GreenEyedMonster
New member
Hi Everyone!
I recently adopted a Cinnamon Green Cheeked Conure for my Pop, having read some good thing about them being used as companions animals.
I spend a lot of time taking care of my grandfather- he suffers dementia (not too advanced) and now we've learned that after 21 years in remission his oral cancer has returned. He turned 80 a month ago, surgery isn't an option and the radiation therapy he's just started has approximately 20% chance if working. I live with my grandparents, and try help out the best I can but I felt I needed some back up....
That's where Shimmy came in. Originally i was looking for a native parrot (we are in Australia) but when doing some online research, I found a lot about Conures being used in pet-assisted therapy. I was intrigued and when I went to the bird shop, I saw the Cinnamon Green Cheeks and chose Shimmy for the fact it was the first bird to jump on my hand when I put it in the cage, and the red marking on the chest looked just like a love heart.
We have only had Shimmy for a week. I was told she was 6 weeks when I got her/him - i couldn't afford DNA sexing so as this is an open minded family, we accept shim whatever gender, haha. Shimmy has quickly become a member of the household, we let he/she out of the cage often, and Shimmy is happy to be cuddled, hand-fed, scratched on the head, use the arms of our spectacles as a perch , wander round the coffee table and play with pens and little trinkets, and is quite content to sit on the window sill, next to pop and watch the native birds, cars and people go by...
I've done my homework in terms of diet and handling, teaching tricks and all of that, and sit down with Pop regularly to remind him (dementia...) about what shimmy likes to eat. Because we have two cats and a budgie, Pop was confused to he/she's gender and name for a while, but since writing Shimmys name on the bottom of the cage, he is reminded
Every morning he cleans the cage out and puts fresh water and chopped veges mixed with seed in for Shimmy. It's really helped already! Pop loves animals, so I thought this might give him even more or a reason to fight this and stay around long enough to meet more great grandchildren and great great grandchildren. The poor guy has been through hell, but managed to keep smiling. I'm thrilled that Shimmy keeps Pop occupied, and give him some feathery cuddles... It's great to have some happy moments, and we've passed on quite a few snaps of pop and his new friend on to family and friends who live far away, so they can feel some peace of mind regarding his condition.
I suppose my purpose in joining the forum is to seek out anyone else that is experienced with conures, or using pets as therapy, especially with older people, as well as find out more about what I can do to keep Shimmy happy and healthy. I'd love any advice I can get, as I know these birds live a while, and i'll be inheriting Shimmy in the end anyway (unless Pop lives til 110!) so I want to make sure that I know what I'm doing... I've kept a variety of exotic animals, as well as cats and dogs but my only experience with a bird was a cranky budgie as a teenager, but I have to say, I'm being converted!
Any advice, stories and suggestions welcome! Thanks for listening
I recently adopted a Cinnamon Green Cheeked Conure for my Pop, having read some good thing about them being used as companions animals.
I spend a lot of time taking care of my grandfather- he suffers dementia (not too advanced) and now we've learned that after 21 years in remission his oral cancer has returned. He turned 80 a month ago, surgery isn't an option and the radiation therapy he's just started has approximately 20% chance if working. I live with my grandparents, and try help out the best I can but I felt I needed some back up....
That's where Shimmy came in. Originally i was looking for a native parrot (we are in Australia) but when doing some online research, I found a lot about Conures being used in pet-assisted therapy. I was intrigued and when I went to the bird shop, I saw the Cinnamon Green Cheeks and chose Shimmy for the fact it was the first bird to jump on my hand when I put it in the cage, and the red marking on the chest looked just like a love heart.
We have only had Shimmy for a week. I was told she was 6 weeks when I got her/him - i couldn't afford DNA sexing so as this is an open minded family, we accept shim whatever gender, haha. Shimmy has quickly become a member of the household, we let he/she out of the cage often, and Shimmy is happy to be cuddled, hand-fed, scratched on the head, use the arms of our spectacles as a perch , wander round the coffee table and play with pens and little trinkets, and is quite content to sit on the window sill, next to pop and watch the native birds, cars and people go by...
I've done my homework in terms of diet and handling, teaching tricks and all of that, and sit down with Pop regularly to remind him (dementia...) about what shimmy likes to eat. Because we have two cats and a budgie, Pop was confused to he/she's gender and name for a while, but since writing Shimmys name on the bottom of the cage, he is reminded
Every morning he cleans the cage out and puts fresh water and chopped veges mixed with seed in for Shimmy. It's really helped already! Pop loves animals, so I thought this might give him even more or a reason to fight this and stay around long enough to meet more great grandchildren and great great grandchildren. The poor guy has been through hell, but managed to keep smiling. I'm thrilled that Shimmy keeps Pop occupied, and give him some feathery cuddles... It's great to have some happy moments, and we've passed on quite a few snaps of pop and his new friend on to family and friends who live far away, so they can feel some peace of mind regarding his condition.
I suppose my purpose in joining the forum is to seek out anyone else that is experienced with conures, or using pets as therapy, especially with older people, as well as find out more about what I can do to keep Shimmy happy and healthy. I'd love any advice I can get, as I know these birds live a while, and i'll be inheriting Shimmy in the end anyway (unless Pop lives til 110!) so I want to make sure that I know what I'm doing... I've kept a variety of exotic animals, as well as cats and dogs but my only experience with a bird was a cranky budgie as a teenager, but I have to say, I'm being converted!
Any advice, stories and suggestions welcome! Thanks for listening
