Sunflower's Diary

[captwest]

Hey Javelin, i look forward to reading on your progress with Sunflower, keep up the good work and congrats.

[javelin]

The other day was a big step forward with Sunflower. He has finally "allowed" handfeeding in the cage. The bit with pinching the seed between the chopstick and my finger paid off and after a day of doing this, I just dumped the stick altogether and slowly brought the seed to Sunflower.

Of course, he was very cautious and edgy about this step. Like I said in my previous post, he was very much aware of the difference of having the seed in between chopsticks and right adjacent to my fingers. I just remained very calm waiting for him to make his move. I pretty much left the ball in his court whether or not he'd take the seed from my bare hands.

The scene was like in slow-motion. He stretched out his neck and beak toward the seed between my fingers very, very slowly, biting the seed and then cautiously retracted. It must have been a nervous bite because without relishing the content of the seed he dropped the artifact. I repeated the offer and in the succeeding minutes -- which very much seemed like hours -- Sunflower started enjoying the seeds.

He was still in a defensive posture, clinging against the side of his swing perch, ready to turn around and jump off if he needed to retreat. At one point, my fingers were approaching him too fast that he did retreat. He eventually settled down and we continued the exercise. I was always being conscious of ending the session on a positive note.

Since then, I haven't gone back to the chopsticks method. In fact, yesterday Sunflower also started receiving seed offerings from my son. Although there were still some uneasiness between them, my boy even got a bit insecure when Sunflower flew hiding once when he approached him too fast in excitement -- still, that's a very encouraging progress.

I'll continue to have Sunflower comfortable with handfeeding, in the presence of a target stick in the next few days. Hopefully, he would be open to target training by next week.

[javelin]

One step forward, two steps back.

Yesterday I had to resort to closely feeding Sunflower through chopsticks again because apparently he won't have me feeding him through my hands in the cage.

I don't know if it's because we have guests staying over for the holidays or if I'm somehow venting out my holiday stress on to him or whatever. I rearranged his perches over the weekend and he may be having a hard time reconciling my lack of bird aesthetics when it comes to interior decorating his abode. Or maybe its a hormonal thing? I really wouldn't know.


Whatever the reason I'm back to the chopsticks feeding technique. For what it's worth, he's well familiar with the sticks and me holding them and earlier I chanced on him actually stepping up very briefly to the sticks.

My takeaway on this experience is that I realize now that I need to be more patient. I just have to slow things down and have Sunflower meet me halfway, have him gain an appreciation of me as a care provider on his own terms and not mine.

[Chicklet]

you've made awesome progress on a bird that was semi "wild" congrats on your patience and perseverance. Sunflower is lucky to have such a great owner Don't lose hope with the taming process, you're probably right, he's just nervous because of the holiday stress and a new person in the house. Parrots can be pretty sensitive little buggers :p

[javelin]

Thanks Chicklet. I have to admit, it's quite a bit frustrating. Sunflower is just very difficult to handle at times. I've thought about shifting to negative reinforcement ("flooding") but I'm holding off until there's really no reason for me to pursue positive reinforcement techniques or it's absolutely not productive.

I don't know about being a great owner. But this process of trying to bond with Sunflower is an eye-opener of sorts into things I can change in myself to be a better person.

[javelin]

It's been a while since my last entry here in Sunflower's Diary. Over the holidays, my septuagenarian mother suffered a stroke and had to be rushed to the hospital. She's stable now but must undergo therapy to get back the functions of her left arm and leg.

Anyway, because of this incident I had to be absent away from Sunflower for a few days at a time to help out in caring for my mom. She lives almost 2 hours and a couple of hundred pesos away so I have to take 3-4 days away from my family each week.

When I got home about the time of the New Year festivities, it seemed like I had to redo my acquaintances with Sunflower from scratch. He wouldn't eat from my hands again and he'd even be spooked when I used the chopsticks to feed him. Somehow, he looked a bit thin although I'm sure my wife and son were feeding him regularly.

Fortunately, the "learning curve" (if you might call it that) this time was significantly shorter. Sunflower began receiving seeds using the chopsticks method and eventually from my hands within a week. Compared to the month and a half that we started taming Sunflower, that is certainly a big jump.

This week, we had a little "stand-off", Sunflower and I. One morning I was trying to feed him through chopsticks (I needed to do so because he would display aggressiveness or a bit of a wild attitude but only in the mornings; by late afternoon he didn't mind anymore eating off my hands) when the seeds kept slipping and my arms we're getting shaky already. So I got tired of the chopsticks method and just took the seed and placed my hand in Sunflower's cage.

Sunflower would then cling to the far side of the cage away from my intruding hand, despite my seed offering. Unfortunately or fortunately -- depending on how you look at it -- I lost my patience and I started tapping the outside of the cage with a plastic stick that was lying around, sort of like prodding Sunflower back closer onto his perch so that I can feed him properly. All the while my feeding hand was steady inside near the cage doors.

As may be expected, Sunflower would fly around the cage with an obvious annoyance. But every time he landed on his perch I would retract the external stick. Once he calmed down, I would offer the seed and he would eventually take it off my fingers. After a few more rounds of this "I'm the boss" match, Sunflower seemed to not mind my hand anymore.

Now, Sunflower would take seeds off my hands whether it was early morning or late in the day. Although he would try to assert himself at times, chirping out loud and flapping his wings as if to say, "this is my territory, stand back", I don't have to use the chopsticks method anymore to come close to Sunflower. At times, the sight of the external stick would be enough for him to calm down.

In a sense, we have broken at least one of the barriers in our relationship. Somehow, we have established that I could have access into his domain albeit its in the context of "whether you like it or not". Hopefully the realization that we are his friends and not foes would come soon and that this access would ultimately graduate into something like "come in, you are welcome here".

I know that what happened, our little stand-off was closer to negative reinforcement and may even border to outright punishment which may not appeal to many here. I hope you guys understand though that I was still very conscious about Sunflower's welfare. But I've come to the conclusion that there are cases where both positive and negative conditioning are applicable insofar as trying to build a relationship even with our feathered friends.

[captwest]

Sorry to hear of your mother in law, i hope she recovers soon.I'm glad to hear you and Sunflower are making progress , and yes i think sometimes both pos and neg reinforcement are needed to help train your pet, tho some might disagree.Still want me to bring you some millet sprays?

[javelin]

Hey captwest. It's my real mom, not my in-law, but thanks. My in-law is quite strong and still kicking butts.

When are you coming over to the Philippines? I did find a pet store selling some millet seeds but if you're going to be in town, sure. Let's do lunch some time. I'll be out for another 3 days but do let me know.

[captwest]

I' ll be at the Intercontinental hotel PM of the 28th, i think i have to leave in AM of the 29th. but things are subject to change.

[javelin]

Things are progressing slow but sure as far as taming Sunflower is concerned.

This week, I was able to consistently touch her beak and body with little complaints from the little guy. Of course, Sunflower would still take a cautious stand, watching my fingers carefully as I brush my fingers off her body feathers and at the sides of her beak. There would be times he would attempt a very light nip at my finger but it's all okay. He would still get spooked on occasion, probably if I move my hands too fast towards her but he would eventually settle down and accept the whole routine.

He still wouldn't perform "up" for me. Sunflower would scamper away when my finger would linger too long at her belly avoiding getting on my fingers as if if were full of thorns. Not even if I use a perch (a make-shift one from an old wi-fi antenna) which I hold inside her cage. However, he does allow to land on the perch and lets me hold her up for a few seconds and then eventually he would jump off to her cage perch or fly off behind the mass of the cuttlebone.

I figure I'd just let this be for a couple of weeks so that he would get used to the exercise. Sunflower would even let my son touch him also but he would be generally be uncomfortable when my son does it compared when I do it.

Today, Sunflower had another milestone in that he started what would seemed to be the makings of target training. For several weeks now I would try and use his old chopsticks as a target stick prior to rewarding him with a seed. What made this day different is that I limited her feeding to a few seeds spread throughout the day (a couple in the morning, then at lunchtime and then mid-afternoon).

While she exhibited indifference for the target stick in previous tries, not moving a feather from where she perched, this evening she started nipping after the stick in expectation of the reward. He did this about a dozen times, even taking a step or two and stretching out for the target stick then quickly moving his attention towards the seed on my fingers as I do a mouth-click.

Unfortunately, he tired out easily (or maybe he's had his full already) and started ignoring the target stick yet again. But I'm definitely all smiles as we've gone one step further in Sunflower's training. I hope that in the following days he would accept the routine without me having to resort to restricting his feeding again.