lenny and butch's progress! (1,382 views)

[Shelly]

so in yesterdays training session, i decided to do something different. instead of using my "scary" hand to try and make comfortable around i used a perch!! Genius ! with the millet being there he got on 3 times (!) with breaks in between. he will only get on when ha is on the left side of the cage and not the right (next to his big mirror which i am thinking about taking out). soon he will be out of the cage and more intense bonding will take place!
update:
so we had another training session and Lenny is doing great! if i wanted to get him out of the cage i could, but i thought it was still too soon . i believe he will still bond with me while using this method. and the best part is that butch got one foot on the perch!!!

[Casey]

so even if you cant interact with them by hand, you can still interact with them with perches mine have never liked this one lol good job!

[Shelly]

thanks! i cant wait. i am getting that feeling again like i had with pumble, and i just couldnt wait to come home from school and see him! i cant tell just yet which will act more like pumble did, or if they will be nothing like him

[Casey]

well all birds are different in one way or another. so who knows you may see ways they are like pumble and then find ways they are not like him

[cinnamonbits]

That's awesome...another thing to try is your fist instead of a flat palm. Its the fingers that scare birds, so if you take the fingers out of the equation the hand may not be so scary.

[Shelly]

thanks i will try that and other ways to see what he is comfortable with

[Casey]

try different treats too

have you tried buckwheat seeds as a treat? you can get them at some bulk food stores, i get them from bulk barn, the human grade roasted buckwheat

[Shelly]

didnt know birds could have them! what about oat sprays?

lennys progress that i have just copied and pasted for the other forums:

so yesterday i took lenny out of the cage. i usually do this just until he is out of the big door, then i tell him to turn around and go back. only this time i put him on the top of the cage. he flew around a little then landed on the floor. he was a little shocked at how big the world was outside of the cage. he just stood there and didnt want to get on the perch and go back. he did the same thing when he landed on the mirror, then her finally got on the perch and went back.
so the next time (which wont be for a little while) that i take him all the way out and he stops and stares for a while, should i try to get him like i did, or let him get used to the room and calm himself down?
when i first took pumble out he was scared also but i just let him do what he wanted and then i would put him back and take him out several times a day so he would get used to me. he wasnt 100% finger tame (i had to use perches for a while when getting him from some places) but he ended up to be a well trained fid. i feel like i should do the same with lenny.

give me your thoughts

[Casey]

if you feel you should train lenny the same way, then go for it. let him get used to the room first and see how he does on his own exploring it. untame birds do fine with out of cage time, my lovebirds did when they were completely untame. now theyre semi tame and they will step up alright to be put back in their cages sometimes, or i have to towel munch lol

i dont know about oat sprays, i will look into that for you

[Casey]

yes oat sprays are apparently safe.

www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4353872


i had not heard of them myself. where do you get yours? it may be a treat worth looking into for mine