Hi everyone!
I recently (about 8 wks ago) acquired a blue fronted amazon and he's slowly been taking over my life, so I've been reading the forums for a while without actually posting anything
I got my first bird, a kakariki, when I was about 16, having fallen in love with him in the pet shop (these were the days when the big chain stores used to carry birds - thankfully they don't seem to do that anymore, or not in the UK at least). He was happy and cheeky and used to fly freely around my bedroom all day, only going back into his cage to sleep. When I went to university, my dad built him an aviary outside which he loved but which he unfortunately escaped from one day. By this time he had forgotten about windows (or didn't know where they were from the outside of the house), and flew into one at speed, breaking his neck
Fast forward 10 yrs or so and I now have my own house and am no longer living the semi-nomadic lifestyle of a student so I'm starting to fill my life with birds again! I started with 4 zebra finches, which led to 2 more kakarikis (unfortunately one got sick and died within a couple of months of me having her) and now Louis the BFA.
At the moment I'm mainly looking for help with taming/stick training Louis. I haven't tried taming my kaks but Louis' just that bit bigger and more forceful a personality that I'd like to be able to carry him into different rooms/environments (I'm also slightly worried about him becoming cage dominant in the spring as at the moment he spends most of his "free" time pottering around on top of his cage). I've got as far as him standing on the stick when I hold it and rest it on the top of the cage but, as he's fully flighted, if I move it too much he just flies off in panic. Is it just a case of persevering (most things with birds seem to be!)? I'll check around the other forums to see what's already been written, anyway
Quite a long-winded introduction there, but hi *waves*
I recently (about 8 wks ago) acquired a blue fronted amazon and he's slowly been taking over my life, so I've been reading the forums for a while without actually posting anything
I got my first bird, a kakariki, when I was about 16, having fallen in love with him in the pet shop (these were the days when the big chain stores used to carry birds - thankfully they don't seem to do that anymore, or not in the UK at least). He was happy and cheeky and used to fly freely around my bedroom all day, only going back into his cage to sleep. When I went to university, my dad built him an aviary outside which he loved but which he unfortunately escaped from one day. By this time he had forgotten about windows (or didn't know where they were from the outside of the house), and flew into one at speed, breaking his neck
Fast forward 10 yrs or so and I now have my own house and am no longer living the semi-nomadic lifestyle of a student so I'm starting to fill my life with birds again! I started with 4 zebra finches, which led to 2 more kakarikis (unfortunately one got sick and died within a couple of months of me having her) and now Louis the BFA.
At the moment I'm mainly looking for help with taming/stick training Louis. I haven't tried taming my kaks but Louis' just that bit bigger and more forceful a personality that I'd like to be able to carry him into different rooms/environments (I'm also slightly worried about him becoming cage dominant in the spring as at the moment he spends most of his "free" time pottering around on top of his cage). I've got as far as him standing on the stick when I hold it and rest it on the top of the cage but, as he's fully flighted, if I move it too much he just flies off in panic. Is it just a case of persevering (most things with birds seem to be!)? I'll check around the other forums to see what's already been written, anyway
Quite a long-winded introduction there, but hi *waves*
