Isaac's showing off thread

[Boudreau]

I couldn't help it after thumbing through some of the other threads like Salty and The RB's to make a little something for Isaac. He may not be on the same level as many other ones here but he's my special little buddy.
He started warming up to us quickly, we have had him for about 2 weeks now. Kisses when asked for... Sometimes followed with a little laugh. Angel(my wife) has fallen in love with the loud little bugger too. Didn't take very long at all either.
For four months old today it amazes me the intelligence he has. He soaks up everything and is actually very talkative. My experience with conures is limited to him and Freddie, my friend's cherry top. Freddie talked crystal clear and would use proper context too. Freddie wasn't a cuddler though like our Isaac.... at all (except for certain ladies, lol). But at night he will tuck his head into his wing behind his back and talk himself to sleep while laughing here and there. I'm going to try and get a video sometime when he does that while holding him. He leans in close and mumbles stuff and then throws his head back and laughs.
Anyways, too much talk... Here are some pictures of my little buddy after his bath. [emoji4]

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[GaleriaGila]

Okay. I'm in love.
Gorgeous, adorable, the whole deal.
Not too much talk, no. I love stories!
Picture #2 caption: "I Just Can't Wait to Be King."
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bGjlvukgHU"]The Lion King - I Just Can't Wait To Be King (1080p) - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Inger]

So sweet! Bumble is close to the same age and I'm really enjoy the experience of falling in love with her. [emoji7]


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[LeaKP]

What a beautiful baby!

 

[Boudreau]

My little Isaac is a daredevil apparently. The climbing around everywhere is a given but he likes to hang by one toe and see how much he can get swinging. It goes without saying that he takes a few spills from time to time.
I've done what I can to minimize objects he can hurt himself on, but aside from padding his cage, what should I do? Just let him learn his limits and take his lumps like a little kid? This is a new one on me with an immature Parrot vs an older one who may have been through this already. Normal behavior? Lol

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[GaleriaGila]

Maybe this would be helpful, if you decide to allow him flight. If so, best to start early.

Recommended to me in the early days... "wall and window training"... taking the bird around to walls and windows, and encouraging them to tap or at least experience the situation, so they can see that walls are WALLS and windows are HARD AIR. Has worked for us.
Demonstration... it's also a cute "trick".
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF1lyE72pOs"]Scene 4 - Hotel Rickeybird - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Boudreau]

Ill have to try that. He discovered Windows the other day while out playing. We have blackout screens so it's pretty clear it's a window but he sat there tapping and feeling the glass everywhere he could reach.
I'd like for him to have flight but my better half thinks it's a bad idea. He is partially clipped so he can fly up maybe a foot and slow fall cleanly like 4-5 feet.
His falls come when he's showing off in his cage hanging from the top or toys like a bat. He's absolutely adorable but scares the heck out of me with his clumsiness.

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[SailBoat]

Maybe this would be helpful, if you decide to allow him flight. If so, best to start early.

Recommended to me in the early days... "wall and window training"... taking the bird around to walls and windows, and encouraging them to tap or at least experience the situation, so they can see that walls are WALLS and windows are HARD AIR. Has worked for us.
Demonstration... it's also a cute "trick".
Scene 4 - Hotel Rickeybird - YouTube

I have always loved that video! But one thing has always come to mind with every viewing: Has anyone ever said "Come In"?

Love the Thread!

 

[Inger]

Maybe this would be helpful, if you decide to allow him flight. If so, best to start early.

Recommended to me in the early days... "wall and window training"... taking the bird around to walls and windows, and encouraging them to tap or at least experience the situation, so they can see that walls are WALLS and windows are HARD AIR. Has worked for us.
Demonstration... it's also a cute "trick".
Scene 4 - Hotel Rickeybird - YouTube

OMG Gail that video is fantastic! RB is so smart and funny!!


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[Skittys_Daddy]

Isaac is adorable!

Sunnies are just the best. MAJOR cuddlers and DEFINITELY VERY opinionated! My Skittles has a reaction to everything and makes sure I know it!

Although I'm sure its tempting, I'd just like to caution you on 'cuddle huts'. Not sure if you've heard of them or not- but they can be very dangerous ESPECIALLY for sunnies who are such destructive chewers.

Skittles gets his 'cuddle fix' by climbing in my shirt. He loves to rub each side of his face against my chest hairs and he will purr while he's doing it. lol. Its just the cutest thing.

Congrats again on your new baby! I'm sure he will bring you years of joy and companionship!

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

I would never recommend keeping a sunny clipped. Especially if you don't want to have behavioral issues. Sunnies have a LOT of energy and are very social. They are also very inquisitive and love to explore things which is why supervision is so important. The thing with clipping though, is if they don't have means of blowing off that excess energy, they'll likely become screamers. Skittles is free-flighted and the more time he spends out of his cage the quieter he usually is.

While clipping may resolve one or two issues, it will also create several more so there really isn't an upside to clipping unless the danger level is just too high. I'm not a proponent of clipping anyways. Of course its ultimately your decision, I just wanted to offer my two cents.

 

[wrench13]

Suggest you let him take his lumps. Salty has ( and will) taken a few hard spills, whacking his head one time, but i think they hit harder then they really do. Salty even went to the vet a few times for falling hard, but he turned out to be OK, just a bit shocky. We love videos and pics! If your interested in teaching your guy some tricks, let me know, I can get you started on some basic ones. Most parrots like to 'perform' , your little guy should be no different, and the working with him only bonds the two of you more.

 

[Boudreau]

Thank you both, I love following Salty and skittles too. I always had a soft spot for amazons and skittles has some amazing color to match the sunnie personality.
I'm not a fan of clipping either honestly and would love to teach him tricks too wrench. Since I got him we have been working with him as much as we can to develop good behaviors before the bad ones can set in.
The energy/behavior issues are very apparent with Isaac. He wants to be close but he gets antsy and starts nibbling and gets wound up into a bite occasionally.
I'll keep working with him and am open to any suggestions as this is my first rodeo with my own. Thank you all for the help and support. *pics and videos to come*

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[Inger]

Wrench is a great trick-teaching mentor! He makes it all look so easy, but he'll also tell you his secrets [emoji16]


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[Skittys_Daddy]

Thanks for the compliments on Skittles. He does have a LOT more orange than the typical sun and it is VERY vibrant, like neon. Its so vibrant, it's beautiful. I joke with him that I have to wear sunny-glasses when he flies around. lol.

I taught Skittles to 'shake hands' relatively easily. He is VERY receptive to commands which makes training VERY easy for me. He does say 'love you' from time to time, but sunnies are not great talkers and if they do talk it is very hard to decipher what they are saying. Only reason I was able to figure out what he was saying is he was right by my ear one time he was saying it and I hadn't even noticed it before hand but now it seems it was so easy to notice. He loves to mimick and the phrase I say MOST to him (aside from 'quit being a booger!') is "love you!" and his repeating of that is in the same tone and I don't say anything else in that tone.

While everyone is different, I've never been one to be overly-enthusiastic about talking birds or performing birds. I prefer to 'observe' my birds and find out what they like and don't like etc and just form tricks around their personality. To me its more genuine as I'm teaching them to express who they already are rather than what I want them to be or wish that they were. I also find it VERY irritating the reactions I get from "non-bird" people when I mention Skittles or show pictures. While the first thing people usually say is "He's beautiful!". But the follow-up questions are "does he talk?", "does he do tricks?". It's just a major pet peeve of mine. Like they think all birds do those things and just for kicks, there have been times I've just said he does neither (though thats not true) just to see their reaction and its almost always immediate loss of interest. The other big peeve of mine is when I mention cuddling with him or show pictures of him cuddling. Their reactions are just incredibly annoying- acting like its not possible to cuddle a bird. I know they don't mean any malicious intent, they just aren't educated- but its still annoying.

 

[Boudreau]

Isaac has his first trip to his vet this morning. I've been getting him used to his travel cage this week by keeping it near him and putting treats by it. We shall see how he handles the visit.
He/we had a new discovery too yesterday. He rides on my shoulder on occasion when I go to the bathroom and the mirror is just inside the door on the right going in. We passed it a dozen plus times before but this time it caught his eye. He gave me a little sunnie chirp and mumbled something so I stopped. He was leaning and stretching so I gave him my fingers to perch on for a closer look. What happened next was a good laugh. After doing the Ricky bird routine with the tapping,he followed and proceeded to give a class A showoff dance with all kinds of talk and some laughter.
This will be the caught on video as soon as my work schedule gets a little more normal. Poor guy putting up with a lot of chaos for just being homed.

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[Boudreau]

Been away for a while, Isaac's vet visit went well. Healthy and surprisingly well behaved and very social. His personality is really coming to lately.
I also want to thank wrench for the pm, helping a bunch when he actually wants to participate... Lol.
Thank you all for the kind words and we will try to get some more pics and video up soon. It's just been a handful lately with Isaac, a 1 yr old rottweiler, and 4 cats. The Boudreau zoo is running at max capacity these days.

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[wrench13]

Good on ya for checking in. So Issac was good at the vet? They don't even bother to towel Salty anymore. Just watch them cats around your little buddie, he's prey, they is predators. More Issac tales and pics , please.