As most of you know, my hubby, Brad (mundane from here) left for Basic Training for the Army National Guard in September. I was very lonely and depressed and didn't feel much like talking to anyone. Well, he came home for Christmas break for 2 weeks and it was HEAVEN!! Then he went back for 8 days or so and his mom and I went down there for his graduation ceremony, which was really fun. He came home with us on Jan. 12 and had a week off before he went back to work at the factory. So things are going well. I don't think I told anyone here about our new bearded dragon that I got while Brad was away. His name is Scaramouche (Mooshie for short) and he's just about a foot long with his tail. He's still a juvenile and he's definitely my favorite pet. ;) He doesn't smell, make messes, get into the garbage, make noise, or anything, that's why he's the favorite, lol.
As some of you may or may not know, we had gotten a cockatiel, Tucker, just before Brad left. He was very hand shy and he would NOT come near either of us. We'd gotten him from a pet store, which I've been told was not such a great idea, and that's why he was hand shy and very noisy, as I know most birds are noisy, but he was very squawky!! Well, just a few weeks ago, we went to the pet store (I'm in good standing with the owner because I've always given her my business and she's always been good to me) to get crickets for Mooshie and we saw this beautiful parrot there, which we later found out that he's a Senegal Parrot. They don't usually carry parrots, they have a resident Quaker Parakeet there, but that's all, mainly cockatiels and finches and parakeets. So I asked her about him and she said she was selling him for the lady that breeds cockatiels for her at the store. The lady evidently wanted to focus more on her cockatiels and didn't feel that she had quite the amount of time for him that she'd like. She'd had him for 5 years and had taught him to say all sorts of things, like his name "Key-Wee", "come here", "here kitty kitty", "meow", "hello", "hi", "pretty bird", and "poor Key-Wee". He actually let us pet him when we were there at the store!! So we talked about it and Brad said that if she would sell Tucker for us, that we could go get Key Wee. So that's what happened. I cried when we took Tucker back to the store (call me a meanie and a bad bird mom, go ahead!!), but got over it once I realized that I could actually handle this bird. So he's spoiled and can be out of his cage all day without causing much trouble. Until last Friday. I was watching TV when I heard a loud POP and saw a little flash of light (our house is big and drafty and cold and we had a lamp on him to keep him warm). I thought maybe the light bulb had burnt out and I looked over at him and saw him climbing up to the top of his cage and favoring his beak a little. I thought OH SH*T!!! So I went over there and saw all the bare wires sticking out of the lamp!! Little fart chewed thru the wires!!! I also smelled burnt feathers and so I called the vet, thinking I'd better take him in, if it's something small to fix I'd rather do it right away than let it go forever and make it worse. So I took him in and it appeared nothing was wrong with him, so the vet sent me home empty-handed. Good!! Not even a week later, on this past Thursday, I went downstairs and heard a squawking coming from the kitchen and heard the dogs scuffling around. So I ran in there (I'm sure he'd been on the floor before I got there) and he was sitting on the counter in a dirty dish from lasagna that night, just scared as scared can be!! So I'm trying to get him to perch on my finger and fend the dogs off with the other hand and yelling at them to get going, and he got even more scared and flew to the FLOOR of all places!!!! He landed on Mollie's back first of all, then onto the floor. Oh sh*t!!!!! So I'm again trying to fend off the dogs and pick him up at the same time, Mollie won't stop biting at him, I pushed her across the kitchen floor and Lexie wouldn't move either, so I shoved her out of the way and finally stood up with him, but not before Mollie could get a little snip in on him. So I took him up to Brad and noticed some blood under his wing. Need to call the vet for it, but I was at work all day Friday and Brad forgot to do it, so I'll try and get him in on Monday or Tuesday. But the thing is, he WILL NOT come to either of us anymore!!! He used to be so personable and he's really Brad's bird, he prefers men to women, but he would let me pick him up and scratch his neck and so forth. But he won't let either of us pick him up anymore. And he won't talk to us either. I'm so sad and it's frustrating Brad to no end, because we finally got an animal that's more his than mine and now he doesn't like either of us. I'm wondering what to do. I'm gonna get the number for his former owner and see what she thinks, but it's so sad!! I just don't know what else to do. He's flown since Thursday, and that's the only time he'll let us pick him up, is if he's on the floor or somewhere not around his cage. I refuse to clip his wings because if he does get somewhere he's not supposed to be, at least he can fly away from the dogs, with his wings in full. So does anyone have any advice for me?? I prolly should've made this one post into like 7 shorter posts, but I got carried away. There was a lot to talk about!! lol. Feels good to talk, even though I'm not talking to any ONE of you in particular, just feels good to get this stuff off my chest. Seriously though, if anyone has any advice on Key Wee, I'd sure love to hear it!! Thanks for reading!!
Can you create a bird room or bird zone in the house in which to keep him so that he won't have anymore encounters with the dogs? If he doesn't find himself running into the dogs anymore, he might start to calm down. Also, if one of the dogs gets ahold of him, it's all over.
Welcome back. We've missed you.
-- Edited by protodog at 12:37, 2006-02-12
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"Thought is an invisible and subtle power that mocks all the efforts of tyranny." Alexis de Tocqueville
It is sooo good to hear from you. I have missed you soooo much! I am glad to hear that your world is going good. Mooshie and Keewee seem fun. I am afraid that i have no good advice for you and your bird problem. I have never had birds and really don't know much about them. I am sure he will warm up to you guys again. I am sure he is just nervous. Don't give up.
Mollie! I've missed ya girlie! Sorry to hear about all your troubles with the birds. Was Kiwi around other birds in the petshop? Or even with the prior owner, was he around other birds? Birds, (parrots especially) prefer pairing. If he was used to being around other birds, than he could be experiencing some depression from being alone. What made me think of it was when you said that he won't talk. I've been told that is one of the first signs of them being depressed from loneliness. The bird room is an excellent idea, I would definately do that until he gets used to your house. Even if you have to put him in the bathroom or something. The bathroom (if it's large enough) would be good because it has mirrors. The mirrors will trick him into thinking there are other parrots there. But if there is anyway you could get another parrot friend for him that would be ideal. Put a radio in the room so he hears constant noise (at a low level so as not to stress him out). As far as holding, only hold him in the room away from the dogs. Start off by offering him treats. Certain parrot breeds like certain foods (like bananas and such) so look up info on his breed and find out what he likes and bribe him with lots of treats. The first week, just give him treats. Then work up to giving him treats and petting him. Then finally, try holding him more. I've never owned a parrot, but my uncle has and that was all the stuff he told me. Plus I read up on them a lot. So I can't guarantee all that will work since it's just what I have been told. Good luck though!
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-The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all
Thanks for all the advice, guys. The parrot room would be ideal but it's pretty much out of the question in this house, since we've already got a dog room and a guest room and the other room is for us and the 3rd floor is just way too cold for a little birdie. He finally let Brad pick him up and pet him a little last nite. So that's a good start. He would let us play with him and such before the incident with the dogs, it's just since then that he wouldn't let us do anything with him. He is used to being around other birds, since his former owner bred cockatiels, and she had him at the pet store for sale and there's cockatiels and parakeets and finches and a quaker parrot there. Brad even had him out when we were sitting on the couch with the dogs, so it must've just been a shock phase, I don't know. I'm thinking he was more mad at me than anyone else (go figure, I was the one on the scene when both incidents occurred). Hopefully he'll be better still tonight and let Brad pick him up and play with him again.
"Thought is an invisible and subtle power that mocks all the efforts of tyranny." Alexis de Tocqueville
