jupiter
Moving in
- Joined
- 8/20/20
- Messages
- 12
Hi everyone!
I am new to the community here, hi!! I am really needing some advice on clicker & step-up training. I just got my first cockatiel, Jupiter, six days ago. He/she is 9 weeks old. Before getting him, I did a lot of research to prepare myself, but with training, I think I’m missing some major component or being dumb somehow. Please help!! (And be nice cuz I’m really trying to do this right, I think I am missing something though.)
The problem is with this inconsistent hissing / deciphering between baby static sound, and an actual hiss. I’ve been having Jupiter come out of his cage for many hours a day, to hang out on his play gym nnext to my desk while I do schoolwork. I was going give him a couple days to get used to his cage & surroundings first, but he seemed to really like being on my hand right away and hanging out with me. He’d chirp, talk to me, and walk back and forth on his perches in his cage, begging to come out & be picked up. He gets very active when I’m around and will play with his toys and climb around. He has hung out on my shoulder 3 times since being home, preening my hair and grinding his beak and seeming really happy, but it’s very hard to get him down so I wanted to begin the progression toward step-up training.
2 days ago, I started clicker training where I’d simply click the clicker and give him a few bites of millet spray immediately after. (His favorite treat). He was enjoying these sessions in the beginning, but progressively he’s been getting more hissy and irritated (?). This morning we had a good session and he seemed to expect the click & the treat- but just now we had one where he was fine at first but started making hissing/staticky-sounds more and more. Since he’s so young though, I don’t know what is a proper “hiss” and what is the content/hungry staticky baby sound. How can you tell the difference? He was voraciously eating the millet, but the sound & his flattened crest was really throwing me off. So I ceased the session and put him back on his perch in his cage, and left him alone for a while. He immediately went to eat some of his food in his cage. He seemed (?) unhappy and was fluffed up and staring at me. Was this a bad session? Maybe he was just mad I put him back in the cage, or he was hungry? Is he too aware of when the treat “goes away” because it's a whole millet spray (not pieces)? Is it too soon to do this at all, and I should give him more time to adjust to his new home?
Otherwise he seems comfortable and like he is adjusting well. I only progressed with this training because he was seeming so comfortable. He makes staticky hissy noises in the morning too though, that seem like he’s hungry/upset. I feel like I’m getting mixed signals from him, or don’t know how to decipher what’s a hiss and what’s the baby sound. I don’t want to handle him too much, but he seems to want to be near/on me. I don’t want to encourage bad behaviors and habits between us. I just wonder if I’m irritating him by carrying him between his cage and play gym, and doing these sessions. Should I leave him in his cage for a couple days or something?
*A few notes* He has a parasite called cochlosoma that he is healing from, he was prescribed an antibiotic that I mix into all of his water sources. I have HAD to get him to step up (with treat rewards of course) onto a scale perch a couple times to monitor his weight. (He doesn’t like it but it’s really vital to making sure he is not rapidly losing weight). Is it possible this parasite situation is another reason he’s upset & I should hold off on training until he is better?
I'm sorry this is long but I wanted to give all the information I can to help paint the picture. Any help would be so appreciated. I'm so afraid I'm doing something wrong!
~Kate
<3 Jupiter <3
I am new to the community here, hi!! I am really needing some advice on clicker & step-up training. I just got my first cockatiel, Jupiter, six days ago. He/she is 9 weeks old. Before getting him, I did a lot of research to prepare myself, but with training, I think I’m missing some major component or being dumb somehow. Please help!! (And be nice cuz I’m really trying to do this right, I think I am missing something though.)
The problem is with this inconsistent hissing / deciphering between baby static sound, and an actual hiss. I’ve been having Jupiter come out of his cage for many hours a day, to hang out on his play gym nnext to my desk while I do schoolwork. I was going give him a couple days to get used to his cage & surroundings first, but he seemed to really like being on my hand right away and hanging out with me. He’d chirp, talk to me, and walk back and forth on his perches in his cage, begging to come out & be picked up. He gets very active when I’m around and will play with his toys and climb around. He has hung out on my shoulder 3 times since being home, preening my hair and grinding his beak and seeming really happy, but it’s very hard to get him down so I wanted to begin the progression toward step-up training.
2 days ago, I started clicker training where I’d simply click the clicker and give him a few bites of millet spray immediately after. (His favorite treat). He was enjoying these sessions in the beginning, but progressively he’s been getting more hissy and irritated (?). This morning we had a good session and he seemed to expect the click & the treat- but just now we had one where he was fine at first but started making hissing/staticky-sounds more and more. Since he’s so young though, I don’t know what is a proper “hiss” and what is the content/hungry staticky baby sound. How can you tell the difference? He was voraciously eating the millet, but the sound & his flattened crest was really throwing me off. So I ceased the session and put him back on his perch in his cage, and left him alone for a while. He immediately went to eat some of his food in his cage. He seemed (?) unhappy and was fluffed up and staring at me. Was this a bad session? Maybe he was just mad I put him back in the cage, or he was hungry? Is he too aware of when the treat “goes away” because it's a whole millet spray (not pieces)? Is it too soon to do this at all, and I should give him more time to adjust to his new home?
Otherwise he seems comfortable and like he is adjusting well. I only progressed with this training because he was seeming so comfortable. He makes staticky hissy noises in the morning too though, that seem like he’s hungry/upset. I feel like I’m getting mixed signals from him, or don’t know how to decipher what’s a hiss and what’s the baby sound. I don’t want to handle him too much, but he seems to want to be near/on me. I don’t want to encourage bad behaviors and habits between us. I just wonder if I’m irritating him by carrying him between his cage and play gym, and doing these sessions. Should I leave him in his cage for a couple days or something?
*A few notes* He has a parasite called cochlosoma that he is healing from, he was prescribed an antibiotic that I mix into all of his water sources. I have HAD to get him to step up (with treat rewards of course) onto a scale perch a couple times to monitor his weight. (He doesn’t like it but it’s really vital to making sure he is not rapidly losing weight). Is it possible this parasite situation is another reason he’s upset & I should hold off on training until he is better?
I'm sorry this is long but I wanted to give all the information I can to help paint the picture. Any help would be so appreciated. I'm so afraid I'm doing something wrong!
~Kate
<3 Jupiter <3