Hi Kathy, this is sooooooooo cute. I can't get Denny any where near a bath. He has to be misted. I am hoping that Timmy takes to water better than Denny. Dickie used to bathe in his water cup and he HATED to be misted.

I am jealous!

Love the bird sounds ;-)

That was a once in a lifetime moment... Especially with the poor Frenchie in the background barking to be let out.
When I posted this on Facebook all my cousins thought I'd gone and bought 50 birds and had them all in the living room

ill just betcha all those bird sounds encouraged those two to dive in also...

They always seem to perk up when I have bird song on. Or even when it happens on the TV. It's the same with Bruno, he only watches TV when a dog is barking on it. Sillies.
It doesn't help when I'm trying to get them to cooperate and step up to my hand with all the bird chatter. I have to turn it off then.

lol...the idea when training is to have NO distractions...train one at a time ...be consistent...patient...and firm but not forceful ...when they get tired ...backoff...try ..to make training sessions twice a day getting comfortable and for 10 to 15 minute intervals...cover one cage where they are so close to each other while doing this also or the other is gonna keep interferring...i can see how close your cages are so thats a huge problem...when perch or hand training when they do step on either dont move and dont try to take out of the cage...always use the same words as up or step up...off or down..

and just keep at it ...it could take weeks...but once its down pat then your home free ...thing thats holding you back is they should not have come out of the cage before this was accomplished and all the distractions...lol

Thanks Illusive

Good advise for all of us in "training-mode".

I will def. try that.

Thing is they do pretty good in the cage. Will step right up, but sometimes step right off again. I let chirp do this "I'm on, now I'm off, now I'm on" thing a few times then let it go. Pips will step on once, then after a minute she want off and that's all I'm gonna get out of her for then.

Both of them had the step up to the perch great when I had let them out last. And they would stay on it 'till we got to the door of their cages and they would hop in.

so how do you know it's a solid step up until you do get out of the cage, cuz like with dogs, it changes the dynamics, doesn't it? ...you know when dogs are on leash it's a whole dif. story than the minute you take it off. They know they can do what they want at that point, or with our, he's actually better behaved, I just don't trust him

In any case, everyone is staying in-doors for now.

you know when its solid kathy you can tell when a animal is doing stuff willingly or its tired and just wants it all to stop so does whatever...you can read a animals body language im sure...and the expression even a bird has in its eyes an head movement...to know if its really nervous or scared or just wanting it all to be done...a minute on a perch is a long time most birds dont sit still that long except to eat or sleep...

the idea is they do what you want the moment you want them too..they dont have to freeze like a ice sculpture but you need to see you have control and its a mutual thing...not a domineering kind of situation

So based on what you said I would say Chirp has a pretty solid step up. I put my had in anywhere near him and he hops on and will hop off, go somewhere else, come back, hop back on. He will close his eyes and grind his beak (that means contentment correct?) With him I do really feel like he is confortable with me.

As of last night I feel very good about his comfort level with me. I just sensed it. He stayed on me, shoulder, hand, leg...the whole time when he could have hoped onto this basket I set down for him, or his cage. It was like he wanted to be with me and that was the first time I felt like that. I felt really good about it, everyone was calm (except for Bruno who was in the bathroom downstairs...poor little boy)

I want to give Pips a couple of days to recover from being out of the cage for who knows how long before I stress her out (if I am, I don't know) with her perch training. I will start again with that and just resting my hand inside the cage near her.

all sounds like things are moving along very nicely for you then....and id say yes he is comfortable with you now...and just keep him brushed up on his perch training as hand training will be a everday thing now and not a special time of need to do this...

well done one down one to go...females tend to be a little slower tho so dont get discouraged they are more independent and dont know what they are missing

and again cudos to you on how smart you are with waiting for the female to once again settle but a day or two should be fine with that as they bounce back pretty quickly...

unlike folks animals in general just dont seem to hold any hard feelings...which is admirable of them