The hazards of a healthy amazon

[BeatriceC]

You might recall I've successfully converted Goofy from an almost all seed diet to a much healthier, lower fat, and nutritionally complete diet. This is great news! Except the law of unintended consequences has reared its ugly head.

You see, we thought he was a perch potato. Ummmm, not so much. This bird is into everything. He will no longer stay on play perches. He launches himself off within minutes to go exploring. He's ALWAYS active now. He wants to go! Play! Explore! Ugggggg.

I'm glad I've been target training him. It's about to get a lot more intense to harness his newfound energy.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Well Beatrice..maybe 'ol Goof Boy was feeling lethargic with his previous nummy menu?
You did an awesome service! Saved yet another Amazons' life from a life of porkiness and laziness
You need the Congressional Medal of Amazon...ness...or something like that..




Jim

 

[BeatriceC]

Exactly. He's lost a little weight and is overall just feeling better. MrC had tried to convert him for years, but Goofy is a stubborn bird. Poor Goofy. His human got together with a woman who's more stubborn than he his. He didn't stand a chance.

Overall, he's much happier now. But now that he's into everything, I have to ramp up training so he can actually explore and play like he wants to. I've had to have him in his cage a little bit more recently because he hasn't quite learned that he has to stay in approved areas and can't eat passing teenagers' toes or parts of the house. We're working on establishing boundaries that didn't have to be established before, since he pretty much stayed where you put him and played with the toys on the perches. Now *everything* is new and exciting and must be explored and discovered.

 

[SailBoat]

Thank-you, for what you are doing!

The transformation from a health sapping diet to a health enhancing diet can clearly include the transformation that you are seeing.

With luck, Humans have been dealing with toddlers for a very long time and the tricks used to sap their energy can be applied to sap your Amazons energy.

Lots of toys help, kind of!

 

[BeatriceC]

Yup. I'm working on making the play perches more exciting for him. I might need to buy some more play-gym like perches, instead of the ones we have that only have space for a few toys. He's fond of acrobatic type play. He likes to wind himself through hoops and reach through things to get to other things. I have to rethink his whole entertainment set up with his new energy and curiosity in mind. I also think I need to schedule a few more training sessions to keep him busy.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Go, TEAM GOOFY!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[BeatriceC]

My wonderful little green monster is up to some hysterical antics this morning. I never realized what an acrobat he was! He's winding his way through a hoop toy that's several large, connected hoops. He's snaking his way through them while reaching out to chew a nearby wood toy. I've never seen him like this. It's so awesome!

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Beatrice..you have made one happy and HEALTHY Amazon! Kudo's to you! And enjoy Goofys' new "good" health and excitement for life!

An active,playful,happy birdie is an awesome thing to watch. I wish I had HALF the energy my little 89g's of fluff has. BB is constantly on the move,from the moment he awakes until the moment he goes back into his house. Tires ME out,just watching him lol.


Jim

 

[BeatriceC]

Ohhhh! Goofy does NOT like time out. We were uptight about putting him in a small cage and covering it for about five minutes the second he launched himself off his play perch for just one day, and he's learned his lesson. You can see the little wheels turning as he debates a launch, then looking over at the time out cage, and reconsidering. I swear this bird is too smart for his own good. He's starting to actively play with the toys on the perches more too.

Humans: 1
Amazon: 0

 

[LeaKP]

I seriously love this bird! Sounds like Nigel! Soooo busy! Don't take your eyes away, something will be chewed, pooed or otherwise rendered useless. Great news!

 

[BeatriceC]

I seriously love this bird! Sounds like Nigel! Soooo busy! Don't take your eyes away, something will be chewed, pooed or otherwise rendered useless. Great news!

Yeah, Goofy can be trouble. This is what happens if Goofy is left unattended. The back of this cabinet used to come all the way down to the floor like the back of the cabinet to the right in the picture. Now granted, we're to blame for the fact that it still isn't fixed, but what happened here is that when MrC's girls were teenagers, they were home alone for a number of hours between school ending and him getting home from work (MrC is a widower, so he was a single dad at the time). The girls would attempt to take Goofy out, and then he'd go nuts, and MrC would come home to find the girls stuck on a table trying to keep from being attacked by the little feathered monster. On more than one occasion, he also ate parts of the house. This is but one example.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Hmmmmm...are you sure AMY wasn't there to help/encourage Mr Goofy? Looks like some of her better work to me.


Jim