Little Miss Avah happenings

[goldilocks]

Some of you may remember my first post about Avah, she had leg troubles. I updated a little saying everything was going superb with her once we brought her home. Well... things are going good still Although little miss had her first crop infection Scared her mommy and tested my nerves! I noticed right away as I'm home quite a bit with her and she was just very quiet per her normal self. Daddy thought mommy was being a worried mom so he thought we should wait another day or two. On the next day I was gone at work and Dad said she seemed just a little bit quiet but nothing alarming. Day three I said 'NOPE, mom's too worried get your butt back home and take her to the avian vet!' So since mom's always win off she went to vet and I'm so glad, since they diagnosed her with a crop infection and gave her a shot of antibiotics (poor little miss). We eventually got results of what the strain was and of course the little miss did need more antibiotics! We are at the tale end of her antibiotics, just a few more doses left thank goodness!

 

Also I'm a wuss. I'll explain... Daddy had many birds throughout his childhood but little miss is my first bird. Avah and I have bonded but in a different way then her and dad. I feed her, clean her cage, am with her a lot of the day keeping her company, I play wither her and talk a lot to her as she does to me. But she trusts Daddy to hold her, scratch her and take her out of her cage. We've also noticed she's much more friendlier to men and more unsure of women holding her? Her and I are slowly making progress (at least I think) she's been giving me kisses and will let me scratch her so long as Dad is holding her. She's only bit me a few times (3 to be exact lol) but I'm a total wuss! After she's bitten me I sorta tend to get freaked to try and have her step up on me. I feel like I'm awful at being dominant with her. SO I have a few questions, being bitten hurts... she didn't let go of my skin and I ended up dropping her this most recent time I feel so awful about it. The first time I got bit it wasn't a big bite, she just didn't want to step up. The second time she bit me it was totally my fault, I wasn't thinking as I put a bowl of food in front of her face instead of grabbing the food she stepped up onto the small rimmed bowl and since I wasn't expecting that the bowl shifted and she bit me as she was unstable. Then today I was taking her new bowl of treats and her to put into the cage I put the bowl in the cage and then went to put her in she bit me really good but instead of getting scared I let her continue hoping she'd stop but a few seconds in she still hadn't let go and I started to panic and let go of her, fortunately she is need of a clipping so she sorta flew down. But I feel awful for letting her go. But I had and still don't have a clue what to do if she were to continue to bite me like that? How do you get them to stop? I'm definitely fearful of her always having some nervous tendencies towards me, I don't want that! I love her so much, and I don't want her to be nervous when I hold her, I want her to trust me. So any advice is very much appreciated. Thanks for reading my story book about Avah

 

Here are some cute photos to make up for my long babbles...

 

She loves to play on her back kicking the bell with her feet <3

 

Showing her pretty tail feathers off to me

 

She's not camera shy...

[danmcq]

It's good to hear an update on Avah. Good job in demanding she be taken to the vet for treatment of that crop infection. They always develop a bond with one person in the household and many times also a gender preference. Your doing good at building a a relationship with her, but it will not be as strong as with your husband. In regards the biting, taking her back to the cage is probably an event she does not look forward and especially by the person she's not bonded with. When a bite occurs you should never just let them keep digging in with that powerful beak. Take immediate action when it starts by rolling you arm back and forth to throw her off balance so she well let go to right herself. Also tell her "No Bite!" as your rocking your arm. When you say you panicked and let go of her, do you mean you had her talon pinned between your fingers? If so the rocking a litle harder will alleviate the bite as well in most cases. But if they clamp down even harder, then you do indeed need to let go or suffer a major bite. Avah is still very young and I have nno doubt with persistance and time you'll develop a good understanding with her.

[goldilocks]

Thanks Danmcq! I am okay with Avah and I not having the same sort of relationship as her and my husband has He is more concerned at this point then I am and I'm more mellow about it as I have many years I figure to work on strengthening my relationship with her. But I definitely need to get over the fear of being bitten and asking her to step up. Thank you so much for the advice and help. I'm sure I'll get bitten again but I feel more armed now at what to do when it happens By let go I mean pointed my fingers to the floor so she'd slide off of them?

[SRSeedBurners]

Cute birdy! I have to ask about the markings on the end of each feather on her wings. Is that what is called stress bars? You can really see it in the 2nd and 3rd photo. Maybe that's from playing on her back so much? I've never seen that before.

[danmcq]

I doubt she would slide off if you just point your fingers to the floor. She has a grasp with her talons and beak. If she flt the need to stop sliding, the bite would become strong and so would her talon grip. If she is flighted I would flip my hand up rapidly and launch her. When Dayo once in a blue moon decides he is going to go for the gusto on my hand, I launch him to avert losing a larger chunk than is already being taken.

 

If she has not flighted, then of course you don't want to launch her and perhaps cause a hurtful crash landing. Bring your other hand up to distract her bite and protect yourself in that case and get her in the cage quickly to a perch.

Edited November 20, 2013 by danmcq

[goldilocks]

Good question Sterling! They are stress bars from what the vet told us. Avah's feathers are very unique everywhere from what we've been told. We've discussed it with our current vet, as well as the Avian store owners we bought her from. I've been watching her fairly closely to see if she's exhibiting signs of stress so we're not sure what exactly they are from. We partially wonder if it had to do with her hard start to life? Avah was born missing a claw but also had hip/leg issues where she was put into a cast and had physical training in hopes she'd recover the use of the leg. We were told she probably wouldn't ever be able to perch. She worked so incredibly hard and she is able to perch and walk But as to what else it could be we aren't so sure! I wish I could be sure... she's in a quiet place in our house, has a blanket over her cage at night, cage is cleaned often, has foraging toys and toys galore, get's time outside her cage, get's attention, has an excellent diet, has UVB light, a small heater next to her cage to make sure her cage temp is around 70-74 degrees and acts like a normal happy bird (except when she was sick for a few days). We are just watching her closely for now and will follow up with vet in the future. We aren't quite sure what else to do though, but maybe someone here might now of something we all missed?

[goldilocks]

Oh i see your point! I was definitely shocked she bit me at the time and everything was much a daze that maybe she decided more so herself to fly down? She has flighted, the store owners believe that better behavior comes from birds who have learned to flight and they make sure all birds leave them knowing how to do so I never thought of going in a upwards motion to get her to fly away, that's not a bad idea but I think I'll try the knock of her balance one first Thanks again, I appreciate everyone's advice so much!

I doubt she would slide off if you just point your fingers to the floor. She has a grasp with her talons and beak. If she flt the need to stop sliding, the bite would become strong and so would her talon grip. If she is flight I would flip my hand up rapidly and launch her. When Dayo once in a blue moon decides he is going to go for the gusto on my hand, I launch him to avert losing a larger chunk than is already being taken.

 

If she has not flighted, then of course you don't want to launch her and perhaps cause a hurtful crash landing. Bring your other hand up to distract her bite and protect yourself in that case and get her in the cage quickly to a perch.

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

goldilocks.. Avah is adorable! Unfortunately, many parrents think they have time, since they live a long time, to " bond", expect the bird will eventually love, or tolerate them. It is NOT true! A new bird adopted into the family, will pick one owner, or favorite. It is important, for the entire family, to " work off that bond!" The goal should always be, for the rest of family to be introduced to the bird, be involved with flight training, feeding and training.This always needs to be done within the first six months. I believe with all my heart, if the bond is NOT practiced ( birds learn to trust), it won't happen. We have MBS( multibird syndrome). May birds... but we practice this belief, all are well. Nancy