training my African Spotted owl [Archive]

BladeLondon

19-04-2005, 09:04 AM

Hi Guys :)

Im new to the forum so looking for any help possible,Ive spent a few months getting my avairy ready for my new Arican Spotted Owl and now shes here i wanna get started on training her.Ive started to train her to the glove for food which she just started to do,whats the next step from here?I dont wanna rush things just wanna get her flying.can anyone give me any tips or help on how to go about it if poss?any advice would be great?

Many thanx in advance.

P.S does anyone know of any good caresheets for African Spotted Egale owls??

Thanx guys :) :D

Bubo

19-04-2005, 10:16 AM

BladeLondon

19-04-2005, 10:24 AM

hello and welcome to the forum. just keep on with the jumping to the glove. when you see that she does it with confidence up the distance. and carry on like that. when you get a good distance in the avairy then start on creance.

by the way, do you have a grey or brown morph?
cheers bubo#
Hi Bubo,

Thanx for the Reply and the info ill keep her jumping to the glove for now then so she gets abit more confidence as she dont always come.
How long does it take to train them?the guy i got it from had many birds of prey and told me to start cutting her food down from 4 chicks/mice a day to 3 a day..then down to 2 a day till she starts coming to the glove everytime i enter the avairy is that right?I havnt started to cut her food down yet as i wanted to see what other ppl though first.Anyways ive attached a pic of her hope you like :) thanx again

Bubo

19-04-2005, 10:38 AM

she is beautiful thanks for the piccy.

how old is she? she still looks like she's growing. i'm a fussy person and would not bring food down until she is hard penned. I like to make sure they have all the nutrients they need for feather growth. You will find that your owl will bring her weight down herself as she will need less and less for for energy spent on growing. i find this is a good time to seriously start taking note of the weight and start judging from then. Dont over do the jumps as she will get bored just four or five are sufficient. it is better to get fewer little ones than spending ages calling for long ones, it will just help her to understand that she will be rewarded for sitting there waiting. So, just little jumps and look for willingness and confidence. What i did was note my owls' reaction for each weight. you will find one that is suitable for your bird.

do keep us informed. why not start a diary thread in the 'diary' bit further down?

bubo

BladeLondon

19-04-2005, 10:46 AM

She's about 6 months old now, so yeah she's still growing!! :P

When she sits on her post outside, when I pick her up, if she falls from the glove she has started to correct herself now by standing back up. whereas before, she would slip, and want to stand away from the glove. So she's started to learn to sit on the glove.

She's not as nervous now either, Still hisses, but is calming down alot.

Is there a particular way to find the sex of them? The person who we got her from said she was female. But just want to know for sure!

Her confidence is boosted everytime we enter her aivairy. She is getting to know us alot more, and the voices ect.

Shes a lovely bird, and very clever! :lol:
Thanks for the replies!

Bubo

19-04-2005, 10:53 AM

the only sure way to find out is dna testing but other wise you could wait for a possible egg or may judge with her weight when fully grown but even then you could be wrong (with the weight not the egg laying hehe).

how long have you had your bird?
bubo

BladeLondon

19-04-2005, 10:57 AM

We have had her for about a week now, Out working with her 5-6 times a day at the moment, just so she can get used to myself and my partner being around her.
It dosent matter what sex she is, just aslong as she's happy!
I read up somewhere that they can mate for life, just didnt want to get another in the future and they start fighting?? (Thats if im allowed another one in the near future!!)
She is a gorgeous bird, wouldnt change her for the world!

Bubo

19-04-2005, 11:48 AM

could i just ask for some more background information? has she had any contact with the breeder? from what i gather she sounds parent reared so your task will be a little harder. if she is already coming to your glove that is fine and it is really important that she understands your glove is the best place to be (for now) even when you pick her up, cheat a little and use a pick up piece and just keep working on the manning. you will need to man as much as possible and as soon as she gets to trust you you will find she will be able to produce better results.

just one bit of advice though, do not ever feed her with your bare hands!!!! if you read some of other member's diaries you may get some good tips there. i have a diary (kadabra) starting from when he was an owlet going right through to flying free. other's also have good diaries and i find them useful to read (even if they have hawks and falcons and not owls)

BladeLondon

19-04-2005, 11:57 AM

The person who had her from a baby did handle her maybe twice a day, But she seems nervous of people but loves watching the birds fly over her!
She is eating from the hand (With the glove)
She is not aggressive when giving her the food, the gloves just for caution. I think she would take straight from the hand if givin the opportunity, as she takes it quite slow!

Can I just ask what a pick up piece is? At the moment we are holding her by her leg straps to get her onto the hand which she doesent seems to mind too much, once shes on the hissing stops and shes more interested in whats happening around her eg: the sky with the smaller birds in lol

I have tried to search the net for good care sheets and information on this breed, but seems there arent that many out there. Hoping to go for a day out at a falconry club in the near future, they show you how to train from day one all the way through to their first free flying lesson.. So hopefully pick up some good tips there.

Have a primary school near where we live, one day hoping to get her to do show and tells there. To give the children an idea of the species.
I have young nephews, and friends with young children, and they have held her already, and she has been fine on their hands, and the kids love her! Like I said she's more interested in the sky!

Bubo

19-04-2005, 12:05 PM

a pick up piece is a piece of meat to encourage your bird to step to your glove taking its mind off of bating. (it can be used also to get a bird off of prey but that is not the case here). i think a good course would be beneficial for you and and the bird. May i suggest reading aswell such as 'understanding owls' by jemima parry jones?

all i can say for the moment is that you need to have your bird around you as much as possible, manning for as long as you can a day. and just sticking to the little jumps to the glove. I would just do that for now then as i said before, when you see she is well confident in coming to you, comfy when sitting on your glove then move on to some more training. It will also give you a bit of time to understand her weight a little more before trying to drop anything. If you need anymore advice you can always pm me. i' m sure others will be along to add anything i may have over seen.
bubo

BladeLondon

19-04-2005, 12:11 PM

Thanks so much for your help bubo... Im just inthe middle of reading your diary... the pics of kadabra as a baby are so cute!

Im working with her so much, like I said 5-6 times a day, for a good hour maybe an hour and a half, building her confidence all the time. She is getting used to us now.

When we first got her, if we went near the aivairy she would hiss and flap around, but now she just sits and waits for us to enter, just watching and waiting patiently for her food!
I feel personally she is getting more aquainted with myself, and dosent mind me near her so much.

Thanks again for your replies! I will look out for that book too, And will buy as soon as i've found it!

Thanks again bubo, youve been very helpfull!

Bubo

19-04-2005, 12:25 PM

no worries mate and glad i can be of some help to someone it is usually me asking all the questions hahhaa. but you do sound as though she is heading in the right direction. i forgot to ask, what is her name? from what i have heard but cant confirm the africanus as are many other eagle owls are very much a one person bird. good luck and i look forward to reading your updates.
bubo

BladeLondon

19-04-2005, 12:30 PM

Well my partners chosen the name "blush" as shes quite timid, but not 100% sure on that yet lol :yawinkle:

Will deffinetly keep you updated, with lots of news and piccies!

Thanks! :lol:

Bubo

19-04-2005, 12:36 PM

ooh piccies cool, cant wait
cheers

ColdZero

19-04-2005, 12:46 PM

Am i the only one who thinks its odd to won a BOP without reading a single book about it first? I don' want to be overly harsh as you obviously are trying hard, i just don't understand how you got to this stage without researching first thats all.

Bubo

19-04-2005, 12:50 PM

i have to agree with you there coldzero. i am not keen on peeps getting a bop without any sort of basic training but he has the bird now and personally i would like to try and help keep the bird happy and healthy.

BladeLondon

19-04-2005, 12:51 PM

Well I have wanted one for a very long time now, kept many birds previously all sorts of species!
As I have a large garden, and a shed that is un-used, I decided to build an avairy.
I also keep alot of reptiles, a guy who I met through the hobby of reptiles, keeps millions of BoP...
He asked if we would like to take her on, see how she is with us ect. so we decided we would.
Its an experience for us, I did ask at the begining if anybody knew any good sites for tips ect on them.
And have also mentioned about the BoP day, which we are hoping to get to.
We realise its a big step to take withput much knowledge of these birds, But its the same with my reptiles. You learn as you go...
As long as shes happy, thats all that concerns us.
The guy who we got her from is only 5mins away if we need him, and has said he is willing to come and help wherever possible!

Bubo

19-04-2005, 01:02 PM

well good luck and just yell for help. though what i do find surprising is that the breeder would pass on a six month old owl that has had little or not contact to someone that has no knowledge on bop handling. to me that is more serious!
bubo

ColdZero

19-04-2005, 01:03 PM

you can still benefit a huge amount if you volunteer at a falconry centre, or do a course. Having the breeder so close by helps, but persoanlly i would want to be prepared, not having to ask constantly what to do next.

I keep reptiles too :) right now i have a savannah monitor, a striped morph corn snake (beautiful), a male leopard gecko i have had for 8+ years and 3 sandfish skinks. But i also have books on each of these too, or atleast print offs from the internet ;)
What do you have?

Bubo

19-04-2005, 01:07 PM

someone on this forum has got me hooked on bearded dragons!! lovely little fellas!!
bubo

BladeLondon

19-04-2005, 01:07 PM

Hi cold zero, I have mainly beardies, a bosc monitor, a burmese python, couple of corns. Did have loads but had to cut down, as we have just set up a business, so didnt have the time, and my girlfiend wont touch a majority of them! (Dont worry, she loves the bird, its never alone as shes always out there with it, taking and whistling at her!)
Other than reptiles I have 4 dogs, 3 cats, and my owl!

ColdZero

19-04-2005, 01:09 PM

I have a 6' tank with 6 red bellied piranhas, a praying mantis and some oddball fish too. Oh and a GSP and for some reason a vermin cat :(

BladeLondon

19-04-2005, 01:23 PM

Piranhas are an interesting species. Cant say I knew anybody who kept them up untill now! Thought Id seen it all at London Zoo!

Well sitting on here is not going to get my owl to like me more!
Im off to go sit with her a while, maybe try some more feeding from the glove.. Wish me luck lol

Will post if any progress made!

Will

19-04-2005, 09:12 PM

Hi Blade, welcome. As Bubo suggested, get a book. Try Amazon, you'll have it in a few days. Forget pairing her off, school show-and-tells etc, get some scales, get some knowledge under your belt and take it from there.

Remember, 'learning as you go' won't help her when she's sat in a tree miles away. Or worse. Having said that, all the best with it!

BladeLondon

20-04-2005, 10:03 AM

Thanx guys for all the help..Ive already ordered some books and a video by Jemima Parry-Jones.Will let you know how i get on :)

Thanx again :)

Claire

20-04-2005, 10:37 AM

and please get yourself on a course, bear in mind that with an owl if you mess it up now chances are it will spend its whole life in an avairy as they are very very difficult to train as adults. so did this person just give you the owl without telling you what it involves? thats quite worrying

BladeLondon

20-04-2005, 01:47 PM

He's a real good friend of ours, so I trust him to the full when it comes to BoP. As I said before he keeps millions!
Obviously he didnt just "Give it to us", without making sure it was what we wanted and were willing to work with. Besides shes started coming to the glove for food, and we have increased our distance away from her each time. Now she comes upto 1m, bearing in mind she was too frightened of us at first. I personally feel we have acheived the first steps to training her... Or am I wrong?

Bubo I have read the diary you wrote on kadabra, Its really pleasing to read things like that, had a little giggle here and there!!
I am trying hard with our owl, I want her to have the best life, and the best time living with us... (Hence why Ive ordered 2 books and a video!) Training courses are a deffinate.. looking into them now!

Bubo

20-04-2005, 01:57 PM

good for you mate and it does seem you want to work hard at this. keep at it and you will see the extra knowledge from the books, vids and of course most importantly from courses will be a huge benefit to you. I'm glad you liked my diary heheee.

What i'm sure claire is saying and i also mentioned it is that it is worrying if he should give an owl to someone who has no idea. you are his friend so you are lucky, some other bird may not be so lucky! good luck and dont be afraid to ask either on here or via pm.

bubo

BladeLondon

20-04-2005, 02:05 PM

Thanks Bubo, I know what claire meant! I want you all to know I AM REALLY TRYING AND WANT TO SUCCEED!!!
Just went and said heeo to her, no hissing, no mouth open... Not a sausage! Looks like shes starting to get used to us now, which is an added bonus.

Any treats I could award her when shes done well at her training? I know the food is her reward when she comes to me... But is there something else that she would love??