Lullx
New member
- Mar 6, 2015
- 299
- 1
- Parrots
- Nephele - Baby CAG | Genevieve & Phaedrus - Green Cheeks | Lucy - Lutino Cockatiel | Ludo, Zero & Anzu - Budgerigars
On October 21st of last year, I rescued Phaedrus from a neglectful household. I'm at least his third owner now. I'm fairly certain he was never let out of his cage until I brought him home.
He has a gorgeous, full set of flight feathers that I'm allowing him to keep. My home is safe for flighted birds (except for the budgies who always get into trouble when they can fly; for their safety I keep them clipped).
Phae is still warming up to me and to being in his new home, and he never really tried to fly much, unless he was startled.
When he would fly around out of fright (often triggered by my cockatiel suddenly taking off from the top of the cage and making everyone scatter), I noticed that his flying was incredibly sluggish and he wasn't able to gain or maintain altitude. This honestly broke my heart, knowing his wings were never really used and his muscles were incredibly weak ):
So I started working with him! Once he trusted me enough to step up for me, I'd gently toss him up in the air to get him to fly back to the cage. It felt like I was teaching a baby bird to fly!
Once he started liking me more and was more eager to step up, I tried to do a mini version of recall.
My other conure Genevieve does this hop-recall very well; for reference. (Gené does not have her flight feathers in yet)
Phae... Was not as eager to do recall with me.
(both links bring you to Instagram videos I uploaded)
If he gets startled and and flutters around, if I'm close enough to him he'll now land on my hand instead of flopping onto the floor like he used to. But if I'm more than two or three feet away, forget it. He doesn't think he can make it that far ):
Well, just today, Phae has been flying a little! He's done three tiny little laps, from the top of their cage, to about halfway to me (I'm about 7 feet away on the couch), then back to the cage. He's able to maintain and even gain a little altitude, and I can tell he's becoming stronger and more confident.
I'm hoping that soon he'll be comfortable and confident enough to fly to me.
Is there something else I can do to help him more efficiently? I'm just so proud of his progress so far!
Just look at my handsome little man!
He has a gorgeous, full set of flight feathers that I'm allowing him to keep. My home is safe for flighted birds (except for the budgies who always get into trouble when they can fly; for their safety I keep them clipped).
Phae is still warming up to me and to being in his new home, and he never really tried to fly much, unless he was startled.
When he would fly around out of fright (often triggered by my cockatiel suddenly taking off from the top of the cage and making everyone scatter), I noticed that his flying was incredibly sluggish and he wasn't able to gain or maintain altitude. This honestly broke my heart, knowing his wings were never really used and his muscles were incredibly weak ):
So I started working with him! Once he trusted me enough to step up for me, I'd gently toss him up in the air to get him to fly back to the cage. It felt like I was teaching a baby bird to fly!
Once he started liking me more and was more eager to step up, I tried to do a mini version of recall.
My other conure Genevieve does this hop-recall very well; for reference. (Gené does not have her flight feathers in yet)
Phae... Was not as eager to do recall with me.
(both links bring you to Instagram videos I uploaded)
If he gets startled and and flutters around, if I'm close enough to him he'll now land on my hand instead of flopping onto the floor like he used to. But if I'm more than two or three feet away, forget it. He doesn't think he can make it that far ):
Well, just today, Phae has been flying a little! He's done three tiny little laps, from the top of their cage, to about halfway to me (I'm about 7 feet away on the couch), then back to the cage. He's able to maintain and even gain a little altitude, and I can tell he's becoming stronger and more confident.
I'm hoping that soon he'll be comfortable and confident enough to fly to me.
Is there something else I can do to help him more efficiently? I'm just so proud of his progress so far!
Just look at my handsome little man!
