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Post by Holly on Apr 18, 2017 1:01:16 GMT -5
Hi Everyone,
I have to say, the holiday has done Elsie a world of good! We are back home now, but she is like a new bird, super curious and happy! She is still a little reserved and a quiet little thing but she LOVES Norms and feels safe with him which is great! She is also starting to be more interested in me and we are starting to bond nicely! Normy loves Elsie too and is being a super big brother! Yay!
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Post by Holly on Mar 30, 2017 23:55:32 GMT -5
Hi Everyone,
I sadly couldn't do a test drive as the weather decided to flood the road and I wasn't sure I was going to make it if I left any later... So Norms, Elsie and I took off with the help of my dad and we have arrived safely. Elsie did an awesome job! She was a little scared but we made it and she looks back to normal now. We took up her home cage as well to make the stay a little less scary! Yay Elsie!!
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Post by Holly on Mar 28, 2017 15:35:00 GMT -5
Thanks Aaron, I am going to start test drives today. My plan was just like you said to sit in the car with her in her travel cage and see how she is and if she's looking ok, just go for a quick 5 minute drive. Hopefully she is ok... fingers crossed!
Our closest avian vet is about 3.5 - 4 hours away which makes things a bit tricky, Elsie is such a little sweetie and I feel like sometimes she is trying so hard to be brave but then her fears get in the way. As you can imagine, this makes the bonding process a bit challenging, as I want to spend time with her but also don't want to make her anxiety worse. At the moment I have just been talking to her through the cage and reading her stories... picture books so there isn't anything scary haha and when she wants to come out, I have just tried to be super calm and follow her lead.
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Post by Holly on Mar 27, 2017 15:37:42 GMT -5
Hi,
Thank you for your replies, I don't know much about her history. I know this is probably frowned upon, but I fell in love with her in a pet shop, it is one of our local bird shops, and they said she was hand reared, the breeder just wanted the shop to sell her birdies. I have also read they are usually quite outgoing and I'm surprised by Elsie's behaviour. She is a sweet little thing and it starting to take little trinkets (shiny toys) from my hand and wants to come out of her cage to explore on the play gym but other times she will just start to tremble and not want to move.
As far as the vet goes, I live in a small country town (I am doing my teaching country service) and we do not have an avian vet. So my concern is that I completely stress her out and take her to the vet and then the vet won't really know what to do for her... I took Norms there once when he crashed on the floor and had a small cut above his beak, and they were friends but admitted they don't really see birds very often and seemed a little unsure as to what to do.
As for the car, I think you might be right biteybird, I might see how she goes with seeing me and then I can always stop and cover her if it gets too much. Do you think I should do some test drives? Or will that put her through too much?
I just feel so sorry for my little Elsie, it would be horrible to be scared all the time!
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Post by Holly on Mar 27, 2017 4:43:26 GMT -5
Hi Everyone,
As some of you may know, I have adopted Norms a baby sister, Elsie who is a 4.5 month old beautiful princess parrot. Norms and Elsie have made some awesome progress and have been getting along really well, I am super happy with how they interact with one another at this stage. The problem is, Elsie is a HUGE stress head. She seems to get nervous and stressed very easily, she then starts open mouthed panting, looks at the ceiling and sometimes even shuts her eyes. I usually try very calmly to move her into her cage and cover her, this sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. The problem is... I am finding it very difficult to know what is stressing her out. I live in a her quiet home and like to think its a very happy one. She has a nice large cage, filled with her favourite toys. I have tried to keep her in a routined environment to try and create bonding opportunities for us. I feel like I'm trying everything but she still periodically has what seems like an 'anxiety attack'. The other big problem is, we are about to go on a 2 week holiday to my parents house and she will need to travel in the car for 2.5-3hrs. I am worried that this is going to stress her out so much she could actually hurt herself.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I am thinking of covering her in her travel cage which will be in the back seat of the car.
Thanks for your help!
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Post by Holly on Feb 22, 2017 15:33:20 GMT -5
I hadn't thought of that! You may be right...
I have been putting Eslie to bed first because I read somewhere, your original bird should be first for everything except bedtime, do you think that is right or should I continue to put Norms to bed first as per our normal routine?
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Post by Holly on Feb 22, 2017 5:05:13 GMT -5
So today Normy was his lovely sweet self and I was starting to think I have invented this whole 'aggression' thing in my head until... bed time again. He did NOT want to go to bed which was really hard. He tried to bite again, luckily his bites are not really bites, he has never drawn blood and yes they hurt a little bit but nothing really. I tried to just ignore the behaviour and carry on with the bedtime routine such as turning the lights off and shutting the blinds but then its really hard to put him in his cage when he keeps trying to nip. Hopefully this is just a phase because I am not likely this new things every evening!
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Post by Holly on Feb 20, 2017 5:04:07 GMT -5
Thank you Julianna, I definitely have my hands full!!
And thanks Easttex, I have read through the article and there were some great tips.
Elsie is settling in really well, we are still just taking it really slowly. As she is quite a shy bird, I have been reading to her and singing (I am a terrible singer but she's seems to enjoy it) and just taking it at her pace. She is such a little sweetie. Norman is dying to meet her, but not yet! She is still a little to nervous and everything is new... also of course she isn't finished being quarantined yet. He gets so excited to watch me uncover her each morning and loves to try and talk with her.
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Post by Holly on Feb 20, 2017 4:50:02 GMT -5
Hi Everyone,
So Normy is going through some pretty major changes at the moment. He recently got a new cage, which he LOVES and we also added a new baby princess parrot, Elsie, to our family. I have just noticed over the last few days, Norms started to get a little nippy when I went to change his food dishes and then tonight we did not want to go to bed, this is usual for him, but instead of running around the top of his cage like he usually does, he turned a little feral and tried to bite me.
This is starting to seem like some patterns of cage aggression, which he has never even showed the smallest of small sign of before. So basically I want to nip this in the bud before it gets any worse.
What should I do, I have just started reading some stuff on the internet about it but I would love to hear some personal tricks or methods you have used to help with this.
Thank you so much!
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Post by Holly on Feb 17, 2017 5:24:46 GMT -5
I gave Elsie corn and pear today cut up really small and she LOVED it! I'm so happy she is starting to eat veggies.
I just have a few questions about how and when I should introduce Normy and Elsie? Where should they be and should I be holding them or in a more neutral environment? After quarantine, should I put their cages together first so they can get to know each other (they are at the moment across the room from each other and have been talking with each other) or does it not matter? Should I wait a couple of weeks or launch straight in? Any advice would be very helpful. I just would really like to give them the best chance to get along ad don't want to screw it up haha
Thank you!
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Post by Holly on Feb 14, 2017 1:50:49 GMT -5
Hi Zim,
Thank you! Yes, I am also unable to put them in two seperate rooms but their cages are separated as much as possible. I am washing my hands and trying to do everything I can to keep them separated but Norms is just so fascinated! We haven't been going too close but I do have to admit I have been standing about two metres away with Norman and saying hello to Elsie.
Everything went well again today, so far Norms is just really interested and isn't acting aggressive at all. Hopefully things can stay this way!
I really appreciate everyone giving me their advice!
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Post by Holly on Feb 13, 2017 16:15:01 GMT -5
Welcome Pidge! I also have blue quaker names Norman and am from Australia too : )
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Post by Holly on Feb 13, 2017 16:12:22 GMT -5
Thank Biteybird, that is interesting. Its nice to talk to someone who has princess parrots! Is there anything special princess parrots particularly like? Oh and I have been wanting to ask someone, do they have a bath like quakers do or should I mist her? Thank you!
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Post by Holly on Feb 13, 2017 4:57:06 GMT -5
We had a successful morning this morning, I have been sharing my love and letting each birdy out one at a time, but of course giving Normy the most love and keeping him routine as close to normal as possible.
I couldn't wait to get home from work today (I'm a teacher), when i got home, Norms was super excited to see me but he always is, we went over together and had a look at Elsie and said hello. Both birdies are doing really well I think, I'm sure there will be some bumps in the road but I'm a lot less nervous about making Normy sad hehe.
Just before bed, Norms and I were having a cuddle on the couch and watching Elsa sleep when she woke up and make a sound that Norman makes all the time. I can't believe she is imitating him already!!
Wish me luck for tomorrow!
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Post by Holly on Feb 12, 2017 5:46:40 GMT -5
Hi Everyone,
So I decided to take the leap and have added a beautiful 3.5 month Princess Parrot to the family. Her name is Elsie and she is just so sweet and chilled out. I actually cannot believe how relaxed she is and how docile. I took her straight to the vet where she did a thorough inspection and said it was safe to keep them in the same room but to still quarantine them in different cages for about two weeks. Norms is very curious when i first walked in with Elsie but all I got was some squawks and thats about it, he calmed down really quickly (much quicker than expected!!). Once I had Elsie all settled in her cage, I let Normy out and we went and had a look together, pretty far away from Elsie's cage, and he didn't seem bothered at all.
When I had cuddles with Elsie, Norm did start to act up a bit and make LOUD noises but he calmed quickly when I talked to him and told him I love him the best haha. I think we can call this a successful first day!
My plan from here on out is to keep Norms routine as normal as possible and move very slowly with the whole introduction thing. I want Normy to feel secure in his place in the family and not feel threatened at all - he is still number one bird!
Hopefully things continue to go well!
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