StChelle
New member
- Apr 4, 2017
- 76
- 0
- Parrots
- Male Galah named Valentine; male red-sided Eclectus named Harlequin "Harley"; female red-sided Eclectus named Petra
Hi! I have been meaning to post an intro and about my new boys, so here it goes.
Both of them were purchased from the same weaner and hatched a day apart. They are almost 4 months old, and I have had them now for almost a month. I was primarily wanting the Galah, and while visiting him, the Eclectus grew on me and my mother, so we ended up getting him too. Valentine connected with me right away. We could not really handle Harley until the last few weeks as he was in a phase where he would strike at anything near him like a cobra. He is still very twitchy compared to my galah, and bonding with him is going pretty slowly. He is just an all around different bird but I love him all the same.
My set up - While they were in the same cage before I brought them home, I figured they'd be happier with their own space. I have them each in their own Avian Adventures Medina Dometop cages. They are sitting side by side in my living room against a large window. The will often vocalize to each other and watch each other. In addition, my brother built me a large walk in aviary outside. If the weather is good, I put them both in there together while I am at work. My brother has a 7 month old female eclectic, and he brings her over almost every day. The three of them stay together very well in the outside aviary, but not well at all in the inside cages. There, the boys both display a bit of territoriality, especially when it comes to their night night perches.
My boys could not be any more opposite in personality and behavior lol. My Galah is fearless, mischievous, playful and very social. He craves attention and loves training, mainly for he treats (almond shavings or pumpkin seed). He started talking extremely early after I brought him home. He dives right into things be it toys, or food, or training. He always stepped right up on command and will use his beak to gently, but insistently, to guide your finger to him to step up on. His first and favorite words are "I'm a good boy!" which he will say non stop at times lol.
Harley, my beautiful Eclectus... is mean lol Nah, but he will bite, very hard. The reason he does this is partly out of fear and mostly to be left alone. I work with him every day. While he still won't step up easily and not at all on command, he will step on my wrist to reach for a treat without biting me now and pretty much with ease. Once he is out of his cage, he is easier to work with. I bring them outside in a little dog carrier. He refused to go inside of it until he saw Valentine go in first and realized it means outside. He never talks, or so I thought. He can actually speak quite well and even better than Valentine... but only when he thinks he is alone. In the presence of humans, all you get is a "squawk". I caught him with a beautiful string of words while in another room one morning, and when I came in and he saw me... he just looked at me and "squawk!" lol
Valentine plays all the time with toys and climbs all over his cage. He hangs upside down and comes to the cage door to get you to take him out. Harley rarely plays with toys, rarely talks but does vocalize a lot at sundown, and would rather be by himself. I think the two birds take comfort in each other, but they really don't interact too much. Valentine will interact more with Petra, my brothers bird, then with Harley who prefers to sit on the highest perch alone and watch. They do all get along which is what I have heard with both being flock birds.
Recently, at least one, and I suspect both, have taken to barking and growling like my chihuahua lol. Its pretty funny because they bark in the mornings after they hear my dogs wake up and start. They switch to talking (Valentine) and squawking (Harley) only after they hear human activity.
Overall, I enjoy playing with them and training them very much. I still have a lot to learn about bonding and trust building, especially with my beautiful and aloof Harley! I love reading these forums and am always looking for advise and tidbits.
Nice to meet you all, and my name is Chelle.
Both of them were purchased from the same weaner and hatched a day apart. They are almost 4 months old, and I have had them now for almost a month. I was primarily wanting the Galah, and while visiting him, the Eclectus grew on me and my mother, so we ended up getting him too. Valentine connected with me right away. We could not really handle Harley until the last few weeks as he was in a phase where he would strike at anything near him like a cobra. He is still very twitchy compared to my galah, and bonding with him is going pretty slowly. He is just an all around different bird but I love him all the same.
My set up - While they were in the same cage before I brought them home, I figured they'd be happier with their own space. I have them each in their own Avian Adventures Medina Dometop cages. They are sitting side by side in my living room against a large window. The will often vocalize to each other and watch each other. In addition, my brother built me a large walk in aviary outside. If the weather is good, I put them both in there together while I am at work. My brother has a 7 month old female eclectic, and he brings her over almost every day. The three of them stay together very well in the outside aviary, but not well at all in the inside cages. There, the boys both display a bit of territoriality, especially when it comes to their night night perches.
My boys could not be any more opposite in personality and behavior lol. My Galah is fearless, mischievous, playful and very social. He craves attention and loves training, mainly for he treats (almond shavings or pumpkin seed). He started talking extremely early after I brought him home. He dives right into things be it toys, or food, or training. He always stepped right up on command and will use his beak to gently, but insistently, to guide your finger to him to step up on. His first and favorite words are "I'm a good boy!" which he will say non stop at times lol.
Harley, my beautiful Eclectus... is mean lol Nah, but he will bite, very hard. The reason he does this is partly out of fear and mostly to be left alone. I work with him every day. While he still won't step up easily and not at all on command, he will step on my wrist to reach for a treat without biting me now and pretty much with ease. Once he is out of his cage, he is easier to work with. I bring them outside in a little dog carrier. He refused to go inside of it until he saw Valentine go in first and realized it means outside. He never talks, or so I thought. He can actually speak quite well and even better than Valentine... but only when he thinks he is alone. In the presence of humans, all you get is a "squawk". I caught him with a beautiful string of words while in another room one morning, and when I came in and he saw me... he just looked at me and "squawk!" lol
Valentine plays all the time with toys and climbs all over his cage. He hangs upside down and comes to the cage door to get you to take him out. Harley rarely plays with toys, rarely talks but does vocalize a lot at sundown, and would rather be by himself. I think the two birds take comfort in each other, but they really don't interact too much. Valentine will interact more with Petra, my brothers bird, then with Harley who prefers to sit on the highest perch alone and watch. They do all get along which is what I have heard with both being flock birds.
Recently, at least one, and I suspect both, have taken to barking and growling like my chihuahua lol. Its pretty funny because they bark in the mornings after they hear my dogs wake up and start. They switch to talking (Valentine) and squawking (Harley) only after they hear human activity.
Overall, I enjoy playing with them and training them very much. I still have a lot to learn about bonding and trust building, especially with my beautiful and aloof Harley! I love reading these forums and am always looking for advise and tidbits.
Nice to meet you all, and my name is Chelle.
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