# Breakthrough!



## Sekica (Aug 14, 2009)

Scritches!

Ben hates to be touched. She gets all cranky and nibbly when you try to touch her and snaps at you. Well, today mom and I went for our usual walk, and of course Ben went along perched on my shoulder. She happily nibbled on her leash the whole time. She loves to play with the leash, even if it's not on her). She even went nuts because she heard something and tried to go after it while calling it the whole time. She has never done this before so I'm guessing someone has a cockatiel and she heard it.

Anyway, at the end of the walk mom went inside, but I stayed outside and let Ben run around in our front yard. I always stay a foot or two away from her just in case. She saw the neighbors were outside and ran towards them because she loves to make people look at her when we're going for walks and usually calls when she sees or hears them, even if they're still a block away. They always tell her how pretty she is and all that. She wasn't too sure about getting closer so she faced me, which usually means she wants up. That's what she wanted so she could get a better view of the neighbors because she stepped up right away. I thought she was pretty calm so I tried gently petting her around the neck. Usually she snaps when I do that, but this time she turned her attention from the neighbors to me and tilted her head to the side. She slowly moved her head to adjust where I was petting her from her cheek patch to around her beak and back. She seemed to really enjoy it, and how I kept telling her she's such a pretty girl; she loves to hear that.

And now she's already dreaming about the awesome adventure she had today. Sweet dreams Ben.


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## Raven2322 (Mar 1, 2008)

Well it sounds like Ben had a great day. So glad to hear she let you give her scritches.


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## Sekica (Aug 14, 2009)

Me too, that's pretty much the only thing I want from her right now. Today was one of the best days so far. She was really loud and chirpy and pretended that she can fly, which is the first time in about two weeks (I'm still confused about that period of quietness, but she's over it now). Right now she's sleeping next to one of the parakeets. It's always the same one that comes over to sleep right next to her, but he's closer than he was before. I'm assuming it's because I have 3 parakeets and he's the odd one out.

She got so much attention from the neighbors. One of the neighbors stopped by while passing the house to check her out and she hopped up on her arm. Ben wasn't scared at all even though the neighbor was a stranger to her.


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## prettybirds (Jul 16, 2009)

That's fantastic. I have a hen who is like you described Ben (still laughing at the name Ben for a girl) but she'll let me 'scritch' her with my nose, my mouth, anything BUT my hand. I'm hoping she'll get over that like ben seems to have.


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## xxxSpikexxx (Jul 30, 2007)

Thats great that she let you scritch her  I would keep her leash on her harness just to be safe, there are lots of dangers outside.


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## Kathy (Jul 24, 2009)

Congratulations ! This seems to be a good day for breakthroughs - Mowgli decided today was the day to start eating pellets out of her food bowl


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## ladyeagle (Aug 14, 2009)

A leash for a tiel really? I've never heard of it


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## Sekica (Aug 14, 2009)

Yeah, there are leashes for tiels as well. I got mine from a local pet store. She loves to play with it when she's in the house as well, not just outside. That's what I meant about her playing with it even when it's not on her since there's no reason for her to wear it indoors. She likes to drag it around and make loops with it. 

That's great that Mowgli is eating pellets now! I got more breakthroughs that happened today so this one will be long. Sorry, but I love long posts.

Usually when I try to take Ben outside of the cage she runs away. Even if she does actually step up, she jumps off before I get a chance to take her out. This morning she didn't run away. Instead she stepped up and stayed put until she was all the way out, and then she jumped up to her playground.

Second thing that happened today: During our walk a lot of kids wanted to see her and she was happy to see them. Eventually she got tired and climbed up my sleeve to sit on my shoulder. That was a first, but there's more. After we moved away from the kids she came closer to my neck and started to tilt her head from side to side, which caused her crest and one side of her face to rub against my cheek and chin. She started to chirp softly while doing that like she was purring. I tried giving her scritches, but she didn't want any so I let her continue what she was doing. She did let me give her scritches earlier, though so it's all good.

Ben knows where she lives: When we came back to our house I let her down on the grass. Mom was walking towards the door, and Ben decided to run after her. She wanted to take a shortcut to the door so she started running on the pebbles next to the walkway, but she was tripping because it isn't even. Mom called her name and she immediately changed her direction and got off the pebbles to follow in my mom's footsteps. When they got to the door mom was unlocking it. Ben was impatient so she started running in circles around mom's feet. When mom opened the door Ben jumped over the threshold and ran to her cage. And then we followed Ben inside.

Gender confusion: Ben, what are you? After we got home from the walk Ben whistled. She used to wolf whistle, but it's been a while. This time it wasn't a wolf whistle. It was a simple two note whistle mom and I whistle around her all the time. I thought hens don't whistle. Other than that she only does the monotonous chirp and calls, but I've heard her make other sounds before.


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## ladyeagle (Aug 14, 2009)

wow that is such a wonderful bond you guys have, that's amazing you must be very proud


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## Sekica (Aug 14, 2009)

Yeah, it's awesome! And to think that last week she wouldn't really let me touch her. I'm sure she's going to start bonding with me even faster now. It's so adorable how she knows her name, though, but telling the neighbors her name always confuses them. They always say how cute she is and ask for her name, and I say "Ben". They start apologizing for thinking she's a girl, and then I have to explain that she is a girl.


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## Sekica (Aug 14, 2009)

Another bit of an update. Ben holds conversations with me now, especially when I take her for a walk. I say something and she chirps, and we go back and forth for several minutes at a time. She also started to do that when I enter the room. I also heard a new chirp from her today. Maybe she's actually a he because she's not sticking to the monotonous chirp as much nowadays and mom said Ben beak banged the other day. I didn't see it so I don't know if that's exactly what she was doing except that it was loud and fast. We'll see if Ben does it again.

Finally got a siggy pic up. From left to right: Boo-Boo (9 yrs), Zucko (1 yr), Junior (1 yr) and Ben (4 months old). Ben's head looks very yellow, doesn't it? It's not a dull yellow at all, and because she's split to pied the whole head except for one gray stripe down the middle of the back of the head is yellow or yellowish white. (The pic was taken by a cell phone so it's a bit blurry.)


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