When Storm the blue front Amazon parrot came to us he was too unhealthy to even dream about flying – weighing a whopping 580 grams! He has now been weighing at a steady 440 grams for the past week and continues to stay around 440 grams and a little above. Today, for instance, he was 445 grams. And in that week he has been experimenting with flying in his new aviary environment!
Although we had the set back of the Spring season kick into gear for Storm, we are still making progress with him! Dave and I left for 3 days while Storm and the rest of the flock stayed home.
When we got back, I saw little red wood chips all over the bottom of Storm’s cage and realized he was picking at his wood parrot toys while we were away! I think a little “alone time” was good for him because it encouraged him to self-entertain ...
I decided to do a video blog about the changes we made to Storm’s environment in an effort to set him up for better success in his time here with us. So please take a look!
Tip to take home: Setting an animal up for success just means putting the odds in his favor. For example, if you’re going to train your bird a new trick, you don’t want to start at your neighbor’s house, ...
You’re all probably wondering what happened with Storm?! Well, I will tell you…
In my attempt to let Storm spend more time with me, I brought him out in the morning to watch me work out. He can watch me from his cage, but I thought some “out of cage” time was even better. The quality time trick had worked so well the day before that I thought… why not?
At home, Storm was allowed on his owner’s shoulder by choice. He wasn’t put up there, he was LET up there to put himself there. This is a huge problem over time and it’s best to always PUT your bird on your shoulder if you want...
In the morning I walked in to say hello to Storm and saw one of his foraging toys (aka food finding toys) opened! I was so excited because it meant he did it all by himself and figured out how to forage for the first time… ever!
I decided since Storm was eating well at our house that I would take his food out of his cage for 24 hours and see if it would encourage him to use some of his foraging toys. Now, in the wild, there’s plenty ...
