I discovered c/t (clicker training) about a year after I got Merlin and our relationship blossomed. I know now that Moluccans can be flighty, untrustworthy and unpredictable; but I feel that I and Merlin have built a solid foundation of trust, largely due to positive reinforcement.

Merlin knows basic tricks-shake hands, wave, turn around, roll over, retrieve, basketball, etc. etc. I also used c/t to do beak and nail filing, wing trimming, pulling the occasional broken blood feather. Last year I took 3 months to train him to wear a harness and as a side effect, discovered that I could get him to wear hats-a cowboy hat, witch hat (or wizard, as is more appropriate for Merlin), Santa hat, etc. Just fun stuff.

Also, someone posted on another list about wishing she had used c/t with her 'too to train him to take medicine out of a syringe; I thought this was an excellent idea, so promptly taught Merlin to take water out of a syringe. This is all background to the ordeal we have been through this spring.

I take Merlin to an avian specialist yearly for vaccination and blood work, as I do not feel expert in avian medicine. The first of Jan. Merlin had his check-up and was vaccinated. 1 month later, I noted a swelling on his breast at the vaccination site, took him back to his doc, she did a biopsy which came back as a granuloma-chronic inflammation as reaction to the vaccine. Merlin untied his sutures at the biopsy site and began picking it. I finally had to put a collar on him, but the granuloma got bigger and he became more uncomfortable, not eating, crying out at night. I took him to another specialist for a second opinion in April; she referred me to Sam Vaughn, a board-certified avian specialist in Louisville. He removed the granuloma, which by this time encompassed nearly the entire left side of Merlin's breast (the mass was slightly bigger than a ping-pong ball). Dr. Vaughn used laser surgery and had to remove over 30 gm of breast muscle because the mass had invaded the muscle. The whole mass was about 50-60 gm (Merlin weighed 860 gm before surgery). Afterwards, I had to give Merlin pain injections 3x day for a week. He had to stay in a carrier for the first 3 days post-op so he would not fall and hemorrhage. Then he had to stay completely caged (I could hold him, but not let him on his boing or swing or play gym) for 2 weeks. Of course, he has had to wear a collar all this time. I removed his sutures,per Dr. Vaughn's advice, after a pain injection (Dr.V. thought I might have to give him an anesthetic to do this). Merlin started picking a little when I took his collar off at that time, so Dr. V. had me start him on some oral clomipramine, an anti-anxiety drug. I have weaned Merlin off the collar this week and will be weaning him off the drugs in another couple of weeks. Merlin has healed well, with no re-occurrence of the granuloma, and with our relationship intact through all the pain and fear and anxiety on both our parts.,Now, here is where c/t helped Merlin and I:

• Harness training made it much less traumatic for Merlin to wear the collar this long; he lets me put the collar on and off with no struggle.
• Roll-over allowed me to inspect Merlin's incision easily; this is also how I gave him injections (in the good breast side). I had Merlin roll-over, I held his head with one hand and injected with the other hand (I did have an assistant hold his feet). Merlin never screamed or fussed in any way when he got his injections.This is also how I removed the sutures, with Merlin lying on his back.
• Syringe training-if you have not done this with your fids, I highly recommend it-makes medicating MUCH easier!
• The most important thing is that Merlin has allowed me to do all this to him and still wants to snuggle and kiss ;>)

_{Permission to reprint this 2001 clickbirds post was given by Ellen Cook, all rights reserved.}

Read another testimonial by Monda Delgado about her bird, Phinney