#toto ask

[d1s4strous]

wuwu el wuwuly toto one, first of all, then theres still toto two and toto three

toto on gamecube and toto on gamecube and [expletive emphasis] toto is free

double dactoto...

[flock-talk]

How's toto's feet doin?

They’ve been doing pretty good!

I’m still noticing that his feet are drier on average and that he tends to preen them early causing some redness when he literally rips the shed skin off too soon. The vet has recommended some vitamin E to rub on his totoes after a period of reducing bathing frequency first to see if he was just drying out his feet that way. But if there’s no improvement we’ll be starting some vit E totoe rubs and see if that helps. No soreness or hesitancy to climb or anything along those lines though

[flock-talk]

hi!!! i live in an area where monk parakeets, which i'm gathering is what Toto is, are native. they're extremely noisy in the wild as they live in huge groups in the hundreds of birds. if you have a nest next to your house you basically don't know silence lol. i was wondering, what kind of vocalizations does toto make? is it only learned vocalizations like the little kisses, or does he make his own noises at times? would you call him particularly noisy?

btw hes adorable <3

Toto has an array of sounds, most of the day I'd say he's pretty quiet but he has his excited happy bird screams, contact calls, and scared alert screams of course. When he's hunkered down and cozy you'll hear him chattering away quite loudly to himself, if he's cozy around people he reverts to mimicked sounds like kisses and 'gooey gooey'

I don't consider him particularly noisy at this point but when we first added him to our home I definitely found him to be louder than expected for his size.

These links will have some videos of his different sounds and antics!

toto videos

vocalizations

Flock-Talk

POV the greem beams bedtime snacks

This last one is an example of Toto's excited shouts

[flock-talk]

Sometimes you'll post pictures of toto and he'll have that perfectly placed gap on his forehead feathers that makes it look like its an emergency reset pinhole like on a phone and you could stick a paperclip in there in case he froze

The real question is what happens when you reset him, what are Toto factory settings

[flock-talk]

Who’s usually louder, Newt or Toto?

My bet is on Newt bc I have a conure and she sure can scream, but maybe Toto is also really good at yelling idk lol.

Toto

By a long shot

Mr tusty man can hit around 113 decibels

Couldn’t find data on maroon bellied conures but the very similar green cheek hits 100-110. I’d honestly say that Newt is quieter than the average green cheek though, at most I’d guess he’s at 100

Toto has the added ear shattering experience of pitch and tone. Newt yells, it’s a deeper raspier screech comparible to the tone of a person shouting to get your attention. Toto on the other hand is pitchy, it makes your ear drums pulse with each shout and if he happens to be too close to your ear you will lose hearing in that ear for half a minute afterwards

With all of this though neither are excessively noisy, they shout at the sunrise for a couple minutes in the morning. Excitedly running along the back of the couch or flying laps while shouting for a bit, or they occasionally contact call. The vast majority of the sounds they make are soft grumbles and chatter, screaming doesn’t constitute more than 3% of the day

And usually Newt is the one starting the sunrise scream fest so although he may not be as loud he is definitely the cause for most of the noise to start

[flock-talk]

Would it be possible to get a review of how it is to hold Newt and Toto?

There’s a lot of ways to answer this question I wasn’t sure if you meant hold as in to be perched on, hand cuddles or Grasped

So I went with grasped bc you get to see these pictures then

Newt: pretty comfortable, a lightweight hold, comparable to a hot dog on a thin flatbread. He’s capable of being relaxed and enjoying scritches in this position. Normal bird behaviour, easy to grip, solid grasper.

Toto: toto. Füt? The most awkward experience for everyone involved. Only tolerating this in exchange for a cracker crumb. Why does it feel like he’s exposing himself? He is a FULL handful, a hearty solid grab. Like a thick banana in a fluffy hotdog bun. Your hand is full, you can barely contain his Girth. His softness feels forbidden. But then again he makes this whole experience feel illegal. Genuinely. Holding him feels like an awkward tween watching a kissing scene when their parents walk in. Why are you this awkward sir? It doesn’t have to be this awkward.

[flock-talk]

How long have you had Toto now? I’ve been enjoying watching his growth bc I’d like to rescue a bird someday. I have a conure atm who I’ve raised since she was first weaned and think I’ve learned enough to handle a rescue eventually. So it’s interesting to see and note how his past stress is showing itself this far in.

(If you’re interested my dream rescue would be a sun conure bc I adore them and so many people give them up just for being loud but I need a house first lol)

Almost 6 months!

So let’s talk about what’s happening with Toto here a bit more in depth since it seems to be confusing a lot of people!

When an animal is rehomed, put in to a shelter, or otherwise experiencing immense stress that stress can suppress their behaviour. The fear, confusion and other aversive emotions they’re experiencing as a result of those experiences piles up and can cause them to appear complicit. They’re essentially so stressed out that they’re unable to express how they’re actually feeling and that can appear like a state of being “fine”.

So when they make it to their new home a standard, healthy, non-traumatized or excessively stressed animal will take less than a month to settle in. They learn their new routines, build trust with their new people, establish comfort in their environment. The first month they’re usually a bit stressed out, a bit wary and all of that shakes off by the end of the month- they adapt to the changes and move along pretty easily. In general, things just get gradually better from a “desirable behaviour” standpoint. Animal is scared -animals gets comfort - animal relieves stress - animal adapts.

In more severe cases there’s so much piled on stress, usually underlying existing behavioural concerns, and typically a history of stressful responses or a lingering fear to behave (consistent use of punishers) that it takes them significantly longer to reach that same goal. It usually takes well over the month threshold for them to begin to accept a new home and release some of that stress.

At this point once the animal is able to feel safe in its environment, it’s new people, etc. that release of stress will start to peel away some layers and show their underlying behavioural concerns. Once they feel safe again they feel free to advocate for themselves, set boundaries and express themselves freely without fear of behaving or stress suppressing behaviour.

It’s a big reason why people will say “my dog does x at home but never does X when they’re at daycare”, stress in the environment suppresses behaviour. They feel comfortable and safe at home so they feel safe expressing themselves in whatever “problematic” manner that may be.

And it’s clear to note here that when this phenomenon occurs it doesn’t always mean the animal has had a horrifically traumatizing past, it’s been found that animals who had perfectly solid well cared for lives prior to entering a rescue had the same issue arise just by merely entering a rescue facility. Rescues themselves are a chaotic, stressful, traumatizing experience- enough so to cause this to happen.

So what does this all mean? And how can we make this transition easier?

It means the animal is finally beginning to feel at home, they’re finally releasing stress and able to be themselves. It is a good thing! It’s a huge milestone! But it does mean that we’re entering the eye of the storm here as more and more stress leaves and more and more behavioural concerns arise. Suppressed behaviours are explosive- note the number of cases where a dog has had a prong collar popped for the “wrong” thing and that suppressed behaviour turns in to explosive aggression trying to attack the handler. The pent up frustration and stress and confusion can explode in very harmful ways and this release of suppression can make them significantly more sensitive to potential triggers.

So for us that means we need to provide consistency, communication, respect their boundaries, and tread carefully. They’re in a highly sensitive state trying to navigate all these previously suppressed feelings, we need to do our best not to trigger them and make it harder for them than it already is. Being extra cautious around their body language, aware of our vocal tones, making a list of current triggers, and utilizing management strategies to live cooperatively while navigating through this.

Each day gets taken as it comes, utilizing compassionate training to help them through big feelings.

With time the effects of suppression will taper out and the core triggers can be isolated and proper training plans can be implemented!

[flock-talk]

How's Toto's ab game? Or just him in general, physically, in comparison to when you got him? (No hate on his previous owners, I'm just curious how he's changed since then)

Getting better! I tried to get a toto pull up video but he wasn’t interested in working out this morning so I’ll try to get one later. Overall his ab game is improving, he’s much more smooth with his pull ups and has worked out easier ways to modify pull ups so they’re more achievable.

His flight is doing good, his stamina is way up as he’s flying lap after lap without landing, haven’t seen him panting in a long while. His ascending skills are getting pretty strong, a lot less hesitant to take off, much more confidence, and lots of capacity to fly steeper inclines.

His descending skills are his weak point currently, very hesitant to take off and very wobbly, only able to do very gentle slopes. Lots of improvement to be made there.

His overall strength and confidence is blossoming, I haven’t heard him panic scream in a little bit as he’s realizing he is capable of catching himself if he slips or falls and he’s mastering the art of falling + flying straight back up without needing to pause on the floor first.

He’ll be a muscly boy in no time!