The 5 minute bluffer???

[pattiB]

We've had Gracie Bleu (female,13 weeks old) now about 3 days. This morning when I began talking to her at her cage she began her lunging at me. BUT I stood my ground! Once she figured out I had treats, and was calm, and wasn't going to play her game, she calmed down. Next thing you knew I had her out of the cage onto a parrot stand. Then on my finger and stepping up. I wore her out with step ups I think. She did try a few times to bite on my finger. I was told by the breeder that she does understand the word "NO" in a firm voice. And she seemed to stop.
She was then returned to her stand, given some extra treats. I let her be a while. Then went to the stand and asked her "step up". She did again and again. Yay! and is now sleeping and content. How'd I do? Boy I want to not make ANY mistakes with her! So was that what I should have expected? Will there be more? (I'm sure there will huh?) The breeder I got her from said that around day 2/3 she will realize she's not in her normal home, for good. And will wonder where they are? And then will try this. Well, she did.
I have another question. He, the breeder, told me that she should definately be away from her cage and on her stand for the entire day. Do you guys do that too? I'd like to set her up where she has her cage open with her stand near. And she can go in and out as she wishes. She was taught to stay on the stand, as her daytime home. Should I continue this? If it were me, I'd like to have a spot to go in and chill. Like, take a nap, inside and secure feeling. ? Am I off on that? Right now she seems content on this stand, sleeping away. Out in the open! I'd love to input on this. Thanks

[MissK]

Rocky lives in his large cage all the time unless I am there to supervise him out. He does come out every day.

[InTheAir]

Don't get too worried about making mistakes! We have made plenty while training Nila and he's forgiven us when we corrected our behaviour. Just keep learning as much as you can, especially on positive reinforcement and Gracie will be fine.
I take it your bird must be clipped?
I wouldn't leave a bird loose when I'm not around to watch it either. They are mischief magnets!
Make sure she has lots of different sized perches to climb around on and lots to do. Ellie electrons has made a great thread on foraging somewhere on here, a search should bring it up.

[pattiB]

Thanks guys. Yes she has different size perches. I'll get more as time goes by though. She actually made her first sounds about 30 minutes ago! Little chirps! and even that kiss kiss sound they make. She squabbled a little bit too. I think she heard the microwave, which indicates that water has been warmed for her bisquit and it's coming. She ate it from my hand while still inside her cage. We will let her out once more before bedtime. I'm feeling a bit more at ease. My heart seems to race while getting ready to try things with her but I Do NOT let her know. That's hard! lol I've bought some things for making foraging toys. Just need to get to it!

[MissK]

Y'know, the more I think about this, the more I just have to put my oar in.

I believe that you do a disservice to the bird to allow it out all the time. If life situations arise in such a way that the bird must be caged for safety, a bird who has never learned to be happy and independent in the cage could be seriously handicapped.

Examples: Someone not bird compatible comes to the home. You have a party. One single house guest is not on board with keeping the doors and windows monitored. Work being done in the home. You must be away (help a friend, ill yourself, vacation, wedding, use your imagination) and you cannot really, REALLY trust your bird sitter OR the bird must be boarded. You are home but not yourself (got the flu, really consuming project, broke your leg, use your imagination). Bird learns to destroy the home or endanger herself. Bird must be rehomed and ends up more conventionally caged and can't cope. Life happens.

Any of those or related situations could make it necessary for the bird to be caged, possibly for days or weeks. How would sweet Gracie Bleu handle it if she is never called upon to practice the skill of living in a cage?

Let me put it to you another way. There is, right now, a parrot in need of a new home. I am shopping for just such a parrot. It may or may not have some issues that are troubling it right now, and I am certain it's circumstance could be greatly improved in coming to live at my house. But I won't take it. Why? It's never spent a day in a cage. For everyone's safety, I can't have a free-roaming bird here. The result is that the bird needs me, and I would most likely take it, but for this one issue. Who knows where it will end up now, but it will probably involve a cage. Here is another thread where I yap on and on about caging the bird, and some other people get to have opinions, too. http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... =3&t=17270 IRNs live a long time. Can you guarantee that Gracie will never encounter a circumstance where she must tolerate a cage? You cannot. You owe it to her to prepare her for that day by letting her practice that life skill frequently.

[pattiB]

Thank you MissK! I totally feel this way also. I want her to have a routine of in AND out of her cage. I will need to put her back for a number of reasons during the day. BUT I will love to have her out and with me too. I know birds love routine. I hope and will do my very best to have a routine of in and out and hopefully she will handle it well. We didn't take her back out this evening. It was getting late and we were busy with some things. Hubby got home late. Other stuff too. So she was just fine and happy inside her cage from 3 till she settled in for the night. That felt good to know she could do that. I'll keep reading her. But again, I do totally understand your point of view. She will have to be in her cage sometimes, for hours, while we do some things. BUT she will always be let out each day. And given tons of attention. I cannot wait till she is really settled down and I can begin clicker training and other stuff. I'm in LOVE! So is my hubby! So is my daughter, though she's not yet in a place to handle Gracie. We will be working on that. Thanks again for the advice and answers.

[MissK]

Hey, routine is good, but I also don't think you should get her stuck in a strict regiment. You know, always out of the cage at 6pm except sometimes you can't be home at 6...... Flexibility is good, and inflexibility is frequently the source of unhappiness. You'll have a lot to work out to your taste, and can only really work through it hands on. Just remember Moderation.

[pattiB]

I must be researching wayyyy to much! lol I need to ease up a bit. Thanks

[Dixie-1]

I must be researching wayyyy to much! lol I need to ease up a bit. Thanks

I can understand that feeling, guess you sometimes have to take your lifestyle into account and decide if you want to change it or let your bird adapt to it. We open the cage door in the morning and Quinn is out and about all day in and out as it suits he/she.If we are going somewhere he goes in his cage that simple. Now that we are used to each other, I think he knows we leave, but we always come back,and seems comfortable with that.

As far as where he plays he is all over his cage and little playground and us lol but there are places he cant go,and things he cant do and a firm NO seems to do the trick for us. Each bird and person is an individual and needs to do what works for them I guess.

[pattiB]

I must be researching wayyyy to much! lol I need to ease up a bit. Thanks

I can understand that feeling, guess you sometimes have to take your lifestyle into account and decide if you want to change it or let your bird adapt to it. We open the cage door in the morning and Quinn is out and about all day in and out as it suits he/she.If we are going somewhere he goes in his cage that simple. Now that we are used to each other, I think he knows we leave, but we always come back,and seems comfortable with that.

As far as where he plays he is all over his cage and little playground and us lol but there are places he cant go,and things he cant do and a firm NO seems to do the trick for us. Each bird and person is an individual and needs to do what works for them I guess.

Thank you....

[Little Buttercup]

My birds have a bird room to themselves, but they do spend time in the cage as well. Most of the time they are out in their room and in the warm weather half the day they spend time outdoors in cages. If I have to go on a long holiday then they will have to be boarded.

Ash

[Skyes_crew]

I wrote this great post to last night and my iPad ate it lol.

Basically what it said was... I train for independence in my birds. Like others have said, you never know what situations will arise and you have to be prepared for anything especially when keeping flighted birds. You can let Gracie out for approximate lengths of time, but switch up when they occur. Don't let her become accustomed to a standard routine. Otherwise if you have to break that routine, she may become resentful and out come the bad behaviors. Don't let her stay on one play stand all day otherwise she will become routinely defensive of it and training her to return to her cage will be hard. Although its tempting lol, refrain from spending all of your time handling her and playing with her. Otherwise you will have a clingy bird on your hands. Let her have the freedom to play and explore on her own for awhile. Always treat the behaviors you like now. It reinforces the good behavior. Turn your back on the not so good behavior. She will test you breeders mean well when they give instructions to buyers. They basically don't want to think of their babies stuck in a cage all day long. So they go to the extreme to ensure a better situation in their minds. I try to be realistic, but you can ask my friends about the 50 page manual joke they have about me

You are doing a great job with Gracie. Just relax and enjoy her. And remember that anytime you have a question, you can use the search tool at the top of the page. It's probably been asked before and the answers are right at your fingertips

[pattiB]

Thank you! I do need to relax more. It's the perfectionist in me that is harder to handle then the bird! I've been working on that for umpteen years. I've gotten better. It's just I want her to be the happiest, healthiest and all those things. She's starting to make the cutest sounds. But every once in a while there's a screechy sound. We are ignoring that one! It's probably that morning and eve bird call? right?

[Skyes_crew]

She's testing her sounds you can mold some of them like her contact call. Give a whistle to her every morning when you wake her. Before you know it, she will be returning it.

[MissK]

Patti,

1) Perfectionist? We don't have any of THOSE here........


2) Having a nice whistle contact call to share is great, AND makes a fun party trick. I had an out of town guest here, meeting Rocky for the first time:

He whistled the first half of our contact call.
I whistled the second half.
He whistled the first.
I whistled the second.
Him the first.
Me the second.
Him the first.
Me the first, too.
Pause. Pause.
Him the second.

It broke her up. Honestly, I think she was questioning my sanity in keeping the bird up to that point. And I know she's gone home to tell half of California about it by now.