Tate
New member
So my boy has been with me 9 days now. Took him a few days to start eating, and a few more to eat well. Now he is an eating machine, and climbing around his cage lots, eating, playing/destroying toys, eating, and alot more active than he was those first few scary days.
He came crashing out of his cage the 2nd night here, in the middle of dinner with my parents over, he was snuggly so to speak, but let me hold him and pet him everywhere with no problems. After that he didnt leave his cage again for a week, and anytime my hands got near him he'd rear up and lunge at them. it was a little disheartening after how friendly he'd been that one night he wanted to come out, however i gave him space and kept reminding myself to be patient, he wasnt going to love me overnight.
Yesterday, a week later, he came out again, only it was nothing like the first time, he lunged at me (had to ball my fist or he'd latch onto a finger and show no mercy) anytime i tried to get him to step up/rescue him from floor/blinds and would not tolerate being touched at all. He would be ok jsut sitting on my arm but any attempt to touch/step up and id sustain a beak hammering to the hand. started feeling like id done something to make him hate me, but again kept trying to reassure myself its only been a week, this relationship could take months, dont worry too much. After reading lots of threads about people dealing with similar situations, most of them made some progress using treats. which is a great idea, only Yoshi would lunge for my hand anytime i offered him an almond sliver (looves those) or anythign else he liked, and completely ignore the treat. So i was getting worried about how things were progressing, or not progressing. So after a not so great day, and being completely covered in claw and beak marks all up my arms, which fade overnight thankfully, i decided i should step back and if he wants to come out, leave him alone unless i have to intefere to retrieve him from floor/blinds/somewhere he shouldnt be.
So this afternoon i had his door open and went upstairs for a bit, heard some movement and popped my head down and saw he'd climbed out to the playstand on top of his cage. I was jsut thrilled he wanted to come out after yesty, so put some food up there for him and sat down to read nearby for an hr or so while he pigged out and sat around watching the goings on. He decided to go fly into the blinds again (he's clipped at the moment) where i immediately rescued him from the cords he was getting himself tangled in. i jsut let him sit on my arm for a while, and talked soothingly to him, then took him upstairs with me to watch some tv. After a wander around the top of the couch and crawling in behind a dvd stand, i put a small towel over me and sat him on my belly, and, completely calm, he stayed there for almost 2hrs, letting me pet him everywhere, touch his beak, kiss his beak, wrap the towel over him, he was the perfect snuggle buddy, and i was soo relieved he wasnt biting, the occaisional beaking, but no painful bites. After realising he was letting me touch his beak i offered some almond pieces, and he gently and eagerly took them from my fingers. SO HAPPY!
He got lots of praise and kisses.
Took him back to his cage shortly after, and offered another piece when he went in. again accepted it. I went back upstairs for a while but everytime i had to come down for somethign i'd offer another piece and sometimes he was a bit unsure, but always took it eventually, gently taking it from my fingers, no more killer lunging my hands.
I think im most happy at the fact he's accepting treats now more than anything else, now i can start the bribing
and work on teaching him to properly step up.
He's also an extremely quiet bird, very rarely i'll hear some cute little sounds, and even rarer a quiet version of their harsher call. But most of the time i barely hear a peep. im sure the peace wont last for long though haha.
Anyways jsut thought id share the progress we've made in the past week, and i cant wait to see what the next week will bring
He came crashing out of his cage the 2nd night here, in the middle of dinner with my parents over, he was snuggly so to speak, but let me hold him and pet him everywhere with no problems. After that he didnt leave his cage again for a week, and anytime my hands got near him he'd rear up and lunge at them. it was a little disheartening after how friendly he'd been that one night he wanted to come out, however i gave him space and kept reminding myself to be patient, he wasnt going to love me overnight.
Yesterday, a week later, he came out again, only it was nothing like the first time, he lunged at me (had to ball my fist or he'd latch onto a finger and show no mercy) anytime i tried to get him to step up/rescue him from floor/blinds and would not tolerate being touched at all. He would be ok jsut sitting on my arm but any attempt to touch/step up and id sustain a beak hammering to the hand. started feeling like id done something to make him hate me, but again kept trying to reassure myself its only been a week, this relationship could take months, dont worry too much. After reading lots of threads about people dealing with similar situations, most of them made some progress using treats. which is a great idea, only Yoshi would lunge for my hand anytime i offered him an almond sliver (looves those) or anythign else he liked, and completely ignore the treat. So i was getting worried about how things were progressing, or not progressing. So after a not so great day, and being completely covered in claw and beak marks all up my arms, which fade overnight thankfully, i decided i should step back and if he wants to come out, leave him alone unless i have to intefere to retrieve him from floor/blinds/somewhere he shouldnt be.
So this afternoon i had his door open and went upstairs for a bit, heard some movement and popped my head down and saw he'd climbed out to the playstand on top of his cage. I was jsut thrilled he wanted to come out after yesty, so put some food up there for him and sat down to read nearby for an hr or so while he pigged out and sat around watching the goings on. He decided to go fly into the blinds again (he's clipped at the moment) where i immediately rescued him from the cords he was getting himself tangled in. i jsut let him sit on my arm for a while, and talked soothingly to him, then took him upstairs with me to watch some tv. After a wander around the top of the couch and crawling in behind a dvd stand, i put a small towel over me and sat him on my belly, and, completely calm, he stayed there for almost 2hrs, letting me pet him everywhere, touch his beak, kiss his beak, wrap the towel over him, he was the perfect snuggle buddy, and i was soo relieved he wasnt biting, the occaisional beaking, but no painful bites. After realising he was letting me touch his beak i offered some almond pieces, and he gently and eagerly took them from my fingers. SO HAPPY!
He got lots of praise and kisses.Took him back to his cage shortly after, and offered another piece when he went in. again accepted it. I went back upstairs for a while but everytime i had to come down for somethign i'd offer another piece and sometimes he was a bit unsure, but always took it eventually, gently taking it from my fingers, no more killer lunging my hands.
I think im most happy at the fact he's accepting treats now more than anything else, now i can start the bribing
and work on teaching him to properly step up.He's also an extremely quiet bird, very rarely i'll hear some cute little sounds, and even rarer a quiet version of their harsher call. But most of the time i barely hear a peep. im sure the peace wont last for long though haha.
Anyways jsut thought id share the progress we've made in the past week, and i cant wait to see what the next week will bring
