Then, a few days ago, a friend of ours had mentioned to a friend of THEIRS that we had our eyes out, looking for a new parrot. Turns out they were attempting to re-home their 10 month old Quaker Parrot. They wanted a small fee ($50) to pay for the cage and the remaining food they had, and we jumped on it. We hopped in the car and drove an hour away and met up with our new bird, Caillou. We brought him home, knowing that he hasnt been worked with much, being told that he hated men and loved car rides, bananas, and dogs. Oh, dear God, we were in for it. He squawked the WHOLE WAY HOME. And he hated me, but ADORED my husband. We introduced him to my extremely submissive dachsund mix, who sniffed at him a few times and then trotted off to lay by the fireplace.
But every single time I reached in to tell Caillou to "Step up," he would lunge at me, beak WIDE open, and let out a nice "SQUAAAAWK!" I was so frustrated! Then my husband said, "He hasn't bitten me yet, just touch his chest and he'll step onto your hand." So I rolled up my sleeves, reached in SLOWLY, and got bitten! Blood was drawn! Not the best way to start off our long relationship. So he spent a lot of time in his cage this morning, and he was an unhappy bird.
As it got into the afternoon, I put the dog in the bedroom and shut the door, and the cat was outside. Our oldest son was at school, and our youngest was taking a nap. So I went in and opened his cage door. He snapped at my fingers as I'm unlocking his cage. But I propped it open and left the room. A few minutes later I hear "tap tap tap" on the kitchen floor, and see my cute little green bird toddling out to the living room where all the action is. I didn't move to get up or anything, just watched him walk closer to me, eyeball me, take a few steps, look at me, take a few more steps. I was on my laptop and next thing I know he is climbing up my leg! He climbed all the way up my leg, onto my arm, up onto my shoulder, and started preening himself! A few minutes later, he fell asleep in my hair.
He has been with us 2 days and learned 2 new words ("brrr" and "step up") and now says a total of 6 words ("pretty bird," "Caillou," "brrr," "step up," "Bella," "ooh la la," and part of a conversation in two tones that we can't understand). He knows "step up" and he hasn't bitten me or my husband since the initial homecoming.
I'm glad I found this site, and I hope to find lots of information here on the forum!
