Playing with Meyers?

[HeatherG]

Hi, I have a 9 yo male Meyers parrot and a similar aged Quaker, also male. I got the Meyers a few months before I got the Quaker, after my very very old Quaker had passed on. I was really sad and looking for a cuddly bird to hang out with. The Meyers needed a home, maybe somewhat due to his jealousy of other birds. he is a nice and cuddly bird most of the time, beautiful and such a cute talker.

Now I have had the Meyers (Jasper) less than two years and was having a big problem with his contact call (The shrill whistle or yippee! noise they make) as I have migraines and other terrible headaches and I didn’t know Meyer’s made shrill loud noises. (Yes, my fault.). I tried to rehome him a year ago but he was afraid of face masks and I didn’t know that until the two parties came over. Suddenly my sweet bird was cranky and nippy! Then he chomped me when I was wearing a mask and I figured it out. So Jasper is still with me, the contact calls are better as we worked on comfort and anxiety, but I still think the Quaker Parakeet personality works better for me. Mostly because: I dont know what to DO with Jasper (Meyers) since I can’t take him anywhere (facemask) as I live in an apartment and have to wear a facemask outside it, and I haven’t found what he likes to do besides eating and chewing up wood or cardboard. The Quaker is more low key and up for anything. Just two different personalities, but I have 27 years of living with Quaker parakeets.

Jasper likes to be held and pet on the head and neck, scratched, and kissed. He talks some (I love you, whatcha doin bird, WHAT are you DOING?!) and is a sweet bird most of the time. Unless he decides he’s had enough petting or OUT time and (presumably) wants to be in his cage, or he sees something scary or that he’s jealous of (other people, Quaker being close, facemask, glasses…). Then his eyes pin, tale flares quicker than quick, and I am bitten. he is a bit moody and big enough that if he bites me I may well bleed, and so I need to be careful of my face.

I just wonder what most people DO with their Meyers parrots to entertain them and keep them happy. My old Quaker was happy cuddling, riding along and hanging out. New Quaker is getting more and more mellow and friendly. But Jaspers here and he needs love and time, too! I still need to watch Jasper for flares. Am I doing something wrong? Is there a certain kind of toy Meyers like? I have health problems so am around a lot, but not always feeling up to playing with birds. I just need tips to understand Meyers parrots.

(Today Jasper had a bunch of cuddling and then sitting with me while I read. Then he gave me a pinch so went back to his house. Now he’s calling but I don’t have a headache so it’s ok.).

 

[foxgloveparrot]

Hello, fellow "Jasper" owner!
You can just hang out, I guess. Hold a foot toy or something for them to play with while on you. Offer some treats out of your hand. Trick training. If you don't feel up for playing, just provide shredding and foraging toys for them to play with on their own.

 

[HeatherG]

Hello, fellow "Jasper" owner!
You can just hang out, I guess. Hold a foot toy or something for them to play with while on you. Offer some treats out of your hand. Trick training. If you don't feel up for playing, just provide shredding and foraging toys for them to play with on their own.

Jasper is a greenish or brownish or grayish multicolored stone so I think it’s a good name for him. He came named Beaker but he was unhappy and he is not a toy. Now Jasper does say “whatcha doin, Jasper bird?” Which I think means he approves of his name.

He and Quaker have NO CONTACT. They both have their own personalities and I don’t think it involves sharing.

P.s. cuddling in this case means head and neck scratches and kisses on beak or head if Jasper is mellow.

 

[wrench13]

Echoing Foxy here, try trick training! It is so rewarding when you work close with your parrot to teach new tricks!

 

[vljenewein]

as I live in an apartment and have to wear a facemask outside it,

Wow! You have to wear a face mask outside? I do not know where you live. Here in Michigan, I have not worn a face mask for over a year. Some do, some don't, but for outside, if you like to take the Meyer's parrot outside, how do you manage to keep it from flying away?
As an aside, I worked as an Associate WInemaker, and did extensive lab work for the last 20+ years, and the viruses we have, such as Covid-19 are so small compared to the size of mask opening, is comparable to a usb drive (stick) going through an open garage door. If the mask were so tight a weave to prevent virus, it would be worthless to use for breathing. Something is better than nothing, but face masks, especially the paper disposable ones I see a lot of, are pretty much worthless, EXCEPT for the occasional sneeze and that prevents some of the airborne droplets from dispersing too far away. This is just my take on it and not the opinion of anyone here on Parrot Forum or it's administration. I mention this because if you are worried about being outside ( as in fresh air, walking, working in your back yards, etc) don't be worried. For one the virus cannot live in outside air long and especially any sunlight with UV light will be less likely for any virus to survive long.

Our 2 parakeets make a loud enough chirping and "squawks" for noise, so I would imagine that a Meyers Parrot is appreciably louder than they?

The above comment about toys that are entertaining is a very good suggestion. Perhaps something to "take apart" to get to the treat that lies inside.

 

[foxgloveparrot]

Wow! You have to wear a face mask outside? I do not know where you live. Here in Michigan, I have not worn a face mask for over a year. Some do, some don't, but for outside, if you like to take the Meyer's parrot outside, how do you manage to keep it from flying away?
As an aside, I worked as an Associate WInemaker, and did extensive lab work for the last 20+ years, and the viruses we have, such as Covid-19 are so small compared to the size of mask opening, is comparable to a usb drive (stick) going through an open garage door. If the mask were so tight a weave to prevent virus, it would be worthless to use for breathing. Something is better than nothing, but face masks, especially the paper disposable ones I see a lot of, are pretty much worthless, EXCEPT for the occasional sneeze and that prevents some of the airborne droplets from dispersing too far away. This is just my take on it and not the opinion of anyone here on Parrot Forum or it's administration. I mention this because if you are worried about being outside ( as in fresh air, walking, working in your back yards, etc) don't be worried. For one the virus cannot live in outside air long and especially any sunlight with UV light will be less likely for any virus to survive long.

Our 2 parakeets make a loud enough chirping and "squawks" for noise, so I would imagine that a Meyers Parrot is appreciably louder than they?

The above comment about toys that are entertaining is a very good suggestion. Perhaps something to "take apart" to get to the treat that lies inside.

Masks aren't required here in Indy, either...
I think they should be. BUT even my parrotlet can pull one down below my nose...lol. Still important, IMO, but they can be lowered by simply breathing enough. If you want to talk about this, though, how about moving it to another thread?

Meyers and other poicephalus are actually quiet compared to some other birds. Mine is not noisy at all, nor is she that loud, so they are very apartment friendly.

 

[Skarila]

My partner's senegal Aina, a well behaved girl, is an extremely cuddly bird. she plays seldomly, really. She will always rather go for the furniture than any of her toys. I mean, sure if she is closed in her cage she will destroy it eventually (and it is like for weeks nothing, and then one day you come back to nothing but woodchips). Also for some reason wooden spoons seem to be her favourite lately? sooo, we just bought bunch of wooden spoons just for her to destroy.

Otherwise she just love being snuggled. As she lives with my partner's mum who is home all the time, they spend their time together all the time. When they watch TV, the mum crosses her arms and the bird just "nests" in the arm dimple (i don't know how to describe it...), and she will stay there for hours.

But she will wrestle when I visit. Since she likes to chew on a certain orange pillow, we learned that she is kind of agressive towards it, but in a playful way. So, I wrestle with her with that pillow, it is hilarious. She is taunting the pillow and bluffing just to grab and chew on the pillow. I love the game. Once she bit me hard by pure accident through the game, and I swear, she was sorry. She was extremely sweet with me for the rest of the visit eventhough she doesn't really do that with me. She knew it was bad what she did, and she wasn't scolded at all, as it wasn't her intention to bite me. Who knew birds can consciousness!

And yeah, she's a quiet bird too. I mean sure her screeches/crying can be very loud, but most of the time she is either silent, saying 50 ways of "pityi" or imitating coughing, because why not.

 

[foxgloveparrot]

My partner's senegal Aina, a well behaved girl, is an extremely cuddly bird. she plays seldomly, really. She will always rather go for the furniture than any of her toys. I mean, sure if she is closed in her cage she will destroy it eventually (and it is like for weeks nothing, and then one day you come back to nothing but woodchips). Also for some reason wooden spoons seem to be her favourite lately? sooo, we just bought bunch of wooden spoons just for her to destroy.

Otherwise she just love being snuggled. As she lives with my partner's mum who is home all the time, they spend their time together all the time. When they watch TV, the mum crosses her arms and the bird just "nests" in the arm dimple (i don't know how to describe it...), and she will stay there for hours.

But she will wrestle when I visit. Since she likes to chew on a certain orange pillow, we learned that she is kind of agressive towards it, but in a playful way. So, I wrestle with her with that pillow, it is hilarious. She is taunting the pillow and bluffing just to grab and chew on the pillow. I love the game. Once she bit me hard by pure accident through the game, and I swear, she was sorry. She was extremely sweet with me for the rest of the visit eventhough she doesn't really do that with me. She knew it was bad what she did, and she wasn't scolded at all, as it wasn't her intention to bite me. Who knew birds can consciousness!

And yeah, she's a quiet bird too. I mean sure her screeches/crying can be very loud, but most of the time she is either silent, saying 50 ways of "pityi" or imitating coughing, because why not.

My senegal loves scritches, kisses, cuddles, etc, but it’s still important to respect her boundaries and pay attention to her body language.
She sometimes likes to chew my hands and stuff…but she’s pretty gentle. Not big on shredding toys, but loves foraging.

 

[Skarila]

My senegal loves scritches, kisses, cuddles, etc, but it’s still important to respect her boundaries and pay attention to her body language.
She sometimes likes to chew my hands and stuff…but she’s pretty gentle. Not big on shredding toys, but loves foraging.

For some reason I am very bad at reading Aina's body language. I mean, I can get the obvious signs, the pinning eyes or sleek head feathers, but sometimes she is so sudden, and will latch like a bulldog and not let go. Usually it is such a sudden trigger, for example, you lean onto the counter. How dare you touch the counter. While she is a meter away.

 

[HeatherG]

Wow! You have to wear a face mask outside? I do not know where you live. Here in Michigan, I have not worn a face mask for over a year. Some do, some don't, but for outside, if you like to take the Meyer's parrot outside, how do you manage to keep it from flying away?
As an aside, I worked as an Associate WInemaker, and did extensive lab work for the last 20+ years, and the viruses we have, such as Covid-19 are so small compared to the size of mask opening, is comparable to a usb drive (stick) going through an open garage door. If the mask were so tight a weave to prevent virus, it would be worthless to use for breathing. Something is better than nothing, but face masks, especially the paper disposable ones I see a lot of, are pretty much worthless, EXCEPT for the occasional sneeze and that prevents some of the airborne droplets from dispersing too far away. This is just my take on it and not the opinion of anyone here on Parrot Forum or it's administration. I mention this because if you are worried about being outside ( as in fresh air, walking, working in your back yards, etc) don't be worried. For one the virus cannot live in outside air long and especially any sunlight with UV light will be less likely for any virus to survive long.

Our 2 parakeets make a loud enough chirping and "squawks" for noise, so I would imagine that a Meyers Parrot is appreciably louder than they?

The above comment about toys that are entertaining is a very good suggestion. Perhaps something to "take apart" to get to the treat that lies inside.

No, I live in an apartment building and have to wear a mask inside, in common areas like mail room or halls.

As I understand, masks help prevent airborne droplets containing virus to be spread. So if your mask was damaged or really dirty or wet it would be less effective. Same with condoms protecting from AIDS or other pathogens. The virus or germs are inside or in fluid associated with cells. They aren’t floating around randomly. So you are preventing passage of a drop of liquid that CONTAINS virus or germs or sperm.

When I was in graduate school, my lab mate said to me, “the virus don't jump.” She meant at the time that I didn’t have to worry about virus in a tube of cells contaminating a clean flask sitting next to the tube. Virus can’t move on it’s own. It’s not just floating around. It has to be coughed or sneezed or breathed out in a droplet to infect you (in a practical situation) or get on someone’s hand, then onto a doorknob and then onto your hand and finally your mouth, nose, eyes. This is why you wear masks—to prevent sharing of body liquids, aerosols, etc. it is not perfect but it really does help a lot. Even a couple layers of coffee filter inside a cotton mask would be a pretty good barrier agains a comparably giant drop of water, mucus’s, saliva, etc.

 

[HeatherG]

My partner's senegal Aina, a well behaved girl, is an extremely cuddly bird. she plays seldomly, really. She will always rather go for the furniture than any of her toys. I mean, sure if she is closed in her cage she will destroy it eventually (and it is like for weeks nothing, and then one day you come back to nothing but woodchips). Also for some reason wooden spoons seem to be her favourite lately? sooo, we just bought bunch of wooden spoons just for her to destroy.

Otherwise she just love being snuggled. As she lives with my partner's mum who is home all the time, they spend their time together all the time. When they watch TV, the mum crosses her arms and the bird just "nests" in the arm dimple (i don't know how to describe it...), and she will stay there for hours.

But she will wrestle when I visit. Since she likes to chew on a certain orange pillow, we learned that she is kind of agressive towards it, but in a playful way. So, I wrestle with her with that pillow, it is hilarious. She is taunting the pillow and bluffing just to grab and chew on the pillow. I love the game. Once she bit me hard by pure accident through the game, and I swear, she was sorry. She was extremely sweet with me for the rest of the visit eventhough she doesn't really do that with me. She knew it was bad what she did, and she wasn't scolded at all, as it wasn't her intention to bite me. Who knew birds can consciousness!

And yeah, she's a quiet bird too. I mean sure her screeches/crying can be very loud, but most of the time she is either silent, saying 50 ways of "pityi" or imitating coughing, because why not.

I just gave jasper a wooden spoon that I had for my Quaker to carry around and arrange. They are clean (intended to stir peoples food with) and big enough to chew for a while. I gave him a paper bag to kill but he just pooped on it.

 

[HeatherG]

For some reason I am very bad at reading Aina's body language. I mean, I can get the obvious signs, the pinning eyes or sleek head feathers, but sometimes she is so sudden, and will latch like a bulldog and not let go. Usually it is such a sudden trigger, for example, you lean onto the counter. How dare you touch the counter. While she is a meter away.

Yes, it’s a quick response and I am used to a more chill bird so I sometimes get nailed by jasper. But not often.

I just went down to get my mail and was chatting with people in the building lobby. I was wearing a mask and happily they all were as well. I am in a subsidized apartment building and there are lots of sick or disabled people and holy cow! Do the ‘bugs’ spread through the building. I would like to live in a flat where I’m not around so many people as I’m sick a lot living here.

Willow Quaker was on my shoulder and enjoyed seeing neighbors and hearing conversations. My apartment is quiet and he and Jasper aren’t picking up lots of words like my Lucy did when I had a roommate and tv on a lot. Willow understands that I’m me under the mask. He grabs by the nose to try to take it off but he isn’t scared of me. Jasper doesnt seem to get that it’s me under there.

 

[Skarila]

Yes, it’s a quick response and I am used to a more chill bird so I sometimes get nailed by jasper. But not often.

I just went down to get my mail and was chatting with people in the building lobby. I was wearing a mask and happily they all were as well. I am in a subsidized apartment building and there are lots of sick or disabled people and holy cow! Do the ‘bugs’ spread through the building. I would like to live in a flat where I’m not around so many people as I’m sick a lot living here.

Willow Quaker was on my shoulder and enjoyed seeing neighbors and hearing conversations. My apartment is quiet and he and Jasper aren’t picking up lots of words like my Lucy did when I had a roommate and tv on a lot. Willow understands that I’m me under the mask. He grabs by the nose to try to take it off but he isn’t scared of me. Jasper doesnt seem to get that it’s me under there.

I am blessed now living in a very small building. And the old neighbour simply hate each other so I guess I don't need to worry about the congregations..

And this is Aina's thoughts about masks. Fun shredding toy xD

 

[HeatherG]

I just did some cleaning and arranging in my apartment. Got a new mattress shipped to me, put an art cabinet at foot of my bed and put the manzanita playstand on it.

Now I’m seeing if Jasper (8 yo Meyer’s parrot) will enjoy hanging out in my bedroom on the playstand at foot of my bed. I added a chewing toy (a vine ball) to the stand and put Jasper on top. He’s eating a nutriberry and making little talking noises.

Jasper is eying my book shelf but I don’t think he can reach it. Maybe I should show him the vine ball.

Willow has gone from ack-acking to full out screeching. He seems mad that Jasper is hanging out with me and HE is in his cage. My goodness. Poor Jasper gets ignored all the time in favor of the little blue devil.

Jasper seems pretty happy with being on the little tree while I sit on my bed and read. Great!! He will get more attention and time if he’ll stay on that playstand. He needs a place he’s comfortable so he’s not upset and nippy away from his cage.

 

[HeatherG]

And here’s Jasper’s favorite toy to date: pinecone!!

Willow is ack-acking because HE is in his cage and Jasper is out. Life is so unfair.
I’m glad Jasper has a new place he’s comfortable being. When he’s anxious he’s nippy and I’d like him to get more time OUT as Willow does.

 

[HeatherG]

I have spent the afternoon switching off between birds. When Willow was out with me first, Jasper whined. Then willow went home to his cage and jasper came out until he started to get pinchy. While Jasper was with me, Willow ack acked. Now I have Willow out and he’s munching down some pellets. I think he was mostly hungry and didn’t want to eat the nutriberry that remained in his dish.

So Willow is shoveling in the pellets as Jasper wails from his cage. I reminded him that he wanted to go back, but he’s not convinced.

I’m thinking if one bird is out maybe the other could have a fresh toy or piece of vegetable?

I wanted to keep Jasper out longer but I’m trying to really watch his behavior so I don’t get bitten. I feel so much more comfortable handling Jasper and more friendly to him if I haven’t been bit in a while. But now it seems he regrets the return to his cage.

As I wrote earlier today, they rather feel like siblings. Jasper calls plaintively 5 minutes after he went back to his cage.

What about giving the in cage bird a toy while the out bird is with me? I wonder if I should start doing that?

 

[HeatherG]

Here’s Jasper looking fluffy and happy. No bites for two weeks I think.

 

[HeatherG]

I went to Jasper’s cage to get him out and spend time with me. I petted him through the cage bars and he was happy. Then opened his door. He stepped up and then he nailed me. So, I tried to put him back on his door but he flopped and landed on the floor and then attacked my shoe. Why? I don’t know! But my leather clog now has a bite mark, along with my thumb.

I let him calm for a moment and offered my hand. Got Jasper back on the cage door and shut it, as he did not step up onto the perch and started to ‘hulk’ at me. I had a bloody bite and didn’t want another.

As I walked away, Jasper sadly said, “I love you!” from his cage and I sighed. Told him he’d used up his chances for the evening.

I am wondering what I could have done to not get bitten? Wish I knew. The only thing I can think of is I could have been near his cage for a while before stepping Jasper up. But he acted like he wanted a pet, and then seemed to have a mood swing. ???

 

[HeatherG]

Jasper is getting bird time for the first time in a couple of days. I went to bed in the afternoon yesterday with a migraine and slept all afternoon and evening. Right now he’s very determined to pick my nose (watched me blow it) and I keep having to pull him away from my face.

We are making noises back at each other which he seems to enjoy. Reep! Ree-erk!

He is trying to be sneaky about the nose picking, but I won’t be fooled.