Introducing Buddy!

[jonahsmom]

Well, we had planned to adopt a 10 yr old yellow crowned amazon, but to be honest we kind of chickened out. After reading about breeding season issues, we decided against it. Our son has asperger's syndrome and we worried that he might not follow his (very obvious to most people) cues that he wanted to be left alone. I may always wonder how he might have fit in our family, but with our son's issues we decided we better go for something smaller this time around. I've had smaller birds and have experience with them, but even though I and my husband are ready for a bigger bird, that doesn't mean the ENTIRE family is ready.....

But, we fell in love with a 1 1/2 yr old green cheek named Buddy! He's already stepping up to us and loves hanging out on our shoulders. He even stepped up to our son this morning with no problems at all. His cage that came with him is about 6" too small for him on width and length and about 4" short on height, so we're planning on a new cage soon, but we don't want to change it right away....so he continues to feel safe since he's been in this cage his whole life. He LOVES to sit on my shoulder and pick at my hair. LOVES. LOL He's a great addition to our pet family of 9 rats and two small dogs.

Here's a pic of two new happy friends!

 

[FutureDVM]

Congrats! That is a cute little bird!

 

[GiosMom]

2cuties! Congrats!

 

[aliray]

neat pics congrats on the new baby. Alison and sweetie pie

 

[dishgal1]

He's adorable.

 

[jonahsmom]

I love him. I love him so much. LOL I did not want to come back to work at lunchtime because he was sitting on my shoulder bobbing his head and saying his name about 8 times. He is such a sweetie. I want to teach him "mommy". And to dance to the Moves like Jagger song. That would crack me up. LOL

 

[IcyWolf]

Aw, he's very cute! I'm glad you took everyone into consideration before deciding to adopt your fid. Our room mates son has asperger's as well and he isn't too fond of the birds. He doesn't really mind them at all but he does get upset if they try to fly to him and he won't touch or hold them at all. He isn't really too keen on animals at all to be honest, video games are more his thing but he is warming up to them the more he is around them. He was completely terrified of even our sweet little budgie just a couple months ago so he has made a lot of progress in a short time.

It looks like he came with the ez care bowfront cage, I can kind of see it in the background. That's the same cage that our black capped conure came with. I agree, it is a bit small for a conure, ours didn't really seem to mind it because he is out most of the time but his poor tail was getting all buggered up since he's so active. Once all the toys and perches were in the cage, it seemed like no matter where he was his tail was always banging into something and ruffling his feathers. We picked up a really nice, big wrought iron cage off of craigslist for only $50 and now he has a ton of space to clamber around Just be sure that if you get a used caged you inspect it for rust or damage before you buy it and that you disinfect it really well before moving buddy in to his new home

Good luck with him, can't wait to see more pics and hear how he is doing in the coming months.

 

[jonahsmom]

Our son LOVES animals. LOVES. So we have to make sure that he only interacts with them when we're around, just to be safe. When he's a bit older, he'll have more freedom with them, but for now this arrangement works.

Buddy is lucky and able to be out of his cage most of the time, but that dang EZ bow front cage has next to no room in it with toys in there. Drives me bananas!!!! I think I might use my critter nation single unit for him when I get the current residents moved in with their other furry friends. Should be over the next week or two and then it will be disinfected and decked out for him. Unless I find something sooner that I like better for him. I'm trying to see if I can talk someone into trading a dog bed (I make custom dog beds) for a nice used cage. We'll see if my bargaining skills work at all! LOL

 

[jonahsmom]

Color me EXCITED! I found a new cage for Buddy (picking it up as soon as possible!) that is 22" deep x 23 3/4" wide x 29" high (bird living space) cage is 62" tall and 30" wide. 5/8" bar spacing. He's going to be thrilled with all the additional space. It's clean, no rust (yes I know I'll have to disinfect it anyway!) has a playtop (like his current cage). I'm super excited to be able to give him more space. Yay!!!! Now....to make some more fun toys to stock it with. LOL

Oh...and he still doesn't like to be petted, but that's okay! He loves to snuggle up by my neck and loves it when I rub my cheek on his head. He is SUCH a sweet bird. I even scored a kiss today! Whicn I was a bit leery about since we've only known eachother a week and I like my lips attached to my face! LOL He's settling in pretty darn nicely!

 

[Lintini]

congrats on Buddy and the new cage!! What a great pair your son and him make! Be careful when cleaning the new cage that you don't take the powder finishing off with harsh chemicals. Can't wait to see more photos!

 

[evesta]

So great! My niece has aspergers too, she is 16 now but has always loved animals. She absolutely adores my birds. The girl is fearless. When she was around 5 or so she would pick up snakes and play with them or any other creature she came upon. Your son and bird are so cute!!!

 

[jonahsmom]

I think Jonah would play with a lion if it approached him. Zero fear whatsoever. Which is both good and scary at the same time!!!! He's an amazingkid though. No doubt about it!!! This morning Buddy was on my shoulder and Jonah came and sat by me. Buddy hopped over to his shoulder and would NOT step back up to me when it was time to go back to his playtop. Kept doing circles around Jonah's head. Turd. So I had Jo stand up and only then would Buddy step up. I guess I'm glad he loves us all equally! LOL

 

[wenz2712]

Buddy is very cute

 

[ann]

What a cute birdie! i can see you and your family got a special one, congrats on your new baby and many years of joy together !

 

[thermodynamic]

CONGRATS!!

GCCs are awesome little birds...

When they start to preen your hair, it's like an honor. They've bonded to you that closely.

That's an awesome cage you'd said you'd bought later in the message thread as well - great size! The bird will indeed love it...

And yours is a good arrangement, as he will get older he'll develop...

I too have Asperger's syndrome. I still can't figure out people's body language (much less understand my own, so I wait for others cues and mimic when I must, and otherwise remain socially isolated - I'm also 40, so I doubt I will ever "grow out of it"), but birds seem easier to contemplate. Or at least their reactions, having read up on them. I still don't understand why they react the ways they do at times, but I keep it in mind... otherwise I wouldn't have 4 birds that don't spaz when they see me... Well, 3.5 - of all my birds, which include 2 rescue adoptions, only Roseanne (GCC) remains skittish around people, but compared to how the petsmart people told me how she behaved, I know she treats me far better, but thanks to what they did I know she's psychologically damaged for life. The best I can do is to minimize her fears and she rewards me often with the stunts the petsmart people said the bird would do only overnight when nobody was in the store, but I digress: Each person does have different levels of such a handicap, however, so it is definitely a legitimate concern, but over time your son might pick up on how the bird works.

 

[jonahsmom]

Got Buddy's new cage! It looks like it's twice the size of the other one - and he LOVES it!!! My hubby was afraid he would be afraid because it was so big, but he went right in and was exploring.....he LOVES it!!!! Probably needs more toys, which I'll work on tomorrow! But I wanted to share!

 

[taylor_]

so adorableeee<3 gotta love that innocent yet not so innocent face of his!

 

[Mozzie]

Congrats! What a cute picture! They are both adorable.

 

[jonahsmom]

Which one Taylor? Jonah or Buddy? I think they BOTH certainly have that face! LOL

 

[taylor_]

Which one Taylor? Jonah or Buddy? I think they BOTH certainly have that face! LOL

hahahah! definitely! sweet and innocent, yet plotting a destruction plan all at the same time