skatingdoc
New member
- Jan 3, 2012
- 11
- 0
- Parrots
- Leela, a 6 or 7 year old parrotlet
Hey all,
Leela (in the profile photo) is my 6 or 7 year old parrotlet, adopted from a friend over 2 years ago. Our story is a little more complicated than others. She was hand-raised, but rescued at a year old from a crappy breeder. My friend owned her for about 3 years and I took care of her after that. She was not handled that often, so she was only semi-tame.
When I got her, I took her to a vet, who found out she had a throat infection, so my first two weeks or so with her consisted of me catching her in the dark and sticking a tube down her mouth twice a day. She warmed up to me (and my boyfriend) at the end of those two weeks after I took her out of the cage.
She has always been VERY territorial, and very hesitant to come out of the cage, although after about a month of ownership, she would step up when outside of the cage and hang out with me and let me get her pin feathers.
I feel like lots of people ask how long it takes parrots to bond with you, and I feel like the answers are often a cheery "instantly" or "a couple of weeks". For Leela to truly enjoy my company it took a lot longer than that.
After a year, she started trying to mimic noises I make.. This was really the first time she showed interest in me when she was in her cage. Right now she just makes little "kisses", but all of her other calls and noises are instinctive.
After two years (just a few months ago, really), she decided she liked me enough to come out of her cage when I opened it, though she doesn't like to explore. She usually just sits on me and chews on my hair, or my clothes, or sleeps on my shoulder if I have her up too late. Unfortunately her favorite thing to chew on is my glasses, and she has managed to get the ball out of my earring on two separate occasions (though never swallowed it, thank goodness).
Only a few weeks ago she started to decide she'd like me for her mate, and if I'm dumb enough to stick my finger in her cage to get her attention she just tries to regurgitate on me.
She's scared to death of any sort of delicious treat other than millet, not for lack of trying. I sneak a few fresh treats(fruit & veg) into her food dish if cut up really tiny. We do what we can.
And yes..apparently I'm long-winded. Nice to meet everyone!!
Leela (in the profile photo) is my 6 or 7 year old parrotlet, adopted from a friend over 2 years ago. Our story is a little more complicated than others. She was hand-raised, but rescued at a year old from a crappy breeder. My friend owned her for about 3 years and I took care of her after that. She was not handled that often, so she was only semi-tame.
When I got her, I took her to a vet, who found out she had a throat infection, so my first two weeks or so with her consisted of me catching her in the dark and sticking a tube down her mouth twice a day. She warmed up to me (and my boyfriend) at the end of those two weeks after I took her out of the cage.
She has always been VERY territorial, and very hesitant to come out of the cage, although after about a month of ownership, she would step up when outside of the cage and hang out with me and let me get her pin feathers.
I feel like lots of people ask how long it takes parrots to bond with you, and I feel like the answers are often a cheery "instantly" or "a couple of weeks". For Leela to truly enjoy my company it took a lot longer than that.
After a year, she started trying to mimic noises I make.. This was really the first time she showed interest in me when she was in her cage. Right now she just makes little "kisses", but all of her other calls and noises are instinctive.
After two years (just a few months ago, really), she decided she liked me enough to come out of her cage when I opened it, though she doesn't like to explore. She usually just sits on me and chews on my hair, or my clothes, or sleeps on my shoulder if I have her up too late. Unfortunately her favorite thing to chew on is my glasses, and she has managed to get the ball out of my earring on two separate occasions (though never swallowed it, thank goodness).
Only a few weeks ago she started to decide she'd like me for her mate, and if I'm dumb enough to stick my finger in her cage to get her attention she just tries to regurgitate on me.
She's scared to death of any sort of delicious treat other than millet, not for lack of trying. I sneak a few fresh treats(fruit & veg) into her food dish if cut up really tiny. We do what we can.
And yes..apparently I'm long-winded. Nice to meet everyone!!