Nobody has pointed this out yet-that video of poor Truman sneaking past Santina to get a drink of water.
Does anyone here have a bird who GULPS water that way?
My greenwing Sebastian did that when I first brought him home. He was starving to death, I rescued him from a very vile man. He would drink drink drink like that. He gained a gram a day for weeks on a healthy diet. Vegetables, pellets, some fruit and few nuts. He stopped gulping water when his weight leveled out.
This is a warning sign of deprivation. You can read this full article and check the sources, but here's an excerpt from
page 4 of this article:
Water gorging/ Food related stereotypies
Studies show that rats drink more water when food deprived (8) There is also evidence that
overdrinking can be a stress related behavior. (9) Birds that are food deprived may show
increased drinking of water. (10) Broiler hens that are food restricted and allowed access to ad
lib water can overdrink water. Because of this water can be provided for a few hours per day, but
it can exacerbate the frustration caused by food restriction. (11) Rushen suggests that the
occurrence of adjunctive drinking by sows results from the persistence of feeding motivation,
perhaps because concentrated food does not provide sufficient stomach distension, combined
with the knowledge that food will definitely not be forthcoming. Stereotyped sequences of
behavior may be a means of reducing the arousal generated by the expectation of food. (12)
Birds, especially those known to eat several times a day or throughout day have been observed
water gorging in show settings. Water gorging should be considered an indicator that the feeding
strategies are either inadequate in quantity and/or frequency. This can also result from long term
chronic quantitative restricted feeding.
Watching any videos of Santina really hurts my heart. Her body language is so disorienting; she presents so many different signals from one moment to the next, and the second she has eaten her treat her eyes are pinning and her head is cocking. It's disturbing. He is so lucky she hasn't killed one of his birds. Sebastian has killed at least one smaller parrot and bit the toes off another. The idiot who had him hated him and neglected him out of the resentment he had (a result of HIS carelessness, not Sebastian's fault). He is 35 years old. I know his past, I know I can never risk the lives of my other birds by letting them out in the same room. Sebastian was at one time housed in a small cage with other parrots, he has learned to be aggressive to protect himself and I refuse to risk another bird's safety in order to "re-condition" him.
Someone else could have a rescue parrot with an unknown past and take a huge risk because they saw Michael do it. It won't take long for people to start following Michael's advice and reporting the injuries or deaths subsequent to following his process.
Michael Sazhin is sick. People on his forum who have followed him for years should know better. How can people hear time and time again from so many credible trainers that his practices are wrong, and still refuse to question him? What does he have to do for people to see him for what he is? It seems like a deeper human issue, like "someday he'll appreciate me for standing up for him" and I would bet that many of these people have had troubled family dynamics that make them gravitate towards people like Michael. His approval is the ultimate carrot on a stick and that's what makes people stand up for him. Nobody is as good as him and nobody ever will be. Riiiiight.