Hey everyone,
So I'm currently in the process of bringing home 'Bella' a 2 yr old Timneh. She is being surrendered from her current situation which was a drug home, and she was abused by her previous owner. SHe at some point suffered a severe fracture to her right leg, but it has healed and she uses it for all the normal behaviours, it is however slightly less dextrous than it should be. We're thinking there might have been nerve damage.
Anyhow.. she's only been here for 9 days, and already she's bonded with me. She started off by lungeing at everyone who came near the cage bars. But a good sign is that despite the hustle and bustle at the clinic she did not retreat to the back of her cage.. she remained down low and interested. She doesn't pluck, and hasn't screamed yet. So I began offering her treats to coax her down to the cage bottom and within 2 days she let me rub her head and beak through the cage bars. We progressed to opening the cage and she will now come out and shove her head under my hand for a pet. I've been slow and patient and today was able to get her to step one foot up onto my bare hand. She was rewarded greatly!!! She does not know step up, as a confident hand was offered and she just bit and tried to flee. So I am very PROUD of her. As a matter of fact, if I wrap my hand in a towel and offer her a bribe, she will completely step up and stay on my hand. She is very very sweet. I'm looking forward to working with her. She has even started making regurgitation actions (which I know is bad) so I try to redirect or ignore her when she starts, but it at the same time is a good sign that she likes me. She was raised on mostly seed diet, so I'm working on converting her to pellets and fruit/veggies.. but its a slow process. She hasn't spoken yet, but is coming up with new sounds all of the time. SOrry to go on for so long.. I'm just very happy with the progress we've made in such a short time!!!
So I'm currently in the process of bringing home 'Bella' a 2 yr old Timneh. She is being surrendered from her current situation which was a drug home, and she was abused by her previous owner. SHe at some point suffered a severe fracture to her right leg, but it has healed and she uses it for all the normal behaviours, it is however slightly less dextrous than it should be. We're thinking there might have been nerve damage.
Anyhow.. she's only been here for 9 days, and already she's bonded with me. She started off by lungeing at everyone who came near the cage bars. But a good sign is that despite the hustle and bustle at the clinic she did not retreat to the back of her cage.. she remained down low and interested. She doesn't pluck, and hasn't screamed yet. So I began offering her treats to coax her down to the cage bottom and within 2 days she let me rub her head and beak through the cage bars. We progressed to opening the cage and she will now come out and shove her head under my hand for a pet. I've been slow and patient and today was able to get her to step one foot up onto my bare hand. She was rewarded greatly!!! She does not know step up, as a confident hand was offered and she just bit and tried to flee. So I am very PROUD of her. As a matter of fact, if I wrap my hand in a towel and offer her a bribe, she will completely step up and stay on my hand. She is very very sweet. I'm looking forward to working with her. She has even started making regurgitation actions (which I know is bad) so I try to redirect or ignore her when she starts, but it at the same time is a good sign that she likes me. She was raised on mostly seed diet, so I'm working on converting her to pellets and fruit/veggies.. but its a slow process. She hasn't spoken yet, but is coming up with new sounds all of the time. SOrry to go on for so long.. I'm just very happy with the progress we've made in such a short time!!!
