Bumble-ing Along

[Sunnyclover]

Agree the bond is they key to the "just put it on" method. I said that in my posting think lol. Unlike Al and Salty (good job!) I don't think my boys will ever my put their head through the hole on their own or willingly. Ollie is very calm after I put his head in but while I'm doing it he's definitely not loving the experience. I really admire Al and Salty though...so awesome!

 

[SailBoat]

Julio and I have a wonderful Trust Bond; I Trust that he will not Bite if I do not do something stupid and he Trusts that I have learned my lessens by now!

 

[wrench13]

Hey , no one should think that Salty says "Oh goody, its a harness day!" He sees the harness tries to run up my shoulder, but I take him off, flop him on his back, hold his head and thru the head loop it goes. He stands up, , wing loops go on, and he gets a treat. THe only reason I don't get bloody hands from doing it is from all the nightly training so he knows the head loop won't kill him. I personally thing those parrots in the videos are tranked to the hilt or are stuffed birds. Bumble is so teeny tiny the harness is almost bigger that she is. The straps are WAY too thick for her size, they could be 1/2 the size and she still couldn't break free. Glad she sorta enjoyed herself. Trust me the more you take her out the less she will fuss with the straps and the more she will enjoy being outside.

 

[Inger]

She's not in any danger of breaking free, but she's still a parrot - with a beak - who likes to chew. So the possibility exists that if I don't pay close attention, she'll chew through them, or chew them enough that they are "perforated" so to speak and could come apart. I wouldn't want them any thinner. The real problem is they're just a tiny bit long. But since i have 3 harness that all fit perfectly in one way but not the others, I should be able to figure out how to make one of them work. If not - well don't we all have zillions of dollars to throw away trying different harnesses? LOL

 

[Inger]

Oh and Al and Mr. B! I was absolutely in no way whatsoever implying that you don’t have strong bonds with your birds. I’m not blind! More that I just know that what I’m doing wouldn’t have worked at this time last year, and that if you just got your bird last week, you might not want to use the “just put it on” method.

Al, after reading your comment, it seems like when you actually put the harness on that’s what you’re doing-you’ve just combined it with a lot of other comfort conditioning. [emoji16] I have also done some of that and will continue-hopefully that will help her bite it less. And since we truly only get like 30 sunny days a year in this area, and it’s cold so often, that will be especially important when we can’t get outside.


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[SailBoat]

Oh and Al and Mr. B! I was absolutely in no way whatsoever implying that you don’t have strong bonds with your birds. I’m not blind! More that I just know that what I’m doing wouldn’t have worked at this time last year, and that if you just got your bird last week, you might not want to use the “just put it on” method.
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Heavens no, never saw that in your Post. I was only commenting on the 'understand' Julio and I have come to regarding such things!

 

[Inger]

Boring but good update today. Took Bumble in to the vet’s office for a nail trim yesterday and had them get her fecal sample at the same time, since she wouldn’t poop when she was in for her annual exam in April.

Results back, poop is normal.

After her little adventure out yesterday, she was a fluffy sleepy lovebug last night.

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[Inger]

Bumble and I walked up to McDonald’s for an ice cream cone today. She’s still not terribly accepting of the harness-she wants to chew it constantly. I hold her so she can’t get to it and the good news is she doesn’t bite me instead. On our way home, she was actually chirping and responding to things I said to her, and she really seemed to enjoy the times when we were in full sunlight. There was even a brief moment where she stopped trying to chew the harness and hopped up onto my shirt.

Progress. I’ll take it.

Oh and I did let her take a tiny taste of my ice cream. She was not a fan-she immediately flicked it off of her beak!


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[SailBoat]

Hmmm, sounds like a case of 'Beak Freeze!'

 

[wrench13]

Beak Freeze Good for a laugh first thing at work , thanks 'Boats.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

My Mom would often offer Amy the melted "dregs" of her vanilla ice cream left in the bowl. That bird would sit there and lap it up like a dog until the bowl was dry. Won't touch it now I guess it was just an Amy/mom thing.

We've been outside everyday this week! The weather has been awesome here.
We go to the local park where he will walk in the grass,eat bugsand chew sticks. Its obvious to me he enjoys the time! Refuses to sit on his Salty Perch.He HAS to be on my shoulder to look out the windows. In minutes he is climbing off the Salty Perch,walking over the center console and climbing my arm. Nibbles at my sun glasses,preens my beard,presses his beaky to my cheek and mumbles soft,sweet,Amazon sounds to me.

Inger,at least little Bum allows you to put the harness on. I'd like to get Amy in one,but I value the flesh on my hand/fingers/arms


Jim

 

[Sunnyclover]

Copy cat! Lol jk Inger. Glad Bumble is finally enjoying her time in her harness even if it's just a bit for now. When my boys try to chew it just lightly touch their beak and say "no bite" or "hey hey" they stop and are usually mesmerised by their surroundings at that point anyways. Ollie, of course, always listens to me and does his best efforts to obey his Mommy! Finley on the other hand will usually stop chewing for a minute but sort of forgets and chews a bit more.

 

[Inger]

Inger,at least little Bum allows you to put the harness on. I'd like to get Amy in one,but I value the flesh on my hand/fingers/arms





Jim

As you know, I employ the “just put it on” method. I did notice with some satisfaction yesterday that although she fights me a bit and chews on the harness while I’m putting it on, she didn’t bite ME.

I really hope that frequent trips out will eventually make it so fun she won’t chew anymore. And at that point I’ll have to order a new harness because this one will be all ragged! [emoji23]


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[Sunnyclover]

I took Ollie out for an ice cream on the ol' harness today! We drove there this time because it was raining. He enjoyed have an entire pine nut to himself whilst I was eating my ice cream. He still didn't want any...oh well it's probably for the best. lol. He only chewed his harness like 4 times and stopped when I said "no bite it". I'm sure bumble will learn too!

 

[Inger]

There’s a moth in the living room. Bumble is NOT amused. She says this is protected airspace and only she’s allowed to fly here. A quick video of her watching. The neck stretch! [emoji23][emoji7]

[ame="https://youtu.be/laFXg2BLqpE"]Bumble do a (((stretch))) - YouTube[/ame]


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[Inger]

Here’s your irregularly scheduled Bumble Is So Sweet I’m So Lucky Update.

As I write this, I’m sitting in the dark next to her covered cage listening to her grind her beak. This is one of my favorite things to do at the end of the day, and I know she enjoys it too. The sheet I use to cover the cage isn’t very thick, so she can see through it. She was being kind of chirpy when I first covered her, so I came back out and sat down and the grinding started immediately. I don’t indulge either of us in this pastime too often, but it’s very sweet and relaxing.

She hasn’t learned any new tricks lately. I was trying to teach her to drop some little shapes into a box. I think she understands what I want, but she prefers to just fling the shapes around randomly. When one does make it into the box, of course I reward immediately-but when she randomly flings enough times in a row (like 3) I invariably start laughing so that’s probably a reward too.

Recently when I give her kisses, she peep peep peeps at me. Not a kissy noise, but a response to my actions nonetheless. I was also reading back through this thread a while ago and remembered that she used to make tiny peeps when I gave her skritches. I spent a minute being sad because she doesn’t do it anymore, and then remembered that I also used to sing This Old Man while I was skritching. Guess what?!?!? The little peeps are her singing along! On my stars it’s so cute!

Speaking of skritches-when she was a baby, if I wasn’t singing sometimes I would say “tickle tickle.” Eventually she started saying tickle, but only when she preens her chest. Except that for the last few weeks, several times she has perched on my hand, lowered her head in the direction of my thumb, and said it! A clear request (who am I kidding- demand) for me to “tickle” her! Ahhhhhh! She’s so smart. And she’s even getting a little snuggly when she’s up on my shoulder, but I know to be careful with that. Don’t want her getting the wrong idea-but as I wash her dishes every night and she sits on my shoulder chirping and snuggling, it’s hard not to love it.

I just noticed that all is quiet from the cage. She must be asleep, and I should be too, so that will end this edition of I Have The Cutest Bird Ever.

Thanks to all of you for helping me forge this fantastic relationship with her.


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[Sunnyclover]

Awwwwwwww! I didn't know Bumble could say "tickle". That's soooo cute.

 

[wrench13]

OMG that is cuteness overload!

 

[GaleriaGila]

So precious.

Mannn, she really can stretch.

*I'D* give her a tickle!

 

[Inger]

Awwwwwwww! I didn't know Bumble could say "tickle". That's soooo cute.

She can! She says tickle, peek, peekaboo, beeeeeeeeep and three (which sounds just like Beep so you have to use context-watch a Koolaid the Parrotlet peekaboo video; her three is just like his). She also makes kissy noises and says something else I can’t understand yet. Peekaboo is very clear-the rest of it I would probably have to translate for you [emoji23]. But since female parrotlets don’t usually talk, her little vocabulary is fantastic as far as I’m concerned.


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