Why I Can't Give Up on Her

This post is going to be a work in progress...

Why I Can't Give Up on Her
an essay by JenniP

I've had birds before. Back when I was a selfish 19-year-old looking forward to moving out of the home I was currently living in and on to bigger things in Lincoln. As my (now) ex-husband and I were looking at apartments, I asked the landlady if I could bring my cockatoo to live with us. She asked if the bird was loud. I told her the truth, and she said I couldn't bring the cockatoo to live with us. This decision has haunted me for years. I still feel terrible about it, over 6 years later. I always figured I would go back to get her.

While my (now) husband, Jason, and I were shopping over at Earl May Garden Store in Lincoln, Nebraska, we came upon a display of birds. They were well-fed and well-taken care of. One little green cheek conure, in particular, kept bobbing her head up and down as her eyes beckoned for us to take her home. After negotiating our budget for that month, we decided that we could get her, a cage, some toys, and some food and bring everything home. The total came to over $500!

Dizzy became our newest enjoyment. Everything she did, from scratching herself to sitting prettily on her perch. Then the biting came. The first night, she nearly bit through Jason's ear and she gave me several bites on my neck and shoulder. In hindsight, it probably was a bad idea to bring her out of her cage right away and place her on our shoulders. At Jason's insistence, we refrained from petting her that first week. We allowed her to get into our shoulders and fingers and arms, but we did not pet or scritch her head. On the second day, Dizzy nearly plucked out Jason's eye and gave him several more bite marks. Then the screaming started.

We called back to the garden store at least twice asking if we could return her. The gal said we could but asked us to give it a little longer. I knew Jason had had it. I knew I had had it with Jason yelling back at her. I begged him to give it 6 months to see if she would adjust. After all, she was still new and still didn't have the hang of things. Dizzy just needed extra attention and care. She needed someone to love her.

This all happened in November of 2009. It is now August of 2010. Dizzy is a clingy, super-sensitive little girl. She will fly to me, just to poop on me and bite me, and then scream right behind me. If she feels like she's being ignored to long, whether or not we are in the same room, she will scream. If she sees something she does not like, she will scream. She needs to be on or with someone constantly. I enjoy her company and her sweet kisses.

This was why I couldn't give up on her. I saw her, not for the bird she was when we got her, but for the animal she was always meant to be.

Scout's Diet, Part II

Today, I think I may have finally done the impossible. Today will go down in history as a great day. Today, Scout did something that I am so proud of her for doing. She started eating pellets.

I offered some chopped Harrison's pellets wet down with apple juice, and she kinda sorta liked it. But then I offered her one whole pellet (Harrison's High Potency Course) and she ate it! What's more is that she ate several more after that! I was so happy and I praised her.

I have also been following Patricia Sund's blog about her recipe for "Chop" and made a version of my own. Check out her website at www.parrotnation.com. She is just amazing with her three parrots and the chop recipe works like a charm with my finicky eater. This chop recipe has also sparked interest in Dizzy, who doesn't care for most things.

So, now that I have a bird with expensive tastes, it's time to get down to business and start building weight back up on her!

Scout's bath

I gave Scout a successful bath for the first time since we got her. I started out incorrectly, by trying to place her into the sink and filling it with water. Nope, didn't happen. She hated every second of it and tried to crawl INTO my shirt with me. So I placed her on the counter and grabbed the squirt bottle that we usually use to squirt the kitten when she is being naughty (the bottle gets refilled daily). I picked my baby up out of the sink and set her on the counter, then I started misting the air and jumping around and talking REALLY LOUDLY AND EXCITEDLY. "Ha-ha! What great fun this is! My glasses are so misted over that I can't see! Is that you Scout, or a dish towel? What great fun!" And though Scout did not like this initially, she didn't try to get away, which I took as a sign of progress. I even held the bottle down to her level so she could see it and she beaked the nozzle. I squirted her lightly in the mouth and she seemed to actually like that! So, we are at a compromising point. I want to get her used to this before I break out the heavy artillery--a pump-action pressure sprayer.

But first, could you hand me that dish towel? My lenses are still misty.

Scout's food issues

Today, I moved Scout's food dish to the top of her perch. She ate with gusto! Today was the first time in a long time she ate 3 consistent and good meals. This morning she had a stir fry mix containing red peppers, carrots, green beans, and baby corn cobs. This afternoon she had some seed and diced apple. Tonight for supper, she is enjoying steamed baby carrots and steamed apples (leftovers from this afternoon). I'm now going to work on front-loading her with vitamins through food. In her cage, offered at all time, is a dish of 3 different types of pellets (Zupreem fruity, Pretty Bird, and Harrison's) and a container of Cheerios, as well as fresh water. She ate on both. I do give her a bit of seed at night because I don't have her completely transferred over to pellets and vegetables yet. That's coming. When I give her seed, I sprinkle an avian multivitamin and grate some cuttle bone on it. I know seed is not the healthiest food for her, hardly more than a treat, but it is something I am trying to work on changing with her. I've thought a lot about going on ahead and starting to mix a 25% pellet to 75% seed mix and slowly moving it (changing the ratios weekly) to 50-50, then 75-25, then lower, until she doesn't have a choice but to eat the pellets. Another option that I have thought of is grinding up pellets and mixing it with some seed, to make it easier, and then gradually increasing the size of the pellets.

So, by changing up some food and offering it to her in different ways, especially if I microwave it first and warm it up, she may accept new foods a bit better.

Scout's Turn-07/26/2010

A few months ago, I went with Jenni and Jason to Earl May's, because a friend of theirs has connections to find out if I am a girl or a boy. The friend pulled 3 tail feathers--OUCH!! But Jenni said I was good. Last week, I found out that I am a girl bird! Both Dizzy and me are girls!

Jenni's Turn

Tonight I tried a new recipe for Scout. It's a chopped salad, more or less. I combined a green bell pepper, some crushed pellets, some corn, some peas, some green beans, some carrots, some pinto beans, and a whole sweet potato. I shredded everything with my food processor and then mixed it. I scooped the mixture into 2 ice cube trays and froze it. I plan to put it into a gallon-sized freezer bag tomorrow morning to save space. I hope Scout likes it! Because he is a picky eater but likes stuff with bell peppers and real vegetables in it, I thought the mixture would cover the taste of the crushed pellets. He won't eat pellets, either fruit-flavored or regular. He eats almost everything else though.

Unfortunately, Dizzy is even pickier than Scout is! There are about 5 things she will eat: pellets, seeds (including millet spray), hand feeding formula, grapes, blueberries. Sometimes she will eat apple pieces but only if you hand them to her one by one. It's not really time-constructive. Dizzy is also picky about her toys. Actually, she doesn't like toys. She has a cozy hut in her cage that she uses only to cuddle and rub up against. She likes shredding toys sometimes but not always. She will play with her seed sock once in a while. So what does Dizzy have as a distraction during the day? Well, she loves to crawl into the keyboard tray of Jason's computer desk and play back there. She helps type and bites the scroll-ring of the mouse. Not a really big playing bird by herself.

On the subject of toys, Scout loves his. I am going to various websites and getting ideas of toys to make for a fraction of the cost. We ended up giving him the toys we had originally purchased for Dizzy because she won't touch them but he loves them. We got her a wooden birdy abacus with wooden beads. Within a week of the abacus in his cage Scout had chewed through the dowels on the rows. Scout likes toys he can chew, shred, and climb on. What a cool bird.

Dizzy's Turn

Oh what to do, what to do? It's Sunday and neither Jason nor Jenni have the energy to take care of me. Jenni tried to pet me but I wasn't having any of it. I'm itchy and Jason's not doing anything about it!! My pinfeathers are coming in and they are annoying. According to Jason, this is going to happen once a year and there is nothing he can do about it. But I'm Dizzy so I deserve to have it not itch. The itchiness is making me cranky.

Yesterday, Jenni was about to get a few pinfeathers. She gently squeezed the pin together until it popped off. Then she smoothed it out. But after about an hour this started to get on my nerves so I bit her until she stopped.

Jason said I can't eat just millet, that I have to eat some stupid pellets too. I tried, but I like to dip them but sometimes I drop them in the water and make soup. No one likes my soup! I wish we had some blueberries again. I wish I had something to do, someone to see, something good to eat. Right now, the most fun I get is pooping on Jason's shoulder when he doesn't know it Hehehe...

Jenni's Turn

Well, I see that a few birds have been at my computer. That figures. Scout is terrific at peeling off buttons from the keyboard on the laptop. It's always the HOME key.

Today we had a first! Recently I made a batch of frozen (no sugar added) blueberries and strawberries. I boiled them together and it made a sort of fruit salad. Then I refroze the concoction in little, single-serve bags for the birds. Scout didn't seem to like the mix today but Dizzy sure did! Or as Jason told her, "See what happens when you try new things?!" You see, Dear Reader, Scout is ALWAYS willing to try new things. Whether he likes it or not is a different story haha. But Dizzy? She doesn't like to try new things. She either runs away from them or just flat out looks at you like you've lost your mind!

Got back from the store not too long ago. I bought 2 large jars of baby food: Gerber's green beans and rice. What I am planning to do tomorrow is to use the green beans (Scout's absolute favorite!) and some frozen green beans and make a green bean corn bread. Jason recommended a bird-safe green bean casserole with unsalted saltines (instead of French fried onions). I might try that too! There's plenty of green beans and rice to go for both recipes. I also started soaking some pinto beans for overnight. I read that parrots like beans and eat them heartily. Since Scout is freshly weaned (but absolutely hates his pellets), I'm going to play around with some cooked beans and see what I can do with it.

Well, I should get going to bed. It's after 4 a.m. and I need to be up in a few hours!

LATER!

Scout's Turn

So, as I think you all know, my name is Scout. The picture above is an older picture, shortly after Jenni and Jason got me. I hatched in December of 2009 and as of yesterday, I am 25 weeks old. I don't remember too much of my original life with the breeder. They were all really nice people. Jenni still talks to them and keeps in touch about how I am. Things are different now than they were before I came to Lincoln!

I was born in Meadville, MO, but in January 2010 I traveled with the breeder and her dad to St. Joseph, MO to meet my new "parrot parents". Jenni hand fed me for the first time and more of it got on me than in me, but I was happy because there was food involved. Then Jason, Jenni, and I all went for a long ride home to Lincoln, NE, and I was home. Again, Jenni hand fed me some formula and it got all over the place. I bobbed my head. Jenni asked me if I thought I was a boxer because of the bobbing and weaving! I loved cuddling and I still do sometimes. Jenni and Jason took really good care of me.

I love food. Jenni made up some stuff recently that I really like. It's a mixture of brown rice, mixed vegetables, shredded sweet potato, and a shredded orange bell pepper. It's good. It's so good that I have to make a mess of myself when I eat it!! Jenni stopped feeding me formula last night on my 25 week birthday. She seemed sad about it. I cheered her up by grabbing her glasses, flapping my wings against her head, and barking in her face. Ah, what a wonderful life it is!

Right now I am molting and getting in my adult feathers. Jenni said it will be all over soon and tries to give me scratches and help peel pinfeathers. Sometimes nothing helps. It itches so badly! I don't like baths and I don't like to get totally wet. I just like to jump in my water dish once a week and soak my head and my front and the top of my wings. That's all the bathing I need.

Last weekend they tried to clip my wings. HA I totally outsmarted them and flew off. I don't want my wings clipped. I like having my independence to fly to Jenni whenever I want to see her, which is all the time. Besides, they only got an inch of my primary feathers. It will take a lot more to keep me down!

Well, I need to get going to bed now. Night night!! Bring food next time!

Dizzy's Turn

5/13/2010

As a "fancy" green cheek conure, I have always had my eye for the dramatic. I was about 9 months old and living with two other green cheek conures at a garden store when I saw them walk in. Jason and Jenni. We flirted back and forth for a while. I showed them that I could nod with my whole body. They nodded back. Some words and money were exchanged, and a brand new huge cage was bought especially for me. Then I came home in November 2009.

That first night I was very nervous. They had 2 cats that they tried to keep out of the bedroom for the first few days. The kitties made me nervous. Jenni brought me to her shoulder and I hesitantly walked on. Then I bit her. I was scared and everything was so new. They kept saying, "Hello!" and "Pretty bird!" over and over again. I was very frightened then and hadn't adjusted. I bit Jason a few times that night too.

I knew they were thinking about getting rid of me. I could sense it. Since the world naturally revolves around me, I know everything that's going on. They talked with the lady from the store a few times about returning me. They said they didn't want a bird that bites after all. I tried to be good, I really did. It worked and for a few hours each day I would coo and be sweet looking and make nice noises. But if Jason left the room I screamed. How dare he leave me? I am DIZZY! I was afraid that he may not come back.

We all tried harder. I started to trust Jason and even Jenni a little bit. I wasn't sure about Jenni because she moved too quickly sometimes and tried to pet me. I don't like to be pet like the cat! I loved that Jason and Jenni would take turns eating beside my cage with me for those first several weeks. I would eat then too. Everything was going fine.

But then I had a bad day. I was mad because I woke up and the sun wasn't shining and the day was dark and gloomy. I was mad because my favorite fruit pellet, the banana, wasn't hitting the spot. I was mad because I wasn't getting what I wanted right then and there. Jason wouldn't respond to my demands to make it better so I bit him. When Jenni came home from work I bit her too. They bled. Secretly, it made me laugh. These silly humans and their blood. They think they need ALL of it. Then I screamed. I yelled and I yelled and I yelled for no apparent reason. I couldn't fix the weather, I couldn't fix the pellets, and I couldn't get my way this time. Jason was mad; he had just quit smoking and I was driving him crazy. He yelled back at me to be quiet. Jenni came into the bedroom and got me out of my cage. She held me for a few minutes and cuddled with me. She spoke softly to me and I calmed down after a while. It was decided then that I would stay in Jenni's room from then on. That worked out fine.

My days are much better now. To tell you the truth, I don't know what was wrong that first several months. Now, I have great days. I am a diva. I am the light in your day. I am everything you wish you could be. I bite sometimes, when I don't want to be held or petted. I bite Jenni more often than Jason. To tell you the truth, I think Jason is awesome. I get to spend the days with him talking and laughing and riding on his shoulder. Jason is my second favorite person in the world.

The first is me.

Welcome to my blog

I decided to start a blog to help keep in touch with family and friends. Also, I wanted to write about my birds.

When I first got a pair of finches in summer of 2009, many people asked, "Why finches?" I always replied, "My husband has had them before and says they are hardy." The two finches have reproduced and now live in an aviary that my husband built them. There are currently 17 finches in total; 6 are zebra finches and 11 are society finches. And yes, I am one of those people that names her animals so they all have names. I just don't feel like writing down 17 names!!

However this blog is about the trials and tribulations of having parrots. Our two parrots are Dizzy, a green cheek conure; and Scout, a congo African grey.

This blog is also about poop. If you have parrots, or pets of any kind, you are definitely aware that poop exists. Most of my quality time spent with my birds is spent cleaning up poop or changing my shirt. A record breaking day is 5 shirt changes for just me! This is to be expected, though. Parrots can be messy. From what they eat to what they produce, they can be messy!!

Well, I am going to go ahead and let Dizzy take over writing for my next post.

See y'all later!