Elvira's 4th Day Home [Update w/ Questions]

[Elviraion]

Hello All,

I appreciate the tips you've given me so I'm coming back with another update and more questions!

Elvira is quite the smart girl; she astounds me with how much she catches on...needless to say, I'm starting to learn not to underestimate her.
With this intelligence, I've started to notice that Elvira likes to manipulate the situation she's in to get what she wants.

Example One: She will want to be up on my shoulder but nothing will deter her or she'll want to stay on my fingers only and nothing can deter her to move to another location of my body. So far when this has happened, I don't get upset. However, she's been doing that a lot today so I want to know how I should proceed so that this doesn't become a bad habit in one form or another.

Example Two: She makes a racket to come out first thing in the morning when I wake up. She's obviously in a very good mood but she pinches the hardest at this time of day. I've attempted to use a stick or a bird-twig to have her perch on but she will have none of that and has to be ON my body. Other times when I open her cage to leave it open for awhile, she won't attempt to leave her cage at all. I've not forced her to exit her cage during this open door time though I do ask her if she wants to come out and present my fist at the door (not fingers because of the morning cage door openings).

Final Thought of the Day: It seems that Elvira's personality is on the more serious side of the personality spectrum. She's a planner and a tester. She likes things in a certain way. However, she's also quite social but not at all clownish or downright ridiculous like my previous GCC. I know the personality spectrum is amazingly diverse, I've yet to meet such a serious GCC like her before. Does anyone else here have a GCC with this personality type?

Be Well Everyone!
Tom

 

[Elviraion]

Even though nobody's responded to this thread, I thought I'd come back and respond with the solution that I stumbled upon that has helped with her pinching upon stepping up.

As you may recall, she did not want anything to do with fists (though there is some improvement on this, but not enough to make a difference) or wooden perches offered outside of her cages.

I had ordered a pair of two braided ropes for her cage thinking that they were both the same size. One was much too small to be of any use; however it was then that I realized that these were quite stiff which meant they could be used as a "perch" for Elvira stepping up.

Surprisingly, she took to it very quickly. It has also helped with me "brushing her off" by moving the stick and depositing her on her cage or in her cage (I roll the braided perch so that she has to step off onto something else quickly) when she decides to be "pinchy" with me while on the perch.

It has only been a day, and she's already learning that pinching gets her less of the interaction that she wants with me. I know she's still learning how to control the power of her beak as she is still only 3 months old, but this form of "immediate natural consequence" has been the most effective thus far.

 

[HeatherG]

Good idea.

My Quaker steps up from inside his cage onto a towel that covers my hand. Somehow the towel makes it more ok that my hand is in his cage. Other times he will bite the hand through the towel. But it usually works.

 

[Elviraion]

Good idea.

My Quaker steps up from inside his cage onto a towel that covers my hand. Somehow the towel makes it more ok that my hand is in his cage. Other times he will bite the hand through the towel. But it usually works.

I understand this. Thank you so much for the towel tip. I will keep that in mind should I ever not have something else on hand.

Elvira just gets so excited when she comes out of her cage. I've tried feeding her beforehand (side dish doors) even though I'm trying to reward her with her favorite treats outside of the cage. It didn't really help.

Maybe its because she's young and wants to get her mouth on everything; and/or its her personality, but I am leaning more towards that its her being young and eager to see "cause and effect" in different situations.

This is because I see her playing and thinking and then adjusting what she's doing to get different results.

 

[HeatherG]

Well, even human babies put everything in their mouths. So it’s not surprising that she mouths you. She just needs to learn not to mouth or bite you HARD.

 

[Cottonoid]

She's such a cutie! I bet you're right, that she's going through the phase of beaking everything to learn while also taking diligent notes about cause and effect I love your solution! It seems like a really simple way to show her when she's gone too far.