Lil Help please,...?

[Redballoon]

Hi,
My wife has just walked in with my Xmas present.
So, I am delighted to announce the arrival of Skippah, the 10 week old Non hand reared little Corella.
We live in Adelaide, Australia.
After settling him, I jumped on the net for instant help on hand taming as I refuse to own such magnificent Bird and never let him out of his cage.
So after finding all the dead end "buy my book online" web pages, I found my way here.
I have read that the 1st 3 to 4 days are super important to hand taming. So I have moved him inside, next to my pc where I spend most of my time.
So where do I go from here?
I need good advice from seasoned proffesionals,.... without paying for it.
Also, am I in the right forum?
My plan is to make this bird part of our family and I need all the help I can get at this critical juncture.
Thanx in advance

 

[Peta]

I've moved you over to the Cockatoo place, don't worry about the right place we can always move, it takes time to find your way round the forum,

Your right these next few days are important, but I think you can train any bird at any age, it just takes longer and more blood loss if you leave it too long.

Will Skippah bite when you put your hand in the cage? If not then just keep putting your hand in and gently push your hand under the chest near to the feet, once he is about to step up, you can then say "Step Up" or "Up" (whatever word you are going to use) make sure you keep to this word for wanting him to step up, otherwise he is gonna get confused. When he does step up give lots and lots of praise with either a treat or scritch, (again whatever you are going to use) As he is only a baby don't try to push him too hard, maybe a few times a day in short sessions otherwise he is gonna get bored.

If he does bite, then you are going to have to let him get used to the hand without trying to get him to step up first, once he realises that the hand isn't going to hurt him he will stop the biting.

The way I did this with a couple of my rescues that had been badly abused was to leave the hand in the cage for a while, slowly moving it about the cage, but staying away from them, as Skippah hasn't been abused you should have no problem with that,

The nice thing is he is young, so with some work, love and patience he should soon be stepping up for you.

I need good advice from seasoned proffesionals,.... without paying for it.

We do charge for our services here, the price of all help and advice is..................................... lots of pics. Look forward to seeing some of them.

 

[ordenrahl]

A great book you can find at Borders/Barns and Noble is "Parrots for Dummies". It actually has a lot of really great information and is written by Nikki Moustaki, a respected name in the bird world.

I look forward to reading about how Skippah gets along in his new home and I'll try to give whatever help I can. What are you feeding him? How big is his cage?

Welcome to the forums!

 

[Redballoon]

Hey all,
Well, Its Xmas Morning here and I have uncovered skippah.
In the night he seems to have spilled his huge bowl of fresh water,... over my pc's Sub woofa. Who needs those deep bass tones anyway?
His cage is huge enough that I cant touch the bottom or top or other side of the cage when I put my arm in fully.
This is good for wing stretching, but gives him plenty of places to get out of my reach when I do put my arm in. He doesnt try to bite, no matter if I extend my fingers or make a fist. Overall, he would be happier if I didnt put my arm in there, but all good things come with time and patience.
Its a wood and wire cage, but it is temporary now I have see the delight he takes in chewing it up in front of me. I will look out for a groovy Art Deco inside cage and a huge thing for the time he spends in the sun. I think I will make the inside cage a little smaller as I intend him only being in it when he wants to be in there. I will look out for "Parrots for dummies" and start reading up.
He just announced his presence (3 feet from my ear) for the 1st time and I nearly pooped myself. I definatly dont want to go out to Xmas lunch now, but it has to be done so I will post up more when I return.

 

[ordenrahl]

You can find great prices on cages on Ebay. Stainless steel is the best and lasts forever, but usually costs an extra few hundred for the same thing in powder coated wrought iron, which is what most people use.

If you intend on making an outside area, DO NOT use galvanized steel, unless you clean it thoroughly. Usually its just better to use a different material but If you plan to construct your own cage for outside use and want to use galvanized steel, let me know and I'll try to find the cleaning instructions.

Congrats on your first call!

 

[Redballoon]

I will be definatly designing (not building) my own cage for outdoors.
I dont think anyone could manafacture the Bird mansion I have inside my head.
I intend having chain for him to pull on to make water spray on him.(havent worked out the nuts and bolts of this idea yet), So if he gets too hot he can have a shower when he wants, and that is just Skippah's guest bathroom. You should see what I have in mind for the ensuite off his master bedroom.


Im kidding,..... a bit,.... I think.

 

[Redballoon]

Sorry to post after my own post, but there has been progress. Negative progress? Whats that called?

Where Yesterday he would sit at my level and eat in front of me with no fear after only about an hour, Today, after sitting with him for 2 hours, prattling on, chatting away to him, he sits as high and as far as he can away from me. He will only eat or take water if I leave the room. If I return while he is down eating he gingerly (no Panic) goes back up the top and sits there, silent except the sound of him picking his teeth (yeah yeah I know,... you know what I mean).

Oh,.... One other thing. He is also chewing on the top perch at a fairly happy rate when I am not looking or talking to/at him. It reminds of the way a prisoner sharpens up the bad end of a toothbrush, waiting for the screw to put his hand in his cell.
Am I being paranoid, or is he planning something?

Ok, and one more "One other thing",..... If I leave the room he will turn up-side down on the side of his cage, spread his wings and let out one freakin loud screech.As soon as I come back into the room to witness it, he turns up the right way again and pretends it wasnt him.
I still reckon its him though, or my Jack Russel terrier is doing bird impressions. I will keep an eye on both of them, but I still think its skippah the Parrot.

 

[Peta]

I will be definatly designing (not building) my own cage for outdoors.
I dont think anyone could manafacture the Bird mansion I have inside my head.
I intend having chain for him to pull on to make water spray on him.(havent worked out the nuts and bolts of this idea yet), So if he gets too hot he can have a shower when he wants, and that is just Skippah's guest bathroom. You should see what I have in mind for the ensuite off his master bedroom.


Im kidding,..... a bit,.... I think.

Can you get TWO done, Bucc would love that kinda set up. :18:

At the moment your little fella doesn't know the joys of beind scritced and cuddled, but with perserverence he will. It almost seems as though he's trying to say that he's happier left alone, he will soon see that its far better to have you with him. Don't give up on him and you'll have one loving companion. Let us know how you get on with him.

 

[Redballoon]

Good Morning all,
I uncovered him at 5am so he could see the sun come up out the window.
Made no difference. He still sits and stares quietly until I leave the room, then he screams out for his friends to come and break him outa here.
Lotsa wood chewing going on, So I will go and look for a broken soft treelimb that he can chomp into. Should I put it on the floor of the cage to encougage him down?
The colourful toys I bought for him hold no interest yet, so should I remove them till he settles in?
You sick of hearing from me yet?
Its only day 2.

 

[Redballoon]

Posting after myself again, but so as not to waste anyones time, I can report a huge breakthrough.
The story so far,..... Xmas eve in Adelaide Australia. I got my "10 week old" Little Corella.
NON hand reared, born in a professional Bird Aviary. The man caught it with a net and put it in a box and that was this birds 1st Human contact.
Today, the day after xmas I got comfy and stuck my arm in the cage for 20 minutes with little result.
When I got too close, he tried to bite me, so I wrapped a dish cloth round my hand, made a fist, and just let him bite into it. He didnt want to back away, so I let him go for it, the more he bit into the back of my hand, the closer he got to me.while he didnt notice it, I stoked his chest with my fore finger. He kept attacking the back of my hand, and I kept stroking his chest when ever he didnt notice. he bit the back of my hand less and I kept scratching his chest. I tried to widen the area I wanted to scratch and he 1/2 heartedly went for my finger. I didnt pull away and just kept scratching. he kept pretending he didnt like it. He was always waititng for a chance to bite flesh, having figured out where the cloth ends and the hands starts. I spoke to him all the time and he never took his eyes off me. I offered him 1/2 an apple and he started biting into it. A lttle agro at 1st. Then tasting the apple, started taking big hunks in one hand, (talon, weapon, what ever) he ate the apple from it. while he did so I scratched his chest.
I think his 1st ever game was to pretend he was going for the apple, but trying to bite me if I was too slow. we played that game till I started losing, then I just went for it. As he leaned forward I stroked his head and that was it, game over man. I had a slave for life the second he found out head scratching is good and I can do it for him better than he can.
Its all down hill from here. Any chance I can do this for a job?
It has been the most rewarding 4 hours I have spent this yesar.

 

[Peta]

You sick of hearing from me yet?

We never tire of hearing from our Members, whether it be day 2, year 2 or year 20.

That is great news, not sure about going downhill from there, believe me it only gets better, wait for the time he wants to snuggle down with you you'll be in heaven.

Thats great news about the head scritch, he can now start putting the hand with good things instead of something he doesn't know. :jumping40 :jumping40 :jumping40 :jumping40

 

[Redballoon]

When Cycling, Downhill is a good thing.
A poor analagy maybe.

 

[Redballoon]

I just shelled out 500 bux on a cage. (76 american cents will get you an Aussie dollar)
Its friggin huge!
Its art Deco, Wrought iron, with a powdercoat finish.
The top opens up so he can come and go as he needs to (when its open).
Its got triple action locks (to stump even the smartest Bird).
Stainless steel feeding bowls, and most importantly, it has 1@3/4 inch thick perches made of some kind of hardwood.
He seems to like hanging upside down in this one.

 

[Peta]

Thats so cool, how bout some pics of your fella and his cage. It sounds like an awesome cage though and he seems to be happy and thats the main thing.

 

[darkchi]

Better hurry up with the pictures....
I think Peta is going to exploid from the excitement.

Becarful with those play top cages I have heard a couple stories of birds being able to unlock them and push them open a little only to have it come back down on their necks
Not saying you have a back cage. I would just check the lock every day make sure he isn't playing with it.

 

[Peta]

:18: I do love pics, and yeah hurry, or I will explode.

Just between me and you tho' I'd better post some more of my little guys, or all our newer members that I've been harrassing for pics are gonna gang up on me. Ssshhh don't tell them I haven't posted any for a while. :18: