Well I think the biggest hurdle in taming is over now that Piccolo has mastered the step up!

 

We have now had him for 19 days and I feel like the biggest progress has happened over the last three or four days. Now that he steps up the taming is coming along really nicely.

 

The biggest barrier is that we have huge mirrors in every room of our house--- except the room we keep Cosmo in. And they're still in quarantine so we can only tame Piccolo in a room with a mirror (the study is easiest, as we can be doing other things at the same time and have him get comfortable to just being around us when we do stuff)

 

So of course every few minutes he goes back to the mirror and I have to go get him again. He's actually very good natured, but more timid than Cosmo and a lot more gentle and placid. Will be interesting to see how they go together.

 

Meanwhile, Cosmo is super tame. He runs over the the side of the cage whenever we're in the room and when we put our hand in he just jumps straight onto it and runs up our arm. He's become such a sook that I can actually cradle him in my hands and give him a big neck scratch.

 

My plan is to continue taming Piccolo throughout quarantine. We will have guests with us for the next two weeks and I don't want to put them together during that time although we may get pressured to because people might think it would be 'cute' to see them together. But quarantine is quarantine, so too bad I expect the taming may slow down or even go a little backwards with other people around and less time to spend alone with Piccolo, so I will probably spend at least another week or maybe longer before gradually introducing them... that would bring it to about 2 months quarantine, but I'll extend it if I feel the need.

Edited June 25, 200915 yr by krosp

Thanks for the little Journal, I really enjoyed reading about him and the little adventures he gets up to.

Please do keep us updated, im curious to find out about the two, like you said should be cute with the two but like you also said, quarantine is quarantine.

 

And good things come to those who wait.

 

Cover up the mirror while in that room taming him so he can be more focused on you, look forward to reading this .

I can't cover up these mirrors, they are on our built ins and go from ceiling to floor

Not sure I want to actually remove the doors or stick anything to them though since we're renting.

 

It's gotten a little better though -- it's still on his mind but he stays with me much longer. Last night he even let me give him a very short scratch on his head.

aw the little sweety pie!

That is great to hear, you are doing such an excellent job

I can't cover up these mirrors, they are on our built ins and go from ceiling to floor :grbud:

Not sure I want to actually remove the doors or stick anything to them though since we're renting.

 

It's gotten a little better though -- it's still on his mind but he stays with me much longer. Last night he even let me give him a very short scratch on his head.

 

okay, hmm... maybe just a sheet that you could cover them temp?

In the past i didn't know that mirrors can slow down taming, but i wouldn't worry too much about it! The tamest, most gorgeous budgie i've had so far, Wally, had plenty of mirrors- my dad even built him a box that we called his "tardis"- when he went in there it had mirrors on all 3 sides so everywhere he looked there were green budgies- like his own flock! . But even though he loved to go in there, he was completely & totally in love with me in particular but also the rest of my family (even my mum who used to shoo him away whenever he came near her )

Update...

 

Taming hasn't increased as rapidly as my last update. He tends to have a sharp improvement followed by a plateau, in all stages of taming so far. But that's okay. I guess it's because I haven't been able to spend anywhere near as much time with him as we did with Cosmo.. we had 3 guests staying with us the past two weeks and kept Piccolo in our room... Cosmo was in the lounge and was the centre of attention. We haven't been able to have Piccolo too near where the main activity in the house is because that's where Cosmo lives and they were in quarantine.

 

Piccolo is basically... quite comfortable on or near me, with my hand, stepping up, and he can sit on me and sometimes even let me scratch him on the head. But he is still quite flighty and has a short attention span. Usually he'll only sit on me a little while before suddenly taking off. I can tell when he's thinking of flying away and once he's decided to, nothing can distract him- he'll do it sooner or later. So I'm a bit concerned that he will make Cosmo flighty too, because Cosmo isn't like that at all, he can sit in the one place for ages if I can get him comfortable!

 

Quarantine is over next week, and I think it would help the taming process to have Piccolo out of our room, where there is little activity, big unavoidable mirrors, and previous experience of being taken out of the cage etc... but unfortunately, to have him and Cosmo visible to each other could also hinder the taming at the same time. I am really not too sure what to do. I don't think I can progress much further trying to tame Piccolo in our room, but I am sure that once they're together they'll both go down in tameness too. I am hoping that I can just spend a lot more time with both of them when they're both allowed to be in the lounge room, and that I will just have to work extra hard at the taming and not just give up because they have bonded.

It is hard to say what will happen once you introduce Piccolo to Cosmo, it really can go both way. What l would do once you introduce them to each other is keep taming Piccolo separately. But who knows maybe once Piccolo sees how Cosmo interacts with you he will settle down and will copy what Cosmo is doing with you.

Wow birdluv, I love your signature picture! How did you do that?

 

Yeah, I think I will have to continue taming them both after they're introduced (although Cosmo is super tame, but I mustn't assume he will stay that way). It will be exciting to see them together but a little sad in a way as there's no going back to having our "only child" haha

Wow birdluv, I love your signature picture! How did you do that?

Thanks l used photoshop to do my siggy.

Well, quarantine is over!

 

I now have Piccolo's cage downstairs on the opposite wall to Cosmo, so they can see each other and get used to being around each other. It's weird not having Piccolo in our bedroom anymore, but we'll appreciate not being woken up by him every morning

 

I've got them out to play together in a neutral area and they're so interesting and funny to watch. Their first reaction was that Piccolo just followed Cosmo everywhere and got way too close all the time, so Cosmo wasn't impressed with this young whippersnapper stepping into his personal bubble and kept either running away or biting at him. But whenever Piccolo stopped to preen or do something else, curiosity would get the better of Cosmo and he'd sneak up and gently nibble at Piccolo - but as soon as Piccolo responded and approached Cosmo, he'd be back in defensive mode again and bite. Cosmo spent most of the time fluffed up big and standing tall, and bounced around trying to be dominant. It was so much like watching a big brother who finds his little brother annoying because he copies everything and follows him around :sadsorry:

 

At the moment they seem to both be curious and interested in each other but still wary. Certainly not an instant bond, but knowing them both, this is exactly how I expected them to behave. It's so funny, Piccolo copies everything Cosmo does EXACTLY... e.g., Cosmo stretches out his left wing, so Piccolo does the same.

 

When they're out together, Cosmo still flies over to me and preens me, and seems to enjoy being around me without Piccolo there. He's doing lots of his human talking. I hope that this can get Piccolo used to the idea that I'm not so scary to be around (or on).

Edited July 21, 200915 yr by krosp

Well, quarantine is over!

Yay! :sadsorry:

 

At the moment they seem to both be curious and interested in each other but still wary. Certainly not an instant bond, but knowing them both, this is exactly how I expected them to behave. It's so funny, Piccolo copies everything Cosmo does EXACTLY... e.g., Cosmo stretches out his left wing, so Piccolo does the same.

 

That is so, so adorable! That seems like a good start given that they've only just met and have to work out the hierarchy, etc etc. Is Piccolo now more social with you because Cosmo is too?

Kind of... not so much more social with me, but just generally more comfortable on me because Cosmo prefers to be on me and doesn't just take off suddenly like Piccolo does, so I think that makes Piccolo feel more calm sitting on me or having me around.

Alright quarantine is over

 

l'm glad to hear that everything is going smoothly.

Now Cosmo just tries to mate with poor Piccolo at any opportunity

Piccolo doesn't understand but of course hates being stood on.

Hope Cosmo settles down! I guess covering him for longer might help.

Edited July 23, 200915 yr by krosp

Well, the two of them have been together in the cage since Sunday. Before that, I was taking Piccolo out at night and whenever I wasn't home just in case they fought too badly... but now they have been in there continuously since Sunday, so I guess that means they're now officially living together! They seem to be getting along now. It's really cute- Piccolo has learned not to try and eat out of the same dish as Cosmo, so whenever Cosmo starts eating, Piccolo goes down and eats at the other one.. I see them eating - one from each dish - always at the exact same time :thankyou: they've worked out their little system and it seems to be working lol

Awww... how cute. I'm glad the new 'roomies' are getting along nicely. Would love some group shots!?!? please.....

Awww... how cute. I'm glad the new 'roomies' are getting along nicely. Would love some group shots!?!? please.....

l would also love to see some pictures too :question:

I did put up some photos about a week ago of their first introduction. Have been quite busy lately but I will try to get some photos of them together now they're settled, and show you as soon as I can :question:

Progress is slow but is still happening.

 

The best news is that even though Cosmo and Piccolo have very much bonded, Cosmo is as tame as ever and still enjoys coming out of the cage, begging for attention and interacting heaps with people. He still talks A LOT when people are around too... and wolf whistles lol. I think Piccolo is starting to imitate the inflections of the human voices, but hasn't started talking yet... I do think he's picking it up off Cosmo though.

 

Piccolo is still shy and cautious, but seems comfortable on us if Cosmo is around. He used to only stay on us for a short period of time if cosmo was on the same exact hand, but now he'll sit on us for a much longer time even if Cosmo is on a different part of our body or on someone else but just generally in the same area of the room. He nibbles my fingers heaps (very gently) - such a little nibbler. The only other budgies I've had that nibbled in that way were all hens.

Edited August 23, 200915 yr by krosp