Might Be Adopting an Older Amazon

[Teddscau]

Man, that took so long! Her mom spent half an hour or so trying to get her out of her cage, and when that didn't work, we loaded her, cage and all, into the trailer. But, news flash, the cage was too tall for the trailer, so we took the leaves off. Turns out it was STILL too high, so we had to load it on its back. Then I had to sit in the trailer with her on the way back in case the cage started falling apart.

We get home, and the one side of the cage has fallen off, and the back has become disconnected, so we had to spend over half an hour zip-tying it together before we could unload it and bring it in the house. Despite all the excitement, Jasper was calm the entire time. Oh, and amazingly enough, the cage actually fit where we wanted it to go.

She checked out the chop and sprouts I put in for her (she's not sure what to make of them), and she's settling in quite well. She's definitely putting a lot of weight on her left leg (the one with the normal toes), and her right wing seems to be drooping. I'll have Dr. Morris give her a basic exam (I'll have full blood work done some other time since we'll have to take her somewhere else) to see if we can get an idea of what's going on with her. I definitely want to work with her bad foot to see if we can start eliminating some of the pain she undoubtedly has.

 

[wrench13]

Wow, what a rough ride! Most parrots would have been freaking out.

 

[Ira7]

I think I'll be making her play stand(s) myself (well, Dad will be using the power tools since I'll probably cut a hand off). I'm going to use apple tree branches since we have a massive apple tree on our property. It's the same apple tree I got the huge limb from to hang in the aviary.

I think I'll make one for the dining room for when I'm playing Arkham Horror with Dad, one for the basement when I'm watching the reef tank, and a small table top stand. As for the family room, I think I'm just going to buy different perches to put on the outside of her cage. I'd love to be able to hang ropes and cargo nets for her, but my mom would probably freak if I did that >_>

The problem is, I think I'll go overboard and end up making the stands way too big. I'm also trying to decide if I should start making them now, or wait for spring.

Make a PVC play stand, with vet wrap

 

[Laurasea]

big day!!! Congratulations!!!
Sorry to disagree with pvc Playstation idea, pvc can off gas, the vet wrap deterioration, and it's a hard unforgiving surface that is bone straight. I had adventures with pvc. I much prefer natural branches, or rope.

 

[Teddscau]

I was impressed by how calm she was throughout the whole ordeal. She was climbing around all over in her cage the whole ride home, but she was quiet and wasn't acting panicked. Then, while we were zip-tying the darn cage together, she seemed interested in what was going on and went over to us to watch what was happening. I was worried she was going to try biting us while we were sticking our fingers through the bars of the cage, but she didn't seem to care at all. And when I was putting some new toys and perches in the cage, she was extremely relaxed and wasn't acting territorial at all.

I think she'll be an amazing addition to our family. Before we left to go to my cousin's for supper, she was vocalizing with my parents when they were talking to her while she was settling in, then she started hanging upside down from the top of the cage to show off for Dad. She seems totally fine with our dogs as well. I turned on the classical music station before we left, and she seemed to be enjoying the music.

As for the play stand, I live in Canada, and it's a pain in the butt getting PVC. I've picked out some large branches to hack off the apple tree. Dad's hoping to cut them off tomorrow, then we'll pressure wash them and I'll finish cleaning them up. Not sure what we'll use for a base. Maybe a flowerpot filled with rocks?

 

[Inger]

This sounds like an amazing start!!


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[wrench13]

Welcome home Jasper. For a base you can use a 5 gallon bucket filled with cement, just put the main vertical branch in while its still wet. Let it set for a day. I made a tiki lounge for my backyard like that only I used bamboo poles.

 

[Teddscau]

Thanks for the suggestion, wrench! We'll definitely try it out.

I fed her some chop and sprouts by hand, and she actually ate it for me. She doesn't eat the leafy greens (yet), but she seems to enjoy it. I held some coloured balsa blocks for her to chew (she was spooked by the red one for some reason), and she stepped on the new platform perch for a moment.

I'm teaching her clicker training, and I'm hoping to start targeting in a few days. After she has targeting down, I want to teach her to present different parts of her body so it'll be easier to perform medical exams. I'll also be working with her to start flying (our house has small rooms, so I'll just be teaching her to fly from stand to stand).

I want to get her an EZ Harness to start desensitizing her to, and hopefully by the spring she'll be ready to start flight training (on a leash, of course) outside. I was planning on getting her an Aviator Harness, but then I read a review about how a new harness broke without warning, and the poor African grey was lost for 48 hours.

She doesn't seem to be missing her old home at all, and I think she's already fully settled in.

 

[wrench13]

I have never heard of a Aviator breaking, but I suppose its possible for any harness to break. Granted the Aviator might be harder to acclimatize than other types, but I think they all have some degree of training involved to get your parrot comfortable with.

Remember though, never push your parrot faster than he/she is willing to go at. True for any sort of training or changes. What we might expect 2 or 3 times might very well take an individual parrot much longer. But if you set up a specific time to train Jasper every day at a spoecific time, he will know that its teaching time and come to expect new things to be shown to him. It works well with Salty - he knows that if I show him new things during our regularly scheduled daily training it is to introduce stuff and he is less likely to freak out. He knows its time to learn. You use parrots natural inclination to have structure in their daily lives to your advantage.

 

[noodles123]

A bird could potentially chew and aviator, but it is hard to imagine one just snapping (I mean, who knows. The world is a strange place...it could have happened).

 

[SailBoat]

Take great care with clicker training! Always include a verbal signal with the click. Why? At some point, you will not have the clicker at hand and a verbal signal is the only thing you have...

 

[Ira7]

Take great care with clicker training! Always include a verbal signal with the click. Why? At some point, you will not have the clicker at hand and a verbal signal is the only thing you have...

I never use the clicker, because like you said, I never have it on me! So it’s always a very animated “Good girl!!! Good boy!!!” (Who knows what s/he is.)

It’s always said with the same excited inflection, it brings his/her attention to me and not some invisible abstraction. But...

If I had a bird that was motivated by food, and I wanted to teach him tricks, I would use the clicker. But not only doesn’t Archie care about food treats, he doesn’t do anything wrong which would call for a clicker. Unless...

If he nibbles too hard on a finger, could I use the clicker to discourage THAT!?

I never thought about this until now, using it as a negative reinforcement tool.

 

[Ira7]

big day!!! Congratulations!!!
Sorry to disagree with pvc Playstation idea, pvc can off gas, the vet wrap deterioration, and it's a hard unforgiving surface that is bone straight. I had adventures with pvc. I much prefer natural branches, or rope.

PVC does not give off gas, unless you’re going to use PVC glue/cement for the connectors, and even then, the fumes dissipate quickly. I used small wood screws though.

As for vet wrap, it’s easy and dirt cheap to fix/replace, and totally safe.

 

[Inger]

Take great care with clicker training! Always include a verbal signal with the click. Why? At some point, you will not have the clicker at hand and a verbal signal is the only thing you have...

I never use the clicker, because like you said, I never have it on me! So it’s always a very animated “Good girl!!! Good boy!!!” (Who knows what s/he is.)

It’s always said with the same excited inflection, it brings his/her attention to me and not some invisible abstraction. But...

If I had a bird that was motivated by food, and I wanted to teach him tricks, I would use the clicker. But not only doesn’t Archie care about food treats, he doesn’t do anything wrong which would call for a clicker. Unless...

If he nibbles too hard on a finger, could I use the clicker to discourage THAT!?

I never thought about this until now, using it as a negative reinforcement tool.

I use the clicker method minus the clicker, sort of like you do. An excited YESSSS when Bumble does what she’s supposed to. I don’t have enough hands for a bird and treats and maybe trick props and a clicker! Works great though.

I’m sure you could work with the biting using that method - just give the reinforcement when he stops or when he catches himself? Supposedly you can get dogs to stop barking that way, but my dogs just learned that if they barked. I would say quiet and then they would get a treat. Haha!


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[Teddscau]

Don't worry, I'm going to train at least two bridges (clicker and verbal). If she ends up being good at flying (I've had a couple of birds over the years who really struggle to fly due to physiological problems), I might try using a whistle for flight training outdoors since whistles have a sound that carries farther and can be varied to give different instructions. I tend to prefer using tools to make the bridge for me (like a clicker) rather than a verbal bridge since I can't always muster up the energy to be giving verbal instructions AND praising them. Plus, it's quicker to make a click than it is to say "good".

I actually bought this awesome clicker/target hybrid that can be clipped to your shirt. When I trained Noah, it took quite a bit of skill to hold a clicker, a target stick, and a treat all in one hand

I've taken a few courses with the Animal Behavior Institute, so I'm fairly comfortable working with exotic animals. I actually tend to trust them more than I do dogs, since I know what can set "wild" animals off and how to approach them in a way that's less likely to end in a negative reaction from the animal, whereas there's this expectation with dogs that you should be able to do whatever you want with them without them trying to take a chunk out of you. Like, I can have my face right up to Noah or Rosie without having to worry about them attacking me, but if I do the same with our chihuahuas, there's a decent chance they'll grab my face out of fear.

As for teaching a dog not to bark using a clicker, one of the methods is to train them to bark on cue and reward them, but ONLY reward them when cued. Most animals will only perform behaviours when it's rewarding in some way, and the idea of performing trained behaviours for "free" isn't appealing for them, so they'll be less likely to bark when you don't ask them to, since they won't be rewarded unless you've cued the behaviour.

 

[Teddscau]

Fudge, that was bad! I opened up the top of Jasper's cage to see if she'd come out for me, and after ten minutes or so she came out, and I had her step up for me. Everything was going well for several minutes, until she suddenly decided to launch herself across the room and smash into the sliding doors. What's worse is that Dad's wimpy chihuahua was laying there when she went crashing to the floor. Then she heads straight for the dog in his bed, so I have to yank him and his bed out of the room before there's a fight.

She's fine, just a bit shaken, and she steps up for me. I show her that the sliding doors are in fact made of an invisible force field. Before I can even head towards her cage, she suddenly takes off again, barely clearing my head before smacking right into our expensive tv. I knew she didn't hit the tv hard enough to hurt herself, but it was hard enough that she could've damaged the screen.

Luckily both she, the dogs, and the tv are completely fine. She decided to head back to her cage on her own. Hopefully she decides not to keep launching herself at solid objects. I'll definitely have to get her stand built so I can start flight training her.

 

[fiddlejen]

What? Wait... you mean i doN't have to stay in my cage all the time anymore? and... wait a minute... what are these? you mean I can Use my Wings? Really? Okay here goes!!! crash... ow... commotion... hm... OKay! Let me try that again! I know I can do better next time! Avoid the glass force field. Got it. Oh what's this? Ooops. ouch. Also not an opening. hm. maybe take a break for now while I think this over....


(Teddscau I am so excited for you and for Jasper!)

 

[wrench13]

Please be careful!! You don't get many of these launch / SMAK type flights before something gets broken/hurt/damaged and I am not talking about windows, mirrors, doors, tv's, etc, I mean Jasper.

 

[Scott]

I knew she didn't hit the tv hard enough to hurt herself, but it was hard enough that she could've damaged the screen.

Parrots have extremely lightweight skeletons, I guarantee an impact sufficiently hard to break bones would leave the screen unharmed. Birds can break their necks flying into solid objects. Please use extreme caution with a flighted bird in unfamiliar environment. Some folks advocate perching a new bird on hand and physically walking through the home, literally pausing at each wall, lamp, mirror, window, etc.

 

[Teddscau]

Yeah, it wasn't good. Luckily the room she's in isn't big enough for her to get up to top speed. I'm almost done clicker training her, so hopefully I'll have her target trained by the end of the week, then I'll work on targeting her from her cage to me to practice flying. I'll keep her locked in her cage like I did with Noah until I'd trained him enough to be let out without having to worry about him pinging around the room.

Worst case scenario, I might end up giving her a mild clip on the three outer primaries of both wings so she can't fly too fast until she's flight trained.