Umbra
Checking out the neighborhood
- Joined
- 4/17/17
- Messages
- 3
Hi everyone! I'm a recent addition to these forums. My flock consists of two rescued house sparrows (Keelo and Pippin) and a pineapple green cheek (Ollie). If you'd like to hear our story and meet them I posted pictures and the story of the sparrows up on Welcome Lane. I came here to this section to address the reason I joined which is to hopefully get some kind of help regarding Ollie. This is his story/problem as best as I can explain:
From what we were able to gather at the pet store he was used as a breeder bird and subsequently put up for sale when they either A. got tired of him or B. got a prettier boy. All I can tell is that he must have been mishandled by the breeders as he has a severe hand phobia and is a terrible biter. The store employees told us he is also an escape artist and when we first met him they had him caught in a net after chasing him around the store trying to get him back. They were covered in dust from crawling on the floor and bandages from bites, I could also see the poor bird was stressed out. They knew about us taking in our sparrows and their stories as we bought meal worms from them all the time for Keelo and Pip. They also knew we were looking at conures and actually begged us to take him. We felt sorry for him of course and wanted to give him a better home. They gave him to us for 75 dollars, well below the price range of these birds, just to get him out of the store and his beak out of their flesh. I had done an awful lot of research prior to this as we wanted a conure anyway, I followed all the rules recommended for a new bird, got him a proper diet, treated him as kind and gentle as I could...and then we hit a road block. He doesn't know how to step up, he didn't even know how to play when we first got him, and even now he's still learning that his toys are not just pretty things to look at. I've tried to train him to step up but all he will do is come up, grab the sunflower seed (his favorites) and run away again with no progress, ever. Over time I got him to come on my shoulder at least and later to the point where I can pet him a little when he's trying to get the seed but once he has the seed I'm chopped liver and he ditches me like week old bologna, this has also not gotten better. He cannot be handled without biting and gloves scare him more than hands do. That being said on the occasion we have had to catch him, such as when his band slipped up too high on his leg and got stuck there forcing me to remove it (don’t worry I keep it on a bracelet so we still have proof that he was banded) and also for nail trimmings he does enjoy being petted even though he bites. Every time I turn to the internet I get conflicting information and everything the so called 'recommendations' tell you to do and how it will turn out if you do them seems to have the complete opposite effect on Ollie then it should. I would really like him to learn to be a real companion instead of an attractive ornament I can only look at but not touch for 15 years but at every turn I run into another roadblock. It's been a year and a half of this and we're all getting frustrated which is not good for him either but patience does wear out. I won’t give him away, he's been juggled around too much as it is and he needs a forever home. I'm certain something can be done but just I do not know what.
I appreciate any advice you might be able to provide. If you have questions or need further information please do not hesitate to ask and I will answer to the best of my abilities. I just want Ollie to be happy with us and to get past these terrible fears.
From what we were able to gather at the pet store he was used as a breeder bird and subsequently put up for sale when they either A. got tired of him or B. got a prettier boy. All I can tell is that he must have been mishandled by the breeders as he has a severe hand phobia and is a terrible biter. The store employees told us he is also an escape artist and when we first met him they had him caught in a net after chasing him around the store trying to get him back. They were covered in dust from crawling on the floor and bandages from bites, I could also see the poor bird was stressed out. They knew about us taking in our sparrows and their stories as we bought meal worms from them all the time for Keelo and Pip. They also knew we were looking at conures and actually begged us to take him. We felt sorry for him of course and wanted to give him a better home. They gave him to us for 75 dollars, well below the price range of these birds, just to get him out of the store and his beak out of their flesh. I had done an awful lot of research prior to this as we wanted a conure anyway, I followed all the rules recommended for a new bird, got him a proper diet, treated him as kind and gentle as I could...and then we hit a road block. He doesn't know how to step up, he didn't even know how to play when we first got him, and even now he's still learning that his toys are not just pretty things to look at. I've tried to train him to step up but all he will do is come up, grab the sunflower seed (his favorites) and run away again with no progress, ever. Over time I got him to come on my shoulder at least and later to the point where I can pet him a little when he's trying to get the seed but once he has the seed I'm chopped liver and he ditches me like week old bologna, this has also not gotten better. He cannot be handled without biting and gloves scare him more than hands do. That being said on the occasion we have had to catch him, such as when his band slipped up too high on his leg and got stuck there forcing me to remove it (don’t worry I keep it on a bracelet so we still have proof that he was banded) and also for nail trimmings he does enjoy being petted even though he bites. Every time I turn to the internet I get conflicting information and everything the so called 'recommendations' tell you to do and how it will turn out if you do them seems to have the complete opposite effect on Ollie then it should. I would really like him to learn to be a real companion instead of an attractive ornament I can only look at but not touch for 15 years but at every turn I run into another roadblock. It's been a year and a half of this and we're all getting frustrated which is not good for him either but patience does wear out. I won’t give him away, he's been juggled around too much as it is and he needs a forever home. I'm certain something can be done but just I do not know what.
I appreciate any advice you might be able to provide. If you have questions or need further information please do not hesitate to ask and I will answer to the best of my abilities. I just want Ollie to be happy with us and to get past these terrible fears.