Treys macaw rescue attempt - intro

[Birdman666]

I'm curious. Have you tried any "lap time" with this bird yet?

That's the favorite birdie bonding thing at my place...

I guess I worked with the biters so long down at the rescue that the prospect of getting bitten never really bothered me.

But the more you handle them, the more quickly they bond.

I started handling Maggie about ten minutes after she got here. Careful touching started after handling her for ten minutes.

Four days later... she was my baby! From complete stranger to bonded shoulder bird in four days. Been that way ever since...

I always felt like sooner is better.

The more tentative you are, the more tentative they get.

The more confident you handle them, the more confident they get.

Especially if this bird festered at the last house, and was handled a lot by the former owner. (She probably misses that, and this too might be a plucking trigger.)

Anyway... that's just me. I pretty much always jumped in with both feet if the bird would allow me to handle it.

And "the biters" didn't bite me, for some reason. I'm thinking there's a connection...

 

[Tgsplano]

There have been changes. On a good note, the plucking doesn't seem worse if that is what the patch is. On a bad note, Chloe is acting like she wants to bite me more and more and will not step up as often. She hasn't actually bit me yet but she had grabbed my finger once when she didn't want what I had in my hand. The pressure was enough that much more would have hurt but she has only done that once.
Sitting with her wasn't comfortable for either of us and I couldn't figure out how to get her off my hand that way. She doesn't let me touch her right now.
We had a fun time yesterday and made the most noise thus far. She was in her cage but she was so wound up I didn't let her out because she was SOOOO different than normal and I couldn't wind her back down. She definitely wanted attention. This started when the sun started to set. She sometimes does something that sounds like a loud whisper of "hi". Her eyes pin really small when she makes the sound. I repeated it back and rocked back and forth with her. This seems to be what wound her up. She does this sound daily but I've never repeated. I'm not sure it's her imitating because her eyes don't pin that small when she actually talks. I searched forums but I can't find any indication what this is. Afterward she was all over the cage, hanging by her beak (many many times and screeched if I left the cage). I still left when I was done because I understand I should choose when we interact, not her.
I had company coming over or I would have opened the door. I'm not sure how that would have gone because she was soooo excited it wasn't clear if we were having fun or agitated. She was uninterested in food the entire time - unusual. When company appeared she calmed completely down again and was mimicing.
Any idea what whispering hi means?

 

[Birdman666]

My GW mac does this exact same game. And she'll whisper to me, and I'll whisper back, then she'll turn to my daughter, and whisper, then back to me, and I'll whisper back....

And then occasionally after 4-5 whispers, it will be a really loud "HI!" With a loud HI back. Then immediately back to a whisper...

It's a game.

 

[Tgsplano]

I figure it's about time for an update. I've had a family emergency and ended up away from home most of last weekend. All seemed well with strangers feeding Chloe. I came back with my mother in a wheelchair (temporarily). I could tell she missed attention but she didn't hold it against me.

I haven't been taking chloe away from her cage and to her stand like I was, because I know she has chased people in the past. But we are still progressing well. I cannot take her from her cage without a stick, but I am able to scratch her head daily when she is in the mood. Knowing when that mood is seems like a test of faith. I am SOOOO going to get bit one day. She clicks at me and whispers at me when I'm scratching her head. I click and whisper back but I can't tell what she is saying. She has MANY pin feathers so I think they may be the issue but I never know when she is going to bite at me. She doesn't like me to touch any further back than her head and I can't touch the beak yet. She hasn't caught me yet so I have no idea what will happen when she does. I can scratch her head in the cage and on top of the cage. I think I could probably do it though the bars but I feel more in control through the door.

We are still having new moments often. Like when I offered some canned chicken meat and she said "wanna bite?" I have no idea what all she says so each new phrase is fun to hear.

She hadn't been bad about screaming but WOW she can yell loud. She does it out of the blue sometimes and my knees get weak if it's in my face.

Another funny thing is that she shakes her head no anytime I offer food that she isn't going to accept. She either takes what is in my hand or shakes her head no.

Anyway, we still are doing well. She is just more difficult to work with around her cage.

 

[Christinenc2000]

Mine did the HI LOUD thing and yes the eye's pin but , at least in my opinion anytime he yells the eyes will go BIG and small just once. I have only seen what I think is true pinning once. His eyes went INSANE large small about 5 x . It was because of a Pelican he could see outside
I think the large HI comes from people not understanding the poor creatures can hear. I had a friend come over and in a LOUD voice kept saying HI . I finally told her Jill listen he can hear just fine stop yelling .
From then on when he would do the LOUD Hi I would say hello and wave. He is now doing that. Still get a Hi once in a while but not often. Now we just have to work on the Shut the %&% Up. But he only tells that to my BF so I am in no rush to beak that LOL They are very very smart. If you let them know one thing irritates you they will keep doing it. I would Ignore the Shut up but BF would talk back to him and well its a game with them now LOL and no BF does not reinforce the (&^( part of it

 

[Tgsplano]

Update - we are one month in and things are progressing still. So far chloe has not chased anyone. She hasn't allowed any strangers to touch her either. She will take food from them if they hang around long enough for her to relax.

I can pick her up pretty much when I want to now. She is a little fussy but by accident I bumped the cage and she immediately gave a sign I could pick her up. Now I offer to pick her up and if she rejects me, I bump what she is on lightly and she raises her foot. I can pretty much pet the top of her head anytime also. She asks for it often but she doesn't care for it much over 30 seconds at a time or she nips at me. Although she bites at me, she is mostly bumping me with the top of her beak. I've been leaving me hand there and saying no softly. She has lots of pin feathers so I haven't been trying to go down her nape yet. I do pet her head while holding her too. I tried to pull her close to cuddle, but she didn't seem to like that just yet.

 

[veruka1973]

just wanted to chime in on the part where you said you were taking her out of the cage with a hand held perch, our 15 year old african grey will only let my husband touch his cage or pick him up from it, everyone else has to get him out with a perch, this is his cage only, we can all pick him up from the playstand with just our hands. once he is away from his cage he is perfectly calm, but for whatever reason only my husband can mess with his cage and he doesn't mind.
Our DYH amazon will only let me pick him up by h and from his cage top....and there are times like when it is time for bed and he must go inside that even then I have to use a perch, they can be really odd sometimes and do things that really don't make a lot of sense, I just stick with what works for them....hey if it makes them feel better about things for me to use a perch sometimes instead of my hand i do it....may not make much sense to me but hey I'm just the silly human

 

[Tgsplano]

Hi everyone. It's been about a month and a half since chloe joined my household. My dog pretty much ignored her but checks around her cage for dropped food. She pretty much ignores him too but she does watch him when he walks by. She does well with company and no big issues.

Here is where we are at. I can pet her head anytime I want. She takes food by hand (if she wants it). She allows me to pick her up in and on her cage when it is time to change rooms. Late evening she will let me take her from the stand to go back. Other times she needs encouragement. I can pet to her nape but no further. I can pet to her nostrils but not her beak. I cannot touch her tail. Tug of war isn't working well yet but I keep trying.

I have sat with my leg draped over the side of my arm chair and let her stand on my leg. That went pretty well and she bobbed and such with me. She didn't come real close to me while we did that but she didn't seem to mind.

I've been trying to get her to flap on command. I'm not sure if we are making progress with the on command part. But she enjoys the sessions.

My question is what should we do next? When petting, I've been trying to inch further bit by bit. I've never had a bird that wouldn't allow me to touch further at least some of the time. I've tried to touch her tail as I past each time to get her used to it. But I can't tell that is working. Any other ideas what I should be doing or just keep on what I'm doing. For what it's worth, I think she does like being here. And she bites at me less.

 

[Sicilysangel]

I'm excited for you! I went from only having experience woth love birds and cockatiels to a special needs blue n gold. You have to start somewhere.