Savannah Stepped Up For Me Tonight!

[Blancaej]

I have exciting news! Savannah stepped up for me tonight. I was gone most of the day and finally got home about 6:30pm. Later then usual. So I opened up Quincy & Savannah's cages. I went to get the stick to get her out and do her routine walk around the house but she climbed right out of her cage and refused to get on the stick. So I let it go. I tried a couple more times during about a 20 minute period. Still no luck. So I decided to sit at the dinning room table and read my book to the birds. She came down to the side of the cage so I went up to her to say hi. She lifted her claw and I put my arm up to her and she climbed on. I was so excited and gave her tons of praise. We then took our routine walk around the house while perched on my arm. She did great! It took her previous owner a year before she could even get her out of the cage! Woohoo! Talk about progress!

Another fun story - I ordered a clicker training book and clickers to give it a try. Especially with Quincy. He is my nervous Nelly and I am hoping clicker training will help. We'll see! Anyway, I was showing my hubby the clickers and he asked "Can we train the kids with these?" :09: LMAO! Too funny. I then found out the kids can annoy me with them, too. I had the package with the new clickers in my car, I got 3 in the order, and they both clicked them aaalllll the way home. I was glad to get them back when we got home. Note to self, don't let kids have them EVER again. Especially in the car! LOL!

5-9-13 See page 2 for an update on how "step up" is going and some photos!

 

[Pinkbirdy]

I think Savannah liked you reading to her Great things are going so well !! Im beginning to think the Birds are easier than the kids [even the rehomes ] LOL

 

[Blancaej]

Thanks Plax & Pink! Birds are easier then kids I think. We have a saying for my 3 year old son - "God sent us Marcus because he didn't think we were challenged enough!" LOL!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

That's so exciting! I bet you were very excited.

 

[Jtbirds]

Congrats! See she wasn't mad at all about the vet incident.

 

[JerseyWendy]

YAYYYY!!! What a milestone, Blanca! That is just AWESOME!!!

As for the kids clicking the clickers all the way home, may I suggest pots and pans next time? They will then have a drum set.

 

[Blancaej]

Copper - I was very excited. My husband didn't seem as excited when I told him. But I then expressed what a big deal it was and I think he somewhat understood. LOL! Not the birdie person of the house! So it's nice to share that kind of stuff here on the forum because you all understand this was a big step! Pun totally intended!

Justin - I guess she couldn't have been too mad at me. LOL!

Wendy - Pots and pans, I shutter to think. I'm getting a headache just thinking about it. LOL! Maybe clickers aren't so bad after all!

So Savannah is starting to show her defiant side already. She comes right out of her cage when I open her door and has been refusing to get on the stick when I do ask her. I don't push the issue. If she is not ready at that moment. I can wait. She also hangs out on the top of her cage, which I knew would be an issue since her cage is 6.5 feet tall! And she won't get on the stick from way up there! But I have no regrets on her cage size, I like her to have stretching room! She has been good getting back in her cage if I put a treat in her bowl. Once back in the cage and on her perch she will get on the stick and did so this morning. I took her to see herself in a mirror this morning and she was quite fascinated with herself. She even said "Hi". LOL! All and all things are good. I was expecting her to get defiant at some point. But I try to let her take the lead. I think are walks around the house are important to get her used to her environment. As she gets more comfortable with me I know things will get easier! Of course when she gets more comfortable, the 2 year old in her will also come out. That should be interesting!

 

[JerseyWendy]

LOL, Blanca! I agree with you, the more comfortable Savannah gets, the more ornery she may become, but not in a bad way necessarily.

I laughed SO hard when you wrote she told her mirror image "HI". Ripley does the exact same thing each time we pass a mirror. And he says it SO loud, with so much enthusiasm, too.

Your adventure has JUST begun, and I bet it will get quite interesting along the way.

 

[Blancaej]

LOL, Blanca! I agree with you, the more comfortable Savannah gets, the more ornery she may become, but not in a bad way necessarily.

I laughed SO hard when you wrote she told her mirror image "HI". Ripley does the exact same thing each time we pass a mirror. And he says it SO loud, with so much enthusiasm, too.

Your adventure has JUST begun, and I bet it will get quite interesting along the way.

I agree, not in a bad way! It is who they are sometimes!

They love looking at themselves, don't they! I don't know if she has ever seen herself before. Her reaction was quite funny. She did her robotic head jerking and was studying herself. I finally got in the mirror image so she could maybe figure out that it was her. It was cute to watch in either case!

I am so looking forward to our adventure together. I know there will be good and bad moments. But anything worth it life is never easy!

 

[kendrafitz]

Congratulations!! You must be so excited!

Rosie my one year old Greenwing, can be a beast when she gets on top of her cage. Which isn't often, b/c she is very full of herself when that happens. Lots of flapping, strutting and yelling, which generally gets worse if we try to ignore her. It's like she thinks she is on stage and is showing off. If I can't wait for her to come to me in her own time, I usually just get one of the dining room chairs and get her that way since her cage is tall as well.

Congrats again. It sounds like Savannah is very happy!

 

[Blancaej]

Kendra - That is a great idea! I will have to remember to try a dinning room chair to get her. You said Rosie doesn't get on top of her cage often, how do you prevent her from doing so? Thank you for the tips!

 

[Blancaej]

So I could not get Savannah in her cage tonight. I made the mistake of letting her out just before 8. So treats were not even working! By 10 I made the decision I had to do something. I didnt want to leave her out so I swung a towel over the top of her cage and she finally went in! I hated to do that but I figured it was better then toweling her. I feel bad, but I didnt think it would be safe to leave her unattended downstairs.

I have concluded the honeymoon is over. Now that she is comfortable she is testing the waters. What will tomorrow bring! Hopefully positive milestones!

 

[kendrafitz]

When I take Rosie out, I either have her step up on me from the perch and pull her straight out so she can't reach the cage with her beak. If she is really excited and is hanging on the cage side or door, I only open the cage door wide enough to get my hand in and once she steps on my hand I open the door and pull her straight out. She won't poop in her cage so she is usually pretty eager to get to her Java Tree to "POOOOP!" as she says.

When I put her in her cage I put her straight in, fairly quickly so she can't reach the cage sides and doesn't have much time to think about grabbing the outside of the cage. She is always holding my hand with her beak, so when she was a baby I would just direct her beak straight into the cage while putting her in, if that makes sense? She is pretty used to the routine now so she doesn't give me much of a hard time. If she doesn't want to go to "bed", then she usually just climbs back up my arm to my shoulder.

I will give her time to play on her cage every now and then and that is when the "show" happens.

I'm learning that just like my kids, Rosie is constantly testing me and boundaries. Once we settle in to somrthing, she learns or tries something new. Keeps me on my toes. But she is so sweet and loving that I love every minute of it!!

 

[Blancaej]

Kendra - Thank you so much. Once Savannah starts stepping up for me on a regular basis and gets used to her play gum, I will have try to start and do that.

Savannah did better this morning. She actually put one foot on my arm. So that was good. I figured "step up" will take a while before it's a regular thing! She got out of her cage and back in when I gave her lunch. I actually didn't let her get out of her cage on her own his morning. Every time she raced to the cage door I walked away. When she stayed on her perch I opened the door and got her on her stick and brought her out. I want to keep her used to the stick so when I have to get her out I can! So I think that worked well.

 

[JerseyWendy]

I was giggling reading of your adventure last night, when Savannah was determined NOT to go back in her cage "willingly"...sorry, I couldn't help myself. Sounds SO much like Ripley, only I don't let him on top of his, but he HOPS on top of Hunter's and then thinks that is his cage, too.

 

[Blancaej]

Wendy - I'm glad you got a good laugh! Your reaction made me feel better! So thanks! I realize it really wasn't so bad and I did get her back in her cage. The hard way, but back in none the less!

I let her out because she was cage bound so much with her previous owner and she doesn't like her play gym yet. So it's worth the sacrifice to let her stretch her wings. But there is a price to pay sometimes as you know!

I'm hopeful once she steps up for me more and gets used to the playgym, I can try to minimize her time on top of her giant cage! Oh the joys of parronthood. LOL!

 

[Blancaej]

So I thought I would update everyone on how Savannah was doing with her "step up". For a few days after she first stepped up for me, I couldn't get her to repeat it. Plus a day or so after I posted this email, everytime I would open her cage door she would quickly climb down off her perch and come right out of her door before I could do anything and that was including getting on the stick!

Well I knew I couldn't have this continue. I needed to be able to at least get her on the stick from her cage if I had to take her out of her cage in an emergency. So I came up with a plan. When I came to her door, if she didn't stay on her perch I walked away. She finally figured out after only 2 or 3 times doing this that she had to stay put to come out. Every time I walked away I would tell her "stay on your perch and I will let you out". So I went to her cage she stayed and I got her right on the stick from her perch when I opened the door. I had to do this a few times, but she has been doing great for a few days now!

Anyway, to make a long story short (too late - lol!) yesterday she was in her cage and the door was open. She put her claw out and I raised my arm. She hopped right on! She hadn't done both feet since I posted this thread! I brought her right out and let her climb on to her cage. I was able to get her out from her perch in her cage since yesterday without using the stick. She has been stepping up right on my arm. Plus, this afternoon, she was out of the cage and came onto my arm. So things are going great!

She is such a sweetheart! She loves her head scratched and the side of her face lightly rubbed. She closes her eyes. I can tell she loves hanging out with me! I've also been able to play with her beak. She feels my arm and lets me rub her beak and moves her tongue around. She is just too darn cute! I really feel fortunate that our relationship is progressing so well! We are all so glad to have her in our lives!

The only issue I am trying to break is she is still constantly wanting to regurge!. I immediately stop petting her when she does it and I walk away for a about 1/2 a minute or so. I've been doing this for a few days now. It seems like she did better this afternoon and wasn't doing it as much. But after a few times yesterday, she did better in the afternoon, too. Any suggestions? Should I be walking away for a longer period of time? I'm basically trying to teach her the attention stops if she's doing it. Maybe it will just take a few days before she finally gets it.

Sorry about the long post! I love to talk, can you tell! LOL!

Here are a couple of pictures we took today of Savannah hanging out with me.

 

[Pinkbirdy]

Oh thats wonderful !!!!! You can see how much she likes you in her pictures

 

[Blancaej]

Thanks Pink! We are getting along very well!

 

[JerseyWendy]

Blanca, your resourcefulness is AWESOME!! AND it's working, too, which makes it even sweeter than candy (LOL..pun intended ).

I think you are making GREAT strides with Savannah! She's a quick learner as well.

When she's regurgitating, you could try and distract her. Give her a foot toy, or a little treat, anything to get her mind off of it.

Niko has started doing lots of gurgies, and if the distractions don't work, I put him on his Java tree for a while and walk away. (1-2 minutes by himself usually snap him out of it.)

LOVE the pictures!! GREAT!!!