Skippah has made slow progress.

[Redballoon]

Skippah has really not flourished personality wise as I had hoped.
After the trauma or the 1st wing clipping things went decidedly cool. He got right into living his whole life on top of his cage. He would be patted and groomed but would not step up or be held or restrained in any way.
We have since clipped his wing again ourselves, but each time, for days after the event, we have a peeved bird to deal with. I forced the issue and forced him into stepping up with stand over tactics ( I stood over the top of the cage so he had nowhere to go). Then the flood gates opened and he went to sitting on my shoulder as long as I dont try and walk too far away from the cage. Then a day later I wandered around the house and he held out on my shoulder till I came within sight of his cage and flew to it. Finally today I took him into the bathroom on my shoulder and let him have a steam bath while I showered. He then refused to step up when we were done, but jumped onto the floor and walked thru the house back to his cage. Now he pops over to give me advice at the pc when ever he feels like it.

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But still he has not played in any way with any toy I have given him. He still only skreeches and no words or whistles have been heard yet. He has not yet shown his happy side as far as I can see. He loves to be patted and preened and affection is abundant, but no actual noticable personality or clowning or sense of "fun" has been seen in him yet. He wont eat anything but seed, but I keep hiding it under fresh grapes and alfalfa and nuts in their shells. All get thrown to the floor in favour of the seed. On the positive side, he shows no fear of anyone or any thing. He will angry before he gets scared as far as I can see. He likes to try and run things at his speed by getting cranky if he aint in the mood for your attention or is having a gumpy sulk. he screams at the top of his lungs if the kitten looks him in a way the bird doesnt like and sends the poor thing racing outside as it knows a boot follows the skreetching noise by about 6 seconds. So the bird rules the animals of the house, and they spend all day chasing each other

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[karen]

ooh tough love.. Great to see u back we all missed u and Skippah. He looks bright and curious long time in forgiving u though.

 

[Peta]

Hey Red great to have you back again. Sippah is certainly making you suffer by the sounds of it, but seems to me you have him under control. I'm sorry that its taking such a long while for him to forgive ya.

 

[Redballoon]

To say this bird is laid back is an understatement.
Although he loves to be patted, he just is not a livewire yet.
I havent seen him get happy, silly or excited (positive excitement) about anything.
No food excites him, no toy, nothing.
he gets cranky if you push it too far and retreats to the back of the cage when he has had enough human attention. Im trying not to attach human emotions to a wild animal, but he just doesnt look happy. I swear he sits on top of his cage by choice 23 hours a day in the highest traffic area of the house. he gets touched all the time. He likes short busrts of attention, but if you push it, he gets cranky. He is never caged (his door latched open), he is never scared or lonely. I cant think of anything else to do for him.
I am open to suggestions.
Could it be I just care for a boring bird?

 

[Peta]

You may just have a bird that is happy to be with ya, as long as there's not too much touching, Hmmmmm maybe you have a grey in disguise. Bucc is happy to have all the lovin and scritches at certain times of the day then he just wants to be left alone, Kito on the other hand will sit and be scritched ALL day and night if he had his way.

Think its just trying to find a toy that he really likes before he is gonna get excited bout them. Are his toys in his cage? Does he spend much time in his cage? Just wondering as you said his cage is latched open. He seems to like the putor, maybe you should buy him his very own.

 

[Redballoon]

His toys are in the cage and on the side of the cage.He only goes into his cage to eat. Otherwise he is sitting on the top of the cage and watching everything go by or sleeping. He doesnt like stuff on the top of his cage, so he throws anything you put on top of the cage onto the floor, but only when the room is empty. We love him to death, but he is dull as dishwater. he likes the Pc coz thats where i sit and although its only 3 feet away, he pops down now and then, when he feels like it. He likes to do things at his pace and when and only if he feels like it.

 

[Peta]

Bucc was the same there, he hated anything on his playstand and would do everything he could to get rid of them, I just made sure that he had some toys out, but he still never played with them, he will play inside his cage in the evening when the door are all shut up for the night.

Would Skippah play if he was shut in his cage during the day time do ya think?

You've maybe just got a laid back bird, who is happy just to be with ya. Would he play with toys if You had them and played with him? Just some guess work now.

 

[Redballoon]

He absolutly hates being locked up.
He will not go into his cage if he thinks you plan on shutting the door, and you would be suprised how often he seems to know I am about to try and shut the door on him.
He has screaming fit if you lock him in when you are home, but he quietens down if we all go out and the house goes quiet. When you get home he goes off till you open the door of his cage. Then its up on top of the cage, a bite on the finger for locking him, and sulking for the next few hours. I tried rolling balls and soft baby toys around the top of the cage, but he gos out of his way to ignore you if you try that stuff. Then when you leave the room, he chux what ever it was onto the floor.
He is going out of his way to be a dull bird. I dont mind, but people think he is sad.

 

[Peta]

He certainly doesn't look like a sad bird to me, or behave like one, a sad bird wouldn't want to spend time with you, he would be happy to sit in his cage or somewhere alone, Personally I think you just have a bird who loves you more than his toys, and wants to spend time with you more than anything else.

He looks like a happy healthy bird to me and thats really the most important thing. Has Skippah been DNA sexed, it could be that he is a girl and sees you as his mate.

 

[Redballoon]

I dont think he is sad either, a sad git, certainly, but not sad. I havnet had him dna tested yet as I dont need the trauma of a vet visit. When there is another reason to be at the vet and need blood taken, I will do it then. Debbie think he is a girl, coz he "blushes" when Debbie pats him. (its actually just the little pink downy under feathers that he fluffs out when she pats him). He is 7 Months old now so Im not sure when pubuty will hit, and if it will make any difference.

 

[Peta]

Apparently in corellas its about 18 months old when puberty is reached for the females, so guess you should know soon Will it make a difference, well I don't know as I don't have Toos so I only know what the books say, and as we know different books say different things.

I personally don't think DNA sexing is all that important, unless you want to breed them, I haven't had the courage to take Kito for DNA sexing either, but thats more because I'm a wimp than he gets stressed.

 

[darkchi]

I am surprised that Peta didn't ask this... when Skippah is on top of the cage is he above eye level? I remember talking about this with you in the past
But to me it sounds like you have a Boss Bird LOL, remember all the problems I had with Cricket? Well she has relaxed a lot sence you last talked to us, and I think it was mostly because I should her who was the boss... even if it ment that I was going to have to go on an IV for all the blood I had lost from it
As for the seed issue, just keep on trucking... have you tried using pellets and wetting them down and then mashing them up mixed with seeds. That will let him get a taste for it and them maybe you could add less and less seed each time. Cricket likes to take her pellets and walking them to the other side of her cage, dip them in the water, then walk it back to the middle of the cage and eat it while watching whats going on in the family room. (what a toon) Have you tried diffrent fruits and veggies other than what you said. I know my little booger doesn't like the food you have mentioned (picky little brat) but she does like the exspencive kiwi and pinapple. She also like peices of chicken, beef and pork... (SPOILED!!) alright on last question, Have you been eating in front of Skippah? Once again most birds want to eat what you are eating, even if it means she has to dive bomb my fork to get it. LOL

(*Look Tex, another "male" but we still out number ya)

 

[Peta]

I am surprised that Peta didn't ask this

Ah yes but I know the answer to that already and what Red does about it.

One step ahead of ya there Chi

 

[darkchi]

Ah yes but I know the answer to that already and what Red does about it.

One step ahead of ya there Chi

damn it all
I am always one step behind... eh, just ignore me then Red

 

[Peta]

Sorry.

 

[Redballoon]

He often pops into his cage to eat when we eat, maybe coz he knows I cant shut the door of his cage from the dinner table.
Im not sure how I feel about feeding him meat or poultry.
Pellets did not go down well, he just spat them onto the floor and picked out the seeds.
his sitting on top of the cage puts him at the same height as me when I stand next to his cage. I stand on a chair when I work with him so I am well above him and can get to every corner of the top of his cage.
He will come down and sit on the top of his latched open cage door if Debbie wants to pat him, coz she cant reach the top of the cage. If she walks near him, he scuttles down to her level in case she wants to scratch his head as she goes past. I think that covers the questions you wanted answers to.

 

[darkchi]

My vet told me meat once a week is good protein... even giving him a chicken bone (they eat the marrow out of it) is good... man to hear her crunch down on a chicken bone WOW glad thats not my finger

 

[Peta]

Yeah mine love the chicken bones, I leave a bit of meat on it for them. I ask the kids to get him out afterward and they say "no way, did ya see him with that chicken bone, and you want me to put my hand in there" Well rather them than me.

 

[Redballoon]

mmmmm, well ok. I will try it, but it sounds like some kind of enforced cannibalism to me.

 

[Peta]

mmmmm, well ok. I will try it, but it sounds like some kind of enforced cannibalism to me.

Hmmmmm and you want HAWKS