shhhhh... sleeping parrot
Nov. 11th, 2002 09:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdZoe is wicked smart.
I was out most of the day today doing errands, so when I finally got back (Costco, oil change and coolant flush for the car, pet food store, QFC, gas station for the truck) I took Zoe out of her cage and perched her in the kitchen while I unpacked everything. I have to towel her to get her out of the cage, still, but once she's out, she's very well behaved.
Anyway, I had her out for probably a good half hour, and it included a few minutes out on the back porch meeting Julia, from the back upstairs apartment. We did some step-up step-down training, too, which she seems to have gotten very quickly.
So I put her back in her cage, then after dinner got her back out again while we were cleaning up, and she was out for about 45 minutes. Things that are incredibly neat:
1. Travelling from one room to another. Completely amazing. This may seem strange, but remember, before me, she was caged for 10 solid years in the same room. The only time she left her cage was when she figured out how to open the doors on the old one. They bought a new one that she couldn't open, and that was that. When she was transported out here, she was under a cover, and when I brought her home - again, a cover. So these last couple of days are the first times she's ever - for practical intents and purposes - been walked from one room to another, where she could see what was going on. It's incredibly interesting to her. The space around her changes, and she sees how.
2. The second time out, she finally noticed the budgies. Small, stupid, terrified versions of her. This is the coolest thing ever. They're terrified of her, of course; I let her get too close and she jumped onto her cage, and started climbing up. That was almost bad except that one, I managed to grab her in time, and two, even during the mini-riot, I said "step up!" and she suddenly let go of the cage and grabbed my finger.
Like I said. She's very smart.
She's so smart, in fact, that when I put her back on the perch the second-to-last time, she started making a noise that sounded suspiciously like "Stepup! Stepup! Stepup!" over and over again. And when I didn't come let her on my hand, she threw a temper tantrum.
And later, she was back to making the "Stepup!" noise again.
Big adventure, tiny bird, back in her cage, sleeping. Shhhhhhh.
I was out most of the day today doing errands, so when I finally got back (Costco, oil change and coolant flush for the car, pet food store, QFC, gas station for the truck) I took Zoe out of her cage and perched her in the kitchen while I unpacked everything. I have to towel her to get her out of the cage, still, but once she's out, she's very well behaved.
Anyway, I had her out for probably a good half hour, and it included a few minutes out on the back porch meeting Julia, from the back upstairs apartment. We did some step-up step-down training, too, which she seems to have gotten very quickly.
So I put her back in her cage, then after dinner got her back out again while we were cleaning up, and she was out for about 45 minutes. Things that are incredibly neat:
1. Travelling from one room to another. Completely amazing. This may seem strange, but remember, before me, she was caged for 10 solid years in the same room. The only time she left her cage was when she figured out how to open the doors on the old one. They bought a new one that she couldn't open, and that was that. When she was transported out here, she was under a cover, and when I brought her home - again, a cover. So these last couple of days are the first times she's ever - for practical intents and purposes - been walked from one room to another, where she could see what was going on. It's incredibly interesting to her. The space around her changes, and she sees how.
2. The second time out, she finally noticed the budgies. Small, stupid, terrified versions of her. This is the coolest thing ever. They're terrified of her, of course; I let her get too close and she jumped onto her cage, and started climbing up. That was almost bad except that one, I managed to grab her in time, and two, even during the mini-riot, I said "step up!" and she suddenly let go of the cage and grabbed my finger.
Like I said. She's very smart.
She's so smart, in fact, that when I put her back on the perch the second-to-last time, she started making a noise that sounded suspiciously like "Stepup! Stepup! Stepup!" over and over again. And when I didn't come let her on my hand, she threw a temper tantrum.
And later, she was back to making the "Stepup!" noise again.
Big adventure, tiny bird, back in her cage, sleeping. Shhhhhhh.
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Oh, yeah.
Date: 2002-11-11 09:22 pm (UTC)Re: Oh, yeah.
Date: 2002-11-11 11:13 pm (UTC)Re: Oh, yeah.
Date: 2002-11-11 11:41 pm (UTC)In the wild, they'd get a lot of dark greens, usually leafy but broccoli is a good substitute, a lot of fruit (no citrus; they love it but it's too acidic for them), peas and beans, grains - a lot of different things. Greens, fruit and berries, peas, beans, and insect larvae would be the staples. If they found seeds, they'd eat them, but the odds would be quite low.
Broccoli is a good substitute for the dark leafy greens, but fortunately, she's willing to eat some leafies on her own; she's rather fond of grains (rice treats, whole wheat bread) and loves fruit (bananas; hates star fruit, though, which is too bad). I substitute a tiny amount of chicken for the insect larvae. I'm trying to get her switched over to pellets; obviously, they don't have pellets in the jungle, but as a basis for a captivity diet, they're very good. Unfortunately, so far, she's still eating a lot of seed.
The book I have compares a seed diet to feeding her a full diet of M&Ms. Parrots love it, but it's really bad for them. Which is why Zoe's cholesterol number is nearly 400. :-p
no subject
Date: 2002-11-11 10:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-11-15 01:20 pm (UTC)She's a fantastic bird, and she'll be even better once you manage to work through the effects of her previous living situation. It sounds like you're making fantastic headway. :)
no subject
Date: 2002-11-17 11:23 pm (UTC)Some wild native (non-tropical) birds like eating worms, and you can find those at some pet/aquarium stores (tropical fish love eating live worms, too), or at places that sell bait (native fish also like them.) Might make a good healthful treat for her occasionally.