Baby Broccoli

[ravvlet]

Did I also mention they both have Pak O Birds? I already have plans to start taking them out on the bike; I can strap them into the kid trailer for safety and they can come get a coffee with me That way my morning 10 mile ride also gets them out of the house and out into the sunshine.

The kid trailer has a sun shade so they should be totally fine! They'll have to take turns with the dogs though; the pug hates the bike but the chihuahuas love riding along.

 

[ravvlet]

Y’all just ignore me if the minute by minute updates are too much; gushing helps quell the anxiety and gives me positive things to read when I’m overwhelmed.

Broccoli wouldn’t take this banana chip from my hand- he isn’t yet keen on treats, so he nibbled it a bit and then just beaked my fingers instead. So I gave one to Kirby and put Broccoli’s into his bowl.

He went and got it himself and watched Kirby and started trying to hold it with his foot like Kirby did. Awwww.

He also indignantly squawks at me when I pet Kirby and not him, lol. What a stinker. But he doesn’t want to sit still for pets! Silly boy.

 

[LaManuka]

Gush away, @ravvlet!! It's an exciting time and it's nice to relive these precious "new baby" moments through you too

 

[ravvlet]

Me: oh gosh, but what if he flies around and impossible to catch -

Broccoli: Velcro.

Well alright then. Now I just need to convince him he won’t die if I sit down in my gosh darn chair, LOL.

 

[LaManuka]

View attachment 52855

Me: oh gosh, but what if he flies around and impossible to catch -

Broccoli: Velcro.

Well alright then. Now I just need to convince him he won’t die if I sit down in my gosh darn chair, LOL.

Oh well isn't he just gorgeous?!! Just look at him striking a pose!! Well done y'all, and who needs to sit down anyways? It's waaaaaayyyy overrated!

 

[ravvlet]

Having a party. Kirby isn’t even mad, just curiously watching while grooming.

 

[ravvlet]

Haha, ok, Kirby finally got jealous and got a piece of bird kabob up his nose! Had to emergency put Broccoli up (with a banana chip for mostly behaving himself - he did poop in my hair and nibble on ears) and towel Kirby to clean his nose because he wouldn’t stop sneezing. Poor fella!

So now Kirby is back out and everyone got banana chips.

 

[ravvlet]

Little britches started fussing, so we swapped out birds again. He sat on my shoulder for a while, then flew in a circle around the room, landed on the highest part of the tree, and did his little MEEP! MEEEEEP! that I assume is his contact call, lol. Esme could not hear him upstairs, so whatever I did to this room is working!

He's back on me now and is happy to chirp and grumble in my ear; but if I stop talking he gets louder and more insistent, so I guess I have to keep talking in a soft voice. If I speak softly he does too!

Oof, and off he goes again. MEEP! Just the one, once he's landed, which is funny. I claim this perch in the name of Broccoli!

 

[onamom]

View attachment 52855

Me: oh gosh, but what if he flies around and impossible to catch -

Broccoli: Velcro.

Well alright then. Now I just need to convince him he won’t die if I sit down in my gosh darn chair, LOL.

Sounds like a Conure alright! Just… Velcro.

Little britches started fussing, so we swapped out birds again. He sat on my shoulder for a while, then flew in a circle around the room, landed on the highest part of the tree, and did his little MEEP! MEEEEEP! that I assume is his contact call, lol. Esme could not hear him upstairs, so whatever I did to this room is working!

He's back on me now and is happy to chirp and grumble in my ear; but if I stop talking he gets louder and more insistent, so I guess I have to keep talking in a soft voice. If I speak softly he does too!

Oof, and off he goes again. MEEP! Just the one, once he's landed, which is funny. I claim this perch in the name of Broccoli!

Haha Ona does the MEEP noise too.

 

[ravvlet]

Broccoli’s out time is late today as we had an electrical emergency last night that lead to repairs all morning, then I had to meet someone to buy a cargo bike to take the kids on rides, and THEN the kid’s new bunk bed arrived and we started assembling it - WHEW.

Kirby had a couple hours to himself, then I spent two hours in IKEA hell, and took a break to hang with Brocc.

Didn’t realize how velcro conures are! I put his tiny cagetop playstand on my desk next to my computer so he could play on it if he wanted but he prefers grinding his little beak in my ear and just hanging out. I saw a hilarious video someone made of a dusky with a used soda box climbing all over it - I wonder if he’d prefer something like that.

Tomorrow will be another late day; we were invited to a birthday party slash summer BBQ slash pool party, and I committed to cooking deviled eggs and a cheesecake. I haven’t even bought the ingredients, LOL. Sometimes I really screw myself over! Sunday is Broccoli’s first fly day though! We probably won’t let him out unless Debbie is confident about keeping him from getting stuck somewhere - I certainly am not. But I figured there’s no reason not to bring him along in his Pak O.

Thanks for all the support and encouragement guys. I am feeling less anxious each day. Hoping that continues!

Oh, and little man DID accidentally land on Kirby’s cage today - it was DEFINITELY an accident as he moved to a different spot and then off it completely, and Kirby of course threw a fit - but no one was hurt, as I was watching for it! Glad that’s out of the way, haha. I of course am not going to let him do it again if I can help it, but Kirby is so slow that I’d be pretty shocked if he managed to get anywhere near Brocc.

 

[onamom]

He is so cute!! Those big eyes are just Yes, Conures are VERY Velcro Ona is a Velcro bird for sure but I like that way - most of the time. There are times when it does get frustrating but overall I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Sounds like he is adjusting well!! Before you know it things will settle into the new normal and routine. I remember being anxious when I first brought Ona home too. Any change in routine can be nerve wracking. But you’re both doing great!

Love seeing your baby updates.

 

[ravvlet]

Oh, Kirby.

Old man got out late again today as we went to a BBQ, and now he’s singing sweet love rumbles at Broccoli. He’s such a softie. He let my kids pet him so he’s not hot and bothered, I think, just trying to impress Broccoli. Birds are weird.

Broccoli is of course confused and disinterested. He’s very good about chirping a couple times to let me know he’s happy to see me and then will wait until it’s his turn, although he seems a bit more impatient today, haha - how quick they learn!

 

[ravvlet]

I thought I’d save myself some driving time and order online the parrot toy wooden block parts they sell in bins at the store - but they don’t smell like the parrot store, so Broccoli is terrified of them! Sigh.

Velcro bird spent another day using me as a play gym and a toilet, lol. I have offered him wooden blocks, wicker balls (he likes the natural color ones which we only have one he hasn’t shredded!), and the bird kabob things, which he just stares at.

He’s mostly good about not nipping. He does get bored from time to time and test me - he’s been weirdly gentle with my ears today but tried to pull some nonsense on the back of my neck and my finger. Poor little guy also startled my youngest kid- she wanted to hold him but she got scared when he started chewing her sleeve and thought he was going to bite her. I think she’s got some assumptions based on Sammy that she’ll have to let go of…I think we all do, haha.

My next conundrum is how to work with a bird who isn’t food motivated! He ignores most treats, will take walnut or pieces of banana chip but tends to drop them. I would like to at least work on rewarding him for not chewing on us (70% of the time he’s quite good) and work on recall in case of emergency.

He steps up fine but doesn’t seem to want to be pet much. Our cockatiel constantly begged for pets! I wonder if he’ll come around.

 

[ravvlet]

It’s been a rough weekend; the electrical issue we were having remains largely unsolved. They sent another tech out and long story short it’s going to require a more extensive (and expensive) repair, which they have yet to call to schedule.

And to be honest, I am still feeling a ton of anxiety about having a second bird. Kirby is handling it quite well and Broccoli is largely polite, especially for a conure, but I just can’t let go of this feeling of “waiting for the other shoe to drop”. I am stressing a lot about spending time with them and making sure everyone gets attention and not reinforcing bad behaviors - which is weird for me, because normally I am fairly confident when bringing home a new pet (although I definitely remember this feeling with Sammy too).

The problems we are having with the house are probably not helping, but I am feeling very overwhelmed this morning. My Kirby time was always my relaxing/downtime away from my partner and the kids, so OF COURSE being the genius I am, I decided to throw a baby bird into the mix!

We gave this a lot of thought and went back and forth about it a lot before we committed to Broccoli, but I knew even so that bringing him home would be challenging for me. I am the primary caregiver for basically everyone in the house, and I am really feeling that “cup overfloweth” with responsibilities feeling!

Sorry for being a bummer if anyone reads this - it helps a little to put it out in the void. I understand why they don’t, but sometimes I wish parrot stores had a foster to adopt program like rescues do. I hope these feelings go away, because they are really making everything way more difficult than it needs to be. I know if I really decide we can’t do this that the folks I know at the store would help us figure something out, but I would feel like an idiot for not realizing this was a bad idea sooner.

 

[onamom]

I thought I’d save myself some driving time and order online the parrot toy wooden block parts they sell in bins at the store - but they don’t smell like the parrot store, so Broccoli is terrified of them! Sigh.

Velcro bird spent another day using me as a play gym and a toilet, lol. I have offered him wooden blocks, wicker balls (he likes the natural color ones which we only have one he hasn’t shredded!), and the bird kabob things, which he just stares at.

He’s mostly good about not nipping. He does get bored from time to time and test me - he’s been weirdly gentle with my ears today but tried to pull some nonsense on the back of my neck and my finger. Poor little guy also startled my youngest kid- she wanted to hold him but she got scared when he started chewing her sleeve and thought he was going to bite her. I think she’s got some assumptions based on Sammy that she’ll have to let go of…I think we all do, haha.

My next conundrum is how to work with a bird who isn’t food motivated! He ignores most treats, will take walnut or pieces of banana chip but tends to drop them. I would like to at least work on rewarding him for not chewing on us (70% of the time he’s quite good) and work on recall in case of emergency.

He steps up fine but doesn’t seem to want to be pet much. Our cockatiel constantly begged for pets! I wonder if he’ll come around.

Is he interested in the treats if you pretend to eat them then offer him one?

It’s been a rough weekend; the electrical issue we were having remains largely unsolved. They sent another tech out and long story short it’s going to require a more extensive (and expensive) repair, which they have yet to call to schedule.

And to be honest, I am still feeling a ton of anxiety about having a second bird. Kirby is handling it quite well and Broccoli is largely polite, especially for a conure, but I just can’t let go of this feeling of “waiting for the other shoe to drop”. I am stressing a lot about spending time with them and making sure everyone gets attention and not reinforcing bad behaviors - which is weird for me, because normally I am fairly confident when bringing home a new pet (although I definitely remember this feeling with Sammy too).

The problems we are having with the house are probably not helping, but I am feeling very overwhelmed this morning. My Kirby time was always my relaxing/downtime away from my partner and the kids, so OF COURSE being the genius I am, I decided to throw a baby bird into the mix!

We gave this a lot of thought and went back and forth about it a lot before we committed to Broccoli, but I knew even so that bringing him home would be challenging for me. I am the primary caregiver for basically everyone in the house, and I am really feeling that “cup overfloweth” with responsibilities feeling!

Sorry for being a bummer if anyone reads this - it helps a little to put it out in the void. I understand why they don’t, but sometimes I wish parrot stores had a foster to adopt program like rescues do. I hope these feelings go away, because they are really making everything way more difficult than it needs to be. I know if I really decide we can’t do this that the folks I know at the store would help us figure something out, but I would feel like an idiot for not realizing this was a bad idea sooner.

Sorry to hear you are feeling overwhelmed and about the house issues. It’s a lot all at once. I’m the primary caretaker of all three dogs + Ona and I completely understand the feeling of being overwhelmed with it at times. I definitely have days where it’s just hard and I want to throw a tantrum over trying to keep up with them all, haha. Take a deep breath and one day at time *hugs*. Growing pains are no joke but it will settle down.

 

[ravvlet]

Is he interested in the treats if you pretend to eat them then offer him one?

That's a good idea. I know he tried the banana chip after seeing Kirby eat it, haha.

Sorry to hear you are feeling overwhelmed and about the house issues. It’s a lot all at once. I’m the primary caretaker of all three dogs + Ona and I completely understand the feeling of being overwhelmed with it at times. I definitely have days where it’s just hard and I want to throw a tantrum over trying to keep up with them all, haha. Take a deep breath and one day at time *hugs*. Growing pains are no joke but it will settle down.

We have 3 dogs too! Thankfully my partner has helped with them usually, especially times like now when I reeeally overextended myself.

On a different note - I just weighed Broccoli and he's down to 102g. I am hoping it's just stress from the new house - we tried not to change his food at all from what he was getting at the store, but that worries me a lot! I'm going to phone the vet in the AM to be sure he's ok. It could also be scale discrepancy... Hmm. I tried with two different scale perches though and got 102 each time.

And it's end of day, so... 18g down from that vet appointment seems like a whole lot for a little guy. Argh! Hoping its just the difference between their scale and mine.

 

[ravvlet]

Ah; and another thing, we are working on what I am just going to call separation anxiety because it reminds me of the dogs; who all had it to varying degrees and I was able to deal with it with them and so I can do this too!

Little man gets shouty when I leave. My anxiety wants me to stay to make the sounds stop, but I know that just reinforces that yelling gets what he wants, so I have to ignore my lizard brain!

This evening I popped out because I was worried about his weight and wanted to offer more of his food (he still has food in his bowl) to see if he was hungry or if there’s a pellet or element to his food he prefers - but he was happy to eat all of the parts of it, although it was clear he wanted to come back out of his cage!

HOWEVER, when he saw I was leaving - as I don’t usually leave in the evenings until I put them to bed - he had a bit of a fit. My pug still does this from time to time, so I reminded myself if I can handle a pug howling so loud I can hear him through a weatherproofed front door (it is absurd how loud that dog is; he could give Sammy a run for her money), I can handle a tiny bird whose contact call is on par with a green cheek.

I ignored him, got his food refill, and waited outside the door for him to quiet down. Wasn’t sure how long so I decided to go by the popcorn rule - count slowly to five, and if I don’t hear a call I can open the door!

He didn’t actually call at me when I opened the door either, which was a surprise. I told him he was a good boy and emphasized the word quiet. He’s being so good now!

Now I just need to convince him to stop flying to Kirby’s cage, lmao. He’s tried twice today- I have literally surrounded myself with dowel perches so I can get him off quickly without having to get up out of my chair. I’m glad at lesser he’s finally exploring the play stands though! I am not a bird tree, for all that I covered myself in toys to keep him from ruining my shirt, lol.

—-

Put him to bed like I normally do, and he had a little bit of bedtime shouty. The weird thing was he did it twice and then got quiet, but then as I was cleaning the adjacent room he went off again. Odd. He has a cage cover so I’m not sure what set him off. Maybe he thought I’d come back in.

I’ll have to check on the security cam and see if he settles down.

 

[onamom]

My pug still does this from time to time, so I reminded myself if I can handle a pug howling so loud I can hear him through a weatherproofed front door (it is absurd how loud that dog is; he could give Sammy a run for her money), I can handle a tiny bird whose contact call is on par with a green cheek.

Ha - two of my dogs are Pugs! One of them can be very loud too. They can also make some WEIRD noises

Ona still to this day has some separation anxiety. Most of the time it's not a problem because she's usually with me. I do wish when she was younger I would have been a little more consistent and firm about not reinforcing cage screaming. Sounds like you are off to a good start.

 

[ravvlet]

Ha - two of my dogs are Pugs! One of them can be very loud too. They can also make some WEIRD noises

Oh yeah, ours screams like a person and it’s absurd, lol!

Ona still to this day has some separation anxiety. Most of the time it's not a problem because she's usually with me. I do wish when she was younger I would have been a little more consistent and firm about not reinforcing cage screaming. Sounds like you are off to a good start.

Yeah, I am really worried about this (no idea why but it really sets my anxiety off when he contact calls when I leave the room) so I’ve tried really hard to be firm about going in in the afternoon even though I will likely spend more time in there once the kids are back in school. I’d rather him get used to a “work schedule” like some people have their birds on.

I am very tired of this anxiety, it doesn’t even make sense. It’s like my lizard brain is convinced this tiny bird is a threat when it isn’t, but I can’t seem to convince it otherwise. I KNOW it’s stupid and I feel stupid, but I also feel nauseous, fearful, and on the verge of tears! Ridiculous.

 

[ravvlet]

A handsome boy, grinding his beak and contentedly hanging out with me while I work.