Miss Merlin is here

[roxynoodle]

Miss Merlin arrived today. She was a brave, good girl who flew on a big airplane all the way from Connecticut to Detroit, and then rode nicely back to my home in Ohio with me. Pete was absolutely hilarious when he saw her. He would giggle, then say, "I love you!", then giggle some more and tell her I love you again. Over and over. Then he started saying, "Hello, dear" to her. He was at the bottom of the cage strutting his amazon stuff for all he was worth. Finally he did an attractive mating dance for her.

I don't know if he's ever seen a Grey in person before or not. I've been showing him pictures of her all week to get him ready, along with Rowdy. And he's seen them on TV. But, boy was he ever thrilled to see a girl parrot about the same size as him. I think last night he proved to me that he really is a boy, and he definitely did today. The DNA test I ordered for him may not be necessary.

The three of them are finally settling down, and preening now. I will get dinner for all of us shortly. I know Merlin is pretty tired, and I'd like to get them all into bed early tonight. Aside from her tiring day, she is used to an earlier schedule than my 2 clowns are, and the sun rises and sets later here than it does on the east coast.

I'm so glad she arrived safely!

 

[merlinsmom13]

She sounds great! Hope things continue to go well.

 

[KBEquine]

So glad she is there & things are looking good!

 

[kc_y0]

Thats so awesome! Happy she got there safe & sound!

 

[Rio Mom]

So happy for you!! And so cute, Pete got a girlfriend!

 

[Mamanda]

So totally exciting! Very, very happy for you & looking forward to lots of stories & PICTURES!

 

[MikeyTN]

Congrats on getting your new baby home!!! Please do post pictures when your ready!

 

[MissyMe83]

How exciting! Sounds like it's going well so far, good luck! I agree, pics, pics, and more pics please! : )

 

[wenz2712]

Glad she arrived safetly and is settling in well Look forward to seeing pics

 

[ScottRoberts]

We want pics!!!!!

Congrats to all of you sounds like a great addition to the flock.

 

[Spiritbird]

You are so fortunate to have Merlin and such a warm reception from your flock. Happy happy for you.

 

[roxynoodle]

Here's a weird one, peeps, that I've not quite figured out. She didn't want to eat this morning. If I handed her food, she would take and eat it. She is spending a lot of time in the bottom of her cage, which I knew from her previous owners she liked to do. Part of the reason we chose this cage is that it was low to the ground. She did climb up to get water though, but wouldn't go near the food dish. I just put some more food in a bowl at the bottom of the cage and she went to town. Last night though she ate just fine out of the higher food dish. Should I provide her food and water both up higher and down at the bottom? I do have a couple heavy crock dishes that came with the zon that would be better at the bottom of the cage.

Most birds like being up high to feel secure, but she seems to be the opposite. Right now I'm glad she started eating again.

 

[Tammy]

I was always curious how An Amazon would act when adding another bird. I'm glad yours seems okay with it.

I'm so happy for you. I can't imagine the stress of waiting for the flight to arrive & make sure she's okay.

 

[KBEquine]

I would probably feed her both places for now, 'til she settles in. I'm big on accommodating their quirks when they are finding their way in a new place & making changes slowly.


(Feel free to remind me of my own advice when the 2 South American boys arrive here . . . )

 

[roxynoodle]

Her former owner reassured me that she does like to spend most of her time in the bottom of the cage so I have put more things down there to entertain her. I also think the perch that came with the cage scared her. The slits cut into the ends were a little big and it was sliding around some. I have since cut the ends off and bolted it in place. But, it may take her awhile to trust it again or I may have to just change it out for a new one.

Yes, amazon boy is in love! I wasn't sure how he would react either. He is the one who came into my home with a bird who was already here for a long time. This is the first time since he's been here that a completely new bird came in. He's actually been interacting with her more than with me, lol!

Yes, I have no problem accomodating her if she would like food bowls in 2 places. No big deal at all! I even put a perch really low so she can use that, too. And there are toys down there now and some paper to shred. And if she decides she would like to eat down there all the time, that's ok, too.

Waiting for the flight was hard! Her plane landed more than an hour before they brought her to the building I had to pick her up from. I was expecting something more like half an hour and began getting nervous that something was wrong. But, it looked like they waited until they had a few animals off other flights before bringing them all together. We barely got home before dark though, but thankfully we made it by at least a few minutes. I hadn't left any lights on thinking everything would go faster than it did.

They are all napping right now, but we had a hard day and night yesterday. Shorty after I went to bed and the whole house was quiet, she had a night fright. The other birds, cat and I were all worried about her. I have a little dim lamp that I set up near the floor level of her cage, and pulled the cage cover back. That seemed to help her feel better, but i know I continually woke up to check on her. I actually slept on the couch last night to be close to her. At one point she was up, around 5am. Here it's still pitch dark at that time. She preened a little and then went back to sleep. I bet I will want a nap today, too! I think the other animals didn't sleep as well either because they were so concerned. It is very quiet here in the country and she may be comforted if there were a little more noise like cars going by or something. She was sleeping fine while I was still awake and the birds were asleep. But the moment I laid down and started to sleep, the night fright happened.

 

[roxynoodle]

She understood that I fixed her perch for her and that it's safe and secure now. She is back up there now. She treated us to quite a repertoire of her sounds today. My other birds were both surprised and then pleased. The latest sound has been what I think is from video games. Like a laser gun sort of thing. She has quite a few whistles and clucks. She only has said 2 words so far that I didn't quite get, but I think one was her name. Petey would very much like her to say, "I love you" back

She liked one of the toys I gave her so much she already managed to get it to fall from the top of the cage, lol! So I had to fix that for her as well. She is stretching, wagging and showing lots of happiness behaviors. She has given me several kisses and lets me give her head scritches. We are all very happy she joined our flock. She is definitely settling in right from the start!

 

[roxynoodle]

Let's see if I can post a picture! So far I haven't done a very good job at that, lol! This was taken in her previous home, but they sent me a lot of pictures.

Ugh! I don't know why I can do it on other forums but not this one. Here is a photobucket link: http://s650.photobucket.com/albums/uu221/roxynoodle/?action=view&current=Merlin3.jpg

 

[Rio Mom]

Miss Merlin is beautiful!!

 

[mnkeastman]

such a cute welcome! I am sorry to hear about the night fright but I am sure she will settle in fast. The reception is just adorable!

 

[roxynoodle]

I have this little lamp that is pretty dim and happens to have a blue bulb in it. I put that on for her now at night, and last night went perfectly. We think she doesn't see well in the dark.

We've gotten several new noises already. My other birds are both a little freaked by some of them and entertained as well. She is quite the master mimic, I must say. Just now we got a microwave beep.

Pete has been so riled up, it is quite hilarious. I think tomorrow I may let him climb on the outside of her cage to see how she reacts. I'm really hoping they can be buddies who can be out together. They could have a lot more out of cage time as well if they could be out together. He's giggling at her right now and saying, "I love you." I didn't know an amazon could fall in love with a grey, but he seems to be in love!