BREAKTHROUGH
i again tried to lure zeba to step up on my arm...3 times. THIS time, he stepped up ALL 3 TIMES! WOW! i am SOOOOOOO proud of this guy!! i used a small piece of walnut, and he was already standing on my leg. i gently pushed against his lower belly, near his legs as i said "step up" and offered the piece of walnut just out of his reach. like magic, he stepped right on my arm. i praised him a LOT, gave him the walnut piece and allowed him to go back on my leg when he wanted to. then i tried again and again. im just amazed!
when i started covering his cage with towels on tuesday, zeba hated it. but quickly got over it once the cage was completely covered and started eating his pellets. zeba has taken it a little personally, however, and i have felt a little hesitation with allowing me to scratch his head. i do believe this is either due to the cage covering OR of the toweling i had to do with him to get him in the carrier to take him to the vet...or a little of both.
today, however, when i covered zeba up tonight, he was less afraid of it. each night, i tell him exactly what im about to do and why. i say "zeba, its time for you to go to bed and i will cover you up so that you can have a good night's rest. the last couple of nights, you haven't been disturbed by my husband or myself coming in so i think the covering of your cage is a good thing, right?" he probably doesn't understand one word, but i think it calms him down, as well as myself.
before going to bed, zeba allowed me to preen his head, neck and beak for what felt like a nice, long time. he occasionally licked my finger. zeba, i found on many occasions, knows perfectly well how much beak pressure is okay on human skin. he is really a gentle giant. i purposely placed my fingers near his beak, preened his head and neck with a little more pressure, touched his toes, etc. just to see if he would try to hurt me with his big beak. nothing. he didnt even move his beak in my direction nor parted his beak as a little threat. he has a heart of GOLD.
the only thing that brings out a clear sign of aggression from zeba is, so far, men. zeba's short stay at his first foster parents showed that he was aggressive to the husband in the family. it is the same here. one explanation of this could be what we know of his past experiences with "masculine" people. they were the ones who mishandled him. another explanation is that currently birdie hormones are raging. my own birds show this, and through parrot forums, it seems that birds all over this country are also feeling the early spring feelings in their bones. zeba could have picked me as his "mate" and is just protecting me from any other human.
if in his cage, zeba actually allows my husband to get near him, even allows a little preening. but being out of his cage changes him. it could be because when he is out of the cage, i am there to watch him. it could be different if my husband were to be the one to allow him out of the cage and watch him. we will be working on making my husband someone that zeba could look forward to by letting him be the one to offer zeba walnuts. i will try to use strictly raisins.
my goal of getting zeba to step up on my arm has been reached! it is by no means a "done deal", but its reached. i will continue to practice it with him, but i think i can slowly move in another direction. i have been looking at his toe nails and i think he really needs a trim. since he allows me to touch his toes, im hoping i can train him to stand still while i clip his toe nails so that i dont have to towel him. also, id love to get him used to a travel carrier because i also dont want to towel him to get him in there. and of course, the big project with finding a "truce" between zeba and my husband.
i again tried to lure zeba to step up on my arm...3 times. THIS time, he stepped up ALL 3 TIMES! WOW! i am SOOOOOOO proud of this guy!! i used a small piece of walnut, and he was already standing on my leg. i gently pushed against his lower belly, near his legs as i said "step up" and offered the piece of walnut just out of his reach. like magic, he stepped right on my arm. i praised him a LOT, gave him the walnut piece and allowed him to go back on my leg when he wanted to. then i tried again and again. im just amazed!
when i started covering his cage with towels on tuesday, zeba hated it. but quickly got over it once the cage was completely covered and started eating his pellets. zeba has taken it a little personally, however, and i have felt a little hesitation with allowing me to scratch his head. i do believe this is either due to the cage covering OR of the toweling i had to do with him to get him in the carrier to take him to the vet...or a little of both.
today, however, when i covered zeba up tonight, he was less afraid of it. each night, i tell him exactly what im about to do and why. i say "zeba, its time for you to go to bed and i will cover you up so that you can have a good night's rest. the last couple of nights, you haven't been disturbed by my husband or myself coming in so i think the covering of your cage is a good thing, right?" he probably doesn't understand one word, but i think it calms him down, as well as myself.
before going to bed, zeba allowed me to preen his head, neck and beak for what felt like a nice, long time. he occasionally licked my finger. zeba, i found on many occasions, knows perfectly well how much beak pressure is okay on human skin. he is really a gentle giant. i purposely placed my fingers near his beak, preened his head and neck with a little more pressure, touched his toes, etc. just to see if he would try to hurt me with his big beak. nothing. he didnt even move his beak in my direction nor parted his beak as a little threat. he has a heart of GOLD.
the only thing that brings out a clear sign of aggression from zeba is, so far, men. zeba's short stay at his first foster parents showed that he was aggressive to the husband in the family. it is the same here. one explanation of this could be what we know of his past experiences with "masculine" people. they were the ones who mishandled him. another explanation is that currently birdie hormones are raging. my own birds show this, and through parrot forums, it seems that birds all over this country are also feeling the early spring feelings in their bones. zeba could have picked me as his "mate" and is just protecting me from any other human.
if in his cage, zeba actually allows my husband to get near him, even allows a little preening. but being out of his cage changes him. it could be because when he is out of the cage, i am there to watch him. it could be different if my husband were to be the one to allow him out of the cage and watch him. we will be working on making my husband someone that zeba could look forward to by letting him be the one to offer zeba walnuts. i will try to use strictly raisins.
my goal of getting zeba to step up on my arm has been reached! it is by no means a "done deal", but its reached. i will continue to practice it with him, but i think i can slowly move in another direction. i have been looking at his toe nails and i think he really needs a trim. since he allows me to touch his toes, im hoping i can train him to stand still while i clip his toe nails so that i dont have to towel him. also, id love to get him used to a travel carrier because i also dont want to towel him to get him in there. and of course, the big project with finding a "truce" between zeba and my husband.
posted by kate franz mickaboo.org at
8:43 PM
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