I have had Candy the Lovebird since July 8, so nearly a month. You might have read about it when I blogged about it:
We have a new addition to our family… (Plus a video of cute parrot tricks (not my bird)
Anyway, Since I know so many fellow animal lovers, I thought I’d give a short update.
The biggest news is that Candy is already potty trained. She did it practically all by her self. When I first got her, she missed her brothers and sisters with whom she had been in a cage for months. So, she was pretty scared and shy. I wrapped her up in a towel and cuddled her. (I first tried that, because Pipsqueak, my recently departed lovebird, always loved getting snuggled in a towel.)
After I would snuggle Candy, she would eventually wiggle out. So, I would immediately put her on the potty perch. Since practically no animals like to poop in their “bed”, she always had to poop by the time I set her on the potty perch. My oh my! She picked that up really quickly! She no longer likes to be cuddled in a towel, but she will sit on my shoulder quite often. Then, after a while, she will run down my arm and jump on the potty perch. Good girl, Candy! I potty train all the birds that I let out of their cages.
The other thing she already learned is “Want Scratch?”. Sometimes when she is on my finger, I will say “Want Scratch?” and she will bend her head down so I can scratch her neck. This is also a “bonding” behavior. Husband and wife birds will “preen” each others head and neck, especially where they can’t reach. I wrote in my last blog about Candy that Penny, my cockatiel, is more bonded to Jonah, her cage mate for the last eight years, than she is to me.
Some birds will bond with humans. Peanut Boy, our Timneh African Grey parrot, was bonded with my hubby before he (Peanut Boy) died. And now Rufus, our Congo African Grey parrot, is bonded to my hubby. I hope Candy gets bonded with me.
Penny used to want me to pet and preen her for hours. Now, she likes to stay in her house with Jonah, who she never seemed to care about before. (I would not have gotten Candy if Penny was still bonded to me). So, since Candy likes me to preen her head, maybe she will eventually bond with me like Penny did.
I really miss snuggling with Penny. But, she and Jonah like to spend time together, so that’s how it is. Besides, as I said last time, Penny has had cancer, (a big tumor removed from her shoulder) and she is old for a cockatiel. Of course, I want her to do what she wants to do for the rest of her remaining life.
Another thing that Candy already does is ride on my shoulder. She will ride on my shoulder all over the house, and even outside. As I’ve said many times before, I give my tame birds “haircuts” on their wing feathers so they can’t fly away and get lost. Also, there are dangerous things in houses including ceiling fans, pots on the stove, water in the sink, etc. Trimming the wings of birds who go out of their cage keeps them safe from those dangers. (Clipping wings is a personal thing, though. Many bird owners have just as many reasons they keep their birds fully-flighted…)
Besides letting me pet her head, Candy is not affectionate with me, but she is spending more and more time with me. She has the option to jump off my chair and climb up on her house.
No, I don’t have any pictures yet. My hubby is in charge of “his” camera, and it is full of pictures from the world series of softball that was in our town recently. I’ll eventually get pictures of her.
Man oh man am I long-winded or what. So much for my “short update”. If anybody made it this far down, Click Here.
X
X-Evolutionist.com 