The Saga of Romeo

[SilleIN]

Romeo really likes paper. REALLY!

(It's a good thing I work for a university and can snag student papers for free!)

VID 20161204 175748 - YouTube

What a great video. It reminds me of one day my sister and I were outside. When we got back in, I couldn't find Sugar (B&G). We eventually found him in my sisters room eating her homework "Sorry teacher, but my parrot ate my homework!"

 

[SilleIN]

An update after the vet trip. He's a little bit overweight which comes as no surprise given his previous diet. Stool sample is clean so nothing to worry about there.

He greated everyone when we walked in with tons of hi and giggles. Big hit there.

The beak... Oh the beak. We had to sedate him to trim it. She felt that his upper beak was ok, just needed shaped. His previous owner just took dog nail clippers and snapped it straight. But his lower beak was a wreck. We took a bit over a quarter of an inch off! He still can't totally close his mouth but she felt anymore might be as harmful as beneficial. Nuts, foraging toys etc. Will do the rest.

Afterwards as he was still doped up he was so super cuddly. It was really sweet until he threw up all down my shirt. Bird puke is nasty! But we had some good bonding time last night.

He's also got sores on his feet from having only a 1inch pvc pipe as a perch. Now he's got sand perches, cement and his main one is a nice fat Manzanita wood perch.

Today his beak seems a bit sore so he's not eating. But I just made a bunch of juice in the juicer and offered him the pulp which he took to. (hey, easy chop... Sorta) So soft foods, real chop and the like for a bit.

Long and short, he's mostly healthy, good skin, no cough, good lungs and heart sounds and they labeled him as a very sweet bird.

Thanks for all the advice! He also rides in the car super well on e he escapes from his crate.

Great that he is healthy and not coughing I am sure this gives you peace of mind to know he is healthy.

I can highly recomment giving hazelnuts in their shell to help them maintain their beak. They tend to pick up the shell afterwards and grind the shell on their beak to maintain it.

And I sometimes give my macaws human baby food. They really love it and get it as a treat, but if Romeo is sore, baby food could be an option aswell

 

[JBassset]

Great that he is healthy and not coughing I am sure this gives you peace of mind to know he is healthy.

I can highly recomment giving hazelnuts in their shell to help them maintain their beak. They tend to pick up the shell afterwards and grind the shell on their beak to maintain it.

And I sometimes give my macaws human baby food. They really love it and get it as a treat, but if Romeo is sore, baby food could be an option aswell

Glad you said that about Hazelnuts. The grocer had a bag of mixed nuts in shells they're selling for the holidays. (Why raw, in the shell nuts are a holiday thing I dunno... nobody eats them!) It's got hazelnuts in it. He wasn't sure what they were so I had to crack one. He picked up the shell and "gnawed" on it so I see what you're saying!

His beak seems to not be bugging him. He spent a day or two investigating it. Clearly he knew it was different but now seems to be OK with it.

Our biggest challenge is the change in diet. He just doesn't like to eat the new foods! But since I just refuse to feed him the crap he's used to he's adjusting. He complained of being hungry (it's actually a phrase he knows) and I'd offer him healthy options. He'd refuse but the hunger seems to be enough that he's now willingly eating much of it.

To be clear, I wouldn't let him go absolutely hungry. I'd just offer the healthiest stuff, then give him a peanut in the shell. Then I'd show him that I was hiding more peanuts under all the other food. I'd pretend to eat the good food and not want to share it. Between my acting (good thing birds aren't critics) and making him dig through he's started exploring his other options.

Today he wanted more out of the cage time before work but I didn't have it to offer. So I offered him news paper in his cage to play with. He tore into it with gusto but it was angry tearing. More of a "F this. And F that and this and that too!"

But hey, he can be angry and cranky. He's allowed. And if annihilating paper makes him feel better that's cool too!

 

[JBassset]

When I picked up Romeo I was told he had a language issue. First, he uses the wrong words sometimes, and second, that he learned one bad work: Mother F#*&er.

Well, he does say "Romie go night night" when he's hungry so that bit was right.

But as far as the dirty words... 1 might have been a little bit of an under estimation.

I told him it was time for bed one morning and he screamed "YOU BUTT F&*#" at me.

Last night after a particularly raucous screaming session I asked him if he was done and told him to be quiet. I got that one I look, he turned away and quietly told me to "F*&# off."

"Kiss my a^* is another I've heard."

I'll be honest, I don't mind the swearing at all. As a single dude with no kids it doesn't bug me. It actually makes me laugh.

What kills me though is that he's got the nuance down. The muttering and telling me off last night was priceless. He doesn't just randomly swear. He only does it when you've irritated him. And he does it WELL.

I know ultimately I shouldn't encourage it but it does crack me up with this gorgeous and spirited bird drops the F bomb in an eloquent and fitting way.

What makes me sad is when he tells himself that he's a bad f'ing bird or things like that. He'll hang his head and look dejected and if you go to pet him he flinches. Mostly I do ignore it when he says negative things to himself. I don't want to teach him those are ways to get attention. But the flinching... that burns me up.

But I usually wait a bit for him to perk back up, then offer to let him "read the news" and away we go with some shredding fun!

Anyway, Romeo is doing well... having a hard time getting him to eat healthy food and he's lost weight but he's being exposed to all sorts of things. I even made chop the other day. It was actually so good I decided to eat some myself. That got him into it for a bit so... progress!

 

[SilleIN]

When I picked up Romeo I was told he had a language issue. First, he uses the wrong words sometimes, and second, that he learned one bad work: Mother F#*&er.

Well, he does say "Romie go night night" when he's hungry so that bit was right.

But as far as the dirty words... 1 might have been a little bit of an under estimation.

I told him it was time for bed one morning and he screamed "YOU BUTT F&*#" at me.

Last night after a particularly raucous screaming session I asked him if he was done and told him to be quiet. I got that one I look, he turned away and quietly told me to "F*&# off."

"Kiss my a^* is another I've heard."

I'll be honest, I don't mind the swearing at all. As a single dude with no kids it doesn't bug me. It actually makes me laugh.

What kills me though is that he's got the nuance down. The muttering and telling me off last night was priceless. He doesn't just randomly swear. He only does it when you've irritated him. And he does it WELL.

I know ultimately I shouldn't encourage it but it does crack me up with this gorgeous and spirited bird drops the F bomb in an eloquent and fitting way.

What makes me sad is when he tells himself that he's a bad f'ing bird or things like that. He'll hang his head and look dejected and if you go to pet him he flinches. Mostly I do ignore it when he says negative things to himself. I don't want to teach him those are ways to get attention. But the flinching... that burns me up.

But I usually wait a bit for him to perk back up, then offer to let him "read the news" and away we go with some shredding fun!

Anyway, Romeo is doing well... having a hard time getting him to eat healthy food and he's lost weight but he's being exposed to all sorts of things. I even made chop the other day. It was actually so good I decided to eat some myself. That got him into it for a bit so... progress!

I am glad he is improving

When I got Sugar, I also did a 180 on his food. He ended up loosing a lot of weight as I wasn't good enough to regularly weigh him. I had to put him back on a 50% seed diet to gain weight back again and then slowly get him onto a pelleted and fresh diet again.

I don't want to tell you what to do, but I would watch out for his weight loss.

 

[JBassset]

When I picked up Romeo I was told he had a language issue. First, he uses the wrong words sometimes, and second, that he learned one bad work: Mother F#*&er.

Well, he does say "Romie go night night" when he's hungry so that bit was right.

But as far as the dirty words... 1 might have been a little bit of an under estimation.

I told him it was time for bed one morning and he screamed "YOU BUTT F&*#" at me.

Last night after a particularly raucous screaming session I asked him if he was done and told him to be quiet. I got that one I look, he turned away and quietly told me to "F*&# off."

"Kiss my a^* is another I've heard."

I'll be honest, I don't mind the swearing at all. As a single dude with no kids it doesn't bug me. It actually makes me laugh.

What kills me though is that he's got the nuance down. The muttering and telling me off last night was priceless. He doesn't just randomly swear. He only does it when you've irritated him. And he does it WELL.

I know ultimately I shouldn't encourage it but it does crack me up with this gorgeous and spirited bird drops the F bomb in an eloquent and fitting way.

What makes me sad is when he tells himself that he's a bad f'ing bird or things like that. He'll hang his head and look dejected and if you go to pet him he flinches. Mostly I do ignore it when he says negative things to himself. I don't want to teach him those are ways to get attention. But the flinching... that burns me up.

But I usually wait a bit for him to perk back up, then offer to let him "read the news" and away we go with some shredding fun!

Anyway, Romeo is doing well... having a hard time getting him to eat healthy food and he's lost weight but he's being exposed to all sorts of things. I even made chop the other day. It was actually so good I decided to eat some myself. That got him into it for a bit so... progress!

I am glad he is improving

When I got Sugar, I also did a 180 on his food. He ended up loosing a lot of weight as I wasn't good enough to regularly weigh him. I had to put him back on a 50% seed diet to gain weight back again and then slowly get him onto a pelleted and fresh diet again.

I don't want to tell you what to do, but I would watch out for his weight loss.

Yeah, he's back on a mix of his crappy food and the healthy stuff. Not ideal but I figure it's better than just eating junk entirely. At least this way he gets SOME good foods.

We'll hit the parrot store later this week and try a few other foods. He's picky it seems.

 

[JBassset]

A FUN update!

This weekend my friend and I took Romeo out for his first major outing.

She came over and picked us up and we drove across town to the parrot store (about 30 minutes). He loves riding in the car. He climbed into the back of her station wagon and found a nice perch so he could look out the windows.

We started with the parrot store (it actually caters to parrots of all kinds) because if he had a bad reaction they'd get it. (They have 8 large birds that are shop pets so noise isn't an issue) He had a great time!

From there we ran to Home Depot to get stuff to make a play stand and training perches for him and Stephen. Between figuring out all the parts and talking to people about him we were there for just a bit too long. He LOVED riding in the cart and talking to people. But towards the end he got a bit snippy and took a chuck of my thumb when I moved too fast. We'd reached his limit.

We brought him home were he sat on his newly renovated play stand (I bought a new rod for the perch since he ate the last one.) He kind of dozed a bit and then asked to go to bed.

In his cage in the other room he sat mumbling to himself and would then giggle. He's got about 6 different laughs and used all except the "I know that was naughty but I think it's funny" laugh. For about an hour he talked to himself and just laughed and laughed. I just sat with the TV off and listened... such a sweet sound!

I would say, in all, it was a great day for him. He seemed to really enjoy being out and seeing new people and Home Depot was very welcoming of him.

We're moving forward!

The only real downside to the day was that I totally forgot to take any pictures of the adventure! (BAD DAD BAD BAD BAD DAD!)

 

[SilleIN]

A FUN update!

This weekend my friend and I took Romeo out for his first major outing.

She came over and picked us up and we drove across town to the parrot store (about 30 minutes). He loves riding in the car. He climbed into the back of her station wagon and found a nice perch so he could look out the windows.

We started with the parrot store (it actually caters to parrots of all kinds) because if he had a bad reaction they'd get it. (They have 8 large birds that are shop pets so noise isn't an issue) He had a great time!

From there we ran to Home Depot to get stuff to make a play stand and training perches for him and Stephen. Between figuring out all the parts and talking to people about him we were there for just a bit too long. He LOVED riding in the cart and talking to people. But towards the end he got a bit snippy and took a chuck of my thumb when I moved too fast. We'd reached his limit.

We brought him home were he sat on his newly renovated play stand (I bought a new rod for the perch since he ate the last one.) He kind of dozed a bit and then asked to go to bed.

In his cage in the other room he sat mumbling to himself and would then giggle. He's got about 6 different laughs and used all except the "I know that was naughty but I think it's funny" laugh. For about an hour he talked to himself and just laughed and laughed. I just sat with the TV off and listened... such a sweet sound!

I would say, in all, it was a great day for him. He seemed to really enjoy being out and seeing new people and Home Depot was very welcoming of him.

We're moving forward!

The only real downside to the day was that I totally forgot to take any pictures of the adventure! (BAD DAD BAD BAD BAD DAD!)

Ohh I am SO happy to hear it went well and glad to hear he really enjoyed himself. I don't know a macaw, that doesn't like to see the world. I don't know what it is, but you can tell, it eases their mind like nothing else

 

[JBassset]

I'm just curious about the giggling. I get it when he says HI to people and they laugh. But what is it when he's in his cage muttering to himself.

I want to personify him and say he's reliving the joy of the day or telling himself stories and that the laughs are genuine laughs... but are they? I KNOW they're happy noises certainly... but it's comforting to think they're actual laughs and giggles and that he's just that kind of happy!

 

[SilleIN]

I'm just curious about the giggling. I get it when he says HI to people and they laugh. But what is it when he's in his cage muttering to himself.

I want to personify him and say he's reliving the joy of the day or telling himself stories and that the laughs are genuine laughs... but are they? I KNOW they're happy noises certainly... but it's comforting to think they're actual laughs and giggles and that he's just that kind of happy!

Hmm I would love to say, that the giggles are real, but I don't think so. However they are smart and they understand, that giggles are happy noises.

Sugar will talk for hours. It's funny, but they don't really talk if there's no one to hear them. My sister is the first to wake up each morning. Trudi, who sleeps in my bedroom, will fly into the living room. They will then start talking to get attention. Once my sister's gone there'll be quiet for about 2 hours until I wake up. When they hear my alarm clock, they start muttering (only Sugar says things you understand, but the others make their noises also), but nothing too loud. Once they hear my voice all hell breaks loose. They do their best to come with their loudest human voice to be the first to get their morning cuddles. Once that's done, they will be at their cages/playstands and they will mutter different stuff.

Most of that is to get attention. My take on the muttering is that they are part practicing and part to make themselves feel a more integrated part of the flock, which talks human. I also believe they tend to say things they know is connected to good things. For instance Sugar often says "good parrot" which is REALLY difficult in Danish. I think he associates the phrase with something good as with laughs. I think it makes him feel good.

I have no basis for any of this, just my personal observations of mine and my friends macaws (know quite a lot and see them regularly in our flight club)

 

[JBassset]

That was my take really. I didn't think he laughed because if brought him the joy we feel when we laugh.

The thought that he learned that it's a happy sound and he's repeating it because he's happy makes a lot more sense. It's easy to try to anthropomorphize our birds but they really aren't people.

Either way, it was proof to me that he needs more outings like that. Thursday will be a quiet day at work so he's going to come with me. I live close enough that taking him home if he gets overwhelmed won't be a problem. I'll keep you posted!

 

[wrench13]

" but they really aren't people." OUT! BANNED FOR LIFE ! Of course they are people! Just feathered ones!

 

[JBassset]

Well, I didn't say they're LESS than people! Romeo knows he's not people. People are his servants.

"BRING ME MY NUTS YOU FILTHY MONKEY!!!!"

Stephen knows he's not people. People are for perching on and singing to him.

 

[wrench13]

LOL good point.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Well, I didn't say they're LESS than people! Romeo knows he's not people. People are his servants.

"BRING ME MY NUTS YOU FILTHY MONKEY!!!!"

Stephen knows he's not people. People are for perching on and singing to him.

Nothing to add. I just wanted to see that posted twice so I could laugh again.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Happy to hear Romeo is fitting right in. Loved the newspaper video My Smokey was a newspaper shredder too..and I think she took her aggravation out on it coz she'd just rip and rip and shred and shred till nothing was left lol.

As far as Romeo's cussing..I dealt with that too with Jonesy, the cockatoo man.." your !@$%^&me! you're !@#$&^% me!" as clear as day! and LOUDER when I was on the phone!

I still see his new parronts quite often and ask about his swearing...when TJ took him in and I told her about this...she said " oh i'll be able to fix that..we don't cuss in our family" Well when I asked her if he still swears,she looked at me,lowered her head,and quietly said YES :54:
LOL I just had to laugh

Its great to hear Romeo enjoyed his outing..keep it up!

Jim

 

[JBassset]

Been a while but it's time for a quick update.

When I rescued Romeo I had a friend go with me. Unfortunately she held him while we tore his cage down and then helped box him up. So he's decided she's evil.

Lately she's been helping me with taking him on FUN outings, not just the vet. The parrot store, Home Depot etc. The folks at Home Depot like to see him. He rides on the very front of the cart and says HI to everyone he sees. The manager came over and asked if he could take a picture of him so they're more than "cool" with it!

He's got a car perch so we set him up in the back seat and he LOVES to look out the window. I had to take a drug test for a new job last week and since that would take a bit of time she and Romeo when to get coffee. At the coffee shop he climbed into the front seat and up onto her arm. There he sat and flirted with the girls in the coffee shop. Turns out he's a GREAT flirt. And suddenly he and Becka are besties. He'll dance for her and let her pet and hold him now.

He also came to work with me just before Christmas and had a BALL. People all over the place got to see him and talk to him. He was the center of attention, just like he knows he should be!

We have had some major breakthroughs lately and he's really becoming a very friendly and loving bird. We even found out that he likes Zupreem Veggie pellets! (Except the orange disks... those are yucky and need to be thrown on the floor and screamed at.)

Lastly, he LOVES to sit on the window sill behind the couch and look out the window or play peekaboo through the blinds. At first the blinds annoyed him and he'd yell at them. Now he just pokes his head through and plays games with them. From there he'll climb onto the couch and play with the blanket.

Fun story: I have a foster chihuahua that sleeps under the blanket. When Romeo was getting near it he started growling. Romeo perked right up and shot his head under the blanket and yelled "HI" That little dog shot across the room like a rocket!

TL;DR We're doing well. Here's pictures of stuff.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Oh, that's so wonderful and I'm so jealous! I wish Gus would suddenly turn cuddly and friendly. If anything, he's getting weirder and more attached to his cage top. I love that laugh, too. Lucky you! Lucky Romeo!

 

[JBassset]

Oh, that's so wonderful and I'm so jealous! I wish Gus would suddenly turn cuddly and friendly. If anything, he's getting weirder and more attached to his cage top. I love that laugh, too. Lucky you! Lucky Romeo!

Thanks. But does Gus do things like scream obscenities at you when he's upset? Or throw his food dish at you if he finds the selection less than optimal?

Or just randomly scream for no reason at all for 10 minutes and yell "shutup" at himself? And then scream for 5 more minutes? Cuz that's super fun times I gotta tell ya.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Oh, that's so wonderful and I'm so jealous! I wish Gus would suddenly turn cuddly and friendly. If anything, he's getting weirder and more attached to his cage top. I love that laugh, too. Lucky you! Lucky Romeo!

Thanks. But does Gus do things like scream obscenities at you when he's upset? Or throw his food dish at you if he finds the selection less than optimal?

Or just randomly scream for no reason at all for 10 minutes and yell "shutup" at himself? And then scream for 5 more minutes? Cuz that's super fun times I gotta tell ya.

Gus doesn't say any words, obscene or otherwise. He makes up in volume when I try to use the phone, and I have to run away because I couldn't even hear myself screaming over him, and by the time my hearing has returned the first thing I hear is the person on the other end of the phone laughing hysterically.