Bev,I was able to watch it with no problems. That is basically what I did with my other birds and worked well. I have tried it with Eddie and he would try to bite my hand to get me to move it so he could get the banana chip.I'm thinking about giving him a good wing clip so he has to depend on me getting him to places he wants to go and trying what the video shows.

I thought it was very clever how the gentlemen quickly removed both hands when the bird approached him, beak down.

Joe, any updates on Eddie?

I wonder if a Time Out from Positive Reinforcement might work. What I did was if one of my birds nipped me when I was interacting with them, I would turn my back for 30 seconds (no more than this) and then turn around and give them the chance to do it right. You might be surprised at how quickly this will work.

Bev

I have been working with him on a daily basis with very little success. I'm beginning to think that he is what he is and wants to remain a hands off bird. He has been with me now for seven years and is nine years old and appears to be happy with his living conditions. I have given some thought on a wing clip,but he loves to fly so I'm not sure that making him dependant on me to get places would be a good idea.

What have you been doing, Joe? Explain what working with him on a daily basis means?

If your problem with him is biting, clipping him will just present more problems because you will have to carry him from place to place, will you not?

I can see you are discouraged, Joe and that's natural but trust me, ABA will work. It's not even a maybe, it is the law of behaviour.



Bev

Sorry for the late reply,Bev. I try to reward him with a treat for all the positive things he does,not grabbing the food dish from my hand,allowing me to scratch his head,not grabbing the papers when cleaning his tray,allowing me to change around toys in the cage and so on. I gave up on the stepping up because my fingers can't take many more bites. Things have improved some now that I don't wear my glasses when I'm around his cage and he seems more relaxed. I guess the biggest thing is that he doesn't fly at me or hunt me down when he is out of the cage.

I'm not discouraged,I just feel like I have been defeated by a bird.

We all have those days, Joe. How big are the banana chips you give him? You give him a whole banana chip for "not grabbing the food dish from your hand, another for allowing you to scratch his head". Is this correct?

Can you tell me again what his daily diet consists of?

I'm just trying to figure out if satiation is a problem here.

Bev

I give him small pieces,about 1/4" square. Yes,I give one to him most of the time or I say 'yea Eddie good boy' and clap my hands and when I say this he will look up and make a clapping noise with his beak,crest up,tail feathers fanned. I really wish I knew more of his past history other than his mental abuse. I still think there might have been physical abuse in one of his previous homes.

Nikki was physically abused in her first home Joe. Animals don't live in the past. Yes, they carry baggage but I believe by utilizing ABA effectively, we can move past that.

Can you make those pieces smaller? Can you tell me what you feed him every day?

Bev

Eddie gets fruit breads,veggie breads,always has Zupreem Natural pellets,Higgins Sunburst mix,fresh fruits and veggies that I alternate every day. When I first got him the only food he was fed was Zupreem Fruit and he accepted his diet change real quick.

And if you put all those things in a bowl, what would he eat first or second, Joe?

Bev

Bev,he would go for the banana chips first and then the hemp seeds and the rest he will eat leisurely with no real favorite. He will not eat nuts of any kind,they just get thrown from the cage. A friend of mine has two MSC's and he laughs and tells me that I need a Exorcist to look at Eddie and change his name to Damion.

BTW:I'm not about to hold a hemp seed in my fingers and offer it to him.

Could you offer them in a SS bowl so he doesn't have access to your fingers?

Eddie is just misunderstood. LOL

Bev