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Post by cnyguy on May 26, 2016 20:54:05 GMT -5
Scooter reminds me so much of Allie when I first got her, with her plucked breast and legs. Do you know how long she's been plucking? Allie had not been doing it for long, and she never plucked down to bare skin. She quit after a couple of years, though she still over-grooms. No matter how much Scooter was loved before, I'd bet she's in a far better environment with you. Maybe she'll quit, too. By the way, how are you enjoying the powder?  According to Scooter's (former) owner, she's plucked feathers periodically for as long as they've had her-- 11 years. She apparently hadn't been doing it continually. She has let up on the feather chewing (she chews more than plucks) since she first arrived here. I think the improved diet and regular bathing will help. The powder sure gets around, doesn't it?  I don't think it's causing any problems for me, but with my spring allergies going full force now, I wouldn't notice any irritation from the powder anyway. |
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Post by siobhan on May 27, 2016 15:11:49 GMT -5
I have two tiels and a 'too so I know all about powder. I'm having spring allergies myself, and began to wonder if Rocky wasn't partly to blame, since I never had them before and this is our first full spring with him in residence. So I buried my face in his feathers (he's cooperative and didn't mind) and made sure I got a serious bunch of powder all over me, and it didn't bother me at all. I long ago learned that if I'm wearing a dark-colored shirt, it's soon going to be coated from stem to stern with white powder, though.
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Post by cnyguy on Jun 2, 2016 20:04:08 GMT -5
Scooter still doesn't want to go anywhere beyond her cage, but she's becoming more adventurous. Today she spent about twenty minutes climbing all over the outside of her cage, instead of just sitting on the fold-down door as she's been doing. Fifteen to twenty minutes at a time is all she wants to be out of her cage; after that, she's ready to go back in for a snack and a drink of water. Progress comes in small steps. |
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Post by biteybird on Jun 3, 2016 4:22:29 GMT -5
Good on you, Scooter! I wonder if she will become bored enough to venture further out. You never know.
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Post by Jan and Shah on Jun 3, 2016 5:05:47 GMT -5
That would be a big step for her. She is doing well and at her own speed too |
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Post by easttex on Jun 3, 2016 17:34:12 GMT -5
It really is great progress. They are such cautious birds! Even now, after over seven years here, Allie spooks very easily. You have to be aware of your movement all the time.
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Post by cnyguy on Jun 3, 2016 20:28:54 GMT -5
You're right, easttex. If I accidentally drop something on the floor, Scooter freaks out. I had a package of frozen macaroni & cheese fall out of the freezer onto the floor the other evening, and poor Scooter fell off her perch (no harm done, fortunately, aside from shaken nerves). Today, both parrots were a bit grumpy, possibly on account of being awakened at 4:30 in the morning by the garbage truck noisily emptying the Dumpster out in back of our apartment building.  It didn't improve my disposition any either. |
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Post by julianna on Jun 4, 2016 15:09:37 GMT -5
Scooter is coming along wonderfully. A little each day is all you can ask. I had to smile when you said Scooter fell off her perch... poor thing. The birds have such good hearing don't they?... yet such small ears. I know Oscar can hear every little noise no matter what room of the house he is in. Just amazing.
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Post by cnyguy on Jun 4, 2016 22:16:38 GMT -5
Good ears and good eyes. Ralph can spot a tiny fruitfly on the kitchen counter from ten feet away. Both birds were in a better mood today. Ralph demanded a bath just as I was starting dinner (he almost always chooses that time to ask for a bath  ) and Scooter grudgingly accepted a misting. She's still chewing her feathers, but not as much as when she first arrived. Today when she was out of her cage, she thought about exploring the cabinet next to the cage, but changed her mind when she saw the millet sprays on top of the cabinet. She thinks millet sprays are scary. It's funny watching the two parrots untying and chewing on their strings at the same time, and Scooter watches Ralph intently when he builds with his sticks, but refused to take a stick that I offered (not expecting she'd build, but thought she might enjoy chewing it up). I'm enjoying having a second parrot, but have decided that two is my limit. People like Siobhan with multiple birds have my admiration. Trying to give two parrots scritches simultaneously is challenging enough, but how could it be done with three or more when I only have two hands?  |
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Post by siobhan on Jun 5, 2016 9:06:16 GMT -5
They take turns! Johnny will sit on my leg with his head bent and wait patiently until I can free a hand.
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Post by cnyguy on Jun 5, 2016 20:04:42 GMT -5
Johnny deserves special recognition-- a patient parrot is a rare thing.  Neither parrot here is especially patient when it comes to wanting scritches. |
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Post by biteybird on Jun 6, 2016 3:29:33 GMT -5
I can't imagine Bonnie waiting for her turn with scritches/scratches. I'd likely get an impatient nip or two just to remind me who's boss.
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Post by cnyguy on Jun 6, 2016 20:47:40 GMT -5
If I'm busy with one parrot and the other one wants scritches, I get told. If Ralph thinks he's waited too long, he taps on the cage and gives an impatient graacck. Scooter will flutter her wings and squeak. This afternoon, I was out on the balcony planting flowers in large flowerpots, to be distributed around the grounds at my apartment complex (I do most of the gardening here, in exchange for a rent reduction). While I was out there, Scooter was quite talkative, saying "Hi, Scooter," "Where's Scooter? There's Scooter," and such, in her previous owner's voice. Then I heard her say, in my voice, "Quaker parrot." I've been telling her that Ralph is a Quaker parrot, and I guess she picked up on that. |
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Post by siobhan on Jun 7, 2016 11:24:00 GMT -5
Johnny is an exceptional parrot. He is to tiels what Ralph is to Quakers. Very well behaved and even genteel unless, of course, he has to correct Freddie's behavior. When Johnny joined the flock, Freddie was ecstatic to have another tiel and they became fast friends, with Freddie the instigator in charge. Johnny went along for a long while, but one day decided he would make a better captain and assumed control. It was so thorough and so sudden that Freddie is still trying to wrap his mind around it and sometimes forgets that he's gone from superhero to sidekick. That's when Johnny has to sternly PEEP at him and peck him on the head. Except for that, though, he's the sweetest-tempered parrot you could possibly want to meet.
So Scooter is a closet talker? Or she waited until you weren't looking to announce that she'd learned a new phrase?
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Post by julianna on Jun 7, 2016 12:41:15 GMT -5
lol to "closet talker".... I can relate to that very well. It is funny with the scritches... because Oscar would never let me do that until recently. Now... he wants it done in the morning and afternoon... or any time I am on the couch. He walks over and actually puts his head into my head... get the hint mom?? Normally it is my left hand and it gets cramped so his time is limited. But boy are they soft... love the feathers.
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I don't think it's causing any problems for me, but with my spring allergies going full force now, I wouldn't notice any irritation from the powder anyway. 
It didn't improve my disposition any either. 
) and Scooter grudgingly accepted a misting. She's still chewing her feathers, but not as much as when she first arrived. Today when she was out of her cage, she thought about exploring the cabinet next to the cage, but changed her mind when she saw the millet sprays on top of the cabinet. She thinks millet sprays are scary. It's funny watching the two parrots untying and chewing on their strings at the same time, and Scooter watches Ralph intently when he builds with his sticks, but refused to take a stick that I offered (not expecting she'd build, but thought she might enjoy chewing it up). 
Neither parrot here is especially patient when it comes to wanting scritches.