Maya is such a good girl - B&G

[Timothy]

Maya is such a good girl (Edit: Added Photos)

Ok so i've groomed birds since i was 17, but i never groom my own birds, especially Maya, My 8 yo Blue and Gold Macaw, because they hold grudges, and my preferred method of grooming is with a towel for anything cockatiel and up.

Well this costs me about 35 dollars every other month. Which is no problem, i'm just like this is something that i do really well and i have to pay other people to do it.
Today i figured, let me give it a shot.

I set Maya on her stand and instead of going right for the towel i showed her the nail clippers. "I said be a good girl?"

She said Good Girl several times, which means she WILL be on her best behavior.

She knows if she says "Good Girl!" she gets a treat or goes outside or something.

So i proceeded to touch the nil clippers to her feet with no resistance on her part. So i did it. I clipped a nail. She didn't even cast me a sideways glance.

WOW! That was easy. I guess our relationship has really improved since the last time i tried to groom her. which was over 3 years ago, maybe more

I did all of her nails with ease except the inner rear toes, which she wouldnt let me do.

Then i Asked her to "Wiiiings" She saw the scissors and would wouldn't budge. Statue Bird!

So i grabbed hold of one of her wings and gently opened it using the proper wing opening method. She was fine with this, which is unusual because normally she's resistant to me opening her wings.

I clipped 5 feathers. No Problem! She gave me a sideways glance. That was it.

I opened the next wing. No Problem! Easy Peasy!

She wouldnt let me file her beak, she wanted to bite the emery board.

So i decided it was time to towel her. She actually LET me towel her, she didnt even yell at me!!

So at this time, i finished those two nails, filed her nails, and filed her beak. I released her from the towel on my bed, she rolled over a few times. and then said "Good Girl! Good Girl!" I repeated this echoing her. Plus she loves the cherry chapstick i apply to her beak after a filing. She tries to lick it with her tongue for the next hour.

She was such a Good Girl!

She was super friendly as usual right after, she wanted to feed and preen me.

Now she is on her stand and preening herself.

I wish i took a video of it, but that would have been hard, plus i didnt know what the outcome would be.

I hope we can do this from now on cause i can apply that 35 dollars every other month to even more new toys and treats!!

I'm so proud of my baby girl

Here are some photo's of maya i just took after i groomed her.

she loves the outside, loves the sunlight! Plus it's so good for her. I dont believe her Full Spectrum light really does that much. Surly not as much as real sunlight!



Maya LOVES her tree! I use fruit juice pesticides that are safe for birds to make sure there are no mites around here she perches.

 

[RavensGryf]

That's great Timothy! Good girl Maya!
Robin just stands there and lets me stretch out a wing to clip too. I don't want to make this thread anything about wing clipping controversy please!

 

[Timothy]

That's great Timothy! Good girl Maya!
Robin just stands there and lets me stretch out a wing to clip too. I don't want to make this thread anything about wing clipping controversy please!

I do realize that everybody has their own way of grooming birds, and i agree, a vet is the best place to have it done. I've been grooming birds since i was 17 and i have experience on everything from tiny finches to large hyacinths. Ive never done a Toucan.

I like the towel method because in my personal opinion, it is safe for the birds.

Maya letting me groom her beak first off is a huge success because even the vet gets scared to do her beak because of how much she panics, i have a thread about it, and have even considered letting the vet use anesthesia.

Anyway, i'm always open to suggestions, but i'm sure that everyone will respect the way that i handle my babies and know that i am super careful, and would never harm an animal.

Edit: Also, i have been working with Maya on recall training without much success. So i decided to clip her so i could take her outside for a month or so and get her reaquainted with staying with me outdoors. (I would love to have my birds recall outside but there are alot of predators here in florida) Maya also knows right off the bat that when she is clipped she cant fly so she doesn't attempt it possibly injuring herself.

I'm going to wait until she is flighted again and restart on the recall training, hopefully with more success this time, plus ill be better equiped.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Wow! She was a really good girl, I'm impressed she let you open her wings to clip the feathers! Great work, next time try to get a video

 

[Timothy]

Added some photo's in original post

 

[Selestine]

Awh, what a sweetheart! Looks like she enjoyed her treat. Now I'm going to think of Katy Perry whenever I see Maya, because of the cherry chapstick.