New Member (Kind of an owner?).

[SassiBird]

...I'd hate to restrict it to training times only ...

Ya, If you're only there once a month, it doesn't make sense to take it away completely. Maybe just take her food away while you clean and train when your done.

 

[gavagai]

First off, I want to thank you for trying to care for that lovebird. It's too bad you can't find an apartment that allows pets. I had similar difficulty when I first moved to Texas. I didn't actually have any pets while I was renting, but I wanted to leave the possibility open. I did finally find a place, but I was amazed by how rare pet-friendly landlords were, and how run-down most places that allowed pets were. Most landlords have had bad experiences with cats and dogs, many others have had or heard about bad experiences with other animals as well, one told me of needing to recarpet after sugar gliders being why he now allows no pets. Personally, I don't see how it's any more of a risk than reckless humans, but unless there's an inverse correlation between being a pet owner and causing other sorts of damage (which I'd doubt, reckless people seem to keep pets at possibly a higher rate than the rest of us; it's just that they get bored with them sooner), landlords tend not to see it that way.

Even now that I'm older and I have researched the bird a little and birds in general, I have told my aunt that captive birds don't forage like wild birds, they won't go through the seed and find good seed amongst the empty shells, they just see empty shells and presume there's no food.

I'm not sure how true this is. All but one bird I've had came to me eating only seed, and when I tried the trick where you cover the seed with pellets, the lovebirds and Senegal both very quickly figured out there was seed under the pellets.

 

[emdalliance]

Okay! I'm glad what I said might not be true re not being able to forage. Just what a bird keeper told me.

So I applied for that apartment I went to view on Monday, as I fell in love with it and they said okay to fish and axolotls and "gerbils" (whoops) and the landlord said no, he wants to wait for everyone else to view it because we apparently don't earn enough (we do), I just think he thinks I'm a rowdy student. [emoji24] I cried my eyes out lol for about 6 hours.


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[emdalliance]

I've posted in the relevant section re taming, but I've been told taming month-to-month is pointless? X


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[EllenD]

I've posted in the relevant section re taming, but I've been told taming month-to-month is pointless? X


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I don't think it's at all pointless, especially in a situation where this particular bird has no other interaction with humans at all throughout the month. Is training and simply interacting and talking to the bird one day a month going to tame her? No. Is it going to help her become more and more accustomed to interacting with people? Yes. Is it going to slowly but surely acquaint her with you and get her to recognize you and your voice? Yes. Will this make it an easier adjustment for her when you do finally bring her home full-time with you, and put you ahead of the curve? Absolutely. And once again, will this one day a month make all the difference in the world to this poor little bird who has basically been completely ignored for 6 years, not even having a single toy and being locked inside a tiny, empty cage with not a soul even talking to her? I mean come on, it's certainly not ideal, you know that, it's not what you want either, but it's the best you can do until you find an apartment that will allow you to have her. Saying that you might as well not spend one day a month with this poor little neglected bird, interacting with her and trying to get her to know you, and socializing her any way you can just because it's only for one day a month until further notice, well that's just silly in my opinion.

That bird appreciates that one day a month, and once you do bring her home full-time and can work with her and interact with her every day the one day a month you're spending now will give you an advantage, I promise.

This isn't an all-or-none situation, or at least it shouldn't be. This little bird has had completely NONE, none at all for the last 6 years. So any at all is a 100% improvement and yes, it will help in the long run.



"Dance like nobody's watching..."