My latest Blog for RollingwithoutLimits
Monthly Archives: December 2013
Adopting Birds Should You Get One or Two?
My 2 mess makers
I rescued my two parakeets from PetSmart nearly a year ago. It has been a very long year with many ups and downs. I read everything I could get my hands-on and decided on parakeets.
I’ve come from a long line of animal lovers and thought that I would bring them home, and they would just accept me. I was delusional in many ways; my little guys had two different reactions when we first brought them home. Rag was calm and after the second day, he knew his name and perched on my hand. Since we travel a little, we didn’t want him alone (big mistake), and we brought home Ollie, who was scared out of his cotton picking mind for at least six months flying around hanging on to the cage with his feet and his beak when I opened the cage to play with Rags.
I have devoted an enormous amount of time building trust, and I finally got it, have to say what a wonderful feeling it is to have gained the trust of Ollie.I don’t recommend a bird unless you are willing to put in the time; we still have a long way to go. Rags had an issue with biting that I resolved after a few months of working with him. He was upset because I changed their cage and placed him in it even though they live in a mansion compared to the other one.
I bought new toys for Christmas, and now they are freaking out about it, back to hanging on the cage with their beaks and feet, or if I come by they are happy to see me.
Since their wings aren’t clipped, and I have a dog I haven’t brought them out of the cage yet. Still building trust, I will have them for 15 years or more so I can wait until the time is right to bond with them outside of their cage.
Listen to me, only get one bird at a time and develop trust and then if you want to get another one wait at least six months to get it. Mine are in the same cage, and they feed off of each other in good ways and bad ways. If Rags is brave and hops on my hand to hang out if Ollie says anything Rags will jump off. Of course, it depends on how he says it, and you’ll kind of learn to bird speak when you have these little guys or any bird for that matter. They are frustrating and charming, delightful & a huge pain. You truly have to be devoted to the process, and gain trust a little at a time. Sometimes it seems as though you aren’t making any progress at all. Never give up!
One of my favorite places to get bird advice is BirdTricks.com – everything you ever wanted to know about birds by professional Bird handlers. You can find them on facebook & twitter. I have their DVD’ and have viewed the webinars too and have to say their help has taught me how to gain trust and keep it with my birds and then later I can teach them tricks & fun things.
You need to be able to entertain them, even if they don’t want to come out of the cage with toys and millet. If not they tend to screech/scream/fight & bicker among themselves.
My Rags is a bully plain and simple, and I have even witnessed him pull his brother off the perch above by his tail feathers because he wanted the spot. He’s also very possessive of me. Ollie loves me to hold him, and I worked long and hard for him to like this, and he loves being petted which most birds do not like. Rags doesn’t like it at all nor does he like it when Ollie is being petted. On the flip side they love each other and spend a large amount of their time snuggling and cleaning each other. I could never separate them at this point.I am confident that if I only had one, we would be much further in our relationship but having two is a really bad idea if you want them to bond with you quickly. I am always on the lookout to make their cage as much fun as possible and natural. My favorite You Tube Channel Linnieworld she builds the best bird cages I have ever seen and I hope to someday to build one like it.
Utterly Devoted 