Hello from Malta

[liz]

Did Percy want what you Mom was cooking?

They have a very good sence of smell. Mine beg when they smell something they want especially broccoli.

[chrisp]

Thanks a lot for all the help

Chris

[chrisp]

Did Percy want what you Mom was cooking?

They have a very good sence of smell. Mine beg when they smell something they want especially broccoli.

Could be Liz

The easiest way to have Percy eat anything new is to let him see you have some. He cannot resist at that point!

Chris

[chrisp]

Posting some new pics from this morning.

He is getting less camera shy so I can get some better close ups







Chris

[cml]

I love the first picture ^^!

[chrisp]

Thanks cml

Not often you get that close to that beak without paying the toll


Chris

[chrisp]

Another Percy update.

I had a look at this site: http://foragingforparrots.com/
brfussne suggested it to me It really has a lot of interesting ideas about `foraging` and `foraging toys`. I did a couple of `foraging bags` for Percy and hung them in his cage. Basically, a paper bag with shredded paper and treats inside. I put some holes in them with seeds sticking out so he can see that it contains food. He ate the seeds that were sticking out but he hasn't had the confidence to tear the bag up to get to the contents. Will try removing some of his usual food to see if he goes for it if he gets hungrier. I also rearranged his cage a bit. Before he had 2 wooden perches both aligned left to right at different heights and a couple of perches made up of used kitchen role cardboard. He usually always stayed on the higher wooden perch or the cardboard perches (even higher). Now I have realigned the lower wooden perch to go from front to back. So he can use it to move from the back to the front of the cage when he doesn't feel like climbing the bars. He seems to like it as he occasionally goes to the lower perch after getting some seeds from his bowl before moving up to the higher perches again

Also, this weekend I worked a bit less on target training and a bit more on taming and touch. After a bit of target training I started to lightly touch the beak, then click and treat. Now I can basically touch his beak whenever I want. Which is cool. I can occasionally touch his toes. However, he still doesn't like it when I try and touch his neck or chest. Which is weird because he HAS allowed me to scratch his neck and rub his chest a couple of times in the past. It's just that it happens when HE wants to not when I want to

I have another update regarding vocalizations. As I mentioned before, Percy is becoming more vocal. I guess he is growing more and more confident in his new home. He is still a quiet bird, but he occasionally starts screeching loudly and for a few minutes at a time, especially in the morning. I kind of decided that it was due to boredom as he seems to wake up before any of the people in the house do. Anyway, recently I have been working on trying to get him to speak, or at least to whistle. While I haven't managed to get him to speak yet, he is mimicking my whistles. I was trying to teach him the `sexy whistle` Till now he hasn't managed to do the whole thing. He does the first part OR the second part. But it has almost completely replaced his usual screeches. So basically now he does (or tries to do) the `sexy whistle` when he wants attention. And it's a lot softer (volume wise) and more pleasant than his usual vocalization. Nowadays at my house you can hear Percy and I whistling at each other from opposite sides of the house

Chris

[Rokisha]

Hello chris, I just wanted to say I enjoy reading about you and percy. I'm quite new to owning a parrot myself. I'm not sure of its gender but I think its female and we named her joe. We have one of those open top cages for her and she comes in and out when she pleases. As far as food we got colored pellets , kaytee exact rainbow premium diet for parrots and conures. Its what the petco guys reccomended lol and she loves it. I would also like to know how to post pictures here?

[chrisp]

Hello Rokisha and Joe

Thanks for your interest. I am posting as much info as I can so that people can steer me in the right direction. Plus people like to hear about little Percy I have found this forum to be very very helpful. I am still a beginner but I feel that I've learned a lot from the people here already and that translates to a better life for Percy.

I still haven't had the time to visit my local pet shop and look into some pellets. Busy days. I make sure to give Percy a variety of foods each day but I really need to make time and go check out the pellets.

As for posting images on the forum. I put my images online somewhere else, say google+ or facebook, and then I link them to my posts here using the `Img` button in the editor. Something like:
"[img]URL_TO_YOUR_IMAGE[/img]". Hope you find this helpful.

Have fun with Joe!


Chris

[Rokisha]

I agree this site is very helpful. I plan to post more about joe in the parrot tales section. I know what you mean about being busy. We are currently in the process of moving and I plan on taking joe back to petco today to pick out some new toys for herself as well as check to see how much a vet visit for her will cost. I have had her for six days now and she has been very entertaining. Just yesterday she jumped from her cage to my shoulder when I was blowing my nose. Startled me a bit lol but she made kissing sounds. Today she hopped off her cage and stole a noodle from my ramen.