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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.
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!
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.
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.
