Sudz1109
New member
- Jan 26, 2014
- 36
- 0
- Parrots
- Bruski (Grey Cockatiel) & Paco (Red Lored Amazon) - both adopted and loved!
Firstly, I just wanted to apologize for the absence from this forum since my adoption of Paco - we have had an awful run of colds and flu in this house (some of us have been hit more than once). We are all now well and hopefully will stay that way for a while :51: Ok now on to the good stuff...
Paco the 40-50 year old Amazon who had survived two past owners and awful living conditions (being trapped in a small cage with little socialization, no out of cage time, etc) is finally all settled in. He has had absolutely no complications with his leg band removal surgery - it had grown into his leg due to negligence - and to be honest, I really don't see many signs of the arthritis that they had warned me of. He just seems to be getting better and a whole lot more mobile on that front as time goes on.
He is seriously just an amazing soul that has managed to somehow keep his trust and faith in humans even after all that he has been through in the past. On day one he allowed scritches through the cage bars and on day two he was happy to accept them while he was out of the cage. Today, he eagerly leans forward and pushes his whole head into my hand for a nice cheek and top of the head scratch, sometimes he even asks for a scratch on his chin.
I have only been bitten twice. Both times were after he had chosen to follow our cockatiel on a flight across the room and I had reached out to offer him my arm to perch on to bring him back to his play top - he has since learned that this is a kind gesture and that I am not there to hurt him and happily waddles on over to me after he lands.
He has learned to take few nibbles at the red swiss chard that I offer him and happily eats a few cooked edamame beans and the occasional green bean (he ignored all efforts of any other greens and vegetables that I have offered and still continue to offer on a daily basis). I have tried sprouts, grains like cous cous and quinoa to no avail.
I have not been able to break him of his love for his Zupreem Fruit Blend - he just throws the Harrison's that I mix in with it right out and to the bottom of his cage :20: He will eat the occasional Zupreem Nut Blend however. He also gets his weekly bowl of Goldenfeast or a MySafeBirdStore mix and he enjoys selecting his goodies out of those.
Showers have been hit or miss; there are times that he will spread those wings and take in every minute of it and other times where he will run away from the mist. Adding a little bit of pure organic aloe juice to the water every now and then seems to be helping a lot with softening his feathers that once made a paper rustling sound every time he shook them. It now sounds a whole lot softer and those down feathers that he was left with from years of plucking are a whole lot fluffier and much whiter! I even see some pin feathers!!!
I have attached a couple of photos as an update for those that are interested to see. One is of those new pin feathers coming through which I am incredibly excited about as I wasn't sure if those would ever regrow.
Sheesh, sorry for typing so much but I just had to share my joy at watching this gorgeous old man become happier and healthier than he has ever been in his life (post being wild caught which just angers me to think of).
Paco the 40-50 year old Amazon who had survived two past owners and awful living conditions (being trapped in a small cage with little socialization, no out of cage time, etc) is finally all settled in. He has had absolutely no complications with his leg band removal surgery - it had grown into his leg due to negligence - and to be honest, I really don't see many signs of the arthritis that they had warned me of. He just seems to be getting better and a whole lot more mobile on that front as time goes on.
He is seriously just an amazing soul that has managed to somehow keep his trust and faith in humans even after all that he has been through in the past. On day one he allowed scritches through the cage bars and on day two he was happy to accept them while he was out of the cage. Today, he eagerly leans forward and pushes his whole head into my hand for a nice cheek and top of the head scratch, sometimes he even asks for a scratch on his chin.
I have only been bitten twice. Both times were after he had chosen to follow our cockatiel on a flight across the room and I had reached out to offer him my arm to perch on to bring him back to his play top - he has since learned that this is a kind gesture and that I am not there to hurt him and happily waddles on over to me after he lands.
He has learned to take few nibbles at the red swiss chard that I offer him and happily eats a few cooked edamame beans and the occasional green bean (he ignored all efforts of any other greens and vegetables that I have offered and still continue to offer on a daily basis). I have tried sprouts, grains like cous cous and quinoa to no avail.
I have not been able to break him of his love for his Zupreem Fruit Blend - he just throws the Harrison's that I mix in with it right out and to the bottom of his cage :20: He will eat the occasional Zupreem Nut Blend however. He also gets his weekly bowl of Goldenfeast or a MySafeBirdStore mix and he enjoys selecting his goodies out of those.
Showers have been hit or miss; there are times that he will spread those wings and take in every minute of it and other times where he will run away from the mist. Adding a little bit of pure organic aloe juice to the water every now and then seems to be helping a lot with softening his feathers that once made a paper rustling sound every time he shook them. It now sounds a whole lot softer and those down feathers that he was left with from years of plucking are a whole lot fluffier and much whiter! I even see some pin feathers!!!
I have attached a couple of photos as an update for those that are interested to see. One is of those new pin feathers coming through which I am incredibly excited about as I wasn't sure if those would ever regrow.
Sheesh, sorry for typing so much but I just had to share my joy at watching this gorgeous old man become happier and healthier than he has ever been in his life (post being wild caught which just angers me to think of).
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It is incredible the progress he has made since you got him...after all he's been through, that he can still see the good in people. I am sure your love and devotion have a lot to do with that.
