My Journey with Jasper

[trimblegirls]

I thought I'd start on going thread like the other famous (or infamous?) personalities that I follow - RB, Salty, and Nigel to name a few. It gives me a place to think, brag, and ask questions without getting the "look". None of my friends have parrots. When I told them I wasn't sure how'd Jasper would react when I left so suddenly for almost 2 weeks (Dad had a heart attack in another state.), they didn't get it. He's a bird.

So, Jasper's doing great. My youngest daughter (18 yr old) was able to handle him enough so he could be let out of his cage daily. She fed both him and Tillie. She kept up the routine of putting Roudybush on top of their fruity pebbles and a few days ago, they ate all of the Roudybush. Yesterday, I didn't give them any Zupreem FruitBlend only Roudybush pellets and they ate it! So they're on what I think is a better diet. I wasn't worried about Tillie. She's like the goat of parrots, she'll eat anything.

Even more progress, Jasper had some feathers coming in before I left. They've come in and he hasn't plucked them out. I noticed that he seems to have feathers on his back too. He seems to be losing feathers around his neck a little but I'm going to assume that he's just molting.

I thought I would have to adjust the playgym we built him but my husband suggested that we just wrap those in vet wrap too. Sure enough, Jasper just walks up and down the sides.

 

[SailBoat]

Great place to start a Thread with Jasper leading the way and filling out so very well!!!

Remember that old fashion standard mobile calls work with letting Jasper know you out there and coming back soon! Video calls with the smart phones is even better!

Looking forward too enjoying the Journey!!!

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Makes me want another one! Gorgeous!


jim

 

[LeaKP]

I love Jasper! His name is fantastic and he looks wonderful!

 

[coopedup]

such a cutie...i admit CAGs intimidate me a bit but Im very attracted to them---and too's (but that's a very different bird)...brag away, we'll read it!

 

[trimblegirls]

I bought Jasper a new foraging toy. He has to move the toy around to get the treat to move around in a circle before it'll finally come out. In his other box I put in veggies, a piece of fruit, and a brazil nut as treats. I once put in a walnut instead of the brazil nut. I found it on the bottom of the cage. I was planning on putting in pine nuts but was looking for other smaller treats to put in that wouldn't get stuck. I haven't been able to get him to eat any seeds. He's very selective of his nuts too. I've recently been able to switch him from Zupreem fruit blend to Roudybush and was wondering if I could use the Zupreem as a treat or if that would be a bad idea. I would only put in a few pellets.

 

[wrench13]

Yeah they can be very selective about nuts. Salty ignores pistachio nuts an pieces of Brazil nuts. Loves walnuts but only in small pieces, whole walnut defeat him and the larger whole pieces he chucks to the ground. little pieces , he will scrape and chew and savor. GO figure.

 

[texsize]

He look great.
a real beauty.

 

[trimblegirls]

I'm an Idiot....

I gave Jasper and Tillie their morning chop. I make it fresh every morning because he doesn't like his food cooked. Since Tillie will eat anything, she gets what Jasper will eat. Went to change Jasper's water and noticed that it was quite a bit emptier than normal but figured he probably bathed in it. When I gave him his water, he was already there and waiting. He started gulping it. I've never seen him do that. OK, 2 unusual events...hmmm I put him on his playpen and he went to the bathroom - all water and a lot of it. FREAKING OUT NOW.

So I called my vet. She has weird hours and I couldn't remember what they were. Today she's emergency only and over an hour away. There were other clinics open closer who also see parrots. I called 4 of them. Of course either they didn't have their avian vet there today or they were totally slammed. Earliest anyone could get me in was Monday. Jasper had another water poop while I was on the phone - NOT WAITING until Monday. The last one suggested that I call UC Davis. I figured since I was going to drive that far, I would just do an emergency call with my own vet who I know.

I left a message and she called back almost right away. Asking me questions. Then asked did Jasper eat anything different than he normally does. UHHHHH, I had been reading posts about how parrots love hot peppers, the hotter the better. So as a treat, I gave him some jalapeno pepper in his chop this morning. The vet said that was probably it. If he's still dropping water in an hour, call her back and she'll see him. She thinks the jalapeno was too hot for him. She suggested not to get hotter than a Serrano. To help cut the hot pepper, give him something sweet like a grape.

I was so afraid. I don't freak out easily. All I kept thinking was he's sicker than I think, he's a lot sicker than I think. He's acting normally but don't fall for it. He's really sicker than I think.

No more water poops so it was the pepper and I'm glad that all that happened was that I feel like an idiot.

 

[Laylatoo]

Glad you figured it out. So scary! I had a Jasper too. I recently lost him when he entangled himself in his cage toy. He was a bare eyed/goffin Cockatoo. Jasper's are the best��. I'm also in Northern Cali. About an hour from Sacramento in the foothills. I'll look forward to reading more about your beautiful Jasper!

 

[trimblegirls]

I'm also in Northern Cali. About an hour from Sacramento in the foothills. I'll look forward to reading more about your beautiful Jasper!

Where are you? I'm in Grass Valley.

 

[Laylatoo]

We are in Shingle Springs. Off of hwy 50

I'm also in Northern Cali. About an hour from Sacramento in the foothills. I'll look forward to reading more about your beautiful Jasper!

Where are you? I'm in Grass Valley.

 

[trimblegirls]

When we made Jasper's play gym, we put a tray under it so he could play on the "floor" without getting into trouble. He hasn't yet had any inclination to use that part of the gym. When I mist him, I generally cover the tray with towels or a blanket that needs washing to help with the water. Today, I didn't remove the blanket right away. He was so curious about what was under the blanket. I have never seen him so busy exploring. (Except when he's on my floor trying to get into things he shouldn't) I removed the wet dirty one and put a smaller clean one for him to play in. He keeps trying to move the things under the blanket. He didn't try to play with them before. He also likes to run his tongue on the blanket. Kinda like he's sucking on the blanket?? I think it's ok because it's fleece. Hoping....I have read about some parrots dying from ingesting fibers. If it's ok, I'm going to keep leaving a blanket there for him. He really seems to like it. He does the sucking/chewing thing on leather strips too.

 

[trimblegirls]

Warning: picture quality is poor. My phone camera is bad and has been for awhile. I really don't want to buy another phone just for the camera but I'm about to. I'm tired of the fuzzy pics. It just won't focus long enough to get a good shot.

I love it when the cheap toy is a hit! I bought these nuts and bolts from eBay. He goes between trying to attack them, to playing the "let's see how many times she'll pick it up" game, to actually trying to unscrew them.

I also got him a new foraging toy. It was WAY WAY cheaper than his box and much more challenging. I thought he'd be afraid of it since it was new but he wasn't. I hung it up and showed him what I put in it. I gave him a little taste of the half grape that I put in one of the sections and that's all it took. The grapes I got this time were HUGE. I've never seen such big grape. The only thing that I don't like about the new foraging toy is the top is made out of something he's going to shred pretty quick so the top bowl is going to be useless unless I can figure out how to disassemble it and put something else there.

I can't wait until he's not so hormonal and I can actually touch him again without him getting all mooney. Until then, I'm trying to keep him busy.

 

[Billdore]

Looking great. It takes Timneh a long time to warm up to things. Some things i suspect will never become "safe" in her eyes.

 

[trimblegirls]

Looking great. It takes Timneh a long time to warm up to things. Some things i suspect will never become "safe" in her eyes.

With the foraging toys, all I have to do is load it in front of him. This was the first one that he couldn't see through so I let him taste the grape before I put it in for extra incentive. I just went to the rescue that I got Jasper at to drop off some extra pellets that I had and she gave me 2 that she wasn't using anymore. It's the 2 that I was actually going to buy next. Jasper loves foraging toys. I don't really put "treats" in them. Usually veggies maybe 1 fruit or nut.

 

[Billdore]

I gotta give them a try, I have a bird kabob thing and timneh enjoys that.