SleepyLuca
Member
This is kind of a vent but I am looking for help if anybody has advice :’)
First of all, I of course love my boy with everything I have. He’s my almost three year old sun/dusky headed conure. We hatched and raised him ourselves (that being me and my mom) in 2020 and we have an extremely close bond with him. But I always feel like I’m not doing enough. He has about three or four hours out of the cage every day (ofc split up into segments so he can stay hydrated and eat) and all that time is interactive. We engage with him during play, we take him outside in his backpack on occasion and every once in a while we try our best to teach him how to play with bird toys.
I don’t know, I just feel like he shouldn’t be in the cage at all- but with my depression/anxiety issues I have to put him in his cage before I have a burnout/meltdown. I love him with all of my heart but some days, especially when he’s acting up, I get extremely overwhelmed and I can’t get him out of his cage for enough time on those days.
I do know though, that we feed him well. Every day he gets chop filled with all kinds of veggies and stuff that he absolutely adores, and then he gets pellets as well. We keep him away from seeds and we do our best to avoid giving him human snacks/treats. (He’s sneaky and steals the occasional chip or a bite of a sandwich lol) He is a very healthy bird luckily, very bright, curious and active with shiny feathers and a straight tail, no wavy/curly feathers. And yet I still feel like I’m not doing enough.
I always feel like crying when I put him back in his cage cause I feel like im just abandoning him. Im constantly worried that he’s not getting enough exercise or he’s not getting enough interaction and just being away from him in general triggers my anxiety really bad. But im stuck because sometimes being WITH him triggers my anxiety too. I don’t know,, I feel like I should teach him free flight too but the last time he went flying (this was an accident, my mom took him outside, he got spooked and flew. He hasn’t been outdoors outside of his backpack since then.) he was chased by a crow. He didnt get injured (thank God) but I feel like it’s not safe to attempt free flights here cause of the larger birds. And then I feel like I should get a bigger cage or get rid of the cage all together, like I should be interacting with him more or giving him more attention etc etc.
and then we need to figure out how to safely trim his nails because the old place we went to has taken a plummet in quality and treated him horribly the last time. I don’t want to take him back there because they’re really rough with him, but he’s terrified of the nail clippers so we just don’t know what to do.
I’m sorry this is so long lol, I haven’t been able to let all this out so it just kind of spilled :’) I don’t know if all this is just my anxiety screwing with me again and it’s really stressful. If anybody has tips on how I can be better or if I need to be better,, and especially how I could trim his nails at home safely, please let me know
First of all, I of course love my boy with everything I have. He’s my almost three year old sun/dusky headed conure. We hatched and raised him ourselves (that being me and my mom) in 2020 and we have an extremely close bond with him. But I always feel like I’m not doing enough. He has about three or four hours out of the cage every day (ofc split up into segments so he can stay hydrated and eat) and all that time is interactive. We engage with him during play, we take him outside in his backpack on occasion and every once in a while we try our best to teach him how to play with bird toys.
I don’t know, I just feel like he shouldn’t be in the cage at all- but with my depression/anxiety issues I have to put him in his cage before I have a burnout/meltdown. I love him with all of my heart but some days, especially when he’s acting up, I get extremely overwhelmed and I can’t get him out of his cage for enough time on those days.
I do know though, that we feed him well. Every day he gets chop filled with all kinds of veggies and stuff that he absolutely adores, and then he gets pellets as well. We keep him away from seeds and we do our best to avoid giving him human snacks/treats. (He’s sneaky and steals the occasional chip or a bite of a sandwich lol) He is a very healthy bird luckily, very bright, curious and active with shiny feathers and a straight tail, no wavy/curly feathers. And yet I still feel like I’m not doing enough.
I always feel like crying when I put him back in his cage cause I feel like im just abandoning him. Im constantly worried that he’s not getting enough exercise or he’s not getting enough interaction and just being away from him in general triggers my anxiety really bad. But im stuck because sometimes being WITH him triggers my anxiety too. I don’t know,, I feel like I should teach him free flight too but the last time he went flying (this was an accident, my mom took him outside, he got spooked and flew. He hasn’t been outdoors outside of his backpack since then.) he was chased by a crow. He didnt get injured (thank God) but I feel like it’s not safe to attempt free flights here cause of the larger birds. And then I feel like I should get a bigger cage or get rid of the cage all together, like I should be interacting with him more or giving him more attention etc etc.
and then we need to figure out how to safely trim his nails because the old place we went to has taken a plummet in quality and treated him horribly the last time. I don’t want to take him back there because they’re really rough with him, but he’s terrified of the nail clippers so we just don’t know what to do.
I’m sorry this is so long lol, I haven’t been able to let all this out so it just kind of spilled :’) I don’t know if all this is just my anxiety screwing with me again and it’s really stressful. If anybody has tips on how I can be better or if I need to be better,, and especially how I could trim his nails at home safely, please let me know