More on the birds.
Both of them have made some pretty significant progress in the past couple of days.
Bayu used to do this thing where he'd say, "Step up?" but then when I'd go to pick him up, he would walk away from my hand. He would ask to step up and then back away two or three times before finally committing to the step up. He hasn't done that in days. In fact, lately he's been visibly eager to step up, every time. He's also been letting me pet him more. Not that he wasn't cuddly before--he's always been a total cuddle bug, and gives the best hugs (and for those of you who don't know what I mean when I say that a bird gives hugs, Katie Ett, I mean that he presses his body into my chest and rests his head on my shoulder). But when he'd be sitting on my lap or my boobs and I'd be petting him, he'd always very gently pick up my fingers and push them away from him whenever I'd venture beneath the wings or down onto his keel. But last night, I gently brushed his feathers up on his keel, instead of down in the direction that they grow, and instead of pushing my hand away, he instantly relaxed. He lowered his head until his beak was resting on my lap, his eyes were half-closed, he dropped his wings down until they, too, were resting on my lap, and all of his feathers were fluffed out--about as relaxed as a bird can be. I ventured a fingertip underneath one of his wings, and he spread it out so I could reach more of it. For a good 30 minutes, he just sat there while I gave him scritches all over. I've never seen him that relaxed before.
As for his feathers, I have little hope that he will ever fully regrow them. He's going through a beautiful moult right now and is growing in some beauties all over his body. So far, he's allowing almost everything to grow in nicely, but he keeps a little spot on his neck and over his crop almost entirely bald. Since literally everything about his life and situation has changed and he has stopped the overall plucking that he was doing to the majority of his body, and also since i have observed him plucking his neck even when he's relaxed and happy or right in the middle of an intense playing session, I think plucking that area is just a habit now that he does for fun. And honestly, I'm ok with that. He's happy, he's healthy, he has a great diet and plenty of exercise and proper lighting, we've ruled out a medical basis, so as far as I'm concerned, as long as he doesn't start mutilating his skin and restricts his habit to that one small area, he's allowed to have a bad habit. Lord knows I've got mine.
So Bayu's great. Talking up a storm. Emotionally manipulating me. Charming the pants off of everyone. He's great.
Cah'ya is also improving daily. I wouldn't say by leaps and bounds. It's more like baby steps. But it's improvement and it's steady so I can't complain. I have noticed that she will step up onto my hand whenever she's on the floor or in a scary or unstable place, but when she's on a perch, playgym, her cage, or anywhere that she feels is steady and reliable, she does not want my hand coming anywhere near her. But it isn't a general fear of my hands, because when I scoop her up in a towel and carry her around with me, she allows (dare I say enjoys?) some brief scritches or gentle pets. And when she sees me get out a treat, she practically comes running for it and will let me keep my hand right up next to her while she eats. So it seemed obvious that she isn't afraid of my hands; she just doesn't want to go from a steady surface to an unsteady one. It occurred to me that I still have a gigantic cement stand that I bought for Gryphon (the blue and gold macaw that I fostered a few years back). She had even fewer toes than Cah'ya does, so I bought this stand specifically because the perch was wide, almost flat, rough cement that was easy for a handicapped bird to balance on. I offered it to Cah'ya for a step up, and she immediately stepped right onto it. So now, I can very easily get her to step up from wherever she is and take her to a new location without having to constantly use the towel. This is an awesome advantage.
Also big news for Cah'ya: yesterday she flew off her cage and wandered around underneath the papasan for a while before deciding that stepping up onto my hand actually was the safest, most comfortable thing to do. So she came over and stepped up onto my hand. I had Bayu on my other hand, so I didn't get up to take her back to a playgym or cage. Normally, if she is within site of her cage, she only wants to go to her cage, and nothing I can do or offer her will direct her attention from the cage. If I don't take her to the cage myself, she will fly there. But yesterday, she hung out of my arm for several minutes and seemed very relaxed about it. She climbed up and inspected my face and hair, then climbed down and inspected my lap. She sat on my knee for a while. She and Bayu totally ignored each other, despite the close proximity. After several minutes, she finally flew back to her cage. But she's getting curious about me and is getting less dependent on her cage. Again, this is a big deal.
So my little beasty is becoming a little more docile. Maybe someday she will even be downright lovey. We'll see about that. The only problem is that lately she's taken to shrieking at the top of her lungs RIGHT AT ME. I'm not quite sure what she's getting out of this behavior, as it's never reinforced and doesn't seem to be based in fear or anger. There are two scenarios where she seems to do it most frequently:
a) when I'm on the phone
b) in the evening after they've gone back into their cages for the day
She's not afraid of the phone, so it isn't a fear thing. It isn't because I'm not paying attention to her, because I don't pay attention to her a lot of times. It isn't because I'm talking, because I talk a lot. I mean, I guess it *could* be a competition thing, but in the first place, she isn't very bonded to me, and in the second place, she doesn't do it when I talk to Bayu, or Kody, or my roommates. So I don't get it.
And I know the end of the day one is probably because she wants to come back out, but since I don't reinforce her behavior I don't know why she keeps doing it. It's usually around 7:30 or 8 pm. She'll come to the perch right by the sofa, look straight at me, lean forward slightly and SCREEEEAAAAMMMMM!!!!! I mean, I've never heard an eclectus scream like this. Seriously. None of the adults or babies at the aviary had her volume or pitch. She's at freaking cockatoo levels, no exaggeration. Zoe never made much noise at all, but even when she was scared and would scream, it would be about as bad as a human girl screaming. I don't know how Cah'ya is physically able to rival a cockatoo, but I have Scott to thank for housing her with an Umbrella and a Goffin when she was weaning and fledging. I'm sure that's how she learned to talk like that. Good God, it's soul-crushing.
Other than the screaming, she's getting better. Little by little.
Bayu used to do this thing where he'd say, "Step up?" but then when I'd go to pick him up, he would walk away from my hand. He would ask to step up and then back away two or three times before finally committing to the step up. He hasn't done that in days. In fact, lately he's been visibly eager to step up, every time. He's also been letting me pet him more. Not that he wasn't cuddly before--he's always been a total cuddle bug, and gives the best hugs (and for those of you who don't know what I mean when I say that a bird gives hugs, Katie Ett, I mean that he presses his body into my chest and rests his head on my shoulder). But when he'd be sitting on my lap or my boobs and I'd be petting him, he'd always very gently pick up my fingers and push them away from him whenever I'd venture beneath the wings or down onto his keel. But last night, I gently brushed his feathers up on his keel, instead of down in the direction that they grow, and instead of pushing my hand away, he instantly relaxed. He lowered his head until his beak was resting on my lap, his eyes were half-closed, he dropped his wings down until they, too, were resting on my lap, and all of his feathers were fluffed out--about as relaxed as a bird can be. I ventured a fingertip underneath one of his wings, and he spread it out so I could reach more of it. For a good 30 minutes, he just sat there while I gave him scritches all over. I've never seen him that relaxed before.
As for his feathers, I have little hope that he will ever fully regrow them. He's going through a beautiful moult right now and is growing in some beauties all over his body. So far, he's allowing almost everything to grow in nicely, but he keeps a little spot on his neck and over his crop almost entirely bald. Since literally everything about his life and situation has changed and he has stopped the overall plucking that he was doing to the majority of his body, and also since i have observed him plucking his neck even when he's relaxed and happy or right in the middle of an intense playing session, I think plucking that area is just a habit now that he does for fun. And honestly, I'm ok with that. He's happy, he's healthy, he has a great diet and plenty of exercise and proper lighting, we've ruled out a medical basis, so as far as I'm concerned, as long as he doesn't start mutilating his skin and restricts his habit to that one small area, he's allowed to have a bad habit. Lord knows I've got mine.
So Bayu's great. Talking up a storm. Emotionally manipulating me. Charming the pants off of everyone. He's great.
Cah'ya is also improving daily. I wouldn't say by leaps and bounds. It's more like baby steps. But it's improvement and it's steady so I can't complain. I have noticed that she will step up onto my hand whenever she's on the floor or in a scary or unstable place, but when she's on a perch, playgym, her cage, or anywhere that she feels is steady and reliable, she does not want my hand coming anywhere near her. But it isn't a general fear of my hands, because when I scoop her up in a towel and carry her around with me, she allows (dare I say enjoys?) some brief scritches or gentle pets. And when she sees me get out a treat, she practically comes running for it and will let me keep my hand right up next to her while she eats. So it seemed obvious that she isn't afraid of my hands; she just doesn't want to go from a steady surface to an unsteady one. It occurred to me that I still have a gigantic cement stand that I bought for Gryphon (the blue and gold macaw that I fostered a few years back). She had even fewer toes than Cah'ya does, so I bought this stand specifically because the perch was wide, almost flat, rough cement that was easy for a handicapped bird to balance on. I offered it to Cah'ya for a step up, and she immediately stepped right onto it. So now, I can very easily get her to step up from wherever she is and take her to a new location without having to constantly use the towel. This is an awesome advantage.
Also big news for Cah'ya: yesterday she flew off her cage and wandered around underneath the papasan for a while before deciding that stepping up onto my hand actually was the safest, most comfortable thing to do. So she came over and stepped up onto my hand. I had Bayu on my other hand, so I didn't get up to take her back to a playgym or cage. Normally, if she is within site of her cage, she only wants to go to her cage, and nothing I can do or offer her will direct her attention from the cage. If I don't take her to the cage myself, she will fly there. But yesterday, she hung out of my arm for several minutes and seemed very relaxed about it. She climbed up and inspected my face and hair, then climbed down and inspected my lap. She sat on my knee for a while. She and Bayu totally ignored each other, despite the close proximity. After several minutes, she finally flew back to her cage. But she's getting curious about me and is getting less dependent on her cage. Again, this is a big deal.
So my little beasty is becoming a little more docile. Maybe someday she will even be downright lovey. We'll see about that. The only problem is that lately she's taken to shrieking at the top of her lungs RIGHT AT ME. I'm not quite sure what she's getting out of this behavior, as it's never reinforced and doesn't seem to be based in fear or anger. There are two scenarios where she seems to do it most frequently:
a) when I'm on the phone
b) in the evening after they've gone back into their cages for the day
She's not afraid of the phone, so it isn't a fear thing. It isn't because I'm not paying attention to her, because I don't pay attention to her a lot of times. It isn't because I'm talking, because I talk a lot. I mean, I guess it *could* be a competition thing, but in the first place, she isn't very bonded to me, and in the second place, she doesn't do it when I talk to Bayu, or Kody, or my roommates. So I don't get it.
And I know the end of the day one is probably because she wants to come back out, but since I don't reinforce her behavior I don't know why she keeps doing it. It's usually around 7:30 or 8 pm. She'll come to the perch right by the sofa, look straight at me, lean forward slightly and SCREEEEAAAAMMMMM!!!!! I mean, I've never heard an eclectus scream like this. Seriously. None of the adults or babies at the aviary had her volume or pitch. She's at freaking cockatoo levels, no exaggeration. Zoe never made much noise at all, but even when she was scared and would scream, it would be about as bad as a human girl screaming. I don't know how Cah'ya is physically able to rival a cockatoo, but I have Scott to thank for housing her with an Umbrella and a Goffin when she was weaning and fledging. I'm sure that's how she learned to talk like that. Good God, it's soul-crushing.
Other than the screaming, she's getting better. Little by little.