Upbeat - news

[ChristaNL]

Oh I forgot to tell you? (whoopsie)

He took it like a champ
Actually he was very relieved to still have an ear left!

Sunny can be quite intimidating and she has all the finesse and motorskills of a belligerent, drunk, overweight, grizzled old biker (especially when she is nervous/ excited).
But he kept his cool and more or less ignored her during the run-and-hit and only talked gently to her when she was back in her (by then expanded) comfortzone.

She even accepted a nut from his fingers (gently!) while she was perched (back on the armrest) some time later. Something she would not have done just a few weeks ago. :40:

The last few 'practice-sessions' were all about rolling objects by pushing them with her beak instead of trying to hack into them.
Eventually I want her to get into the habit of pushing peoples hands/ items/ etc. away instead of open-mouth-attacks.
It would have been so much easier if she had been taught these things when she was just a fledgeling, but as they say "better late than never".

 

[ChristaNL]

LOL I am really turning into a spammer- but it was so much fun!

Today I decided to get Japie out and get his nails done (both his and Sunny's were uncomfortable long and sharp for me - I got out of the shower yesterday looking like I went 2 rounds with a really annoyed tomcat).
He tolerates a nailfile just fine, but the love of his parrot-life is the Scholl...

I've told you before, this is a typical "guy"- anything that has some electrics or batteries going on, vibrates, makes noise and moves... he is fascinated.
(Japie demolished my TV remotes the past few years/ on average one every year, but he is speeding up because he is getting craftier at getting at them/ sniffing out the hiding places.)

anyway meet his top favorite mechanical item:





next to my electric toothbrush (sigh)
The one problem is to keep his beak out of it, because he likes to have it ground as well! (and I do NOT do beaks unless there is an emergency, they are fully capable of shaping and cleaning those themselves!)


Sunny .... was .... watching



Japie was having a blast; Appie does not care and was busy munching on a pellet.

*
I have been working with Sunny (for as long as she would let me handle her) on touching and manipulating her feet.
She got *so* much more relaxed about that after we got rid of the legband that was really hurting her, and the last few months I hardly ever got a chomp or and open beak-warning about it.
Of course trying to get her desensitized about the nailfile has been on the agenda as well for a long time.
-> (chaotic training again: If I do my nails, the parrots get their nails done (or vice versa) - if it is necessary: for real and sometimes just a few swipes to keep being used to the procedure)

Sunny was not a fan!
She snapped two of the small metal nailfiles, almost completely stripped a plastic-and-sandpaper one (the ones you can buy for your human feet) and the cardboard ones did not even get near her.
(Yup .. there is no forcing a macaw, guys )
So I was not exactly looking forward to tackling those claws again, but it really needed to be done.
*


Japie was not satisfied after a thourough enough job and was busy breaking into the container holding everything and stealing nailfiles etc. (he cannot lift the Scholl-thingy, but he keeps trying)


Sunny ... was ... watching


So I decided to take a leap of faith and got Sunny out of the cage, on my knee and (after shooing Japie away from it) got out the Scholl-gizmo.
(no reaction apart from some mildmannered curiosity from Sunny)
I turned it on ...
(ditto)
and got hold of a toe, close to the nail and brought it closer
(what? still nothing?)
So there we were... me holding something noisy and scraping to the front claws of a macaws foot and she did not blink an eye!!
:40:

Of course it was not completely smooth sailing after that, the hind toes are always more difficult, probably because they cannot see whats going on very well, but there I played my ace:
My Wingman Japie, who was more than happy to be a demo-model again! So I was alternating between grey and macaw, front and back nails.

That went pretty well untill a fight almost broke out ...
"MY TURN!!"
"NO! MINE!"
and I had to call it quits.

Sometimes that rivalry is a great help, sometimes the opposite


tldnr: Sunny got her nails done!
No fuss, no stress. :07:



(now lets find out who wants a shower, shall we?)

 

[jousze]

LOL I am really turning into a spammer- but it was so much fun!

Today I decided to get Japie out and get his nails done (both his and Sunny's were uncomfortable long and sharp for me - I got out of the shower yesterday looking like I went 2 rounds with a really annoyed tomcat).
He tolerates a nailfile just fine, but the love of his parrot-life is the Scholl...

I've told you before, this is a typical "guy"- anything that has some electrics or batteries going on, vibrates, makes noise and moves... he is fascinated.
(Japie demolished my TV remotes the past few years/ on average one every year, but he is speeding up because he is getting craftier at getting at them/ sniffing out the hiding places.)

anyway meet his top favorite mechanical item:


View attachment 22065


next to my electric toothbrush (sigh)
The one problem is to keep his beak out of it, because he likes to have it ground as well! (and I do NOT do beaks unless there is an emergency, they are fully capable of shaping and cleaning those themselves!)


Sunny .... was .... watching



Japie was having a blast; Appie does not care and was busy munching on a pellet.

*
I have been working with Sunny (for as long as she would let me handle her) on touching and manipulating her feet.
She got *so* much more relaxed about that after we got rid of the legband that was really hurting her, and the last few months I hardly ever got a chomp or and open beak-warning about it.
Of course trying to get her desensitized about the nailfile has been on the agenda as well for a long time.
-> (chaotic training again: If I do my nails, the parrots get their nails done (or vice versa) - if it is necessary: for real and sometimes just a few swipes to keep being used to the procedure)

Sunny was not a fan!
She snapped two of the small metal nailfiles, almost completely stripped a plastic-and-sandpaper one (the ones you can buy for your human feet) and the cardboard ones did not even get near her.
(Yup .. there is no forcing a macaw, guys )
So I was not exactly looking forward to tackling those claws again, but it really needed to be done.
*


Japie was not satisfied after a thourough enough job and was busy breaking into the container holding everything and stealing nailfiles etc. (he cannot lift the Scholl-thingy, but he keeps trying)


Sunny ... was ... watching


So I decided to take a leap of faith and got Sunny out of the cage, on my knee and (after shooing Japie away from it) got out the Scholl-gizmo.
(no reaction apart from some mildmannered curiosity from Sunny)
I turned it on ...
(ditto)
and got hold of a toe, close to the nail and brought it closer
(what? still nothing?)
So there we were... me holding something noisy and scraping to the front claws of a macaws foot and she did not blink an eye!!
:40:

Of course it was not completely smooth sailing after that, the hind toes are always more difficult, probably because they cannot see whats going on very well, but there I played my ace:
My Wingman Japie, who was more than happy to be a demo-model again! So I was alternating between grey and macaw, front and back nails.

That went pretty well untill a fight almost broke out ...
"MY TURN!!"
"NO! MINE!"
and I had to call it quits.

Sometimes that rivalry is a great help, sometimes the opposite


tldnr: Sunny got her nails done!
No fuss, no stress. :07:



(now lets find out who wants a shower, shall we?)

I don’t really understand why are they so in love with electronic devices :/
As you mentioned mambo is OBSESSED with my electric toothbrush.. to the point that he flies all the way to the bathroom to take play with it. I now have to hide it, but he’s learning how to open that cupboard (facepalm)...

On the other hand, I don’t know if it happens to your birds too, but mambo has a weird obsession with rubbish bags and with bins...
I bought him a little bin and I throw a carton and a bottle of water inside, he is in love, he goes inside, outside, plays with the cartons...
I don’t really understand it lol

Jose

 

[ChristaNL]

LOL Mambo!! :07:


Sunny is interested in my waste-plastic-collecting bin in a "hey, let's see what else is in there"-way.
For her it is all about the looking (and sometimes throwing stuff all over).

Japie will actually try to live in a bin (if he gets the opportunity) - he has been trying to figure out how to open the garbage one for ages.
(Sunny is heavier, so the push-in-and-it-opens-mechanism responds to her but not to his weight.)


Japie and Appie both are into destroying plastic bags, Appie because she wants what is in it (bread for example, or fruit), Japie does not eat bread at all so for him it is all about 'the thrill of the kill' -> he just loves grabbing a fold and heave & pull for all he is worth.
A hobby that makes me rather nervous - I don't want them ingesting it!


The entire bunch is demolishing and munching on pomegranate (granaatappel) at the moment. Much healthier :03:

 

[ChristaNL]

After my little meltdown ( http://www.parrotforums.com/general...her-flightfeather-gone-how-stay-positive.html ) and all the nice things and tips from you guys here Sunny has been better.
(We both were, to be honest.)


We've tried the new bathtub twice and she really is part penguin!
She will even insert her head (beak wide open) under water and almost like a spoonbill looking for small crayfish etc. will swipe her head from left to right and back, touching her beak to the bottom.
Even if the water is way over her nares!
(I always asumed they would just let the water in, the air out and she would fill up, but sofar so good...)

That girl is not afraid of water at all! :40:
(but she still wants me there with her)



She even decided to share a word from her collection with me-- all of a sudden (after a shower when she is most vocal) she said "Lorre".
Of course not something I would ever teach her to say-
the previous century all parrots were taught to say "Lorre" and "koppie-krauw" (just like the age-old cliche "Polly wants a cracker" )- but somehow she learned it somewhere...


Appie "did me" yesterday: she was stealing something I was drinking (a natural-yoghurt-based smoothy) I stopped her after a few sips, she looked me straight in the the eye and demanded/asked "... want a little bit more?".
(I always ask them that if I am feeding them something and am not sure if they are done or not.)

LOL, another one I did not expect!

 

[ChristaNL]

Hatchday :1218:


Sunny is eleven years old now :40:

(according to the paperwork I got with her anyway).
That was a great date for a new house-in-the-house for her.


So I (finally) asked for some serious help and together with Lukas we got her 'new' cage assembled.


It is a second-hand, so we needed to follow the way the previous owner put it together (maybe not the way most people would assemble one of these cages).
He had been very helpfull in labelling/marking al the various pieces for us, so it was a breeze once we got them sorted.

Sunny "helped" by screeching every time she wanted to see what was going on but could not...

The elements have been clogging up the living room for a few months so there was little "new, scary" etc. about it all. She had been climbing all over them for weeks.

She really could not wait (to be included as well as checking out what we were doing)...

anyway... she was interested, happy to join me on the floor and play inside.
She was in and out a couple of times, with little breaks in the old cage when she "had enough".
But she climbed over (all by herself) to get back in the new one without any prompting at all :40: so I take it she likes it!

We (humans) had pizza, salad etc. to celebrate a job well done and she was not happy till she could join us (new cage versus old) -> no pizza for her though

For now we only got a few perches and toys in there, but I will add more the next days (only the ones she is already comfortable with) .

She loves to hide between the hanging toys in the CAG-cage to sleep, so maybe I will give her a dark corner to sleep in (not a nestplace!) but that will have to wait for a bit.

Right now: Not sure if she stays the night or will want to go back and sleep in the "old" cage.
She will let me know....



The 'cherry on top' came when Lukas left and I got here to read up on everyone elses adventures and found Happy Birthday Sunny! (ChristaNL’s B&G) - Parrot Forum - Parrot Owner's Community.
YOU GUYS (m/f) ARE THE BEST!


What a great day

 

[TiredOldMan]

Happy Hatch Day Sunny!

We have been pulling for you and you human slave. Congratulations on the new house!

 

[Laurasea]

Yippie happy day

 

[LaManuka]

Kinda sounds to me like Sunny has more than one human slave. Happy hatchday beautiful girl!

 

[ChristaNL]

Sunny has been inside (and outside) of her new cage for a week and she is "being a totall parrot about it".

After the first day when it was obvious she would not sit on the new large perch (willowbranch) so I put in one of her old ones ( the cement nailtrimming one that fits in a corner) and it's been her favorite spot ever since...

She has no problem being on the bottom with me to play (her throwing-around bottle is there), she prefers to chill on the perch though.
Food- and watercups are fine wherever they are- as long as there is something in them.


The new item in there is a "hanging bridge" it looks like a ropeladder with different sizes perches/steps(?) and 2 ropes with a steel cable inside.
(Yup, it is one of the macaw oversized toys that came with the cage.)
I put it in there hoping she will one day be brave enough to play on something that moves - and of course challenging her balance means she has to move those wings as well.

So far... nothing (of course)

but a lot of other things have been happening...

She is still working on demolishing my curtains as a side project - yup, she is being a true parrot here: my "no" appearently means to her "whenever I am not looking, *do* try again".
I should be happy she is taking initiative and is roaming about the room - but I also like my curtains the way they were!
(Is this the famous "having your cake and your parrot eating it?" )

Today she decided to take a tour of the cage... on the outside. :40:
Japie was climbing al over the cage yesterday, so maybe she decided it was safe or maybe she got curios about what he saw there?
(she still has not been climbing on the wallfacing part on the inside at all)


We had some more specials going on ... she played on the floor (in the cage) a bit, then she wanted up on the large perch- and while she was up there chasing the bottle and catching it, shaking and throwing etc. etc. she was balancing like crazy!:40:
I seldom see that tail working and flaring out as much as it did!

\o/ \o/ this is the macaw that got panicky (and bitey) just a year ago when she was sitting on my arm and one foot slipped a tiny bit.
Now: she almost almost fell off & crashed to the foor and she did not care at all!

I even saw several wing-back-against-the-body flaps, so she *is* using those wings a tiny bit as well!:40:

After a while I asked her to come down again- play some more on the floor and she decided to do some macaw-rolls with me.
Of course I have been trying to help her roll over to lie on her backside for a long time (because my vets just love to check them in that position/ makes it easier to point things out to the students I guess) and she sometimes does not mind at all and is just as happy playing upside down.
I always have to be carefull because she is not as good in keeping the bitepressure down as when she is the right way up.

Today she went completely overboard!
Not sure if it is because she has more space to move in or she just decided it was time to try something else... but she went for a full roll!
right side up -> upside down -> right side up
but that was not enough...
she wanted to roll on! and on!
But 2,5 full rolls was all the space there was- so I stopped her, moved her and there she went again... and again :40:


of course when a macaw goes overboard there is sometimes too much excitement or she landed on a sore spot and reacted to that but somewhere along the line I ended up with a hole in my thumb- I only noticed it when it all got a bit sticky and red looking. So I had to cut the fun short because there was a leak that needed some tape.
Humans are NO fun!

Right now she is talking and talking and making her "play sounds" as well, so I take it she does not agree with the sudden interruption of her newly discovered skills?

 

[Laurasea]

Great update!!!!!! Loving it!

 

[ChristaNL]

She always keeps me guessing...
(is it trust of just plain lazyness?)



We were having fun and messing around on the large perch (well: she was on it, I was sitting underneath-- very glad the cage is large enough for that!).
Sunny loves to chase the small sodabottle along the branch, catching it, tugging, smashing it , grabbing it with a foot, throwing it in every possible direction etc.etc. , basicly anything she and I can think of to get her of balance as much as possible and engage those feet, legs, tail etc.etc..

(and yess, those wings are joining in - a tiny bit, but getting started is sometimes the hardest part)

At some point she really lost her balance and ended up hanging underneath the branch, holding on with both feet and beak, and she had the hardest time getting herself upright again.
(this is the point most normal parrots will give a few vigorous flaps to get past the ? slack point/ dead moment ? -> where the bird will either rise up of fall back.)
Not something she does/ can do, so
(**whirring of the cogs in the small head**)
halfway she stopped, relaxed and just let go!

there she was hanging by her beak, both legs dangling half a meter/ a few feet above the floor!

(Like a rubber chicken in the petshop )



Completely trusting I would be there to catch her/ provide support.

 

[LaManuka]

You are indeed a dutiful slave Christa, Sunny clearly approves, you can stay on for at least another day

 

[ChristaNL]

Just another crazy Sunny-action http://www.parrotforums.com/behavioral/79848-very-sexy-toes.html.


The last few days she demolished a (secondary) flight-feather a day.
Thankfully she just seems to behead them and be done with it (sofar anyway), it could have been so much worse...

so searching for a silver lining in this situation: that is it.


Not sure what is going on, both the girls are losing a lot of their pretty feathers to over-preening on their bellies, legs and backside.
It is nesting season for the macaws, but the greys should not be getting *that* hormonal for a few months to come if they follow the scedule they've been on for years!!
Must be all that yelling at night from my somewhat insane neighbour??
( http://www.parrotforums.com/behavio...rd-screaming-long-story-suggestions-plze.html )


Appie has almost no downfeathers left anywhere on her body and the other feathers are starting to really suffer.- some days it looks like it has been snowing in her favorite part of the cage.
Japie just wants to gnaw on other things like crazy ( right now he is tearing a roll of kitchenpaper to shreds) a better copingstyle imho.


Sunny is still accepting the 'magical oats' and the meds, so that is good and we are off to another ridiculous long shower because...no pulling on feathers when wet...
(The non-showerdays are always worse)

 

[ChristaNL]

Today she discovered make-up ... :40:

evil grinnn: no, not mine!
I came down to a pink-beaked-macaw this morning

Sunny had started on the mineralblock I got in a goodie-bag some time ago.
Since she is eating eggshells again instead of the egg-inside I thought it might be something she would appreciate.

LOL, a horrendous colour!



She is having an 'investigative day' so I am hard pressed in keeping her entertained and my house not shredded to pieces while she is out discovering the world.
I have been waiting and wishing for her to "turn back into a real parrot" - but as always : be carefull what you wish for!

All of a sudden a semi-decorative-zombie-bird does not seem so bad after all (LOL, just kidding of course).




Bathtime was fun- she is really getting into this swimmingpool-idea.
Today she was not satisfied just paddling along, no, after submerging her tail and wingtips (well the lower half of the wing anyway... \o/ ) she waddled and splashed over to steal my spot under the running showerhead as well! :40:
(Appearently the backside should be soaked at exactly the same time as the rest of the bird?)
I am still amazed about the way she could not care less about getting water everywhere, nose, ears, eyes... it's all good!
(The greys absolutely detest getting water on their heads and will freak if any moisture gets near the nares)
I just wish I could catch this on film and share it here.
Of course it is nothing they would do in nature, but it is harmless fun.



She beheaded 4 secondary wingfeathers in 7 days, but somehow she still has some left. The 2 outermost primaries on the left wing are still there..so that is nice.
(Still hard to celebrate the ones who are there and not bemoan the ones who have been chomped.)
All in all: she has a lot more feathers on those wings than last year. :57:



Tomorrow will be noisy again ...
(some hardworking person is cleaning the cementlayers between the bricks of one of the houses across the street with a compressordriven powerdrill/chisel, 8:00-16:30 or so. He has been at it for a few days now and its driving people and pets up the walls, but it's maintenance, so it needs to be done.)
... I am making a playlist for the birds and plan to make a lot of distracting noise right here!
(Still trying to decide between birdsounds and some good oldfasioned Rammstein)


Suggestions are welcome
(as your ideas always are!)

 

[ChristaNL]

Another surprise!

(After a busy morning having
some technical people over: the rental-agency-people want to do some improvements/upgrades and raise the rent and she
flirted her tail off with the bald guy- who was not interested in her screaming for attention...)

I was not paying attention untill I heard the familiar sound of Sunny throwing her play-bottles around.
There she was on the floor of her cage (!) having fun all by herself (!).

The previous time she went to visit the cagebottom/floor of a new (to her) cage it took her 4 months or so, now she did it in less than 4 weeks!

This is also the first time she went after one of her toys-on-the-floor without me being there and participating.

Such a clever girl! :40::40:

 

[ChristaNL]

Weird bird: somehow she loves having her (closed) eyes stroked.

- If I am absentmindedly stroking her head/ messing with the feathers she will just manouver her head that way and keeps perfectly still while my hand speedbumps her closed eye... almost giving me a heartatack in the proces, because I am terrified I will hurt her or damage that oh-so sensitive organ.
Or when I reach in the cage to give her hello/goodmorning etc. scritches she will just push her face in my hand, and headbutt me like a cat, making sure her eyes meets the ball of my thumb (the extra fleshy part of my hand) and strokes it along the hand.

- Itchy eyes?
(I have hayfever like crazy atm, and she seems more itchy as well ...)
Or does she just like to put me on edge?

- Her eyelashes are fun to feel though
+ =

- I have been arranging the "make-up" feathers on her face (that form the black lines) for ages, I always enjoy the feel of that very, very warm face, and she gets a facial massage once in a while, but eyes...

Yesterday she let me hold her tongue for the very first time ever! :40:

It happenend sort-off by accident, we were just playing... and somehow she decided to stop moving and just let me take hold of the tongue and feel the structures inside...it was fun!
Unfortunately I do not know how to "train" those behaviours... that would be crazy fun to show off at the CAVs

 

[ChristaNL]

LOL, It is official: I have a personal groomer!


Sunny decided to also be a shoulderbird:40: and spend a part of the evening poking around and *in* my ear, as well as trying to remove some blemishes... a little ex-acnespot kept her busy inspecting it for quite some time and after that she found and removed one of my dreaded chinhairs (the joys of growing old-er I guess?) and moved on to my upper lip...

LOL I spend my adolescence dodging an acne-killer-mum now I have another one keeping a close ehm 'eye' on my skin/beauty-issues

If she ever decides to focus on my scalp-hairs I will be bald soon!
(She's been demonstrating often enough she can remove those by the beakfull if she wants to ...)


Lucky for me Appie decided to claim my other shoulder and that distracted Sunny for some time.
They are getting less defensive about each other, so that was nice as well.



-

This morning she surprised me by sprinting up to my toes!
(Yea, we all know how she feels about them.)
I had opened the cage for her, but I did not even expect or hear her climb down and wander off. :40:
She must have been watching Appie (our live-in ninja bird) how to do stealth-mode
(Usually she will make non-stop noises when she is on the floor, and can't wait to be picked up.)




She is really getting braver every day!

 

[ChristaNL]

Yesterday... there were tears.
Good ones:
Sunny lost a feather.

LOL thats sounds terrible and overly dramatic because, let's be honest, parrots lose feathers all the time, but...
this was a large beautifully formed intact naturally molted wingfeather!


She made it!!!
This is first large feather (roughly a size 7 shoe) that she grew on the new diet: supple and shiny AND SHE DID NOT DAMAGE IT IN ANY WAY!
(sorry for screaming - I am so proud / relieved / need more words to express all the feelings)


If you've ever had (or still have) an overpreener/plucker/feathermutilating bird you know the rollercoaster of hope, despair and worry.

So this single silly feather means a lot.
She *can* do it.


(I am deliberately ignoring the 10 or so flightfeathers she *did* behead lately and the fact she looks a bit motheaten in the lower chest area: no use mourning the losses, just celebrate the victories!)

I feel a bit dazed and somewhat proud.

:08:

 

[TiredOldMan]

Congratulations to you both!

How about posting a pic of that feather?