karunk

Jilly.. I have emailed him and left him a voice message.. did that just 10 minutes ago.. i am trying everyway possible.. hope.. all my friends and relatives are praying for chikkis safety and safe return home.. think thats what will help in the end!! Thanks for your suggestion..

Judygram.. the first thing i did was to put the cage outside.. i have also opened up my upstairs room window and placed his little tent stuck to the window, so that he can see it if he flies over the area.. i have placed the lost advert in websites.. i am thinking of getting the service of an animal communicator.. what are your thoughts about this?? anyone tried it in the past??

thats a good one.. let me try that.. btw, i live in Dartford in Kent, England.. just for people to know..

Thanks for your support folks.. Dan.. he actually flew over a couple of houses and seem to be in good speed.. i hope he landed just after he went out of sight.. which would mean he is somewhere nearby.. i have tried 4 or 5 times calling him.. but as u suggest will keep trying.. i am planning to take a day off tomorrow and do a bit more search.. put ads on local newspapers and radio..

Dan.. i read your post.. it did help me quite a bit in terms of the practical steps to take.. he gained height slowly when he took off.. i didnt realise he was going to cross the building in front of him and i thought he would land nearby and i can go and pick him, but he gained height in about 30 metres distance.. the height should have been about 50 feet off the ground and we have some trees in the direction he flew.. my worry is, if he had not landed in those trees, he would actually cross the road into an industrial area on the other side.. and there are hardly any trees there.. so i am not sure what to think.. i have already completed 3 rounds of walk.. have called up some vets nearby and informed them.. so just hoping to get some news !! God keep my chikki safe.. and bring him back to me soon..<br><br>Post edited by: karunk, at: 2009/08/02 15:12

Bad news.. Chikki flew away this morning.. It was all my fault.. took him for a walk without the harness as he wasnt happy to wear it.. and i took him out with his claws held in my fingers.. he was ok for about 10 minutes.. i have done this safely before.. but this time, he wanted to move to my other hand for some reasons, and i tried to shift him safely and he just took off.. i tried to run behind him but lost him, and he went out of sight as ours is a very residential area.. he was clipped about a month and a half before.. so i am not sure if he would have travelled miles.. i spent the whole morning trying to call him in our neighbourhood.. dropped print outs in my neighbourhood about the loss and provided my contact details.. i have also got the news announced in the church through a neighbour.. so most of my neighbours know about it now.. i will have to call the local spca and try to get the news to the county and hope he is safe wherever he is.. i will also contact the vets soon and let them know about it.. the practical bits done, i am emotionally very down.. he was literally like my child.. and i cant take this pain.. it really hurts, both me and wife have been in tears and prayers since morning.. please offer a quick prayer for us and wish chikki is safe and sound wherever he is.. i feel very guilty and responsible for whatever has befallen him.. will keep you updated on any news!! Arun..

Hi Guys.. I have started clicker training for chikki.. he seems to be working well so far.. in fact its pretty good.. but i am not sure how it compares to other modes of training as i havent tried them.. but i can surely say that i am able to communicate to him effectively.. remember i am a newbie to pets and pet training.. an expert could do a lot better..

Tycos_mom.. i will try to make sure people are safe.. but i am really surprised.. chikki is now slowly getting used to my wife being around.. she gives him treats every now and then and i make it a point to talk to her when chikki is on my shoulders.. think i should take it slow with my brother and others as well.. thanks for your inputs folks!!

many thanks danmcq.. as long as he is fine with me, for the time being it should be fine.. the others can slowly get to him in due course.. i had guessed this, but wanted confirmation from the gurus.. thanks again..

Hi all.. our chikki is getting a bit nippy these days.. he came home around 5 weeks back, and on the second weekend we had guests and he accepted them happily and stepped on to them.. its almost a month since then..and i have noticed a marked change.. he is aggressive to almost everyone except me.. this is how it happens.. he is happy and composed when he is with me.. but once someone comes around he gets aggressive.. they need not necessarily ask him to step up, or try handling him.. they would be just talking to me when chikki perches on my hand and chikki nips me.. dont know why he would do that.. anyone experienced this before.. the only thing i can tell people is to remain patient.. but meanwhile i want to understand if i was doing anything wrong that acts as a reinforcer to such behaviour from chikki.. please advise!!

awesome toy.. as Lyric says, i think its a great responsibility that we parronts have in getting some new toys every now and then and keeping the little ones busy and happy!!

Hi Titch.. nice pics.. how i wish i could give such a big home to Chikki.. Echo has got a wonderful parront in you!! god bless you..

All.. thanks for the inputs.. ya, i dont force chikki to do anything unless he is willing to do it.. about the growling, he seems to growl at anything he plays with.. may be a rope he is climbing, or his tent he is playing in.. or even a piece of paper that he is chewing.. he just goes crazy and makes the noise.. yep, sumi and chikki are slowly becoming friends.. for a start i dont let sumi alone with chikki.. he is on my shoulders or arms and i keep chatting with sumi and chikki is fine.. today sumi also handfed him a bit of his dinner.. and i make her chat with him at times and we spent sometime in the conservatory when chikki is on his roof top or inside the cage.. so that he is used to sumi being around.. its coming along well so far.. will keeep u all posted with updates.

Mon to friday i spend an hour and half in the morning with Chikki.. on my shoulders, cleaning his cage, giving him a shower and changing his food bowl.. when i am back from office in the evening between 7 to 9:30.. there i manage to have 2 sessions of training sessions.. if he is in training mood.. or cuddle him, depending on his mood anyways ).. weekends he is out at 9 am and mostly out till 9:30 pm.. has a few training sessions over the weekend.. again cuddle/training sessions depends on his mood

All.. Chikki is coming along fine.. i am sure he likes the conservatory, his cage.. the cute little tent i got him.. and also the rope with the bell that he loves to climb and sit on.. few things i have noticed in the last month of Chikki at home are as follows.. just wanted to see if there is anything i am missing that i should take care of.. 1. He is generally very sweet, but likes to spend a lot of time in a day alone.. sitting on his play top perch/ roof or the bar under his cage.. he wouldnt step on to my hand if i ask him.. and i dont force him to as well. but i hope he is fine staying alone.. please clarify on this behaviour.. 2. He steps on to me most times.. esp when he sees me after sometime, or after he has spent his time in his blissful solitude.. he also steps on to my father in law's hands at times.. but when my wife goes near him, he literally chases her away(at times).. she is already a bit nervous in handling him and tries to break the ice.. but he chases her away or sometimes flies at her and she has couple of times screamed in fear, jumped (a bit of a overreaction really) and left the place.. that really doesnt help things as Chikki gets a bit nervous at the reaction of my wife.. any reasons why Chikki does it at times.. did anything that my wife did caused such behaviour.. may be she shud ignore him and try avoiding such scenarios to stop reinforcing such violent movement?? 3. also when left alone, he sometimes goes crazy and growls wildly(for a very few seconds though).. i dont know why he would do that.. it sometimes makes people a bit nervous.. but i am more worried about his environment.. is he feeling secure in the conservatory?? please let me know why he would behave like that.. he doesnt do that looking at the sky in fear though.. he keeps playing with his rope and suddenly growls.. or walks on the floor and suddenly growls and comes round and round at times.. is he fine??.. but these are rare occurrences, but i didnt want to ignore them.. otherwise, he is doing good on his training.. doing a few things on cue already.. and he is happy to accept new toys happily.. think thats because he is still young.. and also loves cudding when he is happy to be cuddled.. please advise.. Arun

Jooles.. congrats.. so glad for you.. btw, how old is Beau?? I hope Chikki gets there soon!!

All.. Its 3 weeks since I brought chikki home now.. And each day i find him doing something new.. either climbs the cage top to bottom, or flies to the top window on the conservatory or flies into the conservatory glasses, or does a new whistle, or steps up to me for the first time or has indian rotis in one gulp for the first time or jumps between the two edges of the play top.. so to me each day has been new.. so thought it might be a similar experience to all of us everyday.. what did your birdie do today for the first time !! Today Chikki flew to my hand thrice once i came in from office.. for the first time.. I was so excited!! Please share your new experiences!!

Guys.. i will soon post some more snaps.. as all i have at the moment are Chikki's snaps with his cage and on his play top.. which i have already posted.. danmcq, actually my bro and I were there around him when i squeezed his toe last night.. and all of us felt so bad about it.. he seems to be fine now.. in the tense moment i didnt notice which foot got hurt.. but i made him walk and climb after that and he was alright.. we are soon getting a bar(an iron rod) that run across the breadth of the conservatory.. i can then use it to train him on rope climbing and other activity toys.. my only fear is, he already doesnt listen to me when he is on his play top and this bar is going to be even higher and he sure wont even come down to me if he gets there ).. caitb2007, thanks for your information about the tea thingie. I did read somewhere that it is not good for him.. But the breeder used to give him tea and she was the one who informed me that Chikki loved tea.. so i thought it wasnt as serious as they posed it to be.. i will not giving him tea in future..

Yes, thats what my family and colleagues think about me.. most of my time at home i spend for my chikki.. and my colleagues say i should probably talk to HR about getting paternity leave when i brought chikki home from the breeders 3 weeks ago.. most ppl dont understand why we pay so much care and attention to a bird.. it doesnt make sense to them why the cage should be so big, why there must be enough toys to keep them engaged.. why it is important to keep them mentally stimulated.. why it is important to pay so much attention to their body language.. and most of all why it is important to keep talking to them when you are around.. but as some of you have commented, none of us are alone in this.. !!

Hi all.. Chikki is kind of settled in his new home now.. we have the cage in the conservatory.. and most days he is out most of the time.. worst case he is out atleast 4 hours per day.. and he has managed to explore the conservatory quite well.. initially he flew into the glass panes a couple of times.. thankfully didnt get hurt.. but now he realises the glass panes are there and even when he flies, just diverts his flight exactly before hitting the glass.. as i read from one of the posts here, i have started clicker training him, and he seems to be responding quite well to it.. step up was a breeze unless he is on his favourite play top perch.. he loves there and doesnt want to come down unless he is lonely or hungry.. he is one of those CAGs that dont prefer to poop in his cage.. so he does it on the conservatory floor.. or in a newspaper i have laid for him.. he is happy to obey me if i take him to the newspaper and poops, but he is still not into the habit of getting there to poop.. will do a bit of training.. otherwise he is doing great.. seems to love tea, pasta, indian rotis, green veggies and ofcourse almonds.. he doesnt seem to enjoy apples or grapes too much.. last evening i tried to change his food cup and he suddenly yelled.. i wasnt sure and then found i was squeezing his toe between the cup holder and the cup which was hurting him.. i felt so bad for being careless.. but immly after that he happily stepped up on me and was chewing my gold chain(he loves to do it when he is on me).. i didnt find any bulge or wound, but still not sure if he is fine.. he has been ok since morning.. but still hurts when i think i was so careless.. hope i do better in future.. otherwise he is a happy little thing.. and fortunately steps on to most ppl offering their hands even if he is seeing them for the first time.. just wanted to keep you guys posted on his progress..!!

Guys.. I have only recently got my Chikki home.. i let him into his cage form 9:30 pm.. and he is up from around 6:30 am i guess.. or even earlier as i havent tried to check earlier.. i didnt understand the word crabby.. what do you mean by that.. i just want to make sure i instill the best habits in chikki right from early stage..

all.. i got chikki home from the breeders thursday last week.. he settled in and over the weekend I have already been trying to potty train him.. he already climbs over his cage to the perch on the open top, and flies down(though he is clipped).. he seems to be one of the greys that likes to keep his house clean.. he poops in there only during the night, and once he picked up from there onto my conservatory floor, he poops.. he has been good so far in not pooping on me.. he also kind of squawks when he wants to go and if he is on my lap.. and i take him to the conservatory where he will poop.. in the last two days i have tried to place a newspaper at one corner of the conservatory and have tried to place him on it and say go potty.. and he doesnt seem to do it.. but the moment he is out of the newspaper area, he does it.. seems he likes the conservatory floor.. think i will take your advise and hold him over the newspaper till he poops there and then praise him.. to me, he so far seems to be a smart bird.. i hope he learns this sooner than later..

Danmcq at the moment he can flap his wings to balance himself when he climbs the cage.. and also, he can flap and balance land himself to the floor when he wants to.. sometimes he jumps from a slightly high spot and manages to land fine.. though he has once managed to fly into one of my conservatory windows, he generally is fine..

more..

home at last!!<br><br>Post edited by: karunk, at: 2009/06/19 11:07