Monday
Screaming/Calling
So much screaming! So much noise. So much stress climbing/swinging/head swinging.
Nothing really helps. Us being nearby doesn't make her feel better. She is 100% unbearable when we leave her in the bedroom. If her cage is in the living room, she is better - maybe 40% unbearable. Earplugs are mandatory.
She is fine when out on the porch with the conure.
Diet
I am now mixing in an incredible amount of powdered pellets into her sweet potatoes. She gets her sweet potato balls served at some point in the mid/late day along with some veggie pieces - bell pepper, sugar snap peas, broccoli and carrot.
Training
Her target training is coming along GREAT! She has willingly targeted onto the perches multiple times.
PM - She allowed us to start working on target training with my hand in the picture. I have offered it to her when she is perched and clicked for her walking toward me. On 4 or 5 occasions, she lifted a foot and placed it on my hand. I also got mouthed pretty hard 1-2 times as she got over-excited.
She VERY WILLINGLY reengages when I back off (which I do if she moves away from my hand). I need to be better about stopping before she backs off.
Cage Behavior
Her door is open all the time and she doesn't want to come out.
Wednesday
Screaming/Calling
Her screaming is reduced with the top seed tray in place, but the head swinging/clinging is unchanged. She settles around midday.
Training/Handling
There have been other, really awesome improvements. She allows my hands in the cage. She wants to nibble on my fingers and taste/tug on my skin. I've been allowing this, because it feels positive to have her happy with fingers. But it's a little unnerving when she clasps my finger and won't let it go.
I even (kind of?) got her to step up. She loves to hold onto my finger and explore my hand with her mouth. She doesn't give it back very readily though, even with a snack, and she also doesn't seem to want to put her other foot on it. [All of this has gone on with her in the cage, because she does not want to come out.] Last night, she somehow ended up crouched on my hand. I immediately offered her a step down because I didn't want her to lose her balance while moving her. She stepped down with one foot and reengaged the nibble-that-hand game. It was only with a bright, cheerful, and somewhat loud, "Okay, all done!" that I got my hand back.
Cage Behavior
She played with a foot toy! And she is frequently checking her foraging toys for snacks. Her general phobia of things is much reduced.
Bea on rope perch, figuring out how to get the corn out of the toy.
She is using the perches to get around, but it is still only 10-15% of the time. The rest of the time, she climbs. I'd really like to get her using them more because I want to make sure her feet are getting exposure to a variety of diameters and textures.
Diet
We've convinced her to eat her dinner at the bottom of the cage. This has reduced the amount of food that gets wasted with trying to eat while clinging to the side of the cage. Note: She does not stay down there. She gets one ball at a time and brings it back up to her perch.
Her sweet potato dinner balls are now very heavily 'powdered' with her Harrison's pellets. She is still eating them!
Thursday
Training
I do not want to blindly believe that all Amazons are biters, that they can't be step-up trained, and that I'll need to stick train her. I want to give her the chance to demonstrate who she is. That said, we will work on both hand contact and stick contact. If it ends turns out that it has to be stick-only, then we'll do that.
I worked with her for a few short sessions during the day. Unlike some of my other sessions, I put the dog away, I made sure the house was quiet, and I sat peacefully near her cage for a moment or two before asking anything. (She comes right over and leans toward me, unaffected, but I'm trying to set a tone of peace and calm before beginning.)
Aside from controlling the environment, a few different adjustments to my training include not clicking if her beak is moving toward me at all. Other than the one or two ouchy bites (one was my fault and the other was, in my opinion, learning her boundaries and developing an understanding of acceptable pressure), she has really enjoyed nibbling/exploring my hands. I don't want to believe she is out to get me. But I also want the trick of step-up to be understood for what it is. "This involves you placing one foot then the other on my hand or stick. Your beak is not needed here."
I'm also giving her her treats quicker and higher than before. My other animals can all handle a delay between click and treat, but with her, I really want to establish that I'm rewarding the foot behavior and not the subsequent beak behavior.
Based on her smell and the fact that they don't do baths at the rescue, this is probably the closest she has come to a bath in more than a year.
Cage Behavior
Perhaps not mentioned previously is the fact that she has come to really enjoy handling, but she ratchets up to hormone madness very quickly. I offer a head scritch, she lifts a foot, I grasp her foot or let her grasp my hand, then I pretend wrestle with her on the perch. If she's in the wrong mindset, she starts quivering and crouching and moaning. *sigh*
More toy playing!! She's biting wooden beads like they are made of paper. It's so cool to have a bird that actually uses the stuff in her cage!
Friday - Sunday
Unfortunately, the draft I had made on AA disappeared, so I lost the record I made for these days. From memory...
Screaming/calling
The top seed tray has stopped the mad scrambling around (from what I can hear outside the room), but the morning calling has continued. It goes on from roughly 8am - 11am. Responding to her contact calls has not proven to be fruitful.
Moving the cage immediately to the porch is helpful. Either she has less to say or we can't hear her. She appears comfortable and is happy to say hello every time I pop my head out.
Training
I've switched to offering my fist for her foot. That has helped with mouthing and with her being willing to step out and up toward my hand. Previously, she has wanted to grasp it and pull it back toward her. Now, she's a little more mobile.
We had a couple of awesome training sessions on Saturday. She quickly and assertively places her foot on my fist, and her beak is staying focused up. I'm taking it slow with the stick introduction. I started by clicking for her looking at it and not moving away when I move it slightly toward her.
By Sunday midday, she was willing to place a foot on the stick. We did two repetitions.
Early step-up training:
www.dropbox.com
Cage Behavior and Confidence
During one of our meal times in the kitchen, she became very motivated to see what I was doing and she climbed out onto the door. She only climbed up high enough to peak over the top (which is hilarious, because you can see through the door along its entire length), and would then slide down a few inches afterward. Like she's ducking out of sight. Haha!
I sat next to her and fed her some beans from my bowl. When I left, she made it successfully to the top of the door. Hurrah!
After that, she made it to the door once or twice more, and more importantly, made it back inside her cage. She did not try the top of the cage, and I didn't try to lure her to it.
Yay - A happy bird on one foot, perched on the previously scary wood perch!
Diet
I really wish I could weigh her. I know their appetite can vary from day to day, but it's difficult to stop the voice in my head that wants to worry when she doesn't eat something she normally eats. Why didn't she touch the corn? Is she full or sick? Should I give her more sweet potato and less pellets to make sure she gets enough to eat, or should I trust that she'll eat when she's hungry?
For now, I'm going with the trust plan. I'll keep offering her the veggie+egg breakfast and the pellet+sweet potato dinner. She gets walnuts, pistachios, beans, and ground beef when we're training.
Resident Bird
Cord has now become curious about Bea. Once, during the transfer from Cord's outside cage to her inside cage, she flew off my finger, did a rapid circle around the living room and attempted to land on Bea's cage. She fluttered above it for a few seconds and then bailed to land, instead, on the TV. I already had dinner in hand, so with a gentle shake of her food container and her recall command, she ignored the interloped and flew to my hand. That was very awesome of her!
Cord's behavior has otherwise been pretty normal - Normal eating, very eager training, happy to cuddle.
Week Two Summary
Huge progress in training! She places her foot on my hand or the stick. She is using all of the perches. [I plan on adding a big branching perch next and rearranging things so she has a highway of perches to access more of the vertical space in the cage.]
I removed one of the bowl attachment rings and replaced it with the remaining (new) perch. This had previously been located up in a corner, but she wasn't using it.
She is playing with her toys and has been seen on multiple occasions with her green beer stein.
The much-loved beer stein foot toy.
She has no issues with my husband, our guests, the vacuum, the dog, the coffee grinder or anything else. So far, she rolls with the punches.
The morning screaming is tough, and I need to improve my internal reaction to it. Putting her cage outside helps some.
Screaming/Calling
So much screaming! So much noise. So much stress climbing/swinging/head swinging.
Nothing really helps. Us being nearby doesn't make her feel better. She is 100% unbearable when we leave her in the bedroom. If her cage is in the living room, she is better - maybe 40% unbearable. Earplugs are mandatory.
She is fine when out on the porch with the conure.
Diet
I am now mixing in an incredible amount of powdered pellets into her sweet potatoes. She gets her sweet potato balls served at some point in the mid/late day along with some veggie pieces - bell pepper, sugar snap peas, broccoli and carrot.
Training
Her target training is coming along GREAT! She has willingly targeted onto the perches multiple times.
PM - She allowed us to start working on target training with my hand in the picture. I have offered it to her when she is perched and clicked for her walking toward me. On 4 or 5 occasions, she lifted a foot and placed it on my hand. I also got mouthed pretty hard 1-2 times as she got over-excited.
She VERY WILLINGLY reengages when I back off (which I do if she moves away from my hand). I need to be better about stopping before she backs off.
Cage Behavior
Her door is open all the time and she doesn't want to come out.
Wednesday
Screaming/Calling
Her screaming is reduced with the top seed tray in place, but the head swinging/clinging is unchanged. She settles around midday.
Training/Handling
There have been other, really awesome improvements. She allows my hands in the cage. She wants to nibble on my fingers and taste/tug on my skin. I've been allowing this, because it feels positive to have her happy with fingers. But it's a little unnerving when she clasps my finger and won't let it go.
I even (kind of?) got her to step up. She loves to hold onto my finger and explore my hand with her mouth. She doesn't give it back very readily though, even with a snack, and she also doesn't seem to want to put her other foot on it. [All of this has gone on with her in the cage, because she does not want to come out.] Last night, she somehow ended up crouched on my hand. I immediately offered her a step down because I didn't want her to lose her balance while moving her. She stepped down with one foot and reengaged the nibble-that-hand game. It was only with a bright, cheerful, and somewhat loud, "Okay, all done!" that I got my hand back.
Cage Behavior
She played with a foot toy! And she is frequently checking her foraging toys for snacks. Her general phobia of things is much reduced.
Bea on rope perch, figuring out how to get the corn out of the toy.
She is using the perches to get around, but it is still only 10-15% of the time. The rest of the time, she climbs. I'd really like to get her using them more because I want to make sure her feet are getting exposure to a variety of diameters and textures.
Diet
We've convinced her to eat her dinner at the bottom of the cage. This has reduced the amount of food that gets wasted with trying to eat while clinging to the side of the cage. Note: She does not stay down there. She gets one ball at a time and brings it back up to her perch.
Her sweet potato dinner balls are now very heavily 'powdered' with her Harrison's pellets. She is still eating them!
Thursday
Training
I do not want to blindly believe that all Amazons are biters, that they can't be step-up trained, and that I'll need to stick train her. I want to give her the chance to demonstrate who she is. That said, we will work on both hand contact and stick contact. If it ends turns out that it has to be stick-only, then we'll do that.
I worked with her for a few short sessions during the day. Unlike some of my other sessions, I put the dog away, I made sure the house was quiet, and I sat peacefully near her cage for a moment or two before asking anything. (She comes right over and leans toward me, unaffected, but I'm trying to set a tone of peace and calm before beginning.)
Aside from controlling the environment, a few different adjustments to my training include not clicking if her beak is moving toward me at all. Other than the one or two ouchy bites (one was my fault and the other was, in my opinion, learning her boundaries and developing an understanding of acceptable pressure), she has really enjoyed nibbling/exploring my hands. I don't want to believe she is out to get me. But I also want the trick of step-up to be understood for what it is. "This involves you placing one foot then the other on my hand or stick. Your beak is not needed here."
I'm also giving her her treats quicker and higher than before. My other animals can all handle a delay between click and treat, but with her, I really want to establish that I'm rewarding the foot behavior and not the subsequent beak behavior.
Based on her smell and the fact that they don't do baths at the rescue, this is probably the closest she has come to a bath in more than a year.
Cage Behavior
Perhaps not mentioned previously is the fact that she has come to really enjoy handling, but she ratchets up to hormone madness very quickly. I offer a head scritch, she lifts a foot, I grasp her foot or let her grasp my hand, then I pretend wrestle with her on the perch. If she's in the wrong mindset, she starts quivering and crouching and moaning. *sigh*
More toy playing!! She's biting wooden beads like they are made of paper. It's so cool to have a bird that actually uses the stuff in her cage!
Friday - Sunday
Unfortunately, the draft I had made on AA disappeared, so I lost the record I made for these days. From memory...
Screaming/calling
The top seed tray has stopped the mad scrambling around (from what I can hear outside the room), but the morning calling has continued. It goes on from roughly 8am - 11am. Responding to her contact calls has not proven to be fruitful.
Moving the cage immediately to the porch is helpful. Either she has less to say or we can't hear her. She appears comfortable and is happy to say hello every time I pop my head out.
Training
I've switched to offering my fist for her foot. That has helped with mouthing and with her being willing to step out and up toward my hand. Previously, she has wanted to grasp it and pull it back toward her. Now, she's a little more mobile.
We had a couple of awesome training sessions on Saturday. She quickly and assertively places her foot on my fist, and her beak is staying focused up. I'm taking it slow with the stick introduction. I started by clicking for her looking at it and not moving away when I move it slightly toward her.
By Sunday midday, she was willing to place a foot on the stick. We did two repetitions.
Early step-up training:
Dropbox
www.dropbox.com
Cage Behavior and Confidence
During one of our meal times in the kitchen, she became very motivated to see what I was doing and she climbed out onto the door. She only climbed up high enough to peak over the top (which is hilarious, because you can see through the door along its entire length), and would then slide down a few inches afterward. Like she's ducking out of sight. Haha!
I sat next to her and fed her some beans from my bowl. When I left, she made it successfully to the top of the door. Hurrah!
After that, she made it to the door once or twice more, and more importantly, made it back inside her cage. She did not try the top of the cage, and I didn't try to lure her to it.
Yay - A happy bird on one foot, perched on the previously scary wood perch!
Diet
I really wish I could weigh her. I know their appetite can vary from day to day, but it's difficult to stop the voice in my head that wants to worry when she doesn't eat something she normally eats. Why didn't she touch the corn? Is she full or sick? Should I give her more sweet potato and less pellets to make sure she gets enough to eat, or should I trust that she'll eat when she's hungry?
For now, I'm going with the trust plan. I'll keep offering her the veggie+egg breakfast and the pellet+sweet potato dinner. She gets walnuts, pistachios, beans, and ground beef when we're training.
Resident Bird
Cord has now become curious about Bea. Once, during the transfer from Cord's outside cage to her inside cage, she flew off my finger, did a rapid circle around the living room and attempted to land on Bea's cage. She fluttered above it for a few seconds and then bailed to land, instead, on the TV. I already had dinner in hand, so with a gentle shake of her food container and her recall command, she ignored the interloped and flew to my hand. That was very awesome of her!
Cord's behavior has otherwise been pretty normal - Normal eating, very eager training, happy to cuddle.
Week Two Summary
Huge progress in training! She places her foot on my hand or the stick. She is using all of the perches. [I plan on adding a big branching perch next and rearranging things so she has a highway of perches to access more of the vertical space in the cage.]
I removed one of the bowl attachment rings and replaced it with the remaining (new) perch. This had previously been located up in a corner, but she wasn't using it.
She is playing with her toys and has been seen on multiple occasions with her green beer stein.
The much-loved beer stein foot toy.
She has no issues with my husband, our guests, the vacuum, the dog, the coffee grinder or anything else. So far, she rolls with the punches.
The morning screaming is tough, and I need to improve my internal reaction to it. Putting her cage outside helps some.
I kept thinking, "Man, I'd take secret screams over overt screams, any day of the week."
