Casper223
New member
- Apr 27, 2019
- 327
- 2
- Parrots
- Umbrella Cockatoo "Zoey"
Hey Everyone…. Finally have the kids safely/securely tucked away for bed, and I’m exhausted, but wanted to take a moment to start a story. The story begins two weeks ago. I received a text from my breeder saying Zoey was finally weaned. Zoey was refusing her formula, and had been eating whole raw food, seed, pellets and a variety of tree nuts. My breeder further stated, she wanted to wait until the end of the week, which would give Zoey a couple of weeks on a full whole food diet, and if she continued, she would then make arrangements with me to get Zoey to me. Of course I had a surgical procedure scheduled for that Friday, which had been scheduled since before Memorial Day, as I was waiting for an opening to get the procedure done. My breeder sent me a grocery list of Zoey’s current fresh Diet, because my breeder and I have been working on strategies since the decision was made to adopt Zoey after weaning. Monday morning I received a text message from my breeder with the air way bill and Zoey’s itinerary for Tuesday. I wasn’t able to travel yet after the procedure, but was able to get to the airport to pick Zoey up.
Tuesday Morning, I was able to fill Zoey’s fresh grocery list, and received texts from Delta, first noting Zoey had arrived and was checked in at the airport, followed by my Breeders text noting the same. All through the 5 hour flight, and check in’s, Delta was fantastic about tracking Zoey’s movements, along with my breeder. Finally at 5 pm, Zoey arrived in New Orleans….. and I had been waiting for about an hour for her flight, at the air cargo department. I should have taken pictures while being at the air cargo place of Delta, as a lady purchased a Great Dane puppy, and showed up in a nice late model Cadillac sedan to retrieve her pet. I could see the panic on her face as she expected a poodle size dog, and received a Shetland pony sized fur baby. She could get the dog out, and get him in the car, but that crate wasn’t fitting anywhere on that car, and Delta assured her she couldn’t leave the crate their. She had to borrow tools to disassemble the crate in order to get it in her trunk, and this was just one of the several stories unfolding at the air cargo. Finally the lady behind the counter said, your bird is here, let me go get her, and she was laughing and cheerful, then I heard her scream from in the warehouse, and employees ran to her from out of the office, I thought something bad happened to Zoey, but found the young lady was young, and evidently didn’t know any better, so she stuck her finger in Zoey’s travel crate, and the sight of her finger was ugly!! Her co-worker brought Zoey to me, set her on the counter and said to me, Your bird is mean, it hissed at his female co-worker then bit her. The lady came into the office as I was trying to visually check Zoey for injuries, but Zoey was fluffed up, and hissing at everything and everyone. The woman said with her hand in a rag and blood dripping from her finger, your bird is mean and bites. I should have taken pictures, but thought that would be adding salt to the wound. Zoey appeared to be fine, not injured in her first attack. I mean she just left everything she knew, was put on an airplane, with strange people, and probably around other pets, flown for 5 hours, changing flights in Atlanta, arrived in New Orleans, to a stranger poking her finger inside the cage at her. Zoey’s cage had mesh screening across all the windows, and was tie wrapped by at least 8 tie wraps, so the Lady from Air Cargo, had to work hard to get her finger into the crate, and I really think she got off light, and hopefully learned a valuable lesson. I immediately contacted my breeder, who promptly contacted Delta, and was able to register a complaint through her account.
After getting my car cool inside, I placed Zoey in the car, still in her crate. We were now in rush hour traffic in the middle of New Orleans. I began talking to Zoey, trying to allow her to hear my voice, trying to calm her down. She finally stopped hissing, and to my total surprise, I heard a toy “Ray Gun” then a laugh. I’m thinking, this is strange, she is only 6 ½ months old, and I can’t imagine her mimicking these noises so soon. But she was, and did lol I talked to Zoey all the way home, hearing her from time to time in the crate chewing on something. Every now and then I glanced into the window, which had screen covering it, to see little Ms Zoey looking at me. I finally got the young lady home, and walked her into the living room, and placed her crate on the coffee table, in order to remove the screen, duct tape, and the tie wraps from her cage. I would be lying if I told you I wasn’t worried about being bit like the lady from the airport. I opened her travel crate, still talking to Zoey, and then I backed off, and allowed Zoey to come out on her own. After talking to Zoey, and backing off, I guess about 10 minutes went by, when Zoey finally emerged and surveyed her new domain. My breeder had clipped Zoey’s wings, not much, but she was clipped. Zoey can fly level, and downwards for a soft landing, she just can’t get any height. Zoey took flight after a couple of minutes, and decided to start exploring lol. After about a half hour, I walked over to Zoey, offered my hand, and instructed Zoey to “Step Up” in which she immediately did. I was now able to place Zoey into her new cage. Per my breeders instructions, the only Items in Zoey’s cage were perches, food and water bowls. Our strategy was to wait until Zoey became familiar with her Food and water before introducing anything else to her cage. Zoey went almost two days before eating anything, and it was this point me breeder asked me to be patient, because I was surely worried about Zoey. After two days, Zoey finally went to her seed bowl, which is about a 2 cup bowl, per my breeders instructions, Zoey has two kinds of pellets, plus seeds mixed in 3rds, mixed up real good then placed in her cage. After two day of Zoey not touching anything but her water, my breeder asked me to pours her seeds and pellets into a large bowl, then add a handful of tree nuts, and a handful of sunflower seeds, mix it all up again real well then place it back in her cage. After adding sunflower seeds, and tree nuts, Zoey went from eating nothing to emptying her bowl in the next 2 days, lol I still haven’t made much progress with Zoey’s fresh bowl, She gets a few sprouts, a beet or two, and usually nothing else. Zoey is weighing in at 515 grams, and is tall and slender built.
This week, I’ve been working hard at trying to build in a routine for Rocky and Zoey. Zoey seems very fascinated by Rocky, which Rocky has never seen a bird up close, and Zoey has never seen a fur baby at all. I’ve been trying to have Zoey out of her cage, a couple hours in the morning, and a couple of hours in the evening. During this time I’ve had Rocky crated and Zoey on her tree, or Zoey in her cage and Rocky on his recliner. Again I’m working on a strategy of allowing Zoey to see me interact with Rocky, and allow Rocky to see me interact with Zoey. I’m hoping that in watching the interacting points they learn through observation that there’s no danger in one another. At this point in time, every time Zoey sees Rocky, she drops whatever she is eating and goes to her high perch. I’ll wait until Zoey continues to eat while Rocky is around before I move foreword. I’m not in the least bit remotely worried about Rocky hurting her, although I am concerned that Zoey will nip at Rocky in a defensive maneuver. I do believe this is the only strategy, my breeder and I haven’t spent much time on, as my breeder doesn’t have other fur babies in her facility, only birds. It seems so far, Zoeys favorite toy to interact with, has been a skewer. It’s a pet skewer that hangs within her cage, and I’ve been able to skewer, apples, okra, beets, peppers, and banana’s on it, and see Zoey attacking it throughout the day. She especially likes anything with seeds, like peppers, and okra, that I cut in half long ways leaving the seeds, I notice her eating the seeds from the core all within the day. I haven’t seen her in her fresh bowl much at all. Her daily routine was Red Beets, Bell Peppers, Papaya, Honeydew, mango, apple, kale and banana’s, and to that I’ve been adding sprouts, and organic, unsweet coconut, also shredded carrot. She hasn’t cracked any walnuts yet, but if I start them and place them in her bowl, she loves to eat the nut out of them, and almonds she easily shreds for the nut.
Yesterday, she flew down from her tree, and walked across the living room, and perched on my foot as I was sitting and reading. I lifted my foot and she ran across to my lap, and ran up my shirt, and snuggled under the crease of my neck. I scratched her head and neck, and talked with her for about a half hour, while she lay contently, snuggling. As I talked to her, she made a noise like woody woodpeckers laugh. After about a half hour, I placed her back on her tree, and as I turned around to walk away, she flew back on my shoulder. Again I scratched her head and neck area for another 15-20 minutes, and at this point I moved her into her cage, although she wouldn’t perch on her perch, rather just ran up my arm to get back on my shoulder lol. Finally, I was able to talk her into getting on her perch, and cover her cage so she could get a good nights sleep. After getting into her nut and seed, pellet bowl real good, I noticed her shredding a perch in her cage, so I placed a toy inside her cage to allow her to play and chew on. I’ll add a few pictures of her, and as time goes on, I’ll try to add to this story, and add pictures as well.
Tuesday Morning, I was able to fill Zoey’s fresh grocery list, and received texts from Delta, first noting Zoey had arrived and was checked in at the airport, followed by my Breeders text noting the same. All through the 5 hour flight, and check in’s, Delta was fantastic about tracking Zoey’s movements, along with my breeder. Finally at 5 pm, Zoey arrived in New Orleans….. and I had been waiting for about an hour for her flight, at the air cargo department. I should have taken pictures while being at the air cargo place of Delta, as a lady purchased a Great Dane puppy, and showed up in a nice late model Cadillac sedan to retrieve her pet. I could see the panic on her face as she expected a poodle size dog, and received a Shetland pony sized fur baby. She could get the dog out, and get him in the car, but that crate wasn’t fitting anywhere on that car, and Delta assured her she couldn’t leave the crate their. She had to borrow tools to disassemble the crate in order to get it in her trunk, and this was just one of the several stories unfolding at the air cargo. Finally the lady behind the counter said, your bird is here, let me go get her, and she was laughing and cheerful, then I heard her scream from in the warehouse, and employees ran to her from out of the office, I thought something bad happened to Zoey, but found the young lady was young, and evidently didn’t know any better, so she stuck her finger in Zoey’s travel crate, and the sight of her finger was ugly!! Her co-worker brought Zoey to me, set her on the counter and said to me, Your bird is mean, it hissed at his female co-worker then bit her. The lady came into the office as I was trying to visually check Zoey for injuries, but Zoey was fluffed up, and hissing at everything and everyone. The woman said with her hand in a rag and blood dripping from her finger, your bird is mean and bites. I should have taken pictures, but thought that would be adding salt to the wound. Zoey appeared to be fine, not injured in her first attack. I mean she just left everything she knew, was put on an airplane, with strange people, and probably around other pets, flown for 5 hours, changing flights in Atlanta, arrived in New Orleans, to a stranger poking her finger inside the cage at her. Zoey’s cage had mesh screening across all the windows, and was tie wrapped by at least 8 tie wraps, so the Lady from Air Cargo, had to work hard to get her finger into the crate, and I really think she got off light, and hopefully learned a valuable lesson. I immediately contacted my breeder, who promptly contacted Delta, and was able to register a complaint through her account.
After getting my car cool inside, I placed Zoey in the car, still in her crate. We were now in rush hour traffic in the middle of New Orleans. I began talking to Zoey, trying to allow her to hear my voice, trying to calm her down. She finally stopped hissing, and to my total surprise, I heard a toy “Ray Gun” then a laugh. I’m thinking, this is strange, she is only 6 ½ months old, and I can’t imagine her mimicking these noises so soon. But she was, and did lol I talked to Zoey all the way home, hearing her from time to time in the crate chewing on something. Every now and then I glanced into the window, which had screen covering it, to see little Ms Zoey looking at me. I finally got the young lady home, and walked her into the living room, and placed her crate on the coffee table, in order to remove the screen, duct tape, and the tie wraps from her cage. I would be lying if I told you I wasn’t worried about being bit like the lady from the airport. I opened her travel crate, still talking to Zoey, and then I backed off, and allowed Zoey to come out on her own. After talking to Zoey, and backing off, I guess about 10 minutes went by, when Zoey finally emerged and surveyed her new domain. My breeder had clipped Zoey’s wings, not much, but she was clipped. Zoey can fly level, and downwards for a soft landing, she just can’t get any height. Zoey took flight after a couple of minutes, and decided to start exploring lol. After about a half hour, I walked over to Zoey, offered my hand, and instructed Zoey to “Step Up” in which she immediately did. I was now able to place Zoey into her new cage. Per my breeders instructions, the only Items in Zoey’s cage were perches, food and water bowls. Our strategy was to wait until Zoey became familiar with her Food and water before introducing anything else to her cage. Zoey went almost two days before eating anything, and it was this point me breeder asked me to be patient, because I was surely worried about Zoey. After two days, Zoey finally went to her seed bowl, which is about a 2 cup bowl, per my breeders instructions, Zoey has two kinds of pellets, plus seeds mixed in 3rds, mixed up real good then placed in her cage. After two day of Zoey not touching anything but her water, my breeder asked me to pours her seeds and pellets into a large bowl, then add a handful of tree nuts, and a handful of sunflower seeds, mix it all up again real well then place it back in her cage. After adding sunflower seeds, and tree nuts, Zoey went from eating nothing to emptying her bowl in the next 2 days, lol I still haven’t made much progress with Zoey’s fresh bowl, She gets a few sprouts, a beet or two, and usually nothing else. Zoey is weighing in at 515 grams, and is tall and slender built.
This week, I’ve been working hard at trying to build in a routine for Rocky and Zoey. Zoey seems very fascinated by Rocky, which Rocky has never seen a bird up close, and Zoey has never seen a fur baby at all. I’ve been trying to have Zoey out of her cage, a couple hours in the morning, and a couple of hours in the evening. During this time I’ve had Rocky crated and Zoey on her tree, or Zoey in her cage and Rocky on his recliner. Again I’m working on a strategy of allowing Zoey to see me interact with Rocky, and allow Rocky to see me interact with Zoey. I’m hoping that in watching the interacting points they learn through observation that there’s no danger in one another. At this point in time, every time Zoey sees Rocky, she drops whatever she is eating and goes to her high perch. I’ll wait until Zoey continues to eat while Rocky is around before I move foreword. I’m not in the least bit remotely worried about Rocky hurting her, although I am concerned that Zoey will nip at Rocky in a defensive maneuver. I do believe this is the only strategy, my breeder and I haven’t spent much time on, as my breeder doesn’t have other fur babies in her facility, only birds. It seems so far, Zoeys favorite toy to interact with, has been a skewer. It’s a pet skewer that hangs within her cage, and I’ve been able to skewer, apples, okra, beets, peppers, and banana’s on it, and see Zoey attacking it throughout the day. She especially likes anything with seeds, like peppers, and okra, that I cut in half long ways leaving the seeds, I notice her eating the seeds from the core all within the day. I haven’t seen her in her fresh bowl much at all. Her daily routine was Red Beets, Bell Peppers, Papaya, Honeydew, mango, apple, kale and banana’s, and to that I’ve been adding sprouts, and organic, unsweet coconut, also shredded carrot. She hasn’t cracked any walnuts yet, but if I start them and place them in her bowl, she loves to eat the nut out of them, and almonds she easily shreds for the nut.
Yesterday, she flew down from her tree, and walked across the living room, and perched on my foot as I was sitting and reading. I lifted my foot and she ran across to my lap, and ran up my shirt, and snuggled under the crease of my neck. I scratched her head and neck, and talked with her for about a half hour, while she lay contently, snuggling. As I talked to her, she made a noise like woody woodpeckers laugh. After about a half hour, I placed her back on her tree, and as I turned around to walk away, she flew back on my shoulder. Again I scratched her head and neck area for another 15-20 minutes, and at this point I moved her into her cage, although she wouldn’t perch on her perch, rather just ran up my arm to get back on my shoulder lol. Finally, I was able to talk her into getting on her perch, and cover her cage so she could get a good nights sleep. After getting into her nut and seed, pellet bowl real good, I noticed her shredding a perch in her cage, so I placed a toy inside her cage to allow her to play and chew on. I’ll add a few pictures of her, and as time goes on, I’ll try to add to this story, and add pictures as well.
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