# Astrid's taming journal



## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

I figured I would start an ongoing thread to discuss my little wild child and her progress. Which hopefully there will be much more of in the months and years to come!

As of today, Astrid has been with me about three and a half months. She is still wary of hands and not hand-tame, but she is extremely curious about me. She regularly flies to my chair when I'm sitting down and climbs onto my shoulders. She also enjoys playing on my desk with the other tiels. She tries to preen my neck but bites hard enough to draw blood, so for now I'm wearing a scarf around her. She is still too skittish for me to "correct" her the way another bird would be able to.

Today, she flew to my shoulder for the second time. I was giving Gypsy scritches. She walked up and gave my finger a tiny nibble before flying away. This is a first! She clearly sees the other birds getting scritches and part of her wants in on the action, but she's still very unsure.

She also tried to preen my lip today, but I didn't want to be walking around with a chewed-up face so I turned my head away.


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

Oh, I hope Astrid can get it into her pretty little head that biting is not fun!  Since she's witnessing your other birds interacting with you she should be able to put two and two together, but I understand how she could be testing the waters a few times first, she's a smart girl. Hope to read more about her soon.


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

Thanks! Yeah, I hope she'll get it eventually. It's not much fun being eaten alive. That's one SHARP little beak she's got on her pretty little face...

Since threads are more fun with visuals, here's an example of how Astrid acts when she wants to fly over to me but is still having an internal debate about it. lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THus_azobz8

She acted like this for quite some time before she got the courage up to actually do it. And the first time she flew to me she acted HORRIFIED at what she'd done.


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## WhiteCarnation (Jul 14, 2013)

I don't know if this will work for you or not, but Jub loves nibbling on a necklace i wear when hes on my shoulder. If i don't have the necklace on, he will bite my neck instead. 

So maybe wearing a necklace will help too, while not shielding your neck from her?


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

I can try that...been meaning to...but I have a feeling she'll still go for the skin. She's interested in it, and trying to explore me. Earlier she was trying to reach past my scarf and get my face, the sneaky little thing! She got a few nibbles in but nothing painful. The hair tends to distract her a bit thank goodness.


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## WhiteCarnation (Jul 14, 2013)

I know how you feel!

When I'm not wearing my necklace, Jub will pick around and play with my hair and my clothes, and i get comfortable for a second that he's not going to bite me, then out of no where he bits and pinches my skin to the point of where i jerk him off as a natural reaction


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

Haha, Coco is on my shoulder attacking my hair 'cause it's in his way (he's trying to snooze there). Must be tickling him too, he's itching his face, lol.


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

Some progress today! I got her to step up on a perch for millet with no hint of fear or even apprehension. She really likes the end of the dowel, that has a little white plastic thing on it, and got into chewing on it. I moved the millet further and further toward my hand until she would have had to step onto the hand to get it, and while she didn't do that I could see her contemplating it. She was eating some fallen millet grains off the back of my hand. Now if I can get her to be okay with the stick moving while she's on it, we'll really be getting somewhere!


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

Woohoo! Astrid sat on my arm today. When she's on my shoulder and I'm sitting at my desk, sometimes she starts climbing down my shirt toward the desk but always avoids stepping on my arm. Which usually results in her very awkwardly flying down from a weird angle. But today she actually stepped onto the crook of my elbow and sat there for a few seconds before hopping on my desk. Small but significant progress.


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## urbandecayno5 (Oct 24, 2012)

:clap:
She sounds like she's been doing great!
I'm glad she's getting more confident


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

She stepped on my hand!!!!!!

Well, the back of my hand/wrist. I tempted her with millet, and I had Freya and Moon on me already eating so I think that gave her courage. She stepped off after a few seconds, nibbled my fingers a few times then stepped back on for a few more seconds. She was nervous but *she did it*. 

It was so funny though...she kept on looking for a way to get the millet without having to step on the hand. She kept grabbing the stem in her beak and trying to pull it closer. She's smart but not smart enough to outsmart me.


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## Haimovfids (Sep 19, 2012)

thats great news
she is on the road of trust! keep up the good work astrid
i love your new avatar! its really beautiful, who's feathers is it?


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## stevechurch2222 (Sep 25, 2011)

That's great progress,keep up the great work.


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

Thanks guys! Baruch, those are Astrid's feathers.
Forgot to mention that she also landed on my head once, booting Moon off, but then took off immediately afterwards. lol.


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## Haimovfids (Sep 19, 2012)

But she still did it 
Aren't you getting that excited feeling that she will be super tame, hopefully like solitaire 
I'm so proud of astrid! They are so lucky to have a mom like you! How is willow doing she is super cute! She is so lucky someone like you stole her

Thank you Garance for helping this little girl out


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## catalinadee (Jan 1, 2011)

Well done! That's a huge step in the right direction and you'll be where you want to be with her in no time at all


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

Haha of course they are Astrid's feathers 

That's amazing news, congrats! Glad Astrid is getting tamer and tamer!


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

Thanks everyone. 
*
Another first tonight!* She sat on my leg. I had pajama shorts on, and though she didn't sit on my skin, her tail was resting on me and she seemed very relaxed. She sat there and preened for a while. She also preened my neck very gently (the tiny bit of skin showing beneath my scarf) so here's hoping that was her trying a technique other than chewing holes in me.



Haimovfids said:


> But she still did it
> Aren't you getting that excited feeling that she will be super tame, hopefully like solitaire
> I'm so proud of astrid! They are so lucky to have a mom like you! How is willow doing she is super cute! She is so lucky someone like you stole her
> 
> Thank you Garance for helping this little girl out


Oh goodness, I doubt she will ever be as tame as Solaire!! He's a special boy. But I honestly never thought Astrid would warm up to me at all so I'm thrilled with whatever trust she decides to place in me.

Willow is doing great, thanks! I will do an update thread on her soon.



catalinadee said:


> Well done! That's a huge step in the right direction and you'll be where you want to be with her in no time at all


I hope so, thanks.  I don't really care how long it takes, but I just hope she can completely let her guard down someday. I can tell she really wants to.


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

She flew to a perch I was holding for millet! That's _almost_ like flying to my hand.


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

I JUST SCRATCHED ASTRID'S HEAD. OMG!!!

Granted, I think she may have been a bit confused. She seems a little hormonal lately and i think maybe she likes Solaire, but he certainly doesn't like her. He was on my shoulder getting cuddles and scratches, and next thing I know Astrid is there and she starts preening his wing and then she lowered her head to him (he was oblivious). So I reached over and gave her a scritch. She saw my finger, I'm sure of it, and she allowed it, but I still am not sure if she knew what was happening. She pecked my finger when I tried to do it again.

But still!!!!!


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## ccollin13 (May 24, 2013)

moonchild said:


> I JUST SCRATCHED ASTRID'S HEAD. OMG!!!
> 
> Granted, I think she may have been a bit confused. She seems a little hormonal lately and i think maybe she likes Solaire, but he certainly doesn't like her. He was on my shoulder getting cuddles and scratches, and next thing I know Astrid is there and she starts preening his wing and then she lowered her head to him (he was oblivious). So I reached over and gave her a scritch. She saw my finger, I'm sure of it, and she allowed it, but I still am not sure if she knew what was happening. She pecked my finger when I tried to do it again.
> 
> But still!!!!!



!!!!!!

That's so awesome, I love reading about Astrid's progress! I remember how it felt when Ziggy started letting me scritch his head, after 8 months of hard work taming him... it's the best feeling ever. I'm so happy for you and Astrid!


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

Thanks! She's really come a long way in the past month or so. I'm so proud of her. When I offered her another scritch after the first time, I put my finger right in her face and she just pecked it like, "No thanks, I'm good -- go away." The first time she touched me (by mistake) months ago, she was utterly horrified, and flew off in a panic as though she'd come in contact with a birdie-eating monster tentacle.

So I would say this is definite progress.


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

Wow! Go you!! :excited:


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## urbandecayno5 (Oct 24, 2012)

Omg! I'm so happy for you and Astrid!
It seems like she's more confident everyday

She really is something:lol:


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

Thanks.


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

I tried offering her scritches again today while she was on my shoulder, and she was having none of it but she was not scared either. She was just biting my finger, like, "Oooh, a toy!" >.< She's got one SHARP little beak on that pretty face.
I was hoping I could sneak a scritch in when she started preening, but sadly she didn't seem to understand what I was trying to do. She got annoyed and flew off. Hopefully we'll get there one day. 

A couple of times now, she's actually JUMPED to the step-up perch to get millet. She used to be so hesitant about it. I'm continuing to see improvement all the time. I wonder if she'll be "fully tame" in another few months.


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