Adoption and Adoption Days September 28, 2007

Yesterday was Nikko’s first adoption day. We can’t believe it is already an year since the little guy came into our lives, and , that he is almost 3 years old! Nikko is getting a new happy hut and we all had loads of cinnamon coffee cake last night.

Do I look like I am 3?

And tomorrow is Amy’s adoption day too! She already got a whole bunch of new toys, including, of course, a tennis ball. She has been going crazy with all the new toys to play with.

Wanna come and play?

The biggest news of all is about Pepper. We have now officially adopted Pepper! She acts like she knows it too Overall, we need to have a big adoption day bash here.

What took you guys so long?

Blog Burnout… August 7, 2007

We have been suffering from a little blog burnout, after the blogathon. It felt like a feat to have written 49 posts in 24 hours, but it also zapped a lot of our energy. I was hoping to post last weekend, but alas, it was a lazy one! Anyways, wanted to update everyone that we are all doing alright. Mostly, its the same old, except we have been trying to get Nikko say my name. He does give it a try. Watch out for video soon. Talking of videos, we received a nice clip of Sephora playing with her birthday presents. We all had fun watching it!

Jealous Nikko July 28, 2007

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Blogathon 2007 - Post 28 - 9.30 PM

Nikko is the typical kid in our house. He always wants attention and has favorites - Shankar. He always follows Shankar in what he is doing, and does not like it one bit that any one else has anything to do with Shankar. He has bitten / tried to bite me, quite a few times, as a recipient of Shankar’s attention. Though he doesn’t bite Pepper, anytime anyone gives Pepper some attention, he wants it too and he wants it all! With Amy, she is ok, as long as she stays away from the cage and Shankar does not give her too much attention when Nikko is watching. If either of us, starts to play with Amy, anywhere close to Nikko - he threatens to get to us. And, of course that enough to send Amy back to her bed. Here is one such Nikko’s feat - hanging from the cage door, like he is going to jump on us!

Training Nikko June 6, 2007

Stepping Up and Saying Hello

As mentioned in every single pet-bird manual, the first thing we trained Nikko is to Step Up on a dowel. The idea is he to get him familiarized with the stick, and if he climbs on it, then treat him. Before we discovered his passion for sunflower seeds, I used grapes for his training. It was a hard process, as his goal seemed to be to avoid the stick and still get the grape!

Once he learned the idea of doing something for a treat, the process got much better. It didn’t take long for Nikko to step up, both on a stick and on the finger! But when he thinks he doesn’t have the right balance on the finger – he uses his beak to get it and many a time results in a bleed, from the finger, of course! Once we got into the mode of training Nikko, we started the process of Clicker Training and he has made wonderful progress.

Here is Nikko, Waving at you, saying Hello!

Some of you may wonder: Why train pet birds?

This is what About.com has to say:

Birds are complex creatures that sometimes behave in ways that are difficult for us to understand. While some quirky behaviors are normal and acceptable, owners need to know the proper ways to manage undesirable behaviors such as biting, chewing, and screaming.

And Lianne McLeod, has this to say:

Training pet parrots has benefits that extend well beyond the entertainment value of a parrot that can talk and do tricks. Training will strengthen the bond you have with your parrot, who will look forward to the one-on-one attention involved in training sessions, especially when success means lots of praise and attention along with favorite treats. In addition, teaching some simple commands will make handling your parrot easier.

For us, it was simple - we wanted to train him, so that he is comfortable with us and we are comfortable with him and we all have fun! Training him has made our interaction much more wonderful. We know and understand him better and he has a meaningful way of interacting with us. We all have some other activity to look forward to, other than having him just sit with / on us. It is also a good way of distracting him from unwanted behavior. A lot of people are surprised when I say I interact with Nikko over the phone. It is hard to think of a bird being smart enough to understand someone over the phone, but I think that all the time spent with him, training and having fun has added so much more to our relationship!

Birdie Heaven June 3, 2007

These are part of what constitutes birdie heaven for Nikko:

Sitting on Dad’s shoulder and nibbling at his ears. The left side is better, as Pepper is on the right these days!

Getting kisses from mom

Rolled back on her lap

Or climbing on her shoulder

On the bed, when Dad wakes up

And, eating cake frosting!

Laid Back Nikko June 2, 2007

Nikko likes to be with us or rather, on us, most of the time. When he gets really excited and playful, he likes to ‘Roll Over’ on his back. He has not learned to do so by himself, without the support of a finger. He would lean back on the sheets and give it a try though.

Rolling over on my palm

Now to the sheet

And letting go!

Tagged!!! May 30, 2007

Thanks to Gomer & Opie at Dogs Aye View, we got tagged to write about 8 unusual / funny / secret things about our kids - Amy, Nikko and Pepper!

Since we haven’t introduced Pepper yet, the list starts with her. Pepper is a 11-year old Nanday Conure. Here are some tit bits about her and Nikko.

• We always thought Pepper was a boy since we got her - till two weeks back, when she started laying eggs. She is now sitting on two (dead) eggs.

• Pepper doesn’t like to take a bath - she freezes when wet. However, she likes to put her beak in the water cup and stir it and play. Nikko on the other hand, will jump into a pie plate with water!

• Pepper is good with mimicking. She makes the sound of running water, when she sees us drink water from a glass. Pepper also imitates the sound of our laughs and laughs with us!

• Pepper is also a fearless climber - she figured out to walk on the window sill, climb down the curtain to the recliner and get to us on the couch. She is glad that Nikko cant make it farther that the window sill.

• Pepper likes to shred - we cover her cage bottom with shredded paper and her sleep cage with newspaper, and she is content to be busy for hours with them.

• Nikko is so protective of us (mostly Shankar) and has attacked me when I got too close to my husband! He has dive-bombed Amy and attacks almost all of her toys. He doesn’t like stuffed animals especially.

• Nikko loves our bed. He gets sooo excited when he comes into the bedroom, and runs around / inside the sheets, making these cute sounds, like talking to himself.

• Nikko knows when Shankar comes home from work. He will sit on top of the cage or inside and watch the road for Shankar. The moment he sees him on the other side of the road, he will start his joyous screaming and run to the spot on the top of his cage closest to the door. He secretly thinks he is a dog

We are tagging Spencer at The Adventures of Spencer blog. We will soon write on 8 unusual things about Amy! Thanks Gomer & Opie!