Question:
How long did it take your ‘tiel to: Accept your hand; want your hand; accept your shoulder; want your shoulder; prefer freedom to the cage; find out he can leave the cage; realize you love him; realize he loves you? Still waiting… wondering… (I think I was right when I bought the bird – it’s good "training" for having (or not) a child! Whew!) — Leigh Allen *I reserve the right to change my mind. My opinion may be different tomorrow*
Response:
How long did it take your ‘tiel to: Accept your hand; want your hand; accept your shoulder; want your shoulder; prefer freedom to the cage; find out he can leave the cage; realize you love him; realize he loves you? Despite the shops claims, my tiel wasn’t very tame when I got him at +/- 6 months, but he has made good progress. It took him about 3 days to learn to climb onto my hand. He usually prefers not to stay on my hand, though, even after 3 years. When he found his way to my shoulder, he found his new home. He really prefers to be there, as long as I am standing upright. We have a cat as well, and Wazoo (the tiel) is smart enough to keep as far away from the floor as he can manage. If he gets much closer than my shoulder height, he gets nervous. Sometimes he will stay on my shoulder when I sit down, but that causes a real conflict because the cat considers my lap her territory and wants to be there when it is available; that’s much too close for Wazoo. He has always loved being outside his cage. We open his door as soon as someone is at home to make sure the tiel and cat have some supervision. Most of the time, the tiel stays on top of his cage (which is hung from the ceiling for his safety) and plays with the toys he has there. Sometime he flies around the apartment, landing in high places the cat can’t get to. He especially loves sitting on top of a stained glass piece hanging in one window where he can watch the outside world and get some sun. (Having the bird flying around is about the most interesting thing in our cat’s life. It keeps her active and alert a lot of the time, so I think sharing the house with the bird is very good for her.) Wazoo loves millet and sunflower seeds, lettuce and carrots, and making horrible loud noises when fire trucks go by. I don’t think people are on his "love list"; our function in his life is to provide the food and toys and a comfortable place to rest.
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >How long did it take your ‘tiel to: >Accept your hand; >want your hand; >accept your shoulder; >want your shoulder; >prefer freedom to the cage; >find out he can leave the cage; >realize you love him; >realize he loves you? >It took him about 3 days to learn to climb onto my hand. He usually >prefers not to stay on my hand, though, even after 3 years.
boy, i feel blessed! i guess the reason i chose my ‘tiel francis was because the instant i put my hand near the cage she climbed right up. she’s been incredibly sweet and well behaved in the 6 or so weeks we’ve had her. she has shown slight aggression (usually when she’s on my shoulder and i’m trying to get her back on to my hand) or when a lot of strangers are playing with her (like yesterday when i brought her to work). overall though, my biggest problem with her has been trying to get her to eat more veggies. thanks to a brilliant [as usual ;^)] suggestion from cathy quinones i’ve got francis eating a broccoli cole slaw mix from safeway [just the veggies of course, no goop.] the *best* part about francis is, she is completely silent the moment we turn out the light, and remains so until we are up and about in the morning. what a super bird she is! laura
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