Keep these sessions going till the bird has moved up and down the length of the table a couple of time. Use your judgment when to hold the bird and when not to. After several months of training, your pet may be able to skate All About Training on its own. It will pick up the "one, two, three yipeeeeee" and move along. Initially, it may have difficulty moving distances as the skates may run into each other and become twisted. You can undo the entanglement, encouraging the bird to "straighten up". Eventually, the bird will learn to straighten up on its own. But this could take several months. Use your judgment as to when you should encourage the bird with mere words of praise and when to reward it with a treat. You can buy bird skates at some of the bigger pet shops. Normally, the skates come with their own instruction set. But as we have mentioned earlier, the nuances of method will depend on you and your bird. hy Quarantine? WAny new pet should be a welcome addition. To ensure this, it is advisable to put the new acquisition through a period of quarantine. In the case of Cockatoos, it means keeping the bird in a separate cage, far away from your other pets. The idea is to make certain that the new pet is not a carrier of any communicable diseases or parasites. The duration of the quarantine could be anywhere between 1 and 3 months. Ideally, a period of 60 days is enough. Quarantine is not some form of punishment. Its the only way of making sure that your other pets are not infected with contagious diseases or parasites that the new addition may be carrying. When it comes to diseases, birds are innately deceptive. They make themselves look healthier than they really are to deceive predators. They do this to even fool flock-mates, who may reject it because of the attention a sick bird may draw to the flock itself. Because of this behavior, often, a bird is very sick before one realizes that something is wrong with it. Even experienced Quarantining Cockatoos avian veterinarians are fooled because of this behavior. There are eleven different types of infectious viruses. Your new pet could be a carrier of any one of these. The carrier bird may not fall sick. But it has the ability to pass the disease. Most of these diseases are airborne. And these disease could be contagious and even deadly. Cockatoos can be brought home from different sources. Some Cockatoos might have belonged to single owners. They might have been the sole pet for many years. Such birds might be healthy. But, Cockatoos bought from pet stores are likely to have diseases. Whatever be the source a quarantine will ensure that even if the new addition is a carrier, it is cleansed of any contagion before it is let to mingle with the other pets or taken into your living room. When birds live in a particular environment, they are exposed to the germs there. Subsequently, they develop resistance to those germs. When a bird is taken from this environment and placed in a totally different environment, it experiences stress. Stress Quarantining Cockatoos suppresses its immune system. In such a scenario, when it is suddenly exposed to new and different kinds of germs, it might fall sick. Quarantine also helps new Cockatoos to adapt to new environments. First, select a room for quarantine. Keep the new bird away from the other birds. Contact an avian veterinarian. Subject it to a "well bird test." Blood test and many other tests may be required. |