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Post by Sharyn and Mr P on Apr 11, 2015 13:21:52 GMT -5
I went and picked up Daisy today. The cage she came in is too small for even a quaker, not to mention it lacked toys, perches or food dishes. I have raided Mr P's supplies to come up with temporary furnishings until the Rescue can arrange for her to get a bigger cage. The poor thing is terrified but not aggressive. I was able to put my hand in her cage and attach the food dishes, and she just went to the other side of the cage where my hand wasnt, making no move to bite me. I think she has the potential to be a really sweet bird, but first order of business...a much much much bigger cage!!  |
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Post by easttex on Apr 11, 2015 13:57:26 GMT -5
Wow, what a spartan existence! Do you suppose she always lived this way, or did her owners strip the place before they gave her up? What do you know of her story? She looks pretty, if a little frightened. That is a sweet name.
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Post by Sharyn and Mr P on Apr 11, 2015 14:34:26 GMT -5
She is terrified but not aggressive. This is not the cage she lived in, but I saw that cage when I was at their home to pick her up and it wasnt much better. They had a lot of birds, an umbrella cockatoo (which they asked me to take with me today but I couldnt), Daisy, a cockatiel, a Military Macaw, a scarlet macaw, a red lored amazon, 2 african greys, a great dane, german shepherd and a rottweiler. This was a case of a big hearted woman (Debra) with not enough time to care for all the animals that she took in. Daisy's story was that this woman bought her from a petshop after Daisys original owners had a fire in their home. The bird was terrorized from the fire. Debra bought her from the pet shop but never really got her to bond. A friend of hers wanted her, took her for a little bit, got her to step up on her arm, but then couldnt take care of her and gave her back. Debra had her for a while after that, but noticed that she has started plucking. It's not bad yet but she feels someone else could give her a better home.
I am making arrangements with the Rescue to get her a bigger cage and I had some toys and stuff left over from Pele that I can use for now. She will go to the vet on Tuesday and once her wings are clipped, I can at least let her out a bit. A fellow volunteer had an extra goffins sized playstand that we are going to repair this weekend and she will be able to hang out on that if she will come out of her cage.
She is also on a crappy seed diet so a pellet conversion will be in her near future, as well as some target training once she trusts me enough to take food from my hand. For today, I gave her a toy and some extra perches and the food dishes. The entire time my hand was in her cage she was fluttering and flapping and trying to get away, but never tried to bite me. I will give her the rest of the day to calm down and we will start fresh again tomorrow.
Time and patience, but I think she will be fine eventually and will make someone a great companion
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Post by easttex on Apr 11, 2015 15:02:38 GMT -5
No, I figured that was a new cage. It doesn't look ridiculously small. I just meant no toys, perches, dishes. I've never had a cockatoo, but I would guess that Daisy will do much better in a household with a lot less competition. Whatever made her owner think she could handle all those high maintenance birds. (Rhetorical question.  ) I'll look forward to your Daisy updates. Has she screamed yet? |
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Post by msdani1981 on Apr 11, 2015 15:55:59 GMT -5
As to what made Daisy's owner think she could handle all those birds, some people's hearts are just too big. They let their heart decide, instead of their head. That's how Zach and I ended up with 9 birds at one time; I'm a sucker. LOL Welcome to Miss Daisy! |
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Post by easttex on Apr 11, 2015 16:12:22 GMT -5
It's not so much the number as the species, I think. The greys, the macaws, the toos... Unless there were some bonded pairs in there, it would be near impossible to give everyone the time they need. I do understand the desire to save the world, though. I remember when I did volunteer work at an animal shelter in Denver, they had a rule that you could not adopt anything for at least the first 30 days. Wise policy. |
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Post by aaron on Apr 11, 2015 17:32:33 GMT -5
Hi Daisy! Rest easy, you are in good hands now!!
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Post by Sharyn and Mr P on Apr 11, 2015 22:02:52 GMT -5
Daisy has not screamed yet but the poor thing is terrified still.
I covered her and put her to bed but she would not sit on the new perches I put in there, even though one was just a regular wooden perch and the other was a sand type perch to replace the one she already had in there.
I am unsure if she ever climbed down off the side of her cage, I would imagine she did roost on one of those perches to sleep.
When I covered her to put her to bed, she had not touched her food yet, a far cry from Pele who never got upset enough to stop eating!
Daisy's mom had a huge heart, just not enough time to "save the world". I know she meant well.
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Post by Jan and Shah on Apr 12, 2015 2:43:02 GMT -5
Just give her a little time - I have no doubt you will do a brilliant job with her. If you wouldn't mind, can you update us regularly on what you are doing with her as I find your posts very helpful.
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Post by Sharyn and Mr P on Apr 12, 2015 8:56:09 GMT -5
It does look like Daisy ate some this morning, we heard her toenails clicking on the side of her food dish (she is in my bedroom for quarantine)and there are empty seed husks in the dish. She seems a little calmer this morning, when you nod your head at her and say "yep", she does it to. I was told that is the only word she says, "yep" with the head nod. Right now, I have a soft rock music tv station on for her in the bedroom (too's are known to like music), I didnt think classic rock, hard rock or metal (which is what I listen to) would be appropriate She still looks scared but not as bad as yesterday. My plan today is to go into the bedroom often, talk to her for a short amount of time, but then leave her for awhile, I don't want to overwhelm her with my attention. She has a vet visit on Tues. Once her wings are clipped, I plan on setting up a playstand in my bedroom and letting her out of that ridiculously small cage, IF she will come out. I have to give her so much credit, not once has she tried to bite, she doesnt seem to be aggressive at all. AFter Mr P and Pele, it's almost refreshing! Edited to add: I am anal about cage size, Mr P lives in a mansion, one of the first things I did after I got him was change out his cage for a much bigger one. (normally I would make a comment about size in here but I don't want to offend anyone! LOL) There is some sort of measurement that you are supposed to do, I forgot it exactly, but its something like the width of the cage should be at least 2.5 times their wing span. I know some birds (like greys) prefer a smaller cage but Too's need room to climb around. Since I travel for work and sometimes the birds in my house are forced to stay in their cage longer than I would like, I feel better with them having a bigger cage. |
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Post by Sharyn and Mr P on Apr 12, 2015 10:07:30 GMT -5
Daisy just let out her first real cockatoo noise/call a minute ago, scared the doo doo out of me!
glad to hear it though, means she is getting over her fright at being here
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Post by siobhan on Apr 12, 2015 14:28:17 GMT -5
I have a project bird who will probably never be cuddly. One thing that works with her and that she loves is for me to just sit nearby and talk to her. She doesn't want to sit on me or have me touch her, but she LOVES attention. And when I started saying "I love you" to her, you could SEE the change that came over her.
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Post by Sharyn and Mr P on Apr 16, 2015 7:25:52 GMT -5
So my little girl got really brave this morning, came out of her cage and didnt scramble back in when I walked into the room. She was so funny yesterday, I could hear her "sneaking out" of her cage, but as soon as I went into the bedroom where she is quarantined to check on her, she would quickly climb back in. This morning, same thing, I heard her climb out (I am keeping cage door open since she has been to vet and wings are clipped) and she just sat there pretty as a picture, looking at me. So, I took one  |
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Post by easttex on Apr 16, 2015 9:12:20 GMT -5
She looks like a sweetie, just as you imagine someone named Daisy would. I really will have to quit falling for your fosters, though. |
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Post by Sharyn and Mr P on Apr 16, 2015 10:16:47 GMT -5
She has been really sweet so far. She shows NO sign of aggression at all, hasnt tried to bite either Rick or I once. She did attempt to bite at the towel that the vet tech was going to grab her with but she tried to escape first, before she lunged. She got a clean bill of health except for a mild yeast infection which is treatable with meds in the water so I dont have to towel her. She is very timid and doesnt spend much time out of her little cage. I have a bigger cage for her but she hasnt gone in it yet which actually works out because I'm getting an even bigger cage for her on Sunday. The bigger one that I have really isnt big enough but better than the one she came in. The one I'm getting on Sun is perfect and will be her permanent cage, after it gets washed and disinfected. She is still super quiet, way quieter than Mr P but I think that is due to her still being scared. She is very interested in what I am doing when I come into the bedroom and actually seems like she is interested in interacting. She likes pistachio nuts, I found out today, too |
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