Akimi (and some GCC behaviour questions)

[Saerphe]

Cute little thing, don't tell her I said little.
Just a thought, if the apples are from your own trees and are not sprayed you might let her have the peel if she wants it as it has a lot of nutrition.

Ha! Between her and my dog, my pets are two for two on Napoleon Complexes. Little bodies, big attitudes.

I've given her tons of apple with the peel on, but she just eats around it and drops it on the floor.

[Wolf]

Thanks for the apple information, I suspected that she might do it that way but was not sure. Kiki, my Senegal like to eat the peel of a banana more than she likes the banana which prompted me on the apple.

[Saerphe]

Thanks for the apple information, I suspected that she might do it that way but was not sure. Kiki, my Senegal like to eat the peel of a banana more than she likes the banana which prompted me on the apple.

Yeah, she does that with pretty much anything with skin. She eats the insides out of corn, peas, grapes, broccoli stalks, apples and so on and just drops the skins. With things like peas it can sometimes be tricky to tell how much of it she's eating 'cause she eats around the skin so neatly. She even does it with sunflower seeds - breaks open the hull, peels the skin off the seed, and eats whatever's left.

[liz]

Rambo peels his grapes before he eats them. Myrtle leaves hollow grape skins.
I soak their morning almonds In the gloop so they are able to get the almond out and leave the brown skin in tact.

[Pajarita]

Somebody on a birdsite once said that parrots would peel water if they could and I thought it was a perfect description for what they do!

[Wolf]

I would believe it. It is fascinating to watch Kookooloo skin an almond, it is truly an amazing thing to see. Kiki, on the other hand does not peel an almond, instead she bites the end off of it and then digs out the meat from inside of the skin. A bit less fascinating to watch but still pretty amazing in itself.

[Saerphe]

I really like the description of parrots would peel water if they could. So true.

So, Akimi has learned "Turn Around" and "Dance", so now we're working on "Through the Tunnel"







I took these photos on my iPod, so they're not very good. She's starting to pick it up though.

[Pajarita]

Yes, she is! Why don't you tie a thread around the nut and 'threading' it through the tube, put it in one end so you can slowly pull it all the way through the tunnel (just ahead of her trying to get it) and, when she comes out at the other end, praise, praise, praise, praise and give her the reward?

[Saerphe]

Evenings just before Akimi goes to bed are becoming my favourite time of day. I let it get dark in the house and she goes to bed once the sun's down, but in the hour or so before she goes back in her cage, Akimi climbs up my shoulder, burrows into my hair, and snuggles up behind my ear. It's so precious.

I went to visit a male GCC who might be a good companion for her today. He lives in a house with probably 50 other parrots of so many different species - a macaw, a cockatoo, four or five different Amazons, a couple of ring necked parakeets, half a dozen other GCCs, a handful of lovebirds, and probably upwards of a dozen cockatiels. It was super loud in there, and instead of having dedicated bird rooms, they had cages stacked upon cages all through the house. It seemed like the situation might be rather stressful for him, but for being not really tame (as his current owners claim) he seemed fairly relaxed while standing on my hand. He even let me scratch his beak a little bit. (Don't worry, I made sure to wash up and change clothes when I got home before handling Akimi)

I'd really like to adopt him, but I probably won't be able to for a few more weeks yet. I've got leads on a couple of jobs, but until I can either move into the basement or out of the house altogether, it might not be feasible. Dad already doesn't like Akimi, and neither Dad or Mom particularly want me to bring home another bird. Also, the logistics of quarantining him for the first month are going to be tricky. I don't know where I'd keep him for those thirty days, let alone how I'll split my time between him and Akimi given that she's already so needy. In the meantime I'll be keeping an eye on other local adoption opportunities, and we'll see how the next few weeks play out. I'll keep you all posted until then. :\

EDIT: I also have a pretty strong lead on a 5 year-old male black-capped conure. I figure that as he is also a pyrrhura conure, he could also potentially make a good companion for Akimi while being much easier to tell apart at a glance. Also, black-capped conures are gorgeous. His owners don't mind holding him for me for the next couple months while I sort my life out as long as I pay a deposit for him now. I've got a lot of thinking to do. :\

[Wolf]

I am so glad that you are looking into a companion for Akimi. Taking into account what their natural lifestyle would be it is one of the single best things we can do for them.
I am somewhat worried about the conditions that the GCC male that you found are. It seems to me to be the way that a hoarder would keep them, even if that is not the intent of the party that has him. And it is so easy to fall into that type of trap when you care about them and you want to help all of them, that you end up not actually doing better for them.