Bea

Had to blame someone didn't i? Anyway, i first set myself to invisible to try and sneak around without being spotted by you and Karen. :(Laughing out loud):

It's a Canon Powershot A80, i love it.

Because once when Lin enjoyed telling me to go to bed cause it was too late i set it to "invisible" but since then i haven't been able to get it off that setting! Unless i log off and log back in but it usually goes right back to how it was after a while. Glad everyone's enjoying the pics.

(Laughing out loud)!! I hadn't actually noticed that! It's true though, Ozzie is the strong silent type....don't tell Blinks but i think his royal highness could be the 'all talk no action' type. :(Laughing out loud):

Hehe, these are photos from the past week, thought it was about time i shared them.

Head Scritch! Butt rub Tail Twist Ummm.....listening for termites perhaps? Maybe i can sneak some while Ozzie's not watching! *I'm....too sexy for my feathers!* More head scritches Playing with some scoubies. Oh, and he's a ladder perchy thing i made Blinkie this arvo:

Here's some pics of Blinkie abusing the gift of flight and zooming in circles around poor Oz. And you gotta give him some credit: I think i can, i think i can.....

First you gotta do the sneaky and SUPER SEXY perch slide. It's so SUBTLE ( ) that you're target won't suspect a thing! Then you make sure the kiss-ee doesn't have stinky breathe. Then you start SMOOCHING! And finish of by looking cute and happy!

Have you posted photos of the cage yet?

Have you tried a dish of water with celery leaves?

Couldn't you just use the wood shavings you get for mice/rat cages from pet stores? What are those made of?

I don't really mind either way about wing clipping. I clip once for taming and then let the flights grow back.

I personally don't like strangely shaped cages. You'd be better finding a square/rectangular cage as you'll find you can make much better use of the space!

She's the most gorgeous colour!

He's so cute all wet. :fear

Like you praise a dog, "Goooood Boooy Preeetty". :(Laughing out loud): He'd probably just look at you like you were missing a few brain cells.

Do he respond to praise?

I just did a step up session with him and for the last step up he didn't even want to get off my finger, (Laughing out loud). I guess he thought, "well you're just going to make me step up again so how about i stay here and you feed me a treat anyway." I think he likes the clicker because when he saw me get the clicker and the millet he flew over to see what i was up to. I'm feeling very positive at this stage.

I've just started clicker training with Blinkie in the hopes that it'll make him less of a ratbag. So i thought i'd share what i'm learning as i go along. To begin with you have to 'charge the clicker'. This means get the bird to understand what the sound means. So you click, and then offer a treat (millet, apple, bread, whatever your bird likes more than anything else). Do this a few times until your bird is looking for a treat when it hears the click. If when it hears the click your bird just flies off in terror you can muffle the sound a bit by wrapping it in a cloth. Once your bird has learned that click=treat you can try to teach behaviours. Maybe the easiest thing to begin with would to just reinforce 'step up', that's what i'm doing at least. It's a good start because it's easy for the bird to understand and it's a positive start because it's easy to do. So, you say "up up" or whatever command your bird's used to and the instant it does what you want you click/treat (c/t). If your birds a bit unsure then break it down into more steps. So c/t when your bird moves towards your finger. Or c/t when it touches your finger with it's beak or foot. Then gradually ask for more each time. So once your bird can step up at the word "up up" (or whatever you've used), ask it to stay on your finger for a few seconds longer before c/t, increase this time. Keep sessions really short. Sessions must end with a c/t rather than the bird getting bored and wandering off. I find Blinkie's focus runs out after 3-5mins so sessions must be kept very short. I imagine training will become more fun for them over time and sessions can last longer but start short, and gradually increase the time spent training.

Will do.

I would actually put Pretty in first. When Blinkie got upgraded to his cage he went through an adjustment period where he liked the space and didn't want to come out anymore. I think, especially as your cage is even larger, that this would be easier to get over one budgie at a time and if later Merlin see's Pretty still wanting to come out he shouldn't be as tricky to get past that stage.

(Laughing out loud)!! Perhaps.....i forgot to add that as a little test i said kiss, got him to kiss me and then click/treat, he got the hand of it in a few minutes. He's a lot more responsive to the clicker than Mickey was. Mickey wouldn't come near me even for ham if he thought the clicker would make noise.

Well it only took a couple of tries to get him used to the idea that click=treat. So i'm hoping it will go well, i must admit i enjoyed seeing him respond to the clicker.

They were in a kids bracelet making kit, came with loads of beads too.

Yep, i quarantine in the house in smaller cages.