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Advice needed please

Discuss indoor freeflight and managing freeflighted birds around the house. How to live with a flighted parrot.

Advice needed please

Postby lisalisa100 » Sun Jan 01, 2012 6:55 am

Hi

We have just brought home Ozzy, an African Grey, aged 7 years and would like some advice please. His previous owners didn't give him the attention he needed and I don't think he has been out of his cage in some time. I know he has to settle in with us but was wondering what would be the best thing to do regards him coming out of his cage. He is not clipped and so can fly. Should I just leave his cage door open and let him do whatever in his own time? Or should I wait a week or two before trying this? I am scared that he might come out of his cage and panic and hurt himself trying to fly. He is not cuddly tame and probably never will be (which is fine with me) but I do not want to scare him even more. He feels safe in his cage, I think. He takes food out of my hand no problem and is talking, beeping and whistling. Thank you.
Lisa

P.S. Think I should add here that I used to own a blue and gold Macaw. I weaned him and had him for over two years. We lived in Spain. When the economic crisis hit, we knew we had to come back to the UK so a good friend who has parrots took him for me and we are now back in the UK. It broke my heart but we could not realistically bring him back to the UK with us so it was a case of what was best for him and not me.
lisalisa100
Parrotlet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 11
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: African Grey
Flight: Yes

Re: Advice needed please

Postby liz » Sun Jan 01, 2012 8:55 am

lisalisa100 wrote:Hi

We have just brought home Ozzy, an African Grey, aged 7 years and would like some advice please. His previous owners didn't give him the attention he needed and I don't think he has been out of his cage in some time. I know he has to settle in with us but was wondering what would be the best thing to do regards him coming out of his cage. He is not clipped and so can fly. Should I just leave his cage door open and let him do whatever in his own time? Or should I wait a week or two before trying this? I am scared that he might come out of his cage and panic and hurt himself trying to fly. He is not cuddly tame and probably never will be (which is fine with me) but I do not want to scare him even more. He feels safe in his cage, I think. He takes food out of my hand no problem and is talking, beeping and whistling. Thank you.
Lisa

P.S. Think I should add here that I used to own a blue and gold Macaw. I weaned him and had him for over two years. We lived in Spain. When the economic crisis hit, we knew we had to come back to the UK so a good friend who has parrots took him for me and we are now back in the UK. It broke my heart but we could not realistically bring him back to the UK with us so it was a case of what was best for him and not me.


Welcome to the forum.

You did right by your macaw. I know it was heartbreaking to leave him but it would have been hard for him to go through quarentine.

My BF Amazon, Myrtle was so afraid of everything when I go her that she would not make a noise and not come out of her cage. Her previouse owner was not nice to her. I put her little cage in a central location and left the door open. It took a day for her to come out and sit on top. She was afraid of everything.


I fed her and talked to her and just put her in my routine without making a fuss over her. I gave her a bigger cage just to hold more of her stuff and never closed the cage door again. I did not try to touch her. She comes to me now to get tickles and kisses and to tell me things in my ear. She is talking as well as a 2 year old child now.She is now so social that she will go to anyone who says her name.
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liz
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 7234
Location: Hernando FL
Number of Birds Owned: 12
Types of Birds Owned: DYH Amazon Rambo
BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: Advice needed please

Postby lisalisa100 » Sun Jan 01, 2012 9:17 am

Hi Liz

Thank you for your advice - it gives me hope!! I just don't want him panicking and hurting himself flying. The cage is large and I have opened one of the doors for him. He has poked his head out but no more. I will just keep on doing this and hopefully soon he will feel confident enough to come out. One more thing - every time we give him food out of our hands, he says "want a chocolate". Now, I know that you should NEVER given a parrot chocolate but when we went to pick Ozzy up yesterday, the owner was telling me how much he likes it and then proceeded to hand feed him a tiny piece of chocolate!!! I was horrified. Hopefully it hasn't harmed him but I certainly won't EVER give him chocolate (or avocado)!!! In fact, he had a roast chicken dinner with vegetables (loved the chicken bones) and apparently he loves hot chicken curry!! Thanks again.
Lisa
lisalisa100
Parrotlet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 11
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: African Grey
Flight: Yes

Re: Advice needed please

Postby liz » Sun Jan 01, 2012 9:33 am

LOL - chicken.

He will become a great friend. Rambo has a passion for jelly beans and marshmellows. I have to control his requests. I will sometimes give him a miniature marshmello or a nerd candy when he asks.
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liz
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 7234
Location: Hernando FL
Number of Birds Owned: 12
Types of Birds Owned: DYH Amazon Rambo
BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: Advice needed please

Postby laducockatiel » Sun Jan 01, 2012 12:16 pm

liz wrote:LOL - chicken.

He will become a great friend. Rambo has a passion for jelly beans and marshmellows. I have to control his requests. I will sometimes give him a miniature marshmello or a nerd candy when he asks.


What kind of sweets do you think a cockatiel would like?
My blog: http://the-buzz-online.weebly.com


"If we don't stand for something, we may fall for anything."
- Malcolm X"
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laducockatiel
Amazon
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
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Location: London, England, Uk
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Re: Advice needed please

Postby liz » Sun Jan 01, 2012 12:32 pm

Rambo and Myrtle beg is why they know how things taste. They will also steal if they get a chance. I wouldn't suggest teaching your bird to want sweets but one little Nerd every once in a while would not hurt.

I also buy the little stick pretzels and use a vegi peeler to scrape off the salt. They love them. Of course that should be a controled goodie too.
User avatar
liz
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 7234
Location: Hernando FL
Number of Birds Owned: 12
Types of Birds Owned: DYH Amazon Rambo
BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: Advice needed please

Postby lisalisa100 » Sun Jan 01, 2012 1:39 pm

LOL. Well, no problem with him eating - today he had some spaghetti bolognese and a tiny bit of vanilla cheesecake (honestly, just a little on a spoon). I have had his cage open all day but apart from poking his head out once, he has not even shown the slightest interest in coming out. I guess patience is the key here!! I just feel sorry for him being stuck in the cage all the time, even though it is a very large cage. I will let you know if and when he ventures out.
lisalisa100
Parrotlet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 11
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: African Grey
Flight: Yes

Re: Advice needed please

Postby lisalisa100 » Sun Jan 01, 2012 4:36 pm

OMG!! As I said in my previous post, Ozzy keeps saying "want a chocolate?". We keep saying "want a tickle?". He just said it back to us perfectly clear and he's only been with us for 1 day!!! Amazing. I was told he had a large vocabulary but didn't think he would pick new things up within 1 day!! Bless him.
lisalisa100
Parrotlet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 11
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: African Grey
Flight: Yes

Re: Advice needed please

Postby laducockatiel » Sun Jan 08, 2012 5:12 am

Hahaha! Lol!
My blog: http://the-buzz-online.weebly.com


"If we don't stand for something, we may fall for anything."
- Malcolm X"
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laducockatiel
Amazon
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 845
Location: London, England, Uk
Flight: Yes

Re: Advice needed please

Postby lisalisa100 » Sun Jan 08, 2012 2:35 pm

UPDATE - Ozzie is now coming out of his cage every day and climbing all over/around it. He usually gets spooked (sometimes for no reason), flies off, lands on the floor and then walks back and climbs up and in his cage. He WILL NOT step up on my hand or on a perch even when I offer him a treat. Hope one day he will (if only for a safety backup if I need to get him in the cage quickly for instance). He does like his head and neck tickled but only lets me do it and not all the time - just when he says!! lol. He is molting at the moment so looks a little "scruffy" on his chest - there are little white fluffy feathers in his cage every day. He has been with us for 8 days now so I think he is doing brilliantly as I know it can take a very long time for them to get used to new surroundings and people. Thanks again for your lovely comments.
lisalisa100
Parrotlet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 11
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: African Grey
Flight: Yes

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