Mojito's Journal

[Ohana]

Well, it has been a two weeks to the day since I acquired Mojito. Here is a journal entry from over the weekend:

So we had a great weekend with Mojito.

Each time I walk into her room, she will bounce around from perch to perch and then greet me at the door of the cage, She is looking for her treat. So because she doesn't run away, I give it to her.

Saturday I slowly opened up the cage door and she didn't move to the walls or to a perch in the back. So I gave her a pecan. Then I sat down in the chair next to her cage and just waited. She came out to explore the outside of the cage, played with the blanket that is covering the cage and then I showed her a piece of a pecan. She started walking over to me, down the side of the cage and stopped half way down the cage, so I gave her a tiny piece for coming that far. Up she climbed to the far corner away from me to eat it. Then I showed her another piece, she did the same thing, except this time I asked her to come closer to get the treat, she wasn't so sure so I told her I would meet her half way. This seemed to work. Back up the cage and to the farthest corner away to eat it. One more time, she came to me, and I asked for just a little further.... She did it, she almost came off the cage, so I rewarded her with a half a pecan and she ate part of it at the closer corner of the cage and then went to the furthest to finish it. Kiss Kiss Progress.

Then on Sunday I had to clean cages, So I let Mojito out of the of the cage and toweled her to get her into her "cleaning cage", which is a cage that I use to put Pistachio and Mojito in when cleaning big cages. I placed both her and Pistachio outside to enjoy a misting and some seed in the sunshine. They enjoyed it a lot.

So when bringing, Mojito back inside, I had to towel her again to get her from one cage to the other. She already hates the towel and she hates the stick I am trying to teach her to step up on. While I had her toweled (her heart was racing) I took the time to sit down and let her feel my heart beat. She bit at the towel but never went after my hands. So I tried to pet her on the beak. She opened her mouth but didn't pin at me so I attempted to touch her beak. She let me. Then I tried to touch the top of her head and stroke her smoothly. She let me. Not once did she pin her eyes at me. She did however open her beak several times and I would just say "No Bite" she would close her mouth and I would say Good girl. I was able to stroke her head and not get bitten. She had full range of her head and could have bitten me if she wanted, instead if she got frustrated she bit at the towel. When I noticed she had calmed down and was just upset to be in the towel, I put her back in her cage. She didn't flutter around, or climb the walls. She turned her back to me and when I started talking to her she came to the perch that is right by the door. I gave her a pecan and told her what a good girl she was, and I thanked her for trusting me not to hurt her.

As I left the room, she started whistling for me and I popped my head in and said, I know I love you too.

So, even though it is slow going, I think it is working... even if it is just for a moment, I think she is learning that she can trust me and I truly don't want to hurt her. I think I am going to stop with the stick, she really is afraid of it. So I am going to get some flesh colored leather gloves and try to train her to step up with those. We will see.

Sorry so long, but I couldn't post over the weekend.

[Datsun and Family]

Aww hun you made me cry, bless you for loving this girl and giving her a great home, you are making amazing progress!! Yay for Mojito!

[Ohana]

So this weekend Mojito completely freaked out on me. I was changing the papers in her cage and she wanted to try one or two of them.... So I put them up to her and let her see if she wanted to chew on some paper.

Well she liked it. So I folded up a few pieces of paper and hung them thru the bars at the top her cage. She started freaking out, chattering on and flailing around the cage. I swear I thought she was going to hurt herself.

I didn't move the paper because I didn't want to reward her for acting out like this. So I just stepped back and watched.... then she came up to the front and was chattering at me. SO I asked her what she was doing and she said.... BEEEP BOOOOP.... Then started playing with the paper!

Silly bird got all excited for nothing. Now she LOVES ripping the paper to shreds....


This morning I went to open the cage door and she lunged at me. I told her NOT NICE and warned her I was coming in the cage any way. So I opened the door, she backed off and watched me change food dishes, pick up her foot toys she had thrown on the floor and then came to the front looking for her treat for being a good girl. I gave her one once I closed the door and she took it nicely.

We had guests over and she must have been over stimulated for the weekend. Poor thing.