Kirby’s Capers

[ravvlet]

Just watching the big guy contemplatively roll a blueberry around in his beak.

Will he eat it?? Time will tell.

Seriously though, I forgot how stubborn birds were about eating veggies. I have the same problem with my human kids. We’ve done fresh chopped, whole, finely chopped, with seed, without seed, so next I’m going to throw organic parrot-safe baby food on top of it and see what happens. He likes to pick the blueberries out, the punk. He doesn’t like them when they are blended in though!

Also, it’s 9pm, which is definitely Parrot Bed Time, but it’s also when Sammy decides he desperately needs to chow down! Lucky for him I am going to clean Kirby’s cage first. Fids! Like kids but with more poop everywhere…

 

[SailBoat]

We do not make a big thing of whether our Amazon Choose to eat veggies or not, and that plays against his reasoning to refuse them. Just have fun when we eat Veggies and that plays to an Amazons interest in some thing new, different, etc...

 

[ravvlet]

We do not make a big thing of whether our Amazon Choose to eat veggies or not, and that plays against his reasoning to refuse them. Just have fun when we eat Veggies and that plays to an Amazons interest in some thing new, different, etc...

So… what I do with my kids?? Haha, that’s really cute but you’re probably right. Geez. I forget how smart these bird brains are.

 

[ravvlet]

Sammy’s weight has been steadily at 545 the last few days, which is great because we’ve officially begun operation “No More Seeds” as of this past weekend.

For now he is getting a mix of seed, pellet, and chop in the AM, and in the evenings he is getting just pellets and veg (today I cut mini peppers in half in little “bowls” and stuffed them full of pellets). He’s still not touching his chop when it’s offered by itself so we decided to monitor his weight (so that we know he’s not just refusing to eat at all) and mixing the pureed chop in with the seeds and pellet in the mornings instead of offering seperate bowls, at least until he’s got a taste for it or has preferences for certain fresh foods.

For Kirby, I did the same thing with mini peppers but instead of pellet I stuffed them with quinoa and pureed chop. He went to town on them, and seemed to find it really fun!

 

[ravvlet]

Going to be a long week for Sammy!

Still waiting for his test results so he’s got to stay in quarantine. However, my partner has a business trip and will be gone tomorrow through next Saturday! This means his usual buddy for hanging out all day will be absent. Poor guy. I’m going to make a point of going in there to spend time with him for at least a few hours every day; my mom was able to come up to help with the kids while my partner is out of town.

However, I’ve been struggling myself because - not a month after our kids schools dropped their mask mandates - my kids brought home a nasty cold. It’s not Covid, thankfully; we had the kids PCR tested while they were symptomatic. But the day my mom came into town I hit a 100+ degree fever and haven’t been myself since. I’ve managed to keep the cages clean and their food schedule unaltered but I’ve spent the rest of my free time in bed! Broke down and took mucinex, Claritin, and dayquil today. Whew. I haven’t been sick like this since before the pandemic! I miss the masking and social distancing in schools; two years without a cold was awesome.

Anyway, I’m hoping I start feeling better tomorrow, as my partner will be flying out in the morning and I don’t want to leave Sammy all by himself all day; and while Kirby still gets out time (he has a fancy security cam in his room that streams to my phone so I can talk to him and keep an eye on him if I’m in another room) it’s not as fun for him as when I’m not sick. I actually ended up just bringing a weighted sleep mask down there and dozed in a chair a couple times this week - he didn’t know what to make of that!

 

[ravvlet]

Sun bathing with a messy beak!

 

[Laurasea]

I hope you feel better quick!
My go to magic drink when sick is hot water ( tea hot) with honey to taste plus one slice of each if the following. Lemon , lime , orange! Must have all 3 for the magic ! Great for nausea, sore throat, cough and just to make yiu feel refreshed. We call it Laura's Tea
( but no tea just hot water and the fruit)

 

[ravvlet]

Heh, I’m a big tea and coffee drinker, but yeah, my partner has been trying to get me to at least down some fruit juice. My sinuses are all backed up to the point that I can’t hear as well and it’s so irritating! My mom has had to tell me if Sammy or Kirby are barking (yep, barking!) a couple times because I just can’t hear them if I’m upstairs at the moment.

 

[ravvlet]

Look who finally got on his weigh stand today!! Only took me three separate tries. He really won’t go until he’s good and ready!

Well, day one of me soloing both birds who are in two different parts of the house! I spent most of the day in bed (I gave up and took NyQuil since my mom was watching our kids and I really needed the sleep - coughing kept me up all night!) but I made time in the evening to hang with Sam and Kirby. I read another chapter to Sam, and Kirby had & enjoyed some sunbathing and his aloe bath. I did screw up a bit with Kirby - I wondered why his room smelled funny; I’d been so exhausted this morning I forgot to take his morning chop bowl out (I give him his afternoon veg on his playstand). Oops! Normally it only faintly smells of bird at the end of the day, and like nothing at all after I clean it at bed time.

Being under the weather is frustrating but I’m finally feeling like I’m coming around the corner on this dang cold; woke up after the big nap hoarse but feeling a lot more alert.

 

[ravvlet]

Not a lot to add today; the vet called and gave us the all clear to move Sammy into the bird room! Also said that liver levels and culture came back totally fine. Incredible considering diet and other conditions but I love a win! I didn’t realize parrots could be so hardy, after all the blood work, X-rays etc we’ve had to have for Kirby.

Also - Sammy is actually female, lol. I let her former owner know since she sometimes texts me for updates and I don’t think she even believes me, haha. I asked the vet if I should be concerned about hormonal behavior between Sammy and Kirby or if I should be worried about egg laying but she thinks it should be fine especially since their cages will be across the room from each other and we’re hoping to stick to separate “out” times.

We will wait to move her indoors until my partner is home I think, just because I want to have another adult comfortable handling birds with me before we do a big transition & I want to introduce them to each other in a neutral room in the house.

Edit: to be clear she is indoors now, in an insulated and climate controlled outbuilding my partner uses as an office as she works from home! I realized that might have read weird.

 

[Laurasea]

Congratulations on your girl!
Great job on weight!!

 

[ravvlet]

Congratulations on your girl!
Great job on weight!!

Thanks! Now let’s see if I have the patience to wait for my partner to be home before I start planning out introductions… how did you do it with your flock?

Edit: oh, I searched the forums and see you gave some great advice about this earlier this year. Since Sammy is disease free (we tested for Polyoma/Chlamydophila/PBFD as well as one other one I’ve forgotten the name of, and did a CBC/metabolic panel/culture and everything is clean!) I think I might roll her cage into Kirby’s room today for a few hours and let them stare/shout it out…

They’ve heard each other before; my partners office is an outbuilding right outside the patio door of my office. Would rolling her cage into Kirby’s room thing be a good place to start, or would bringing them both somewhere neutral be better? Sammy is hit or miss about being handled (didn’t get a weight today for example; she was anxious from having my partner be gone again today and only let me pet her a few times) so I’m not confident about trying to get her into her travel cage without upsetting her.

 

[Laurasea]

Ha ha i wouldn't be able to wait either.
Making it positive with lots if treats for both . Abd as you read , enough time to see each other for a while.

Good luck!! I hope they can become very good friends.

 

[StormyPica]

AHH we need more pics!!!! They're both just TOO CUTE!!!

 

[ravvlet]

Oh boy oh boy!

Impatience won out. I did some research and decided bringing her in during their Second Chop/afternoon feed would be the most ideal time. She and Kirby have been making the little cute amazon trills to each other, and after that Kirby tucked into his late lunch unbothered.

Sammy also seems ok - she IS sitting very upright, but her tail and head feathers aren’t flared, and she’s been trilling to us every couple minutes.

Now to decide if I should roll her back out to the office (you can see it in the photo actually) or if I should just let her sleep in here and see how it goes tomorrow. I don’t want to rush them, but I am not looking forward to moving this cage by myself again, lol!

 

[ravvlet]

In case you’re ever wondering, “How can I spice up introducing two parrots?” The answer is: let your 10 year old practice flute in the same room, lol!

Whoops. Kinda forgot this is ALSO the flute practice room (we like to keep all our loud stuff in one room I guess!) Fortunately both Sammy and Kirby seem to be enjoying this and have “contributed” by whistling, saying “Hello!” or making clicking & kissy noises.

 

[ravvlet]

 

[ravvlet]

I am not allowed to leave the room, but at least Kirby is quiet!

Sammy is VERY LOUD and reactive; she asks for pets and then tries to nip me after getting scratches for a couple of seconds - but I was able to let Kirby play on his tree as usual before putting him up for the evening.

They don’t seem *upset* per se. Kirby did of course climb as close to Sammy’s cage as he could but there’s a significant gap between her cage and his playstand and I made sure he didn’t try to jump it, lol.

Sammy on the other hand is not yet super comfortable coming out of her cage (and is difficult to move & handle still) so I didn’t try letting her out yet. It will likely be a problem for Tomorrow Me.

I just wish she’d settle down when I’m out of the room. I think as it’s her first time having ANOTHER PARROT nearby she might not be keen on me leaving her “to the wolves”; she also gets quieter when I move between the two cages so she can’t see Kirby.

Should I let her stay in here to sleep, or should I roll her back out into her old room for now and do this again tomorrow? I’m not sure how fast is too fast. She’s meant to be in my office in the long run so I don’t want to screw up getting her in here by moving too quickly, although it seems the one who is the most bent out of shape is her!

 

[TheBirdMan]

that is very encouraging!!

 

[texsize]

You could try covering the cage so they can't see each other.