Things are going very well - so well, in fact, that I cannot even begin to describe how happy I am with the new male redbelly! What a FABULOUS eater this guy is! He actually grabs leafy greens with his hand and chews on them as if they were candy canes! He also loves produce and often goes into his cage as soon as I put out them out to much on them as well as into the other birds' cages to steal their portions
He has one of those useless mild clips and has been reconnoitering the house so now he flies in and out of rooms and has found places he likes better and where he hangs out (the canary room been one of them). He hasn't approached me for love but he steps up to a stick and allows me to carry him anywhere I want to without a single problem. He has also learned the routines as if he had always been here and knows when it's time to go back into his cage to the point that, sometimes, he even does it on his own. He has also shown no aggression whatsoever toward the other birds AND -drumroll!- I've seen him and Isis beaking each other twice! Now, don't misunderstand me, the whole exchange was not without a hint of aggression BUT more like playing hard to get than anything else. In both case, he flew to where Isis was, perched very close and in front of her and started the interaction by trying to grab her beak with his but he did this while lowering his front body (his chest was almost touching the
'floor') and turning his head sideways which indicates that he is not trying to fight with her but to win her over. So, great, great, great progress and I am just waiting for them to bond to get them a new, large cage they can share - the ones they have now are not big enough for my taste but they are out most of the day so it's not the ideal but it's OK.
Sunny SunConure has been coming out of her cage and flying every single day now and, very often, she also flies to my shoulder. She is still quite clumsy but she is doing it on her own and that's a big step in the right direction for her.
Cherry, the new lovie, is doing very well, she is now eating greens regularly although not the fruit or the veggies (she eats some but not all and not all the time) but that's OK because she eats her gloop and, for an ex-breeder which, most likely, was never fed right, she is doing very well.
Pookey is getting better - very, very, very slowly but there is a change in the right direction. She is now vocalizing normally every day, doesn't scream as in a panic every time anybody approaches her and has learned to tolerate SweetPea perching on the cardinals cage without freaking out (she doesn't even make a peep about this anymore). I have reduced her dosages of the valerian root and the theanine to half what she was originally getting and will continue to do so periodically as I see her getting better.
Linus and Freddy are doing well. Linus was doing wonderfully with his feathers but he barbered quite a number of them when the guy doing the floor was in there. It's OK though - it takes years and years for a chronic plucker to stop and, in lots of cases, they never completely stop so although I wasn't happy about it, I am not disheartened by it, either. He has already chewed HUGE chunks of the boards we put all around the perimeter of the room and he doesn't touch his feathers when he is entertained doing this.
We finished 'doing' the birdroom and my daughter promised to come and take pictures and videos of it (she said she was coming yesterday but she didn't so it won't be long now for you to see the pictures you have been asking for).
On another note, I adopted out all six kittens born from the feral mothers and I still have the little dog I am fostering for this young man as well as the two I found lost on the streets. I am still waiting for the rescue to have an 'opening' in a foster home for them but they are doing OK. The minpin female was not pregnant (she had been very recently) and is one of the smartest dogs I've ever had! She has learned not only her new name (Sweety) and the routines but also all the commands I give my own dogs, gained enough weight to look normal (she is a little beauty now!) and then some (she eats her food as if she had never had enough food in her life, the poor thing!) so she is a bit thick around the middle, but she has also learned to go outside and hardly ever has an 'accident' inside and she no longer steals the food from the other dogs (she would push them off their dishes) that eat at a normal pace (this was a problem, I had to pick her up and hold her in my arms while the others finished but she has now learned the 'That's NOT yours!' and the 'STAY!' command and sits next to me to wait). It's going to be hard letting her go because she is extremely affectionate and really no trouble at all now. The other one, the yorkie mix I named Yogi... well, that's another story. He has actually taken leaps in the right direction (kisses, wagging tail, sleeping next to me, allowing belly rubs, etc) but he still needs a lot of work - he is not housebroken at all and lifts his leg and poops inside. But, while the first two days, all he did was look for a door to get out, he now goes out with the other dogs very willingly but comes back almost immediately to sit at the top step and cries for me to let him back in so, if I want him to do anything outside, I have to go out with them and walk around the backyard so he follows me and, as soon as I stop and stand somewhere, he sits down right next to my leg and would not move until I do... poor, poor thing! He must have been so very needful of love to become so attached to me in such short time. So now I have two dogs in diapers (one of mine and the one I am fostering for the young man) and I am working on getting Yogi on them (he allows me to pick him up and even touch his entire body but if I walk up to him with a diaper in my hand, he freaks out and tries to bite me so I am still working on his trust issues).