Obie
04-10-2018, 06:59 PM
I am a new parrot mom! Oberon (or Obie for short) has been home 3 days as of today. I drove 7 hours on Saturday to pick him up and he is such a cute little bug.
He's 4 months old and was apparently handfed from 2 weeks old. He understandably was very comfortable at the breeders', and would step up as best he could (he hadn't quite mastered the command yet, but tried his best) and would let me scoop him up and give him scritches and flip him on his back. He was fine with all this. But here it's like he's a completely different bird. I understand how frightening it must be to be plopped in a different cage larger than what he was used to, in a different atmosphere, but he's quite skittish. He will move away from my hand when it's in the cage to change his water/food (he won't run away, but he will look a bit wary.) Today and yesterday I've been holding millet sprays inside his cage and he's felt comfortable to stand on my hand, but only for a few minutes at a time if that. I make sure he's always close to a perch so he can leave if he feels like it. I've been sitting through bites that I don't think are aggressive but it's hard to tell. I work with him about 4 times a day for about 10 minutes at a time, or whenever he decides he needs a break, and conveniently his favourite perch is right beside the chair where I study, so he gets to spend time beside me most of the day.
I leave the cage door open for him and have a perch and some toys from the breeders' attached to the inside, but he still hasn't expressed any interest in coming out and I'm a bit afraid that he may end up cage bound. I've also read that you shouldn't make the cage "too comfortable" to coax them to come outside- is this the case? Because if so, I feel like I've done that, lol. He seems very content in there and is tearing up a toy and grinding his beak as I type this.
As well, I was going to wait until the summer to get a parrot (as I will be leaving for 2 weeks mid May) but I saw Obie and it was love at first sight. Will this time away set our progress back, or do they tend to pick up again fairly quickly?
Any words of wisdom or tips appreciated! I know patience is key, but it's a little disheartening to see him like this when all of my other friends' birds were tame immediately upon coming home. I can't wait for him to be comfortable and snuggly like he was when I met him.
http://www.parrotforums.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=2954
http://www.parrotforums.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=2952
He's 4 months old and was apparently handfed from 2 weeks old. He understandably was very comfortable at the breeders', and would step up as best he could (he hadn't quite mastered the command yet, but tried his best) and would let me scoop him up and give him scritches and flip him on his back. He was fine with all this. But here it's like he's a completely different bird. I understand how frightening it must be to be plopped in a different cage larger than what he was used to, in a different atmosphere, but he's quite skittish. He will move away from my hand when it's in the cage to change his water/food (he won't run away, but he will look a bit wary.) Today and yesterday I've been holding millet sprays inside his cage and he's felt comfortable to stand on my hand, but only for a few minutes at a time if that. I make sure he's always close to a perch so he can leave if he feels like it. I've been sitting through bites that I don't think are aggressive but it's hard to tell. I work with him about 4 times a day for about 10 minutes at a time, or whenever he decides he needs a break, and conveniently his favourite perch is right beside the chair where I study, so he gets to spend time beside me most of the day.
I leave the cage door open for him and have a perch and some toys from the breeders' attached to the inside, but he still hasn't expressed any interest in coming out and I'm a bit afraid that he may end up cage bound. I've also read that you shouldn't make the cage "too comfortable" to coax them to come outside- is this the case? Because if so, I feel like I've done that, lol. He seems very content in there and is tearing up a toy and grinding his beak as I type this.
As well, I was going to wait until the summer to get a parrot (as I will be leaving for 2 weeks mid May) but I saw Obie and it was love at first sight. Will this time away set our progress back, or do they tend to pick up again fairly quickly?
Any words of wisdom or tips appreciated! I know patience is key, but it's a little disheartening to see him like this when all of my other friends' birds were tame immediately upon coming home. I can't wait for him to be comfortable and snuggly like he was when I met him.
http://www.parrotforums.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=2954
http://www.parrotforums.com/gallery/displayimage.php?imageid=2952