bengal

[SecretSquirrel]

Ive acquired an 18 month BEO and its lovely, was a perfect gentle owl with his owner, but his owner is moving to spain. Ive taken on the owl and hoping its settling in well. had it on fist when we got it home to take out of his box, then straight into aviary and left for the first night: no food. Second night, took food into aviary and he flew to fist for it. all looking well. this is the third night and continued to do the same, went into aviary and he flew to fist again, this time stopping after half the meal, so i left and returned an hour later and he finished the meal to the fist again. all looking well so far, but my question is, does anyone with experience of taking on an owl after manning have any suggestions for making the transition for the owl a happy one? i dont want to make any mistakes with him as he's a lovaly character and i dont want him to lose that.

[Shaun Byrne]

Bubo?

[Osiris]

Spend as much time with the owl as possible. Dont just feed it then come back the next day or else in due course the owl will only think of you as food. I suggest you weight the owl as well. Feed the owl off the fist after you have flew it as well (leave one chick or so behind)... When you give the owl a rest one day... feed it from the fist and she'll get more comfortable with you, than that if you just flew him in his aviary and left him... Just keep him active and spend loads of time with him for the first while and he should be fine...
J

[Osiris]

u got anything to add Bubo... :-)

[MickeyDredd]

Simply treat the bird as if you've had him from Day 1. So long as you provide him with food, he is happy in his new aviary and you continue to spend time with him there is no reason why he should not be as happy with you as with his previous keeper.

He is happy to fly to you for food straight away and shows no nervousness about doing so so he doesnt seem to have any problems with the move.

[Bubo]

I agree with what has been said above but if the owl is confident in himself as he seems to be in your post start taking him out of the aviary and walking him around. This way he will get to become familiar with the surroundings and you will be spending quality time with him. I agree with the feeding too. Do not just go in and feed then leave.
Bubo

[Osiris]

:supz: pretty much the same advice SS. Let us know how u get on with him yer? :D

[Colohen]

Secertsquirrel
Good Luck !
Try not to make too many changes in the birds routeen allready set by its former master.
Looks like you have started off on the right track allready!!

[Bengal Owl]

just keep going to way you are sounds better then my bengal witch is 8 years old last owner left him in has aviary for a year before i got him after he turn wild and started to attack him and his family
i am still training him as still has problems with the glove but has his trust back in people every day for the first three months i was in with him handling imprinting myself to him now he come on school talks and fairs
to help the understanding of wildlife for my work as a wildlife rescue officer

just to say how bad his life was 5in of old food and mess in his cage and the lock had just been cut off the day i got the to take him

[SecretSquirrel]

oh gawd that sounds terrible matt! poor thing.

i have to thank you all for the great advice so far!!! ive been spending about 2 hours just chatting to him in his aviary each night and im sure he thinks im mad! ive taken him out tonight for a wander after your advice and blimey hes a bit of a difference on the fist to my little barny! im sure ive got RSI in my wrist. needless to say, walk wasnt a very long one. he weighed in at 2.73 lbs and today he is 2.82 lbs (1,240g-1,280g). only problem ive noticed was that it took me a while manhandling the swivel to release and he got bored and decided he wanted to fly to his shelf, so he was upset i had to guide him back to the fist after he did his impression of a bat and not righting himself. having got him back into position, i managed to free the jesses at last (new jesses, not enough lubricant! grrr - stoopid mistake) as i tried to release them from the anklets (he was stood on them) he went for my fingers, so abrupt telling off, (that cant be tolerated) then i chatted to him a while longer before allowing him back to his shelf all tucked up for the night) . probably not the stress free first outing i would have liked, but still, he had a chance to listen to my voice for 20 minutes as he looked about and got used to the place. tomorrow ill try more of the same with quicker jess removal on my part and have him out longer. Ill take a few pics tomorrow so you can meet 'FAWKES'. transferring him through IBR tomorrow and then ringed and the dreaded microchip soon. . . just incase! :D

[Osiris]

good good m8 - seems like u doing the right stuff. just yell if ya need anything

[Bubo]

yep looks like things are ok mate. look forward to the pictures

[SecretSquirrel]

i have to get my mums digital cam from her house, my web cam wont do at all! ill try to post some tomorrow as im going out with him to the training area! ooh wish me luck. Im spending about 1 - 2 hours there, just sitting and walking with him to get him used to me , chatting to him as he is on his perch and touching his feet and such and then Ill see what heppens as it approaches meal time with the creance.