Cutty and Gabby
Submitted by jean on Sun, 10/04/2009 - 11:17pm
When the college bound girl tearfully left her "Cuddles" (A nanday conure) with me, it was agreed that it would be just until the end of the term and she had a new home to bring Cuddles to. I never saw her again. I had Cuddles sexed and changes his name to Cutty. He was a bitting, cage bound grouch. I really thought that he would be forced to change if moved into open flying space. Boy was I wrong. He hated the aviary, avoided all the other birds, found a hiding place and escaped the aviary. One day with no food or water and he landed on Jim to get back in the aviary. but he was still not social. So along came Gabby. She is a baby nanday conure, hand raised, loves people and has a minor deformity of her skull. But Cutty and I can't see it. She is playful and slowly but surely is drawing Cutty out to be more social even if he is still a grouch.
Training
Scott has the goal of training many of our birds to be ready for fostering and adoption. He has a huge task ahead and one that I greatly appreciate. The ideal situation is to find long term, permanent homes for as many of the birds as possible.
thank you Scott
Gabby in training
6-10-2010
Gabby made the trip home safe and sound. When I first got her home I filled her bowls with food and water, and then hung one of the millet strands. She attacked the millet with a vengeance. I was getting worried that she was going to eat so much she might explode.
Monday
I had and water issue at home so I was able to work from home. It was really nice to spend the day with Gabby. I went out during my lunch break, and bought some toys for her. Her cage was a little empty. After lunch I took her out of the cage. She walked all over both my arms, and around my back. I'm still not comfortable with her around my ears.
Tuesday
I didn't get to spend much time with Gabby today. I took her out of her cage, and let her fly around a little. I tried to do some target training, but I think she was too full already.
Wednesday
I started today with introducing Gabby to the shower. She really likes getting out of her cage, but she stuck to me like glue in the bathroom. I finally put her up on the shower rod and she really liked that. She got a little water on her, but when I got out and was ready to put her back in her cage, she didn't want to go. I left her there in the bathroom, and continued to get ready. After about 15 minutes I went back and she was much more willing to jump on my hand. In the evening, I let her out, and she made a bee line for Debi. She startled Debi, but got over there, she hopped right onto my hand. Debi has long hair and it was getting tangled in Gabby's feet. It didn't take long for Gabby to find another landing place on Debi. Gabby fully understands now when I open her cage and insert my hand that she's about to be free. She's not so willing to get back in. Once it starts to get a little dark outside, she's much easier to get back into the cage.
Thursday
We got to shower together again today. She still didn't want to leave the bathroom when I did, so I left her there again. When I came back she eagerly came to my hand. We spent another 15 minutes walking/flying around, and then she went back into her cage without any trouble. Up till now, I have been giving her fresh food and water in the morning and at night. This morning, I let her eat until it was time to go to work, and then I took her food bowl out. She still has a log, crammed with food, and a short millet string, but no food bowl. I'm hoping she will be motivated to do some target training.
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