I have created a nightmare

Skittys_Daddy

Well-known member
Jan 6, 2014
2,172
63
Lewiston, Maine
Parrots
Neotropical Pigeon - "Skittles" (born 3/29/10)
Cockatiel - "Peaches" (1995-2015) R.I.P.
Budgie - "Sammy"
(1989-2000) R.I.P.
Budgie - "Sandy"
(1987-1989) R.I.P.
So, in two months Skittles will hit the big 1-0 and a few weeks later he and I will celebrate his 9th adoption day. You would think that by now, after all that time, I'd have learned my lesson. But the CCF (Conure Cuteness Factor) continues to rear its ugly head and send me into a de facto trance where I lose all common sense.

Case in point, as some of you know, Skittles is not only a cuddle monster but he's also a burrowing bandit. He never goes a single day without spending a significant amount of time trying to bury himself in my chest hair. The whole 'climbing in the shirt' act was originally meant as a deterrent. Once his 're-training' began to take hold and time-outs were less warranted, I opted instead for grabbing him and shoving him down my shirt to 'shut him up'. lol. It was better than caging him or timeouts and it was effective. However, he then decided (much like other things) to turn it to his advantage.

Now, while he normally will climb inside my shirt on his own when I am sitting down- if I happen to be laying down on my bed with my tablet on my chest, playing games, he will fly over to my stomach and try and lift my shirt up and 'pinch me', until I move my tablet out of the way and then lift my shirt up for him. As if this wasn't bad enough. He literally does a 'scope' of the bed before climbing in and sometimes climbs in backwards. He doesn't just climb in, he "runs in".

I'll admit this next CCF issue is my own fault. Skittles has a lot of 'food dishes' around the living room. One in his cage, one on the playtop above his cage and one on his playstand. Rather than fill them all up every day, I just fill his cage one up every day. He used to go into his cage for food and water, but that's changed. I wanted to train him to fly onto my finger on command a while back so I used treats to do so and it was successful. Then the vet told me to cut back on them and increase his regular food pellets (the big ones that are the same size as his power treats). He is used to getting these from me, so I would do the finger-flight routine. Now, when he is out of his cage during the day (he's free-flighted), he won't go to his cage for food but rather he expects me to hand feed him on-command.

Just thought I'd share this story in hopes that people realize that no matter how hard you try, the sun will always come out on top. We are just mere tokens to toy with and little things they like to wind up and watch go...crazy. They thrive on it.
 

ParrotGenie

Member
Jan 10, 2019
946
19
Indiana
Parrots
2 umbrella Cockatoos One male named Cooper and female named Baby 1 Little Corella male named Frankie and have 5 Cockatiels three named Male named Pepper, Fiesco for the female and female named Wylie.
'Cuddle monster" Those words sure be in the dictionary when you look up the word Cockatoo?
 
OP
Skittys_Daddy

Skittys_Daddy

Well-known member
Jan 6, 2014
2,172
63
Lewiston, Maine
Parrots
Neotropical Pigeon - "Skittles" (born 3/29/10)
Cockatiel - "Peaches" (1995-2015) R.I.P.
Budgie - "Sammy"
(1989-2000) R.I.P.
Budgie - "Sandy"
(1987-1989) R.I.P.
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  • #4
It's literally like his favorite thing to do. He 'pushes' his head into my chest and 'digs' with one foot and rattles the other foot in the air. Almost looks like he's trying to do a headstand (and failing at it miserably, lol).

He also makes the most adorable little squeaks when he rubs his beak. I was actually planning on getting a number of errands done this afternoon, but stinker wanted to cuddle and burrow and we spent most of the afternoon doing just that. I was only able to get a quick shopping trip in. It wasn't my fault. He held me hostage against my will.
 

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