the next day, her vet gives her a good physical, starts work on a gram stain, and draws some blood.
We also showed him the video of her behavior.
This whole time she is behaving very calm and her vet commented on how this was very unusual.

He used a magnifier to look at the marking on her feathers and told us to have a look.
We were shocked at what we saw and it left us speechless.
Seeing that just resulted in a head scratch and a "huh" from her vet.

He commented that he thinks he knew what was wrong.
He turned Arika on her back and cradled her in his hand, took his other hand and tickled her belly and shook her a little bit.
With that, she rights herself, and gives him a mild bite on his thumb. Almost instantly the markings on her feathers fade away.

We were amazed !!!. "What was wrong?" we asked.
He laughed and said that her cuteness button was stuck in the "ON" position and the markings were a side effect of her button being on too long.

So I guess everyone is curious what the markings were.......they said "I'm Adorable". LOL
She was just trying to tell us that her cuteness button was stuck


Yes, a very belated April fool since we didn't have a chance to post this on the first of this month.
Just so everyone knows, everything above was total fiction with the exception of how well she is doing, and her boarding experience.
Also as you can see in the video, she truly is a "Mush Mac".
Actually we like to call the video "Mush Mac Nirvana" Kelly and Arika were enjoying every moment.

We hope everyone enjoyed the story and we will be posting more updates on her along with some videos.

A late April Fool

 

[Jen5200]

Oh my goodness, Arika is one snuggly bird . Warms my heart to see her cuddled in there loving the scritches!

 

[WakaWaka]

Jen,

Thanks, she can be a love bug or a holy terror.
Sometimes we never know

 

[ChristaNL]

I must say - I really enjoyed your story- but I still have no idea what the markings are you were talking about.


Sunny will turn her scent on and off, blush, raise or lower feathers but I haven't seen her change them. So I am curious....


(I am still unsticking her 'panickbutton' most of the time, so that may be why I never noticed?)

 

[WakaWaka]

Thank you from all of us !! Glad you enjoyed the short story.

The markings were purely fictitious as if she had "I'm Adorable" printed on her wings, trying to let us know she was in "Adorable" overdrive
Just a late April Fools joke.

Arika also turns her scent on and off, blushes, and will fluff her head feathers.
When she fluffs them, we take our hand and lightly go backwards and tell her "Fluffy"......She loves it.

Her scent is almost 100% related to us opening a window and turning an exhaust fan on in the kitchen.
Our indoor air quality is very good but something about the fresh air coming in makes her scent and it smells like a flower shop in her room.

We will post more pics and videos as soon as we can.

 

[ChristaNL]

LOL, well you got me
but since she positively drips "I am adorable" from everything your guys post about her... I believe!


I almost always get an extra scent dosis from her when she is about to have a bath---it makes her happy/excited.

 

[WakaWaka]

Arika turned two on May 10. She is doing great !!
OMG, our little girl is growing up !
She's been whispering in our ears about wanting a Java tree for a while now so we started looking at what was available.

Well, we came across a really good deal on a new one and decided to get it for her. It was a little late for her Birthday but better late than never.

We picked it up on Sunday and arrived home towards the evening.
It took a little while to move things around in her room, clean it thoroughly, and get it set up. It's really sturdy and looks fantastic.

Arika didn't have much time to become acclimated to it Sunday evening, but stepped on a branch very slowly, then explored a few more branches with her beak.
After a few minutes, she held out her foot, as if to say "I've had enough" and wanted to feel the familiar security of Mommy's arm
Overall she seemed pretty happy with it yet still unsure of the new monstrosity in her room.

Time went by fast and and soon it was time for lights out . Thankfully she didn't wake up in the middle of the night and have it startle her. She did fine.

The next morning I she came out for our morning discussion before I go to work. We talk about all sorts of things in the mornings (another ParrotForums member said,"Talk to your Blue", we've never forgotten that..... We talk a lot !)

After having her out for a few minutes, Arika indicated she wanted to go closer to the tree.
I moved slowly and let her put her beak on a smaller branch. She chewed on it a little and decided that she needed a better angle. Placing one foot on the tree she explored the branch a little more with her beak.
Two minutes later she was climbing on more areas and exploring. After about ten minutes, she wanted to come over to me to finish our discussions before I had to go to work.
She did a nice "turn around" for me, received a treat, and returned to her condo so I could be off to work.

She likes it !! We will probably need to add a little Vet Tape in a few areas since the sandblasted wood is very smooth and slippery.
We'll leave other areas smooth since we noticed that she likes to slide on a branch in a few areas and seems to maintain balance and control.

Now on to rearranging the rest of her room, making room for food storage and also figuring out what to do with her play stand.
That may wind up in another room. We'll see.

 

[Jen5200]

A lovely birthday gift for a gorgeous girl .

 

[WakaWaka]

Jen,

Thanks, since we don't have any human kids, we spoil Arika rotten when and where we can

She is still a little uncertain about her new tree but is warming up to it. 10 minutes seems to be the longest before she wants to come back to us.

Taking it slow and letting her take it at her own pace. This weekend will be cleanup and rearranging her room so we hope to add a few toys to make it more interesting for her. We'll keep everyone updated.

 

[Jen5200]

No kids here either - so I totally understand spoiling the birdies . My husband just shakes his head at all the stuff that comes in for the birds and other pets.... but seriously, they are family and it’s so much fun to see what they think of different things!

 

[Tami2]

Wow, look at her she is no longer a baby for sure. She is stunning!!
And that is a fabulous birthday gift. YAY Arika!! :heart:

 

[WakaWaka]

Wow, look at her she is no longer a baby for sure. She is stunning!!
And that is a fabulous birthday gift. YAY Arika!! :heart:

Thanks !! I only wish our photos were as good as yours of Levi. Hats off to you, excellent work !


Yes she has grown quite a bit, she is up to 1,030 grams.
Her tail feathers are still a bit short since she is going through a bit of a molt, but they are getting longer. We called her "Shorty" for a while and don't think she liked it LOL


And yes that was a big birthday gift. Will have to recycle and rebuild some toys to make up for it !!