Radio Free Blue & Gold: All Gus, all the time.

[Kentuckienne]

Following the good examples set by others, will put all the Gus updates in one thread to avoid cluttering up the Active list.

I was fretting over Gus's affections - the more he loves his #1 human, the more standoffish he was to me. Have redoubled efforts to please him with tributes of mango and beans. The plan is for him to bond with Boy yet still want some cuddling with me. Of course, the best thing about having a plan for your parrot is that you can be sure of at least one thing that won't happen. Surprisingly, this plan is working out - after a rousing game of Sort The Laundry, I was allowed head scratches, shoulder ride, and more scratches. Me so happy.

Turns out maybe Laundry Game was too rousing - when it began to seem he wanted to make a nest and lovingly barf in it, we called a halt. We can wait until spring to see how hormonal he gets.

For your enjoyment, here is video of Gus meets Warm Laundry:

[ame="https://youtu.be/fu0wZuT5iYE"]https://youtu.be/fu0wZuT5iYE[/ame]

 

[wrench13]

I love a video with a lot of gratuitous socks.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Groan. Good one.

Gus just showed me something else he can do. We were walking around the house, trying to keep him distracted until Boy left for his run, and went over to the sink. Just for fun I turned on the water, and Gus perked right up, sidled down my arm, leaned over and started drinking the water. I had to stop it ... we have a water softener and the water out of the faucet has salts in it. I wonder what else he knows?

 

[Scottj]

Wow, how lucky are you for such a social guy! I feel you about the love. I was worried Diamond was leaning towards my wife, he has known her almost as long as he's known me but from a distance. But, he may just want to kill her...TBD.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Gus was afraid of both of us when he came. He slightly preferred me, maybe - he ran up on my shoulder to get away from Boy when we visited him at the shelter, and he let me scratch him first. BUT ... Boy has had pride of place, and gets to hold him all evening and take him out in the morning, so Gus prefers him. I find a way to hold him and scratch/pet him in the afternoons, and he becomes a total lap parrot. It makes me so happy. I hope we can shower him with enough love an attention that he accepts both of us. We did get very, very lucky with him. He is a special needs bird because of his past, and I guess nobody wanted to adopt a hunchbacked macaw. OUR GOOD LUCK! He's absolutely sweet, kind, lovable, gentle, bite trained, poop trained, know how to drink out of water faucets ... we really hit the parrot jackpot with him. But Diamond will be the same, eventually - it just takes time. So many amazon people told me I'd never get Boy's BFA to accept me or stop hating me, but with enough time, love, patience, and delicious treats he came around. Diamond just needs to test you enough times to accept that you are good, and good things happen when he goes to you, and the same for your wife. Gus was alone for many, many years and neglected, so he was starved for affection. Diamond may not have learned yet how wonderful humans can be, but you can teach him. I watch your thread on him and cheer his progress.

 

[GaleriaGila]

You can just SEEEE how good those warm clothes FEEEEL!

I love this story so much!

 

[SilleIN]

I am jealous!! If I were to put any amount of clothes on Sugar, he won't talk to me for days

He has only been handled with people covering him i a towel and being mean to him (clip nails and all the BAAAAD stuff). If he gets too bossy towards the dogs, I only have to say I'm getting the towel and he will back off.

You are lucky that Gus is so trusting so soon. That is one special macaw, even "normal" macaws would not be so loving so soon

 

[Scottj]

Yeah I to am jealous, lol! I got to give Diamond a quick gentle rub before he turn that nippy beak at me. Sometimes I think I need to push through it and see if he is just egging me on or wants to make me bleed???

Anyway, awesome K (may I call you K? Not sure how to spell Kentuckian...)

 

[Kentuckienne]

Gus fell down!

Gus fell down!

He swiveled his head around to skwonk at me for rubbing a feather the wrong way, and fell right off his perch, about five feet down. I mean he dropped like a stone - no attempt to flap. Landed right side up, let me pick him up. Shook himself, ate some food, very normal all afternoon. His wings were clipped already but I don't think he is able to fly with his skeletal problems, and he doesn't seem to have much grip strength in his feet. He has a hard time even climbing up my sleeve, slips off the shoulder, moves very slowly as a rule.

What are the chances he hurt himself in the fall - could he have broken something, injured his insides? How can we tell? He acts absolutely normal.

Is there a different kind of perch that might be easier for him? Metal grating? The perch was pretty large, maybe 1.5 inches diameter ... Is a flat board better?

How do I cushion underneath when he poops on whatever is under the perch? I feel so bad about this ... He was on the floor before I could react to catch him. As if he doesn't have enough problems!

 

[Kentuckienne]

Yeah I to am jealous, lol! I got to give Diamond a quick gentle rub before he turn that nippy beak at me. Sometimes I think I need to push through it and see if he is just egging me on or wants to make me bleed???

Anyway, awesome K (may I call you K? Not sure how to spell Kentuckian...)

K is fine, Special K, Agent K, K-Roon, many versions exist but I respond cheerfully to "hey you". Love reading about Diamond, he sounds very intelligent and you will have to get his cooperation. But even smart birds can be outwitted by tricksy humans.

 

[wrench13]

Is the perch just a smooth wooden dowel type? A natural wood perch, with bark still attached, or a gnarly twisty turny type perch would give Gus more grip. If he continues to have problems, you could lower the height of the perch, if that is practical. Putting padding under his perch is not, unless you have an endless supply of diaper material or padded shipping liner material.

 

[thekarens]

If it were me I'd also let his wings grow out.


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[Kentuckienne]

We will probably let his wings grow. I don't think will ever be able to fly, but full wings might help his balance or slow him down a little if he falls.

He doesn't want to be on a lower perch, so I'm going to make him a play gym to hang out on with multiple levels and places to land. And experiment with different perch styles and materials to see what gives him the most stability. The perch he fell from is peeled but irregular, and I wonder if it's hard to balance on a round stick. Maybe an oblong one, rounded edges for the nails but flatter in the middle, so he has a bit more balance. I will put some pictures of his feet etc. up when I get home, maybe people can say if they are normal or not.

 

[wrench13]

He is lucky to have such a thoughtful parront.

 

[Scottj]

Ok, Special K! (Yeah, will probably be going mostly with K. I hold my sons chin for about 3 hours every morning so he can get good sleep so I literally type all this, on my phone, with one finger...about 10 words a minute...)

Last week I went to work at the bird ladies house to find her and another woman bandaging a parrots wing. She heard loud screams in the middle of the night. She had fallen off her perch. Instead of repairing her deck I wound up driving the bird 2hours to the only vet that could see her right away. X-ray revealed a fractured wing. My point is, by reactions and body language there was clearly something wrong with peaches. If Gus is acting fine...my guess is he's fine. I saw Diamond fall once and it was the clumbsiest thing you ever saw. He was fine.

 

[Scottj]

One of Diamonds favorite places to perch in his old home was 2 2x4's running parallel with about an inch in between.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Ok, Special K! (Yeah, will probably be going mostly with K. I hold my sons chin for about 3 hours every morning so he can get good sleep so I literally type all this, on my phone, with one finger...about 10 words a minute...)

Last week I went to work at the bird ladies house to find her and another woman bandaging a parrots wing. She heard loud screams in the middle of the night. She had fallen off her perch. Instead of repairing her deck I wound up driving the bird 2hours to the only vet that could see her right away. X-ray revealed a fractured wing. My point is, by reactions and body language there was clearly something wrong with peaches. If Gus is acting fine...my guess is he's fine. I saw Diamond fall once and it was the clumbsiest thing you ever saw. He was fine.

The bird lady's bird is lucky you came by. Poor Peaches must have been in a lot of pain, broken wing since the middle of the night. Gus does seem to be fine, but this is a wake-up call. The next time he falls he might hurt himself, poor guy. I wish he could talk to Diamond and explain how good it is to have a parront who cares. Then again, D might be a bad influence. I imagine him with the macaw version of a pack of cigarettes rolled up in his sleeve looking tough. By the way - shouldn't Diamond have more names, like Diamond Jim Brady or Diamond Lil?

 

[GaleriaGila]

Just by the way... lovin' the "Radio Free Blue and Gold" title... I wish I'd thought of something similar...
Radio Free Rickeybird.

 

[Scottj]

I wish he could talk to Diamond and explain how good it is to have a parront who cares. Then again, D might be a bad influence. I imagine him with the macaw version of a pack of cigarettes rolled up in his sleeve looking tough. By the way - shouldn't Diamond have more names, like Diamond Jim Brady or Diamond Lil?

Yeah, careful what you wish for. While he has added lots of "I love you"s to his morning ritual it's only been 2 days since he slipped in a couple "mother @#$%ers" lol! Man I hope that stops.:56:

 

[Kentuckienne]

Just by the way... lovin' the "Radio Free Blue and Gold" title... I wish I'd thought of something similar...
Radio Free Rickeybird.

Radio Free Rickeybird would have to be a pirate radio station ... Because of all the ARRRRRRRS!