Eleanor_Rigby
New member
- Sep 16, 2010
- 2
- 0
- Parrots
- Dante - CAG
Sammie - Blue Fronted Amazon
Sunshine and Nero - Budgerigar
Hello everyone. I just recently found this forum; I'm a member over at the African Grey Forums, but since I have 2 budgies and an Amazon I figured this one would be a good place to join as well!
I'm relatively new to large parrots though I've had Budgies for the past three years. I've only had my Grey for about 3 months and already we've made huge progress... he came to me from a sketchy past - his previous owner told me he was kept alone in an upstairs room because his cockatoo would fly over and attack him whenever he was out. He only ever saw 2 people from the time he was 8wks till the time I took him and he was clipped before he ever learned to fly. A couple years ago when I was researching Grey parrots (as I've always wanted one and it was then I decided to do my part to learn what would be best to look for when the time finally came to get one) I learned what to look for when searching a good breeder... however, in this situation my bird did not come from a breeder... and because of such I felt a bit more inclined to 'rescue' him and work with him... although he was my first 'big parrot' and all of this was completely new to me!
Dante is only a year old (if that)... so thankfully he's very malleable... however, he didn't come with the best of past experiences so he's not one to enjoy any kind of human contact (or at least he wasn't). He didn't even know how to step up, a behavior I would assume anyone getting a baby parrot would have taught early on. He's also incredibly clumsy (something I attribute LESS to him being a Grey and MORE to him being clipped before being fledged). He didn't trust me, and I can say I now know what a Grey growl sounds like!
However, in the short time I've had him he's come a long way at trusting not only my but new people I bring over to meet him. Pretty much anyone can touch his beak and he'll take treats from any who will offer!
We're not bonded, not really... but we're making progress!
Sammie is my other 'big bird' and he's a Blue Fronted Amazon. I got him about a month ago. (I should say now, to ease everyone's state of mind... all birds coming into my house are vet checked first because though Quarantine is great, it's not absolute and it helps my peace of mind to have lab work done instead of guesswork). Sammie came from a friend and I've known of him and his 'progress' for the past year. I am his third home and he's only two years old. His first owner bought him on a whim and never took him out of his cage. His second owner pushed herself on him and would grab him and hold him like a baby... needless to say he had a few issues when I got him.
Sammie's a sweet loving Zon, but terrified of hands. He'll come over to you and interact with you, but only so long as you hide your hands from him. With daily training and desensitization I've worked with him to get him to step up, but only for short periods of time. He's doing better, and I'm sure we'll make more progress in the months/years to come. Sadly, Sammie does love my bf more than me
Even though I work with him every day... oh well.
My two Budgies are Nero and Sunshine... both are very tame and Sunshine talks (if only just a little). Budgies are full of spunk and little acrobatic clowns, which makes me love them!
Ok... so on to pictures... and videos!
The following is a video of Sammie 'singing along to the music' and Dante watching him make a clown of himself!
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHrDB8ozl3o]YouTube - Sammie talking[/ame]
I'm relatively new to large parrots though I've had Budgies for the past three years. I've only had my Grey for about 3 months and already we've made huge progress... he came to me from a sketchy past - his previous owner told me he was kept alone in an upstairs room because his cockatoo would fly over and attack him whenever he was out. He only ever saw 2 people from the time he was 8wks till the time I took him and he was clipped before he ever learned to fly. A couple years ago when I was researching Grey parrots (as I've always wanted one and it was then I decided to do my part to learn what would be best to look for when the time finally came to get one) I learned what to look for when searching a good breeder... however, in this situation my bird did not come from a breeder... and because of such I felt a bit more inclined to 'rescue' him and work with him... although he was my first 'big parrot' and all of this was completely new to me!
Dante is only a year old (if that)... so thankfully he's very malleable... however, he didn't come with the best of past experiences so he's not one to enjoy any kind of human contact (or at least he wasn't). He didn't even know how to step up, a behavior I would assume anyone getting a baby parrot would have taught early on. He's also incredibly clumsy (something I attribute LESS to him being a Grey and MORE to him being clipped before being fledged). He didn't trust me, and I can say I now know what a Grey growl sounds like!
However, in the short time I've had him he's come a long way at trusting not only my but new people I bring over to meet him. Pretty much anyone can touch his beak and he'll take treats from any who will offer!
We're not bonded, not really... but we're making progress!
Sammie is my other 'big bird' and he's a Blue Fronted Amazon. I got him about a month ago. (I should say now, to ease everyone's state of mind... all birds coming into my house are vet checked first because though Quarantine is great, it's not absolute and it helps my peace of mind to have lab work done instead of guesswork). Sammie came from a friend and I've known of him and his 'progress' for the past year. I am his third home and he's only two years old. His first owner bought him on a whim and never took him out of his cage. His second owner pushed herself on him and would grab him and hold him like a baby... needless to say he had a few issues when I got him.
Sammie's a sweet loving Zon, but terrified of hands. He'll come over to you and interact with you, but only so long as you hide your hands from him. With daily training and desensitization I've worked with him to get him to step up, but only for short periods of time. He's doing better, and I'm sure we'll make more progress in the months/years to come. Sadly, Sammie does love my bf more than me
Even though I work with him every day... oh well.My two Budgies are Nero and Sunshine... both are very tame and Sunshine talks (if only just a little). Budgies are full of spunk and little acrobatic clowns, which makes me love them!
Ok... so on to pictures... and videos!
The following is a video of Sammie 'singing along to the music' and Dante watching him make a clown of himself!
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHrDB8ozl3o]YouTube - Sammie talking[/ame]
