Last night, my food bowl mysteriously vanished a few hours after dinner.
I didn't think too much of it til the next morning, but I woke up hungry. At least I think it was hunger. I've never really experienced this before.
It wasn't nice. I started shouting for mom and dad to bring me food shortly after sunrise.
At about 9am Dad came down in his pajamas. That was surprising too. I don't think I've ever seen him in his pajamas outside of mom and dad's nest. Anyway he made nice noises but didnt bring me food. Instead, he put a stick in my cage. I didn't like the stick so I made like I was going to bite it. When my beak touched the stick there was this strange click noise and Dad said I was a good bird and gave me something dry that tasted like banana. I don't like dry food so I put it in my water dish.
A minute or two the stick came back and I did the same thing and the same thing happened but I got something else that was dry and unappetizing and I dropped it. (Jeff comments: This was a dried raspberry.)
At this point Dad put down the stick and brought my food bowl back. I ate happily.
In the afternoon the same thing happened- my bowl went away again! Just before dinner Dad showed up with the stick and something orange. I could smell from my perch ontop of my cage that this was good stuff.
Dad stuck the stick at me, I tapped it with my beak, and he told me I was a good bird and gave me some of the orange stuff... a little peice of juicy orange! Yum! I also heard that odd click again.
Dad did this about a dozen times. I tried ignoring the stick, and I didn't get anything. I tried just saying "hello" and that didn't work either. But when i touched or bit the end of the stick, I got an orange peice! What a weird game!
After about two-thirds of the orange was gone I was getting tired of this game and stopped playing. Dad tried a few more times, then brought my food bowl back.
Later, I did "sleepy bird" and he gave me a nut.
What a weird day!
Jeff Comments:
What I have Pickles on now is called a "training diet." He gets his food bowl in the morning to eat and again in the evening but doesn't get to "graze" during the day. Dave Womach recommends a few hours of food availability morning and night but I'm working Pickles back to that gradually so he has it for more like 4 or 5 hours for breakfast and dinner.
The first training treat I tried was dry fruit. This would have been convenient but Pickles doesn't seem to like it much. Certainly not enough to motivate his actions. Also, his tendency to "dunk" dry things makes immediate repetition difficult. This evening I switched to fresh fruit which seems to work well for him, cut into "treat size" pieces.
The exercise we are doing is called "target training." The point is to get him to know that he is expected to touch his beak to the stick. Then to lead him to places using the stick.
The "click noise" Pickles mentions is a training clicker. Its very useful for early training because it is a very distinct sound that an animal can learn very quickly to associate with "that's right."
I didn't think too much of it til the next morning, but I woke up hungry. At least I think it was hunger. I've never really experienced this before.
It wasn't nice. I started shouting for mom and dad to bring me food shortly after sunrise.
At about 9am Dad came down in his pajamas. That was surprising too. I don't think I've ever seen him in his pajamas outside of mom and dad's nest. Anyway he made nice noises but didnt bring me food. Instead, he put a stick in my cage. I didn't like the stick so I made like I was going to bite it. When my beak touched the stick there was this strange click noise and Dad said I was a good bird and gave me something dry that tasted like banana. I don't like dry food so I put it in my water dish.
A minute or two the stick came back and I did the same thing and the same thing happened but I got something else that was dry and unappetizing and I dropped it. (Jeff comments: This was a dried raspberry.)
At this point Dad put down the stick and brought my food bowl back. I ate happily.
In the afternoon the same thing happened- my bowl went away again! Just before dinner Dad showed up with the stick and something orange. I could smell from my perch ontop of my cage that this was good stuff.
Dad stuck the stick at me, I tapped it with my beak, and he told me I was a good bird and gave me some of the orange stuff... a little peice of juicy orange! Yum! I also heard that odd click again.
Dad did this about a dozen times. I tried ignoring the stick, and I didn't get anything. I tried just saying "hello" and that didn't work either. But when i touched or bit the end of the stick, I got an orange peice! What a weird game!
After about two-thirds of the orange was gone I was getting tired of this game and stopped playing. Dad tried a few more times, then brought my food bowl back.
Later, I did "sleepy bird" and he gave me a nut.
What a weird day!
Jeff Comments:
What I have Pickles on now is called a "training diet." He gets his food bowl in the morning to eat and again in the evening but doesn't get to "graze" during the day. Dave Womach recommends a few hours of food availability morning and night but I'm working Pickles back to that gradually so he has it for more like 4 or 5 hours for breakfast and dinner.
The first training treat I tried was dry fruit. This would have been convenient but Pickles doesn't seem to like it much. Certainly not enough to motivate his actions. Also, his tendency to "dunk" dry things makes immediate repetition difficult. This evening I switched to fresh fruit which seems to work well for him, cut into "treat size" pieces.
The exercise we are doing is called "target training." The point is to get him to know that he is expected to touch his beak to the stick. Then to lead him to places using the stick.
The "click noise" Pickles mentions is a training clicker. Its very useful for early training because it is a very distinct sound that an animal can learn very quickly to associate with "that's right."
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