Weeegiewarbler
New member
- Jun 24, 2011
- 22
- 0
Hi, my name's Hazel, originally from Scotland but currently staying in the DR. We sailed here from the USA on our boat with our dog Gaelan and BFA Calli.
We're not sure how old he is as we rescued him 3 years ago in South Carolina, but we think he's somewhere between 10-15yrs old.
He'd been in a bicycle hire/repair cum bird shop. As far as we could glean from the relatively vague shop owner, he'd been there for a while in a 18"x18"x18" cage. She "knew" he was male as he'd come from a breeding pair. Needless to say, he was aggressive and very depressed when we got him. His nutritional state was ok as she used pellets, and his plumage was & is gorgeous. Thankfully he never took to any self-destructive behaviours despite being so emotionally poorly. We've changed him from the brightly coloured, smelly pellets to Mazuri, which he demolishes every day. He also shares breakfast of wholemeal toast and banana with me every morning. He loves most fruit, but is a pain when it comes to many vegetables. Carrots, peppers and tomatoes are the only ones he'll eat raw.... but if allowed, would eat his body weight in boiled potato! He also loves pasta and rice, so we share quite a few meals!
It's been a slog, heart rending and physically painful and smattered with blood (mine mostly) this last 3 years. But we now have a hand tame lad who steps up 98% of the time, and is very much less aggressive all round.
During the day, he prefers to sit on the arm of my chair chattering with me while do a wee bit clicker training. He's extremely responsive to that. In the space of half an hour, he was allowing me to touch and scritch his head... an achievement, believe me! Just wish I'd thought of it before...
Anyhoos, I'm rambling!
Bye for now
We're not sure how old he is as we rescued him 3 years ago in South Carolina, but we think he's somewhere between 10-15yrs old. He'd been in a bicycle hire/repair cum bird shop. As far as we could glean from the relatively vague shop owner, he'd been there for a while in a 18"x18"x18" cage. She "knew" he was male as he'd come from a breeding pair. Needless to say, he was aggressive and very depressed when we got him. His nutritional state was ok as she used pellets, and his plumage was & is gorgeous. Thankfully he never took to any self-destructive behaviours despite being so emotionally poorly. We've changed him from the brightly coloured, smelly pellets to Mazuri, which he demolishes every day. He also shares breakfast of wholemeal toast and banana with me every morning. He loves most fruit, but is a pain when it comes to many vegetables. Carrots, peppers and tomatoes are the only ones he'll eat raw.... but if allowed, would eat his body weight in boiled potato! He also loves pasta and rice, so we share quite a few meals!
It's been a slog, heart rending and physically painful and smattered with blood (mine mostly) this last 3 years. But we now have a hand tame lad who steps up 98% of the time, and is very much less aggressive all round.
During the day, he prefers to sit on the arm of my chair chattering with me while do a wee bit clicker training. He's extremely responsive to that. In the space of half an hour, he was allowing me to touch and scritch his head... an achievement, believe me! Just wish I'd thought of it before...
Anyhoos, I'm rambling!
Bye for now
i love reading stories of how patience pays off X
