SusanBarnes7

WOW! Envious of your situation. I made many attempts to adjust or dogs to the birds since we have had them since they were 4 weeks old. Unfortunately for me, my girls discovered the joy of Pigeon hunting and now assume our CAG's faall into the Pigeon category. But I will say they were calm today when Skooter escaped this morning. We were able to put them in the yard with no problem.

I have a similar issue with Skooter. Skooter came to me from a self-proclaimed behavoralist/rescuer. Skooter was supposidly used as a vollyball/soccer ball by the couple who had him, but turns out was the personal bird of the person who gave him too me. I have unknown factories in Skooters history that I will never know. We were told, ashamed I didn't know better, to let him throw himself down, corner him and then let him step up. Honestly, this has never worked for us, when Skooter has thrown him down it has been so tramatic I have had to step out of the house because I am upset. My husband remains, watches TV quietly and lets Skooter compose himself. To me we have spent several months being counter productive. Skooter does not step up willingly unless he feels threatened. He will step up onto a perch after much comotion to exit his cage. Lately, we have been opening his cage and walking away, letting Skooter decide if he is coming out or not. Then we attempt to have him step up on a perch and take him to a play stand or to hang out with us in the family room. I hate to say this but anytime we approach to have him step up he screams, not necessarily throws himself down but it takes some encouragement unless Skooter feels threatened to get on that perch. I am at a bit of a loss at where to begin with Skooter. It's feels like ground zero.

Skooter is doing the same thing! What Skooter is doing is pulling out the dish letting it drop to the bottem of the cage and crawling out. I used zip ties to hold the bowl in, that worked for a while. My issue is since I brought Clarisse home Skooter wants to be near her. Their cages are side by side. My goal has been to train them both to be gentle and companion birds, I am getting the impression they have other ideas. What do I do?

Welcome! I recently joined this week as well. I have an abused rescue CAG and one I recently adopted/purchased from a bird store. One male and one female. (Sigh). Looking forward to hearting your progress as well. Susan Barnes

I am sorry. Rehoming for any reason is never easy. I live in NV and we are especially hard hit here. I understand what your going through. As my dear friend Tom used to tell me "better days ahead baby" and I tell myself that everyday. Susan Barnes

Parrot Nation has a great video on making chop. I make chop for alot of birds as raise Cockatiels as well. I use a clean grain mix that has popcorn, peas, paddy rice and I add to it brown rice or other grains I pick up from a bulk store like Whole Foods. Some expamples are: Barley (hulled not pearled) Winter or Red Wheat Quinua (I cook and add to the mix) Amaranth (must be cooked and added to the mix) Kamut Spelt Berries Adziki Beans Mung Beans Various Legumes 13 bean soup mix without the base Chick Peas Great Northern Beans Black Beans Pinto, Lima, Black Eye.. I make my grain/legume mix and let it soak overnight 10-18 hours. I drain, rinse, refill the pot and boil the mix for about 20-30 minutes. Drain, rinse and cool. For the veggies I put everything in the food processor and chop it up: Steamed Squash Steamed Sweet Potato Steamed Zuchini (raw is ok too) Carrots Various radishes Brocoli or Brocoli Rabe Greens: Kale, Dandelion, Collards such as Mustard or Turnip Beats (greans are good too) Frozen mixed veggies I chop up the veggies and mix them in with the grains/legums. I add spices such as Paprika, Cheyanne, Tumeric, Garlic, Corriander...I mix it up and do different things. If you sprout, you can sprout the grain/legum mix and use that in the chop too! Keep it interesting, simple and seasonal. Susan Barnes You can add items like hemp and chia seed. Alpha or Kelp powder. Spirulina is a good choice as well, use sparingly and alternate supplements. I make mine in a huge 12 L resuturant style container. It lasts me 3 days! I do not freeze the veggie mix. People do, I am just not sure about how soggy the defroasted chop will be. But I do freeze the grain/legume mix for future chop batches and for bird bread.

Tosha, What did you do to win Anton's trust? I'd love to hear about it. I have two CAG's that I am working with. Susan

We are sort of trying that approach as well. Yesturday we opened the cages and had coffee near them. Kind of ignored the Greys and let them do their thing. Clarisse would sit near me just never came to me. Skooter keeps a healthy distance. But comes closer when he notices I am filling his bowl!!

Skooter AKA MR. Phobia does well with both my husband and I. But when he is on the floor after flinging himself off the perch or table, he crawls over to Mom! He will let me kneel down by him and kind of circle my arms around him and talk to him. Rich my husband has of yet to be able to hold him. I have on occasion. The person we obtained him from who totes himself around town as a behavoralist told us to just trap him in a corner and he will submitt to stepping up. We I am no behavoralist but I'm not going to use terror to get Skooter to react. Overall he is calming, RIch noticed I was strocking his foot through the bars the other day and Skooter was just hanging there, not thrashing himself. Progress...??? Maybe. Clarisse responds to me. She did aswell as the store. When I walked into the bird area I would call her and she would come running. The owner said she never saw Clarisse reacting in such a way to others. Even my husband would talk to her and say "she is here, just wait" and he said she would look and then react when she saw me. Even at home the other morning he took her out of her cage by perch and had her on the kitchen table. He said she was looking for me. Happy bird when I entered the kitchen. New cage, new surroundings, new sights and sounds. Plus her schedule is messed up. My house is active into the evening. She had quiet time as of 5 PM at the store. Last night I tucked her into a dark corner and corvered with a darker cover. This morning Clarisse gave me the happy dance. We will see how happy she is when I go to clean her cage this afternoon! I've got some photo's I'll upload. Thanks for Welcoming me! Susan

Hi Everyone, I'm Susan Barnes. I'm a 41 yr old busy Wife and Mother. Las Vegas, NV is currently home but I am originally from Chicago. In my spare time I raise Cockatiels, I am a regional director for the American Cockatiel Society. My family and I also share our home with three Pitt Bulls, a male White Cap Pionus, a Cherry Head and Golden Head Conures, a Lilac Crown Amazon and two amazing CAG's. Skooter is 2 1/2, he came to us in April. According to the person we aquired him from Skooter was abused; his owners used him as a volleyball or socer ball. Not really sure the story as the person I obtained him from changed his story later that Skooter was actually his bird that became to phobic and he just didn't want to deal with him. We are dealing with Skooters phobic issues and I'm needing help and support. On Tuesday we brought home Clarisse, a 5 year old female CAG from the store where I purchase my bird feed. I just feel in love with her. Day one went well, now she refuses to step up and has nipped me twice. I know patience and positive reinforcement. To top it off, Clarisse was on a seed only diet for 7 months! Yeap breaking my seed whore may be an issue in itself. Skooter on the other hand cleans his bowl every time! I'm a huge fan of serving a fresh/whole food diet. My birds see chop, bird bread, or other warm pasta/grain meals with lots of veggies and fruits. I'm looking forward to being a part of this forum. I am looking forward to a long and healthy relationship with my birds and I know there is so much to learn and do to accomplish that.