Hey guys!
I came home with a pair of fids last night; two alexandrine to be exact! They are a breeding pair, the female being approximately 10 years old and the male is suspected to be around 5. All I really know about them is that the previous owner got them from someone across the country and had them shipped to his city. The female can say a few words, imitates an alarm and can step up, however she “randomly” bites and was thus labelled aggressive. The male however is “wild” (the previous owner called him wild but apparently he just says so because the male is very afraid of people. It is unclear whether or not this is true). He also does this weird figure eight thing with his head which I read in one of the old threads means he may have a neurological problem? He has a silver band around his leg which I have not been able to analyze while the female is unbanded. We suspect the female was once a pet before she became a breeder as she knows how to step up and can say a few words.
To be completely honest, I was sort of inwardly shocked at how the man treated the two and can see why they are not tame. Firstly, pair was kept in the basement with the company of his finches so I don’t know how much human interaction they really got. Secondly, he got the girl to step up but she bit him, he promptly shook his hand, throwing her to the bottom of the cage. Thankfully, she is flighted and managed to avoid injury. When it was male’s turn however, he used on gloves to grab him, making me realize why he is so scared of people. Hopefully, the duo will be able to get over their past experiences and learn to trust me, at least a little bit.
I am slightly unprepared (lack of perches) however it was a now or never situation and my heart just couldn’t see them go to someone else who may not have known how to take care of them. Long story short, I made the three and a half hour drive to pick them up, came home around 10 last night, set up their cage and called it day. They came with no perches (this is the unprepared part) so I improvised with the one dowel I had and some sisal rope to secure it. I put in one toy I had on hand for them and have a large order of new perches on the way.
They were on the Zupreem fruity blend thing (which I wish to gradually replace with Tropican because I don’t like the amount of dyes in their food), a seed mix (mostly sunflower and pumpkin seeds, which I did not offer once we got home), and CHOP!! I was surprised they were offered chop (though it was mostly fruits and no veggies) but it is chop nonetheless! This morning, I managed to hand feed (well, with chopsticks) carrots to the female!! She chewed some bell peppers and romaine lettuce but decided she didn’t like them and refused any further offers. The male was too scared to come anywhere near me so I dropped one of each in his food bowl and discovered that he loves lettuce! He did however leave the other two veggies but oh well, he ate something!
I don’t know if it’s just me but so think even just the one toy has been good for his figure eight habit as he seems to be doing it a lot slower than yesterday, when he was at his previous home. Hopefully, he’ll come around eventually.
I’m probably going to post some of my questions and stuff in more specific sub forums but I want to keep this thread as a journal to track their progress and get feedback from you guys, regarding their care and how I can further enrich their lives. My goal is to tame the duo (not necessarily “cuddly velcro” tame but more so “not deathly afraid of me and can reliably step up if need be” tame.
Thanks in advance guys and wish me luck!
I came home with a pair of fids last night; two alexandrine to be exact! They are a breeding pair, the female being approximately 10 years old and the male is suspected to be around 5. All I really know about them is that the previous owner got them from someone across the country and had them shipped to his city. The female can say a few words, imitates an alarm and can step up, however she “randomly” bites and was thus labelled aggressive. The male however is “wild” (the previous owner called him wild but apparently he just says so because the male is very afraid of people. It is unclear whether or not this is true). He also does this weird figure eight thing with his head which I read in one of the old threads means he may have a neurological problem? He has a silver band around his leg which I have not been able to analyze while the female is unbanded. We suspect the female was once a pet before she became a breeder as she knows how to step up and can say a few words.
To be completely honest, I was sort of inwardly shocked at how the man treated the two and can see why they are not tame. Firstly, pair was kept in the basement with the company of his finches so I don’t know how much human interaction they really got. Secondly, he got the girl to step up but she bit him, he promptly shook his hand, throwing her to the bottom of the cage. Thankfully, she is flighted and managed to avoid injury. When it was male’s turn however, he used on gloves to grab him, making me realize why he is so scared of people. Hopefully, the duo will be able to get over their past experiences and learn to trust me, at least a little bit.
I am slightly unprepared (lack of perches) however it was a now or never situation and my heart just couldn’t see them go to someone else who may not have known how to take care of them. Long story short, I made the three and a half hour drive to pick them up, came home around 10 last night, set up their cage and called it day. They came with no perches (this is the unprepared part) so I improvised with the one dowel I had and some sisal rope to secure it. I put in one toy I had on hand for them and have a large order of new perches on the way.
They were on the Zupreem fruity blend thing (which I wish to gradually replace with Tropican because I don’t like the amount of dyes in their food), a seed mix (mostly sunflower and pumpkin seeds, which I did not offer once we got home), and CHOP!! I was surprised they were offered chop (though it was mostly fruits and no veggies) but it is chop nonetheless! This morning, I managed to hand feed (well, with chopsticks) carrots to the female!! She chewed some bell peppers and romaine lettuce but decided she didn’t like them and refused any further offers. The male was too scared to come anywhere near me so I dropped one of each in his food bowl and discovered that he loves lettuce! He did however leave the other two veggies but oh well, he ate something!
I don’t know if it’s just me but so think even just the one toy has been good for his figure eight habit as he seems to be doing it a lot slower than yesterday, when he was at his previous home. Hopefully, he’ll come around eventually.
I’m probably going to post some of my questions and stuff in more specific sub forums but I want to keep this thread as a journal to track their progress and get feedback from you guys, regarding their care and how I can further enrich their lives. My goal is to tame the duo (not necessarily “cuddly velcro” tame but more so “not deathly afraid of me and can reliably step up if need be” tame.
Thanks in advance guys and wish me luck!