I adopted a parrot

[Jottlebot]

It sounds like it's going fantastically!!

I think you're in love!!! I hope whoever you share your life with is ready to lose you to the lovely Ruby!

Her trying new foods is very impressive, especially because Greys can be wary of new things. Are you still in touch with her previous family? I bet they'd be so pleased she's found a home with you.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Bryce]

I did text her old family the day after I got her home to let them know how she was doing, but I don't know if they want status updates or not. I figured I'd send them a picture this Winter. I hope by that time she will be stepping up and coming out of her cage regularly.

She's really been close to my best case scenario. What more could I want, that she should spontaneously request healthy foods by name and recite the Declaration of Independence? Yeah, at this point I guess the sign on her cage should be "results not typical," at least in comparison to the parrots in the books I've read. I keep waiting for the catch...

 

[bigfellasdad]

I keep waiting for the catch...

Mine came in egg form Read my thread 'i think i'm doing well, am i?'. I'm new to parrots apart from budgies and a cockatiel, i think the thread has shown mistakes i've made along the short road so far. Hopefully it may help you avoid the same.

 

[SassiBird]

Welcome. I enjoy reading your updates. Keep them coming!

 

[Bryce]

It's nice of you to take in that little bird, lyndsey, I wish you the best of luck with her.

Here are some more pictures of Ruby:
http://www.ferazelhosting.net/~bryce/ruby_broc.jpg
http://www.ferazelhosting.net/~bryce/ruby_head.jpg

She actually does eat the broccoli, but she loves tearing it up. She also likes mandarin oranges. She didn't like the corn on the cob, surprisingly. She continues to eat her new pellets. I've now seen her eating them more often that the seeds from her mix, she must really like them.

Also, she did "Hello" in my voice tonight, which was cool.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

It's nice of you to take in that little bird, lyndsey, I wish you the best of luck with her.

Here are some more pictures of Ruby:
http://www.ferazelhosting.net/~bryce/ruby_broc.jpg
http://www.ferazelhosting.net/~bryce/ruby_head.jpg

She actually does eat the broccoli, but she loves tearing it up. She also likes mandarin oranges. She didn't like the corn on the cob, surprisingly. She continues to eat her new pellets. I've now seen her eating them more often that the seeds from her mix, she must really like them.

Also, she did "Hello" in my voice tonight, which was cool.

Sounds like Ruby really likes her new home/parront. You're doing a very good job with Ruby,Bryce...be proud of yourself,being a noob to a large parrot,and especially to a Grey :04:
More pics of the little charmer would be cool beans too,lol.


Jim

 

[Bryce]

Thanks. A lot of people did suggest I get a smaller psittacine as a first parrot, but I didn't really feel like it would be right to use a parakeet or conure as a means-to-an-end "practice bird," to be honest. I have nothing against small parrots of course, I think they're adorable (sun conures especially! I did fairly strongly consider one of those), but they aren't what I ultimately wanted, which was a "full size" parrot like a Grey, Eclectus or Amazon.

Ruby is doing well. I regularly see her eating pellets, and she actually left sunflower seeds. (I'm basically giving her pellets ad libitum and a smaller portion of her old seed mix, and rather than the expected result of all the seed being eaten preferentially, lots of seeds were left.) However, it could be that she just wasn't hungry enough to eat much of them, which isn't that surprising since she also has fresh veg to eat and I give her some pistachios by hand. I guess I need to weigh the dishes rather than just relying on my incidental observations of her eating pellets. Her droppings have definitely changed away from the seed-fed-parrot type droppings she had when I got her, though.

Anyway, I'm still enjoying my parrot journey. Thanks again for your comments.

 

[Bryce]

I got Ruby a new wheel-type foraging toy yesterday. Or at least it was sold to me as a foraging toy. In actuality it is better described as a "parrot drum," which I'm sure Ruby considers a huge advantage for relatively quiet birds like herself. I hope that when she figures out how to manipulate it more effectively she'll stop banging on it with her beak to make things fall out.

She also has been using her other foraging toy, which is quiet.

She is trying to come out of her cage now somewhat then I have it open, so I decided to see if I could get her to step up onto a handheld perch, but she wasn't keen. With her having been cagebound previously, I don't want to squander an opportunity here, but with her not being trained to step up yet, her fully-flighted self getting out potentially means a bad experience of being toweled and returned to her cage. I'm leaning toward continuing to offer the perch and a treat but not letting her just come out on her own. Suggestions?

She also made an owl noise when I walked by at night to get a glass of water, then again when I walked back. "Hoo!" I laughed...

 

[DRB]

I got Ruby a new wheel-type foraging toy yesterday. Or at least it was sold to me as a foraging toy. In actuality it is better described as a "parrot drum," which I'm sure Ruby considers a huge advantage for relatively quiet birds like herself. I hope that when she figures out how to manipulate it more effectively she'll stop banging on it with her beak to make things fall out.

She also has been using her other foraging toy, which is quiet.

She is trying to come out of her cage now somewhat then I have it open, so I decided to see if I could get her to step up onto a handheld perch, but she wasn't keen. With her having been cagebound previously, I don't want to squander an opportunity here, but with her not being trained to step up yet, her fully-flighted self getting out potentially means a bad experience of being toweled and returned to her cage. I'm leaning toward continuing to offer the perch and a treat but not letting her just come out on her own. Suggestions?

She also made an owl noise when I walked by at night to get a glass of water, then again when I walked back. "Hoo!" I laughed...

I found that opening the cage door and letting my Perjo come out if/when she wanted to worked well. I put two perches on the inside of the door, and one on the outside just a few inches from the door. I would leave the room and she would venture out and eventually found her favorite place was atop the cage door. She enjoys height dominance a little bit. Now she plays on virutally every inch of her cage inside and out.

A lot of time I think they like being alone to try stuff, I think they feel like they are getting away with something.

 

[bigfellasdad]

I got Ruby a new wheel-type foraging toy yesterday. Or at least it was sold to me as a foraging toy. In actuality it is better described as a "parrot drum," which I'm sure Ruby considers a huge advantage for relatively quiet birds like herself. I hope that when she figures out how to manipulate it more effectively she'll stop banging on it with her beak to make things fall out.

She also has been using her other foraging toy, which is quiet.

She is trying to come out of her cage now somewhat then I have it open, so I decided to see if I could get her to step up onto a handheld perch, but she wasn't keen. With her having been cagebound previously, I don't want to squander an opportunity here, but with her not being trained to step up yet, her fully-flighted self getting out potentially means a bad experience of being toweled and returned to her cage. I'm leaning toward continuing to offer the perch and a treat but not letting her just come out on her own. Suggestions?

She also made an owl noise when I walked by at night to get a glass of water, then again when I walked back. "Hoo!" I laughed...

Have you tried with your hand at all rather than a stick? Of course you may get a bite from her, but try and talk gently to her whilst you have your hand near her, and watch out for eye 'pinning' or fluffing of the feathers so she appears larger. Its very much a trust thing and i think not showing fear.

Hoo! lol, Enzo does that in the morning and evening too, it must be a CAG greeting when covered

Enzo was towelled ONCE previously to me having her and just showing her the towel, any towel has her frightened so id definitely avoid that. With budgies and cockatiels, dropping the lights or pulling blinds/curtains will make them stop moving so you can retrieve them, however Enzo seems to have night vision so flying in very low light appears to be ok for her...

Can I ask a question please? You seem to be worried about her making a noise, are you in an apartment or something, if not, let the bird sing

To add, Enzo seems to do the Hoo sound when she is happy and wants your company when covered, so it sounds positive.

 

[Bryce]

Nope, I'm not in an apartment, I just don't want her on a slippery slope to being a loud bird. The level of noise she makes now is fine, but I meticulously avoid responding to any objectionable noise (e.g. if I'm in another room and she is vocalizing, I'll talk back to her if she tweets, whistles or (especially) talks, but ignore beeps and squawks.)

I haven't tried using my hand. It's an interesting thought; she doesn't seem to be bothered by my hands whereas she didn't like the handheld perch despite it being a familiar object (I left it in her cage on the bottom). But I don't want to get bitten. I've had a CAG grab my hand with his beak to test it as a perch before, but honestly I'm not 100% confident in my ability to distinguish an innocuous attempt at gripping with her beak from a hostile bite about to happen, until the beak is actually on my hand. With the other bird, I knew he was tame, so I had no trouble keeping my nerve even when he pinched kinda hard, but Ruby's owners previous didn't hold her, so...

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

I got Ruby a new wheel-type foraging toy yesterday. Or at least it was sold to me as a foraging toy. In actuality it is better described as a "parrot drum," which I'm sure Ruby considers a huge advantage for relatively quiet birds like herself. I hope that when she figures out how to manipulate it more effectively she'll stop banging on it with her beak to make things fall out.

She also has been using her other foraging toy, which is quiet.

She is trying to come out of her cage now somewhat then I have it open, so I decided to see if I could get her to step up onto a handheld perch, but she wasn't keen. With her having been cagebound previously, I don't want to squander an opportunity here, but with her not being trained to step up yet, her fully-flighted self getting out potentially means a bad experience of being toweled and returned to her cage. I'm leaning toward continuing to offer the perch and a treat but not letting her just come out on her own. Suggestions?

She also made an owl noise when I walked by at night to get a glass of water, then again when I walked back. "Hoo!" I laughed...

Have you tried with your hand at all rather than a stick? Of course you may get a bite from her, but try and talk gently to her whilst you have your hand near her, and watch out for eye 'pinning' or fluffing of the feathers so she appears larger. Its very much a trust thing and i think not showing fear.

Hoo! lol, Enzo does that in the morning and evening too, it must be a CAG greeting when covered

Enzo was towelled ONCE previously to me having her and just showing her the towel, any towel has her frightened so id definitely avoid that. With budgies and cockatiels, dropping the lights or pulling blinds/curtains will make them stop moving so you can retrieve them, however Enzo seems to have night vision so flying in very low light appears to be ok for her...

Can I ask a question please? You seem to be worried about her making a noise, are you in an apartment or something, if not, let the bird sing

To add, Enzo seems to do the Hoo sound when she is happy and wants your company when covered, so it sounds positive.

Is it "hoo" or "woo"? Smokey would "Wooo" a lot..I came to the conclusion that she did this as a greeting..or when she was happy. She had different varieties of it too..a long "Wooooooo"..a sharp "WOO!!" ( like saying "HEY!!")

I miss that bird so much :15:



Jim

 

[Bryce]

It sounded like "hoo" to me, but then they don't have lips, so maybe it's the same sound? I've only heard her make it in evening and nighttime vocalizations, but it could be coincidence. Some kind of greeting makes sense, in the context of something moving in the dark, and you want to know if it's another parrot or a predator. I suppose I should "hoo" back.

 

[psychocircus91]

Ruby looks great. Good job on all your research. Remember, we can never learn too much about these amazing, complex creatures!

 

[Bryce]

Ruby bit me while I was trying to get her to perch on a branch I was holding. I didn't really react to it at first because she had just pushed on the branch, and I thought she was just going to explore my hand with her beak. Which, indeed, she did at first, but then it turned into a sort of gnaw that drew blood, at which point I removed my finger without drama, but I wasn't about to let her just gnaw my finger off either. I don't know if I misinterpreted her earlier actions (was she trying to get my hand or the branch to go away, rather than evaluating its suitability for a perch, as I had thought?) or if she just doesn't know her own strength, which I suppose is possible since he hasn't been picked up in years other than in a towel. I'm hoping maybe the latter since she didn't seem to be doing anything threatening prior to that, unless the pushing on the branch was the extent of the warning.

Not happy I got bitten, but it was much less horrible than I imagined, at least.

She's otherwise doing fine.

 

[Bryce]

She has also started mimicing yawns, sneezes and coughs, which is pretty funny, and saying "come 'ere," which I'm hoping might be something someone once trained her on to come out of her cage or maybe even step up; I'll have to try it.

 

[DRB]

Ruby bit me while I was trying to get her to perch on a branch I was holding. I didn't really react to it at first because she had just pushed on the branch, and I thought she was just going to explore my hand with her beak. Which, indeed, she did at first, but then it turned into a sort of gnaw that drew blood, at which point I removed my finger without drama, but I wasn't about to let her just gnaw my finger off either. I don't know if I misinterpreted her earlier actions (was she trying to get my hand or the branch to go away, rather than evaluating its suitability for a perch, as I had thought?) or if she just doesn't know her own strength, which I suppose is possible since he hasn't been picked up in years other than in a towel. I'm hoping maybe the latter since she didn't seem to be doing anything threatening prior to that, unless the pushing on the branch was the extent of the warning.

Not happy I got bitten, but it was much less horrible than I imagined, at least.

She's otherwise doing fine.

My gut says they do know their own strength, and they use it accordingly but can also be "trained" to recognize the best way to use that strength. One thing I have done in my 18 months of ownership is I no longer show emotion or reaction to a bite. Sure I try to pull my finger away but not in such a way to show that I am in fear or that it hurts. Even if it's a decent bite I just act like it doesn't bother me. I usually say "be gentle" or "no, you tickle, no bite".

 

[bigfellasdad]

Sorry you got bitten did he bite softly first then build up strength quickly? Enzo does this and I tell people to react to the soft bite with a stern NO whilst looking stern. Maybe just build up a little more trust.

 

[Bryce]

She did start out just beaking around, I thought.

She continues to be talkative and varied in her vocalizations. Unfortunately, I accidentally scared her today. While trying to give her her favourite treat (a peanut, per her previous owners) as a reward for tolerating some cleaning, I accidentally knocked over a toy sitting on a table next to her cage, and she freaked. Now she won't take peanuts from me and has ignored the peanut (which I left in her cage). Not the way I wanted to wean her off them... she still takes pistachios from me though.

 

[texsize]

My Bella will push my had away when I am trying to pick her up and she want's no part of it.
If pushing my hand away doesn't work she moves/fly's out of my reach.
Recently she uses kindness instead of force. When pushing does not work she fluffs up her neck feathers and asks for a scratch. I guess she knows that's something I cant resist.
Bella has bitten hard a few times with me but never broken the skin.
She did break skin with my son.
My take on it is she did not want that perch and was trying to push it away. Because pushing did not work she went to the source of the problem, your hand.
You are dealing with a VERY smart bird.