Post by siobhan on Apr 5, 2016 15:19:15 GMT -5
In two weeks, we'll celebrate Rocky's gotcha day, which will be his designated birthday since we don't know when his real one is. When he moved in a year ago, his front was very sparsely feathered and he had bare spots. His keel bone stuck out alarmingly because he was far too thin from eating crummy food (I still don't know where they got that nasty stuff; even the wild birds refused to eat it). He was terrified to be out of sight of his cage and terrified of pretty much everything else.
Last weekend, I checked his keel bone, as I do regularly, but I had to feel for it as his feathers have long since grown in and he's all fluffy now as he should be. It's just right. A little padded, but not too padded. I knew he was heavier because my arm gets tired faster when he's sitting on it and I have to rest it in my lap. He's willing to ride me around the house now and only puts up the top of his crest instead of full-blown, alarmed face feathers and all. Just the top means he's interested or curious. I keep his head free of pinfeathers, though it was absolutely covered in them when he moved in, and all of his crest and face feathers are nicely groomed now. His wings are still raggedy because he combs them with his giant pterodactyl feet.
He is no longer terrified of everything though he still has certain things he's afraid of. It's not open terror, just caution, now. He plays with his toys and gnaws on the woodwork and has directed certain decorative changes in the living room, like we're not allowed to have curtains on "his" window anymore. I got mini blinds and that reminds me that I forgot to roll them up out of harm's way before I left this morning. They'll probably be chewed to ribbons when I get home. He's having hormones right now and that's a challenge, but we're two weeks in and I hope we'll get past this pretty soon. It mostly means a lot of screaming if he's not getting attention. I never would have bet we'd be able to hang on after that rough patch and make it to a year, but we did!
Last weekend, I checked his keel bone, as I do regularly, but I had to feel for it as his feathers have long since grown in and he's all fluffy now as he should be. It's just right. A little padded, but not too padded. I knew he was heavier because my arm gets tired faster when he's sitting on it and I have to rest it in my lap. He's willing to ride me around the house now and only puts up the top of his crest instead of full-blown, alarmed face feathers and all. Just the top means he's interested or curious. I keep his head free of pinfeathers, though it was absolutely covered in them when he moved in, and all of his crest and face feathers are nicely groomed now. His wings are still raggedy because he combs them with his giant pterodactyl feet.
He is no longer terrified of everything though he still has certain things he's afraid of. It's not open terror, just caution, now. He plays with his toys and gnaws on the woodwork and has directed certain decorative changes in the living room, like we're not allowed to have curtains on "his" window anymore. I got mini blinds and that reminds me that I forgot to roll them up out of harm's way before I left this morning. They'll probably be chewed to ribbons when I get home. He's having hormones right now and that's a challenge, but we're two weeks in and I hope we'll get past this pretty soon. It mostly means a lot of screaming if he's not getting attention. I never would have bet we'd be able to hang on after that rough patch and make it to a year, but we did!
