You'd think I didn't have kids or something, I'm so obsessed with my new pet! But I'm proud of the progress we are making. The kids have been great with him, too. Very gentle and patient. He seems to like them, especially because they feed him!
Louie did great yesterday! I managed to slowly coax him out of his cage with an orange and then he started exploring the outside of his cage. He actually wound up falling off the cage while he was trying to stand on his water bottle and landed on the floor. I had the sinking feeling that I was going to have to betray the little bit of trust he has in me by catching him with a towel. But with a little persistance and a lot of patience, Andy and I managedto coax him into climbing a ladder back up to his cage. He was been incredibly brave yesterday and had no signs of aggression even when he was scared. He even went back inside his cage on his own! Oh! and while he was hanging out on his cage I managed to get him to step onto a dowel! I had to hold it really still and coax him onto it rather than take it to him but it's a start! I'm amazed at how quickly he gets over his fears!
Today was another really good day. Louie is amazing. I really don't think he is scared, just cautious. Today when I got home from work (about 2pm. I have yucky hours but it gives me more time with the kids) I opened Louie's cage and he didn't need much coaxing to come out. He really likes the freedom. Today we worked more with the wooden dowel and he did so well. We hit a point where I could actually approach him instead of waiting for him to step up to it. I never actually touched his belly, we worked together and both came half way, but I let it be his decision to make contact. It was amazing to watch him when it clicked that "step up" would get him a bit of his yummy orange. He's so smart. After working with that a bit and getting him comfortable with being moved around on the dowel I was actually able to get him to willingly step up to my hand three times! By the third time he actually stayed a few seconds to eat a bit of his orange and explore my fingernail. A bit of biting but he was fairly gentle so I just ignored it. After all the progress I was giving him a break and sitting ten or so feet away at the dining table talking to my mom and he actually came as close to me as possible and was quietly squacking and bouncing up and down and leaning way out. He obviously wanted my attention. Cute! So I got him to step up on his stick and then, I rushed him a little without realizing it, I took a few slow steps away from his cage and he got nervous and tried to fly back. Poor little guy, I'm still learning. Anyway he landed on the ground but this time it was easy because I just offered him his dowel and said "step up"! I can't believe how fast he is progressing. He has his first vet visit next wednesday and I might actually be able to get him in his travel carrier without scaring him to death!
Wanted to share. I've been in contact with an online conures group and asking questions and keeping them updated so I pretty much just cut and pasted here. They've been really helpful and encouraging. It's nice to have so many people with tons of experience at my fingertips! And they are super nice.
Maybe my next blog will be about my kids. I do remember I have them =)
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