Step by Step...

Georgie's flare on a step by step basis...

Step one!

Step two:

Step three:

Got some lovely Zebra Finches in and while I was snapshotting, caught a nice landing of a female Cut Throat Finch :)

Introducing: LoriTube!

Here's Olive with one of his favourite toys! He's only allowed to play with it during Playtime each day, because I can wedge it in with bowls and other big toys. I'm worried the Lorikeets would wind up squashing one another if I left it in their cage with them - no to mention the mess! So Olive typically heads straight to his tube in the mornings. Jeebie likes to play in it too, but Olive is the obsessive one :D

Step One: I have been detected! Act cute immediately!

Step Two: Cuteness in progress!

Step Three: Ohai!

The Greencheek Trio!

Got three baby Greencheeks in! Like most conure babies, they are full of beans, very cuddly, very naughty, and very cute!

Also expecting two baby Alexes next week, looking forward to that :)

Definition of...

Embarrassing... getting caught singing to a cockatoo who has come over for a cuddle! :P

'Oh... I suppose I can be friends then'

So last week, two Scaly Lorikeets sold from the four I had. All up their were four, two normals and two olives, each two from different breeders. When they all came out for playtime, they didn't have anything to do with one another, mainly because of the older pair, Heebie and Jeebie. They had one another and that was enough. The olives had been raised around other Lorikeets and mingled happily with others, but Heebie and Jeebie wouldn't have a bar of their friendliness.

So after Heebie and one of the 0lives sold, I was faced with a small dilemma. I never like to have a social bird like a lorikeets housed separately if possible, they thrive on company. But Jeebie and Olive weren't friendly with one another at all. I decided to go ahead and put them together and just observe them carefully. At first I thought it wouldn't work. The squabbled or ignored one another for a few hours... then... 'bing!' A switch was flicked and all of a sudden they were best buds. Jeebie followed Olive everywhere, they eat together, play together, wrestle together... it's great to see!

Georgie's attitude change...

Georgie's basic training for the first few days didn't go well.

I began with a basic bonding session - coming into her aviary to offer new toys, a few sunflowers, a head scratch. Each would inevitably end with a bite. I immediately cut off contact - drawing back the toy/treat, turning my back, with no eye contact, for ten seconds. She responded by immediately talking to try and get my attention and trying to climb around to 'my side' of the aviary.

After a few days of this - I'm seeing zip improvement. She's still not reliable and it snapping at me when I go for headscratches and though she responds when I turn away, trying to get me to turn back, this tact isn't working for her. I sit down and think about this. My 'punishment' is not working. Why not? Most likely answer I can come up with is that she's still getting the desired response... ie I am taking my hand away, even though that is followed up by ignoring punishment, she is still 'winning' because I take my hand back. Meaning she thinks she is in charge.

Monday, I go into her aviary with a different attitude. I don't smile and coo good morning - I march in, tell her a very businesslike and firm 'Hello, Georgie', and stick out my arm, looking directly into her eyes, and telling her calmly but insistently 'Stepup'.

Georgie grabs my hand, nips twice, throws it away. I don't back down, I stick my arm right back out. Georgie thinks about this for two seconds.

SUCCESS! I almost broke into a victory dance! And I tell you... the change in Georgie is unbelievable. With me she is now fully affectionate, stepping up, cuddling, allowing head scratches willingly - even coming up to me to ask for them - and nuzzling my face, even when sitting on a perch that was higher than my shoulder. She is accepting other girls as well - staff and customers alike. It's like she has realized and accepted where she fits into this new flock and her naughty nips have stopped.

This week, Georgie has now been enjoying all the benefits of working with staff - she comes out for playtime and walks around the store, she gets lots of toys, fruit, and attention, and she is settling in so well :) Really happy with the results here, if only every cockatoo were so easy to work with!

Playtime!

Mmm... cuttlebone!

Checking out the office!

Hey there, Georgie Girl!

Georgie has arrived! Meet the big gorgeous girl:

The bad news - she's what I call a 'guy's bird'. She's great when men go to handle her, they can pick her up and pat her and cuddle her and she's just flirt flirt flirt, but she's exceptionally intolerant and moderately aggressive with women. I've been working with her, trying to imprint in some basic manners. So far a head scratch and handing her something - a toy, a sunflower - is fine. But a stepup... still working on that.

Speaking of sunflowers, she is a very tubby girl (See the last photo on her belly, where the feathers part along her belly? That is the excess weight she is carrying!) and I would ban them entirely from her diet if I thought she would cope at all - which I don't think she would, she's just pitch a fit that would never end! So instead it's rationed sunflowers, and LOTS of fresh fruit and veg. From tomorrow I'm going to remove her seed for two hours to encourage immediate fruit/veg eating, and hopefully soon I'll be able to take her from her cage for playtime (instead of asking one of the boys to come get her out of her for me...!) and get some exercise happening :D

I doubt she's going to be with the store long though - she's the most outstanding talker and dancer and knows just how to wow an audience, somebody will fall in love with her sooner rather than later I suspect. Which sometimes is a shame, although I want to see all my kids go to a good home, I enjoy a challenge to work with and I would love to see if I could make a change in her anti-female habits and her diet!

Ah well, time will tell, and in the meantime - there are birdie salads to chop up, and photos to take :)