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"Official" Opie and Oggie Thread

Walnut001

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I've recently just read another thread about a bird bonding with their husband, one person said "I'd also add..don't try too hard. They seem to pick up on that and it makes them nervous. In my experience anyway."
(I hope you are okay with me quoting you, danadear)
I just wanted to add that since you are having trouble with Opie trusting you.
 

Elysian

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I've recently just read another thread about a bird bonding with their husband, one person said "I'd also add..don't try too hard. They seem to pick up on that and it makes them nervous. In my experience anyway."
(I hope you are okay with me quoting you, danadear)
I just wanted to add that since you are having trouble with Opie trusting you.
Yeah, I suspect he does not like my energy :( my boyfriend is VERY stoic and has never been bitten by a bird so he has no fear about it. He just assumes everything will work out. I wish I could absorb that!


On a random note, Opie JUST realized this thing was food.
20210911_172039.jpg
It's he second one I've tried to give him (Oggie and the budgies love them). He never touched the first one, and this one has been in the cage so long I was about to remove it today!
 

Clueless

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Opie is beautiful.

Secret takes a while to adapt to anything. Even on the playstand. It took ages for the Jimmy Halfa to get attacked but yeesh, Secret gave that thing some damage.
 

Elysian

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Yeah, even my boyfriend thinks Opie is pretty - never heard him say that about the budgies lol. His beak is peeling alot right now though, looks a bit raggedy. They are all molting here and there except Citrine.

Funny Oggie - I was putting the budgies away and its been a couple of days since I held them, so I put some seed in my palm for them to sit and eat.
(They've never reached 100% tame but I don't want them getting totally hand shy.)

Oggie was so offended. When I first got their treats and turned away from him he said his cute little "Oggie?" (isn't that for me?).
When I didn't come back he said in a really serious pointed way "Oggie."
When I still didn't come back he said "Over here! Oggie. Oggie. Come here!"
:roflmao:
 

Elysian

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Oh shoot, now I have a new Oggie bite attack to analyze. :(

Ok - he was on his playstand by my desk as usual. I gave him lots of scritches. Everything was good. He tried a few times to climb over to my desk (as usual) but he couldn't reach (by design).
I put some quinoa in his snack bowl. He hasn't had this before, but he is usually very good about trying new foods. He has never been afraid of his snack bowl either, and perches on it and eats from it all the time. But he was so obsessed with sitting close to me that he wasn't climbing up to the bowl to check it out.
I picked up the bowl and brought it down so he could look at it. He looked inside. He stuck his head inside. Then he tried to climb on it.

I just *knew* if he climbed on that bowl he was going to bite me, but he is strong. He grabbed the rim of the bowl in his beak and pulled it closer to him, and climbed up on it. And then promptly leaned over the edge and started biting the heck out of my finger before I could put it down.

Obviously I won't be holding his bowl out to him like that again, but I'm baffled by this one. He wasn't tangled in my hair. He wasn't getting a treat in dim lighting where he might have mis-aimed. The quinoa was new but he really didn't even seem to notice that, he was really focused on using the bowl as a bridge to get to me. Just to repeatedly bite.
I really don't have a good idea of what this trigger was?
 

TikiMyn

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Could it be frustration? That he cannot get to you and once he does he is overstimulated?
Not sure how you would go about solving that though. Hope you figure him out, it sounds like you are doing better every time but the biting issue is difficult.
 

Clueless

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I've had that situation where I held out food in a bowl and got nailed for my effort.
 

Pat H

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I wondered--- My Question to you is: Did Oggie ever get some of the budgies treat?

It was about an hour and half since he tried to be so cute saying his name... THREE TIMES... and maybe the quinoa wasn't what he was thinking he should get!
 

Elysian

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I wondered--- My Question to you is: Did Oggie ever get some of the budgies treat?

It was about an hour and half since he tried to be so cute saying his name... THREE TIMES... and maybe the quinoa wasn't what he was thinking he should get!
That's a good point!
I honestly can't remember if I gave him a treat in between those times!
He usually gets a treat every morning when I greet him and clean his water, one when he goes home after being out, and one at bed time.. he was being so cute, but he would have already had his morning treat at that point.
I think when I finished with the budgies I just let him out for his play time and scritched him. Hmmm!
 

Elysian

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Could it be frustration? That he cannot get to you and once he does he is overstimulated?
Not sure how you would go about solving that though. Hope you figure him out, it sounds like you are doing better every time but the biting issue is difficult.
This is definitely worth considering too. I wish I could explain to him that if he stopped biting he could sit on my shoulder all he wants!
 

Elysian

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Uh oh.. I stopped weighing everyone every week, and they were overdue. Today was cage deep cleaning and hop on the scale day!
We all need to go on a diet :o:

Well, Cypress and Opie do! (ok, and me...)
Citrine is 36 grams as usual. I thought Cypress was looking a little plump, and he indeed came in at 41 grams! He has never been above 36 before in his life. Its a bit surprising because Citrine is the more dominant one and always bullies him away from their treats, but on the other hand Citrine also chooses to be a lot more active. Cypress doesn't fly as much. Hopefully thats all it is...

Oggie is still 144, and was 142 last time I checked, so he's alright.

But Opie has gone from 272 to 303!!! He gained an entire budgie!
Pretty sure I know why though.. he doesn't really move around enough unless he is trying to climb to my boyfriend, and my boyfriend tends to slip him a couple of extra nuts.
We had to have a talk. :watching:

Although he has also been eating more of his pellets since I mixed the nut flavor in with the natural flavor. May need to start measuring them.
He actually yelled at me this morning when I was packing up the dog for daycare. I picked up a ziplock bag of dog food which looks remarkably similar to the ziplock bag of mixed zupreem pellets, and when I walked away instead of putting it in his bowl he went "HAA-AAH!"
Loudest noise he has ever made to my face :roflmao:
 

Clueless

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Just FYI, did you weigh at the same time? Did Opie eat close to time of his weigh?

My guys were thin. Secret weighs somewhere around 350 if my memory is right.

I've been told to weigh first thing in the morning before they eat.
 

Elysian

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I'll try to start weighing them at least weekly again to get a better average.
Opie is getting harder to tempt onto the scale without boyfriend help :(
He used to step up on a dowel rod for me pretty easily but definitely didn't want to today
 

camelotshadow

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Do the best you can with weighing.

As for Oggie Pois get angry. Not something we can really figure out as their brains work differently. Sometimes a bite could be for attention or a warning to someone they like. I think if he did not like you you would really know. Don't think they don't notice you giving attention & treats & time to others. They also seem to remember for a while. Pois can be vicious pitbulls. I've seen them attack perches & things when they are mad. Also been on the other end of that terrible beak few times myself.
 

GreenThing

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I really don't have a good idea of what this trigger was?
Was he "blaming" you for the bowl being an unstable perch? Or not the surface he wanted?

I admire your tenacity in the face of that beak! There's no way I wouldn't bring nerves into that situation, I'd be wearing those metal mesh diving gloves people use to catch lobster. Taking the bird to therapy with me. "He just won't tell me what he wants, doctor." :hilarious:
 

scrape

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Sometimes birds can be sensitive around their food and food bowls. Protective/defensive. If I lingered too long giving my cockatiel his food bowl (especially if he could see my hands) he would try to bite me. It was his bowl, not mine. Just a theory.
 

Elysian

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I continue to be confused by Opie.

I asked my bf not to give him any more treats at all, so that all the yummies come from me.. but it didn't seem to help our relationship.
It's become progressively harder for me to get him onto a perch or back to his cage on my own because he just moves away from me and seeks out my bf. He knows I provide the food, water, and yums- but that is ALL he wants from me.

So we've decided to make October an entire month of my bf ignoring him altogether. No treats and no scritches. Because if I'm responsible for his health and well being, it's best if I can handle him.
Except I feel SO SELFISH :(
I don't know what is right.

It might be helping though? Bf hasn't interacted with him in over 24 hours and I actually got him to very cautiously step on a dowel for me again when it was time to go home.
I also smelled him for the first time? I was talking to him through the cage and he clicked in the back of his throat and I caught a sweetish smell wafting from him.
Bf says he smells a musky smell whenever Opie is on his shoulder, but I've never gotten a puff before.

But it's hard to know if it was a pleasure reaction or stress, especially with the clicking sound.

He generally lets me touch his beak and feet through the cage, but if I accidentally brush against any feathers at all I get a threat. And if I even look like I might suggest he step up for me, he backs way away.

Sigh.
Just keep hoping.
Still always hurts that I stumbled upon a bird with such an amazing temperament and I just have to watch someone else get to touch and interact with him.
If he was mean to my bf too it would be easier lol
 

camelotshadow

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They pick their favs but it can't hurt to try to wiggle into their hearts for their own good as you are the one caring for them. All's fair in love n war even if you have to play a little dirty to get some respect. :rofl:
 
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Elysian

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Yeah that is my thought process..
I'd love us all to be equal buddies, but maybe that's not possible.
I *think* its best for Opie if I can push him into liking me since I'm his caregiver, but I keep worrying that my motivation is flawed.

If a month goes by with no progress then I just have to back off and let them pal up again..
 
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