My First Parrot ! Female Vosmaeri Eclectus :-)

[Teddscau]

You could try buying a white noise machine for her. Or you could get some nature CDs of forests your kind of ekkie is from.

Okay, I can't wait any longer, I have to recommend this nutrition app that I love! You should considering buying the Wholesome Pro app. You can keep a list of favourite foods, recipes, a food diary, and you can even put in nutrition goals! It is awesome for keeping track of what your bird's getting. It's great, because if you set the quantity of vitamin A, calcium, etc., etc., you can see how well her individual nutritional requirements are being met. I can share what I set the nutritional settings to, if you'd like.

I don't keep ekkies, but I do give my little guys the following sprouts: Kamut wheat, oats, barley, buckwheat, mung beans, lentils, and chickpeas. I don't know how your ekkie would handle grains or legumes, though. You could also do up some sprouted peas, radish, broccoli, mustard, and sunflower seeds. Sunflower seeds are fattening, but they're great for vitamin E (it's annoying trying to make sure they get enough vitamin E). I actually posted a recipe for nutritious birdie bread in the recipe section on the forum, and I also posted the nutritional value. It might be too high in protein for an ekkie, though, as a lot of them are sensitive to protein.

But seriously, check out the Wholesome Pro app. I absolutely love it <3

Since you live in the UK, I'd buy Bella some Arcadia UV bulbs. I was going to buy some, but they don't sell light fixtures in North America with an appropriate wattage for the bulbs! I really don't want to deal with shrapnel from exploding UV bulbs being in light fixtures with too high of a wattage.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Dear Diva,

I really enjoy and admire your skills in writing, researching, and bringing us into your world! Great thread. You're getting great advice and giving us a lot of fun along the way.

Patagonian hugs to you!

 

[Violet_Diva]

You could try buying a white noise machine for her. Or you could get some nature CDs of forests your kind of ekkie is from.

Okay, I can't wait any longer, I have to recommend this nutrition app that I love! You should considering buying the Wholesome Pro app. You can keep a list of favourite foods, recipes, a food diary, and you can even put in nutrition goals! It is awesome for keeping track of what your bird's getting. It's great, because if you set the quantity of vitamin A, calcium, etc., etc., you can see how well her individual nutritional requirements are being met. I can share what I set the nutritional settings to, if you'd like.

I don't keep ekkies, but I do give my little guys the following sprouts: Kamut wheat, oats, barley, buckwheat, mung beans, lentils, and chickpeas. I don't know how your ekkie would handle grains or legumes, though. You could also do up some sprouted peas, radish, broccoli, mustard, and sunflower seeds. Sunflower seeds are fattening, but they're great for vitamin E (it's annoying trying to make sure they get enough vitamin E). I actually posted a recipe for nutritious birdie bread in the recipe section on the forum, and I also posted the nutritional value. It might be too high in protein for an ekkie, though, as a lot of them are sensitive to protein.

But seriously, check out the Wholesome Pro app. I absolutely love it <3

Since you live in the UK, I'd buy Bella some Arcadia UV bulbs. I was going to buy some, but they don't sell light fixtures in North America with an appropriate wattage for the bulbs! I really don't want to deal with shrapnel from exploding UV bulbs being in light fixtures with too high of a wattage.

It sounds like a very beneficial app that could be both educational and time saving, whilst also giving me 'piece of mind' that I'm providing enough of everything for her diet! I'll be sure to look into it. Thanks.
With regards to the birdy bread - I think she is ok having a bit more protein than a full grown eclectus in order to help her feathers and flight muscles strengthen and develop. If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know!

 

[Violet_Diva]

Dear Diva,

I really enjoy and admire your skills in writing, researching, and bringing us into your world! Great thread. You're getting great advice and giving us a lot of fun along the way.

Patagonian hugs to you!

I'm glad you have enjoyed reading my little episodic ramblings thus far. Hopefully I haven't 'waffled on' too much! So far, all the advice has been very promptly given and with kindness. I very much appreciate it all!
I do apologise for the slight delay in my response to you, but I had to nip out to feed my trio of pigeon babies (Pidge, Widge & Midge - Very inventive, I know!) My original baby Pidge has been coo-ing for some time now and when I just went outside Widge (the companion pigeon I obtained for Pidge) has now just started coo-ing too! So it's only Midge that's still a squeaker. Midge was 'gifted' to me by a neighbour who had saved them from their dog - on the day I had to pick up my Bella. So just when I though all the hand feeding for pigeons was over and I could start focusing on the eclectus diet - I ended up hand feeding another pigeon for a few days with 'kaytee exact hand feeding formula' as poor little thing had a rubbery beak from lack of calcium and / or vitamin D. Their beak is all better now

 

[Scott]

Dear Diva,

I really enjoy and admire your skills in writing, researching, and bringing us into your world! Great thread. You're getting great advice and giving us a lot of fun along the way.

Patagonian hugs to you!

I'm glad you have enjoyed reading my little episodic ramblings thus far. Hopefully I haven't 'waffled on' too much! So far, all the advice has been very promptly given and with kindness. I very much appreciate it all!
I do apologise for the slight delay in my response to you, but I had to nip out to feed my trio of pigeon babies (Pidge, Widge & Midge - Very inventive, I know!) My original baby Pidge has been coo-ing for some time now and when I just went outside Widge (the companion pigeon I obtained for Pidge) has now just started coo-ing too! So it's only Midge that's still a squeaker. Midge was 'gifted' to me by a neighbour who had saved them from their dog - on the day I had to pick up my Bella. So just when I though all the hand feeding for pigeons was over and I could start focusing on the eclectus diet - I ended up hand feeding another pigeon for a few days with 'kaytee exact hand feeding formula' as poor little thing had a rubbery beak from lack of calcium and / or vitamin D. Their beak is all better now

Great save by fixing the beak! Impossible to go through life with a rubbery beak!

 

[Violet_Diva]

It's now nearly 3 weeks since I got my Bella. Since getting her, I have been very deliberate with my word use in her presence. Each time I see a certain behaviour, or each time I do something, I say the same 'action word' maybe 3 times. If she 'verbally responds' (in a nice way) I say "yes" and then repeat the same word again upto 3 times. Here's a list of actions and words I'm trying to build association with:

Misting her with water - SHOWER
Showing her something - LOOK
Preening - PREENING
Stretching her wings - BEAUTIFUL
Pooping - POOP
Scratching - ITCHY
Looking tired - SLEEPY
Eating - YUMMY

If I see her eating something specific I sometimes say "yummy" followed by whatever it is she's eating, again I repeat this.

So today I started teaching her a couple of things ...
I did this with her inside the cage, and me outside of the cage. I felt this would be the safest way to start off and would mean I could avoid any unwanted biting.
Firstly I introduced her to my long training spoon via help from her beloved... pomegranate! I put 1 aril on the spoon and slowly moved it near her. At first, she opened her beak with ruffled feathers, looking to strike. Then she saw the pomegranate. I kept the spoon as steady as possible and said "look" "yummy" and eventually she took it. I repeated this action a few times until she stopped having the ruffled feathers and open beak 'pre-strike' posture upon seeing the spoon.
Next I moved to a different side of the cage. I tapped a perch with my finger (as I know she isn't fond of them - yet) and said "come here". When she did, I said "good girl" and gave her a pomegranate aril via the wonderful finger saving spoon! I repeated this process, selecting different places in the cage, continuing to use the "come here" request, and the reward of spoon-fed pomegranate! During this process, I saw her general interest in my fingers go from "oh no, its that horrible creature - I must go and attack it!" to "oh the creature is over there, so that's where the pomegranate is at!"
So after all this pleasing progress, I started to introduce a "touch" request. I used a chop stick for this, not my fingers - yet! After each time she successfully responded to the "come here" request and received her treat, I then presented the chop stick to her and said "touch". Each time she gently touched the tip I said "good girl" and gave her a pomegranate aril.
I'm hoping that if I can carry on like this, I will soon be able to use the "touch" request method to get her to touch my fingers in a gentle way.

Im quite impressed with how good she's been today. She seems to be picking things up rather fast. She even stepped up nicely for me twice today with very minimal beak use! But obviously it still very early days and I know she's very likely to bite me again, and that I won't have felt the last of her wrath by a long shot! But still, progress is progress! My happy fingers wanted to share this joy with you

 

[CherylCali]

This is fascinating, I love your detail in describing your interactions. Thank you for the updates. It shows how much you have researched, and how well you care for her.

CherylCali

 

[Teddscau]

I clicker trained, then target trained, and finally taught Noah "step up" before I ever took him out of the cage. It took less than a week, and made things a lot less stressful and bloody had I let him out right away. The one time he did get out of the cage before I taught him all that, he kept flying around the room, was nervous, and took hours to get back in the cage, because I wasn't able to ask him to step up on a perch to help him out since we hadn't done enough training. If your bird knows those three things (clicker, target, step up), she'll become a lot more confident in interacting with you and playing outside of the cage.

I'd definitely recommend working with a perch rather than your hands for at least a few weeks before even introducing her to actively working with your fingers and hands. It's good to get her used to your hands, but you'll want to keep it fairly brief and positive for the first while. The first month I had Noah, he was constantly going for my fingers, having tantrums, and making me bleed. It wasn't until a month later that I could safely have him step up onto my arm, and it was just a few weeks ago that I've started having him step up with my fingers.

And man, the "gentle beak" technique that people use with parrotlets did NOT work for him! He'd just become so angry when I used it and would retaliate by taking chunks! Things went a lot better when I Let him know he was being too rough, and, if he clearly should have known he was hurting me I'd tell him "NO" (then I'd give him a chance to behave) and I would put him down and walk away, letting him know that being rough meant I'd ignore him (this only worked because he wanted to be with me. It probably won't work if Bella isn't attached to you yet). I'd only ignore him for three minutes at most, since anything longer would be considered counterproductive. Any longer, and he would have thought I was being mean to him, rather than understanding that he hurt me, so now he doesn't get to be with me for a little while. You want to give them just enough time to think, not forget why they're being ignored.

I guess the biggest thing is trying to develop a good relationship with your bird, since she'll be a lot more eager to cooperate and be nice to you.

 

[Violet_Diva]

Today I used the same methods both in the cage as before and I also started using them while she was out of the cage too. I must say this makes putting her back in her cage much easier, as previously I mostly just waited until she wanted to go back in by herself, which was quite restricting for me as I obviously wouldn't leave her out of her cage unattended.

After a while, I got her to go back into her cage and thought I'd try the "touch" request using my finger through the bars. It went very well! Each time I requested "touch" using my finger, she very gently felt my finger with her beak and tongue and then happily received her pomegranate treat.

This is the first time her beak has had contact with my fingers in a non aggressive way and it felt great!

Im going to continue with my little training programme daily and hopefully this will build her trust with me and enable me to continue to develop my relationship with her. Our new understanding of one another will no doubt help us to communicate more effectively over time.

So far:
'Step Up'
'No Biting'
'Come Here'
have been seemingly the first few important things that need work.

What would be the next natural training step?
Any suggestions as to what I should aim to add to the training repertoire?
I'm thinking maybe toilet training as I have already been building word association by saying "poop" at her each time she does her business.

Any suggestions or pointers welcomed!

What have you taught your bird(s)? Please share...

 

[Violet_Diva]

I clicker trained, then target trained, and finally taught Noah "step up" before I ever took him out of the cage. It took less than a week, and made things a lot less stressful and bloody had I let him out right away. The one time he did get out of the cage before I taught him all that, he kept flying around the room, was nervous, and took hours to get back in the cage, because I wasn't able to ask him to step up on a perch to help him out since we hadn't done enough training. If your bird knows those three things (clicker, target, step up), she'll become a lot more confident in interacting with you and playing outside of the cage.

I'd definitely recommend working with a perch rather than your hands for at least a few weeks before even introducing her to actively working with your fingers and hands. It's good to get her used to your hands, but you'll want to keep it fairly brief and positive for the first while. The first month I had Noah, he was constantly going for my fingers, having tantrums, and making me bleed. It wasn't until a month later that I could safely have him step up onto my arm, and it was just a few weeks ago that I've started having him step up with my fingers.

And man, the "gentle beak" technique that people use with parrotlets did NOT work for him! He'd just become so angry when I used it and would retaliate by taking chunks! Things went a lot better when I Let him know he was being too rough, and, if he clearly should have known he was hurting me I'd tell him "NO" (then I'd give him a chance to behave) and I would put him down and walk away, letting him know that being rough meant I'd ignore him (this only worked because he wanted to be with me. It probably won't work if Bella isn't attached to you yet). I'd only ignore him for three minutes at most, since anything longer would be considered counterproductive. Any longer, and he would have thought I was being mean to him, rather than understanding that he hurt me, so now he doesn't get to be with me for a little while. You want to give them just enough time to think, not forget why they're being ignored.

I guess the biggest thing is trying to develop a good relationship with your bird, since she'll be a lot more eager to cooperate and be nice to you.

Wow! I just posted and when my page refreshed you posted in the exact same minute - already answering some questions you hadn't read yet... magic!!!

 

[Violet_Diva]

I clicker trained, then target trained, and finally taught Noah "step up" before I ever took him out of the cage. It took less than a week, and made things a lot less stressful and bloody had I let him out right away. The one time he did get out of the cage before I taught him all that, he kept flying around the room, was nervous, and took hours to get back in the cage, because I wasn't able to ask him to step up on a perch to help him out since we hadn't done enough training. If your bird knows those three things (clicker, target, step up), she'll become a lot more confident in interacting with you and playing outside of the cage.

I'd definitely recommend working with a perch rather than your hands for at least a few weeks before even introducing her to actively working with your fingers and hands. It's good to get her used to your hands, but you'll want to keep it fairly brief and positive for the first while. The first month I had Noah, he was constantly going for my fingers, having tantrums, and making me bleed. It wasn't until a month later that I could safely have him step up onto my arm, and it was just a few weeks ago that I've started having him step up with my fingers.

And man, the "gentle beak" technique that people use with parrotlets did NOT work for him! He'd just become so angry when I used it and would retaliate by taking chunks! Things went a lot better when I Let him know he was being too rough, and, if he clearly should have known he was hurting me I'd tell him "NO" (then I'd give him a chance to behave) and I would put him down and walk away, letting him know that being rough meant I'd ignore him (this only worked because he wanted to be with me. It probably won't work if Bella isn't attached to you yet). I'd only ignore him for three minutes at most, since anything longer would be considered counterproductive. Any longer, and he would have thought I was being mean to him, rather than understanding that he hurt me, so now he doesn't get to be with me for a little while. You want to give them just enough time to think, not forget why they're being ignored.

I guess the biggest thing is trying to develop a good relationship with your bird, since she'll be a lot more eager to cooperate and be nice to you.

Sorry for the delay in my response to your post. My phone ran out of battery!
Thanks for the details about your training experience with your Noah. It was insightful and informative.

I saw the breeder get Bella to 'step up'. She was a bit cautious with him, and she did 'test the perch' a little with her beak. So I figured if she could already do this with someone else that it shouldn't take too long to get her to do it with me. The breeder had someone else do the hand rearing bit for him, so she was hatched at the breeders and then was raised by someone else and was then back with the breeder for maybe only 18 days after weaning before I collected her.

I started letting Bella out after her first night, as the breeder had been letting her out on a perch with her brother and a caique that were also for sale, plus the breeders pet eclectus (Bellas' sister from last year). As there was so much change for her, new people, new cage, loss of her feathered companions, I felt that keeping her in the cage would have broken her spirit. I wanted her cage to feel safe and fun, and as she had been so used to being able to fly around and be out of the cage, I was worried her cage would feel like a lonely prison. If I needed to put her back in the cage, I made sure there was fresh food in her cage awaiting her so she would have something to look forward to upon being put back in her cage.

If I got her to step up and she was tearing at the back of my hand, the bright side was that it would keep her occupied whilest I moved her into the cage! I never made a sound at her when she bit. I wanted to give the impression that she wasn't my boss (though she clearly is!) As the biting day after day was a bit much on my hand, I started wearing a long sleeved top and retracted my hand inside it with a clenched fist. I then used my arm to get her to step up, this meant that her initial biting (most of the time) would be upon the fabric and not my skin! So that's why I'm now working on her having positive interactions with my bare hands, so I can build up to her perching on my bare skin. She's currently stepping up fine on my arm with no biting when there's a reward involved!

Typically if Bella has bitten me, I've had to put her in her cage and ignore her for 10 mins while I clean my wounds, and then I'd return and let her back out. With the 'touch' training, the theory is, if she bites too hard she doesn't get a treat and I ignore her for a couple of minutes and then try again. She's only done this once so far. My little training sessions are about 15 mins in total with a small break in-between.

Bella is currently being kept in a quieter part of the house as my partner is usually awake at unearthly hours and I didn't want him depriving her of sleep. So typically she's pleased to see us when we go in her room and she comes upto the front of the cage to be let out. When she is out, she does perch on my shoulder and head. I watch her reflection on my cabinet so I can see by her body-language if she starts getting ideas about striking my forehead or ears, I can then distract her or get her to step up onto my arm and move her elsewhere before anything happens. So far my ears and forehead are unscathed

Thank-you again for your previous post, it is very much appreciated

 

[Teddscau]

I'm glad you found my post insightful. What I wrote probably applies more to parrotlets, lovebirds, and maybe amazons. I would have let Noah fly before we had the training down, but I decided not to as:

1. His mate died only three days before he came to live with us after flying into a door.
2. The cage I had him in was a mansion compared to the one he'd lived in with his mate for two years before he came to live with us.
3. He's really small, agile, and has a death wish (most parrotlets die young in accidents).

There's other reasons too, but you get the idea. Were he not a parrotlet, I would've let him out. Okay, he's eating my iPad, so I have to go.

 

[Violet_Diva]

I'm glad you found my post insightful. What I wrote probably applies more to parrotlets, lovebirds, and maybe amazons. I would have let Noah fly before we had the training down, but I decided not to as:

1. His mate died only three days before he came to live with us after flying into a door.
2. The cage I had him in was a mansion compared to the one he'd lived in with his mate for two years before he came to live with us.
3. He's really small, agile, and has a death wish (most parrotlets die young in accidents).

There's other reasons too, but you get the idea. Were he not a parrotlet, I would've let him out. Okay, he's eating my iPad, so I have to go.

I did think about it, and just imagining a bird that small on the loose scares me! So I completely understand why you had to keep Noah in the cage until he was trained. It makes perfect sense. With a larger bird there's always the option to towel them if you really can't catch them. Plus they don't move so fast and they aren't likely to be able to hide or get stuck anywhere awkward. I did originally look at getting a parrotlet before I decided on an eclectus. But it was the size of parrotlets that scared me. Which is kind of funny as I've only ever read about people getting smaller birds as they are scared about the bigger ones!

 

[Anansi]

I'm quite late to the party on this thread, but it's been a pleasant read. As so many others have said, you've done a great job researching before jumping into getting an eclectus. You're doing an amazing job so far, and you've already received excellent advice. Particularly from Scott and Teddscau.

One thing that did jump out at me is your approach to being bitten. I love that you're taking it slow, and using a perch for now. But the impression that I get is that you are just taking the bites without protest whenever they happen. But as Teddscau had mentioned, you do need to make it clear that such bite pressure is not acceptable. Here are links to bite pressure training threads that might help:
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/63988-bite-pressure-training.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/questions-answers/58911-bird-bites-always-2.html

And a good bite avoidance thread:
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html

Also, here is a recent thread where a lot of ekkie-specific info was shared:
http://www.parrotforums.com/new-members-welcome/64006-hello-thinking-about-getting-eclectus.html

As for the food, what I do is to chop it up into very small pieces so that the flavors of foods they enjoy, such as pomegranates or blueberries, will flavor the foods they don't, like dandelions and carrots. Also, if you melt a little coconut oil over the food and serve it very warm, they tend to go crazy for it no matter what the food is.

Hope this helps, and keep the questions coming as you think of them.

Oh! And welcome to Parrot Forums! We're glad you've decided to join our family!

 

[Violet_Diva]

I'm quite late to the party on this thread, but it's been a pleasant read. As so many others have said, you've done a great job researching before jumping into getting an eclectus. You're doing an amazing job so far, and you've already received excellent advice. Particularly from Scott and Teddscau.

One thing that did jump out at me is your approach to being bitten. I love that you're taking it slow, and using a perch for now. But the impression that I get is that you are just taking the bites without protest whenever they happen. But as Teddscau had mentioned, you do need to make it clear that such bite pressure is not acceptable. Here are links to bite pressure training threads that might help:
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/63988-bite-pressure-training.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/questions-answers/58911-bird-bites-always-2.html

And a good bite avoidance thread:
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html

Also, here is a recent thread where a lot of ekkie-specific info was shared:
http://www.parrotforums.com/new-members-welcome/64006-hello-thinking-about-getting-eclectus.html

As for the food, what I do is to chop it up into very small pieces so that the flavors of foods they enjoy, such as pomegranates or blueberries, will flavor the foods they don't, like dandelions and carrots. Also, if you melt a little coconut oil over the food and serve it very warm, they tend to go crazy for it no matter what the food is.

Hope this helps, and keep the questions coming as you think of them.

Oh! And welcome to Parrot Forums! We're glad you've decided to join our family!

Thanks for your warm welcome. The thread links you have provided look great, I will have a good read of those when I'm finished at work. Im getting much better at reading her body language and her vocal expressions now. Thanks for the feeding tips. I'll be sure to try them straight away when I get home. Sorry for such a brief initial response, but I only get 30 mins lunch break! So I will hopefully speak to you again soon in a bit more depth. Many thanks

 

[Anansi]

You're welcome, and I hope you do find those links very helpful.

One thing I forgot to mention. I know EXACTLY what you are talking about when you say that she has given that offended scream upon examining the food in her dish.My resident ekkie Diva has never done it, but Jolly, and Bixby before him, most certainly have! You can almost hear the words behind the shout: "Seriously?!? What is this garbage?!?" Hahaha! There is just such a human sounding note of exasperation.

It happened once a piece with Bixby and Jolly. With Bixby, it became a challenge of wills that I ultimately lost. Because he literally walked up to the bowl, nudged the food around a bit, gave that one exasperated scream, and walked right back up to his favorite perch without another sound. The implication was clear. "I'll wait right here until you remove that excrement from my bowl and replace it with real food." (My fault, really. The unwritten rule was that there would be a clear majority of veggies with enough fruits and such to add a nice flavor. But I'd decided to experiment with a pure veggie dish... and this was before I'd discovered the virtues of coconut oil. Lol!) Anyhow, I went into Daddy mode and told him that that was the dinner I'd made, and he was going to eat it! (Yes, I have 2 boys, so it came naturally. Hahaha!) But after 2 hours of his demonstrated iron will, I buckled and made a new bowl of chop with a smattering of pomegranates and blueberries tossed in. That bowl he practically licked clean, carrots, dandelions and all. I'd learned my lesson. Don't violate the agreement. Smh.

With Jolly, it was because I'd gone a little heavy on the peppers. He's not really a peppers guy. Lol! He still ate it, but he made his position quite clear with, again, that one offended scream. A mistake I haven't repeated since.

 

[Violet_Diva]

You're welcome, and I hope you do find those links very helpful.

One thing I forgot to mention. I know EXACTLY what you are talking about when you say that she has given that offended scream upon examining the food in her dish.My resident ekkie Diva has never done it, but Jolly, and Bixby before him, most certainly have! You can almost hear the words behind the shout: "Seriously?!? What is this garbage?!?" Hahaha! There is just such a human sounding note of exasperation.

It happened once a piece with Bixby and Jolly. With Bixby, it became a challenge of wills that I ultimately lost. Because he literally walked up to the bowl, nudged the food around a bit, gave that one exasperated scream, and walked right back up to his favorite perch without another sound. The implication was clear. "I'll wait right here until you remove that excrement from my bowl and replace it with real food." (My fault, really. The unwritten rule was that there would be a clear majority of veggies with enough fruits and such to add a nice flavor. But I'd decided to experiment with a pure veggie dish... and this was before I'd discovered the virtues of coconut oil. Lol!) Anyhow, I went into Daddy mode and told him that that was the dinner I'd made, and he was going to eat it! (Yes, I have 2 boys, so it came naturally. Hahaha!) But after 2 hours of his demonstrated iron will, I buckled and made a new bowl of chop with a smattering of pomegranates and blueberries tossed in. That bowl he practically licked clean, carrots, dandelions and all. I'd learned my lesson. Don't violate the agreement. Smh.

With Jolly, it was because I'd gone a little heavy on the peppers. He's not really a peppers guy. Lol! He still ate it, but he made his position quite clear with, again, that one offended scream. A mistake I haven't repeated since.

Ive decided to wait until her supper time for the coconut oil thing, as I tend to attempt give her some veg then. She's currently working her way through her fruit snack (spiked with finely grated carrot and bell peppers and red cabbage).
I forgot to mention the only other time I've heard her angry (apart from her attacking my hands). I am speaking of the 'foot rattle incident '. I got her a little rattle and it had been outside of the cage a while, I'd picked it up and played with it a few times. I put it in her cage and she was... erm... very vocal and very physical. By vocal and physical, I mean she tried to murder it! She growled at it, squawked at it, bit it, tossed it around, hammered it into the floor, it was quite the spectacle. So I removed it from the cage. She managed to start pulling the top away from the bottom. So she's not having that again!

 

[Violet_Diva]

She was such a good girl today! When I did the "come here" request and the "touch" request, she was so gentle I decided to try and have her take the treat from my fingers instead of the spoon, and she did! I'm thrilled. It's amazing how far we've come in such a small amount of time. It was only a few days ago that she would strike at my fingers on sight! Now she will touch my fingers gently on request (with aid of a treat), take treats from my fingers and she's been stepping up onto my (sleeved) arm perfectly (also with aid from the trusty pomegranate). I've just been getting her to step up onto me and then back onto one of four different perches (changing between them each time). She only slightly nipped me once during training today and retrospectively I think it was because I was at a bit of a weird angle and she might not have seen me moving towards her. At the time I said "no biting" and got her to step up to distract her and just carried on as before. I'm feeling much better about my developing relationship with Bella. My partner is quite impressed with all the baby steps of progress. I'm looking forward to further down the line when she can be out on a perch in the main living room during the day, rather than being exclusively in the quiet room.

Out of curiosity, how many of you guys clip wings and how many dont? At the moment I'm leaning towards leaving her fully flighted.

 

[Anansi]

I'm glad you had such a good day with her, today! The most wonderful feeling, isn't it?

Let me just mention something else that often leads to bites. Not that anything I've read in your posts indicates that as a problem, but i'll say it just in case. Uncertainty is quite frequently the culprit. And this uncertainty can affect your bird in two different ways.

In one scenario, she might perceive uncertainty or fear in your body language. Remember that birds are far more adept at reading body language than we are. So if she sees that you seem a bit on edge, it automatically puts her on edge as well. Why? Because she lacks the context for your uneasiness. Another bird would see in her body language that she didn't intend to attack and, as such, would be very relaxed in his/her approach. So if she didn't have any intent to attack, seeing any nervous behavior on your part would automatically put her on edge. "What's your problem?"

Second scenario is a bit more direct. When she attempts to step up, she may reach out with her beak for a better grip. If you flinch or pull away, if even slightly, you're messing with her balance. And any person who feels like they're going to slip usually does what in that moment? Tightens their grip! Same thing happens with birds.

Again, not sure if that pertains to you or not, but thought I'd put it out there since there is a bit of a nippiness issue.

Now... to clip or not to clip. Well, I personally never clip. I think it's healthier for your bird in the long run, both physically and psychologically. And a bird should definitely never be clipped at Bella's age, as she is still fledging and developing flight skills is very important for a young bird's cognitive and emotional development.

On this forum, we maintain that whether or not to clip is a personal choice, and condemnation of one choice or the other is very much discouraged. So keep in mind that my stance on never clipping is my own personal opinion. But there is just such beauty in watching a bird in flight. They take so much obvious joy in it.

Anyhow, here is a great link to a video about fully flighted birds in the home: [ame="https://youtu.be/NzyZGdMp9kM"]Myth-busting! Parrot Training - Indoor Free Flying - DUCK!! Pet Parrot Free flight Skills - YouTube[/ame]

And here are links to threads with one of my own birds doing his flying thing:
http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/57168-you-get-out-what-you-put.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/60496-jolly-maya-training-update-blooper-reel.html

 

[Scott]

Nor do I clip, and as Stephen posted it is a deeply personal philosophical choice we respect within the forum. Accidents do happen, so I strive to be extraordinarily careful with windows and doors!