Tough love

[Brittany0208]

Figured out a solution to encourage Java to move around and possibly explore his cage: put him on the opposite side of the cage.
He's obsessed with his platform, so I put him on the bottom of the cage and he scrambled to the other side.
Now he's chirping at me to return him to his platform. Nope! If he wants to get over there, he'll have to either fly or crawl.
He sounds pitiful, but it's for his own good. He needs to move around. So I'll probably do this once a day until he isn't afraid of leaving his platform/sleep perch. I'm hoping he'll see the cage as a pleasant place, and that he'll utilize its entirety instead of sitting in one spot all day.

 

[d_msparkles]

Oh, his cage and his little face are both so darn cute!!

 

[Brittany0208]

Oh, his cage and his little face are both so darn cute!!

Thank you

 

[Hankmacaw]

Java says, "Mom, I'm calling jump and serve me."

 

[Brittany0208]

Java says, "Mom, I'm calling jump and serve me."

Not a chance. Now he's licking the bars lol if he doesn't move on his own, he'll end up sleeping right where he is. I intend to do this regularly until he isn't afraid of his cage, then I'll start putting his food bowl around the cage so he'll have to go to the bottom of the cage to eat

 

[SandraK]

You have to admit, they're downright stubborn when they don't want to do something. You can lead a horse to water but in a parrot's case you'll have to "drown" it before it drinks anything. Sheer stubbornness and pure determination.

 

[Brittany0208]

You have to admit, they're downright stubborn when they don't want to do something. You can lead a horse to water but in a parrot's case you'll have to "drown" it before it drinks anything. Sheer stubbornness and pure determination.

Absolutely! Lol I give him pine nuts or a few slivers of almond before bed, and once he saw the packet of pine nuts, I had his undivided attention. He perched, took the pine nuts then waited until I closed the cage doors before shuffling to his sleep perch.
He struggled a bit to climb over his bowl but he did it. Then once he was on his sleep perch, he started beak grinding and cleaning himself as I covered him up and told him good night. He's such a little turd.

 

[Feather]

A little tough love never hurt anyone. You can do it, Java! We're all cheering you on.

 

[Shezbug]

Good for you! I think it will do him the world of good to realize how much he is capable of when he puts his mind to it or wants something bad enough that he moves out of his comfort zone to get it.
I totally understand it will be hard for you to watch and it may even break your heart a little but once he figures out he can do it and he wont get harmed in the process his confidence in his own abilities should grow and that will be a massive reward for all your hard work and patience.....for you both.

He does look so cute there in that picture though (as always)

 

[SandraK]

Java's like that toddler who knows how to talk but prefers to stretch out his arm and do that open and close hand movement (while grunting) because then an adult will fetch the toy or give him the cookie even though he could do it himself.

But Java has such a cute face - it would be hard to say "no".

 

[Brittany0208]

Java's like that toddler who knows how to talk but prefers to stretch out his arm and do that open and close hand movement (while grunting) because then an adult will fetch the toy or give him the cookie even though he could do it himself.

But Java has such a cute face - it would be hard to say "no".

It's so hard not to baby him, but now that I'm really starting to see his personality and understand his defiance, he won't be pitied if he doesn't want to do something lol

 

[Brittany0208]

I've also learned that when he has a toy and i try to take it, he gives me a firm nip but it's not aggressive. Before, i would stop engaging him because i thought he was being aggressive, but recently i still engage him and i find that he actually likes keeping the toy away from me.
He'll throw a plastic pacifier for me to give back to him, but then when I try to take it, he pulls it further into his mouth and nips me. Then he goes back to throwing it and me picking it up for him. We're both learning

 

[metalstitcher]

Good for you putting your foot down. They are so stubborn it's just crazy. Like @SandraK said they have some serious will power when they don't want to do something.

I am so looking forward to see how this all goes with him having to actually do it on his own instead of calling for his human lol.