Willow’s spring thread

[HeatherG]

Willow is out and foraging in his basket. He just decided there was nothing interesting and grabbed the newspaper lining to shake it.

I’m glad he’s starting to be naughty and not so very cautious all the time! Food is a good motivator for him so I think I will try Laurasea’s suggestion of stuffing new toys with millet or avicake.


Most of the time when willow is out he wants to play with me but I’d like him to explore more of his toys inside his cage. He has one favorite toys that he bangs and jingles, and likes to hold his seagrass mat with his foot. Otherwise he’s not big on toys.

I have a bunch of tiny raisin boxes that I put a few raisins in and poke holes in the box and hang them. So he has started tearing up the raisin boxes, too. But he doesn’t have a “stash” of toys like Lucy had. They are both such different birds. Except that they are both very loving.

Willow was on my shoulder exploring my left ear and then licking my neck. I asked him if he was getting some nice earwax to polish his beak. Then the exploring got a bit sharp and I returned him to his basket.

I wonder if Willow will try out some new toys if they are in the basket on my lap? He isn’t wild about new things. I am REALLY thinking about facilitated communication cards (like used with autistic people). Willow seems to recognize objects in photos and on screen. I wonder if he could indicate what he wants using a communication board?

 

[Cottonoid]

I wonder if he could indicate what he wants using a communication board?

Ooooh this is a fascinating question and I want to know too!

 

[kme3388]

Willow is eating the superfine Harrison’s bird diet and may actually like it better than the fine high maintenance diet. I don’t know why that would be, but I’m finding fine pellets on the cage floor as I never have.

A few days ago, he shared my dinner with me. We had baked tilapia (fish), sugar snap peas, and rice. I set aside a cooked pea pod and some rice before salting and buttering. My goodness, Willow sure sucked down the baked fish! He really liked it! I was afraid to upset his tummy so after a few pieces of fish, I didn’t give him any more. I wonder if he’s going to start molting soon? It takes a lot of protein to make feathers.

Nico is addicted to the harrison's birdie bread it is the end of the world if we run out of this!!! this is like coffee. We have routines. We have this every morning, and his sweet potato cookie every night.

 

[HeatherG]

Nico is addicted to the harrison's birdie bread it is the end of the world if we run out of this!!! this is like coffee. We have routines. We have this every morning, and his sweet potato cookie every night.

Is the bread sold by Harrison’s or do you make it from a recipe?

I think Willow doesn’t like the lifetime pellets. He devours his avicake in the evenings. But I’m confused because the pellets ARE going in the bird and he’s not too thin. His weight is good. ???

P.s. sweet potato cookie?

 

[kme3388]

Is the bread sold by Harrison’s or do you make it from a recipe?

I think Willow doesn’t like the lifetime pellets. He devours his avicake in the evenings. But I’m confused because the pellets ARE going in the bird and he’s not too thin. His weight is good. ???

P.s. sweet potato cookie?

This is the bread, and yes it is sold by Harrison's. Nico's vet introduced it to him. This is the thread with the cookies https://www.parrotforums.com/threads/sweet-potato-apple-cookies.91751/. Both I put Nico's meds on, and it works out well so I don't have to use a syringe, and shove it down his beak. Then on top of it I don't have to supervise Nico to make sure he doesn't just regurgitate the medication back up because he doesn't like what he ate. Sometimes he's a pain in the butt!

 

[HeatherG]

Thank you!

 

[cnyguy]

Maybe you need to fall back on that old standby recommendation to show your parrot how to play with their toys, if you haven't already tried that.
Some parrots aren't big on parrot toys. QP Ralph isn't. Mostly, he likes to build with his thin wooden dowels. He just arranges and rearranges them, and isn't really interested in building an actual Quaker nest. That keeps him busy quite a lot. The one toy he plays with the most is a plastic chain called Forest Flowers. He likes to hook the sections onto his cage bars then squawk for me to pull them off.

 

[HeatherG]

Maybe you need to fall back on that old standby recommendation to show your parrot how to play with their toys, if you haven't already tried that.
Some parrots aren't big on parrot toys. QP Ralph isn't. Mostly, he likes to build with his thin wooden dowels. He just arranges and rearranges them, and isn't really interested in building an actual Quaker nest. That keeps him busy quite a lot. The one toy he plays with the most is a plastic chain called Forest Flowers. He likes to hook the sections onto his cage bars then squawk for me to pull them off.

Hi, I’m wondering what you’re referring to?

Willow is becoming more outgoing and playing with some more toys, climbing around his basket and foraging in it. But I don’t think he likes his new pellets which are Harrison’s lifetime instead of Harrison’s high potency. Which makes sense if the high potency pellets have more fat and yum.

He’s eating some of the pellets but when I get him out he goes on a search for avicake until I give him at least one. I’m wondering if he’s hungry or if he’s decided that avicake is just required to happen on a long outing? Who knows?

 

[cnyguy]

Up there in an earlier post, you mentioned Willow's reluctance to try new toys. If you show Willow how to play with them, and that the toys are safe and not scary, he may be more willing to play with them.

 

[HeatherG]

Up there in an earlier post, you mentioned Willow's reluctance to try new toys. If you show Willow how to play with them, and that the toys are safe and not scary, he may be more willing to play with them.

Thank you. He’s been coming out of his shell more and exploring a lot more. I think it’s just from having been here longer and getting more secure. I asked his first owner and it sounds like he didn’t have many toys or much handling, though he did have free roaming through her house.

I’m hoping that he slowly increases his explorations to become more typical Quaker. As he seems to be doing.

 

[HeatherG]

I have given up on Harrison’s lifetime pellets after seeing how hungry and grouchy Willow has been. It appears he’s not eating much of them and I’ve been treating him in the afternoons with avicakes. Luckily, he likes avicakes.

The Harrison’s contact people replied to my question that one can feed the high potency bird diet to an adult bird (unless the veterinarian recommends otherwise).

I’ve asked for samples of adult lifetime pepper flavor fine pellets in case he will eat those and they’d be better for him. But Willow looks very very well with the high potency pellets, is not plucking or barbering, and isn’t too heavy. He’s not skinny but he’s not heavy either.

Willow did not like zupreem pellets (fruity or regular), did not like tops pellets, and did not like Harrison’s lifetime pellets after I tried to taper him onto lifetime from high potency.

It’s surprising that Willow just would not eat those pellets, but I guess that’s the way it is. Hopefully Jasper will finish off the remainder of the Harrison’s lifetime since he’s much less particular about his pellets. Or, maybe I can make a bird bread.

*I just checked fat and protein percentages on the Harrison’s high potency vs. lifetime pellets and high potency has about twice as much fat and protein. Lifetime pellets have a rather low fat and protein %. Does anyone know differently about this food for adult Quakers? Willow looks GREAT but he isn’t SKINNY (darn this emphasis on skinny anyhow).

 

[HeatherG]

Willow did a good job eating a bunch of Harrison’s high potency pellets today. I had to eat some too to demonstrate how delicious they were. I choose to think of them as GrapeNuts cereal.

After he’d had a bunch of pellets, Willow had a good scritch. Then I gave him some avicake. It reminds me of the restaurant ad “burritos as big as your head!” because the avicake IS as big as his head.

Wish I could hold things in my foot ! Willow is talented!

 

[HeatherG]

Willow seems to have returned to eating Harrison’s high-potency bird diet. His food dish was almost empty this morning. He was pretty grouchy when he first came out but I think he’s anxious because there’s work being done on the brick of our apartment building. So there are scary and mysterious noises outside and some are quite loud.

Willow had 1/3 to 1/2 an avicake for a treat and then I hand fed him some of the Harrison’s pellets. Master Willow prefers to be fed the pellets one by one rather than from a heap of pellets in my hand. Well! It’s not like they taste any different.

He settled down for a nice petting and scritching but was distracted and pinchy. We will visit later when work is done.

 

[Cottonoid]

I'm so glad he's eating pellets again! Nice work!

Poor little man wondering what all the ruckus outside is.

 

[HeatherG]

I bought some garden seedlings last week and thought I’d plant them over Memorial Day weekend. But I didn’t. I had a cold after having been out in public and spent much of the weekend sleeping.

BUT I didn’t forget to water the seedlings and did stop by the community garden to pace out my new raised bed (the accessible plot) and it is 3 lengths of 7’ long by 18” wide. Maybe a bit wider. Which isn’t a 10’ x 10’ plot but it is also already cultivated. (The plot I would have had was very overgrown and would need to be tilled.) That’s much more room than I remembered!

So I’m looking forward to planting seedlings in a manageable plot and having things that I and birds can eat. We have a few plants each of tomatoes, yellow pear tomatoes, two kinds of kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cukes, zucchini, and pattypan squash. I’d like to have lettuce and herbs and maybe will plant some beans. I’m starting late this year.

I was thinking of bringing Willow along to water, but watering involves a hose and hoses are snaky. So probably not.

 

[HeatherG]

I had a bad cold yesterday and today snd yesterday the birds did not get any bird time. Today, Willow was cranky and then he was Velcro Bird. But he got some nice long scritches until he was restlesss and wanted to go back in his cage.

I am glad that Willow doesn’t seem to care if I am sweaty or uncombed for a day. I had ‘cold breath’ I am sure but he mostly wanted to cuddle with my hand. What a good bird!

 

[HeatherG]

I planted garden seedlings today and am really tired out and dirty. I will have a bunch of vegetables to share with Willow and Jasper. I planted a few kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, eggplants, bell peppers, and a Thai hot pepper. A row of beans, a few different tomato plants and also basil and cilantro. And some marigolds and nasturtiums, also good for birds! I had three sides of a square, 7’ long each by about a foot wide.

I have lots of volunteer dill at my community garden and today am going to see if birds like dill.

I’m Excited and proud to have these in and watered! I am relaxing a bit now that I am done. Then we will sample some dill and maybe thawed cherry tomatoes from last summer. Yum!

 

[Cottonoid]

That sounds like such a perfect garden spread! I bet Willow and Jasper will be very excited to share with you.

 

[HeatherG]

I still have this lousy cold (in my chest) and birds are crabby because I slept a lot yesterday and today.

Any time after eight, if the lights are off in the living room, Willow won’t come out. If the lights are on he stays up an hour or so later. So I have to make sure not to bug him at that time. He will take a treat but he won’t come out.

 

[Laurasea]

So true. Its staying lightee longer, so I tried to keep everybody out longer.

Nope they just all went I into their cages and put themselves up!

Made me laugh