A little lack of confidence.. Owner needs training

[Palomitablanca]

Lola our AG is almost 8 months old & I am now her main time keeper & I love her company.

 

 

My hubby got her at back in September whilst working away from home. She adores him & the bonding is very obvious. Now we're all back together as a family when his work contract ended.

 

Although I'm used to parakeets, have owned kakarikis for 5 years this is my first experiences with an AG. I do love her to bits but do confess to being a little nervous of her beak!! It's a lot bigger than my little kakarikis beaks! And so far she's not even attempted to bite hubby or me.

 

Initially, although she was very happy to take a peanut treat from me I felt she was very aware of my "nervousness" & understand this in turn probably made her "cautious" of me. But little by little I'm beginning to feel more confident & at ease with her & I think her with me too as she's living in my large home office - as does my male kakariki - separate cages. So Lola, Arnie & me happily share our communal space. I have lots of chats & whistle songsw with her. She's already saying hello & how you doing & can whistle the Laurel & Hardy tune almost perfectly, wolf whistles, etc.

 

So nearly all is well. Arnie & Lola are fine with each other. Separate cages. Separate flight times out. The problem is I'm frightened to handle her when she's out of her cage & I won't let her out unless my hubby's in the office.. My hubby really tries to make me feel confident but I suspect it's just a case of taking it a stage at a time until I feel confident. If anyone has any tips to help me over my silly nervousness I'd really appreciate it. ..... As I'm typing this she's singing her head off from her cage just 6 feet away from me.. It would be lovely if I had the confidence to open that cage door & get her out onto her playstand which she really loves.:laugh:

[casper]

It sounds very much like Lola already is comfortable with you if she is being vocal.

 

Do you still offer her the treats? This is what i would start with, see if she will accept them first of all while she is in the cage then you could progress to offering when she is out on the playstand.

 

I think its really important to try and not be nervous before you begin any contact really, greys will quite easily pick up on this and you are more likely to get a bite if you show you are nervous at all.

 

Take small steps and build up her trust, eventually you can try to pet and work with step up while she is on her playstand, you say she has not tried to bite before so hopefully she wont try to bite you as she is used to you already.

 

Good luck and keep us up to date with any progress you make, I hope all goes well and you can have more physical contact with her:)

[Palomitablanca]

Hi Casper Thank you for your really quick reply.

I'm still giving Lola little treats through her cage bars & when hubby is here & Lola's having her playtimes out of the cage on her playstand or my comp desk.

 

She's not clipped as we decided we wanted her to retain her flight ability - as have all my birds - & just occasionally she chooses to land on my head which I don't object to at all. She even flew onto my outstretched arm the other day while I was Almost 100% good with that until she decided to have a taste of my bare arm. By no means a bite just a little peck of my skin. At that stage my tummy did a somersault & I quickly asked hubby to tell her to step up on to his hand.

 

So I guess the problems with me! As you mention Lola does instinctively realise when she's out of her cage that I'm just a tiny bit nervous.

 

It may stem from the fact that our female kak, Milly, had behavioral probs when we inherited her. She'd get herself into all kinds of panics, precarious situations (claws firmaly stuck in the hi fi speaker mesh, wedge herself into the tiniest gap behind a cabinet) In the early days she'd give me some pretty painful bites while I was rescuing her.:pinch: :blink: :woohoo: Even though I'd stay calm & gentle with her.. LOL! So I'm probably imagining how much worse a few bites from a bigger beaked AG would feel! Ha ha!

 

One of the reasons hubby decided on an AG, other than he'd wanted one for years, was to keep me company as I have a mild form of agoraphopia & as I love birds Steve rightly thought that an AG would be good for me & vice-versa for the bird. She'll hardly ever be without compay & I work from home.

 

In the coming months, or as soon as I can handle her outside her cage I do want to start some 30 to 40 min daily morning training with her. She's pretty good with step-up with Steve already but at approx what age is best to start training an AG? Also what is a good, safe age to introduce her to a pellet diet, besides continuing with her daily fruit & veg we'd like to get her off the commercial nuts & seeds mixes?

A big thank you & am loving the Grey forum:)

[judygram]

You can start her on a pellet diet now, just provide a cup with pellets in it at all times, thats what I do for my grey and she snacks on them all day long.

 

Your being able to handle her is going to depend on your fear of her beak, she can sense you are afraid of her and she acts accordingly, work on that and I think you will have it made with her.

[Palomitablanca]

Thank you for all your support & advice.. :cheer: !! I was chatting & singing to Lola through her cage bars this morning she started to lower her head for me to tickle the back of her neck. I was actually touching her with my finger then when she raised her head I let her play with my finger with her tongue & beak!!... She was ever so gentle, no gripping on at all. Think I might have overcome my :silly: fear of her beak now.. Next stage is to see how I manage to get her out of the cage without hubby's help.. tomorrow!

[Luvparrots]

Good going Pam. It will come and you and Lola will become the best loving and confident companions!!!