Hello and Request for Help :)

[mikella]

(I replied to you Wolf on previous page)

Meant to mention, the past maybe two weeks I've been noticing a tiny bit of down flying around. When we first brought him home, he was losing NO feathers and we had been told he was just finishing a moult (still had pin feathers in his head). I'm thinking this is a sign of shifts going on in there.

Poor guy.

I think every day how much I wish he could fly........ He is just a bottle of anxiety and hormones. Thinking about the fact that he has been robbed of flight his entire five+ years of life makes me cry.

[Wolf]

I don't know that the hormones would keep increasing under normal conditions, but then these are not normal conditions. I am sure that in the early stages of the reproductive cycle that the level of hormones would slowly increase until the birds body and sexual organs had grown enough to actually begin the breeding cycle and then the hormones , to my thinking, should hold at that level until the internal clock gave the signal to stop producing the hormones, at which time the level would start to decrease until they were back to normal levels. But these levels of hormones are for a fully flighted bird that does fly for miles on a daily basis not for our birds that only fly a little or for those in which the wings have been clipped so that they can't fly at all. This is a very important distinction as the act of flying reduces the level of hormones in the blood. So at best it will take Quigley a bit longer than normal for the hormones to dissipate.
I don't think that Pajarita even knows how quickly this level drops and I know that I don't. By the way, she can't reply very much right now as her computer broke and needs to be replaced. So she can only post when her husband is home and he travels a lot.
Even though it still hurts when he bites down too much the fact that he is not biting hard enough to break the skin and bleed you is a good thing and is very encouraging. It has been a long and painful experience for both you and your husband as well as to Quigley. When you consider that his gonads can grow up to more than 100 times their normal size and this has continued for him since the onset of puberty so that is about 3 to 4 years, if he is 5, I can't even begin to imagine the level of pain that he has been having to endure all this time. But I believe that the end is in sight, now. But, I don't know how quickly the hormone level will decrease, partly because they were constantly building during the time prior to you taking the steps to help him, and because he is clipped and can't fly. Kiki could at least fly. I also believe that with her that she had just started puberty when she arrived here as the female Senegal normally goes through puberty a bit later than the male does.
You are doing a great job and I think that all of this will be ending in a few more weeks and then you will get to experience another side of Quigley, a much more loving and gentler side than you have experienced so far, Just hang in for a little longer.

[liz]

Mikella, I have been going in an out of the forum sparatcally. I must commend you for your love of Quigley. To be so worried about him while he is being a brat to you. I am so happy you have him. I have heard horror stories of birds being closed in closets for being bad.
I love you for your compassion.

[mikella]

Thanks for the replies.

Liz, I appreciate your comment so much... I'm not writing in here looking for praise, but the acknowledgment means a lot to me - acknowledgment that I really am trying to do what is best for him. Because I really am, every day.

Wolf, actually what I meant was - am I correct in assuming that it is the shortening days that triggers the decrease in hormones? Also, yes, certainly a good thing that he isn't drawing blood. Or at least it's not often that he does.

I've been feeling pretty awful so haven't been writing and will make this quick, but here is what has been going on for those interested... His aggression towards my husband decreased starting day three and he is still absolutely his number one love. Still obsessed with him. My husband's trust in him is getting closer to where it had been. Should mention, the attacks were when I wasn't even around, so had nothing to do with my presence.

NOW, Quigley is doing pretty darn good..... He's currently in my shirt munching the single biggest hole he's ever made. Usually he makes hundreds of little holes. This one is a bit bigger than an inch around. He's happily working away at it. His back is right against my chest. I don't have the heart to stop him haha

He is being (again, overall) pretty darn nice to me..... I have to watch myself, but really, I'm pretty pleased... Still no shoulder, but that time will come. Hopefully soon! That would be life changing.

I've caught him shredding his toys a couple times for a second... Which I think is good too, and a major development for him.

We've been going outside every nice day. He's not so much a fan, but it's important I know. Really, the only reason he's not content out there is because he's in a little cage and can't be on me/us. I will get him a harness to use for this reason eventually. I can't IMAGINE getting him in a harness at this point. But eventually. That would be great.

My parents stopped by the other day and he was beside himself excited to have more people around. Even hopped on my mom's shoulder when my hand was too close to her. I only left him there for a few seconds, with my hand between her face and him. But that was pretty nice to see.

Also, he decided he now loves puréed fruits and veggies, so until he starts eating them whole, I've been puréeing different assortments and freezing it in an ice cube tray and he's been having that every day.

Be back soon.

[Wolf]

I am seeing a lot of progress, he is really beginning to show a lot of improvement in a lot of areas, that is absolutely wonderful, thank you for being so patient and loving to him during this very difficult time. A lot of people would have given up on him, and that would have been a shame as it was not his fault nor was it in keeping with his natural nature which I am sure that you will begin to see more of as time progresses. You are doing a wonderful job of showing him that he can trust you and that you are his friend.
Yes, the length of the days, will trigger his endocrine system to stop producing sexual hormones as will the reduction of high protein. We don't know how long he was stuck in the state of being in breeding condition, and that is also a factor in how long it takes for the hormones to dissipate in his system and for his gonads to shrink back down to a size that is not causing him pain. But I think that his new interests in the thinks around him are a sure sign that he is experiencing less pain. I know that the more pain that I am in that the less interest I am able to place in things and people in my life, and I can't imagine that it is much different for him.

[Pajarita]

Yes, shorter days will stop sexual hormone production and now that we have gone through the summer solstice (longest day of the year), birds kept at a strict solar schedule (full exposure to dawn and light) should start showing a difference in behavior in two to three weeks -nothing major, mind you - more like the smallest light at the end of the tunnel.

And yes, wonderful WONDERFUL improvement!

[mikella]

I think I'm also beginning to see more of his true personality. And he is quite a little brat! He bites when he doesn't get his way or when he wants something. Saucy little bites. Don't usually break the skin, but they are hard. He's also cuddly though. It's really like he's a little toddler. He squawks 'hey!' when he bites bc that's what I do...

My husband is still getting nasty bites.... It's interesting how things are evolving... And each day is different. Up and down.

Right now he's perched on my thumb with my fingers wrapped around his back (his fav position, I'm typing with one hand). He likes to CHEW my fingers and try to pull my nails off half the time when he's sitting like this. Not nice.

Picking up a new cage sometime in the next few days, much bigger. Still keeping his other one to use too.

Q, How much down do your guys drop in summer? I keep wondering if he's slowly beginning a moult or if it's just from the warmer temps (?)

[liz]

That is a good question. With 14 loose in a room it kind of looks like snow. Tweet lost two flight feathers on his right wing. He can't fly. Should I trim the two on the other side so he is balanced enough to fly up on a perch?

[Wolf]

Only if they don't come out on their own in a few days.

[Pajarita]

Some of my parrots have started their molt, too (it gets earlier and earlier every year) so I would not worry much - especially since he had been on a high protein diet before you got him, Mikella. They always have a 'hard' molt when they had been eating high protein for a while... it's like the body is trying to regulate itself and get rid of the extra protein in a natural way.

Have you tried putting something on your fingers so he can chew it instead of them? Do you know ring pops? My small grandchildren love them, that's how I know them They are just a large plastic ring with a perpendicular thingie sticking out where the 'setting' is supposed to be and the candy is stuck and goes around this thingie so the kids suck on it as if they were sucking on a large 'diamond' on a regular ring - maybe you can make something like that, only not candy but something chewable (a rope knot?). Always remember that the trick to teaching a bird not to do undesirable things is to redirect the action to something very similar and equally attractive to them but safe for us and them. I always say that parrot owners need to think like Marines: "Adapt, improvise, overcome".