Luna, Jan 24th 2019

[munami]

@bug
That's awesome! He sounds so smart honestly. It amazes me how smart these little birds are. Those all sound like very important "tricks" from just years of spending time together. I definitely aspire to be like you one day!

While I love dogs and cats, I gotta admit I'm in the same boat. It's crazy how much these guys can comprehend.

 

[saxguy64]

Sorry I'm late here, I just happened on to this thread. Luna is absolutely beautiful! Congratulations. It sounds like you're off to a great start with her.

I would keep trying with bathing. Sometimes they are just extremely picky. Everything can make a difference... Water pressure, temperature, direction of the spray, surroundings in the shower, perch or no perch, etc... If you find something that works, REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID for next time.

I did have one that never had interest in the shower, but he would dive into his water bowl every single time I started to vacuum. That is actually a fairly common response. Our local refuge can only sweep and mop the bird room, because vacuuming in there winds up soaking the entire room floor to ceiling lol! So, keep trying until you find what works for her. My limited experience with cockatiels is that they generally love to bathe, and have great fun doing so. Good luck, and keep us updated.

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[munami]

@saxguy64


Thanks for the advice Sax!

I've gotten her to enjoy bathing before but only when she's on my shoulder. The problem is it can get very cold up in my bathroom during the winter so I'm trying to find another way I can bath her in my room where it's heated to the right temperature. The other problem is my shoulder can get slippery.

I'll definitely try out different things with the spray and baths. I've tried with the vacuum but maybe she just wants a different dish or have the vacuum further?

Either way there are things to try.

 

[saxguy64]

@saxguy64


Thanks for the advice Sax!

I've gotten her to enjoy bathing before but only when she's on my shoulder. The problem is it can get very cold up in my bathroom during the winter so I'm trying to find another way I can bath her in my room where it's heated to the right temperature. The other problem is my shoulder can get slippery.

I'll definitely try out different things with the spray and baths. I've tried with the vacuum but maybe she just wants a different dish or have the vacuum further?

Either way there are things to try.

Hahahaha! The slippery shoulder... I JUST got out of the shower with Tucker. He was determined to get to the water and jumped off the perch to my shoulder... He missed, slid off and flapped for all he was worth to the floor. Trying to get a hand under him, I turned around and whacked my head on the perch. All I could do was laugh though. Poor little guy, he really wanted to get wet! I usually see it coming and keep fingers in front of him to hold on to. Unfortunately this time, I was covered in soap and facing away from him.

Oh! Another thing to try... Both of mine seem to get "in the shower mood" when sitting on the perch and the spray/mist bouncing off me gets to them. It's more of a mist, but shower temperature, and fairly constant. If the head goes down and wings out, it's time. If not, they're content with the misting. Frequency also plays into it. Tucker prefers the full soaking about every third day, and misty over spray on the others. Baxter is more like every other day, and showers aggressively in the mist, like hang upside down, flap the wings in the water aggressive. Super cute!

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[munami]

@saxguy64


That sounds like a great idea Sax! Thank you so much.
She does get into shower mood when she hears the shower running so I'm thinking of bringing the spray bottle up when she wants to shower. I'll try different intervals and different methods. These are all great tips. Hopefully I'll be able to update you guys when it works!

 

[bug_n_flock]

Oh, another thing I teach my little guys: when I move the cage they are in I say "wheeeeeee" and start to do so a second or two before movibg the cage, so they have a bit of notice.

 

[munami]

Oh no, the time has come.

So good news and somewhat bad news,

Good news is that Luna finally took a bath! She seems to go into a bathing response when she hears running water and she prefers her shallow water dish. I just place it at my desk where she's comfortable, then she'll go to town.
The water does go everywhere but hey, as long as it gets her to bath.

The bad news is that Luna has recently been going into her first steps of puberty. Either that or she's just irritable from her molt being in full swing. Both maybe.

She'll be so utterly cuddly one second and then biting me the next. Not hard, just bites telling me to back off or to go away. Which can be hard because she loves to perch on my chest.

I'm making sure she gets lots of sleep, no warm or mushy foods, she's not allowed any nesty areas, and limiting the cuddles. I've always only stroked on her head.
She has claimed me as hers, grabbing onto my shirt and flapping wildly and hissing occasionally at the things around me. It's kind of cute and endearing but I do worry about her being well socialized.
My husband and roommates are often not home so it's just Luna and I. She gets a lot of time with my husband on the weekends and when he comes home. She likes to perch on his shoulder and sleep.

I take too many pictures of her to share here but here's a video of her requesting scritches.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiFNvSED1Pg&feature=youtu.be"]May 13th Luna Cuddles - YouTube[/ame]

 

[munami]

We had a movie night and Luna got her very own bowl of popcorn. Coconut oil and unsalted. She played with it more than she actually ate it but as long as she got some enjoyment out of it.

https://i.imgur.com/lCdUuEd.mp4
https://i.imgur.com/ak65TDT.jpg

She's been getting quite aggressive on my shoulder, biting and refusing to step up. So for now she's banned. She attempted to get up there several times but I put my hand then, when she stepped on it, I took her down. I repeated it a few times and she got quite upset. However, now when I put my hand on my shoulder, she doesn't try to get up there.

She'll try to sneak up there when I'm not looking though.

 

[bug_n_flock]

Aaaahahhahahahaha Tiels all think they are *so* sneaky and clever. It's always so obvious what trouble Alex is up to, but I usually play along that I don't know. This morning he snuck off and found the hidden millet for the 2nd day in a row! He had to crawl under a chip bag and everything!

 

[munami]

@bug


I agree, it's so adorable cause they think they're totally getting away with it! She'll do this thing where if I catch her in the act, she'll pretend like she wasn't going to do that. As soon as I remove my hand though, she go for the beeline.

Alex sounds like such a mischievous little guy lol. I mean I guess it's good exercise.

 

[munami]

I've broken my phone so there's no photos or video unfortunately ; w ;


It's been about a month since we got Luna and I don't regret it all. She's sweet and sassy. She's our little princess and I think she knows it. It's so hard to be mad at her when she acts up because she's so adorable.

Training has been more of a standstill because I'm still learning how to train her. I've made some progress but I'm sure it's frustrating for her when I'm giving mixed signals. We're focusing on perfecting spin before we move onto anything else.

Luna stopped bathing for a while and I decided to pick up a shower perch as per @saxguy suggested. It seems to be working! I take her up with me every day and she will let me know if she wants any water. She's never 100% happy about being up there, she'd much prefer just staying in the room but she gets really into it sometimes and doesn't want to leave the water. Thank you again @saxguy if you're reading this!

Lately, she's been flying into walls more often...
Sometimes its because she gets spooked, or sometimes she'll get impatient waiting on us to come get her and just try to do it herself. She's not very skilled plus her wings are still clipped. We're trying to do our best to minimize it but she's gotten injured already...
She's got a tinnnny bruise near her nostrils :c

I wish we could flight train her to help her navigate and fly better but unfortunately, because of her clipped wings, she doesn't have the confidence or the motor skills to do so right now.

On the bright side, she did drop one of her clipped feathers recently. Unsure if it's been bumped out as the other one hasn't dropped yet.

 

[saxguy64]

So glad things are going well for you and Luna. Happy to help, as are pretty much all the folks here.

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[LaManuka]

Poor girlie with her bruised nose, hope shes ok!

As her flight feathers gradually re-grow she should become a more proficient flyer, our Fang is a flying ace now and negotiates the sharp bends in our house with ease. Once Luna gets a few new feathers going her flying skills will improve enormously.

 

[munami]

@LaManuka
She seems to be doing fine but I'm definitely keeping an eye out.
It's good to know! I hope they grow in as soon as possible. I've heard that tiels are just kind of clumsy when they're younger too.

 

[munami]

Lots of things happening lately.

I got approved for permanent residency in Canada, yay!
Honestly it was a painless process but the waiting, oh gosh the waiting. It was just anxiety city wondering if I'd be separated from my husband and my Luna.
No matter what happened though, Luna would have a home with him.

She's been doing good with training lately. We've moved on from doing a spin to carrier training. I want to be able to take her outside to see the sights. The goal is to eventually get her a harness so that way she can really experience the fresh air but we don't have the money right now.
Lots of things have been happening and between paying for residency, the phone bill being $200 extra, and we had to buy a new bed recently. The springs were poking straight out of it. The harness itself isn't too expensive but the local pet shop we go to doesn't have any in her size. We'd have to order it online and shipping is....so expensive...in Canada! It's at least the cost of the harness itself..

Again, one good thing happened, and one bad thing.

She managed to fly all the way from her cage to my arm successfully! I think it was a fluke but it was really exciting. She wanted to step up but I didn't notice it, so she took things into her own hands.

The bad thing happened today! Luna was being really cute and bathing when the shower perch fell. The bottom suction cup's screw was loose. We fixed it and made sure it was extra secure this time. She took a spill when it fell. She was perfectly fine but really upset. She climbed up our towel rack and refused to come down.
We left her alone for about 5 minutes and then she stepped up reluctantly. She hates being alone more than she was upset at us. Thankfully, it seems like she's forgiven me for now. Once calming down in her cage, she was willing to step up again.

I'm a little scared this will put her off from showering again. She was finally starting to enjoy it!
She knows if clothes are off, I'm taking her to the shower. If she doesn't want to, she won't step up. She enjoys just hanging out and preening while waiting for me. If she does want to shower, she'll step up and let me take her to the perch.

 

[bug_n_flock]

Yay! I'm so glad you get to stay. Phew, you must be so relieved!

 

[GaleriaGila]

It's always so great to follow a bird's adventures in a wonderful, loving new home. I'm glad you're here. I really respect the way you have planned, researched, reached out and followed up.

 

[munami]

@bug
Yes! Thank you! It's been a trying couple of years but I am so glad it is over.

@GaleriaGila
Thank you so much!! Honestly, I've not been the best pet owner in the past but I've definitely matured because I'm trying to make sure I don't make the mistake. I used to fall into the ploy of finding a cute animal and wanting one when I was younger.
It's been a long time since I've had a pet but it's been an enriching experience.

I look up to you and everyone else on this forum. Each one of you have such unique stories and have made things work for you. It's a learning process for me. I try to keep my mind open to everyone here who has had more experience. Your philosophies with Rickey Bird have really helped me as well.
It's hard not to take a bite personally but I do try to remember your words. The one you copy and paste!

 

[LeaKP]

I love to read the stories, Luna has so much spunk! I love it!




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[munami]

@LeaKP
Thank you so much! I'm glad people are enjoying instead of just prattling to the wind. Honestly, from everyone elses stories too, birds in general seem so sassy!