Oh That Georgie
George is adjusting to being in the living room with the big birds. He's now sharing the room with Lily (scarlet macaw) and Pokey (umbrella 'too). They each have their own cage. For the most part it's been ok. Unfortunately, Pokey feels it's his honour bound duty to protect Lily and attacks any bird he can. We have not allowed George and Pokey out at the same time. Pokey is slowly learning he cannot climb on George's cage and try to attack him. Pokey is getting a lot of time outs right now but it's working.
Remember how I said George wouldn't take treats from us and is not food motivated? Well, that's not quite true any longer. I bought George a simple foraging cup. Simple base with a lid that can be slide up the chain. George has decided he'll eat anything we put in there. Now when we're in the room, he'll lift the lid to show us it's empty and look at us reproachfully. It's too cute.
We always eat dinner with the big birds, it's their meal to share with us. Since George does not step up and can't be handled, he can't join us. So at first, we'd bring his share of dinner and put it in the foraging cup. It worked, he's eating vegetables he'd throw if they were in his food dish. Don't ask me why, I'm just happy it's working.
Lately, we'll sit down for supper and in a few moments we'll hear the cup lift up and clank back down. Then we hear it again, a little louder the next time. If that doesn't bring us running, he starts calling to us. Not an obnoxious scream but a quiet where are you type call. George has figured out that if we're in the kitchen, we have food and he wants his share.
The other piece of good news is he's finally feeling brave enough to come out of his cage when we're in the room. The first time he did it, he caught me by surprise though. We were using Lily to model step ups. So I had his cage open. I would have Lily step up on the branch, reward and praise her. After a couple of step ups, I'd put Lily across the room and offer the stick to George. So far, it's not really working but I remain hopeful. I digress...
After trying to get George to step up, I turned to go pick up Lily again, when I heard George scrambling out of his cage. I was so happy to see him on top of his cage and enjoying his freedom. I certainly wasn't expecting him to then run into Lily's cage and make himself at home. *sigh* All the birds want to be in Lily's cage. I guess she has the coolest room in the house!
I couldn't convince George to return to his cage, nor to step up so I could move him back. So Lily spent the night in George's cage until my boyfriend got home in the morning and helped me shoo Georgie back to his cage.
George still refuses to allow us to touch him. And the only touching he's willing to do with us is to remove skin! But progress is happening and that's wonderful.
My vet believes we will never fully train him since he's a 20 year old, wild caught, former breeder. I think she's wrong and just needs time, love, training and lots of patience.
Remember how I said George wouldn't take treats from us and is not food motivated? Well, that's not quite true any longer. I bought George a simple foraging cup. Simple base with a lid that can be slide up the chain. George has decided he'll eat anything we put in there. Now when we're in the room, he'll lift the lid to show us it's empty and look at us reproachfully. It's too cute.
We always eat dinner with the big birds, it's their meal to share with us. Since George does not step up and can't be handled, he can't join us. So at first, we'd bring his share of dinner and put it in the foraging cup. It worked, he's eating vegetables he'd throw if they were in his food dish. Don't ask me why, I'm just happy it's working.
Lately, we'll sit down for supper and in a few moments we'll hear the cup lift up and clank back down. Then we hear it again, a little louder the next time. If that doesn't bring us running, he starts calling to us. Not an obnoxious scream but a quiet where are you type call. George has figured out that if we're in the kitchen, we have food and he wants his share.
The other piece of good news is he's finally feeling brave enough to come out of his cage when we're in the room. The first time he did it, he caught me by surprise though. We were using Lily to model step ups. So I had his cage open. I would have Lily step up on the branch, reward and praise her. After a couple of step ups, I'd put Lily across the room and offer the stick to George. So far, it's not really working but I remain hopeful. I digress...
After trying to get George to step up, I turned to go pick up Lily again, when I heard George scrambling out of his cage. I was so happy to see him on top of his cage and enjoying his freedom. I certainly wasn't expecting him to then run into Lily's cage and make himself at home. *sigh* All the birds want to be in Lily's cage. I guess she has the coolest room in the house!
I couldn't convince George to return to his cage, nor to step up so I could move him back. So Lily spent the night in George's cage until my boyfriend got home in the morning and helped me shoo Georgie back to his cage.
George still refuses to allow us to touch him. And the only touching he's willing to do with us is to remove skin! But progress is happening and that's wonderful.
My vet believes we will never fully train him since he's a 20 year old, wild caught, former breeder. I think she's wrong and just needs time, love, training and lots of patience.