camo
New member
- Jun 30, 2014
- 383
- 0
- Parrots
- Gizmo - Male Eclectus Parrot
Pebbles - Female Eclectus Parrot
Hey all,
Well for those that haven't read my previous posts, I have two Eclectus Parrots. A 1 1/2 year old male, who we adopted at 9months (Gizmo), and a 3 year old female (Pebbles) that we outbid a guy who was buying all the roosters at a poultry auction (our concern being that he may have little regard for her well being, no knowledge of there diet, and only interested in reselling her to whoever had the money).
Pebbles has obviously had little interaction with humans (she doesn't speak any words, except eclectus words, and didn't know how to step up or feel comfortable on an arm). At the moment I can get her to step up on command, and can take her out and return her to the cage, but this is all under controlled conditions. My aim is to try to get her to a stage were I can have her fly to me on command, before I allow Gizmo and Pebbles out of the cage together. My idea being if she decides to fly away from Gizmo, I want to be able to put Gizmo back in his cage, and call her back to me (so even if the first introduction fails, then she doesn't have the added stress of me trying to get her down from somewhere).
This last week I have found that when Gizmo and Pebbles are out individually, they are both trying to jump across to the other cage and interact, so it has made me realize, that the day for introductions is fast approaching.
I am certainly no Parrot expert, and although I wouldn't change things (Pebbles is a lovely bird, and I couldn't have lived with myself if I let her sell to someone who was clearly just interested in making a profit), this is not the way I would have planned having a second eclectus.
I would be grateful for any suggestions, input regarding the best way to ultimately make the introductions.
Some things that my or may not be relevant:
* Gizmo interacts with me well, when me and him are alone, but add my wife into the room, and I simply become a perch or a feeder
(he will follow my instructions, but will not fly to me on command, unless he believes it puts him in a better position to get to my wife). Gizmo is totally fascinated by my wife, if she leaves the room, he will follow (we even play a game of hide and seek, were my wife will go into a room and call him, and he will fly around trying to find her, I become a resting post as we travel through the house). Gizmo will fly to me on command, but only when we are alone, but he will fly to my wife, every time.
* I have spent most of the time with Pebbles (my wife does feed her by hand through the cage, but has not had her step up yet). She does not want to be bitten. Pebbles has settled down a lot, and has not tried to bite in about 2 weeks, but when I initially started getting her to step up, if I didn't have continuous treats, she would simply start trying to bite my hand (it was not an aggressive thing, it was like she just thought my hand was a branch). I took a few good bites early on, as I could see she wasn't trying to hurt me, and for better or worse, I wanted her to feel comfortable stepping up before I tried to correct the biting. A few weeks ago, I started focusing on stopping her biting and she pretty much stopped straight away, once she realized it was a problem. My wife is smarter than me, and said she was happy for me to take all the bites and once she had learned step up, and could stay on my arm without biting she was happy to give it a go.
So based on how Gizmo reacts around my wife, and the fact that Pebbles has spent most of her time with me, this is the plan I have come up with so far (feel free to suggest differently). My wife gets Gizmo out and takes him to the play stand (which is in the lounge room, away from both there cages). Once Gizmo is settled, I bring Pebbles out, and bring her into the room. Eventually we get into a situation were Gizmo and Pebbles are on the play stand. My thoughts are to make the interaction very brief, and continue this over a few days, extending the interaction time based on how things play out. My only concern with this plan is the fact that Gizmo is so fascinated with my wife, and how this might impact on the interaction, he is really like a different bird when she is around.
Again I think I will hold off a bit longer on this introduction, but I would appreciate any input people might have, and any particular body language signs to look out for when they come together.
Cheers,
Camo
Well for those that haven't read my previous posts, I have two Eclectus Parrots. A 1 1/2 year old male, who we adopted at 9months (Gizmo), and a 3 year old female (Pebbles) that we outbid a guy who was buying all the roosters at a poultry auction (our concern being that he may have little regard for her well being, no knowledge of there diet, and only interested in reselling her to whoever had the money).
Pebbles has obviously had little interaction with humans (she doesn't speak any words, except eclectus words, and didn't know how to step up or feel comfortable on an arm). At the moment I can get her to step up on command, and can take her out and return her to the cage, but this is all under controlled conditions. My aim is to try to get her to a stage were I can have her fly to me on command, before I allow Gizmo and Pebbles out of the cage together. My idea being if she decides to fly away from Gizmo, I want to be able to put Gizmo back in his cage, and call her back to me (so even if the first introduction fails, then she doesn't have the added stress of me trying to get her down from somewhere).
This last week I have found that when Gizmo and Pebbles are out individually, they are both trying to jump across to the other cage and interact, so it has made me realize, that the day for introductions is fast approaching.
I am certainly no Parrot expert, and although I wouldn't change things (Pebbles is a lovely bird, and I couldn't have lived with myself if I let her sell to someone who was clearly just interested in making a profit), this is not the way I would have planned having a second eclectus.
I would be grateful for any suggestions, input regarding the best way to ultimately make the introductions.
Some things that my or may not be relevant:
* Gizmo interacts with me well, when me and him are alone, but add my wife into the room, and I simply become a perch or a feeder
(he will follow my instructions, but will not fly to me on command, unless he believes it puts him in a better position to get to my wife). Gizmo is totally fascinated by my wife, if she leaves the room, he will follow (we even play a game of hide and seek, were my wife will go into a room and call him, and he will fly around trying to find her, I become a resting post as we travel through the house). Gizmo will fly to me on command, but only when we are alone, but he will fly to my wife, every time.* I have spent most of the time with Pebbles (my wife does feed her by hand through the cage, but has not had her step up yet). She does not want to be bitten. Pebbles has settled down a lot, and has not tried to bite in about 2 weeks, but when I initially started getting her to step up, if I didn't have continuous treats, she would simply start trying to bite my hand (it was not an aggressive thing, it was like she just thought my hand was a branch). I took a few good bites early on, as I could see she wasn't trying to hurt me, and for better or worse, I wanted her to feel comfortable stepping up before I tried to correct the biting. A few weeks ago, I started focusing on stopping her biting and she pretty much stopped straight away, once she realized it was a problem. My wife is smarter than me, and said she was happy for me to take all the bites and once she had learned step up, and could stay on my arm without biting she was happy to give it a go
.So based on how Gizmo reacts around my wife, and the fact that Pebbles has spent most of her time with me, this is the plan I have come up with so far (feel free to suggest differently). My wife gets Gizmo out and takes him to the play stand (which is in the lounge room, away from both there cages). Once Gizmo is settled, I bring Pebbles out, and bring her into the room. Eventually we get into a situation were Gizmo and Pebbles are on the play stand. My thoughts are to make the interaction very brief, and continue this over a few days, extending the interaction time based on how things play out. My only concern with this plan is the fact that Gizmo is so fascinated with my wife, and how this might impact on the interaction, he is really like a different bird when she is around.
Again I think I will hold off a bit longer on this introduction, but I would appreciate any input people might have, and any particular body language signs to look out for when they come together.
Cheers,
Camo
