Mawnee

I had similar trouble with Cosmo for a few weeks around that age. He was exploring A LOT and getting into things he shouldnt A LOT. What I discovered was that I was forced to pick him up and put him in the cage(with him fighting to stay out) far too often. Then he began to associate touch with getting put in the cage. He began to avoid my hands at all costs and thats when I realized the connection. It only took me a couple of weeks to turn this around. Instead of putting him in his cage for being naughty, I distracted him with something more interesting. I never put him in his cage until he is calm and ready to go in. I made sure to praise and reassure him while putting him in the cage(so it isnt a punishment). Try to ensure that touching is always a positive experience. Lots of reassuring and praise.

wow, those two are actually in the same county as me. We just dont have room in our family for another Fid

Thanks for sharing! Cosmo loves spinning his boing. He holds onto the top of it and 'flies' to wind it up then climbs down the middle of it while it spins back. Its on a 2.5' piece of chain so he can really wind it up! One of the first things he does when I let him out of the cage.

I hope you manage some rest tonight and are reunited with Murphy early tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed for you

LOL thats exactly what I was thinking. In the birds defense, the guy was wearing a green shirt. And maybe that bird has a thing for the big girls.

Haha, Cosmo combined phrases and tells us "You're a good poop!" for cleaning up his poop We have him 90% potty trained to go on certain perches when loose. So we always ask "Have to go poop?" then place him on his potty perch and when he goes encourage him with "You're a good boy/bird!". Now when he does it on his own he'll fly to the perch and say "Go poop? Good boy!" then go. From that he decided that whoever cleans it up is a "Good poop!", we take it as a compliment of course lol

Cosmo does not like Black or very dark colors. He is stand-offish with me if I wear black shirts. My favorite color to wear is actually grey so most days i probably just look like a big daddy grey to him We have learned to be very careful carrying anything dark colored in or out of his room. He will scream in terror if we walk by him carrying a large dark object(paper shredder, laptop, box, magazine, ect.), especially if it suprises him.

Cosmo has been hooked on "Whats wrong?" the last few days. He doesnt quite have it down yet. He has trouble with the end of wha"ts" and most of the time it comes out "whushhh wwrong?"

Great picture! Reminds me of a picture I managed to get a few years ago. Very difficult to get the kids to sit still for it

Thought I would share a very amusing and clever behavior Cosmo has developed. As a suppliment to Cosmos diet I prepare frozen mixed veggies(Corn, peas, green beans, carrots, ect) for him. I've found it to be a cheap and quick way to ensure he eats healthy when the meals the family has doesnt have anything good to share with him. To prepare them I simply put some in a microwavable container, add a little water and heat for 30 seconds. I then drain and rinse repeatedly with cool water to ensure there are no hotspots to burn Cosmo. Cosmo has been on my shoulder while I prepare this many times and pays very close attention as with anythign I do For a few weeks I have been finding corn in his water dish on occasion when I get home from work. His seed mix contains dried corn and it was finding its way into the dish. Well yesterday I was off work and was home to find out the details. Shortly after giving Comso his fresh food and water for the morning I watched him pick all of the dried corn out of his food dish and carefully drop it into the water dish while imitating the sounds of buttons being pressed on the microwave. I laughed and asked him if he was cooking. That explained the corn in his dish. But it got better. A while later he starts making microwave sounds again, this time its the distinct 3 beep sound of the microwave finishing and sure enoguh he is fishing the now soft corn out of the water with his foot and eating it. Apparently he does this every day and has usually eaten it all before I get home from work. lol I wonder if I could teach him to cook for the whole family

Here in Florida CAGs go for around $1000. * I paid $550 for Cosmo(CAG) at 4 weeks old(unweened). But I can attest that it is not easy handfeeding and raising a baby through weening and fledging. It requires a life altering time commitment. The added cost to get one fully weened and fledged is well worth it. I would not recommend buying an unweened bird just to save money.

It was bound to happen. Cosmo has learned "No!". He hears it enough "Cosmo, No, get down from there." "Cosmo, No, thats not yours!" ect ect. A couple weeks ago he was being very naughty and kept trying to chew on one of my computer monitors even after being chased off of it several times. So I was a bit more insistent with the word. "NO! ahh ahhh NO!" He immediately started saying it back to me in my deep 'daddy voice' "No NO NO!" For a week or so I noticed it was in his vocabulary practice sessions. And then a few nights ago he started using it in context. With Cosmo, the only person that can really completely handle him is myself. My wife and daughter can hold him and rub his neck, but no touching the wings, tail, back ect. When we play I will chase him around my desk touching his feet and poking his tail and generally wrestling with him. If he is sitting on a perch and I touch his tail he will usually do his laugh and ask for a scratch. If my wife or daughter try to touch his feet or tail they get nipped at. The last few days instead of nipping hes begun turning to them and giving them a firm "No!" Also, towards the end of the night a few nights ago I asked him if he was ready to go in his cage for bed and recieved a very sharp "NO!" while he shuffled away from me to the opposite side of the desk to continue playing. Now if I can just teach him "yes" it will make communication so much easier

Cosmo didnt say clear words until 9 months or so. Its amazing looking back at old videos from back then though. We recognize him practicing words and phrases we didnt understand then but he says quite clearly today. He is 14 months old now and has about 15 words and phrases he uses quite often. Seems like he adds something new every week or so now.

My experience with other birds has been that when you give a bird a mate they become less socialable with humans. They become protective and territorial(aggressive) around their mate and cage.

Cosmo is pretty much potty trained. He will only go on his cage or his table top playgym(with paper under it of course). We call the upper perch on his playgym the "poopy perch". In the beginning I made sure to take him to it every 10 minutes or so and ask him "Have to poop?". Now whenever we see him ruffle we ask "have to poop? go to the poopy perch" He'll fly right over and go. Normally he does this automatically, but he does have occasional accidents. These days its also accompanied by him saying "Go poop? Good boy!"