Gimli and Quill's Training Journal

[Katie Alleena]

Gimli: Day 2

Yesterday, I got Gimli, and he wasn't too keen on activity, but he stepped up after observing Quill frantically hopping around waiting for me to let him step on me. He walked over by himself, and set a foot on my finger, before climbing all the way up. He's been so brave!
Today, He climbed onto the perch, after tapping it with his beak a few times (no biting! :cool:) He doesn't seem as voraciously fond of millet as Quill -- he could just be really unsure of me still, which is perfectly fine by me. He was conversing with Quill pretty much all day, except Nap time.

Quill: Day 30

I really regret not writing a training journal for Quill ahead of time! But, since we are starting some serious training, I'll recap quickly:

For a while, Quill was scared of me. He would barely step onto the perch, but after he realized millet is amazing, he went through perch training really quickly. He now steps up on my finger without the "up" command or even a promise of millet. He will step up as I change the food and water, and as I wipe down perches every day without a second thought.

He will sit on my shoulder as long as millet is involved -- he tends to get really hyper and turns on adventure mode during out-of-cage experiences lately.

After bringing Gimli in, I need to say Up to get him to step up during play time with his new friend. (Which is really him chattering really noisily and bobbing while Gimli watches warily with an expression like this: :S) I am trying to let poor Gimli acclimate a bit after his interesting arrival to our household, and Quill bothers him (taps beaks, chatters loudly, tries to preen and bobs/hops on Gimli's perch) during his naptime which tends to last a good ten minutes longer than Quill's (...if I distract Quill, that is.)

Today, I started trying to teach him "C'mere!" which means fly over to me.
I know he gets it, but I think he's lazy... He'll step REALLY far to get the millet, but if I get too far away, he sits back and begins to preen, looking at me under the feathers as if to say "Pft. How about YOU 'c'mere!' and not the opposite."

It'll be a while... but I know Quill's a smartypants and partially wild boar (by the way he eats millet!! :rolleyes:) so he'll have no problem until the millet's taken away ;D <3

[FaeryBee]

Quill and Gimli are going to be lots of fun for you -- it's great that you're keeping a journal.
I know you'll enjoy looking back and reading it to see how things progressed. :D

[Katie Alleena]

Thanks so much, FaeryBee!

Gimli: Day 3

Today, I still took it really slow with him, since he's not been here for very long. He and Quill both had out of cage time, and he sat on the play gym and even was brave enough to inspect the bell on it. He stepped up without any hesitation, both on a perch and on my hand, but I still want to back off a bit and let him adjust more -- he's not as chatty as Quill is turning out to be so I take that as a signal that he's at the very least busy observing.
He seems to love millet, but still isn't as wild about it as Quill.
I learned today that he loves to walk and wander -- he came to me with his wings clipped. One feather is growing back in that I can see, and it's healthy as can be. He doesn't flit around much or flap his wings. He was content to walk on the floor and preen while I layed there trying to help him back onto the play gym. (The clip seems kind of botched, he doesn't glide very far, but he doesn't drop like a stone either.) He was more interested in chewing the play gym as opposed to Quill, who likes to use it as a landing pad.

Quill: Day 31

So, Today was the 1 month anniversary since I got Quill! He should be about 5 months old as of now -- he didn't have a leg band.
Today he was really chatty, especially when I played budgie sounds. He talked to everything -- my family, the toy I made them, the play gym, the curtain rod, one of my cats who snuck in AND of course, Gimli. He didn't seem as happy to be around Gimli today, and I didn't see him bob his head except once this morning. After Gimli backed away from him, they seemed to let themselves have their own space. No fighting is good (: They chat back and forth, so I believe that's alright.
As for training, While Gimli was out-of-cage, he didn't want to "c'mere" at all. He kept flying REALLY well in circles around the room and landing perfectly on the play gym. As usually, he hogged millet and was content to either climb the cage wondering why the door was closed, or sit on the curtain rod singing his fool head off (:
I'll attempt to train just one bird at a time. Tomorrow, I'll be getting a new cage.

We'll see how it goes ! :D:rolleyes:

[Katie Alleena]

Gimli: Day 4

Today, we changed over to a bigger cage, so I hung up all the toys I own -- now I need to get more to rotate in! :D :o
Gimli wasn't very playful with the toys while I was watching, but when I heard both he and Quill chattering very loudly, I caught him climbing a lattice ball toy while Quill was on the other toy.

He was the least distracted today when I tried training. He knew "c'mere!" Even though he was on the play gym 30 inches away, and I was talking to Quill. He knew if he bounced down, waddled over, and flapped just right, he would land on the perch and get some millet. Jackpot to Gimli for that! He's so smart!

He doesn't appreciate if I reach into his new cage while standing, so I'm rearranging and putting a taller stand in the room tomorrow to see if that helps ease nerves.

I clipped some millet down from the top of the cage today to praise them both for being so good about the switch -- they sat on top of it while I was adding perches and making lots of noise. It didn't seem to bother him a bit. He seems to be just a smidge bigger than Quill, might be older, so he reached with his foot and really pulled the millet so Quill could have some and share. He also held it down.

Aside from that, he was chattery, curious and overall in good spirits.

Quill: Day 32

I had changed the cage today, and for some reason it absolutely facinated Quill, so training didn't go as planned. He spent about an hour climbing all over the cage bars and seemingly tasting it at times. He made really funny happy sounding noises and chirps and was really cuddly once all his energy was spent. I got to touch his beak and scratch cheek feathers, which he leaned almost horizontal towards me for, and turned his head so the other side wasn't jealous. :rolleyes:

Like Gimli, he didn't like me towering over the cage, but once I knelt, he couldn't wait to step up! Out of the cage though -- forget it! He just had to see everything today. He only spent about five seconds on my curtain rod, and only about a minute flying -- once he flew by and grazed the side of my face. I thought it was intentional.

I tried "C'mere!" today, but all he would do is look curiously for a second, reach for the millet only to figure out it was too far away, then waddled and/or climbed away. He mumbled at the cage all the whole time. I'm hoping after he's done owning the cage, all will return to normal! :D

As for play, he loved the links toy I got him today, which I reviewed. He was crazily hanging upside down and making happy sounding whistles and chirps. It was too funny, considering he never played before, and only spoke to his toys since Gimli arrived.

Another weird thing was, as soon as I took the millet out of his line of vision, he would go peck at Gimli's leg band which is a reddish-brownish-yellow-orange color. It's rather strange. But after the millet was put away, and they were back in the cage, he didn't bother Gimli's leg band. Maybe he thought it was millet? Strange. But Gimli kicked him a couple times and they squabbled. No fighting really, just vocal. Quill just bobbed and chatted back, like normal. And Gimli took to chewing on the manzanita perch.

Speaking of chewing, I changed over to Kaytee supreme blend of seeds, and had to restart pellet conversion, because Gimli never had any. These seeds have no extras, just un-dyed regular seeds. The Zupreem Fruit blend pellets are really colorful, so when mixed, they look interesting. Gimli and Quill both ate one or two pellets while I was watching.

Quill had an issue that Gimli chose the left food bowl, and stepped on Gimli's bowl cover, trying to reach in upside down, which resulted in a conversation where Gimli was much louder than normal. Quill eventually hopped on over to the right side bowl, and then proceeded to take a drink from the water dish while upside down.

Their antics where really fun to watch today! I just hope it stays antics. Quill was high-energy and really excited today, and Gimli was being brave and yet serene about the whole thing.

We'll see what tomorrow brings!

[Katie Alleena]

I forgot to post yesterday night, so I'll post twice today.

Gimli: Day 5

Training was really sporatic today. Everything was about millet, and he wouldn't do anything without seeing it. I've figured out he's really smart about climbing -- he did some interesting upside-down acrobatics in order to climb to millet on top of the cage while he was inside.
He's also been vocal, just not as vocal as Quill. His flock call is definitely different than Quill's so I can recognize which bird is which. I really liked figuring that one out!
He didn't feel like stepping onto my hand today, so I just used a perch. He'll climb onto the perch and all the way down it before I have the chance to offer the millet. (That's about 2 seconds between "Good Bird!" and Millet.)
He was a lot braver about the foot toys today -- I bought cat jingle bell ball toys and he chewed on them a bit, which was good.
Hopefully the next phase means he'll step up onto my hand on command. We'll work on it!

Quill: Day 33

He was a monster today! I tried my best to get him to even step up on a perch, let alone my hand and all he wanted to do was run around and chirp cutely. He didn't quite appreciate the foot toys AS much...he would run over, tap one with his beak, scare himself silly, and fly away to the curtain rod. He did this about seven times before he decided to perch on the playgym and play a song. He chirped and rang that bell on it and looked incredibly proud of himself.
He's been dancing and bobbing his head when he sings near Gimli, which is really funny. Gimli seems to be resisting the beak taps, and pulls his head as far away as possible, but still will sit right up next to Quill. It's hilarious.
Quill has been scrubbing his head on the perch and fluffing his feathers, but Gimli won't preen him yet.
Quill has also tried more toys, especially the foraging treats I made. (Millet wrapped in natural coffee filters and tied with hemp.) He loves climbing everything, though will fly if he feels like it when out-of-cage.
I'm going to try and re-teach "Up" to both birds and go from there.
I've found Quiet helps him focus, though he doesn't focus for even ten minutes at a time :rolleyes:

We'll see what later brings!

[Katie Alleena]

Here's me forgetting again! Now, I will post twice in a row, one for yesterday :rolleyes: and one for today.

Gimli: Day 6

Yesterday, Gimli was doing really well. I'm trying to teach Quill "C'mere!" but Gimli is learning it instead, even if he's across the cage or on the playstand across the room. His wings are clipped, so he depends on me to get around.
Some times he floats to the ground, but makes annoyed noises when he can't take off again to join Quill or get the millet. He's a much better jumper than I expected.

I haven't tried having him sit on my shoulder, because I want him to be confident with "up" first. So far, so good! Sometimes, he doesn't feel like training, and I can tell. He hopped over my finger once during the several very short sessions I've tried and clung to a toy and got the millet anyway. I figured he deserved it.

He's living up to his namesake for sure. He's not all that skittish, and never really has been! Pretty nice.

Quill: Day 34

He was still super interested in the cage today, and spent a lot of time climbing as opposed to training. He's fully flighted, so it's difficult to take him far from the cage and actually keep him there....
Unless I have something distracting.

Gimli and He sat right still on their playgym and watched TV with me on my laptop. He looked completely entranced by the screen, and I thought that was awesome.

I still wish there was something I could do to help him focus. The training goes for 5-10 minutes several times a day and I'm lucky if I get one lesson where he doesn't fly or wander off. I know he needs his wings clipped for safety in my dorm -- they're both going to the vet Tuesday -- but I half wonder if that's the reason Gimli's so cool about training.

[Katie Alleena]

Gimli: Day 7

Today went really well with both "Up!" and "C'mere" -- he was stealing the spot light.

Aside from that he learned how to completely open the cage door above his food and hopped right out. I could hardly believe it. He wandered across the floor right over to me. I was honored. He's got such a personality and he's not at all afraid to show it, huh? When I leave my dorm room after I get to school, I should tell myself it's best to tie down those doors. ;)
Also, today he finally accepted Quill as a friend. Quill has this way of bobbing heads and tapping beaks, and Gimli ALWAYS pulls away. He liked sitting calmly with Quill, even if Quill was shouting as part of his little chattery songs. Today, he tapped beaks back, but when Quill puffed his head feathers, he wouldn't scratch them. Poor Quill.

I hung lettuce in the cage too...but no luck convincing him it was good. I'll try adding it to rice soon!

Quill: Day 35

I got Quill to stand on my fingers for only a small amount of time today, and he did respond to "c'mere!" once, which was great. I made sure to reward well for that!

Today he finally decided to play with the toys I made with millet tied with hemp inside natural brown coffee filters, and the whole toy I made out of those, more shredded coffee filters, buttons, beads, and safely food-colored popcicle sticks. He also loves the strong-bird toy, and got the bell to ring a few times!

Today, I also listened to Evanescence for a while, and I tested a theory. Quill was reallllyyy chatty, and I figured he was singing. When the songs changed, he went silent. When I paused a song, he went silent. As long as the music was on, Quill sang.

Once I looked over my shoulder and Quill appeared to be dancing!
He was on the lower perch that's just a regular wooden dowel stretching the full length of the cage. He was bobbing his head and hoppin back and forth across the perch while singing. I paused the music, he stopped. Played it, and he resumed.

He's so cute and chattery...it really made my day (:

Hopefully we can get back to serious training....but Sunday is move-in day to the new dorm for them !

[Katie Alleena]

Gimli: Day 8

This was Saturday before the big move, and I did my best to train them a bit before I got to school. I think Gimli is definitely less wild than Quill, and still is doing well with basic commands like "up", "down" and "c'mere." I've been trying to teach them both "Bye Birdies!" So that they don't contact call for me once I leave for class. Saturday, the amount of times they called for me reduced a bit, but I think it'll be a while before this takes place.

Quill: Day 36

He was still wild, and doesn't tend to stay in any one place for very long! But I hope soon it'll work out where he'll trust me more and not feel like he has to fly back to Gimli or stay in his cage.

[Katie Alleena]

Gimli: Day 9

This was Sunday, the day of the big move. He was the calmest in the carrier during the trip and the calmest getting into the carrier at 4am. I tied some millet to the inside and provided a water bottle and a dish. The water bottle ended up leaking all over the place, so I need to get another one. He stayed calm and ate, and perched. Nobody chattered of course!
When we got to school, he was calm and went right back in the cage as if it was no big deal. I didn't change the perches around or anything -- it was all fairly easy to manage. He was preening, eating and drinking like normal in no time. Later on, when my roommate and friends arrived, he tried to speak with us by chirping a little, which got scaredy-keet Quill to chirp, too. He stepped up for millet without me asking, which was good! I was just trying to give them a treat for being so well behaved!

Quill: Day 37

During the trip, Quill was nervous until the sun came up. I had to turn the car overhead light on for him, because he kept trying to fly around the small carrier. I felt so terrible for him! Later, he calmed down, ate and played with the coffee filters I crumped up, but I think the scare was a bit much. We're going to the vet very soon to make sure stress didn't damage either bird at all. Over all, he settled in quickly, and followed Gimli's lead in chirping last night when everyone was talking. I could tell they're not used to being uncovered so early -- I usually hear them go about their business while I'm sleeping, but today I watched them wake up after their 11 hour sleep.
Speaking of today, I will write of their training this evening (:

[Katie Alleena]

Gimli: Day 10

Today, everyone loved to talk to the birds! My Roomie even decided to play her guitar for the birds, to which Quill sang loudly. I had to leave them alone for when I went to work, to buy over-priced text books and for my late class.
I came in a little bit after a first firedrill ended! The birds were a little freaked out, but it was nothing millet didn't cure. I know it's loud. I just wish I had been there to help out.
After they calmed down, I was able to train Gimli some more with "Up" which he's getting the hang of. He's stepped on three different people besides me so far, and he even ate a honey seed treat my roommate bought for them while he was sitting on her hand. I was happy they weren't overly scared by the fire alarm...it sounds like a siren with a creepy voice that says "attention, there has been an emergency reported. Walk to the nearest exit..." blah blah blah. I think both birds love this place, despite.

Quill: Day 38

I think the fire alarm scared Quill more than it scared Gimli, but he still settled in and started chattering even as he was about to go to sleep. I couldn't get him to stay "Up" during training, but it's not too bad. I have a seperate space for training set up for when the wings are trimmed and I can rest assured he won't fly into the heater near the ceiling. Over all, he did a really great job under the circumstanced this time. Can't wait to see how the rest of these days go!

[Katie Alleena]

Gimli: Day 11

This was Tuesday 1/24. The Fids enjoyed singin along with the company in our room -- Gimli liked some song by Bon Jovi (Livin on a Prayer) -- but didn't sing so much as observe.
He stepped up pretty well, and didn't have the tendency to flee as much...still a bit from my roomie. That's about all!

Quill: Day 39

Quill is quite the singer! I'm impressed with how fast he's made himself at home...but he is slow-going with the step-up command. Only time will tell if he wants to tame down more!

[Katie Alleena]

Gimli: Day 12
1/25/11

Today, Gimli got a bunch of head scratches from Quill :D He fluffed out all of his head feathers and was really adorable. He also played with the goofy links toy for the first time ever. I changed the toys around later in the day, and he played with the drum-shaped activitoy, which I'll review later. Training went really well! Hardly any fear, even after I moved the cage, from either bird!

Quill: Day 40

Today, he sat on my finger for a good ten minutes, even after I hid the millet in the palm of my hand so he wouldn't over-indulge, lol. Usually he only stays for a few seconds, unlike Gimli. I was very happy with the results today. We're going to the vet on day 42, so hopefully he retains that trust.