Ona’s Thread

[HeatherG]

that’s great; you have a working bribe. Seems like Willow doesn’t like any treat enough to persuade him to do something he doesn’t want to do!

Then again, at noon today Willow was squawking. I opened the cage door and tapped on it and he walked out and stepped up sweetly. Gave me lots of kisses and only wanted kisses and pets. Then my face and lips began to feel strangely warm.

When I returned Willow to his cage and washed my face, I saw he had leftover Scotch Bonnet pepper (from Asian grocery store) sitting in his food dish. Mystery solved.

I want to teach him to play bird basketball but what bribe would he like enough to work for? Maybe he would like crushed red pepper flakes.

 

[onamom]

Ona is officially in her big cage now! She LOVES it. For now she’s using the smaller white cage for sleeping.

We’ve started recall training. She will hop off the end of a table onto my hand with a millet lure.

She is completely obsessed with this little foam piece. I caught her dunking it in her water bowl repeatedly At first I thought she dropped it in there…. And then she kept doing it…. Such a weirdo

(In her carrier because we were outside)

 

[clark_conure]

That's all I have to say about that. --Forrest Gump {Circa 1994}

 

[Cottonoid]

I just love her!! Have you read Albie's threads? I think he and Ona would be buddies and probably co-mischief makers

 

[onamom]

I just love her!! Have you read Albie's threads? I think he and Ona would be buddies and probably co-mischief makers

Ooh! I’ve seen the name Albie but don’t think so. I’ll search for it!

 

[onamom]

@Stitchthestitch I have to agree with @Cottonoid that Albie and Ona would indeed be friends!

 

[onamom]

Ona is learning recall training like a champ! This was from earlier this week:

She’s definitely more confident with trying to fly now and has tried to fly to me several times when I’m just sitting near her. She’s also now learned that if I try to put her down on a perch she can just protest and fly to me instead

I think she might be trying to experiment with talking. She makes some interesting chirps sometimes. When we tell her goodnight she chirps a response that matches the number of syllables to what you said.

We took her along in the backpack on a walk the other day and she liked it.

She has been molting and is sassy sometimes. She tends to be more sassy with my husband than with me.

 

[LaManuka]

Ona is learning recall training like a champ! This was from earlier this week:

She’s definitely more confident with trying to fly now and has tried to fly to me several times when I’m just sitting near her. She’s also now learned that if I try to put her down on a perch she can just protest and fly to me instead

I think she might be trying to experiment with talking. She makes some interesting chirps sometimes. When we tell her goodnight she chirps a response that matches the number of syllables to what you said.

We took her along in the backpack on a walk the other day and she liked it.

View attachment 42416

She has been molting and is sassy sometimes. She tends to be more sassy with my husband than with me.

I'm always just so impressed with you and Ona, she is just the most delightful little birdie!!

 

[onamom]

Me walking Ona and my Pugs:

Tomorrow is her vet visit. Long drive to get there so not looking forward to that. I’m curious to hear what the vet says about her beak ( it’s been looking fine )

She’s found a new favorite bath spot… in the pie plate That old creepy nursery rhyme song “four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie” always gets in my head when seeing this

 

[Stitchthestitch]

Oh my goodness , ona is absolutely adorable!

And I agree, I think albie and one would cause a world of trouble as best friends !

 

[LaManuka]

Oh my goodness , ona is absolutely adorable!

And I agree, I think albie and one would cause a world of trouble as best friends !

I think they would too, but it would be the cutest kinda trouble anybody ever did see!!!

 

[Stitchthestitch]

How did ona get on at the vets yesterday ?

 

[onamom]

How did ona get on at the vets yesterday ?

It was good! It was a long 2 hour drive but she didn’t mind that. The vet gave her the all clear and said her beak looks fine. We also had her leg band removed.

 

[Stitchthestitch]

It was good! It was a long 2 hour drive but she didn’t mind that. The vet gave her the all clear and said her beak looks fine. We also had her leg band removed.

That's great news!

 

[onamom]

Another day, another cuddle

And a new play gym I made her from PVC pipes!

 

[LaManuka]

Oh it's always so lovely to get an update about your sweet little Ona - I'll just bet she's gonna LOVE that playgym!!

 

[HeatherG]

That is one seriously cute bird!

 

[onamom]

Time for an Ona update!

The new batch of chop I made yesterday is clearly a hit As you can see Ona approves.

This batch has chili peppers, zucchini, carrot (her favorite), bell pepper, fresh herb mix, cauliflower, broccoli, bok choy, and a leftover grain mix of wild rice, quinoa, oats.

We have a routine where she demands her chop first thing after we get her out of the sleep cage in the morning. She screeches if it’s late

She demands cuddles every night and loves doing what we call her “pretty” pose to show off. She stands on one foot, leans forward, and fans out one wing to show her feathers. I’ve learned it’s how she says “See how pretty I am? Come pet me!”

She tries to regurgitate sometimes when she sees me So far I’m the only one she does this with. She has met a few new people and is not shy at all. She’ll come happily to anyone that gives her food and attention. Though she does have her sassy moments where she’s just nippy and you have to just put her down and leave her be.

Tricks she knows now:
- wave
- step up
- come (fly to my hand - as far as she can clipped anyway)
- station (fly off my hand to what I point at)
- fetch! We’ve been working on fetch or “ball” as I tell her for about a month now. She finally has it down.

Next we try basketball but I think it will take a while

 

[Cottonoid]

Wow wow wow!! You've done so much with her in such a short time! This is so heartwarming to see and just the most wonderful example of letting a bird pick you and just blossom!! I love everything about your update!!

 

[onamom]

Wow wow wow!! You've done so much with her in such a short time! This is so heartwarming to see and just the most wonderful example of letting a bird pick you and just blossom!! I love everything about your update!!

Thank you! I certainly do feel like she chose me! I’ll never forget the first time I held her and she was only a week old… the way she snuggled up to me so fast I went into that store thinking I was just going to look around and she just claimed me! I couldn’t get her out of my head and days later I went back for her. They grow up so fast!