My bird is awesome!

[Kiwibird]

So as many of you know, we're having some major repairs/remodeling work done to our home starting tomorrow. Over the past week, my little green genius has been carefully observing me and my husband moving the contents of our living/dinging room/entryway into the bedrooms. As we have extremely limited space and also need portability regarding getting him out of harms way with laying down vinyl flooring/paint, so he is going to be spending the next 3 weeks during the repairs process in his outside cage. His big cage will be stored out on the (covered) patio as it is too large and can't be moved up/down the stairs easily. I decided to start 'acclimating' him to the idea of his smaller home Friday so he could have the weekend to adjust to the concept. I set the smaller cage (fully decked out for his extended stay) next to his big cage Friday afternoon and a few hours later...

He had moved his happy little butt right in of his own accord and hasn't returned to his big cage since (which is good as I plan to move it outside this morning). He may not fully grasp what's going on, but he appears to understand enough through his recent observations of abnormal human activities that he needs to be in here. I'm just continually amazed at just how much he grasps and how willing he is to do whatever with no problems other birds seem to have with major changes. Oh and yes, I know there is a big fuss over bird huts but Kiwi has always had one and after 10 years of having them he simply doesn't chew on them so I feel safe offering him one (and would obviously remove if he ever did decide to chew on it). But everyone can/should do what they feel is right for their bird(s) of course!

____________________________________________________________

And for all of Kiwi's "fans" out there- heres another one of him "helping" me move stuff into our bedroom. He was so cute and curious about what we crazy humans are up to now! And obviously, he was being closely supervised when exploring

 

[Laurasea]

They are so so smart!!!

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

And after all April....what would you expect?? After all, Kiwi IS an Amazon,And a Blue Front for that matter! You're awesome birdie...keep suprising Mommy and Daddy with all that intelligence!





Jim

 

[GaleriaGila]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, the majesty of a well-loved, entitled, snooty-butt Amazon. It must be good to be King.

 

[wrench13]

Amazons truely are as smart as 3-4 yr olds. And some are even smarter, Kiwi !

 

[Kiwibird]

He certainly is wicked smart! Fortunately, it isn't getting too chilly yet so he still has lots of car rides left to get him out of the house.

I do have a call into his vet regarding Avicalm. I have a feeling him being upstairs and hearing workers downstairs without being able to see them is going to make him very...upset. He may be smart and brave for a bird, but he's still a bird and what he can't see does freak him out a bit, especially loud noises and unfamiliar voices. I'm hoping the vet ok's giving him something to help with that. Has anyone ever used Avicalm successfully as a temporary stress reliever?

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Can't say that I have,April. In a very few short weeks Amy and Beebs and I will be relocating ourselfs to my brother. I did a "trial" visit with her yesterday with a table top T stand and she sat on that and made her normal calls and Amazon sounds. I hope things go as well with her as it seems like it is with Mr Kiwi.





Jim

 

[Kiwibird]

Can't say that I have,April. In a very few short weeks Amy and Beebs and I will be relocating ourselfs to my brother. I did a "trial" visit with her yesterday with a table top T stand and she sat on that and made her normal calls and Amazon sounds. I hope things go as well with her as it seems like it is with Mr Kiwi.





Jim

Surely Amy has moved house before over the many years you've had her? I'm sure she'll do just fine. Amazons tend to be pretty go with the flow. It's that little BB I might keep a closer eye on. He's so young and small and by the sounds of it not nearly as much of an out and about bird as Amy is.

 

[OutlawedSpirit]

Can't say that I have,April. In a very few short weeks Amy and Beebs and I will be relocating ourselfs to my brother. I did a "trial" visit with her yesterday with a table top T stand and she sat on that and made her normal calls and Amazon sounds. I hope things go as well with her as it seems like it is with Mr Kiwi.





Jim

Surely Amy has moved house before over the many years you've had her? I'm sure she'll do just fine. Amazons tend to be pretty go with the flow. It's that little BB I might keep a closer eye on. He's so young and small and by the sounds of it not nearly as much of an out and about bird as Amy is.

I agree with April on this on Jim. I know Bo sometimes seems happiest when we are on the move. All I have to do is ask him if he wants to go Bye-Bye and he is ready to go. I think being on the move is in an Amazon's DNA.

 

[SailBoat]

Julio has been exposed to construction noises and workers, plus a move and our regular trips to the cottage and family. The largest error is not to introduction him to those individuals as a means of allowing him to connect voice with face. Once that is in place, for Julio, it just no longer an issue. Loud noises for whatever reason tend not to bother him either. What sets him off is if we react to the noise.

Yup, Julio has a hut also! Has no interest in it other then it being a storage area for his 'stuff!'

By the way, did I miss Kiwi's birthday! A DYH, Snobby Amazon, wants to know.

 

[Scott]

Kudos for including Kiwi in the process and dedicating so much to his comfort and understanding. He is so well adjusted because this is just the latest step in your strategy for his socialization.

 

[Kiwibird]

Julio has been exposed to construction noises and workers, plus a move and our regular trips to the cottage and family. The largest error is not to introduction him to those individuals as a means of allowing him to connect voice with face. Once that is in place, for Julio, it just no longer an issue. Loud noises for whatever reason tend not to bother him either. What sets him off is if we react to the noise.

Yup, Julio has a hut also! Has no interest in it other then it being a storage area for his 'stuff!'

By the way, did I miss Kiwi's birthday! A DYH, Snobby Amazon, wants to know.

Kiwi snuggles his hut when it's cold. We only put it in his cage once it starts getting chilly at night. He did good yesterday. I brought him down to "meet" the guy who ripped out the cabinets and sat upstairs with him for a while until he calmed down and then he was fine the rest of the day

Nope, no missed bird-days here! Kiwi's adoption day is in December (this will be 10 years this year). As to his actual hatch day, can't say for sure but I'd assume he hatched in spring.

 

[Kiwibird]

Kudos for including Kiwi in the process and dedicating so much to his comfort and understanding. He is so well adjusted because this is just the latest step in your strategy for his socialization.

Thanks.

I do firmly believe parrots do best when included in and shown as much as possible. They may not fully grasp concepts like remodeling (moving house, new pets/babies/furnishings etc...) but I think they can at least grasp concepts like it's nothing to fear and they aren't going to be abandoned/didn't do something wrong.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Can't say that I have,April. In a very few short weeks Amy and Beebs and I will be relocating ourselfs to my brother. I did a "trial" visit with her yesterday with a table top T stand and she sat on that and made her normal calls and Amazon sounds. I hope things go as well with her as it seems like it is with Mr Kiwi.





Jim

Surely Amy has moved house before over the many years you've had her? I'm sure she'll do just fine. Amazons tend to be pretty go with the flow. It's that little BB I might keep a closer eye on. He's so young and small and by the sounds of it not nearly as much of an out and about bird as Amy is.

This place is the only "home" Amy knows,and the farthest she has ever moved was from ome side of the living room to the other BUT she has been in many other locales i.e. when we go visiting. And any "new? face she will encounter will be her "Uncle David" whom she has interacted with many times so I/m not anticipating and problems there. It may be challenging for BB though,since he does fly,he is going to have to learn a new airport.:18:




Jim

 

[LordTriggs]

hopefully seeing Amy being calm and happy and of course uncle David whom BB does enjoy the company of will keep him a bit more happy than if he was a lone bird being moved

 

[Kiwibird]

So after spending some time in his 'tiny home' I'm wondering why I keep him in his mansion of a cage again?! He seems perfectly content in the small cage and it would certainly be a lot less room taken up by his stuff! He actually stayed in a cage this exact style/size when we first got him. We had just intended for him to stay a few days in it until we could wash/clean a more appropriate sized cage we'd got him used. We stupidly put that cage outside overnight to wash/set up the next day and inever saw it again (presumably stolen by tweekers, who infested the neighborhood we lived in at the time). But I digress, my parents loaned us an old cage he stayed in for quite some time before we could afford an upgrade. As a bird who'd been living in significantly smaller than these old style cages, that first one he was in probably felt like a mansion to him, plus getting more attention, toys, a long term infection treated and generally better care... Wonder if he remembers and has some kind of positive association with a cozier sized home because thats what he started out in with us and that's why he's been so accepting of this 'downgrade'? To be clear though, obviously he'll be moving back to his mansion as soon as the renovations are done

Speaking of being an accepting bird! I have brought him down to 'meet' all the workers and after they're gone, to examine the changes (we thus far have cabinets, which is a whole other story of potential disaster adverted and the plywood base for the counters). And despite very loud banging and power tools being used, he's just been chilling up in our open loft all day and does not appear to be affected in any observable way. Yesterday he took a bath even and threw ALL the little foot toys out of the little basket I put in there for him

 

[Laurasea]

I think birds like drama and action! Glad everything is going well.

 

[SailBoat]

Another idea regarding his comfort is that he does have access in and out and that is always a big factor. Since, most Amazons are not open air nesters, a smaller cage may provide some comfort. That said, and as we know, they do need the room to move around and open-up their wings, hence the foundation for larger cages.
Sounds like the project is slowly moving along. Not tomorrow, but soon it will be done.

 

[Kiwibird]

Another idea regarding his comfort is that he does have access in and out and that is always a big factor. Since, most Amazons are not open air nesters, a smaller cage may provide some comfort. That said, and as we know, they do need the room to move around and open-up their wings, hence the foundation for larger cages.
Sounds like the project is slowly moving along. Not tomorrow, but soon it will be done.

Apparently, these stainless dome cages were the standard in the 1970's for larger birds, as all of my parents birds all had identical ones at one point:33:. A true shame modern cages don't last nearly as long (or they cost as much as a used car for a stainless one). You may be onto something about feeling it's a cozy nest hollow to return to when it is a small cage combined with a parrot who is not forcibly locked up in the small cage all day long and has an entire house to roam. Interestingly, on that thought process, as a free range bird as well, if the big door is left open, Kiwi still prefers to use his little "breeder door" over the main door on his regular cage and likes to open and close it depending on if he's 'home' or not I've always suspected based on the way he climbs in, it's an instinctual "entering the nest hollow" thing since it's approximately the size I'd imagine a nest hollow being and closing the door behind himself is his way of saying 'do not disturb'

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

So after spending some time in his 'tiny home' I'm wondering why I keep him in his mansion of a cage again?! He seems perfectly content in the small cage and it would certainly be a lot less room taken up by his stuff! He actually stayed in a cage this exact style/size when we first got him. We had just intended for him to stay a few days in it until we could wash/clean a more appropriate sized cage we'd got him used. We stupidly put that cage outside overnight to wash/set up the next day and inever saw it again (presumably stolen by tweekers, who infested the neighborhood we lived in at the time). But I digress, my parents loaned us an old cage he stayed in for quite some time before we could afford an upgrade. As a bird who'd been living in significantly smaller than these old style cages, that first one he was in probably felt like a mansion to him, plus getting more attention, toys, a long term infection treated and generally better care... Wonder if he remembers and has some kind of positive association with a cozier sized home because thats what he started out in with us and that's why he's been so accepting of this 'downgrade'? To be clear though, obviously he'll be moving back to his mansion as soon as the renovations are done

Speaking of being an accepting bird! I have brought him down to 'meet' all the workers and after they're gone, to examine the changes (we thus far have cabinets, which is a whole other story of potential disaster adverted and the plywood base for the counters). And despite very loud banging and power tools being used, he's just been chilling up in our open loft all day and does not appear to be affected in any observable way. Yesterday he took a bath even and threw ALL the little foot toys out of the little basket I put in there for him

Now you have me thinking here April. If you recall I have been going on and on about how relentless Amy has been with wanting to be on BB's rooftop.
BB's condo was actually Amys house before I got her(him grrr) the mansion,and the same house was an upgrade for Smokey from her studio appt. I'm wondering now if Amy is just visiting his old 'hood and would like to move back in?

Jim