Re: Baby"s home in 2 days and Any WA State Contacts?

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: Hi Barbara! : Congratulations on bringing Amos home on Friday! I remember when we went to get Cabby and Chardy. We look back on that as one of the happiest events of our life! They will soon be 4, and every day with them has been a joy! I feel sure Amos will bring joy to your home as well! : RESOURCES : Here on Ask Polly and at Land of Vos overall, there is lots of information about nutrition and behavior – and lots about bringing your baby bird home. There is also a search engine at the top of the Ask Polly page (and soon to be added to the main Land of Vos page if it isn’t there already). This searches all of Ask Polly and Land of Vos. If you are wondering about Bathing, for example, you could click on Search, enter the word bathing in the search box, and get a list of FAQs, articles, questions and responses that contain that word along with links to take you directly to your selection! : May I recommend a website to you? It is http://www.petbirdreport.com. This is Sally Blanchard’s website. Ms. Blanchard is a parrot behaviorist whose methods and techniques make a lot of sense to me. Ms. Blanchard has authored a behavior book called The Companion Parrot Handbook, edits the Pet Bird Report magazine, and writes articles for Bird Talk and probably other publications as well. I know there are many other good behaviorists “out there” – but as an Internet novice, I have not found their websites yet. There are also many good behavior books available at bookstores and libraries (we have several, including My Parrot, My Friend and Why Does My Bird Do That). There are also nutritional books such as Feeding Your Pet Bird, and some general health information books such as The Complete Bird Owner’s Handbook and The Parrot in Health and Illness, among others. : While these books are not about eclectus parrots, they are about parrots generally, and can give you a good idea of what parrots are, how they develop, and their physical and social needs. The Land of Vos and other sites such as The Eclectus Society are dedicated to eclectus parrots. Every species of parrot is different. If you should read or hear anything that sounds confusing, doesn’t make sense, etc, feel free to ask us and we will do our best to help! : There are two books about eclectus currently in print that I know of. There is one that is out of print that you can sometimes find in a library. IMHO, these are geared to the aviary eclectus and not really to the companion. These are A Complete Guide to Eclectus Parrots (out of print), The Eclectus A Complete Guide, and A Guide to Eclectus Parrots, Their Management, Care and Breeding. Some of these books contain outdated/incorrect information (such as eclectus are poor talkers – which is not true!), so if you read these books, please keep that in mind. : BRINGING THE BABY HOME : Your breeder has probably given you a good overview of what to expect when you bring little Amos home, so you probably already know a lot of what I will relate here- : The vet check : Be sure to take Amos to an avian vet to have his vet check. Many breeder health guarantees require this within a specific timeframe. IMHO, when he has had his check, have him vaccinated for polyoma. If your breeder says s/he has already vaccinated him for polyoma, be sure to tell that to the vet. Your breeder will probably supply your vet (or you) with the documentation that the vaccination has been administered. The reason you should be sure to tell your vet if Amos has been vaccinated is that his polyoma test will come back positive if he has been recently vaccinated. This would be alarming if your vet didn’t know he was already vaccinated as polyoma is a very serious avian disease! There are some other ways your avian vet can tell if he really has been vaccinated (sometimes the seller will say the bird has been vaccinated when he hasn’t. If you are told that he was, the vet can often tell if that is true with a physical exam.) : Be sure you have a sturdy carrier for transporting him – this is handy for taking him home, taking him to the vet, etc. : Be sure to have Amos’ cage, food and toys all set up and in place when he comes home. : Clumsy babies- : Keep in mind that although Amos may look like an adult (except for his beak, which is probably still streaked with dark brown, and his irises, which are still dark), he is a baby. He will be a baby until he is about a year old. Right now, Amos is clumsy – learning to use his feet, his wings and his body to balance and get around on perches and toys. He may tend to fall or lose his balance easily. Many people lower the perches in the cage for the first few months their baby is home, then slowly raise them until they are at the “normal” height. This way, the baby will not have as far to fall when he slips. Some even place a folded bath towel on the bottom of the cage, either over the entire bottom, or in “fall zones” to cushion landings. If you opt to do this, be sure the towel is thick enough that Amos can’t step somewhere he thinks is solid only to find he has stepped between the bars – oops! : Regression : It is not uncommon for a fully weaned baby to come to a new home and then eat poorly or “beg” to be fed. If you notice this, just feed him some warm, soft food from your fingers. This can be some of his cooked food, or can be something like whole grain bread soaked in a little warm water and fed from your fingers. When we first brought our birds home, Chardy ate like a champ, but Cabby, who is a few weeks younger, was reluctant to eat. I took her into a quiet room, talked to her gently, held her in one hand, and fed her some of her cooked food with the other. She ate that way for two days, then has been a wonderful eater ever since. Since you have been visiting Amos at the breeder, you probably recognize the “I’m hungry” call – usually a loud AAAKK or AAAKK AAAKK. Sometimes it sounds “froglike” also called “gronking”. Just do the same thing – feed him some warm, soft food from your fingers while you hold him and speak to him gently. He should soon begin to relax and start eating on his own again. : Familiar Food : When we brought Cabby and Chardy home from the breeder, she gave us some of the food they had been weaned to – weaning pellets, pelleted food and cooked food. She also told us what fresh foods they had experience with. IMHO, it is a good idea to feed Amos food he is familiar with in the first few days he is with you. I believe this helps baby birds to feel secure more quickly. Amos will have only seen you a few times. He will be in a different home with a different routine, no other parrots (even if you had other parrots, they would not be the ones he is used to seeing), new faces, new cage, new toys, new everything – but at least the food will be something he recognizes. After the first few days, when he has begun to acclimate, you can start including the food you want him to eat. You may have to feed it to him first (or eat it yourself in front of him– yum yum!) so he knows it is food – but usually, eclectus have very good appetites and eat well after they are acclimated. : Environment for the new baby : Especially during the first few days, and over the first few weeks, ensure Amos’ environment is relaxed and quiet – not silent /tippytoes– just calm – the way you might want it to be with a new baby human in the house- avoid loud, sudden noises or fast, jerky or sudden movements, bright fingernail polish, bright or brightly patterned clothing, hats or fluffy hair accessories or styles. Any children in the home should understand they need to be less rambunctious in the vicinity of Amos –and no matter how tempting, they should avoid poking at him or wiggling their fingers at him as this could easily scare Amos. As Amos becomes used to the household, normal activity levels can resume. : Be sure Amos gets plenty of opportunity to rest in his cage – he will probably need some naps like human children do. At night, he should receive at least 10 hours of dark, quiet sleep. We cover our birds’ cage at night as we feel it adds to their feeling of security, helps reduce any distraction from lights or other noises outside of their room, and keeps the furnace from blowing on them. We use a dark blue King flat sheet (no loops etc to catch curious toes or beaks). Some people do not cover their birds. It is your choice. : If Amos’ cage is located in a family room or den, you might wish to get him a small “sleeping cage” and keep it in a guest room or other quiet room. This cage would be simply equipped - a suitable perch, and a water bowl and bowl for dry food would probably be fine. : After the first day or so, take Amos for a little “tour” of his room. Show him the furniture, the window, etc, and talk to him in a gentle, happy voice. Take him for a similar tour of the family room or room where he will be spending most of his time with the family or his out of cage time. : The idea is to allow Amos to get used to his new home and feel secure with the people, the places, the sounds. If everyone takes an extra moment to be gentle, relaxed, calm and patient, Amos is likely to do this quickly. – To use one of Sally Blanchard’s phrases, everything should be trust-building – not trust-destroying. : Routine : You can start him on a routine as soon as he comes home. The routine should not be “hard and fast” such as food precisely at 12:00 noon and 5:00PM, playtime between 5:30PM and 9:00PM on the dot, etc. The routine should just be the normal ebb and flow of the day. Do try to ensure he has several hours a day out of his cage to stretch, play and interact with the family. Our birds are out every day for about 3-4 hours, and are out longer on weekends, holidays or vacations. : “UP” command : Be sure Amos knows the “UP” command – and hopefully the “DOWN” command. Our breeder taught our birds this. If Amos doesn’t know at least the UP command, let me know and I will suggest a technique for teaching him. These are important commands for your bird to know, IMHO. Not only do they help your bird to step onto and off of your hand on command, but also let him understand what is expected of him and what your hands “want” from him. In this same vein, especially when Amos is learning the routine of the household, you may wish to tell him whatever you are doing – changing the water bowl, cleaning his cage, changing his food bowl etc – so he begins to learn what you are doing and if you expect anything from him. Otherwise, if you put your hand in his cage, he may not know what you want – do you want him to step up? Do you want to grab him and eat him? He could react in a confused manner - which brings me to the next baby bird thing- : Hacking : Baby birds have a defense mechanism our breeder called “hacking”. This is where they strike out with their head and beak as if they are going to bite. Very often, it is a device they use when they are afraid or uncertain. If they strike out, maybe the scary thing will be frightened off and leave them alone. If Amos hacks at you, slow down whatever you were doing, and talk to him. Then try it again. Go slowly. Check to see what it might be that has made him afraid or unsure. Usually, if you think from his point of view, you will figure out what it is, and can remove it, change it, etc. Amos may hack at your hands when you reach into his cage as mentioned in the paragraph above. If he doesn’t know what you want, he could be confused or uncertain, and hack at you. Be reassuring – again – trust building. : Punishment : Birds do not understand punishment and they should not be punished as such. Do not yell at a bird, or strike him or “pop” him on the beak, squirt water at him etc. They don’t understand that the punishment is the result of what they have done. They often don’t even understand that they have done anything “wrong”, and wouldn’t know why what they did was “bad”. Use positive reinforcement to reward desirable behavior, and ignore, distract the bird from, use time-outs or do not reward undesirable behavior. : Bathing : Do not bathe him right away. Wait about a week until he gets used to your household first. I would start out by using a clean (not used for anything but water at any time) mist bottle like is used to mist plants. Fill the bottle with lukewarm water, and gently mist Amos. Say something like “Time for a Shower!” in a happy, upbeat voice. Just a couple of sprays to start out, unless his breeder has gotten him used to bathing already – then start out doing whatever your breeder did to bathe him. Watch his reaction to the mist bottle. As he becomes more and more used to it, try taking him into the shower – use a gentle setting, and lukewarm water. Go slowly – maybe just a little shower at first. If he likes it, shower him longer. : Body language : Learn his body language. Watch for the signs that say “I am tired” or “I am afraid” or “I am curious”. These will be invaluable in helping you to provide a secure, happy environment for Amos. Go at his speed, let him get used to things. This will help him to be relaxed and curious about the world he lives in. : I know I didn’t address all of your questions - this information is a start, at least – I will get to the others – maybe tomorrow. Hope this is of help to you! : Al and Mary : Cabby and Chardy (SIE) : : : My newly weaned SI eclectus Amos, is coming home friday : : and I would like to know how I can tell if he is settling in or not. Are there any danger signs I should watch for? How soon should I start him on a routine? How do I get him used to bathing? : : Is there anyone from Washington State out there that has an eclectus that would be willing to chat either via email or the telephone? I live in Lakewood. : : Please contact me as soon as possible. : : Thanks! Barbara

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