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Post by aaron on Jun 6, 2015 11:04:07 GMT -5
Hmmm... poor guy. I wonder if he would like a different carrier more.
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Post by aaron on Jun 7, 2015 0:52:00 GMT -5
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Post by siobhan on Jun 8, 2015 16:39:25 GMT -5
I don't think critters like carriers in general. Never known one, mammal or avian, who didn't have a ballistic fit at the very suggestion of going into one.
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Post by aaron on Jun 9, 2015 10:33:48 GMT -5
Cupcake has a pretty big backpack carrier that she has been okay with in the past... We used to take her out to dinner in her carrier during warm weather a lot, although as of late she does not act comfortable in the carrier, so we don't do it any more... but for quite a while she seemed to enjoy it. She'll still go in without too much trouble but she generally makes it clear she doesn't want to. I think it was because I used to take her to my stepdaughter's soccer games and sit right by her the whole time, and then I became team photographer and was running all over the place, and one game I left her in her carrier in the shade under a tree (with my wife nearby), which I think she found very upsetting (I guess prey animals find being stuck under trees to be scary?) Ever since she finds the carrier upsetting. But she used to at least sort of like it, I think.
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Post by siobhan on Jun 9, 2015 14:15:38 GMT -5
We only take critters someplace in carriers that they don't usually want to go. Ours don't go places with us just for fun, except our dog Jack goes with Hubby on errands and things sometimes. Every time poor Rocky's been stuffed in a carrier, it's been to be shuffled off to a new home where he might or might not have been happy, so he associates his carrier with that experience.
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Post by aaron on Jun 9, 2015 18:08:31 GMT -5
Yeah we try to avoid that situation, and have been mostly successful... she definitely doesn't associate the carrier with bad things, per se. She knows they are a possibility though-- but most of the time we take her somewhere benign in the carrier... and sometimes she gets to go places she likes, like my Parents' house, so ultimately she accepts it without much complaint. But she used to be much more tolerant of stressful situations in it, like if we took her a restaurant and we were seated outside, and suddenly it got loud and crowded-- she used to handle that pretty well, but now she finds the carrier too stressful overall and can't handle it. Last time we tried we ended up leaving early because she was clearly unhappy. But she loves the attention she gets when we are out.
How have things been going with Rocky the past few days?
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Post by siobhan on Jun 9, 2015 20:51:52 GMT -5
He still has issues with Hubby. They may be hormonal. We made lots of mistakes those first few weeks. We encouraged behaviors that we didn't recognize as problematic. I was basing things on what works with a Quaker and a 'too is entirely different. Some things are the same, but some are REALLY not. It took Clyde months of seesawing back and forth between me and Hubby before he settled on me, but still likes Hubby. Rocky chose me as his person the very first day and only tolerated Hubby and now he sees Hubby as a rival. We're trying to correct that. We've made some minor progress. We're learning what his signals are for things. I'm learning to remain calm and relaxed even when he's agitated, so it calms him instead of getting him more agitated. We're beginning to think we can do this, but it's not going to be easy and it's going to take a lot longer to integrate him into the household and get him adjusted and settled than we thought.
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Post by aaron on Jun 9, 2015 22:33:52 GMT -5
Sounds pretty challenging... Especially the part about staying calm while he is agitated. I'm sure you guys are up to it though. I think that Cupcake is always seesawing between everyone in our house... she never makes a clear mate choice. I wonder if she will ever choose. I don't really get the impression that she wants to. Rocky sounds like a very decisive chap.
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Post by siobhan on Jun 10, 2015 11:42:07 GMT -5
I was told he can feel my pulse through my arm when he's sitting there and knows if the rate goes up and if I'm getting nervous or uptight by the rigidity of my muscles. So when he starts to display or give signals that he's going wacko, I'm supposed to laugh and tell him he's silly and STAY CALM. I do that, best I can, and he'll turn and look at me with an almost human expression of "WHAT is WRONG with you?  " Yesterday he insisted on sitting on my shoulder and I couldn't convince him to come down onto my arm -- and Hubby can't handle him right now without getting chomped. So Hubby was where he could watch body language and tell me what he was doing and if I should brace myself to lose an ear, but Rocky just sat there. Preened my hair a bit. Preened his feathers a bit. Finally came down on his own. |
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Post by Jan and Shah on Jun 10, 2015 16:29:00 GMT -5
I dont know about feeling your pulse but animals are great at picking up what emotional state we are in. As mentioned previously, if I go into the paddock with the thought that I might not be able to catch Izzie (and I am tense when I have those thoughts), I cant catch her - I just see flying hooves. If I go in with the thought that I am going to put the halter on her, she just stands there and lets me do it. When I want to drop my energy level I do a big sigh and let everything out in that sigh. I find this helps in relaxing me. At the end of the day there is always Rescue Remedy for you and Rocky. Hang in there - I think once the boundaries are set, Rocky will settle in a lot faster. Any reaction from Clyde as yet?
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Post by aaron on Jun 10, 2015 21:59:42 GMT -5
Siobhan, that sounds pretty challenging. It would take a lot of practice for me to get good at that. I definitely agree with Jan that these critters are extremely good at picking up our emotions. I feel like they probably don't even need to feel a pulse to know how we are feeling, but I wouldn't be surprised if they can pick things up that way too. I have found having Cupcake it to be very good practice for managing my own emotions, actually... because there's so much incentive to stay calm and centered. She's so much happier that way, and incidentally, so am I.  |
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Post by easttex on Jun 11, 2015 5:54:07 GMT -5
That is interesting about the pulse. I wouldn't be surprised if my grey could pick up on that.
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Post by siobhan on Jun 11, 2015 14:00:31 GMT -5
I carried Clyde into the living room the first week to show him Rocky, at a distance (quarantine, you know) and he was not impressed. In fact, quite the opposite. Also, he's not fond of leaving the bird room anymore. He used to buzz all over the house any time he pleased, but when we got Jack, and Jack proved he couldn't be trusted with birds (Rocky being the exception; he can bite harder than Jack can), we put a screen door on their room and confined them to quarters. They have a large, bird-safe room, lots of toys, a bath, a fan, fish tanks for entertainment and two boings, so it's not a hardship, but it has made them nervous about the rest of the house. Now and again I let Clyde ride my shoulder if I'm just popping into the kitchen for a fresh Dew or something, but he slicks down and doesn't like it.
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Post by Sharyn and Mr P on Jun 11, 2015 16:14:47 GMT -5
I wonder if all Too's act the same way or it's just the bigger ones? I know that Daisy really does dance, she bobs, raises her wings, her crest goes up and she nods her head up and down and says Yep Yep Yep, but she is having a good time. It does not look aggressive to me and so far she hasnt once attempted to bite any of us, but maybe that is an exception and not the norm?
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Post by siobhan on Jun 11, 2015 17:04:27 GMT -5
Daisy is a female, so the same rules may not apply. A male 'too is all about being the Big Boss Man and a display is usually, not always, a sign of potential aggression. He does put his crest up when he's interested or intrigued by something, but also when he's annoyed, when he's uneasy, when he's startled ... I haven't observed him long enough to accurately read all his signals, and it's best to assume potential aggression than to guess wrong and get chomped. He could do serious damage. I know Clyde's signs. I know the tiels' signs. Freddie's upraised crest almost always means he's just interested or showing off (in a good way). If he's being aggressive, he also raises his wings. A lowered, relaxed crest means he's feeling affectionate and that means the same thing on Rocky. But when Rocky raises his crest, opens his face feathers, raises his wings, sticks out his chest AND bounces up and down, you'd better figure he's warning you. We've taken to saying "no bouncy-bounce" when he does that (because we, not knowing better, encouraged it by saying "do the bouncy-bounce!" at first).
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" Yesterday he insisted on sitting on my shoulder and I couldn't convince him to come down onto my arm -- and Hubby can't handle him right now without getting chomped. So Hubby was where he could watch body language and tell me what he was doing and if I should brace myself to lose an ear, but Rocky just sat there. Preened my hair a bit. Preened his feathers a bit. Finally came down on his own.
