Progress with Esmi.

[SATxTony]

Hi, Going to update on my progress with my Double-Yellow Headed Amazon Esmi. We're in our first week so far. (Although I know this will take a lot longer with the process I'm going to ask, I'm just asking for advice as to what would be best for me to do?)

I keep her out of her cage every day usually put her back for bed time and when I goto work.
right now I'm trying to build her trust with me. She is territorial with her cage, I've been training with her on top of her cage. Although I've read that trying to train a parrot by their cage is very difficult when they are by "Their territory". Also, she accepts treats out of my hands but she always tries to go on the opposite end of the cage of me.

Now I was thinking if I should relocate her to a different room?
Or should I just be more patient such as letting her accept me into her territory and then work my way with trying to have her step up than move her to another room to work with her?

if so that, than how do I try to keep her from going on the opposite side of the cage?

 

[SailBoat]

Remember that it is NEVER the fault of the Amazon! It is ALWAYS the fault of the Human. Use this vantage point in any interactions with your Amazon and you will see what you are doing wrong and correct it earlier.

Commonly, training is best handled when not in the sight of the cage.

Hope this helps!

 

[Ladyhawk]

This is based on working with parrots of all kinds at two different pet stores and on living with a double yellowheaded Amazon parrot for over thirty years. I do not claim to be an "expert," and I very much doubt that such a person exists. There may be people with more experience than I who suck at working with parrots and people with far less experience who are much better at it than I am. Self-proclaimed "experts" usually have closed minds, so if someone wants to modify what I recommend or even recommend something completely different, that's fine. Do what makes the most sense to you and what is best for Esmi.

First of all, use this time to get acquainted with Esmi. Find out what her favorite treats are and withhold them from her regular diet for training purposes. Make sure that training treats are fairly small so she can gobble them up quickly. Chop them into pieces if you need to.

Your Amazon is territorial about her cage. As long as she is in or on that cage, you will not make any progress working with her. If she is looking down on you, she will feel even more emboldened to defend her territory. This is her turf! You will need to take her to another location to work with her.

If she's a confident bird, work with her on a perch that is below your eye level in another room of the house out of sight of her cage. I'm not going to go into how to get her there right now. Hopefully, she'll step up on a perch without mauling you. If not, well, that's another discussion.

Once she's in a different room, perched below eye level, you'll discover her attitude has changed. As long as she doesn't seem afraid, go ahead and work with her. I'd start by telling her what a good bird she is and handing her a treat. Watch her body lingo at all times.

You'll have to decide what your "bridge" is going to be. A lot of people use a clicker. I simply use the word, "Good!" in a pleasant voice or excited voice, depending on the bird's mood. My opinion: You're not always going to have a clicker on you. When your bird does something right, you don't want to spend precious time fumbling for a clicker. "Good!" worked very well for my DYH.

The bridge word, "Good!" (or clicker), tells the bird she has done the right thing and is about to get a treat. If she is relaxed and will take the treat without mauling you, always follow up quickly with a reward.

Right now is not the best time to have her on your shoulder. Hopefully, her last human didn't allow her to go straight to the shoulder. If you find that's the case, we'll need to have another discussion. When you ask her to step up, hold her on your hand with your thumb between her and the rest of your arm as a psychological barrier to keep her from running to your shoulder. Keep your elbow pointed down at a fairly steep angle so it isn't easy to get to your shoulder.

1. Say, "Up!" or "Step up!" (Choose one and stick with it.)
2. When she steps up, say, "Good!" or use the clicker.
3. Follow up immediately with a reward.

Then:

1. Say, "Down!" (or your command of choice)
2. When she steps down, say, "Good!" or use the clicker.
3. Follow up immediately with a reward.
4. Repeat

Make this fun. Be interactive. Talk with the bird, but don't get her too wound up. You don't want to send her into Amazon overload. Figure out how she's feeling. Reassure her if she's a bit shy. Use a more commanding voice if she's feeling a tad too confident. Read the section on Amazon body language and adjust your actions and tone of voice accordingly. Your relationship is very new and you want to start it off right.

You'll want to establish the "up" and "down" commands as the basis of much of your training. Make the sessions short, but meaningful, and then return her to her cage. I'm not sure how many times a day you should give lessons. I would let her tell you through her actions. Three sessions of less than fifteen minutes is probably sufficient. If she seems tired or overwhelmed, back off. You're beginning a marvelous dance with this creature. You have to pay attention to what she's telling you.

As you build this relationship, you can slowly move the training perch closer to her cage, first in the same room, then closer and then closer. You'll have to watch her reaction to gauge when you can take the next step. Eventually, you want to be able to transfer the "up" and "down" commands to a perch inside her cage: one below your eye level.

At some point, you want your bird to tolerate servicing her cage and picking her up from any perch in or on her cage. Always move training sessions to a training perch away from her territory. In this way, you can respect her space yet still expect her to step up when you ask.

With the up and down commands, you should get to a point where the bird doesn't need a treat. At first, reward every time, then frequently, less frequently, etc. With Gabby, I phased treats out pretty quickly, but he was very young. An older, territorial bird may need to be paid in treats a bit longer. (I still gave Gabby treats when he did tricks. He really loved performing, but always did his tricks better when paid in sunflower seeds or chopped nuts. I miss him so much.)

If someone has an addendum or an idea that works better for your bird, use it. It's all about the bird.

 

[SATxTony]

Thanks Guys! Will keep updated on my progress in the following weeks

 

[SATxTony]

This is based on working with parrots of all kinds at two different pet stores and on living with a double yellowheaded Amazon parrot for over thirty years. I do not claim to be an "expert," and I very much doubt that such a person exists. There may be people with more experience than I who suck at working with parrots and people with far less experience who are much better at it than I am. Self-proclaimed "experts" usually have closed minds, so if someone wants to modify what I recommend or even recommend something completely different, that's fine. Do what makes the most sense to you and what is best for Esmi.

First of all, use this time to get acquainted with Esmi. Find out what her favorite treats are and withhold them from her regular diet for training purposes. Make sure that training treats are fairly small so she can gobble them up quickly. Chop them into pieces if you need to.

Your Amazon is territorial about her cage. As long as she is in or on that cage, you will not make any progress working with her. If she is looking down on you, she will feel even more emboldened to defend her territory. This is her turf! You will need to take her to another location to work with her.

If she's a confident bird, work with her on a perch that is below your eye level in another room of the house out of sight of her cage. I'm not going to go into how to get her there right now. Hopefully, she'll step up on a perch without mauling you. If not, well, that's another discussion.

Once she's in a different room, perched below eye level, you'll discover her attitude has changed. As long as she doesn't seem afraid, go ahead and work with her. I'd start by telling her what a good bird she is and handing her a treat. Watch her body lingo at all times.

You'll have to decide what your "bridge" is going to be. A lot of people use a clicker. I simply use the word, "Good!" in a pleasant voice or excited voice, depending on the bird's mood. My opinion: You're not always going to have a clicker on you. When your bird does something right, you don't want to spend precious time fumbling for a clicker. "Good!" worked very well for my DYH.

The bridge word, "Good!" (or clicker), tells the bird she has done the right thing and is about to get a treat. If she is relaxed and will take the treat without mauling you, always follow up quickly with a reward.

Right now is not the best time to have her on your shoulder. Hopefully, her last human didn't allow her to go straight to the shoulder. If you find that's the case, we'll need to have another discussion. When you ask her to step up, hold her on your hand with your thumb between her and the rest of your arm as a psychological barrier to keep her from running to your shoulder. Keep your elbow pointed down at a fairly steep angle so it isn't easy to get to your shoulder.

1. Say, "Up!" or "Step up!" (Choose one and stick with it.)
2. When she steps up, say, "Good!" or use the clicker.
3. Follow up immediately with a reward.

Then:

1. Say, "Down!" (or your command of choice)
2. When she steps down, say, "Good!" or use the clicker.
3. Follow up immediately with a reward.
4. Repeat

Make this fun. Be interactive. Talk with the bird, but don't get her too wound up. You don't want to send her into Amazon overload. Figure out how she's feeling. Reassure her if she's a bit shy. Use a more commanding voice if she's feeling a tad too confident. Read the section on Amazon body language and adjust your actions and tone of voice accordingly. Your relationship is very new and you want to start it off right.

You'll want to establish the "up" and "down" commands as the basis of much of your training. Make the sessions short, but meaningful, and then return her to her cage. I'm not sure how many times a day you should give lessons. I would let her tell you through her actions. Three sessions of less than fifteen minutes is probably sufficient. If she seems tired or overwhelmed, back off. You're beginning a marvelous dance with this creature. You have to pay attention to what she's telling you.

As you build this relationship, you can slowly move the training perch closer to her cage, first in the same room, then closer and then closer. You'll have to watch her reaction to gauge when you can take the next step. Eventually, you want to be able to transfer the "up" and "down" commands to a perch inside her cage: one below your eye level.

At some point, you want your bird to tolerate servicing her cage and picking her up from any perch in or on her cage. Always move training sessions to a training perch away from her territory. In this way, you can respect her space yet still expect her to step up when you ask.

With the up and down commands, you should get to a point where the bird doesn't need a treat. At first, reward every time, then frequently, less frequently, etc. With Gabby, I phased treats out pretty quickly, but he was very young. An older, territorial bird may need to be paid in treats a bit longer. (I still gave Gabby treats when he did tricks. He really loved performing, but always did his tricks better when paid in sunflower seeds or chopped nuts. I miss him so much.)

If someone has an addendum or an idea that works better for your bird, use it. It's all about the bird.

Thanks for the advice,
I've lived with Esmi for about 10 years.(I'm currently 19 YO) My mother use to be a breeder. I use to always be afraid of taking Esmi out her cage. When I was younger I asked my parents "Why don't you guys take her out or train her?" they always came up with excuses. This past couple of months I've spent every day by her cage, playing with her and petting her through the bars. Although just this past week I've had enough and I've built up the courage and did a lot of research before hand. (which helped me take her out) and start actually working with building complete trust with her. Again she is territorial to some extent which she won't let me touch her out of the cage or inside when I try to stick my hands. (I know It's a long process and I'm willing to wait.)

due to living with her for a while I learned her favorite treat are peanuts. (Although I know about the problem with peanuts, so I'm watching as to which peanuts I give her and how many.) Also her other favorite treats are pomegranate, Oranges, and sun flower seeds.

Also, I'm very careful with her body movement, and have learned Amazon's body language before I took her out. (Just going to need more time and practice to learn it with learning her body language fully, that's progress I should make within my self. within time.
Replying to your advice about not making any progress if she is territorial, When It comes to relocating her to a different room to move her away from her turf? by what exact way do you recommend me by doing so?
I've seem people use a towel and relocate the bird that way. But I feel like doing that method will scare her, and lose her trust towards me. (Correct me if I'm wrong)

What ways do you recommend me relocating her to a different room w/o loosing her trust?

Right now, I feel like it might be best to work with her around her cage, let her accept me in, take my time with her. (Again, Correct me if I'm wrong)

 

[Ladyhawk]

This is based on working with parrots of all kinds at two different pet stores and on living with a double yellowheaded Amazon parrot for over thirty years. I do not claim to be an "expert," and I very much doubt that such a person exists. There may be people with more experience than I who suck at working with parrots and people with far less experience who are much better at it than I am. Self-proclaimed "experts" usually have closed minds, so if someone wants to modify what I recommend or even recommend something completely different, that's fine. Do what makes the most sense to you and what is best for Esmi.

First of all, use this time to get acquainted with Esmi. Find out what her favorite treats are and withhold them from her regular diet for training purposes. Make sure that training treats are fairly small so she can gobble them up quickly. Chop them into pieces if you need to.

Your Amazon is territorial about her cage. As long as she is in or on that cage, you will not make any progress working with her. If she is looking down on you, she will feel even more emboldened to defend her territory. This is her turf! You will need to take her to another location to work with her.

If she's a confident bird, work with her on a perch that is below your eye level in another room of the house out of sight of her cage. I'm not going to go into how to get her there right now. Hopefully, she'll step up on a perch without mauling you. If not, well, that's another discussion.

Once she's in a different room, perched below eye level, you'll discover her attitude has changed. As long as she doesn't seem afraid, go ahead and work with her. I'd start by telling her what a good bird she is and handing her a treat. Watch her body lingo at all times.

You'll have to decide what your "bridge" is going to be. A lot of people use a clicker. I simply use the word, "Good!" in a pleasant voice or excited voice, depending on the bird's mood. My opinion: You're not always going to have a clicker on you. When your bird does something right, you don't want to spend precious time fumbling for a clicker. "Good!" worked very well for my DYH.

The bridge word, "Good!" (or clicker), tells the bird she has done the right thing and is about to get a treat. If she is relaxed and will take the treat without mauling you, always follow up quickly with a reward.

Right now is not the best time to have her on your shoulder. Hopefully, her last human didn't allow her to go straight to the shoulder. If you find that's the case, we'll need to have another discussion. When you ask her to step up, hold her on your hand with your thumb between her and the rest of your arm as a psychological barrier to keep her from running to your shoulder. Keep your elbow pointed down at a fairly steep angle so it isn't easy to get to your shoulder.

1. Say, "Up!" or "Step up!" (Choose one and stick with it.)
2. When she steps up, say, "Good!" or use the clicker.
3. Follow up immediately with a reward.

Then:

1. Say, "Down!" (or your command of choice)
2. When she steps down, say, "Good!" or use the clicker.
3. Follow up immediately with a reward.
4. Repeat

Make this fun. Be interactive. Talk with the bird, but don't get her too wound up. You don't want to send her into Amazon overload. Figure out how she's feeling. Reassure her if she's a bit shy. Use a more commanding voice if she's feeling a tad too confident. Read the section on Amazon body language and adjust your actions and tone of voice accordingly. Your relationship is very new and you want to start it off right.

You'll want to establish the "up" and "down" commands as the basis of much of your training. Make the sessions short, but meaningful, and then return her to her cage. I'm not sure how many times a day you should give lessons. I would let her tell you through her actions. Three sessions of less than fifteen minutes is probably sufficient. If she seems tired or overwhelmed, back off. You're beginning a marvelous dance with this creature. You have to pay attention to what she's telling you.

As you build this relationship, you can slowly move the training perch closer to her cage, first in the same room, then closer and then closer. You'll have to watch her reaction to gauge when you can take the next step. Eventually, you want to be able to transfer the "up" and "down" commands to a perch inside her cage: one below your eye level.

At some point, you want your bird to tolerate servicing her cage and picking her up from any perch in or on her cage. Always move training sessions to a training perch away from her territory. In this way, you can respect her space yet still expect her to step up when you ask.

With the up and down commands, you should get to a point where the bird doesn't need a treat. At first, reward every time, then frequently, less frequently, etc. With Gabby, I phased treats out pretty quickly, but he was very young. An older, territorial bird may need to be paid in treats a bit longer. (I still gave Gabby treats when he did tricks. He really loved performing, but always did his tricks better when paid in sunflower seeds or chopped nuts. I miss him so much.)

If someone has an addendum or an idea that works better for your bird, use it. It's all about the bird.

Thanks for the advice,
I've lived with Esmi for about 10 years.(I'm currently 19 YO) My mother use to be a breeder. I use to always be afraid of taking Esmi out her cage. When I was younger I asked my parents "Why don't you guys take her out or train her?" they always came up with excuses. This past couple of months I've spent every day by her cage, playing with her and petting her through the bars. Although just this past week I've had enough and I've built up the courage and did a lot of research before hand. (which helped me take her out) and start actually working with building complete trust with her. Again she is territorial to some extent which she won't let me touch her out of the cage or inside when I try to stick my hands. (I know It's a long process and I'm willing to wait.)

due to living with her for a while I learned her favorite treat are peanuts. (Although I know about the problem with peanuts, so I'm watching as to which peanuts I give her and how many.) Also her other favorite treats are pomegranate, Oranges, and sun flower seeds.

Also, I'm very careful with her body movement, and have learned Amazon's body language before I took her out. (Just going to need more time and practice to learn it with learning her body language fully, that's progress I should make within my self. within time.
Replying to your advice about not making any progress if she is territorial, When It comes to relocating her to a different room to move her away from her turf? by what exact way do you recommend me by doing so?
I've seem people use a towel and relocate the bird that way. But I feel like doing that method will scare her, and lose her trust towards me. (Correct me if I'm wrong)

What ways do you recommend me relocating her to a different room w/o loosing her trust?

Right now, I feel like it might be best to work with her around her cage, let her accept me in, take my time with her. (Again, Correct me if I'm wrong)

Regarding getting her away from her cage: You've caught me at a time in my life when I'm re-evaluating techniques I once used. It was standard procedure to towel a bird to get it away from its cage, but like you, I'm thinking there's got to be a better way.

When Gabby became ill, I took him to Dr. Brian Speer in Oakley, CA, one of the best avian veterinarians in the world. Even though Gabby was very ill and I was terrified about what was happening to him, Dr. Speer floored me with his handling techniques. First of all, he picked up a bird that no one but me had handled in years. Then he sat down with Gabby in his lap, as if he had all the time in the world. He took the time to get Gabby used to a towel and when he thought Gabby was ready, he gently wrapped him up without actually restraining him. He created a comfortable bird burrito with the towel and opened various parts of the "tortilla" in order to examine his patient. Dr. Speer was able to do a thorough examination with much less stress than the old-fashioned toweling technique of holding a bird down forcefully. Yes, Gabby passed away the next day, but at the time of his examination, he had enough energy left to fight Dr. Speer, but he chose not to. I've never seen anything like it.

I asked Dr. Speer how I could learn this technique and he said he gave four-hour seminars to avian veterinarians on how to handle and restrain birds with less stress. I would have to learn it secondhand, but I feel it's a skill worth learning. Once I've pushed past a certain point in my mourning process (Gabby was with me for thirty and a half years), I will urge the local avian vet to attend one of those seminars. She already told me she could use my help at the clinic because I know the old-fashioned way to restrain a bird. Apparently, a person can learn this new way, but it's not as easy as it looked if it requires a four-hour seminar.

All that is to say I absolutely see your point. There's a better way to get her away from her cage, but I'm not entirely sure what that is. Perhaps someone else could chime in here?

One possibility is stick-training her, but I'd proceed with caution for both your sake and the bird's. I'll sleep on it and if no one has a better idea, maybe we can figure out a stick-training technique that will be low stress for you and your bird. Now that I know more about her, it seems cruel to force her away from the cage. She's pretty much cage-bound, isn't she? Taking her away from the cage should be done compassionately.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

I have a "stick" for Amy..it is just a small tree branch I found one day on the ground when I first got Amy...That "stick".in now as old as he is...28 years! Amy knows what it is and readily gets on it...weather it be to hang upside down while in the shower,or to be moved from her house,to another room,out to the car,wherever.

I will also advise you to do Esmi's training AWAY from her house! If she can't see it,and its not near her,she will have to depend on YOU as her perch and won't be thinking about ways to get back "home".
You know the old saying..."out of sight,out of mind!"





Jim

 

[Kiwibird]

I think it is wonderful you've taken the initiative to work with Esmi! I am curious, as she sounds like your parents or possibly a family bird, are your parents on board with her becoming your bird and moving in with you when you eventually leave home as your life moves forward, or alternatively, you're ok with simply helping bring her out of her shell? I know for as much as I loved and interacted with and adored my moms DYH nor the fact she bonded to me stronger than any other person throughout my childhood, she was never my bird nor will she ever live with me unless something happens to my parents. Always good for everyone to be on the same page up front with these things. Even if Esmi will always be a family bird, it is still a very kind thing you're doing to help her learn to trust and interact positively with humans and certainly a worthy cause

We had no option in a tiny 250-ish sq ft apartment when we adopted my amazon to get him out of sight of his cage. I guess my train of logic went that he'd need to be able to come out of his cage on command before he could do anything else, so that's what we worked on first. Then we progressed to stepping up from other places (the couch, a chair, the counter etc...). Stick training helped immensely (and even to this day, I occasionally need the stick or simply use it to keep it as part of his normal interactions). The concept of the stick is never to be a punishment, rather a safe way for both bird and human to move the bird from point a to point b at times the bird may be feeling too aggressive or timid to come straight to the hand. In the beginning, it is often a more comfortable starting point for both bird and human. Remember, riding around on a moving object (be it a hand or a stick) is not natural to a bird. It can be intimidating for us when they use their beak to balance as they learn to step up and use us for transport and scary for them if we instinctively make a jerking motion in response to that beak looking to balance coming right for our hands. The stick helps both bird and human IMO as a bit of a buffer during those awkward initial training times. Just some things to consider. I am sure, with patience and dedication, you will continue making good progress with Esmi and you'll both learn and adapt to each other along the way.

P.S.- One more thing I do is keep a piece of colorful duct tap right down the center of our stick. Kiwi stays on his side of the stick and my hand stays on mine. That's helpful when he's hormonal and liable to bite, but still needs to be transported. It is ALWAYS better to prevent a bite rather than react to one.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

I think it is wonderful you've taken the initiative to work with Esmi! I am curious, as she sounds like your parents or possibly a family bird, are your parents on board with her becoming your bird and moving in with you when you eventually leave home as your life moves forward, or alternatively, you're ok with simply helping bring her out of her shell? I know for as much as I loved and interacted with and adored my moms DYH nor the fact she bonded to me stronger than any other person throughout my childhood, she was never my bird nor will she ever live with me unless something happens to my parents. Always good for everyone to be on the same page up front with these things. Even if Esmi will always be a family bird, it is still a very kind thing you're doing to help her learn to trust and interact positively with humans and certainly a worthy cause

We had no option in a tiny 250-ish sq ft apartment when we adopted my amazon to get him out of sight of his cage. I guess my train of logic went that he'd need to be able to come out of his cage on command before he could do anything else, so that's what we worked on first. Then we progressed to stepping up from other places (the couch, a chair, the counter etc...). Stick training helped immensely (and even to this day, I occasionally need the stick or simply use it to keep it as part of his normal interactions). The concept of the stick is never to be a punishment, rather a safe way for both bird and human to move the bird from point a to point b at times the bird may be feeling too aggressive or timid to come straight to the hand. In the beginning, it is often a more comfortable starting point for both bird and human. Remember, riding around on a moving object (be it a hand or a stick) is not natural to a bird. It can be intimidating for us when they use their beak to balance as they learn to step up and use us for transport and scary for them if we instinctively make a jerking motion in response to that beak looking to balance coming right for our hands. The stick helps both bird and human IMO as a bit of a buffer during those awkward initial training times. Just some things to consider. I am sure, with patience and dedication, you will continue making good progress with Esmi and you'll both learn and adapt to each other along the way.

P.S.- One more thing I do is keep a piece of colorful duct tap right down the center of our stick. Kiwi stays on his side of the stick and my hand stays on mine. That's helpful when he's hormonal and liable to bite, but still needs to be transported. It is ALWAYS better to prevent a bite rather than react to one.

What she said!!



Jim

 

[SATxTony]

I think it is wonderful you've taken the initiative to work with Esmi! I am curious, as she sounds like your parents or possibly a family bird, are your parents on board with her becoming your bird and moving in with you when you eventually leave home as your life moves forward, or alternatively, you're ok with simply helping bring her out of her shell? I know for as much as I loved and interacted with and adored my moms DYH nor the fact she bonded to me stronger than any other person throughout my childhood, she was never my bird nor will she ever live with me unless something happens to my parents. Always good for everyone to be on the same page up front with these things. Even if Esmi will always be a family bird, it is still a very kind thing you're doing to help her learn to trust and interact positively with humans and certainly a worthy cause

We had no option in a tiny 250-ish sq ft apartment when we adopted my amazon to get him out of sight of his cage. I guess my train of logic went that he'd need to be able to come out of his cage on command before he could do anything else, so that's what we worked on first. Then we progressed to stepping up from other places (the couch, a chair, the counter etc...). Stick training helped immensely (and even to this day, I occasionally need the stick or simply use it to keep it as part of his normal interactions). The concept of the stick is never to be a punishment, rather a safe way for both bird and human to move the bird from point a to point b at times the bird may be feeling too aggressive or timid to come straight to the hand. In the beginning, it is often a more comfortable starting point for both bird and human. Remember, riding around on a moving object (be it a hand or a stick) is not natural to a bird. It can be intimidating for us when they use their beak to balance as they learn to step up and use us for transport and scary for them if we instinctively make a jerking motion in response to that beak looking to balance coming right for our hands. The stick helps both bird and human IMO as a bit of a buffer during those awkward initial training times. Just some things to consider. I am sure, with patience and dedication, you will continue making good progress with Esmi and you'll both learn and adapt to each other along the way.

P.S.- One more thing I do is keep a piece of colorful duct tap right down the center of our stick. Kiwi stays on his side of the stick and my hand stays on mine. That's helpful when he's hormonal and liable to bite, but still needs to be transported. It is ALWAYS better to prevent a bite rather than react to one.

She's a family bird, she's always been in the kitchen with us where most of the action happens. But again never outside of her cage.
My parents are okay with me taking her with me when I plan to move out. That will be in a few years after I finish getting my bachelors in Physical Therapy. Than I'll focus on moving out, we all made agreements.

My hopes are for my parents to see the bond between me and Esmi and encourage them to socialize with her as well (if Esmi is willing). If she stays as a family bird or as mine and I just continue to grow the bond between myself and Esmi. It really doesn't matter to me. As long as I know Esmi is more happy and treated the way she is supposed to be treated everything will be fine.

but anyways great! I will try using stick training. What size stick would you recommend for an Amazon? 16 in?