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Bird Keeping Journal Page 7:

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Feb. 3, 2007
Bird update:
 
All seems good on the parrotlet front. He slept through the night and didn't make a peep until my alarm went off this morning. I gave him both his med.s this morning and he didn't seem thrilled with it. To just show me, how not thrilled he flew off and stood on top my Korean bride and groom dolls heads and wiped med.s on their heads. He's adorable. I took the nasty [equivalent of "wonder bread"] seeds out of his cage today and he just has bag o bugs and sprouted seeds which he seems to be eating ok. 

I'm supposed to look at his poo and check for quantity and quality. Poo patrol. This morning I changed both birds cage papers, fresh seeds, water, and added some green leafy veggies to both cages. 

I took the parrotlet out and shared some banana with him and fed BeBe some through the bars of her cage. After flicking banana all over me, the parrotlet decided to check out BeBe. He flew to her cage and climbed around on it for maybe a minute. I watched BeBe and him closely they just were quiet looking at each other as the parrotlet explored the outside of the cage again for a minute maybe total and then I whisked the boy up and put him in his cage. They've been quiet or quietly peeping today.  I'm sure I'll fawn all over everybody as the day progresses.

Feb. 4, 2007

On the parrotlet front, much news...
He's very much eating well on his own as far as I can tell on sprouted seeds and what he picks out that he likes out of the bag o bugs. He likes sharing food with us including waffles last night, banana two mornings in a row, and banana bread this morning. He's a HUGE cuddle bug! He loves to have his cheeks and head pet and rubbed. He can turn his head completely upside down and backwards while the petting is happening which makes my neck feel stiff. We're learning new sounds he can make fun clicking, peeping, and more. He likes being held completely in your hand and can fall asleep like that. He enjoys being upside down and moving around his cage like an acrobat. When he flies he moves his wings so fast he's like a frickin' hummingbird! holymolybatman. He's having a relationship with my hair separate from me - he LOVES the hair, being in the hair, wrapping himself in it, and nesting down for some hair snuggle time. We got his med.s in him somewhat last night but mostly all over for H's sweatshirt; it looked like some splooged on it orange sticky goo. heh. This morning I got both med.s in him with minimal spraying me or his cage with it.  I held him for a long time after giving him the med.s to see if I could get him swallow it. I also let them warm a bit to room temperature so they weren't too cold coming out of the frig. We've all also noticed he seems a bit skitish about certain hand movements and he has some wing feathers missing - which make me cranky but given time I'm sure he'll have new feathers and feel more confident:)

Last night he didn't want to be separated from the people we passed him back and forth each petting him, rubbing his head and cheeks until it was bird bed time. He paced around in his cage displaying his unhappy feelings of being separated from his peeps but eventually he settled down and slept great until about 830ish and he fed himself and then settled back down for some more sleeping in. So far, I'd say he's just a dream sweetie bird.
 

Feb. 5 2007

He's doing pretty good. However, he must be watched like a hawk. He'll fly off and land anywhere. We just did a mini photo shoot; he's great as long as I'm paying a lot of attention to him. But if I seem distracted he flies off. So far today, he flew to the top of the curtains a couple inches from the ceiling, then on top my kilt on my plastic stack-able organizer, and then to the edge of a framed water color painting. We snuggled and had good pets but then later when I tried to extract him from making a REAL bird nest out of my hair. He got upset and flew to the book case and got scared I think. He was in a small nook he looks fine but he started to cry like he was completely lost and panicked. I rescued him immediately and inspected him closely. He seems fine. I gave him some time in a loosely closed fist which he loves and closes his eyes like it's nap time and he's in his happy place. Then after all the flying and excitement and snuggling I put him in his cage. Oy, all the bird love today!
 

Feb. 6, 2007

I did some parrotlet research yesterday.
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww8eiv.htm

http://www.avianweb.com/parrotletsinfo.htm

http://www.parrotlet.net/

http://www.parrotletranch.com/parrotletinfo.html 

Today, in addition to the poop patrol, usual lovin', sharing of some human breakfast [bread crust & lettuce], med.s, fresh water & food, and cleaning, I added a few things: a cuttlebone and a swing. I also made a couple toys bird safe leather with beads and clipped on some more lettuce on the cage bars. He went right to the lettuce and ate some yah! H got to spend some quality parrotlet time during his lunch at home today too:) 

I'm trying to get routine going in the morning. Stumble out of bed, kiss dog, take care of birds, feed dog, caffeinate self... get ready for work etc. So far so good.

 
Feb. 6, 2007
To: IPS@InternationalParrotletSociety.org
Subject: Parrotlet band number 		 
 
Greetings:

I'm not sure if you can help me or not, but a friend rescued/found a green
rump parrotlet outside in the cold, starving and on death's door.
Temperatures out here in Seattle have been below freezing at night so he
couldn't have been outside long. He was down to 19 grams the vet said and
likely wouldn't lasted another day without veterinarian care.

Our friend brought him to us and together we took him to our avian vet, a
member of the Association of Avian Veterinarians. We have adopted the little
parrotlet with the help of our friend paying his sizable vet bill after
multiple days in birdie ICU, tube feeding, medications, etc. We've got him
set up in a nice cage [gifted by a coworker] and we're trying to get him
healthy enough for blood work in a few weeks with the avian vet.

We were hoping to find his breeders so we could know a little more about how
old he is and where he came from originally. We are also checking for ads for his previous family/home. Our avian put a listing out, and we're regularly checking petfinder.com, craigslist,  http://chats.upatsix.com/chats/ , http://www.birdhotline.com/,  http://birdmart.com/ , and http://www.birdsnways.com/index.htm

The only other bird we have is our little hand-raised sweet budgie, BeBe.
We're reading and researching about parrotlets and renewing our knowledge- base on parrots [Sally Blanchard books etc.] We haven't named him yet because he was so sick originally. We're
letting him get stronger and waiting so his name can reflect some of his
personality.

Can you help us find his breeders? or more info? His band is FL xx xxx IPS

I've included some pictures. PICT0005 is how he looked when we rescued him lethargic, fluffed, weak, and sick... PICT0040 is how he's looking now, slicked down feathers, friendly, playful, snuggly, chirping, and exploring his environment.

Sincerely,
Leilani Berry
Seatac, WA 98188
(206) 248-2001
 

 

Feb. 7 2007

Parrotlet update: 

I still need to research the mineral block thing; they had too many artificial things in them so I didn't buy any. We did get a whole coconut nesting hangy thing, a tube to play in, and chewable goodness in various forms. We've set up the coconut and I redid two interesting toy skewers on bird safe leather in his cage; we'll see how he likes 'em. Fun chewing goodness! We also looked at hamster wheels and other cool things. 

Feb. 8, 2007

I completed updating these bird pages!! woohoo! And last night H took some pictures of the parrotlet and myself. We also want to build BeBe's confidence back up; she seems a bit nervous now that there's a new bird in the house. I downloaded all the pictures from H's photo shoot last night but only have two ready for viewing. Hopefully, today the parrotlet will try some of his new toys or maybe his coconut hideaway. Time will tell. Ok, I must get ready for work and give the animals food etc...

Feb. 9, 2007   The parrotlet conspired to make me late to work yesterday and avoiding his med.s and me since I was in a hurry. 

He's peeping in my room. I have lots to do before work so this is a quickie update. Everyone's good and would like breakfast. I would like to have H do some other little mini-photo shoot with the pets. I love how the parrotlet pictures turned out from Wednesday that he took. I'll be sharing them for some time to come. I'd love more pictures of Bella and BeBe too! The parrotlet LOVES to be pet on his head and cheeks. He rubs against your fingers if you stop. He also is happy being held upside down and held in a partially closed fist. When pet and held at the same time, he gets REALLY relaxed. This picture is of the parrotlet lying upside down in my hands getting pets and he's so happy and comfortable he's half asleep. H got his coworker who gave us the cage a gift from harryanddavid.com as a thank you.

Feb. 10, 2007 The pets all are good, except for one of H's fish that went to fishy freezer heaven last night. I managed to meet some of the parrotlet's affection needs and get him to bed before he became fussy, and he didn't throw a tantrum once covered for the first time about wanting to BE with me. Yah me! Ok, now I must attend to all the pets. So much to do... 

Feb. 11, 2007 An update on the parrotlet he is a good station boy in the shower. He perched comfortably yesterday and today on the shower perch and watched me shower, dry off, and do my hair. Such a good boy. I took some pictures which I'll post when I get a chance.

Feb. 12, 2007 We're almost done with the parrotlet's medications! yah! He still seems mostly disinterested in the healthier sprouted seeds. sigh.  He is DEFINITELY making more sounds. He seems to amusingly talk back to the audiobooks I listen to much like BeBe does but he sounds very different of course. He is also becoming a better flier.  On Sat. 2-11, I had out for two massage sessions about 15 min.s of one and 30 min. of another. I'm thinking he might like window perches. They suction to the windows and he could perch and watch me massage people. I think I move too much for his comfort when I'm working.  I did some research on mineral blocks and I think I'd like to get this for the parrotlet http://www.parrot-and-conure-world.com/manu-mineral-block.html.  Here's some potty training review http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww71eii.htm.  BeBe stuff: I can't seem to find the budge butter. How can this be? Where could it be? http://www.budgieworld.net/budgie_butter.htm grump! We've been trying to increase her confidence as she's been skittish since we brought the parrotlet home.

Feb. 13, 2007 We did some stationing training this morning with attention and food rewards. He did great! I also have been checking for lost parrot/parrotlet ads and so far no ads. I've searched many sites including craigslist,  http://chats.upatsix.com/chats/ , http://www.birdhotline.com/,  http://birdmart.com/ , and http://www.birdsnways.com/index.htm and more.  We're brainstorming names currently. Still no word from the parrotlet society.

Feb. 14, 2007 Last night during our usual snuggle and petting fest, the parrotlet actually climbed into my hand upside down to be held that way and pet; it was so cute! I contemplated our name ideas so far while hanging out with him. S was over and only at one point when I left the room, she said he called for me and was a bit anxious. I had stepped out briefly. When I got back, after some love from me, he snuggled with her really nicely, being held in her hand, getting pets, and being friendly. She put him to bed and he was a mellow happy bird. H has been really sweet trying to reassure our budgie, BeBe, that she's still loved. He also had some quality time with the parrotlet which I'm leaning towards "Vincent." But there are other names on the brainstorm list.

Feb. 19, 2007 The pets are all good. At the party Saturday 2-17 and the parrotlet got to meet several people, all a part of my master plan to socialize him. He was great! Friendly, pet-able, and generally his super sweet self. I am pleased to feel confident with all my special people's skills in handling him. They closed the bedroom door to ensure safety that he wouldn't fly around the house as he was let out to meet small groups of people. My friends were all wonderfully appreciative of his beauty and sweetnessJ heh. He has a new bedroom companion, a betta fish. A friend gave me a beautiful betta for my birthday!  More betta.

Feb. 20, 2007 He ate sprouts!!!!!!!! I finally frickin' got him to eat some sprouts! Ok, so it's sprouted millet but it's still sprouts... I mixed it in with his bag o' bug mixed dried seed blend and he ate the sprouts!!!! Sprouts are so much healthier than seeds. why here and here Yet another parrotlet picture! This one is slow processed? he's grooming and you can see the movement. I love it! Ok, people we really need to name him... We have some name ideas floating around. Character so far: spoiled, snuggle bug, loves to be pet, momma's boy, into hair, chews on momma's lips, ear cleaning, likes junky human food, uncertain about showers, not timid but not fearless either, extremely social, and makes good chattering noises. His first sounds have been BeBe's noises/calls and something like my laugh and kissy noises like H & myself.

Feb. 26, 2007 BeBe seems back to her usual self! Yah! She's happy often singing, asking for love, and nippy when she doesn't get her way. The parrotlet is as sweet and demanding for love as ever. He's still eating sprouts. Yah! And I even saw him chew on one of his toys! Yah! I've been going to lengths to introduce him to lots of different people especially men. I don't want him to be afraid or uncomfortable since most of my companions and friends are female bodied:) He seems to have taken quite a fancy to S. She's great with him. Although he's pretty flirty in general with the women in my life. I like him cuddling and snuggling down finding comfort with someone other than me especially when he's needy for love. I'm sure he'll be enough of a momma's boy without me coddling a dependency:) Here he is using N as plate.

Feb. 28, 2007 And last night he even played with one of his toys, hanging upside down from it. Yah!

Mar. 13, 2007 S suggested Digit as a name for the parrotlet because of how much he likes to be pet with our fingers and curled up in a fist; he's very finger-focused:) I like the name idea. I'm gonna ponder it and chat with the parrotlet about it.

March 31, 2007 We've come to a decision! We're calling him Digit!! This last week, Digit had his first enjoyable shower! Not his first shower, but the first one he enjoyed!! He rubbed, fluffed and general got his shower-groove on! He's happily chirping in his cage. I'm still working on station training, discouraging nipping, encouraging good stuff, potty training and more. BeBe has been pretty darn sweet to me; she has her moments of squawking every day but I think she's doing well and adjusting to not being a solo bird house.

April 25, 2007 BeBe died in her sleep last night.

Last week she became ill with an infection. She spent the weekend at the vet. In the brief period of time she was home after her stay at the vet, I did to talk to her, kiss on her, hold her, and coo at her.

I remember picking her out at the pet store. I remember teaching her to shower with me. She loved showering with me. She would run down my forearms and lie in my hands fluttering and rubbing herself on me to get wet. I remember how funny she'd look wet. I remember how she'd bite H and laugh about it. I remember her scream, her call for the woodpeckers outside, her squirrel imitations, water sounds, the creak of the dryer, and the advance of the fax machine. She loved world music. I remember how she laughed and kissed after me. I remember how she'd snuggle into the crook of my arm once in a great while . I remember how she just loved to ride on my shoulder while I putter. I remember massaging clients with her on my shoulder. I remember what an amazing fly-er she was... corners, up, hovering, circles, and more. We got her when she was only a months old April 2003.

I'm very sad and sorry she's gone. More sadly, her infection might have been preventable and she was doing better after the vet visit. But regardless, she's gone, and she went peacefully in her sleep loved at home. I woke this morning to hear H crying that she'd died last night. I lied in bed awhile reeling with no tears got up and went to see her. I gently got her out of her cage and held her little body stroking her soft feathers, and I haven't been able to stop crying yet... I'll call the vet later this morning to let them know and find out what are our options for her body.

More...

Thank you everyone for your kind words and support. Thank you S for calling.  
 

I thought I'd work today but then reschedule a couple people, but when I called my first person I broke down crying... I could hardly tell anyone... argh.. So, I cancelled everyone but one person. Tomorrow's a full day in the morning 4 back to back without a break but I'm sure I'll feel a bit more able to work... 

Thank you to our girlfriend for the visit, suggestions, and support this morning. I picked out her favorite two perches, a favorite toy, and took pieces of the nest I built her out of grapevine and organic corn husks and put them in a really nice cigar box H gave me. We put her cage out on the patio to be further cleaned and so we can get rid of the rest of her toys. *tears*... Where her cage was I put a little mini-chair/stool with a pink bandana, her box of perches & toys, a box of feathers of hers I've saved over the last four years, and mini-vase with flowers. She's in her travel cage where she died last night  snuggled down in clean papertowels covered by the CD player and I'm playing a CD she really liked in the mornings until we take her to be cremated this afternoon. I didn't want to walk by where her cage was and have the space be empty... *tears* I want to hear her sing, chirp, and kiss after me... *sobs*... Ok I guess I just don't want her to be dead, and I want another chance to be a better bird mommie. *sigh*...
 

Anyhew, I'll tackle the cage later today I think... I think a shower is next so I'm ready for my client.

Yet more...

I made it a half hour into the session before I started to cry. I jammed a tissue up my nose and tried to suck it down. Thank goodness I cancelled everyone else. I balled my eyes out three times in the last hour. sigh. I had to pet her and hold her just a couple more times before I could let go. We just got back from taking her to the vet. She'll be back either Friday or Saturday. I added a picture and a budgie pin to my little special place for her for the time being in the living room. *sobs*... I plan for us to bleach the cage and travel cage tonight since I'm already feeling miserable. Anyhew, I'm gonna try to putter around my house and do little chores. I've had some quality time with Digit in the midst of this [of course, washing my hands while singing all 50 states in alphabetical order in my head so I'm sure I washed them thoroughly.] I also have repeatedly updated my daily pet schedule details so that whoever might also help me take care of the pets: H, other loved ones, pet sitters, etc. can know just what I do every day.

More to entries to come....