Skitty the Sun Conure & his daddy - The days our lives together.

[TacoNTiki]

Skittles is so adorable! Do you take him out to all those places in the pak o bird or a harness? We have a pak o bird too and have been taking both birds (first Taco, before we got Tiki and now we try to take turns with them because its just the x-small pak o bird that we have. Wish we could afford another one.

Do you ever feel quilty taking skittles out and not peaches? I sure do as I find we are taking Tiki out more because he is much more agreeable to go out for an adventure. Taco, our tiel, fights us sometimes to go into the pak o bird so it is easier to take tiki. I am hoping that taco is happier just hanging out at home.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

I don't have one of those 'pak o bird' things. I really want to get one but they ain't cheap! LOL. I have been looking into them. I'm afraid to put him in a harness. I know he would 'go after' people who got to close to me and not everyone is as forgiving as my neighbor/best friend is. To be honest, I'm not sure I could get him to wear it. LOL. Unless it was made of towels, lol. He has a MAJOR fabric fetish.

I'm actually contemplating getting him a second playstand.

I actually have two mini-travel cages for them for the vet trips. I put Skittles in his travel cage when we go for walks as well. It's a handheld cage. About 7"tall, 7" wide and 12" long. It's rather small.

I don't really feel guilty about not taking Peaches out for adventures, but more that I can't even seem to be able to let her out of her cage lately due to the egg-laying issue.

She gets stressed very easily. Skittles is calm as can be on car rides to the vet, Peaches gets all stressed out and her cere turns a bright pink. She really is a calm, quiet bird and not much for 'traveling'. If she was, I sure would take her out for walks. It just seems that Skittles loves to go for adventures, but Peaches does not. So I don't force her. I do have to put her in her travel cage otherwise she won't go in. Skittles on the other hand will usually go in on his own upon a verbal command.

 

[BoomBoom]

It's great that you take Skittles around shopping with you! I've always wanted to take Boomer in his backpack with me to Vons, Walmart, Target or random grocery stores but I'm afraid an employee or manager would make a scene and throw us out, haha! Has anyone ever complained? I called a bookstore and a Vons once before taking Boomer in and they flat out said no I think that discouraged me from trying again. I only take him when I go to places I know he will be welcome in (Petco, Home Depot or my neighborhood produce store).

Regarding the pak-o-bird, I can't recommend it enough. My humble suggestion is to forego the additional play stand and just save up a few more months then get the small size (or medium) pak-o-bird. It is so worth it and you will get so much mileage out of it. Imagine what you can do with 2 free hands!

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Yeah, you have a point BoomBoom. I live in Maine, though, so we don't have a LOT of days where it's warm enough for me to feel comfortable bringing him outside (70 or above).

But I am seriously considering getting one. On my way back from my appt. yesterday I was having a hard time. I had Skittles in one hand, my walkman and my drink in the other - it makes things difficult.

Do those Pak'o birds allow for a lot of light? It seems they would shield a lot of the sunlight. I like Skittles to get the sun when he goes out.

The pharmacy I go to has a 'no pets' policy but they have never said anything about Skittles. In fact, they often ask me where he is or how he's doing (if I don't have him with me).

When I take Skittles on the city bus, nobody says anything about it- but I think they do allow pets on the bus provided they are properly restrained.

Truthfully, I think people are so blown away by how pretty his coloring is they don't say anything. I've seen people bring puppies into the local Walmart (not 'therapy' dogs) and no one has said anything.

When I brought Skittles to Walmart no one knew I had him with me until I got to the checkout. He didn't make one single peep.

He did make a few peeps at a local grocery store down the street a few weeks ago.
I was at the store with my neighbor buying some chicken drumsticks and he let out a peep and scared the crap out of the meat counter lady. It was a riot.

I think it's more the behavior than anything. I would imagine if Skittles caused a ruckus or started screeching a lot, people would speak up but since he is quiet, they let it slide - I think anyways. I also think if someone 'complained' they might say something too, but people don't complain about him - they stare at him. Children especially like him. I can't tell you how many times a mother has called me over cause her young son or daughter wants to see him.

I think it's important for Skittles to get fresh air and sunlight too.

 

[TacoNTiki]

Just to chime in about the pak o bird, we love ours too and have brought both Taco and Tiki (separately) to grocery stores (quick trip), dollar stores, library, pet stores, etc.and no one ever says anything. Most of the time they don't even notice. They do let in more light than it seems because of the stainless steel mesh, it is deceiving because its brighter outside of the backpack so you can't see 'into' it as well as seeing out of it. But I did check for sunlight being able to shine in and it seems like it does good enough.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Thanks to both of you for your input. I am going to seriously consider it. Given the price, though, it's not something I want to impulsively buy.

The playstand I was considering, I like that one because it's much easier to clean than Skittles current playstand, and has more features to it - but it's also about 6" shorter than his current one and Skittles likes 'height'. He has a twirly rope toy that I hang from the ceiling above his cage. He will sit atop there about 6" away from the ceiling. Fortunately, he comes down on command nearly all the time. If he doesn't, I just leave the room and he follows me.

I like the idea of it being more 'roomy' than his travel cage and it would allow me to bring him to other people's houses for a period of time. I can't let him out around the house when other people are around cause he's too protective of me. At first I thought it was cute - but it does get to be a pain when he literally will attack anyone OR anything he perceives as a threat (but not until I am close to it).

If I take him to see my neighbor (who is also my best friend) and he attacks her. But he doesn't attack the vet, nor my friend who takes me to the vet, nor my therapist. In fact, my therapist has a golden retriever that she brings to work and her and Skitty are best buds. I think it's more to do with my neighbor having a 'fear' of him because he has attacked her before when she was visiting me.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

I also think it has to do with his cuddle hut. A while back, I had him on my shoulder and went to see my neighbor, she has a dryer and was drying his cuddle hut for me (I had just washed it). He saw her holding it and went nuts. But that was a few years ago, I'd have thought he'd forgotten by now.

The thing is, he won't attack me if I take his cuddle hut and clean it, no reaction at all, so it made no sense to me. But then I remembered that Peaches lets me stick my hand in her cage and take her eggs without any fight. However, she won't let anyone else near them (without 'hissing' at them). She's never attacked anyone. She doesn't even bite. She nibbles.

 

[BoomBoom]

Just to chime in about the pak o bird, we love ours too and have brought both Taco and Tiki (separately) to grocery stores (quick trip), dollar stores, library, pet stores, etc.and no one ever says anything. Most of the time they don't even notice. They do let in more light than it seems because of the stainless steel mesh, it is deceiving because its brighter outside of the backpack so you can't see 'into' it as well as seeing out of it. But I did check for sunlight being able to shine in and it seems like it does good enough.

Exactly this. At first, I also thought sunlight could not penetrate through the mesh or that visibility would be poor. Truthfully, it's not bad at all. It's just like a regular window screen. I stuck my head inside and looked out, I could see clearly see especially when outdoors (which is all the time when you have the backpack out). That said, the carrier will definitely let more sun in, plus it breezier depending on the carrier style, but the screen gets the job done when it comes to sun exposure.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

@BoomBoom

Is Boomer a big chewer? I know most suns are, but Skittles is a MAJOR chewer, is the Pak'o bird easy to destroy? I wouldn't put anything past Skittles. He 'destroyed' the zipper in my new winter jacket a few years ago. I was not too happy about that.

Right now, he's being a brat. It's over an hour past his bedtime and he is no be cooperative. Me thinks that he knows it's Friday night and he wants to par-tay

 

[BoomBoom]

Boomer is a major chewer. He is a zipper destroyer, house shirt mangler, shoe terminator. Anything that is not his toy, he chews lol. I have to set boundaries all the time. With the pak-o-bird, he is too engaged with me moving and the scenery that he rarely has time to chew. I would not recommend leaving our birds there for unsupervised periods of time. That's when you'd use the standard metal / plastic carriers. That said the pak-o-bird is not easy to destroy. Fabric is tough canvass with plastic guard panels for corners and stitching that are exposed to the bird. It's durable but not indestructible. It will take a beating though.

I've always wondered if Boomer somehow knows it's the weekend. He's more demanding, like he's saying "Come on I've waited all week, let's do something!" I swear Boomer and Skittles are brothers from another mother haha!

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

That could very well be true. Skittles loves to chew on my shirts as well. I wear cheap white t-shirts around the house for that very reason. Sometimes I'll go visit a neighbor and they'll see my shirt with all sorts of holes in it and say "I see Skittles has been busy". LOL.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Some 'new' pics of Skitty. Two of them were taken back in April. The other two were taken this afternoon (where he's sitting on the blue perch).

I bought him one of those shower perches to attach to my desk so I don't have to keep the side door of it open for him to sit on. However, I was not pleased with the performance of the suction cups - to I bolted the perch to the desk to be safe.

I 'coaxed' him over to the new perch using millet spray. Haha! I outsmarted him! ALAS! It only took me four years!

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

 

[BoomBoom]

What a handsome little guy! I love how fluffy and full he is. May I ask what his general weight is? Boomer has always hovered around 107g to 110g. His vet says he is healthy but I wish he was a little heavier to be honest.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Yes, he's a big boy. At his last vet checkup, he weighed 118g. He's actually pretty heavy when he sits on my finger. But he's not overweight, funny enough. In fact, I'd dare say he's a bit underweight. But the vet said his weight is ideal for his size.

107-110g is a very healthy weight for a sun.

I 'think' the weight range for a sun is 100g-120g. I know for a cockatiel its 90-110. Peaches weighs 91g, but she's actually rather small for a cockatiel. Skittles actually looks twice as big as Peaches.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Does Boomer like to bathe? Skittles LOVES to 'flap around' in water. It's so cute to see, but not to clean up. He splashes water everywhere. Usually, by the time he's done I am all soaked. I almost think he does it on purpose.

BTW, I am going to get one of those Pak O birds, but not til next spring. I think I'd be more likely to go out more if I could take him with me places. If I'm gone for more than 3 or 4 hours I start to miss him like crazy. He's such an integral part of my day.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Not sure if other ppl have seen these before - but in case anyone hasn't, here are a couple funny sunny pics. I always get a kick out of these.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Hello farents!

Well, I was 'hoping' to get some housework done today since I overslept most of the afternoon yesterday. However, Skittles had other plans.

It seems every time I go to do dishes he suddenly decides it's bath time. So I have to stop and let him bathe or he'll never shut up. Of course, every time he bathes I'm the one who gets soaked along with half the kitchen counter. He hops into his bathing dish and spreads his wings out and 'flaps' spreading water everywhere.

I just know he's thinking "you're household plans have been cancelled. They are no match for my cuteness factor. Surrender now!"

I was trying to gather the laundry from the clothing rack and he decided that rack would be his new 'chew toy'.

I keep forgetting to charge my digital camera battery. I want to take some more pictures. I'd like to get him on video, but I'm at his mercy when I do that. Sometimes he cooperates and sometimes he doesn't.

The thing is, he knows when he's being recorded and I think it distracts him. Actually, I think he is just being sneaky.

Anyways, now he's all wet and quiet. The thing is I can't run the AC until he is dry, so I have to find other 'non-hot' chores to do.

 

[StarryEyedGirl]

Oh goodness that's too funny! Harley likes to bathe in his water dish and when my boyfriend or I brushes our teeth he thinks it's bath time. He used to try and bathe in a small cup. That didn't work. Him trying to fit his butt in the little cup. Now he had his own bath and when he decides it's bath time...he makes a HUGE mess!!! My mirror is soaked, my counter is soaked, my floor is soaked. Everything. But he's too cute to turn down bath time.

In a different note, Skittles weighs 118g? My Harley only weighs 77g! But I guess that's normal for black capped conures.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

That's how I first discovered how much suns love to bathe. I actually found him bathing in his water dish. I had to get him one with a cover otherwise he'll bathe in it.

I've actually heard several people say Skittles is rather big for a sun conure. I can't even fit half my hand around him.

I think it's the water flowing that sets him off. Whenever I use the restroom or pour a drink, he'll wag his tongue.