Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:54 am Post subject: my new friend
I am a novice bird owner, went to get a cockatiel and saw this kakariki and absolutely fell in love with him, hes such a sweetheart, however i wasnt really prepared, knowledge wise for him and so would appriciate any help or advise any one could give me regarding specific care for my new friend, i have done alot of research but its often hard to find the answer to specific questions i have, what kind of treat or training foods are best for him? and is there anything i can put in his cage to keep him happy while he gets used to the house before i let him out? how do i go about letting him out? i dont want to let him out and have to chase him to get him back in his cage,i now chasing him will make him scared if me, is there something i need to specifically teach him before i do that? what kinds of things should i look to secure to make my living room as safe as possible for him? i thank you in advance for any and all help you can give me, i want him to be as happy as possible and am willing to do whatever it takes to make it so, btw his name is Sonny :)
To the left is a quick search block... type in words like taming , diet , treats perch size, cage floor ..... you will come up with pages of info and a lot of reading...
If u cant find or have further questions please post back
Cheers
Steps _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
I'm a fairly new kakariki owner too, I've had my two boys since last August. What I've been finding out is that taming takes time. My birds were fairly tame when I got them, but a bit reserved at first. (Now they own the house...).
I have not tried to force them to do anything, instead I spend time with them on their own terms. Luckily I get home from work early in the afternoon, so the birds have a chance to fly free for most of the day. While they are out I just do normal chores but chat with the birds and they respond. They like to be near the family, with running commentaries on everything they find, but are not clingy.
The first week after I got them I didn't let them out at all, but gave them time to adjust to the cage and its surroundings. I think that this has paid off, because they see the cage as a safe place and willingly fly in when needed.
My birds do not seem so keen on traditional hanging parrot toys, they prefer toys that can be dragged around the floor or small enough to fly away with to play with. I have some hamster toys at the bottom of their cage and in their scratchbox on the living-room floor. Mostly your bird will find his own toys though, if you give him the chance to explore at will.
Last but not least. You do have the ultimate weapon, you're the one that provides the food. Kakarikis are intelligent, and they will soon come to the conclusion that you are the most important person in your home (at least when they are feeling hungry )
" Last but not least. You do have the ultimate weapon, you're the one that provides the food. Kakarikis are intelligent, and they will soon come to the conclusion that you are the most important person in your home (at least when they are feeling hungry) "
The first week after I got them I didn't let them out at all, but gave them time to adjust to the cage and its surroundings. I think that this has paid off, because they see the cage as a safe place and willingly fly in when needed.
This is so important..an animal person whatever without a safe place, bedroom will always be on 'edge'
And this can be very convient if done right....an animal, including humans will not in a place they dont feel save, a basic instinct....If u notice in flights cages whatever a parrot will have a single pile of poo in 1 place...
Our house parrots which never got locked way ..even when we where on holiday nearly always went back to their4 cage to poo.
But not always in the cage.....
I straped a 3/4" diam 'perch' at the base of the cage door...so they could sit at the door comfortably...they nearly always whent back there to poo and a bit of newspaper on the floor sorted that. They also on rare occassions sit on the top of the back door to the house, poo 1 side only, onto the anti draft bit of wood at the bottom of the door.
If you can get u birds to that stage, makes life very easy
Quote:
My birds do not seem so keen on traditional hanging parrot toys, they prefer toys that can be dragged around the floor
Interesting observation , never thought about that before, but yes.
But also applied to our house king parrots....ge would climb chains, play with the mirror, but all the interesting stuff was 'at his feet' like throwing stuff off great heights and watch the crash....then throw around the floor chase etc.
Kakariki in thewild and in the big flights do spend a lot of time on the floor digging, moving stuff. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2012 5:44 am Post subject: my new friend
well things for Sonny and me seem to be going very well so far, still not too keen on taking food from my hand, ive gotten him to take seeds and some millet but thats about it, hes bit me twice and im guessing he figures now that im not edible, i tried fresh fruit in my hand and veggies but he had no interest, same with the live!! meal worms, which for a squemish person was a big deal, seems he would rather sit at the bottom gathering whatever he has thrown out of his food bowls that day and i swear he laughing at me, i let him out yesterday which went very well, for him anyway, he had a fly around and pood on every surface he landed on ( not much fun for me) and wnt back in his cage by himself, he hasnt yet tho made a single sound, no chirping or anything, should i be concerned about that? and since you guys know more about this breed than i do, how would you say taming him is going? is there anything i could be doing better?
Sounds like you are doing just fine MissSophie. There is a diff between biting and testing your edibility.
IF he bites, dont pull your hand away. Keep it where it is and just growl/roar from the back of your throat and from way deep of your belly. Let him know you are THE ( lioness)queen of the castle.
If he is just testing.. do the same but with less volume, just to warn him off... this way he won't go from bad to worse.
Birds are prey animals (eyes on the side of the head) people are hunters (eyes in front head)
To gain his trust, aproach him sideways and without sudden movements.
When he is out of his cage, ignore him and let him come to you.
Have goodies on a plate and pretend they are there for you, not for him.. Forbidden fruits are the best!
Or have some pieces of newspaper or anything else that sounds or looks interesting. He is way to curious to NOT come and see.
About him not making sounds. Making a sounds means risking someone( or something) else noticing you. He will ones he feels safe and at home.
And if he is your only bird he might start copying your sounds and " talk"
If thats what you would like than start by saying the same things the same time of day.. Like his name whenever you walk into his room. Pronounce slow and clear..
Have you thought about hanging something from wall to wall or from the ceiling for him to rest and play on? like a net or a swing or a bird standard etc..?
That way you have some control of where he leaves his droppings. Put a towel underneath et voila.. :)
Kakariki tame easily.. they are very selfconfident, practically fearless and curious. But they are not birds to pet and stroke. They come and go as they please. Thats just what I like so much about them.
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2012 8:46 am Post subject: my new friend
just a few pics of my new friend Sonny, hes male from what ive been told , had to put them on photobucket tho, seems my cameras pixels are too high, thx again for all the help and advise :)
http://s1042.photobucket.com/albums/b424/magz014/Sonny/
Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 4:41 am Post subject: Re: my new friend
MissSophie wrote:
seems my cameras pixels are too high
Sophie thx for sharing the pics.
About pic size, there are several programs you can use to 1- reduce the size of the picture (pixel is like a lenght measure) 2- compress the picture so that it occupies less hard drive space.
Cameras will take pictures that are +2000px on the larger side, and weigh 1MB. If we use pictures these size it would take a long time to download, especially for slower connections, and website bandwith would be huge, and the webmaster would have to pay more for hosting.
So that's the reason most websites limit the size of pics, generally to 800px on the largest side and 100kb is considered to be the limit in forums and e-mail etiquette.
In this forum it should not exceed 550px on the largest side.
hope this helps
(as a side note, a few years ago I didn't have a clue about this neither, nobody knows everything, feel free to ask whatever doubts you have and we will be happy to help!)
Cheers / Pablo
(ps. loved your bear-shoes ) _________________ AD ASTRA PER ASPERA
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