KK’s advice is spot on. If a bird is hungry and you only feed it a small amount by hand, eventually they will scavenge for more food.
To be fair, I’ve started petting her on the wing, back, or head after hand-feeding her. If she’s gonna eat out of my hand, I’m gonna get something out of it, know what I’m sayin’?
Thanks for the advice, everyone. And Rich, thank you for the link about what to feed a bird. I got a seed mix (“Please who bought these items also bought…”) and I don’t know that I’ll be on board with making my own food, much less sprouting it and changing it every 8 hours or less. I’m at work for 9-10 hours, and I’m sleeping for 9-10 hours, so there’s way too much time for bacteria to flourish.
Does the bird care if I use a humidifier?
Incidentally, that’s how I trained my baby human. I still use the associative noise when he eats.
Tina! Come get your ham!
Stroking a bird on the wings or back can be problematic. That’s a mating ritual. Yeah, I know, it sounds ridiculous but it’s true. If your birdie is already laying eggs then it’s sexually mature. It can in fact pick you for its mate. The best petting is just from the neck up. If it bonds to you as a mate then it may very well become aggressive to anyone else that tries to touch her. That means biting and cage aggression. I’m pretty sure that parakeets are less prone to this. But I don’t know for sure. If she starts rubbing her butt against your hand and hissing, that’s essentially masturbation. You want to avoid that. In the bird world that’s often known as the “happy dance.”
My Quaker parrot used to do this all the time. She became attached to a green plastic cylinder that we put seeds in. She would rub herself on it until she, well, had a special moment. Tail up and almost falling down with “happiness.” We had to cover it with a soft cotton sock because she was starting to get sores on her legs.
It was like watching something that was both cute and disturbing. The worst part was when she did it and we had company. “Please ignore the bird. Seriously.”
The thing is, while parakeets are small birds, a nip can draw blood. And since she’s your son’s pet, you don’t want her deciding that he’s someone to be attacked.
Not trying to scare you here. Just passing on info. Lots of people think that birds are just something that you keep in a cage. But they’re intelligent creatures that need a lot of care. Just like a dog or cat, but way more delicate. Consider a bird fine china that can get into trouble.
Having said that, I know that you are a very intelligent person and you will do just fine.
Rich, I just want to say that your responses to fire in these last couple of pages are such a joy to read. I think that’s the wrong way to put it, and I’m not sure how to express what I mean without sounding weird, so let me just say that reading your advice and encouragement as you help her work through this is incredibly touching.
I really love your posts in this thread.
-xtien
I wasn’t looking for a bird in a cage. If I were, I’d have gotten finches. I’m glad to have an intelligent bird pet who (hopefully, eventually) will be an integral part of our daily life in our family. Thanks for the advice on the back-stroking; definitely don’t want to bond with the bird in that way.
This morning Pepper chirped a little when she saw me waking up. Then she ate a spoonful of seed voraciously out of my hand. I still haven’t seen her get down to get some water which is a little concerning. I did a little dance for her to the tune of Angry Birds Go (which was being played in the background) and she just kinda glared at me like I was going to strike her.
Birds are confusing.
According to this page I should expect an egg every 2 days until my entire cage is full of eggs (4 to 9 eggs later). I called the pet store where I bought my parakeet last week to ask if any eggs were lain before I bought Pepper. The guy laughed and congratulated me, saying they only stock boy birds. THANKS, DUDE.
Anyway, I cut up a box from frozen rice and put it in the cage in case Pepper gets broody.
Wow. I did not expect that. I’m a larger parrot person. My first birdie was a Quaker and I now own a cockatoo mix.
A story:
The avian vet that I bring Beaker to has a Moluccan or salmon crested cockatoo in her office. This bird is at least 18 inches tall. I forget the name. But the vet had a great story. They assumed, by the coloring and other clues that this was a male. It has been there for almost 15 years. Then one day “he” laid an egg. This really surprised the vet. She has traveled the world and has a couple of great photo albums showing her and her boyfriend in Africa and other birdie places. With many lovely birds. She’s as much of a bird expert as you could ask for.
Then her “male” birdie laid an egg on the desk in front of her.
I guess the takeaway for this story is, you really don’t know the sex of your bird unless you do an expensive DNA test.
Edit: If she’s going to lay a few eggs she will need a calcium supplement. There are two ways to do this.
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Simpler is, make her an egg. Scramble it. Include the shell. Yep. Include the shell. Don’t fry it or whatever. Grind up a part of the shell and mix it in a scrambled egg. Then microwave it for 40 seconds. Or less depending on the wattage of your microwave. Then allow it to cool to room temperature. At that point feed her little pieces by hand until she’s full. She needs to replace calcium in a big way.
Update: No eggs! Also she’s sat on my finger a few times and got down to eat from the food dish. The cat thinks she’s fascinating and they touched noses.
Awwww
Back on page 54, I posted a photo of my cat Buck. Here’s another more recent one. We had to put him down today at 4:15 pm. He was 19 years old, and has had end-stage renal failure for quite some time. During the last couple of months, I’ve been giving him subcutaneous liquid injections every other day to try to keep him hydrated. I was getting pretty good with that needle too, but he’s been really in a bad way lately. Some suffering, along with diarrhea, barely able to stand up, and his kidney failure was causing him to head to the litter box every five minutes sometimes, only to barely pee anything out. But he never complained, which made it all the harder to make the decision to end his life. In his prime, he was a healthy 17 pounds (he was mostly Maine Coon). When I took him in today, he was down to just under 6 pounds, after having lately been dropping about a half-pound every two weeks. He had been in some form of kidney failure for the last few years, but it was manageable until it became end-stage, and obvious that he was not enjoying anything any more.
I’m 55 years old, but cried like a baby at the vet’s, and on and off pretty steadily ever since. I always knew I loved him, but I didn’t know how much until today. I got him from the giveaway section of the paper in 1996, and bottle-fed him from 5 weeks old, since he was taken from his mother too soon. We bonded pretty quickly, and he’s been a part of my life every single day for the last 19 years. I don’t think I’ve cried this much even when my own father died, and I loved him too. I’m probably too emotional to be posting right now (I can’t believe it’s affecting me this much), but this will likely be the only tribute he’ll ever have.
Farewell, my friend. I’ve never loved anyone as much as I did you.
Giles, I understand all too well what you’re going through. You have my complete sympathy. Buck was obviously a cherished and very well cared for friend. I won’t try to assuage your grief with platitudes, because they won’t help. Mourn him, but try to remember the many good years you and Buck had together as you do.
Thank you, Dave. Your post is proof that words can be a comfort.
I’m sorry for your loss, Giles, and happy for the wonderful 19 years you had with Buck.
I had a similar experience with losing a pet only to realize I hadn’t really loved anyone or anything quite that much before. It was a huge shock, and losing him hurt terribly for a long time, but I’m glad I had him for the time I did.
I’m sorry for your loss, Giles. It sounds like you did right by Buck.
Thank you, guys, for the comfort. It is much appreciated right now.
I choked up when I read that. My feelings exactly.
I’m so sorry Giles, I’m dreading that moment with our dogs.
Sorry for your loss, Giles. We had to put my cat down recently as well, she was 17 or so (got her as a stray so kinda tough to nail down). She’d been incontinent for years, I cleaned up after her every day for almost three years, but I still would rather be doing that than not have her around. On the plus side, we still have the other two old boy cats to cheer us up (I swear they were sad for weeks after she passed) and now a kitten to brighten the home up, and he’s terrific and is fitting in wonderfully.
