RE: new to the bird world

[OneHorseRanch]

RE: new to the bird world

Hi All, As you can see by my user name I'm more of a horse person. My daughter saved up all year to purchase a green cheek. Sheldon became more attached to me, so I bought the bird from her. I should have register with this site earlier, but here I am needed some help. I'm sure I'll learn a lot from the seasoned bird owners. Here's my issue: SHeldon is about 8 months now and summer is coming on. My concern is if he can handle the ceiling fan being on. I've read that drafty rooms are no good, but would a ceiling fan be any different?

Thank you. 1HR

 

[Kiwibird]

Re: new to the bird world

Hello and welcome to the forum. Unfortunately, the situation you find yourself in with Sheldon (being more bonded to you) is quite common. Parrots tend to take to one person, many times not the one who was hoping for a little feathered friend. The good news is, while you can't force Sheldon to love your daughter, as her parent, you CAN make sure she works with him each and every day to build a better relationship. How old is your daughter? If she is old enough to be left unsupervised with him, perhaps have her start doing one on one interaction for an hour after school? If she is too young for unsupervised time, then just kind of stay in the wings and guide her if necessary. I suggest looking at the 'parrot wizard videos with your daughter on youtube, which introduce some good concepts to help her work with Sheldon. She may never be his 'favorite', but with trust-building activities, he will soon become trusting, confident and friendly with her Since he is her bird, if she isn't already, she should also be feeding him and take over any activities he mosts enjoys (baths, hanging new toys, hiding treats for foraging ext...) so he associates her with positive things. I guess she should also be doing the less pleasant task like cleaning the cage too, so she learns responsibility for her pet.

In regards to the ceiling fan, if he is LOCKED IN HIS CAGE, and not placed directly under it or anything, there probably won't be an issue (assuming you aren't running the a/c in conjunct with the fan?). However, if he is out, the fan should be OFF and completely stopped until he is safely back in his cage. Regardless if a bird is flighted or clipped, ceiling fans are a serious danger to them and should never be on when the bird is out of it's cage.

Best of luck with Sheldon.

 

[MonicaMc]

Re: new to the bird world

Welcome to the forum!


If you want training suggestions, I would recommend Barbara Heidenreich, Lara Joseph, Susan Friedman, Karen Pryor and Melinda Johnson over Bird Tricks or The Parrot Wizard.



I agree though, ceiling fans are fine as long as the birds are locked up while it's on. If you want to have him out while it's on, then you need to make the ceiling fan safe while he's out. (put a cage or something around it, or look into a fan-less ceiling fan - I imagine these might be expensive!)

 

[Terry57]

Re: new to the bird world

Hello and welcome!
I agree with Kiwibird and Monica about the ceiling fan, they can be quite dangerous if your bird is out of it's cage. I run one in my small bird room where they stay in their aviaries and it helps keep the air moving in there in the summer
I would love to see pictures of Sheldon!
So glad you joined us!

 

[antoinette]

Re: new to the bird world

Hi and welcome
Sheldon would be fine out of his cage if the fan was off whilst out, but please remember to turn it off.
Looking forward to seeing pic's of Sheldon

 

[RavensGryf]

Re: new to the bird world

Welcome! If the room is just simply 'drafty' from a window, or a fan it's fine. They do get breeze and wind outdoors after all .

If the draft is REAL COLD it should be avoided. Temp drop no more than 15 degrees in 24 hrs is recommended. The other day when we were having a hear wave, 100+ fahrenheit... It was HOT in the house when my husband got home. He blasted the air conditioner at 65f degrees in effort to cool our house enough before bed time. Right in the same room with the birds (!) blasting freezing air. It was MUCH more than 15 degree drop believe me! It was that way for a couple hours before I found out and moved the birds.
My point of telling this is, it didn't make them sick, but it could if it was done all the time. If a bird is healthy and strong, they're really pretty hardy, but common sense does need to be used, as still they are delicate

I agree with the safety precautions of the ceiling fan.

 

[OneHorseRanch]

Re: new to the bird world

Thank you so much everyone for the input. I do have a smaller cage I plan on using for the front porch when we're home. My husband does have the tendency to run the ac on COLD to cool the house down quickly, but so far we haven't had the need to run it yet. I'll let him know that its just not a good idea. SHeldons wings are clipped so there is no fear of him flying into the fan. We would have it on low anyway. I'lll post pics when I have a bit more time.

 

[Sterling1113]

Re: new to the bird world

Hello, and welcome!

I'd just like to add that my birds are clipped, one of them does laps in the apartment, one of them actually purposely flies to land on the ceiling fan, and the last usually doesn't go for the fan but I'm sure he could if he really wanted.

Just because a bird is clipped doesn't mean they can't fly, especially if they go outside where there's wind.

 

[Kiwibird]

Re: new to the bird world

Sterling is right. Clipped birds cannot fly as far, get as much lift or have as much control as a flighted bird, but that doesn't mean their wings don't work somewhat. A clipped bird can still fly enough to get itself in to trouble, and it would still be advisable not to have Sheldon out when the fan is on.

I do understand unbearable summers (used to live in Arizona), but when Sheldon is out, I would suggest using the AC instead of the fan if you have it. Around 70-85 is a 'comfortable' range of summer temps for parrots.

 

[OneHorseRanch]

Re: new to the bird world

good to know about the fans, Ac, and clipped wings. And to answer one of the previous posts, My daughter is 12 years old and just loves Sheldon to pieces. She really tries hard and is doing better with him than before. Thanks All for the advise.

 

[Kiwibird]

Re: new to the bird world

Her persistance WILL pay off and try to make sure if she is ever feeling 'hopeless' about him, to reminder her of all the progress she has made (no matter how small it is, play it up). I know that sometimes children can be impatient, but with your support and guidance, I think she can form a wonderful bond with her bird.

I remember my mom was *unrelenting* with my first pet (a leopard gecko). More on me feeding and cleaning him as he isn't much of an 'interactive' animal like a bird is, but he is hand tamed too. Until I no longer had to be reminded, she made sure I was taking good care of him, but never took care of him herself (she was actually always a little squeamish of him and his food). As an adult, married woman, I still have Leo 18 years later. Having a pet as a child taught me a great deal of responsibility, that when you get an animal you assume it's lifelong care (even when it lives MUCH longer than expected) and my mom 'guided' me by teaching and giving me the tools to care for the little creature myself. Hope your daughter has a long and happy relationship with Sheldon, and 18 years down the line still has him too!