|
So here's a couple of recent bird stories. On Saturdays I cook breakfast and on that day only, the birds get a little treat of bacon. It's just a little piece. It's not going to hurt them. They're used to the routine and they know on Saturday, or whatever day it is in birdie language, they get a piece of bacon. A few weekends ago, Mrs. Oquendo was making an omelette with peppers, shrooms, and in this case, turkey bacon. We gave some to Hannah the grey and he loves everything in it, so he went to work. He got to a piece of turkey bacon and was immediately disgusted. You could see the anger and disappointment in his eyes. He knew it wasn't the real thing. He proceeded to pick out every piece of turkey bacon and dump it on the bottom of his perch. I felt so bad I put clothes on went to the store so I could get him his real bacon. Story 2: My conure loves to do dishes with Mrs. Oquendo. She puts on music and he sings and parties on her shoulder. She would usually play dance type music which the bird loves. One day, she decided to play some Beatles instead. The bird actually got upset and was doing his angry gently caress you squak. She changed the music back to dance stuff and he immediately changed his mood and started singing and partying. Birds.
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2014 13:29
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 9, 2024 03:13 |
|
|
This is awesome! The more I lurk here the closer I am to buying a cockatiel. I have never owned a bird before but am very familiar with the requisite training needed to be a good pet owner.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2014 15:31
|
|
|
DarkHorse posted:except for the whole "being smarter than you and also razor-sharp beak" thing Chuffy is smarter than me though, and he's only a budgie.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2014 16:05
|
|
|
LITERALLY A BIRD posted:conurepix A Good Birb From the thumbnails I thought this was a tiny drenched white cockatiel, with that little attempt at a crest he has going there. Pookah posted:
Also a Good Birb  Tasty_Crayon posted:Don't feel bad, with the ridiculous smarts comes an equal amount of skepticism. That's amazing. I wonder how she even learned the word Scared, and what it meant-did someone teach her, did she see it on TV (kids show?), was it just by watching people, hearing it enough and guessing what it meant? Greys and stories about them are the best.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2014 16:06
|
|
|
Staryberry posted:These are wonderful photos! LITERALLY A BIRD posted:Greys are one of those birds that really remind me of their link to dinosaurs, with the big gold eyes and wide, featherless eye patches. It's so cool. Please share more as you take them! Thank you so much! She's actually very mellow about having a camera jammed in her face so I hope I'll be able to keep going and get some intersting pictures of her. She's normally very secretive about being any way animated or expressive when a stranger is looking, so it's fun to record her when she thinks no-one but me will see her.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2014 17:50
|
|
|
Connie quotes from this morning: "Guten tag!" "Good morning!" "I'm a pretty bird!" "Feed me, Seymour!" "Whatchu doin'?" Plus some things I couldn't make out, and a very smug, self-satisfied sounding "heh heh heh." Still wouldn't step up but immensely more sociable than last night; we'll see how she does when I check in again this evening. I'll prob take pics then maybe?
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2014 19:42
|
|
|
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north...campaign=buffer Drunk birds haha
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2014 01:18
|
|
|
Battle Pigeon posted:A Good Birb My friend has always made a point of talking to Kinsasha as an equal, including explaining things or pointing stuff out the way you would to an older kid. She also makes Kinsasha be specific when possible. Her life has not been the most stable so she has had to start over a few times. The result is that Kinsasha is super aware of what is going on, to the point where Connie had to warn my sister not to say anything about her chewed feathers so she (the parrot) would not feel embarrassed. :3 Recently Kinsasha has started using negatives. Before she would just go "No." And Connie would have to ask a series of questions to figure out what she was objecting to. Now she goes "Connie up up cage, no." So it is a little backwards but Connie knows right away what she wants :3
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2014 02:14
|
|
|
Greys are so loving cool.  Ama and I have a little private language but it's nowhere close to what they're capable of.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2014 02:31
|
|
|
Jose Oquendo posted:It's just a little piece. It's not going to hurt them. I'm not really convinced that a little piece every week isn't going to be unhealthy over time. However, I do understand that they might actually murder you if you cook breakfast on a Saturday and don't give them bacon. Anyway, it's full of saturated fats, which raise cholesterol and probably increases their risk of heart disease, which is a big deal in Greys. Alex died of undiagnosed heart disease. http://www.jarvm.com/articles/Vol1Iss1/BAVELJVM.htm
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2014 06:25
|
|
|
mikerock posted:http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north...campaign=buffer We get birds like that, there are some wild rowans/mountain ashes growing on our property and some of the wild birds like to chow down on the berry clusters. Thing is that when fall/winter comes along, the berries ferment on the branches. Birds have so little sense of taste, they just hork them down and get drunk in the process  Feathery little alcoholics.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2014 08:35
|
|
|
mikerock posted:http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north...campaign=buffer The cutest news story this week. I remember an old Encyclopedia Brown mystery case involving drunken cedar waxwings. Our hero figured out it was the berries; such a clever boy.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2014 09:22
|
|
|
Ohtori likes popping bubble wrap    There was a cockatiel at a pet store today, asleep on a perch, standing on one foot-but the other one wasn't tucked up, it was lifted and all the toes were spread, like he fell asleep while waving. Tasty_Crayon posted:My friend has always made a point of talking to Kinsasha as an equal, including explaining things or pointing stuff out the way you would to an older kid. She also makes Kinsasha be specific when possible. Her life has not been the most stable so she has had to start over a few times. The result is that Kinsasha is super aware of what is going on, to the point where Connie had to warn my sister not to say anything about her chewed feathers so she (the parrot) would not feel embarrassed. :3 Aww, that's amazing. What would happen if Kinsasha heard someone talking about her feathers? And how old is she?
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2014 20:15
|
|
|
Budgies are still refusing to eat pellets. They go so far as to lick them and then move on to looking for seeds (we're offering a mixture). I'm out of ideas. How do we get them to eat the drat things?
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 00:41
|
|
|
Mix them in fruit/veg that they like, so the pellets stick and they might accidentally munch one while trying to get to the other stuff? Add a little fruit juice? Pellets only in the morning, rest of the food from afternoon onwards (or whatever)? If you're giving them something like Harrison's, where it's all one size and colour, maybe something varied like Zupreem would appeal more. Otherwise just patience, I've read about birds that took over a year to convert. Steve doesn't eat pellets either, but to be honest since he's a cockatiel and they do better on seed-based diets than other types of parrot, it's not too big a deal. He eats his fresh foods and other non-seed things so he's getting the variety, the seeds he gets are good quality, and he's out and able to fly to work any extra calories off.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 00:54
|
|
|
Ooh, we haven't tried fruit juice yet. They're deathly afraid of fruit and veg that isn't broccoli, but I'm trying to get them interested in bananas. Hopefully once they are, I can stick pellets into the banana and see what happens. Sadly, we can't get Zupreem in Germany, we're trying to feed Roudybush, which are all uniform but about the same size as seeds. It's heartening to know it can take up to a year to convert. I was worried we were doing something wrong (we're currently offering a mix of seed and pellets, both in their dishes and when hand-feeding).
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 01:02
|
|
|
Sometimes they have to be given no choice. It took me a while to get Boop to understand that pellets were food too as I'd gotten her from the breeder pretty early and she was still being taken off the egg/biscuit mixed with seed. Then I managed to find some smaller pellets so she could eat more of each and less would become shrapnel. She threw a huge tantrum for a few days because I didn't give her a choice, but came around eventually.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 01:13
|
|
|
It's worth noting that budgies handle seed diets really well anyhow. While I think a pellet diet is still nice it's not an incredibly mandatory thing like with larger birds more prone to fatty liver disease.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 01:17
|
|
|
chthonic bell posted:It's heartening to know it can take up to a year to convert. I was worried we were doing something wrong (we're currently offering a mix of seed and pellets, both in their dishes and when hand-feeding). They won't starve to death though they might get pissy about it for a week or two.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 01:18
|
|
|
chthonic bell posted:Sadly, we can't get Zupreem in Germany, we're trying to feed Roudybush, which are all uniform but about the same size as seeds. Roudybush is good, but if you ever wanted to try something different you're able to get both Harrison's and probably Nutribird there too. Harrison's is the same size/colour, and Nutribird varies depending on which you get (B14 would be best).
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 01:25
|
|
|
We can get Nutribird at our local pet store, but not B14, only the larger ones.  B14 has to be ordered online. Harrison's we have to order online, too.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 01:28
|
|
|
Yeah, I have to physically bring back the Harrisons with me when I visit the UK, Nutribird is available here (sometimes) at least. At least you don't have to deal with travelling to the single store in the city that possibly has it, only to find NOPE, when you order online. It's usually cheaper too. I was trying to find the conversion chart that came with one of the pellets, as it would have been a great way to show how even with conures etc it's supposed to be a gradual switching process, but no luck yet. There is this though: http://store.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/CONVERSION-KIT-SMALL-BIRDS/productinfo/CKS/ Wonder what success rate that has?
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 01:33
|
|
|
Battle Pigeon posted:Ohtori likes popping bubble wrap Her feelings would get hurt She might get anxious and chew more. I think she must be at least 20 by now. She can also tell if you are treating her like a dumb animal and will file that poo poo away for later. Her favorite movie is Spirited Away.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 02:12
|
|
|
Oh god, giving a parrot bubblewrap is genius. I gotta see if I have some lying around.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 14:32
|
|
|
Dreggon posted:Oh god, giving a parrot bubblewrap is genius. I gotta see if I have some lying around. It does sound genius. I think both of mine would be terrified of it though because they are afraid of fun 
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 14:36
|
|
|
Thread, tell me what trick I should teach Ohtori next. For just tricks, he knows: Wave (grasp his beak with his foot), Turn Around, Shake (and if you say Shake without giving a finger, he'll wave), Eagle, Ring Ring (ring bell), Roll Over, Flip (around a perch/finger), Touch (target stick). Unfortunately I do not have any adorably tiny/proportionate props to teach him basketball/similar crap. Tasty_Crayon posted:Her feelings would get hurt Does... does she tell Connie those things? Pip pip pip posted:It does sound genius. I think both of mine would be terrified of it though because they are afraid of fun A conure feeling fear....? Does not compute How are they both getting along together lately?
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 17:41
|
|
|
Battle Pigeon posted:Thread, tell me what trick I should teach Ohtori next. For just tricks, he knows: Wave (grasp his beak with his foot), Turn Around, Shake (and if you say Shake without giving a finger, he'll wave), Eagle, Ring Ring (ring bell), Roll Over, Flip (around a perch/finger), Touch (target stick). Make your own! If you don't have a hobby shop near you, the internet can probably help: http://www.craftparts.com/balls-wooden-balls-wood-c-277_279.html You know what you must do (for our amusement)
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 20:14
|
|
|
I feel awful, the budgies had a very tiny fight (I yelled at them before more than one foot-blow could be exchanged) and now I'm fretting they'll hate each other forever. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 20:15
|
|
|
They're roommates, sometimes roommates squabble. Unless it's a serious fight (and you'll be able to tell if it's a serious fight), don't worry about it. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 20:25
|
|
|
Battle Pigeon posted:A conure feeling fear....? Does not compute Sometimes I think Ozzy is a defective model I'm not sure if it's learned behavior from Nugget, but he is definitely avoidant of new/unfamiliar things.They are getting along well. Ozzy has resumed his cage-aggression behaviors towards arms/hands reaching in but does not antagonize Nugget AT ALL. Their only interactions really appear to be moving out of each others' way once in a while. Nugget seems less frantic about COMING OUT RIGHT NOW compared to when she was by herself so I am calling it a win. The only problem I have with it is that Ozzy's old cage had little doors to get the food and water dishes out, so it was easy to avoid his wrath when invading his house. Nugget's cage doesn't have such easy access to the food dishes. Her cage is substantially bigger though, so I guess it's worth it. Rearranging doesn't seem to do anything to calm the cage aggression down, unfortunately  We have a screened-in porch connected to our living room (which has a wall of windows that look out to the porch and our backyard). I put Ozzy's old cage out there. I think it will be a nice place for them to enjoy some fresh air in the summertime
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 20:25
|
|
|
Birds LOVE to squabble. It's their nature.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 20:57
|
|
|
LITERALLY A BIRD posted:They're roommates, sometimes roommates squabble. Unless it's a serious fight (and you'll be able to tell if it's a serious fight), don't worry about it. Back in the day, a long time ago when I didn't know better, I had two females in one of those cages they give you at the pet shop (so I figure the dimensions would have been about 18" X 15" X 22"Height, or something close). I learned unfortunately at their expense they needed their space. And let me tell you : it was Budgie Fight Club in there, one particular evening, and it was not pretty. They were at each other's throat, rolling around in the bottom, grasping each other's claws with their own and using their wings as god drat fists. I'll skip the bloody part. It was the first and last time I ever had to physically interrupt a budgie fight. Both budgies only suffered superficial wounds from that fight and turned out fine in the end. I now have an enormous cage that could support up to six females (which is my new unit of measure since that event). Popoto fucked around with this message at 22:56 on Nov 19, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 22:53
|
|
|
StarMinstrel posted:I now have an enormous cage that could support up to six females (which is my new unit of measure since that event).  Also yeah, that was exactly what I was referring to actually! Way back when I too didn't know any better I had two lady budgies and introduced a boy budgie to the cage. Oh boy, did THAT ever not go well.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 23:08
|
|
|
DarkHorse posted:Make your own! If you don't have a hobby shop near you, the internet can probably help: http://www.craftparts.com/balls-wooden-balls-wood-c-277_279.html It will be considered, but £££ and ~effort~ Pip pip pip posted:They are getting along well. Ozzy has resumed his cage-aggression behaviors towards arms/hands reaching in but does not antagonize Nugget AT ALL. Their only interactions really appear to be moving out of each others' way once in a while. Nugget seems less frantic about COMING OUT RIGHT NOW compared to when she was by herself so I am calling it a win. Oh, they're living in the same cage full time now? How big is it? For cage aggression, Inko doesn't like his cage being invaded by my partner's hands, so I rolled up sheets of kitchen roll into tubes and tied them into a knot around the cage bars near the door. Coffee stirrer stick stuck into the knot optional. Inko being broken may be a factor, but he'll go for the kitchen roll and attack that instead. You can also slide it along the bars from the outside and play tug with him, which reinforces the KILL THE PAPER redirection when there are hands about. Maybe that could work for you?
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 23:30
|
|
|
Battle Pigeon posted:Thread, tell me what trick I should teach Ohtori next. EAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGLEEEEEEEEEE. I'm trying(very loosely) to teach marshal to do this, you start off by putting your pointer finger and pinky out and kinda just slip that under their wings so they lift them. I...I haven't gotten past this part haha.
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2014 00:28
|
|
|
He learnt that one a long time ago, it was listed! It was basically "poke him in the side under the wing, both sides at once" and he naturally lifts his wings. Combine with treat+voice command, he quickly picked it up. And the gesture of pointing your fingers at him works too, so you can make hand guns and go HANDS UP and he'll eagle for you. Every single one of his tricks has both a voice command and a gesture associated with it, but some work better than others-like he'll flip via voice command almost every time, but will only guaranteed roll over for the gesture (a force push)
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2014 00:36
|
|
|
Battle Pigeon posted:He learnt that one a long time ago, it was listed! It was basically "poke him in the side under the wing, both sides at once" and he naturally lifts his wings. Combine with treat+voice command, he quickly picked it up. And the gesture of pointing your fingers at him works too, so you can make hand guns and go HANDS UP and he'll eagle for you. If you have anything ball-like you can teach Ohtori to balance on it. I have a super cheap lacrosse ball I can get zippy to attempt standing on. It started as teaching her to kick a ball on cue, but watching her climb up, fall off, and shout "Good Bird!" was too cute. Birds invent their own tricks sometimes. Fetching coins is a pretty easy prop trick to teach, too. We're working on catching balls of tissue out of the air right now- so there, two free "props" for instant entertainment.
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2014 03:18
|
|
|
Battle Pigeon posted:Does... does she tell Connie those things? She lets Connie know when something makes her very happy or upset. Approval is met with a satisfied "Yessss." And rejection is "No!" But she can't make the n sound so it is more like "!o" she also does an extremely creepy breathy chuckle and knows schuzhund commands. Like, I stayed over one night and when I finally woke up she was hanging over me on her cage and went "Braaaav" (good). I got praised by a bird for getting my lazy rear end out of bed. She also bobbed her head up and down like "yes, now we can get this show on the road" Tasty_Crayon fucked around with this message at 05:14 on Nov 20, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2014 05:03
|
|
|
Battle Pigeon posted:He learnt that one a long time ago, it was listed! It was basically "poke him in the side under the wing, both sides at once" and he naturally lifts his wings. Combine with treat+voice command, he quickly picked it up. And the gesture of pointing your fingers at him works too, so you can make hand guns and go HANDS UP and he'll eagle for you. wow I'm an idiot that can't read. What about like BANG and have him fall over on his back? He already knows how to roll over, it shouldn't be hard to get him to stop half way?
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2014 05:07
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 9, 2024 03:13 |
|
|
So, um: when do budgies go through puberty? How bad is it gonna be? 
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2014 13:31
|
|