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Albert
12-30-2015, 04:00 PM
12/29/15 Salty has been loving his table side hanging perch/play ring and enjoyed dinner with us for the first time, gobbling up blobs of sweet potato and even enjoyed munching on the skins, and some broccoli stalks.

His trick training is going well, he is learning to spin in a circle now, and does it occasionally with just the hand command, but usually needs to see the pine nut i am holding, leading him in a circle.

Ya'll talk about these here cuddle birds, but Salty will have nothing to do with that. If he is out of his cage, he is exploring and getting into trubble. He likes a rough cuddle for a minute or 2 but then a small nip lets me know that its time to let him go to find out just what is behind the couch or how many candies are really in that candy bowl. Speaking of the candy bowl, he used to play at just getting them out of the bowl, mouthing the wrappers a bit, throwing the candy off the table and move onto the next candy. Now, he is an expert at removing the paper wrapper, doing that in 15 seconds or less, so sadly we have to remove the candy bowl from his family play area ( our coffee table).

My shower perch idea is a failure - the vinyl adhesive didnt stick to the shower tiles, and came off. So this weekend its back to Home depot for a stronger glue or adhesive or something.

The wife is making progress with Salty too, taking advice from here and several books. She spends time every day, sitting next to the cage, reading aloud to him, giving him an occasional treat, and heaping verbal praise when he flaps or says anything. He let her give the UP command inside the cage and didnt lunge or even try to nip her. I gotta give the lady credit, she is trying like hell to make friends with Salty.

Seems he loves live music too - we ( me & 2 sons ) play in a band and the music room is downstairs. If we bring Salty down to hang out, he sings and whistles along with us ( but not in tune or pitch, naturally).

He has topped out weight wise at 268gr or so, and from what I read, thats about the max for yellow shoulder 'zons, who are one of the smallest true amazons.

All for now, Happy New Year to everyone.
3585

spiritbird
12-30-2015, 07:18 PM
Thanks for your wonderful update. Salty is in good hands. Your best bet for putting a shower perch on tile is strong suction cups. I think the stores sell those too. I have had a few of them over the years and never had a problem. Glue may not be safe for a bird if they get their beak into it. Amazons are one species that do tend to put on weight so good thing you are watching that. Does Salty talk much? Zons are good at that as well as dancing to music.

Casper's 2nd best friend
12-30-2015, 09:13 PM
If Salty is anything like Casper he will soon be making the most of the attention he gets from both you and your wife. Casper spends most of the evening swapping between the two of us every twenty minutes or so.
If American hardware stores are anything like those in the UK the tubes of sealant are pretty rubbish. See if you can get some Sikaflex 291 marine sealant. Twice the price for a very good reason.

Lady
12-31-2015, 11:18 PM
Great update, so nice to hear how well you guys are all doing! Love the pic of him in the candy dish. You could swap out the candy for some fairly large pebbles for him to toss out. I've seen Spiritbird mention them in the past as an item some birds like to play with. Just be sure they are too big for him to put into his mouth, and of course they are not from the ground. Places that sell dirt and even in fish aisles or the craft departments you can find some nice ones.