Update on Kiwi

So, last night Kiwi started regurging for me.

And she had her first out and about training session. She stepped up, and allowed touching all over by four complete strangers, while more or less babbling non-stop.

Toward the end of the night, she tucked herself under my chin for about an hour. She is very much an "under the chin" bird.

You couldn't possibly ask for a better amazon temperment than this one!

Good news. I really wish I had room for another bird.

I'd get another Pan Am in a heartbeat! They're the best zons around!

So happy you have her! Pictures,please)

terry57 said:

so happy you have her! Pictures,please)

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they're posted in the other thread.

Last night I had her out for a walk in the neighborhood, and I had her step up for at least half a dozen strangers. SHE ALLOWS STRANGERS TO SCRATCH HER HEAD.

So, obviously, the goal here is to take a super social parrot, and uber-socialize her, so that she goes to anyone... and interacts with everyone.

Slowly working with her and the other birds as well. I had her on the playstand with Tusk and Lila for an hour or so last night, and held her at the same time I held the other three... just slowly getting them used to each other.

Cage doors around here don't close. When I came home yesterday, I found her sitting in Lila's cage, while Lila was on top of Tusk's cage. Tusk was on Sally's Playtop. Sally was on Sweepea's cage, and Sweepea and Maggie were hanging out on Maggie's cage... So, they do play musical chairs during the day, and that seems to lessen the territorial disputes. The birds themselves generally police that stuff pretty well. What passes for "forraging" in this house, seems to be checking out what's left in the "other bird's" food bowl, or looking around on the floor for something tasty that has been dropped. And Kiwi is going with the flow, and fitting in quite well.

Wow, Mark. That's great! Sounds like you really lucked out with Kiwi! How is the rest of the flock taking to her?

She sounds fantastic!

Anansi said:

Wow, Mark. That's great! Sounds like you really lucked out with Kiwi! How is the rest of the flock taking to her?

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They are still somewhat keeping their distance, and unsure, but they are sharing cages (voluntarily on their own), food bowls, and playstands (involuntarily under supervision.)

My youngest bird is 11 years old. Kiwi is 1, and very active. So, they're kinda getting used to all that activity as well... Kiwi kinda bounces around a lot, short attention span and all that, while my other birds tend to OCD on one specific thing.

So, that part takes time, and it's normal. NO CONFLICTS, though. That's the important thing. The day she came home I had three birds sitting on (or in) her cage with her, and two macaws, which most smaller birds would find intimidating, nearby... and she didn't even flinch. Barely even took notice of any of it.

Bounced from toy, to toy, to food bowl, back to toy...

Birdman666 said:

terry57 said:

so happy you have her! Pictures,please)

Click to expand...

they're posted in the other thread.

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Going to look for them now! So glad that you figured out Photobucket so we can see pics

I haven't figured out anything... Wendy figured it out for me.

That's giving me way too much credit!

Wow - Kiwi is doing AWESOME! Very exciting.

Love how your birds like to hang out on each other's cages!

Birdman666 said:

I haven't figured out anything... Wendy figured it out for me.

That's giving me way too much credit!

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LOL! That Wendy is such a sweetheart
I have faith you can figure it out, though, you give yourself too little credit

It's more like I've given myself too little time to sit down and learn it...

That's reality.

But then, my daughter generally has to show me how the stupid smart phone works, too! (I'm not exactly a gadget person. In fact, I'm the opposite of a gadget person.)

Why do they call them smart phones anyway, when they make you feel so Stupid when you can't figure out how anything works?! :32:

Hey, to show you just how out of touch I am, I only just started texting a few weeks ago. Personally, I found texting quite annoying, and not only didn't bother to do it, I avoided it...

Birdman666 said:

terry57 said:

so happy you have her! Pictures,please)

Click to expand...

they're posted in the other thread.

Click to expand...

This was taken the evening she came home:

You're certainly more brave than I to let her loose outside her first night:11: How'd she react to that? How'd you know she was "ready" that quickly? It was a couple years before we let (our) Kiwi outside loose and definitely not up in a tree his first go.

She's a prime example of how adaptable amazons are! Flew halfway across the county that AM, was picked up by a total stranger and was hanging out in a tree that PM. What an amazing bird you lucked out with there!

That's a well socialized one yr old. Of course . She has the personality to go with it. Btw. I did notice what a difference having a young bird makes on the old , "set in their way" flock. Like giving a old dog a new puppy to play with.

kiwibird said:

you're certainly more brave than i to let her loose outside her first night:11::d how'd she react to that? How'd you know she was "ready" that quickly? It was a couple years before we let (our) kiwi outside loose and definitely not up in a tree his first go.

She's a prime example of how adaptable amazons are! Flew halfway across the county that am, was picked up by a total stranger and was hanging out in a tree that pm. What an amazing bird you lucked out with there!

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1. Hey, i waited a couple of hours... Socialized her with the flock first, then put them all outside in a tree to hang out together :d all six of them were in that tree together. I start training them immediately when and where i can. Not a fan of extended "settling in" where it isn't necessary...

2. She's clipped, and she's very calm.

3. I had a step ladder in place. The one time she made a dash for higher branches that was the end of tree time. (it was two hours after i first set her down in the tree.) It was also the beginning of under the chin time, which she also adores...

4. It took her quite awhile to figure out what she was supposed to do in a tree. She sat and watched my other birds for awhile, then gradually relaxed, and started doing what they were doing. Then she got excited, and started to go higher and higher... So that's when i stepped in. And you don't know if she's ready or not til you actually set her down in the tree... that's why I set up the step ladder BEFORE taking her outside. I limited her to the lower branches, and when she started to get any higher, I went and got her and brought her back down lower. EVENTUALLY, she'll be recalled, and I can just call her down. THEN she will have upper tree privileges. She's still quite a ways from that yet...



:d

henpecked said:

That's a well socialized one yr old. Of course . She has the personality to go with it. Btw. I did notice what a difference having a young bird makes on the old , "set in their way" flock. Like giving a old dog a new puppy to play with.

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Yeah. She's an exceptional little bird. I knew that from watching those videos you posted... All I'm doing is acclimating her to her new surroundings and flock mates, and showing her what her boundaries are.

She's already socialized. She's already bite pressure trained. She already allows touching all over, by pretty much everyone who handles her. She's good with other birds. She talks up a storm, she is perfectly content to self entertain, and she's funny. So, yeah. Not exactly a lot of work involved.

I'm doing out and about stuff, and I'm gonna work on recall when her wings grow out. Supervise the interactions with the other birds.

All of the above is Gospel... My zons have definitely perked up since she arrived.

So we worked on out and about training this weekend. She did really well.

Took her to the park, took her to three different pet stores, took her for walks every night.

Honestly, she's a perfectly well behaved amazon, who loves and goes to anyone. She doesn't seem to be skittish when out and about. Hasn't flown off on me even once.

Goes to everyone. Sucks up the attention. Talks up a storm. Content to hang out on my shoulder, and play with my fingers... (Yeah, she's already a shoulder bird. Comes down when I tell her to. Doesn't bite. So, I trust her.)

So far, there hasn't been a single bad habit to correct. She's an absolute love, and I adore her! She's sweet and goofy! VERY PERSONABLE LITTLE BIRD...

Made veggie pasta for everyone on Saturday. She'll eat her veggies if everyone else is. If you just put it in a bowl for her, she doesn't seem to recognize it as food. Mix it in with pasta though? She chows right down...

So, we're still working on ideal eating habits, but they aren't bad.