Athena:first month

Well, we are still not out of the cage. She will come to the bottom and let me open the door. I give her treats if she does not bite when I give her my arm, hand, or fingers.
I am confident that she would leave the cage on her own free will, as she did before, but I am not comfortable letting her out until she allows me to handle her. (Last time she was out, she made a b-line straight for me to give me a good bite.)
I purchased an avian glove with an attached perch. My intention is to leave it in the cage for a few days, and then slowly introduce it to her on my arm.

In general, she seems happy! She goes to her perch or to the bottom of the cage when she wants interaction and treats. Sometimes she is vocal, especially just before bedtime. Yesterday I carefully pet her back and the day before it seemed like she wanted to raise her foot to step up. :51: Other days, she gives me her warning peck when I put my hand in the cage. Also, in the past 3 days I heard he growl for the first time.
She also likes bath time. I roll her out to the patio and mist her with a plant mister. Afterward we play music and she does her head sway. Sometimes she even hangs upside down from the top of the cage. She is plucking a little under her wing, which I believe is because her wings were clipped before she left the sanctuary. I think the clipped ends are irritating her sides.
As for food, we are on about 1/4 of all natural zupreem pellets along with plenty of fresh fruits and veggies. I haven't found her favorite yet...we've tried broccoli, kale, berries, sweet potato, carrots, chilis, figs, spinach, grapes, apple, some corn occasionally, peas, green beans, snap peas, pumpkin, sprouts, plain oatmeal, and a little brown rice. Unlike most ekkies, she doesn't seem to like anything soft or sticky.
Overall, I've really become smitten with this baby girl As always, thank you for your continued support!

How old is Athena? With some fids it just takes longer,but it does sound like you are making progress,even if it seems slow. Just keep doing what you're doing,and one day soon,you will be posting OMG!!OMG!!OMG!! and telling us all about the "major breakthrough





Jim

sounds like you're having some good steady progress. I personally wouldn't use a glove as it could cause biting issues later on. They need to learn what pressure from their beaks hurts and of course a glove stops you from feeling it as much leaving you open to bites later on. You just gotta kind of grin and bear it. Try every now and then "replacing" the food bowl with your cupped hand. What I did with my conure and he became incredibly trusting of me

yay progress! yay for learning how to be together and figuring each other out! Hooray for getting to stroke her back, for sure -- Mister Duke only let me touch feathers very recently.

So, basically I guess my reply is 'yay everything!' lol

As Jim said, some parrots take longer than others to settle down and learn to trust. One month is early days, yet.

If she's cage territorial to this extent, you may want to use a perch for her step up when getting her out of the cage (a t-perch to prevent her running to your hand and chomping away) and then taking her to another room for training and bonding. (Only if she is indeed comfortable leaving the cage.

I emphasize taking her to another room for training and such because proximity to the cage alone may trigger some of the aggressive behaviors. She may feel like she's protecting her home. Also, in another room you may be the most familiar thing to her rather than her cage. For this exercise, though, you'll at least want a training perch in the other room. A playstand is also good.

Great job with the variety of foods (though I'm not a pellet guy at all when it comes to ekkies). Just keep trying different things prepped in different ways. Different textures, different temps. I used to grate carrots to get my ekkies to eat them, as they didn't want them chopped. (That has thankfully changed.) Some prefer their foods crunchy, some mushy. Some like bug chunks, some like the food chopped into tiny pieces. Just experiment and see what pleases her highness.

Anansi said:

As Jim said, some parrots take longer than others to settle down and learn to trust. One month is early days, yet.

If she's cage territorial to this extent, you may want to use a perch for her step up when getting her out of the cage (a t-perch to prevent her running to your hand and chomping away) and then taking her to another room for training and bonding. (Only if she is indeed comfortable leaving the cage.

I emphasize taking her to another room for training and such because proximity to the cage alone may trigger some of the aggressive behaviors. She may feel like she's protecting her home. Also, in another room you may be the most familiar thing to her rather than her cage. For this exercise, though, you'll at least want a training perch in the other room. A playstand is also good.

Great job with the variety of foods (though I'm not a pellet guy at all when it comes to ekkies). Just keep trying different things prepped in different ways. Different textures, different temps. I used to grate carrots to get my ekkies to eat them, as they didn't want them chopped. (That has thankfully changed.) Some prefer their foods crunchy, some mushy. Some like bug chunks, some like the food chopped into tiny pieces. Just experiment and see what pleases her highness.

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Thanks for all of the great advice! I actually have a large tree stand and smaller t-stand. Now just to get her out of the cage :33: She does not like anything going into her cage (hands, perch,etc.) I've even tried connecting a rope ladder from her cage to the tree stand. All in due time, I suppose.

I will definitely train in another room. It is actually completely quiet and free of distractions. I'm looking forward to it! Thanks again for the advice!

Also, I made chop today...kale, sweet potato, carrot, chilis, broccoli, and a few berries. We shall see!