Newbie with Eastern Rosella - please advise

[Tinder]

Hi,
I’m cross-posting this across different forums as I need advice from as many experienced bird keepers as poss.

We adopted an eastern rosella yesterday from a “friend of a friend”. The friend said he was a parrot (!) then showed me photos of him. Frantic googling revealed him to be an Eastern Rosella parakeet. I read everything I could find whilst still deciding whether to take him & discovered many consider them aviary birds, not pet cage birds and certainly not beginner ones (and yes I am a beginner)…but despite this I still decided to take him. Please bear with me and don’t all shout at me at once!! Now that he’s here I really want to do all I can to make him happy & healthy. I’m inexperienced with birds (had a canary when I was a kid and that’s it!) but am prepared to learn everything I need to & won’t give up on him if he turns out to be as difficult as I’ve read rosellas can be. So that’s why I’m here asking for help.

I have loads of questions to ask but for now thought I’d start by giving a run-down on what the last 24 hours have been like with him & just post my most pressing questions.

His cage was filthy when he arrived here & still is pretty manky. I left it completely alone last night as I didn’t want to stress him but this morning I just cleaned out the bottom tray & re-lined it with newspaper (it was lined with sheets of soaking wet newspaper with urine/faeces caked sandpaper on top!) and just brushed out what old food / feathers I could. The whole cage needs a good scrub down though (& probably treating with a bird disinfectant too) but I can’t do this yet as I feel it’s way too soon to try to handle him & move him out whilst I do this properly. Besides I don’t even have a spare cage to put him in yet or spare perches or anything…  - any advice on this? I know I need to use safe cleaning products & disinfectant etc when I do this. I thought maybe taking the whole thing up to the bathroom & doing it properly in the shower so I can use really hot water & rinse it thoroughly, is that how you would normally do it? His perches have a bit of food/poo on them - is it safe to sand them a little to get them cleaner with him still in the cage or will the dust affect him? What they need is a thorough wash but I don’t have clean dry ones to replace them with yet.

The food that came with him is a proprietary parrot mix (no brand name as it’s just in a plastic bag). Any thoughts on the suitability of this? I think I read somewhere that some feed canary mix? What about pellet food – is that suitable for rosellas? I know Rosellas also need fruit & veg & am currently researching the diet side of things along with everything else. He ate a little bit of pear today along with his seed mix & some cashew nuts.

When we got him home yesterday we expected to see a frightened little soul quivering in the corner of his cage but within half an hour he was chirruping & whistling at us. I sat in a chair by his cage talking to him & whistling/singing. He stood on his perch with his head cocked to the side, intently listening and whistling back at me. If you make a move for his cage he’ll usually (though not as much today) fly to the back of his cage and cling on until he feels safe to come back down on his perch. Tonight he’s been that bit more interactive, hanging upside down from the roof of his cage, chirping and looking at me cheekily and REALLY responding to my singing lol! He also had a little bath today too in the dish I put in his cage for him. 

He’s accidentally been outside his cage today too! I was nowhere near even trying to handle him yet so hadn’t intended letting him out yet – but he escaped whilst I was installing a new rope ladder I’d bought him! I just didn’t expect him to want to come out so was totally unprepared. He flew around panicking a little for a few seconds but then perched on top of a tall cabinet we have. I was thinking “S*** what do I do now?” He stayed there about 10 minutes then flew back into his cage, phew! In time I want to let him have his flying time each day out of his cage but I was nowhere near prepared yet & must admit I did get a bit of a scare! I have never handled a bird in my life (my childhood canary was always handled only by my dad) so know I’ve got an awful lot to learn here…and yes I know I may never be able to tame & handle him. I know I need to take it slow but don’t have a strategy as of yet & am reading, watching videos about hand taming etc. I’m just hoping I’ll gain his trust in time and he’ll show me if & when he’s ready. Does anyone have any advice on this? What if he never becomes tame in this way – how do you move untamed birds from cage to cage for vet visits, cleaning etc?

I think his claws look pretty long – you can’t see from the pictures (I’ll try to take some better ones tomorrow & see if I can get a clearer picture of them) and also maybe his beak too? The top part of his beak just looks longer somehow than Rosellas in photos I’ve looked at but maybe I’m wrong. I’ve been searching online for an avian vet in my area & am going to ring one tomorrow quite locally to me that has come up in a search.

Tonight when we covered his cage for bed he started flapping like mad around his cage and let out this terrible squawking noise. He didn’t do this last night at all. 5 minutes before though he had been very active, chirping, hanging upside down and playing so was he just telling us he was peed off about having to go to bed!? He settled down within seconds once the cover was on but it was quite worrying until he did. Maybe if we give him more ‘wind down’ time tomorrow before covering his cage? I felt really guilty, one minute he was playing & doing tricks for us and the next we sent him to bed poor baby!

I’ll end my post here for now, sorry it’s so long. If anyone has any advice to give on the issues I’ve mentioned up to now I’d really appreciate it.

Photos of him here (there are 4 for now, I'll try to get better ones of his claws etc)):
http://s648.photobucket.com/albums/uu20 ... G_0055.jpg

p.s. his head plumage seems quite 'bitty' for want of a better word - pale patches within the red feathers? Any ideas why? Also he seems quite dirty around the beak area - is this normal? I'm not sure he was given the opportunity to bathe in his previous home so I'm hoping his feathers will improve with this & better diet etc?

[liz]

Hi,
I’m cross-posting this across different forums as I need advice from as many experienced bird keepers as poss.

We adopted an eastern rosella yesterday from a “friend of a friend”. The friend said he was a parrot (!) then showed me photos of him. Frantic googling revealed him to be an Eastern Rosella parakeet. I read everything I could find whilst still deciding whether to take him & discovered many consider them aviary birds, not pet cage birds and certainly not beginner ones (and yes I am a beginner)…but despite this I still decided to take him. Please bear with me and don’t all shout at me at once!! Now that he’s here I really want to do all I can to make him happy & healthy. I’m inexperienced with birds (had a canary when I was a kid and that’s it!) but am prepared to learn everything I need to & won’t give up on him if he turns out to be as difficult as I’ve read rosellas can be. So that’s why I’m here asking for help.

***A parakeet is a parrot. Any critter you can pet is a pet. (My father had a 5 foot long black
***snake in the barn that could feel his foot steps and would show himself and let Dad pet him.
***I was in the barn many times and did not know it was there until my dad had to tell me
***because he got sick and I had to tend the animals.

I have loads of questions to ask but for now thought I’d start by giving a run-down on what the last 24 hours have been like with him & just post my most pressing questions.

His cage was filthy when he arrived here & still is pretty manky. I left it completely alone last night as I didn’t want to stress him but this morning I just cleaned out the bottom tray & re-lined it with newspaper (it was lined with sheets of soaking wet newspaper with urine/faeces caked sandpaper on top!) and just brushed out what old food / feathers I could. The whole cage needs a good scrub down though (& probably treating with a bird disinfectant too) but I can’t do this yet as I feel it’s way too soon to try to handle him & move him out whilst I do this properly. Besides I don’t even have a spare cage to put him in yet or spare perches or anything…  - any advice on this? I know I need to use safe cleaning products & disinfectant etc when I do this. I thought maybe taking the whole thing up to the bathroom & doing it properly in the shower so I can use really hot water & rinse it thoroughly, is that how you would normally do it? His perches have a bit of food/poo on them - is it safe to sand them a little to get them cleaner with him still in the cage or will the dust affect him? What they need is a thorough wash but I don’t have clean dry ones to replace them with yet.


***You can pop the bottom off some cages. Then just scrub the bottom good before ***reconnecting. Or you can let him take his time to come out. Set up a table with water and ***treats then take the cage to be scrubbed. He will return to his cage when you bring it back. ***Filthy wooden perches should be scraped first with sand paper then washed in viniger water
***and rinsed. You can towel dry them or use a blow dryer. The dampness won't hurt. He
***really wants to be clean.

The food that came with him is a proprietary parrot mix (no brand name as it’s just in a plastic bag). Any thoughts on the suitability of this? I think I read somewhere that some feed canary mix? What about pellet food – is that suitable for rosellas? I know Rosellas also need fruit & veg & am currently researching the diet side of things along with everything else. He ate a little bit of pear today along with his seed mix & some cashew nuts.

***Pellets are good. You don't know what he has had so offer him everything. Get rid of the seed ***and get new. You don't know how old it is or what it could have in it.

When we got him home yesterday we expected to see a frightened little soul quivering in the corner of his cage but within half an hour he was chirruping & whistling at us. I sat in a chair by his cage talking to him & whistling/singing. He stood on his perch with his head cocked to the side, intently listening and whistling back at me. If you make a move for his cage he’ll usually (though not as much today) fly to the back of his cage and cling on until he feels safe to come back down on his perch. Tonight he’s been that bit more interactive, hanging upside down from the roof of his cage, chirping and looking at me cheekily and REALLY responding to my singing lol! He also had a little bath today too in the dish I put in his cage for him. 

***That is good that he is willing to take baths on his own.

He’s accidentally been outside his cage today too! I was nowhere near even trying to handle him yet so hadn’t intended letting him out yet – but he escaped whilst I was installing a new rope ladder I’d bought him! I just didn’t expect him to want to come out so was totally unprepared. He flew around panicking a little for a few seconds but then perched on top of a tall cabinet we have. I was thinking “S*** what do I do now?” He stayed there about 10 minutes then flew back into his cage, phew! In time I want to let him have his flying time each day out of his cage but I was nowhere near prepared yet & must admit I did get a bit of a scare! I have never handled a bird in my life (my childhood canary was always handled only by my dad) so know I’ve got an awful lot to learn here…and yes I know I may never be able to tame & handle him. I know I need to take it slow but don’t have a strategy as of yet & am reading, watching videos about hand taming etc. I’m just hoping I’ll gain his trust in time and he’ll show me if & when he’s ready. Does anyone have any advice on this? What if he never becomes tame in this way – how do you move untamed birds from cage to cage for vet visits, cleaning etc?

***If he doesn't let you pick him up after he has been out for a while - close one cage and open
***the other with treats.

I think his claws look pretty long – you can’t see from the pictures (I’ll try to take some better ones tomorrow & see if I can get a clearer picture of them) and also maybe his beak too? The top part of his beak just looks longer somehow than Rosellas in photos I’ve looked at but maybe I’m wrong. I’ve been searching online for an avian vet in my area & am going to ring one tomorrow quite locally to me that has come up in a search.

***Good move.

Tonight when we covered his cage for bed he started flapping like mad around his cage and let out this terrible squawking noise. He didn’t do this last night at all. 5 minutes before though he had been very active, chirping, hanging upside down and playing so was he just telling us he was peed off about having to go to bed!? He settled down within seconds once the cover was on but it was quite worrying until he did. Maybe if we give him more ‘wind down’ time tomorrow before covering his cage? I felt really guilty, one minute he was playing & doing tricks for us and the next we sent him to bed poor baby!

***My 'tiels want to see. They don't want covered. In the winter I cover them in case of draft but ***have to leave an opening for two to see through at a time. Even the Amazons don't want ***completly covered.

I’ll end my post here for now, sorry it’s so long. If anyone has any advice to give on the issues I’ve mentioned up to now I’d really appreciate it.

Photos of him here (there are 4 for now, I'll try to get better ones of his claws etc)):
http://s648.photobucket.com/albums/uu20 ... G_0055.jpg

p.s. his head plumage seems quite 'bitty' for want of a better word - pale patches within the red feathers? Any ideas why? Also he seems quite dirty around the beak area - is this normal? I'm not sure he was given the opportunity to bathe in his previous home so I'm hoping his feathers will improve with this & better diet etc?

***He has probably not had a check up if ever. Take him to an Avian vet for a checkup. I take ***mine once a year whether they want to go or not.

***It sounds like he knows he has moved to a good home. His early interactions with you means he
***knows you are a good person. He will test the boundaries. Choose your battles and talk softly. ***If he does something and you don't know how to correct him. Pretend you did not see it until ***you come up with a solution.

***Can you tell I am technology impaired?

[Mum2rory]

Hi, Welcome and congratulations on your new friend. I agree with Liz, she says she is techno-challenged, but she has much experience with birds and always has good advice, which in my eyes is more important than being computer savvy. I also dont cover 2 of my bird cages (tiel and gcc) as they flap like crazy when I id it and I dont want them to hurt themselves. (I still cover the budgies cage or else the little boogers will not stop chirping/chattering all night)
I do not have an eastern rosella, so cant really help there but I do think it is important to sort out:
1) the dirty cage
2) vet check
3) diet - this will take time as birds can be quite stubborn when trying to get them to eat healthy - like all little kids can be.
E.G> At Hotel Mum this morning I tried (yet again) to add fruit and veg to budgies and tiels diet, they are not known to be huge f&v eaters but gotta keep trying. They were NOT happy to say the least. The gcc loves apples, carrots (got them today) and also added a tiny bit of celery and bok choy. He ate apple and carrot, the rest left in food bowl. OH WELL, will kkep trying.
Good luck, you are doing well, he will come round. Whats his name?

[rebeccaturpeinen]

Hi and welcome to the forum!!

There arent many Rosella owners here but I have one. I found mine outside about one and a half year ago and had never dealt with birds before... so your story is very similar to mine

First, my Jo is kept inside, not in an aviary cage and she is very happy. I let her out to fly a couple of hours a day but she often just plays, doesnt really fly. But she does have the option. She usually decides to go back her self when shes tired. Or I will ask her to step up on a stick and put her in. I have worked with her a lot but she is still not completely tame, she does not want to be handled. We are still working on it but it is fine by me if she never lets me pick her up, as long as she is happy.

She has a big cage and something I have heard is very important for Rosellas is the possibility of taking a bath... they LOVE baths. Mine takes one almost every day. So she drinks from a drinking bottle and then she has a big bowl (think its about 15 cm in diamtere) as a bath. She loves cold water and then usually dives right in. Ill try to take a video of it.

My Jo is on Zupreem pellets. When we first got her we had a seed mix but lots of people said pellets was better so we switched. We were lucky; Jo started eating them straight away. Her favourite treat is sunflowers so that is what we use for training. The way I was able to get close to her was with apple... you can make long slices of apple so they dont have to come that close to have a bite. And then I started with target training and she picked this up straight away.

My Jo seems to get bored easily. She loves chewing on wood so she always has 3-4 wood toys to chew on and then she has a further 2-3- toys with bells (she loves bells) I change her toys every two weeks to keep her interested, she will get moody if I dont do this and will scream more and look a bit distressed.

I cover her cage during the night, she has a bedtime at about 8pm. Sometimes she doesnt agree but we try to stick to this. She usually settles down after 5-10 minutes and then we dont here her untill we uncover her at 8am.

Thats about it from me... hope it helps a bit.

I dont think my Rosella has been difficult at all... I think she is happy

Anyway, good luck!!

[liz]

I have found that Rambo and Myrtle would preferto steal food. They steal from each others cages even though they have the exact same thing in theirs. Rambo won't eat his RoudyBush but he will eat hers.

When I want them to try something new I put it on their play patio. If I offer it the little buggers will take it then drop. If I set it out and walk away they just can't wait to get into it.

[Tinder]

Thanks to all of you for your wonderful replies! I came on here a little scared as a newbie to be honest expecting to get replies telling me I'd taken too much on but you've all been so encouraging & helpful Sorry it’s taken me over a day to reply too. I was waiting until I could sit down properly & give your posts the attention they deserve. I really do appreciate them.

You can pop the bottom off some cages. Then just scrub the bottom good before reconnecting. Or you can let him take his time to come out. Set up a table with water and treats then take the cage to be scrubbed. He will return to his cage when you bring it back.
Filthy wooden perches should be scraped first with sand paper then washed in viniger water and rinsed. You can towel dry them or use a blow dryer. The dampness won't hurt. He
really wants to be clean

I managed to get it cleaned up a little yesterday with him still in it – didn’t have any white vinegar yet so just used hot water to wipe down the bars and metal frames etc. They already look much better. The bottom of his cage has a tray that pulls out but I'm sure there should also be some kind of grill there too - there isn't. When you pull the tray out the bottom of the cage is all open. There’s also a hole about 1” across in the tray. It seems quite an old cage. What I'm assuming would've originally been perspex sheets around the lower sides of the cage (to keep the food & mess in) have been replaced with pieces of laminate flooring cut to size. These not only look naff but I'm sure cant be very hygienic so I've been looking at buying replacement pieces of perspex on here:

http://www.plasticstockist.com/Glazing- ... Sheet.aspx

Pellets are good. You don't know what he has had so offer him everything. Get rid of the seed and get new. You don't know how old it is or what it could have in it.

We’ve bought new seed – a parrot mix with similar ingredients to what he had in this and some Vitakraft Vitanature parrot dinner. I’ve been giving him a little of both until I can decide what’s the best type to feed long term.

That is good that he is willing to take baths on his own.

I didn’t actually see him bathing – I’d gone out for a couple of hours – but my husband was adamant he was having a dip lol!

If he doesn't let you pick him up after he has been out for a while - close one cage and open the other with treats.

Thanks for the tips! I need all the tips I can get right now lol.

My 'tiels want to see. They don't want covered. In the winter I cover them in case of draft but have to leave an opening for two to see through at a time. Even the Amazons don't want completly covered.

He was much better last night – no squawking & flapping lol. I kept telling him it was “bedtime soon” and then slowly placed the cover over & left a little gap at the front where he could still see if he wanted to.

He has probably not had a check up if ever. Take him to an Avian vet for a checkup. I take ***mine once a year whether they want to go or not.

I will do. Just need to gain his trust a little more first. I don’t want to force him into being handled just yet but I know it may come to having to if he never feels comfortable with that. I got some more close-up pictures of his claws which I’ll post soon for opinions. As soon as I feel the time is right though I will get him checked out.

It sounds like he knows he has moved to a good home. His early interactions with you means he knows you are a good person. He will test the boundaries. Choose your battles and talk softly. If he does something and you don't know how to correct him. Pretend you did not see it until you come up with a solution.

Thankyou! I’m a total newbie with birds but have never in my life adopted any creature (furry, feathered or otherwise) without seeing them as members of my family who I have a lifelong commitment to. Hopefully my new friend knows that We're actually the 3rd 'owners' he's had The people we got him from didnt have him very long - they ran a pub and he was upstairs on his own most of the day & obviously (from the stae his cage was in) not even getting his basic needs met, never mind anything else so they rehomed him. I'm waiting for my friend to come back with more info about him from his 1st owner, such as how old he is, if he's ever been out of his cage before now, been handled etc.
Thanks for your great advice too!

Hi, Welcome and congratulations on your new friend. I agree with Liz, she says she is techno-challenged, but she has much experience with birds and always has good advice, which in my eyes is more important than being computer savvy.
I also dont cover 2 of my bird cages (tiel and gcc) as they flap like crazy when I id it and I dont want them to hurt themselves. (I still cover the budgies cage or else the little boogers will not stop chirping/chattering all night)

As posted above he seems fine with it last night. His cage is in the living room & I have to then sit with the tv turned off or down really low which isn’t ideal for him. (It’s easy when my husband is on night shift like he was last night. Much harder when he’s home & there’s football on or some film he wants to watch!

I’ve heard someone on another forum mention sleep cages and moving your birds to a quiet, dark room at bedtime – does anyone here use these?

I do not have an eastern rosella, so cant really help there but I do think it is important to sort out:
1) the dirty cage
2) vet check
3) diet - this will take time as birds can be quite stubborn when trying to get them to eat healthy - like all little kids can be.

I’m working on all of the above, thankyou!

Whats his name?

His name’s Joey. On Sunday he was called Joseph (after his beautiful “coat of many colours”) but then getting to know him a bit more & seeing how cheeky he can be I decided yesterday he was more of a “Joey” (and thought that was a good nod to his Australian roots too lol)

Hi and welcome to the forum!!

There arent many Rosella owners here but I have one. I found mine outside about one and a half year ago and had never dealt with birds before... so your story is very similar to mine

Jo is absolutely beautiful How strange we called them similar names too! I'd actually thought what name I was gonna give him if "he" turns out to be a "she" and that name was Jo-Jo! How did you manage to get Jo in from outside? I look forward to comparing notes on our Rosella beauties & it's great to have someone here who's been where i am now.

First, my Jo is kept inside, not in an aviary cage and she is very happy. I let her out to fly a couple of hours a day but she often just plays, doesnt really fly. But she does have the option. She usually decides to go back her self when shes tired. Or I will ask her to step up on a stick and put her in. I have worked with her a lot but she is still not completely tame, she does not want to be handled. We are still working on it but it is fine by me if she never lets me pick her up, as long as she is happy.

It sounds like you’ve both reached a nice compromise! How long was it before Jo would step onto a stick for you? Does she ever come onto your finger? I’ve so many questions for you, expect to be bombarded within the coming weeks lol! Joey’s been out this morning – and this time he flew round again (as opposed to yesterday when he just sat on top of his cage). I’m not sure yet if he’s flying round just because he enjoys it or because he’s a bit spooked & having to move elsewhere. I need to get him a perch for on top of his cage and maybe a play stand/perch too so he has more safe places when he’s out.

She has a big cage and something I have heard is very important for Rosellas is the possibility of taking a bath... they LOVE baths. Mine takes one almost every day. So she drinks from a drinking bottle and then she has a big bowl (think its about 15 cm in diamtere) as a bath. She loves cold water and then usually dives right in. Ill try to take a video of it.

I'd love to see that! Any videos of her in fact! I put a cat feeding dish in his cage on Sunday. My husband said he took a bath in it but I didn’t see him myself as I was out at the time.

My Jo is on Zupreem pellets. When we first got her we had a seed mix but lots of people said pellets was better so we switched. We were lucky; Jo started eating them straight away. Her favourite treat is sunflowers so that is what we use for training. The way I was able to get close to her was with apple... you can make long slices of apple so they dont have to come that close to have a bite. And then I started with target training and she picked this up straight away.

Great tips for me to try there thankyou! I’ve heard of target training but not sure what it is yet. Lots of reading still to do….

My Jo seems to get bored easily. She loves chewing on wood so she always has 3-4 wood toys to chew on and then she has a further 2-3- toys with bells (she loves bells) I change her toys every two weeks to keep her interested, she will get moody if I dont do this and will scream more and look a bit distressed.

We tried to get him some toys from Pets@Home but the choice wasn’t too great, apart from the rope swing/ladder we bought. Going to do an online shop as we don’t have many good bird shops nearby. Do you recommend any particular kind of toys for Rosellas?

I cover her cage during the night, she has a bedtime at about 8pm. Sometimes she doesnt agree but we try to stick to this. She usually settles down after 5-10 minutes and then we dont here her untill we uncover her at 8am.

Does Jo sleep in the same room as you – I mean the room you’re still in when she goes to bed – or do you take her to a quieter room?

Thats about it from me... hope it helps a bit.

You’ve helped tremendously thankyou!

Thanks again to all for taking the time to reply

[liz]

Tinder - I am sorry - I seem to have lost my manners when I lost my mind.

Welcome to the forum and we are very glad you are here.

I don't like the wire thing on the bottom of the cage. It is too hard to clean and holds bacteria. I take it out and put layers of news paper down. As I go by during the day I pull a layer out. Once a week I pull the tray out to clean it and clean around the edges where the tray was.

The Amazons like to sit on their door perches so I have clipped cardboard boxes lined with newspaper under the cage door. It also keeps stuff from bouncing around the room. Now if I could teach them not to throw things at the dogs the floor would not need swept so often.

The lovies are in a smaller cage. I lift the top off once a week to clean the bottom good.

I have 6 tiels in one big cage and they are pooping machines. I put alphalfa hay in the bottom once a week. When I first put it in they forage through it but don't go back to the bottom after the first day. The poopers land on the top of the hay and dry so I just take the clumps out during the week and change it once a week. It also has a fresh smell.

In my house I take every shortcut I can.

[rebeccaturpeinen]

Hi again!

It is very funny with the name... when we first found her we thought she was a he and we named him Joey... but when we took her to the vet he was pretty sure Joey was female so thats why she is now called Jo. I call her Jo-Jo all the time.

My husband first noticed Jo outside and it was clear she wasnt suppose to be there... and she kept on hanging around so we started feeding her. She was sooo hungry and came right up to us. When it was raining she would fly up to the window screaming and wanted to come in but was ofcourse scared when we opened the window. So we put our big dogcage outside with a perch and food in and it only took hours for her to get in. Like she knew she would be safe in there. We tried to look for an owner without luck so we bought a big cage (never ever thought I would own a bird but love her to death now).

It didnt take that long before she stepped on a stick... I first used a long stick so my hands were far away and she seemed curious about the stick. Now I can use a small stick and say up and she will usually do that... except when she knows she has to go into her carrier... then its war Nah, not that bad but it will take anything from 5 to 20 tries to get her in. I used Michaels training technique: http://trainedparrot.com/Taming/ it also explains the target practise. Jo now basicly never gets a treat without targeting.

She doesnt come onto my finger but she will let me touch her feet a bit and beak wich is a big breakthrough for us. I still think she will become completely tame but my lack of experience with birds has made it a slow progress.

Jo has always seemed very curious about everything. A couple of days after I got her she started flying around in the livingroom exploring. Never seemed that scared. Now she just hops around to her favourit places. I have two dogs so she only has the livingroom.

And they look funny when they take a bath Just make sure it isnt too much water. Ill see if I can make a video tomorrow, then you can see her cage too.

It took Jo a while to get into toys, Im not sure she had toys at her previous owner. What my Rosella really likes... toys to chew on. Wood. Looooves wood. And bells. She also likes it when I hide treats for her in the cage. She has a basket full of toys that I will hide treats in and she will throw around with the toys to get to the treats. One mistake I made was putting a mirrow in the cage... she got very cranky and territorial with it so mirrows is a no-no. I make most of her toys myself. I usually buy one toy with lots of wood blocks and make 4-5 toys out of it. Then if it isnt a succes I can just break it again and try something new. There are a lot of good shops online though depending on where you are ofcourse. A lot of them are in USA and Canada so for me the shipping would be too high.

Jo sleeps in the livingroom, we dont have a seperate sleeping cage. SHer cage is actually right next to the TV (we have a small livingroom and thats the only place her cage fits) but she doesnt seem bothered with it at all. We dont hear her during the night. But we do need to cover the cage, otherwise she will wake us at 6 am...

But ofcourse every house hold is different. We have the two dogs but they are quiet and we dont have any kids so it is pretty quiet in the livingroom in the evening.

If you have any more questions just ask away, its fun to be able to give a little advice. Doesnt seem that long ago I was in your position.

[rebeccaturpeinen]

Oh and about the wire thing in the bottom of the cage... I put newspaper on top of it cos its horrible to clean. As long as you change the newspaper often enough you really dont need it. And the thing around the cage to catch food and stuff... I had one on my cage but took it off cos it took up so much room. The mess really isnt much bigger than when I had it on.

Here is a picture of Jos favourite toy, I have a big one and a small one:

[Tinder]

Hello again everyone!

Before replying to you guys tonight I had to post this first:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6364

Oh god it was so worrying & I feel like such a bad bird mummy now! He did seem fine after it though. I couldn’t believe how quickly he got over it, chirping away like nothing had happened. Seeing him rolling his perch across the table & chirruping away really made me laugh! He ended up going to bed later than usual though ‘cause I had to let him have a little play and check out his new his new perch so I could make sure he really was calm and ok before I said goodnight.

He was so relaxed though I got these photos of him:

Joey rolling on his perch in training for next series of Takeshi's Castle!:
http://s648.photobucket.com/albums/uu20 ... G_0107.jpg

On his new outside perch before bed:
http://s648.photobucket.com/albums/uu20 ... G_0115.jpg

Tinder - I am sorry - I seem to have lost my manners when I lost my mind. Welcome to the forum and we are very glad you are here.

No worries at all Liz, you’ve made me feel more than welcome

I don't like the wire thing on the bottom of the cage. It is too hard to clean and holds bacteria. I take it out and put layers of news paper down. As I go by during the day I pull a layer out. Once a week I pull the tray out to clean it and clean around the edges where the tray was.

Oh that’s good! I’m glad it isn’t actually needed for anything then. I clean the tray out & re-line with newspaper every day too.

The Amazons like to sit on their door perches so I have clipped cardboard boxes lined with newspaper under the cage door. It also keeps stuff from bouncing around the room. Now if I could teach them not to throw things at the dogs the floor would not need swept so often.

Oh wow, they sound such characters! That really made me laugh

The lovies are in a smaller cage. I lift the top off once a week to clean the bottom good.

I have 6 tiels in one big cage and they are pooping machines. I put alphalfa hay in the bottom once a week. When I first put it in they forage through it but don't go back to the bottom after the first day. The poopers land on the top of the hay and dry so I just take the clumps out during the week and change it once a week. It also has a fresh smell.

In my house I take every shortcut I can.

Sounds like you have your work cut out there Liz, but also have a good system & really know what you’re doing! Lovely to hear from you again

Hi again!

It is very funny with the name... when we first found her we thought she was a he and we named him Joey... but when we took her to the vet he was pretty sure Joey was female so thats why she is now called Jo. I call her Jo-Jo all the time.

That’s so cool! Just out oif interest (‘cause I’ve been reading a bit about sexing your rosella) – does Jo have any of the female markers? White line under her wing (Joey doesn’t as far as I’ve been able to see), brown feathers behind (?) her eyes, a feminine shaped head (whatever that looks like lol)?

My husband first noticed Jo outside and it was clear she wasnt suppose to be there... and she kept on hanging around so we started feeding her. She was sooo hungry and came right up to us. When it was raining she would fly up to the window screaming and wanted to come in but was ofcourse scared when we opened the window. So we put our big dogcage outside with a perch and food in and it only took hours for her to get in. Like she knew she would be safe in there. We tried to look for an owner without luck so we bought a big cage (never ever thought I would own a bird but love her to death now).

Aaw bless her & you for taking her in. That’s an amazing story & she sounds an amazing girl. I’ve heard of cats choosing their owners but never birds before

It didnt take that long before she stepped on a stick... I first used a long stick so my hands were far away and she seemed curious about the stick. Now I can use a small stick and say up and she will usually do that... except when she knows she has to go into her carrier... then its war Nah, not that bad but it will take anything from 5 to 20 tries to get her in.

I used Michaels training technique: http://trainedparrot.com/Taming/ it also explains the target practise. Jo now basicly never gets a treat without targeting.

I’ll check out that link, thankyou.

She doesnt come onto my finger but she will let me touch her feet a bit and beak wich is a big breakthrough for us. I still think she will become completely tame but my lack of experience with birds has made it a slow progress.

It must be wonderful seeing things progress with her & knowing she’s learning to trust you more & more. This may sound totally odd but tonight when I was trying to towel Joey I had my thumb & forefinger round his neck, hand flat on back, making sure not to press on his chest etc (as per emergency instructions) and he tried to bite me (or the towel rather) a couple of times but they were such gentle nips! I know this probably sounds stupid to the experienced bird keeper but I just found it really really touching! – especially as I was half expecting him to take my whole finger off lol! Seeing him tonight go through what he did then getting over it so quickly, being cheeky and happy again not long afterwards just made me fall in love with him even more.

Jo has always seemed very curious about everything. A couple of days after I got her she started flying around in the livingroom exploring. Never seemed that scared. Now she just hops around to her favourit places. I have two dogs so she only has the livingroom.

What kind of tv do you have!? Any advice you can give on bird proofing your living room would be wonderful!

And they look funny when they take a bath Just make sure it isnt too much water. Ill see if I can make a video tomorrow, then you can see her cage too.

I’d love to see that! Seeing your cage setup will hopefully give me some ideas too – I bought some new toys for Joey today but haven’t a clue if I’ve put them where they should be!

It took Jo a while to get into toys, Im not sure she had toys at her previous owner. What my Rosella really likes... toys to chew on. Wood. Looooves wood. And bells. She also likes it when I hide treats for her in the cage. She has a basket full of toys that I will hide treats in and she will throw around with the toys to get to the treats. One mistake I made was putting a mirrow in the cage... she got very cranky and territorial with it so mirrows is a no-no. I make most of her toys myself. I usually buy one toy with lots of wood blocks and make 4-5 toys out of it. Then if it isnt a succes I can just break it again and try something new. There are a lot of good shops online though depending on where you are ofcourse. A lot of them are in USA and Canada so for me the shipping would be too high.

I did a little shopping today Time will tell if Joey likes them. I’m also not sure if he knows what to do with toys. I’m his 3rd owner like I’ve said before and his cage came with a stainless steel mirror ~& a swing barely big enough to fit a budgie. I saw these 2 toys today in the shop I was in and both came to under £4 so I don’t think he was exactly spoiled in his previous home! That’s a brilliant idea though to make your own!

Jo sleeps in the livingroom, we dont have a seperate sleeping cage. SHer cage is actually right next to the TV

Same here! Joey likes the Classic FM radio station (classical music) played through the tv, he also likes the Fifi & The Flowertots (my daughters fave) theme tune and the sound of cartoon voices!

If you have any more questions just ask away, its fun to be able to give a little advice. Doesnt seem that long ago I was in your position.

I sure will do, thankyou!

Here is a picture of Jos favourite toy, I have a big one and a small one:

I got him something a bit similar (though yours does look prettier!) today – a wooden toy with 4 ropes and dangly bits (!). I also got him a large wooden ladder (he already has a rope/wood one which he hasn’t even so much as glanced at yet); a strange looking toy that looks like an explosion in a coloured rope factory!; a ball that chirrups when you hit it; a dangler with wooden balls and cubes…and then his fake tree branch thingamajig that I’ve decided to use as a perch outside his cage.

He’ll probably ignore the lot