this is not a journal title

...you attempt to learn how to scratch her with your ear b/c that's what she keeps begging for. :-P

Seriously, she keeps sitting on my shoulder, preens me a little bit, then croons and begs for scratches while headbutting my ear. If I bring a finger near she argues and defends her roost. I'm trying to slowly start sneaking a finger in while I wiggle my head against hers. Any other ideas?

And meanwhile, thought people might be happy to hear that Gabe's getting pretty good at flying. She even knows that I prefer she land on my left shoulder, since I'm a righty and she's more likely to fall off if she tries to sit on my right. She doesn't yet get that she shouldn't land on my head or on top of the bookshelf yet, but she's getting there. It warms my heart every time she flies to me, knowing that she could go anywhere she wanted, but she chooses me. ^_^

Not all that great, but here's a couple flight photos:

( boring stuff about bird harnesses )

And here's the photos you actually want to see.

Harness from the front.

Notice how it settles in between her feathers for the most part, and you can't even see it. Doesn't mean she forgot it's there though...

Harness from the back.

According to the literature, the leash should just slide around to the bottom/front when she's standing, but it doesn't happen. I'd have to tug on it to make it happen.

From the side.

Note the loop around my wrist. It goes on my wrist even before the harness goes on her while I'm still inside. I'm paranoid I'll forget that crucial step, so it happens before everything. And it goes on my left wrist so my right one (I'm a righty) is free to react if she flies into danger and I need to scoop her up.

And a final cute shot of her on my shoulder.

Pecking at the harness as she tries to do continually... Hopefully with time she will get used to it, and she'll get more curious about the things going on around her instead of nervous about them. You'll also note in this shot that she's not fully flighted - I'm slowly growing out one feather at a time, haven't done a big clip since a year ago, working on a balance where she has a little flight but not a lot. She still lands awkwardly at times, but is getting better.

x-posted to parrot_lovers, cockatiels, and my own journal

Just 'cause I love y'all so much more than the parrot_lovers community, here's a photo just for you! It's Gabe, using her feet! Not only has she gone bonkers over the lanyard w/ beads toys I put together, but just today I caught her raising her foot towards the one hanging from the ceiling. After impatiently watching for a while with my camera, she finally grabbed ahold of it with her foot and held it for a little bit while beaking it. ^_^



Awesome! Usually only bigger birds use their feet, cockatiels and budgies (parakeets) are not known for doing it much, and Peeper never did. Gabe used her left foot here, it was the closest one to the toy. I'm going to have to watch and see if I can figure out if she's a righty or a leftie. :)

She's playing with toys! Yay. ^_^ Some photos too here:

http://community.livejournal.com/parrot_lovers/2702458.html

I think Gabe's a girl.

The good news post-neighbor-visit this time is that Gabe can fly up to 3 feet horizontally, to a surface at the same height. I don't see any new flight feathers and although a tail feather is growing in they give control not lift, so he must be gaining wing strength. Happy! :)

The bad news is that he's yelling near continually. I'm not sure if he's bored of his food, or if he misses Maria's budgies. :-\

Peeper's been on my mind again. As mentioned previously, I'm really thankful for all the wonderful years we had together. I'm also really thankful for all the support from my friends this summer.

However, I recently read that in cockatiels, an all-pellet diet can lead to kidney problems. In 2003 I converted Peeper from an all-seed diet to an all-pellet diet. In 2005 she had signs of poor kidney function, and at my vet's recommendation I changed brands of pellet. In 2006 she passed away from kidney failure.

Now I won't say I *quite* blame myself for her death, but I do regret it, and I do think it's possible my actions to attempt to help her instead hurt her. I also don't have sufficient credible evidence to fully believe that pellets-only can cause kidney failure, but my personal anecdotal experience does show a correllation.

I feel it's important to learn from one's mistakes, even when we're not entirely sure they're mistakes. For Gabe I'm working towards 1/3 Kaytee pellets, 1/3 Harrison's pellets, 1/3 seeds. No, I'm not going to be giving him fresh cooked vegetables twice a day - there's a reason I'm posting this here and not on one of those all-knowing communities.

Gabe's still not as friendly as I'd like. It will take years for him to become more friendly, presuming he ever does. My neighbor Maria says he really likes hanging out with her budgies. Gabe definitely knows he's a bird, unlike Peeper. Shame, really. Makes me consider getting a second bird, both to fulfill my wish for a playful bird, and to give him companionship. I want him to be happy, and I don't think he is sitting all day in his cage by himself and then just placidly watching the large featherless beast lumber around all evening. I am thankful I have that goofy and beautiful creature to wake up to every morning; I want to figure out how to make sure he's happy. A little part of me is tempted to just give him back to Maria....

I'm tired, lonely, missing Peeper, I'm not thinking straight.

It seems Gabe's making progress on eating pellets. When I got him back from the neighbors this past weekend, he'd put on some weight (at 99g, usually 91-94g). After receiving comments to an earlier post about whether it was them giving him budgie seeds, or him eating more in the company of friends, I actually looked at what was left in his dish this afternoon. He'd eaten all the seeds, all but a few Zupreem pellets, and all the Harrison's! He didn't touch the Nutriberries, and if he ate any of the Kaytee conversion pellets it was minimal.

This is awesome, he's eating healthier, and other than the seeds he's even choosing the healthiest of the options available. Since he doesn't seem to be going for the Kaytee or Nutriberries I'll phase those out after I finish off the current jar (I've got all the above listed things mixed together in one container to make it easier on my neighbors to feed him). After that I'll phase out the seeds leaving him with only Zupreem and Harrison's. Yay!

x-posted