Bumble-ing Along

[Inger]

Glad the vet visit went well. My little goofs always dart out of the vet's hand and have to be chased around the exam room for a few minutes before being recaptured.

Just a note concerning her colour mutation: there's some controversy surrounding whether or not it's safe to give colour mutation parrotlets pellets.

SNIP

Anyway, just be aware that colour mutation birds (and mammals, reptiles, amphibians, etc.) may be different physiologically and/or neurologically from the "typical" member of their species.

Thank you for all that. My breeder also doesn't recommend pellets, so I asked the vet about it. She felt they were fine in moderation but was also willing to chat with the breeder about why (so I may follow up with an email telling her what you've said). She did say that her preference is for birds to get mostly fresh food, some pellets, and I think she said maybe 20% seed. I have a zillion handouts, so I'm sure that information is in one of them.

The vet visit was great. She spent about an hour giving me a ton of information-most of which I'd already gotten here [emoji4]so it was nice to have confirmation that I'm getting good advice.

She also spent about 2 minutes showing me how to target train Bumble, and sweet, smart Bumble had it figured out by the third try. Vet says she's very smart and I should be able to train her to do anything I want (Watch out, Salty!).




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[AmyMyBlueFront]

Glad to hear Bumble has a clean bill of health and is doing so well.
As always..pictures are required! Is it known yet,if Bum is a he or she?



Jim

 

[Inger]

Glad to hear Bumble has a clean bill of health and is doing so well.
As always..pictures are required! Is it known yet,if Bum is a he or she?



Jim

They're dimorphic and the breeder says Bumble is a little girl. She explained - boys are blue under their wings and girls aren't. [emoji4][emoji211]


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[Teddscau]

According to one website on sexing:

"All 'male' Pacific parrotlets have a royal (dark) blue color located on the rump (back), above the eyes, and on wing-flight feathers. Females don't have any royal blue."

Anyways, I definitely recommend target training Bumble. That's the first thing I did with Noah. Well, the first thing I did was clicker train him, but that takes two days at most, unless the animal is...slow. Well, if it only took three attempts to get her to target the stick, and it only took Noah a week to learn clicker training, target training, and step up, then parrotlets are highly intelligent. If you can base that very general statement about a species on only two birds .

Thank you! She is very charming. I was less enchanted , though, when I brought her home after the vet, she was feeling a little crazy, I was running late for my next appointment, and trying to get her back in the cage resulted in a hard bite. My fault and I know what went wrong, but the biggest question I have now is ..... how do I get her to let go? Ouch!!


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Tsk tsk, have I taught you nothing? The plastic baggie is always the answer. ALWAYS. Although sometimes you will have to gently grasp their beak with two fingers, and both slowly and lovingly pull her beak off of your finger. I had to do this once with Noah, and he was very calm while I lift his beak off my finger. Only do this if it's absolutely necessary. Beak touching should always be very gentle and loving. Obviously if you're rough, aggressive, or punish them by grabbing their beak, they will learn to use their beak as a weapon, rather than as a tool for affection.

 

[Inger]

Anyways, I definitely recommend target training Bumble. That's the first thing I did with Noah. Well, the first thing I did was clicker train him, but that takes two days at most, unless the animal is...slow. Well, if it only took three attempts to get her to target the stick, and it only took Noah a week to learn clicker training, target training, and step up, then parrotlets are highly intelligent. If you can base that very general statement about a species on only two birds .

We worked on target training for a few minutes tonight. Clearly the vet has more practice than I do. I did get her to target the stick a couple of times, but not quickly or reliably like the vet did. I was also letting her kind of fly around and do her own thing and just doing it with her. We spent some time looking out the window, then we looked out the other window for a while. Then I was able to lure her into stepping up with a piece of oatmeal. [emoji7] I also have her some single millet seeds - she's so sweet and gentle picking it up off my finger!

I thought about clicker training, but that takes so many hands haha! I think I'm just going to mark the behavior with an enthusiastic YES rather than trying to fumble with the clicker and the treat and whatever other thing might be in my hand.

Tsk tsk, have I taught you nothing? The plastic baggie is always the answer. ALWAYS. Although sometimes you will have to gently grasp their beak with two fingers, and both slowly and lovingly pull her beak off of your finger. I had to do this once with Noah, and he was very calm while I lift his beak off my finger. Only do this if it's absolutely necessary. Beak touching should always be very gentle and loving. Obviously if you're rough, aggressive, or punish them by grabbing their beak, they will learn to use their beak as a weapon, rather than as a tool for affection.

UGH in the heat of the moment, I TOTALLY forgot the plastic bag. Everything was so simple when she was a Future Bird! Haha! But I really had a lovely time with her today and I hope she felt the same.


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[wrench13]

That's great that Bummble's check up was good. Never too early to start trick training. Do it every night, at the same time, you will be amazed at 2 things. She will become even more bonded to you and she will pick up new tricks and behaviour after 1 or 2 tries. Be conistent in your commands and requests,

 

[Inger]

That's great that Bummble's check up was good. Never too early to start trick training. Do it every night, at the same time, you will be amazed at 2 things. She will become even more bonded to you and she will pick up new tricks and behaviour after 1 or 2 tries. Be conistent in your commands and requests,

I hope she learns even half as well as Salty. I'm really looking forward to developing that bond with her. [emoji4]


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[Inger]

We practiced target training tonight. I must be getting it because she was doing a pretty good job. Then she realized how much food was scattered on the table and that was the end of that.

She did give me a little bite, but thanks to teddscau's suggestion, I crinkled the plastic bag I had strategically placed nearby and she stopped. Yay!


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[SilverSage]

She is adorable I'm loving all the pics!


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[LeaKP]

Parrotlets are so smart, so beautiful! So happy all is well and Bumble is settling.

 

[wrench13]

They are cute but BOLD. I saw one chase a U2 off a play perch. Totally " Get Outta Here, Bird", and man that bird ran.

 

[Inger]

Dogs are still here (boyfriend is out of town), so Bumble's out-of-cage time has been limited. The "boys" get pretty loud when I lock them in the other room, so I can't do it for long.

Tonight when it was time for Bumble to come out and play a bit, she saw me opening the cage and came right over. Held up a treat and lured her to step up, which she did a little faster than last night. She didn't want to target the stick much, but she did it a few times. She decided it was fun to fly over to the mantle and land in my orchid, but she pretty easily let me lure her into stepping up so I could bring her back to the table. Finally, she let me hold her and give her skritches for longer than she ever has and got all sleepy-eyed while I skritched. [emoji7][emoji7]

So fun and rewarding to see her learning to trust me and want to be with me!!

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[SilverSage]

Nothing is as sweet as gaining their trust


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[LeaKP]

That is the sweeeeeeetest photo. Bumble you're a beauty!

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

WOW! Bumble is so tiny! How much did she weigh at her doc's visit??
Just curious here..BB weighed in at a hefty 86g's

I just adore Bum's coloring ( Blue is my fav color anywho)
It sounds to me the two of your are hitting it off perfectly,and she is doing/learning so well so fast!

And as always...we need more pictures! I just love it when our "family" post pics of their kids!



Jim

 

[Inger]

She was 29g - and to wrap my American brain around that, I had Alexa convert that into ounces. It's ONE. HAHAHAHA she weighs one ounce. It kills me! And more pics are coming, I promise!!


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[AmyMyBlueFront]

She was 29g - and to wrap my American brain around that, I had Alexa convert that into ounces. It's ONE. HAHAHAHA she weighs one ounce. It kills me! And more pics are coming, I promise!!


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yup...an ounce is something like 28.4 g's or something like that lol.

When BB and Amy went to their wellness check up,Amy is like 486g's..to BB's 86..it comes out to 5.6 BB's equal one Amy lmao


Jim

 

[GaleriaGila]

29 grams!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!
So tiny, but all parrot.
I have a recurrent fantasy about having a teeny-tiny parrotlet that fits in my pocket and goes everywhere with me. In my daydream it pops its head out of my oxford and keeps me company all day.
Unfortunately, the Rb won't allow any more feathers in the house, so it's just a dream.
More pictures! Will she actually get in a pocket?
I don't care if it take years... I'm going to watch and wait for a pocket-parrot-Bumble shot.

 

[Inger]

I was totally planning to pocket-train her, until the vet told me that letting her crawl into tiny, cozy places could cause "unwanted hormonal behavior." So no pocket-nest for Bumble. But it was gonna be SO CUTE.


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[Inger]

She was 29g - and to wrap my American brain around that, I had Alexa convert that into ounces. It's ONE. HAHAHAHA she weighs one ounce. It kills me! And more pics are coming, I promise!!


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yup...an ounce is something like 28.4 g's or something like that lol.

When BB and Amy went to their wellness check up,Amy is like 486g's..to BB's 86..it comes out to 5.6 BB's equal one Amy lmao


Jim

And 16.75 Bumbles to an Amy!! Haha!


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