Skeeter the Red Bellied Parrot

[Weka]

Good morning all --

So we've been investigating the rescue route, and have come across a RBP named "Skeeter" at a local breeder's bird supply store. We've arranged to have a "getting to know you" meeting sometime in the next few days, and I'm excited about interacting with a red bellied in person.

Skeeter is about 10 years old, and while fully flighted has been reportedly cagebound for a good part of his life. (A case of young-boy-gets-parrot, grown-boy-leaves-parrot-with-mom, mom-can't-keep-parrot story) Skeeter showed keen interest in my husband and I, pressing really close to the bars of his cage, getting low on his perch while slightly fluttering his wings and making these really soft mumble noises. He also had no problem eating in front of us and seemed very calm in our presence, fluffing his feathers out and acting content. However he (understandably) doesn't like to get out of his cage and nearly took a sharp bite out of the lady who was trying to introduce us. So we'll try again in a less distracting environment, to see how outside-the-cage phobic he actually is.

I do hope there's a chance he can be rehabilitated with us. Will report in as we learn more....


--W

[cml]

Sounds great!

Out-of-cage anxiety can be overcome, you just start in a small room with closed doors, and with time you work your way through your house, expanding the parrots domain as he grows more and more comfortable!

Target training is a great tool to get him out of the cage and to move about.

We will be needning pics of skeeter, especially if you do decide to adopt him .

[Pajarita]

TAKE HIM!!! He sounds wonderful! The crouching low and fluttering his wings is his 'pretty please with sugar on top' and it means that he doesn't only like you but that he wants to establish a relationship with him -the poor thing must be starved for affection and attention.

Don't worry for one second about him been cage-bound, most birds that are kept in cages for years have that reaction (their spirit breaks, they lose confidence in themselves and, like people who have been in jail a long time, fear the outside) but all you have to do is put a perch on the outside of the cage, right next to the door, open the door and just walk away (and don't look straight at him, watch him out of the corner of your eye) and never push him to come out (no putting your hand in there and asking him to step up or anything). Depending on the bird, it could take hours to a week or so for him to come out but he will. I promise you!

[LadySaphine]

Peanut did the crouching-low and fluttering wings, especially when she wanted out of her cage (or to fly to me). He sounds like a wonderful little guy. I saw my first Meyer's yesterday at a bird rescue- my first encounter with a Poicephalus, he was much smaller than I expected! Definitely a charming bird!

[GreenWing]

Weka, this is really exciting! It not only sounds like Skeeter is choosing you (as Pajarita says, that crouching action is SUPER sweet), but he sounds like an AWESOME bird!

I'm really excited for details on your meeting! I know you've been thinking of getting a Red-bellied, too!

[Weka]

.

Ahahaha you people are enablers, you know that, right?

Well, we went and spent more time with Skeeter yesterday. The gal who was there wasn't sure if he would come out for us, but she saw how taken we were with him and so she gave us some treats and left us alone with him. It took about an hour, but we finally coaxed him to come out. It was both cute and sad, how scared he was! We started by giving him a treat through the bars...then through the door a few times...and then, on his own, he sloooowly, cautiously, clambered out. After a few more treats (and us sitting stock still and not staring at him) he then slowly clambered to the top of his cage and, once there, it was like watching a mountain climber assessing the view from Everest. After a bit, he came down for another treat and then resumed his "I'm on the top of the world" view for several more minutes, while we softly talked at him the entire time. After 15 minutes or so I carefully got up to ask more questions from the shop owner, while my husband interacted further with Skeeter. I inquired about recommended avian vets in our area, her policies/guarantee, more about his history and health, etc. (I asked if he could fly, and she said that she wasn't sure, as his muscles might've atrophied) Meanwhile Skeeter was so relaxed (or overwhelmed) that he stood on one foot and took a siesta. The owner said she was impressed that he'd come out at all. After he woke up and took yet another treat, we had to go. We tried to lure him back into the cage and got him all the way to the door, but of course Skeeter, now having had a taste of freedom, wouldn't hear of it, the poor guy. So the shop owner tried to gently get him to step up on a stick...and he became airborne! He made two full circles in one part of the room, then took off in a straight line for about 60 feet.

"Well, I guess that answers my question if he can fly," I said.

She was then able to get him to perch on her finger after retrieving him from the floor, and place him back into his prison -- I mean, cage.



The Cuteness!


Part of me wanted to take him home right then and there, but my husband (who is the most non-impulsive, reasonable person I know) reminded me that we are about to go out of state for the holidays, and so if we put a deposit on the bird we would most likely have to take him as soon as we returned at the beginning of the year -- and the house wouldn't be bird-safe yet, we wouldn't have all the needed equipment, etc. So his thought is we should wait until we get back, then put down the deposit, which could give us a couple extra week's breathing time to get everything ready, to get the bird into the vet, and so on.

So yeah, it's difficult, but I will contact the shop and see what we can work out. It sounds like Skeeter has been there for quite a long time, but there is no guarantee that he won't be sold to someone else while we are away. (It is reassuring that all prospective buyers do go through an interview process and have to sign a contract and take a class, so it's not like a big box pet store where someone would just go OMG he's so cute let's buy him NOW.)

I do see my husband's side of things; it's just a little frustrating to find a bird we both liked so soon in the process, when nothing's ready. I thought it would take weeks, if not months...


Okay, well I gotta start getting the house ready. Thanks everyone for your support.


--Weka

[GreenWing]

Oh Weka, he is sooooooooo cuuuuuuute!

I am SO happy you met him, and I hope you do adopt him because he is SO adorable. ♥♥

[cml]

Yes, skeeter is very cute ! I am sure you and the shop will be able to work something out !

[Pajarita]

AWWWWW, goodness gracious, he is absolutely GORGEOUS!!! I admire your restrain, me? I would walked out of there with him (I am a real sucker for a sad story and my husband has given up trying to change me -he did try for years but I drove him nuts with my sights and my worrying over whichever poor animal was in question and he has now -very wisely- given up -LOL)

I am actually considering buying an old, sick, depressed and aggressive female B&G (small cage, ragged/dull plumage, eating only sunflower seeds so you know her liver and kidneys are compromised big time). I saw her at ABBA (they don't sell birds there, only supplies -they manufacture seed mixes, supplements, pellets, etc), but, apparently, the previous owner begged the store owner to take her in) when I went to get supplies last Saturday and my heart absolutely broke seeing how awful and dejected she looked - and B&Gs are the happiest, mildest-tempered macaws (they even like children!) so you know she must have gone through years of neglect, cage and bad diet for her to get to that condition. My husband was with me and saw my face when I saw her (she was behind the door) so he walked over and said Hello to her and she didn't even lift her head to look at him, the poor, poor thing! So I was like "OMG, Robert, look at her plumage! And look how utterly dejected she looks! And all they are feeding her is SUNFLOWER SEEDS!!!!!" (You might not know it yet, but I am obsessed with feeding parrots an organic, fresh food diet, I even think that pellets are no good -LOL) And I didn't even have to ask, he came right out and said "If she is still here next Saturday (they sell wholesale and open on Saturday am's for special customers and there was a snowstorm and we were picking up the grandchildren right after), get the money from the bank and buy her (they want $850 which is outrageous taking into consideration the shape she is in!) Now, I don't 'do' macaws because they need 30 ft rooms to fly and I simply do not have any that large but I can't stop thinking about that poor bird and I can't wait for this coming Saturday to see if she is still there! And, if she is, I will get her, vet her, switch her to a good diet, get her strong and affectionate again and, when she is ready (maybe a year or so), I will look for a good home for her -and she will go free of charge. I did two macaws like that in the past and they both worked out wonderfully so I can do a third. See? No will power whatsoever! LOL

[LadySaphine]

How cute!!

Pajarita, before we got birds, we were a sucker for cats. At one point we had 13 cats- somebody had moved across the house, leaving their pregnant, not-fixed female cat (Momma Cat) with a half-grown kitten and three babies. We took in the kits while our neighbor took in Momma and her mother. They all went to good homes!

And as for B&G, if I ever get a macaw, I'm going straight for one! Last night we were driving around looking at the Christmas lights when I spotted a store called the Painted Parrot. In the window was a B&G, a grey, and an eclectus. That B&G was so funny- he 'waved' (read: opening and closing his talons like a claw machine without moving his foot) and stopped it when my brother left. He kept doing it and loved the attention. We also visited a parrot rescue on Saturday- a loved to lunge at people because she enjoyed their reactions (she doesn't bite, just makes the movements). She loved my camera too!

Good luck with Skeeter! He's so adorable! <3