Well, I'm back posting... I feel bad for neglecting this blog, but have found that training myself (going back to school) has been taking priority over a lot of things in my life.
Birds update:
Darwin is off medication for his seizures, and seems to be doing ok. He still loves to annoy the big birds.
Lucha is still the handsome green boy. He is getting better at allowing me to touch him below the neck, but still on his terms.
Marnie is finally getting all her primaries grown in. She has been flying occasionally and is getting stronger. I am looking forward to try and teach her to recall.
Puff went through a phase of only wanting to step up onto the perch and would remove flesh from my hands... but now he's back wanting to step up onto my hands.
Silver came into our lives in harm, and passed on knowing the best of what birds should have without being able to return her to the wild.
Mobie recently came into our lives last week. She is a 15+yr old African Grey. Her owners loved her very much, but realised that with one of them terminally ill (he since passed) and in their 70's it was time to find Mobie a forever home.
She's a great little gal, who is happily hanging out on the playscape, eating good foods, and stepping up for me.
So there's an update, hopefully it won't be too long till the next one, but no guarantees as the spring semester starts!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Putting Birds Before Yourself
Ndeke with his wife Inyoni... both are now in a better place
I swore a number of years ago that I would ever rehome one of my "permanent" animals... That is to say the ones who I had decided had found their forever home with me, instead of extended fosters...
Recently I broke that oath.
My lovebird Ndeke was originally a foster, who then moved in with my female lovie Inyoni and became permanent.
When Inyoni died last year, he was living the high life!
He was now able to have warm mushy foods, berries, veggies, a hidey hole, all the things that he had not been able to have when Inyoni was around because it would encourage breeding.
He was quite the happy bachelor.
Then about 3-4 months ago things started to change. He was quieter, less active and then started plucking his tail feathers out.
I worked to improve his habitat with fresh bamboo browse, foraging and toys, but it didn't help.
I finally admitted that my house was no longer the best situation for him. That no matter what I did, I was simply not set up to provide him everything he needed for him mental health. No matter how good his cage and diet was, he needed more.
Thankfully my friend Emily came through once again. The sister of her riding instructor had been thinking about adding a bird to her family and we got in contact.
Ndeke went to his new home last week. There he will have attention, lots of activity, lots of love and be able to bring joy to her and her family.
I got an email from her a few days later to let me know that he was settling in well and had brought a wonderful "vibe" to their house. I am so happy that he will have a chance to thrive again.
We have an agreement that should things change and it is no longer best for him to be there that he will come back to me. I also told them that if money is ever an issue, I will happily pay his food and vet bills... to me that is a small price for his happiness.
What have I learned from this?
That it is not a bad thing to admit when your situation is not the best situation for an animal. No matter how dedicated you are to their well being, sometimes it is best to put their welfare before your own heart and pride.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Playscape Additions
Birds in the wild do not spend all day hanging out in the same tree... no matter how enriching that tree may be, so I have always thought that my own captive birds should not spend all day in or around their "tree" or in this case cage.
Now my birds all have cages that are larger than most would provide for their species, with a variety of perches, toys, foraging opportunities etc etc... but lets face it... if we had to live in our bedrooms all day, every day we would get pretty bored, no matter how nice our decorations are.
Because of this I have over the years been developing, improving and expanding what I like to call their "playscape". It started off as a single manzanita playgym and has now developed into a manzanita play gym, a HQ metal play gym, a starbird climbing net. All of these are enhanced with various toys, foraging opportunities and boings. All of which are rotated and moved regularly to present new challenges.
My birds all love this playscape and make full use of it, but I am always looking for ways to improve it.
One of the ways I have been wanting to improve it is to add something which would allow a) a place to have a bird bath, b) a flat perching surface and c) new foraging opportunities.
Last week I found just the right piece to add. While wondering around Walmart I came across a bathroom organizer (one of the shelves which go around and over a toilet) which was marked down to $10. The shelves were wire bars of about 3/4 to 1" spacing.
I brought it home and and assembled it to add into the playscape. The height was perfect and allowed for me to put my Austin Air Cleaner underneath to save some space.
The bars allowed me to add in foraging toys which were designed to be fixed onto the side of a cage. The flat shelves allowed me to add a large flat dog bowl as a bathing dish (I use a plastic one with a rubber base to prevent slipping). Finally the bars on the shelves and the struts of the main frame allow me to attach hanging foraging toys, foot toys and other fun things.
This new addition to the playscape has gone down very well with Marnie and Lucha who will spend hours moving around it and exploring. Puff is still a little nervous of it, but given time I am sure he will come around to it.
The important thing to take away from this is that you never know when you will find a chance to enrich your birds lives further. Whenever I go to a store, yard sale, farmers market, on craigslist I am always looking at things with the birds in mind, and have found a number of great deals. All my birds love their stainless steel measuring spoons that cost me $1 from Walmart. The childrens links that I buy in bags of 30 from Target for $5 have made life so much easier by using them to hang toys... this way I never have to worry about the link not fitting around the larger bars, or having to mess with tightening or loosening links when a bird is threatening to remove my hand.
The new addition to the playscape with the air filter below it. On the shelves are the bird bath, toys and of course my grey Marnie
Now my birds all have cages that are larger than most would provide for their species, with a variety of perches, toys, foraging opportunities etc etc... but lets face it... if we had to live in our bedrooms all day, every day we would get pretty bored, no matter how nice our decorations are.
Because of this I have over the years been developing, improving and expanding what I like to call their "playscape". It started off as a single manzanita playgym and has now developed into a manzanita play gym, a HQ metal play gym, a starbird climbing net. All of these are enhanced with various toys, foraging opportunities and boings. All of which are rotated and moved regularly to present new challenges.
My birds all love this playscape and make full use of it, but I am always looking for ways to improve it.
One of the ways I have been wanting to improve it is to add something which would allow a) a place to have a bird bath, b) a flat perching surface and c) new foraging opportunities.
Last week I found just the right piece to add. While wondering around Walmart I came across a bathroom organizer (one of the shelves which go around and over a toilet) which was marked down to $10. The shelves were wire bars of about 3/4 to 1" spacing.
I brought it home and and assembled it to add into the playscape. The height was perfect and allowed for me to put my Austin Air Cleaner underneath to save some space.
The bars allowed me to add in foraging toys which were designed to be fixed onto the side of a cage. The flat shelves allowed me to add a large flat dog bowl as a bathing dish (I use a plastic one with a rubber base to prevent slipping). Finally the bars on the shelves and the struts of the main frame allow me to attach hanging foraging toys, foot toys and other fun things.
This new addition to the playscape has gone down very well with Marnie and Lucha who will spend hours moving around it and exploring. Puff is still a little nervous of it, but given time I am sure he will come around to it.
The important thing to take away from this is that you never know when you will find a chance to enrich your birds lives further. Whenever I go to a store, yard sale, farmers market, on craigslist I am always looking at things with the birds in mind, and have found a number of great deals. All my birds love their stainless steel measuring spoons that cost me $1 from Walmart. The childrens links that I buy in bags of 30 from Target for $5 have made life so much easier by using them to hang toys... this way I never have to worry about the link not fitting around the larger bars, or having to mess with tightening or loosening links when a bird is threatening to remove my hand.
The new addition to the playscape with the air filter below it. On the shelves are the bird bath, toys and of course my grey Marnie
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Browse of Various Kinds
Today was a good day for my birds... or maybe that should be a good day for me being able to enrich my birds?
For some reason I have lived in the same condo complex for nearly 5 years and never registered that just over the fence by the flood pond is a lot of bamboo... and when I mean a lot I mean 20ft by 20ft of it. It's never sprayed on either side, and conveniently lower branches hang over the fence within grabbing distance. Today, when walking my Dachshund Mina, I finally noticed it!
I pulled several branches/tops down and snapped them off, returning to the house with a good handful. Now all my birds have fresh bamboo browse to destroy in their cages. Tomorrow I think I shall gather some to add to their playscape.
Bamboo is awesome stuff where birds are concerned. The thicker parts can be cut up to make foraging toys, wedged between cage bars to form perches, or can be placed between bars to be shredded. The frondier end pieces can be woven through the cage bars to provide shredding goodness for all sized birds.
After my good fortune (and guilt at not noticing it earlier) with the bamboo I set about making a batch of chop and freeze. This is a time saving mix of veggies, dried fruits, nuts, herbs, grains and legumes which is hacked, mixed and then frozen. A couple of hours of making it one day, leaves you with weeks if not months worth of quick foods for when schedules are tight. I like to break mine up with bird bread, fruits, fresh veggies and a little of whatever I am eating if bird healthy.
This most recent batch consisted of: Mustard greens, red kale, dandelion greens, yellow bell pepper, courgettes, carrots, quinoa, a bean mix, millet, dried amarillo chili peppers, dried goji berries, dried apricot, dried pineapple, dried mango, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, chamomile, red leaf raspberry, hibiscus, spearmint, flax seeds, OptOmega oil and Palm Oil. All organic of course.
The thing I really love about doing it in this way is that it can be made of whatever organic produce you can get at the time; No mustard greens? Use some collard greens instead. Can't find fresh chili peppers? Use dried instead. This way not only can you support seasonal produce, but you can also provide your bird with something new every batch. Indeed, every meal they get of it will be different in it's balance of ingredients.
You can increase the enrichment factor by not making all the ingredients of uniform size. Carrots for example can be put in whole, sticks, chunks and circles. Each requiring a slightly different approach from the bird to eat.
My top reason for doing this chop? My birds on the kitchen counter "helping"! In the case of my CAG Marnie it is stealing large amounts of goodies and then getting mad when I make her give most of it back to put in the mix. Lucha the amazon will instead gently take small pieces of chopped up foods and eat it off to one side. A highly enriching past time for both!
When doing this chop mix I always put some of the ingredients to one side for separate enrichment uses. Today a couple of mustard green leaves and carrots were kept back and hung on a stainless steel skewer.
For some reason I have lived in the same condo complex for nearly 5 years and never registered that just over the fence by the flood pond is a lot of bamboo... and when I mean a lot I mean 20ft by 20ft of it. It's never sprayed on either side, and conveniently lower branches hang over the fence within grabbing distance. Today, when walking my Dachshund Mina, I finally noticed it!
I pulled several branches/tops down and snapped them off, returning to the house with a good handful. Now all my birds have fresh bamboo browse to destroy in their cages. Tomorrow I think I shall gather some to add to their playscape.
Bamboo is awesome stuff where birds are concerned. The thicker parts can be cut up to make foraging toys, wedged between cage bars to form perches, or can be placed between bars to be shredded. The frondier end pieces can be woven through the cage bars to provide shredding goodness for all sized birds.
After my good fortune (and guilt at not noticing it earlier) with the bamboo I set about making a batch of chop and freeze. This is a time saving mix of veggies, dried fruits, nuts, herbs, grains and legumes which is hacked, mixed and then frozen. A couple of hours of making it one day, leaves you with weeks if not months worth of quick foods for when schedules are tight. I like to break mine up with bird bread, fruits, fresh veggies and a little of whatever I am eating if bird healthy.
This most recent batch consisted of: Mustard greens, red kale, dandelion greens, yellow bell pepper, courgettes, carrots, quinoa, a bean mix, millet, dried amarillo chili peppers, dried goji berries, dried apricot, dried pineapple, dried mango, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, chamomile, red leaf raspberry, hibiscus, spearmint, flax seeds, OptOmega oil and Palm Oil. All organic of course.
The thing I really love about doing it in this way is that it can be made of whatever organic produce you can get at the time; No mustard greens? Use some collard greens instead. Can't find fresh chili peppers? Use dried instead. This way not only can you support seasonal produce, but you can also provide your bird with something new every batch. Indeed, every meal they get of it will be different in it's balance of ingredients.
You can increase the enrichment factor by not making all the ingredients of uniform size. Carrots for example can be put in whole, sticks, chunks and circles. Each requiring a slightly different approach from the bird to eat.
My top reason for doing this chop? My birds on the kitchen counter "helping"! In the case of my CAG Marnie it is stealing large amounts of goodies and then getting mad when I make her give most of it back to put in the mix. Lucha the amazon will instead gently take small pieces of chopped up foods and eat it off to one side. A highly enriching past time for both!
When doing this chop mix I always put some of the ingredients to one side for separate enrichment uses. Today a couple of mustard green leaves and carrots were kept back and hung on a stainless steel skewer.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Hand Fed Offers No Guarantees
I have been hearing a lot lately of people saying "I don't want an older bird because it might have been wild caught, I want a hand fed one so it will be friendly"
Sitting here watching Marnie ( 8yr hand fed CAG), Puff (10 yr hand fed CAG) and Lucha (30+ yr wild caught Lilac Crowned Amazon) on the playscape, it strikes me that this is a hugely over simplified view.
Hand fed does not guarantee a friendly bird, no more than being wild caught means a mean one.
I have three excellent examples right in front of me; Puff, Marnie and Lucha.
The easiest and without doubt "friendliest" bird is Marnie, who was hand fed, was treated well all her life and is friendly with others (as long as I am not there).
Now if one followed the quote in the opening sentence then the next "friendliest" bird is Puff... WRONG! The next one would be Lucha, who was wild caught, brought into the USA and had not had the best of lives... however with patience and positive reinforcement is a very sweet bird, who actively seeks attention and whose idea of heaven is a beak rub. Now I'll admit he will bite if you ignore his extended warnings and touch him below the shoulders, but on the whole that's not a major thing.
The least "friendly" bird is Puff, who was hand fed and then had a series of mistakes and bad attempts at "training" which saw him turn from an inquisitive little grey ball of fluff into a mistrusting, bite first find out what the human wants later guy. This is not his fault, and he is making slow progress now he's in a calm, enriching environment where he is allowed to make choices in his interactions with humans. The other day the stood on his door perch waggling his leg and saying "step up?" while I was getting the others out onto the playscape. Needless to say I wanted to ruffle his head feathers and kiss his beak (just as Marnie loves)... but I contained myself knowing that with Puff such an action would result in removal of one or more features of my face.
Now I know some folks are now saying "Ahh but these were rescues, a hand fed baby is something completely different"... well not so! My friend Emily's female Eclectus Cah'ya was a hand fed baby and was far from a sweet hand tamed baby... and she was raised by a first class breeder.
So what is the whole point of this post?
People should judge each bird on it's own personality, behavior etc... not by whether it was wild caught, hand fed, old, young, rescue, specific species, brand new baby or for any other generalised catch all.
By being open and allowing each bird to stand on it's own merit and get to know you, you will greatly increase the chance of finding the best companion bird for you... and maybe where you would least expect it
Sitting here watching Marnie ( 8yr hand fed CAG), Puff (10 yr hand fed CAG) and Lucha (30+ yr wild caught Lilac Crowned Amazon) on the playscape, it strikes me that this is a hugely over simplified view.
Hand fed does not guarantee a friendly bird, no more than being wild caught means a mean one.
I have three excellent examples right in front of me; Puff, Marnie and Lucha.
The easiest and without doubt "friendliest" bird is Marnie, who was hand fed, was treated well all her life and is friendly with others (as long as I am not there).
Now if one followed the quote in the opening sentence then the next "friendliest" bird is Puff... WRONG! The next one would be Lucha, who was wild caught, brought into the USA and had not had the best of lives... however with patience and positive reinforcement is a very sweet bird, who actively seeks attention and whose idea of heaven is a beak rub. Now I'll admit he will bite if you ignore his extended warnings and touch him below the shoulders, but on the whole that's not a major thing.
The least "friendly" bird is Puff, who was hand fed and then had a series of mistakes and bad attempts at "training" which saw him turn from an inquisitive little grey ball of fluff into a mistrusting, bite first find out what the human wants later guy. This is not his fault, and he is making slow progress now he's in a calm, enriching environment where he is allowed to make choices in his interactions with humans. The other day the stood on his door perch waggling his leg and saying "step up?" while I was getting the others out onto the playscape. Needless to say I wanted to ruffle his head feathers and kiss his beak (just as Marnie loves)... but I contained myself knowing that with Puff such an action would result in removal of one or more features of my face.
Now I know some folks are now saying "Ahh but these were rescues, a hand fed baby is something completely different"... well not so! My friend Emily's female Eclectus Cah'ya was a hand fed baby and was far from a sweet hand tamed baby... and she was raised by a first class breeder.
So what is the whole point of this post?
People should judge each bird on it's own personality, behavior etc... not by whether it was wild caught, hand fed, old, young, rescue, specific species, brand new baby or for any other generalised catch all.
By being open and allowing each bird to stand on it's own merit and get to know you, you will greatly increase the chance of finding the best companion bird for you... and maybe where you would least expect it
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Variety is the Spice of Life
I just spent the past couple of days doing a deep clean of the cages and a major rearranging of perches and toys.
This is one of my favorite things to do as it allows me to be creative with enriching my birds.
Each of my birds have very specific likes and dislikes. Some of it is health related, some based on natural wild behavior and other just the personal preference of the bird.
Marnie is an African Grey and loves to go down to the bottom of the cage to chicken scratch just like the wild CAGs. Because of this I like to give her extra layers of newspaper, so she can shred it up scratching, and get through to the tray.
She also does not really care for chewing on wood; She prefers to take care of her beak on her perches. Therefore I do not give her much in the way of wooden toys.
Her favorite toys a bright acrylic ones, which she loves to beat the snot out of.
Lucha on the other hand LOVES to shred up wood. I normally give him at least two or three different wooden toys, of different colours and woods, in various spots around his cage. Lucha could not care less about acrylic toys, unless they are for foraging.
Puff loves to shred! Nothing seems to make him happier than hanging out on the bottom of his cage and turning cardboard into confetti. I save all my cardboard from groceries and shipping and toss it in his cage.
On top of their usual toys, I also include lots of foraging toys of different types. I have a number of them which are made of tough plastic or acrylic. All the birds love getting their pellets out of these, and I rotate them between cages to change up the methods they have to use to get to their foods.
I also like to make foraging toys out of destructible materials like coffee filters.
Over the years I have put together a large selection of various perches. I have multiple thicknesses, lengths and kinds of weed, along with perches made of acrylic, rope, boings, flat perches and concrete. When doing a change up I like to not only change the type of perches, but also the locations.
The combination of changing up toys and perches gives my birds the opportunity to use their brains to adapt to their new cage environment.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Training with Positive Reinforcement is Positive Reinforcement to Me!
I really love working with my animals using positive reinforcement.
Although working out how to reinforce my leopard geckos in such a way that they associate the behavior with the food is a challenge, it's still a lot of fun. I'm working on training my fat boy leo Samir to walk onto a scale at the moment. So far I've been concentrating on desensitizing him to the scale in his tank, but eventually I plan to feed his mealworms only on the scales surface, so he associates going on the tank with yummy, wiggly mealies.
Today I was working again with my African Grey Marnie. I have been slowly working on recall with her as she has finally grown in some primaries on the damaged wing. She normally picks up behaviors quickly, but for her this behavior has been a challenge. She normally only flies because she's spooking at something, so the concept of flying because she wants too is foreign to her. Still we have slowly been working on her stepping out onto my palm and gradually increasing the distance my palm is from the training perch. Now she is leaning forward and catching her beak on my thumb and helping herself over to the hand with a little flap of the wings.
Marnie works best with a lot of excited verbal encouragement when she is hesitating, so my neighbours quite often hear me through the screen on my patio saying "Hi Baby! Marnie Baby! Ready!! Come Here!!!!!" in a high pitched squeaky voice.
Lucha was already put up for the night when I was working with Marnie (he's an old man who likes to go to sleep with the sun), Puff ended up alone on the playscape. It was interesting to see him with his eyes glued on Marnie and I.
When he first came he was fascinated by Marnie interacting with me, and I credit this version of the Model/Rival method with teaching him to trust me and to step up.
He's been a little disinterested for a while, and has been a little sticky in training. For example he has been holding out for an almond in the shell before he would step up from the playscape.
Tonight however I put Marnie up for the night after our training session and heard repeated "step up?" coming from the playscape. Without getting any treat, I walked over to the playscape. Puff rushed over to where I was standing and presented his foot, stepped up and went back to his cage with zero clicking or eye pinning!
All in all today has been hugely rewarding for me, and yet another reason why I will continue to work with my animals using positive reinforcement.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Patience With Parrots Is A Virtue
Puff is my foster African Grey from Wings of Love Bird Haven.
He has been with me for around 4 months now and has made a lot of improvements.
He now plays with toys, forages and loves being out on the play gym with Marnie and Lucha.
Now his interaction with humans has been slow to build on. His fear based aggression has been so successful in the past, he automatically reverts to in in any kind of nervous situation.
But with patience and using Marnie as a model he has now gotten to the stage where he steps up every time without biting. Along the way we had some bumps in the training road, such as when I had surgery and became the evil head bandage monster and when I was away with work for a month... but now even when I am away for a week on a puppy mill bust he steps up.
Part of his training success has been allowing him to have the cage as his safe place. I don't go into his cage to move toys or clean while he is in it and I don't ask him to step up from inside it. Instead I have a perch on the door which he targets to, then I open the door and ask for the step up.
Most days when I get the birds out on the play gym he comes out last, so when I approach his cage with a visible pine nut (Puff kryptonite) he normally rushes to his door perch.
This morning was something different. When I approached the cage he was on one of the higher perches... I showed him the pine nut and asked him to go to the door perch... he headed down to it and then continued past and beat on one of his toys. "Okay" I thought "I'll come back in a bit).
Four more times when I approached the cage he went from being quiet and calm to full puffed up feathers, pinned eyes, double clicking (a warning noise he makes) and attacking whatever toy was closest. Each time I approached I had the pine nut visible and asked him if he wanted to come out and play... each time he gave me the above reaction I put the pine nut away and walked past him.
Finally 5 hours later I walked up and he ran straight to his door perch, stepped up and took his pine nut reinforcement without any drama.
Now I could have shoved my hand in the cage and asked for the step up, or made him step up on the hand perch, but instead I decided to use my patience and the reward was obvious. Rather than reinforce or react negatively to his behavior, I let him work it out of his system. This meant that instead he got a positive experience and a desired behavior reinforced... even if it was a few hours later than planned.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Videos!
Well, I'm back after being gone for nearly 6 weeks, first on the Kaufman Puppy Mill deployment with UAN, and then with my regular work I was in Granbury helping to manage wildfire response across Texas.
I missed my animals hugely and was sought of worried about how Puff was going to react to me being gone so long.
But... while I was away I learned a bit more about the video function of my camera.... so here are a couple of videos of Marnie doing some of her behaviors.
Turn, wave and shake
Go to her door perch
I missed my animals hugely and was sought of worried about how Puff was going to react to me being gone so long.
But... while I was away I learned a bit more about the video function of my camera.... so here are a couple of videos of Marnie doing some of her behaviors.
Turn, wave and shake
Go to her door perch
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Puppy Mill Deployment
I just spent the past week deployed with the United Animal Nations during the seizure and emergency shelter of 543 dogs and cats from a puppy mill.
Although I am not ready to really put my thoughts down on paper, I wanted to share these videos in the hope that it will spread awareness as to the HORROR of these "businesses".
Please folks, if you know of a suspected puppy mill report it to your local SPCA/Humane Society, law enforcement and to the HSUS Puppy Mill Task Force.
In less than two weeks this puppy mill was discovered, investigated, raided, animals seized and a court held a disposition hearing, awarding the animals to the HSUS. Now over 500 animals can know true love and kindness and many puppies born since the raid will never have to know the hell their parents and older siblings endured.
THEY CAN BE STOPPED IF ONLY PEOPLE STAND UP AND MAKE THEIR VOICES HEARD
Although I am not ready to really put my thoughts down on paper, I wanted to share these videos in the hope that it will spread awareness as to the HORROR of these "businesses".
Please folks, if you know of a suspected puppy mill report it to your local SPCA/Humane Society, law enforcement and to the HSUS Puppy Mill Task Force.
In less than two weeks this puppy mill was discovered, investigated, raided, animals seized and a court held a disposition hearing, awarding the animals to the HSUS. Now over 500 animals can know true love and kindness and many puppies born since the raid will never have to know the hell their parents and older siblings endured.
THEY CAN BE STOPPED IF ONLY PEOPLE STAND UP AND MAKE THEIR VOICES HEARD
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Introductions and Updates
Well, I must apologise for how long it's taken for me to get back posting here.
For nearly two months I have barely been online due to a very nasty ear infection that due to my medications, health issues and history, I was not able to overcome.
I had surgery a couple of weeks ago to hopefully fix the problem. This means I can now get online without getting nauseous! WOOHOO!
Sooooo here are some updates on the birds and their training... I will admit that training took a back burner when I was sick as I noticed that my observation and reaction skills were poor and I was hampering new behavior training efforts.
Marnie
Marnie has been maintaining her already learned behaviors well and is always ready to offer a wave if there is a pecan in sight.
She's been doing well with learning veterinary behaviors and was recently used as demo bird at a meeting of the Austin Parrot Society which concentrated on avian emergency care.
She has also been getting better about stepping up for other people.
Lucha
Lucha is still the King of the Puffy Dance. Training sessions with him have to be very short as after any more than 5 minutes the feathers start fluffing and the whining starts and within a few seconds I am being displayed at.
We have made some small handling breakthroughs though! Lucha has never allowed me to touch him below the neck without a warning growl followed by a bite. But recently he has been tolerating quick, gentle touches of the back without giving any warnings.
Darwin
Darwin is one hot mess of a bird.
After having weekly seizures of varying severity and lots of testing he has been officially diagnosed as having idiopathic epilepsy. Normal treatment is phenobarbitol, but we are trying to steer clear of that for as long as possible.
Close observation helped me realise that the seizures were normally following a stressful situation like the big birds squabbling, a loud noise or a blood draw. So, I have been trying to maintain a calm, stress free environment in the home to prevent the seizures. So far I have been somewhat successful, although it's hard to do as Darwin can be an instigator of stress a lot of the time.
Training new behaviors has become a challenge. If he gets to that point where he is not sure what you are asking of him and starts throwing out behaviors to see what gets him reinforced, it seems like he overloads his brain and he will have a small seizure. Established behaviors are not an issue and Darwin still recalls like a champ if there is a treat available.
And introducing...
Pip
Pip is a Black Capped Caique that I am fostering for Wings of Love Bird Haven. He came to me because he allegedly hated men... but I have not seen this at all! Infact Pip is one of the most social birds I have ever met. He happily steps up to everyone (male or female) with a cheery "Heeelooo".
Good news is that since being with me he has stopped the over preening and is slowely filling in his feathers.
A typical Caique he is very active and loves to hair surf... he also eats ANYTHING you offer him.
Pip is available for adoption through Bird Haven.
Puff
Puff was originally adopted from Bird Haven to a home in Austin last year. Unfortunately a combination of his fear, some bad advice and health problems in the family meant that he was returned to the Haven.
I picked him up about 6 weeks ago and have been slowly working with him since.
I first met Puff at Barbara Heidenreichs Workshop in Austin last year and he was already avoiding being handled. He responded well to Barbara targeting him around the cage though... so I was confident that he would learn to step up and have more trust in humans.
For the first couple of weeks I let him relax in his new big cage and get used to foraging and toys. Every time I entered the room I would walk over and offer him a treat. I then started leaving the door open so he could climb out... at first every time I came in the room he would run back in the cage, but after a couple of days he would stay on his door to get his treat.
A real breakthrough happened when I moved him into the bird room opposite Marnie... He was FASCINATED! Every interaction with Marnie was closely studied. I soon noticed this and thought here was a chance to use an adapted model/rival technique.
I started by offering them the same foraging toys. I would carefully load up Marnie's toy and then Puff's. He would watch her closely as she got out the treats and then use the same method to get into his own toy.
Normally I don't reinforce Marnie with a treat every time she steps up (because petting and spending time with me is also reinforcing for her), but with Puff watching I consitently cued, bridged and reinforced her (with his fav treat) for stepping up and down, making sure he could see well. I would then go to him and attempt the same. If he gave me his warning double click I would remove my hand and replace it with a perch (he showed no fear to this perch from the start), then repeat the cue. With in a couple of days he was jumping up on the perch on cue and from there we repeated the process onto my arm. He then went to spend the day on the play gym with Marnie and Lucha, carefully watching what Marnie was doing and eating. After about a week I started asking him to step up straight onto my arm from the play gym with immediate sucess.
Then surgery happened and Puff decided I was terrifying again (I did have a bandage around my head).
So for the past two weeks we have been slowely working back to where we were and this week he has been stepping up from the cage.
He's gradually regaining his confidence and I hope to be able to give him scritches in the future
For nearly two months I have barely been online due to a very nasty ear infection that due to my medications, health issues and history, I was not able to overcome.
I had surgery a couple of weeks ago to hopefully fix the problem. This means I can now get online without getting nauseous! WOOHOO!
Sooooo here are some updates on the birds and their training... I will admit that training took a back burner when I was sick as I noticed that my observation and reaction skills were poor and I was hampering new behavior training efforts.
Marnie
Marnie has been maintaining her already learned behaviors well and is always ready to offer a wave if there is a pecan in sight.She's been doing well with learning veterinary behaviors and was recently used as demo bird at a meeting of the Austin Parrot Society which concentrated on avian emergency care.
She has also been getting better about stepping up for other people.
Lucha
Lucha is still the King of the Puffy Dance. Training sessions with him have to be very short as after any more than 5 minutes the feathers start fluffing and the whining starts and within a few seconds I am being displayed at.We have made some small handling breakthroughs though! Lucha has never allowed me to touch him below the neck without a warning growl followed by a bite. But recently he has been tolerating quick, gentle touches of the back without giving any warnings.
Darwin
Darwin is one hot mess of a bird.After having weekly seizures of varying severity and lots of testing he has been officially diagnosed as having idiopathic epilepsy. Normal treatment is phenobarbitol, but we are trying to steer clear of that for as long as possible.
Close observation helped me realise that the seizures were normally following a stressful situation like the big birds squabbling, a loud noise or a blood draw. So, I have been trying to maintain a calm, stress free environment in the home to prevent the seizures. So far I have been somewhat successful, although it's hard to do as Darwin can be an instigator of stress a lot of the time.
Training new behaviors has become a challenge. If he gets to that point where he is not sure what you are asking of him and starts throwing out behaviors to see what gets him reinforced, it seems like he overloads his brain and he will have a small seizure. Established behaviors are not an issue and Darwin still recalls like a champ if there is a treat available.
And introducing...
Pip
Pip is a Black Capped Caique that I am fostering for Wings of Love Bird Haven. He came to me because he allegedly hated men... but I have not seen this at all! Infact Pip is one of the most social birds I have ever met. He happily steps up to everyone (male or female) with a cheery "Heeelooo".Good news is that since being with me he has stopped the over preening and is slowely filling in his feathers.
A typical Caique he is very active and loves to hair surf... he also eats ANYTHING you offer him.
Pip is available for adoption through Bird Haven.
Puff
Puff was originally adopted from Bird Haven to a home in Austin last year. Unfortunately a combination of his fear, some bad advice and health problems in the family meant that he was returned to the Haven.I picked him up about 6 weeks ago and have been slowly working with him since.
I first met Puff at Barbara Heidenreichs Workshop in Austin last year and he was already avoiding being handled. He responded well to Barbara targeting him around the cage though... so I was confident that he would learn to step up and have more trust in humans.
For the first couple of weeks I let him relax in his new big cage and get used to foraging and toys. Every time I entered the room I would walk over and offer him a treat. I then started leaving the door open so he could climb out... at first every time I came in the room he would run back in the cage, but after a couple of days he would stay on his door to get his treat.
A real breakthrough happened when I moved him into the bird room opposite Marnie... He was FASCINATED! Every interaction with Marnie was closely studied. I soon noticed this and thought here was a chance to use an adapted model/rival technique.
I started by offering them the same foraging toys. I would carefully load up Marnie's toy and then Puff's. He would watch her closely as she got out the treats and then use the same method to get into his own toy.
Normally I don't reinforce Marnie with a treat every time she steps up (because petting and spending time with me is also reinforcing for her), but with Puff watching I consitently cued, bridged and reinforced her (with his fav treat) for stepping up and down, making sure he could see well. I would then go to him and attempt the same. If he gave me his warning double click I would remove my hand and replace it with a perch (he showed no fear to this perch from the start), then repeat the cue. With in a couple of days he was jumping up on the perch on cue and from there we repeated the process onto my arm. He then went to spend the day on the play gym with Marnie and Lucha, carefully watching what Marnie was doing and eating. After about a week I started asking him to step up straight onto my arm from the play gym with immediate sucess.
Then surgery happened and Puff decided I was terrifying again (I did have a bandage around my head).
So for the past two weeks we have been slowely working back to where we were and this week he has been stepping up from the cage.
He's gradually regaining his confidence and I hope to be able to give him scritches in the future
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Hurricane Season Is Here... Is Your Bird Ready?
This room is full of birds and other exotic animals that were rescued from Galveston Island after Hurricane Ike
Hurricane Season is officially here for the Atlantic Basin and the first Tropical Low has formed.
What does this mean for bird owners like myself?
It means it's time to double check your preparations and put the finishing touches on training the behaviors that will help you in the event of an emergency.
But don't panic... if you are not prepared with an emergency kit and have not thought about what behaviors will be helpful in an emergency, it's not too late!
Here is a parrot disaster kit list that I put together with Code 3 Associates:
Food and Water
Food; two weeks supply – pelleted diets, seeds, dried fruits/veggies and nuts – in airtight container, rotated every 3 months
Small tubs of fruit salad in own juice is great as they provide fresh fruit and fluids but keep a long time.
Certain Baby foods are also good as they are mushy which is a comfort food for birds. Be careful as to vitamin and mineral supplementation which may be too high for a bird
Your birds favorite teats – rotated every 3 mo
Water; two week supply – estimate 1 to 2 quarts per day for drinking, bathing and cleaning
Food and water dishes – have extra and non breakable
Restraint and ID
ID - band number or microchip – have this information on your paperwork
Towels - wrap the avian in
Portable cage with perches - marked with your contact info
Recent photographs - including you or family member in picture
Wire, pliers, and duct tape – to repair portable cage
Wire cutters - to remove a stuck bird in an emergency
Sanitation
Newspapers for lining the cage
Paper towels
Dish soap
Disinfectant
Garbage bags
Care and Comfort
Blanket or sheet to cover cage
Toys
Hot water bottle
Flashlight w/extra batteries
Grooming supplies
Spray bottle for misting
Battery Powered fan - a small one can be attached to the cage and make the difference on a hot day
Records and medications
Vet phone number
Copies of proof of ownership papers
Copies of medical records
Medication – two week supply of any medication the bird is on
First aid Kit –
First aid book for Birds
3 X 5 conforming bandages
4 X 4 gauze pads
Graze rolls
Antiseptic wipes
Triple antibiotic cream
Q-tips
Scissors
Tweezers
Instant cold pack
Disposable gloves
Two rolls of vet wrap
Items in addition to basic kit
Pedialyte
Blunt nose scissors
Styptic powder
Cornflower – to stop bleeding on wings or soft tissue
Hemostat - for pulling broken blood feathers
Cotton swabs
Feeding syringes - incase hand feeding is needed)
NOTE: Birds are better being transported in the plastic animal kennels with a low perch, however this is not suitable for any longer than a day at the very most as most birds can chew through the plastic in short order.
Similarly cages (either small regular ones or collapsible travel ones) are dangerous for travel as the bird can easily panic and break wings or get them stuck in the bars.
Two cages are best, a travel cage and a collapsible wire one for when the destination has been reached.
Keep the disaster kit in an easy to grab and go bag or tub that is in a central location. If there the entrance that you keep the kit at is blocked it won't be of much use.
Make sure you know the best way to pack your car with people, animals, and supplies for both. Then be sure to plan at least 3 different routes out of town to your intended destinations (have more than one of these too!).
Finally make sure everyone in the family knows the plan.
If you must leave without your animals make sure you leave some indication on your house that you have animals and how many of each species. Inside the home in an obvious position leave basic care instructions, your emergency contact number, your out of state contact number and your vets number. This will allow emergency responders to care for your animals and get in contact with you.
Next post I will cover some behaviors which you can train to help you and emergency responders in an emergency.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Global Warming A Threat To Parrots
As this article on Tree Hugger shows, the threat to wild parrots is not only from direct human destruction of habitat and trapping, but also from our influence on Global Warming.
The islanders are evacuating their island to head for higher ground after the rise in sea levels have made their agricultural existence impossible.
They predict that the island will be under water by 2015 (that's only 6 years from now!). But while the humans have made it to safety, what of the wildlife that's left behind.
Many of our beloved birds are island dwellers in the Southern Pacific, so in 50 years, with sea levels rising the way they are, where will they be?
Please do your bit to end Global Warming (a lot of it will save you money over time too! Think of all the extra bird toys you can buy), and help to save our birds native habitat.
The islanders are evacuating their island to head for higher ground after the rise in sea levels have made their agricultural existence impossible.
They predict that the island will be under water by 2015 (that's only 6 years from now!). But while the humans have made it to safety, what of the wildlife that's left behind.
Many of our beloved birds are island dwellers in the Southern Pacific, so in 50 years, with sea levels rising the way they are, where will they be?
Please do your bit to end Global Warming (a lot of it will save you money over time too! Think of all the extra bird toys you can buy), and help to save our birds native habitat.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Has Your Bird Got Rhythm?
According to scientist who studied the parrot celebrities Snowball and Alex, parrots are the first creatures apart from humans to be found to have rhythm.
They watched Snowball dancing to the Backstreet Boys played at different tempos and found that he adjusted his movements to match.
Now my birds are not really dancers... no matter how much I turn up the music and dance around like a fool. But every now and then Marnie will get into it and I have noticed she has close to perfect rhythm.
All in all, I think this is just another bit scientific proof that our birds are as intelligent and cognizant as we know they are
BBC Article on Dancing Birds
They watched Snowball dancing to the Backstreet Boys played at different tempos and found that he adjusted his movements to match.
Now my birds are not really dancers... no matter how much I turn up the music and dance around like a fool. But every now and then Marnie will get into it and I have noticed she has close to perfect rhythm.
All in all, I think this is just another bit scientific proof that our birds are as intelligent and cognizant as we know they are
BBC Article on Dancing Birds
Saturday, April 11, 2009
The Loss of a Friend and the Terror of Fingerless Gloves
Well it's been a while since I updated on here (note to self... must get better about that), and a lot has happened. Some good, some bad and some kinda average.
In bad news, Inyoni, the spitfire 1 legged female lovebird has passed on to the rainbow bridge. Her energy and fire will be missed.
Her mate Ndeke was very quiet for a week after her death, but after a cage move around and he realised that he now gets all these awesome things like bird bread and warm mushy foods, and a happy hut because I no longer have to worry about these things triggering a laying session. So he's acting normally now... perhaps even a little more content now she is not demanding feedings and nagging him.
A necropsy was performed (I cannot stress the importance of this for any bird owning home) and no contagious cause of death was found. I had her cremated and am waiting for a nice day to take her ashes out to the greenbelt so she can fly free.
Darwin has been a cause for concern as he had a seizure last week (possibly he had one in January too). I stepped him up to put him in the travel cage to go to the vet for a nail trim (he's squirmy and I have not trained the nail trimming behavior with him yet), as he came out of the cage he just dropped from my hand and was seizing on the floor. I scooped him up and into the travel cage and hit the road to the vet (calling them to let them know I was bringing in an emergency). After about half an hour he came back from the far away gaze and was his normal self.
Gram stains showed nothing and we pulled blood for CBC and Chlamydiosis on Monday... everything came back normal with the slight exception of his Calcium which was on the low end of normal... so we are going to up his calcium intake and retest in a month... hopefully this will be the cause.
I think it important here to share some of the foods I will be adding to his diet (remember, he's on the allergy diet of rice pellets... he just recently started getting an organic allergen free sprout mix).
So, now I am hanging fresh organic dandelion leaves in his cage (he is unimpressed), offering a small bite of cheese every day, and almonds.
I also finally bought full spectrum lighting, after much research about the issue of CRI, Kelvin and flickering. My research identified the minimum CRI and Kelvin and informed me that the issue of flickering was all down to the base. Older bases were not designed to keep the flicker rate down, but that there should not be any problems with flicker with newer bases.
So I bought two full spectrum bulbs from featherbrite and a clamp light with a cage over the bulb (this is found in the reptile section). The stronger watt bulb is in the overhead light in the bird room, and the clamp light shines the other one direct on his cage... I really like how it turned out and am already planning on getting a second clamp light and bulb to brighten up Ndeke's lower cage.
And then there is Marnie.
I recently tried wearing elasticated fingerless gloves to help with my arthritis, and Marnie was not impressed!
Although she would take food from my gloved hand, and allowed me to scritch her with it, she would not step up on it... I'm not sure if it was the look or it or the feel, but she was having none of it.
So desensitization started.
I started by having her on my lap and slowly brought the gloved hand closer and closer, consistently reinforcing calm behavior. Eventually I had my gloved hand right next to her feet and from there I slowly began to touch them with the fabric, and finally I put my gloved hand flat on my leg and used the treat to persuade her to step on to it. Once onto the gloved hand I reinforced her for that and staying on there... and now she steps up onto the gloved hand without hesitation!
Finally, check out the Austin Parrot Society for info on our next meeting, a foraging toy workshop, and let me know if you want to be added to the mailing list!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Training Update 03/08/2009
Time for a training update... it's been long enough!
Lucha is still in his hormonal amazon season and is very difficult to work with. I was lucky to get a few repetitions in of the taking liquid from a syringe behavior the other day before the eyes and tail flashed and the whining started.
Darwin is still working on his recall... he's still a little hesitant, but I am happy to say that with patience and a few repetitions of the request he is coming down from the very top of the playscape every time. I will of course be continuing to work on recall, but would like to add specific areas to cue him to.
Marnie surprised me today. Normally when I attempt to target with her she gives me the "why?" look. So when I decided to start the taking liquid from a syringe behavior with her I was unsure of how well we'd progress.
So I showed her the syringe, she touched it with her beak, I bridged and reinforced. After a couple of slow repetitions I decided to add liquid to the syringe (some lukewarm chamomile tea, one of her favs). Well that turned out to be great for Marnie. The first time she touched the syringe tip with the liquid, she lost all interest in the chopped almonds in my hand and proceeded to drink the whole 1cc of chamomile tea in one go! I refilled with water and got exactly the same reaction :)
Thinking back this should have been obvious, as Marnie often demands a taste of whatever I am drinking and hissy fits are thrown if I am drinking something like coffee and deny her request. So even though the liquid was in a syringe and not a cup, it was still hugely reinforcing for her to get the contents...
... but with sucess comes failure. I asked her for a turnaround and she stared at me...
Marnie giving her patented "Why?" look
Lucha is still in his hormonal amazon season and is very difficult to work with. I was lucky to get a few repetitions in of the taking liquid from a syringe behavior the other day before the eyes and tail flashed and the whining started.
Darwin is still working on his recall... he's still a little hesitant, but I am happy to say that with patience and a few repetitions of the request he is coming down from the very top of the playscape every time. I will of course be continuing to work on recall, but would like to add specific areas to cue him to.
Marnie surprised me today. Normally when I attempt to target with her she gives me the "why?" look. So when I decided to start the taking liquid from a syringe behavior with her I was unsure of how well we'd progress.
So I showed her the syringe, she touched it with her beak, I bridged and reinforced. After a couple of slow repetitions I decided to add liquid to the syringe (some lukewarm chamomile tea, one of her favs). Well that turned out to be great for Marnie. The first time she touched the syringe tip with the liquid, she lost all interest in the chopped almonds in my hand and proceeded to drink the whole 1cc of chamomile tea in one go! I refilled with water and got exactly the same reaction :)
Thinking back this should have been obvious, as Marnie often demands a taste of whatever I am drinking and hissy fits are thrown if I am drinking something like coffee and deny her request. So even though the liquid was in a syringe and not a cup, it was still hugely reinforcing for her to get the contents...
... but with sucess comes failure. I asked her for a turnaround and she stared at me...
Marnie giving her patented "Why?" look
Monday, February 23, 2009
Catching Up on Things
Well it has been hectic here and I haven't posted in a while, but I feel sufficiently guilty and promise to work harder on it in the future... honest!
Training News
Training is on hold for breeding season for Lucha. Although I was having problems with focusing when we were working on crate training on the floor (my toes are a high value reinforcer apparently), he has now gotten to the point where any attention quickly leads to eye pinning, cheek puffing and tail fanning, quickly followed by a display illustrating just what a handsome amazon he is. I am lucky in that for the most part, I can still get him to step up when in this mode and move him back and forward from cage to playscape... but training is just way to overstimulating and he gets focused on displaying and not training.
Marnie is still a little smarty pants know it all... she has been a little fussy about stepping up to go to bed (after all, she's 7 now and can stay up late and watch horror movies or so she tells me), but I have been working on that by getting the treat and doing a short (1 minute) run through of turns, waves and shakes, before asking for the step up and giving it to her on the way to the cage for bed.
Darwin is still an adorable little snot, still looking for his forever home and still recalling.
He still hesitates a little when I am asking him to come down from the top of the playscape, but time, patience and consistency will approve his reaction time after the cue. Next up I think I will start teaching him some silly parrot tricks such as turn around and wave.
Austin Parrot Society
We had our first meeting yesterday and I have to say I was very happy and impressed with the folks that came. 16 of us in total, but we all seemed to have the same goals and concerns for our parrots. I am really looking forward to developing the society as a focal point for the parrot community in Austin... more details on the meeting can be found at the Austin Parrot Society Blog
Wings of Love Bird Haven
I spent valentines weekend up at Bird Haven with my friend and Partner In Crime Emily. I spent the time educating the volunteers and the birds on positive reinforcement. I was really wonderfull to see almost every bird really get into the training and improve with just two short sessions. I will do a proper write up about this weekend soon.
From Beaks to Barks
Speaking of Emily, she is my pet sitter as well as my friend, and she has featured my birds as February's Pet of the Month on her Blog.
Check it out Here
Training News
Training is on hold for breeding season for Lucha. Although I was having problems with focusing when we were working on crate training on the floor (my toes are a high value reinforcer apparently), he has now gotten to the point where any attention quickly leads to eye pinning, cheek puffing and tail fanning, quickly followed by a display illustrating just what a handsome amazon he is. I am lucky in that for the most part, I can still get him to step up when in this mode and move him back and forward from cage to playscape... but training is just way to overstimulating and he gets focused on displaying and not training.
Marnie is still a little smarty pants know it all... she has been a little fussy about stepping up to go to bed (after all, she's 7 now and can stay up late and watch horror movies or so she tells me), but I have been working on that by getting the treat and doing a short (1 minute) run through of turns, waves and shakes, before asking for the step up and giving it to her on the way to the cage for bed.
Darwin is still an adorable little snot, still looking for his forever home and still recalling.
He still hesitates a little when I am asking him to come down from the top of the playscape, but time, patience and consistency will approve his reaction time after the cue. Next up I think I will start teaching him some silly parrot tricks such as turn around and wave.
Austin Parrot Society
We had our first meeting yesterday and I have to say I was very happy and impressed with the folks that came. 16 of us in total, but we all seemed to have the same goals and concerns for our parrots. I am really looking forward to developing the society as a focal point for the parrot community in Austin... more details on the meeting can be found at the Austin Parrot Society Blog
Wings of Love Bird Haven
I spent valentines weekend up at Bird Haven with my friend and Partner In Crime Emily. I spent the time educating the volunteers and the birds on positive reinforcement. I was really wonderfull to see almost every bird really get into the training and improve with just two short sessions. I will do a proper write up about this weekend soon.
From Beaks to Barks
Speaking of Emily, she is my pet sitter as well as my friend, and she has featured my birds as February's Pet of the Month on her Blog.
Check it out Here
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Weatherford Parrots Update
I would like to thank everyone who responded to my original post with offers of help and/or donations. Much has happened since then, and I wanted to give everyone an update so that you can direct your energies and assistance in the most productive way possible with minimal confusion or wasted time.
GREAT NEWS: Parker County Animal Shelter has talked the city out of auctioning off or euthanizing any of the birds! All birds that are considered “unadoptable” are being sent to reputable sanctuaries, where they can live out their days in ease. As for the rest of the birds, they are either being adopted directly out of the shelter itself, or passed on to a few reputable rescue groups. Last time I spoke with the shelter director, they were still sorting out which rescues were getting birds. For right now, they are going to try to keep as many in-house as possible. *If you do not live in Parker County, they will not adopt a bird out to you.* So, contrary to my last post, most of you are not eligible to adopt birds through them. This may change, but for now they want to keep their birds within the county. I will not keep posting updates about the shelter. To keep up with the latest news yourself, or to make a donation to them, please visit their website: http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/TX54.html
Having said all of that, Wings of Love Bird Haven took in another two birds this week, one of which is a macaw in very poor condition. So, while much of the immediate crisis of auctions has been averted, Bird Haven is still in desperate need of help. These are their specific needs (anyone who makes a donation can get a receipt for tax purposes):
* Monetary donations to cover medical expenses, purchase food, cages, and other supplies.
* Large cages that will house Greys and Eclectus all the way up to Macaws and Cockatoos
* Organic, dye-free pelleted food and/or fresh, organic produce
* Sprout seeds
* Newspapers
My friend and I are still heading up to Bird-Haven this weekend, so if you want to make donations in kind (sprouts, veggies, newspaper, pellets etc) then please let me know and I will come and pick up this week.
They do not need toys or smaller cages right now, although they might in the future.
And of course, as always, they are in need of good foster or permanent adoptive homes.
To make a donation, contact Bird Haven directly with any questions, or to fill out foster or adoption applications, please visit: www.bird-haven.org
GREAT NEWS: Parker County Animal Shelter has talked the city out of auctioning off or euthanizing any of the birds! All birds that are considered “unadoptable” are being sent to reputable sanctuaries, where they can live out their days in ease. As for the rest of the birds, they are either being adopted directly out of the shelter itself, or passed on to a few reputable rescue groups. Last time I spoke with the shelter director, they were still sorting out which rescues were getting birds. For right now, they are going to try to keep as many in-house as possible. *If you do not live in Parker County, they will not adopt a bird out to you.* So, contrary to my last post, most of you are not eligible to adopt birds through them. This may change, but for now they want to keep their birds within the county. I will not keep posting updates about the shelter. To keep up with the latest news yourself, or to make a donation to them, please visit their website: http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/TX54.html
Having said all of that, Wings of Love Bird Haven took in another two birds this week, one of which is a macaw in very poor condition. So, while much of the immediate crisis of auctions has been averted, Bird Haven is still in desperate need of help. These are their specific needs (anyone who makes a donation can get a receipt for tax purposes):
* Monetary donations to cover medical expenses, purchase food, cages, and other supplies.
* Large cages that will house Greys and Eclectus all the way up to Macaws and Cockatoos
* Organic, dye-free pelleted food and/or fresh, organic produce
* Sprout seeds
* Newspapers
My friend and I are still heading up to Bird-Haven this weekend, so if you want to make donations in kind (sprouts, veggies, newspaper, pellets etc) then please let me know and I will come and pick up this week.
They do not need toys or smaller cages right now, although they might in the future.
And of course, as always, they are in need of good foster or permanent adoptive homes.
To make a donation, contact Bird Haven directly with any questions, or to fill out foster or adoption applications, please visit: www.bird-haven.org
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Parrots in Need: Weatherford Hoarding Case
I have swiped the text of this post from my good friend Emily. She's already written everything I want to say, so it's easier than writing a completely different set of text which says the same thing.
A little over a month ago, over 100 parrots of all sizes and species were seized from a home in Weatherford, TX, where they had been found in squalid conditions. These birds were all taken to a local county shelter which has little funding and even less experience with birds. This shelter is simply not equipped to properly handle and rehome all of these birds. A nearby avian rescue, Wings of Love Bird Haven, is doing everything they can to help alleviate the burden and provide these birds with proper living conditions, medical attention, and forever homes. However, their resources are limited as well. Anything you can do to help will be greatly appreciated.
How You Can Help:
*Donate cages, playgyms, and/or toys. My friend and I are going up to Bird Haven on the 14th, so if you have anything to donate, we can take it up there for you and bring you back a receipt for tax purposes.
*Donate money directly to Bird Haven
*Sign up to attend Barbara Heidenreich’s workshop at Bird Haven in March
*Apply to Bird Haven to adopt or foster a bird
*Apply directly to the Parker County Shelter to adopt or foster a bird - or call: (817) 598-4111
If you do adopt or foster a bird from this situation and need help with any behavioral issues, I will be happy to help you for free.
If they are not able to find suitable homes for these birds through adoption, Weatherford’s City Manager has stated that they will probably auction the birds off with minimum bids. This would be detrimental, as many of those birds would likely end up in unethical breeding situations or in homes similar to the one they came from. Please help if you can, and spread the word to anyone you know who might be able to help.
I would like to also encourage everyone to contact the City Manager and tell him exactly why an auction is in the worst interests of the birds. With no possible way to screen bidders for safety, ensure that birds go to homes suitable for their individual needs or ensure that they will not immediately go into an unethical breeding situation or a home just like the one they are seized from. We parrot owners know that just because you can afford a bird, does not mean you are capable of giving it a good home.
Here are his details:
Jerry Blaisdell - Weatherford City Manager
817-598-4100
jblaisdell@weatherfordtx.gov
UPDATE: I contacted the City Managers office via phone today and was told the City Manager was off sick and they would ask him to return my call when he comes in. I made it clear that I was calling to discuss the potential auction of the birds and how I felt it was detrimental to the birds future health and safety. Maybe if we all leave messages asking to talk to him in objection to the auction it will send a strong indication of public feeling on the matter
A little over a month ago, over 100 parrots of all sizes and species were seized from a home in Weatherford, TX, where they had been found in squalid conditions. These birds were all taken to a local county shelter which has little funding and even less experience with birds. This shelter is simply not equipped to properly handle and rehome all of these birds. A nearby avian rescue, Wings of Love Bird Haven, is doing everything they can to help alleviate the burden and provide these birds with proper living conditions, medical attention, and forever homes. However, their resources are limited as well. Anything you can do to help will be greatly appreciated.
How You Can Help:
*Donate cages, playgyms, and/or toys. My friend and I are going up to Bird Haven on the 14th, so if you have anything to donate, we can take it up there for you and bring you back a receipt for tax purposes.
*Donate money directly to Bird Haven
*Sign up to attend Barbara Heidenreich’s workshop at Bird Haven in March
*Apply to Bird Haven to adopt or foster a bird
*Apply directly to the Parker County Shelter to adopt or foster a bird - or call: (817) 598-4111
If you do adopt or foster a bird from this situation and need help with any behavioral issues, I will be happy to help you for free.
If they are not able to find suitable homes for these birds through adoption, Weatherford’s City Manager has stated that they will probably auction the birds off with minimum bids. This would be detrimental, as many of those birds would likely end up in unethical breeding situations or in homes similar to the one they came from. Please help if you can, and spread the word to anyone you know who might be able to help.
I would like to also encourage everyone to contact the City Manager and tell him exactly why an auction is in the worst interests of the birds. With no possible way to screen bidders for safety, ensure that birds go to homes suitable for their individual needs or ensure that they will not immediately go into an unethical breeding situation or a home just like the one they are seized from. We parrot owners know that just because you can afford a bird, does not mean you are capable of giving it a good home.
Here are his details:
Jerry Blaisdell - Weatherford City Manager
817-598-4100
jblaisdell@weatherfordtx.gov
UPDATE: I contacted the City Managers office via phone today and was told the City Manager was off sick and they would ask him to return my call when he comes in. I made it clear that I was calling to discuss the potential auction of the birds and how I felt it was detrimental to the birds future health and safety. Maybe if we all leave messages asking to talk to him in objection to the auction it will send a strong indication of public feeling on the matter
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Training During Breeding Season
It's that time of year again and last week marked the first puffy dance of the season for my Lilac Crowned Amazon Lucha. The recipient was my African Grey Marnie, who as usual looked blankly at this dancing amazon and walked away when he started regurgitating for her.
Of course Marnie is not the only recipient of puffy dances. Toes and feet are also displayed for regularly if he can get close enough, no matter if you have socks on or are hiding your feet in your pants leg, Lucha dances away before giving them a present.
With Lucha's crate up training this is causing a problem. I don't have a dining table (the birds cages take up the dining area), so I had been setting the crate on the floor (tile, he has problems walking on carpet or bedding) and sitting on the floor to target Lucha into the crate... which worked well until last week. Unfortunately I have not worked out a way of sitting on the floor which completely hides my feet. So now while I am attempting to target Lucha, he is far more interested in serenading my feet... and as reinforcement is in the eye of the bird, he finds my feet of infinitely higher value than even an almond in the shell.
So how does everyone else deal with training their hormonal bird?
For those of you who have not had the pleasure of an Amazon puffy dance then I have a little photo story below. You'll have to imagine the growling, clucking whine he makes.
First you puff up all over, but paying special attention to the cheeks and trousers. Begin flipping wings and waddling back and forwards...
With a flip of the head change direction...
And the other way...
One more repetition...
And REGURGITATE!
Of course Marnie is not the only recipient of puffy dances. Toes and feet are also displayed for regularly if he can get close enough, no matter if you have socks on or are hiding your feet in your pants leg, Lucha dances away before giving them a present.
With Lucha's crate up training this is causing a problem. I don't have a dining table (the birds cages take up the dining area), so I had been setting the crate on the floor (tile, he has problems walking on carpet or bedding) and sitting on the floor to target Lucha into the crate... which worked well until last week. Unfortunately I have not worked out a way of sitting on the floor which completely hides my feet. So now while I am attempting to target Lucha, he is far more interested in serenading my feet... and as reinforcement is in the eye of the bird, he finds my feet of infinitely higher value than even an almond in the shell.
So how does everyone else deal with training their hormonal bird?
For those of you who have not had the pleasure of an Amazon puffy dance then I have a little photo story below. You'll have to imagine the growling, clucking whine he makes.
First you puff up all over, but paying special attention to the cheeks and trousers. Begin flipping wings and waddling back and forwards...
With a flip of the head change direction...
And the other way...
One more repetition...
And REGURGITATE!
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