. I have thought about getting some kind of was in the future, but I was leaning toward 
or 
. However, I am also the type of person people call when there is an animal in need, so having a coworker call me up on the 8th and say "Hey, someone found a bird" wasn't all THAT surprising...So, I go and pick him up and find out exactly what the story on this little guy was. Turns out that my coworker's other coworker [coworker has 2 jobs] was out delivering a pizza when he spotted a cockatiel with no cage on the side of the street. He pulled over and caught him pretty easily with how weak he was by that point. Being the caring man that he is the pizza guy goes and knocks on a few doors in the neighborhood to see if anyone's pet bird escaped. He actually found the bird's house! Talked to the GROWN WOMAN who lived there, and found out that her father had told her to just let the bird go outside to get rid of him and he'd be fine. He'd been surviving outside for a few days! She'd also thrown away the way too small cage and whatnot. So, the pizza guy gets the cage out of the dumpster as well as all the food and whatnot and heads back to work to talk to his coworkers about it. He has cats, so he doesn't really need or want a bird as well.
So, I take the bird home in his horrible torture cage he can't even spread his wings in and get him as settled in as I can. I did consider rehoming him, but the second day he was with me he fluttered the two feet from his cage to my shoulder while I was having lunch and gave me kisses [and stole a tiny bit of the string cheese I was eating...], and I simply fell in love...
So the next day I went out and got him a new cage I found on Craigslist [Yay for craigslist!] This one's base alone is 30x18", and over 30" high, so he's got plenty of room. Also got tons of stuff for making toys for him, since I know how important that is for such an intelligent animal [I have no doubt he's about as smart as my dog] and found some okay pellets and what seems to be a really good seed mix that he has been chowing down on. Also named him Little Dragon from a tape I had as a kid that had stories about a little dragon and someone who would tape orange cheeks to their cheeks and whatnot.
I even called the old owner a few days later, was completely shocked to find out that she was an adult woman, and on top of that, she dared to tell me that he's a tropical bird who doesn't do too well when it gets colder. You know, like in September when she decided to just throw him outside... She gave me tons of "advice" that I pretty much have been completely ignoring, but did let me know she'd had the poor little guy for 6 years. Six years in that horrible little cage, no interaction, nothing. He's afraid of hands, though he's been getting better about them, and he'll step up onto my hand if he's on the floor, top of his cage, or somewhere else he's not completely confident that it's his spot. He won't step up from inside his cage or my shoulder or other such places [hisses and even gives soft warning bites if you try or startle him somehow], but with how absolutely STARVED for human love he has been I'm impressed at how he'll happily sit on my shoulder for hours giving me kisses and trying to pull my earrings out.
We had a vet appointment the 14th, where we found out he only weight 55 grams, even after a week of eating tons and getting stronger by the day with me. The vet also did the gram smear, which came back clean! We decided against blood work with how weak he still was, though she did clip his nails for me. She's worried about his feet, as he wasn't holding them properly while walking, still doesn't, but with different sized branches instead of the uniformed sized dowels he had in the tiny cage he seems to be doing better. If the vet is still worried next time we go in to get his bloodwork done we might get x-rays to make sure there isn't any other issues with his feet we need to worry about.
Since the vet trip he's gained 10 grams, and has started getting more and more distance when he tries flying and works on building those muscles! I don't plan on clipping him, as I'm of the belief that if you don't want an animal that flies you shouldn't own a bird. I've been convincing him to try more and more foods, and today he chowed down on a strawberry for quite some time, and I think we're going to start using fresh berries for training time with how much he liked them! Lots more than Millet spray! He's also playing with the toys I made out of hemp for him, and I just picked up bells today to make some more that will actually make noise when he shakes them! He's becoming more vocal, but is still quiet enough that I can even nap right next to his cage in the middle of the day, something that's hugely important, since I work nights! Plan to have him harness trained by spring, but until then we either use the tiny cage to take him outside to enjoy the sun or he gets to sit in a windowsill and watch the world and enjoy sun through the screen. During winter it will probably be too cold for that even through the glass, so he'll just have to focus on training!
He doesn't seem to be at all afraid of dogs, and my friend who's visiting this week claims that after I left for work tonight he started making noises very similar to the squeaky toy her dog and mine were playing with. Not the smartest of sounds for him to be making, so we're going to be doing some serious training with the dog to avoid the bird, not that he seems to have any interest beyond keeping his distance. The bird can even chase him away from his food!
I am a little worried, as I'll be leaving for a week of vacation starting about Friday, but my neighbor has agreed to keep an eye on him and my rodents and feed everyone, so he'll be alright, he just won't get any fresh foods for a week or much loving, since he doesn't really like attention in his cage. You can move stuff around and he's fine with it, long as you aren't trying to touch him.
Oh, and for anyone who's wondering, Payton Leeroy is actually the name of my dog! I just use it for all the pet forums cause it ALWAYS seems to be free, and even people I've met IRL will come up to me and say "You're Payton's mom, right?" The awards on the door in the first picture below are his from Rally and Teacup agility, and we're also going to start competing in nose work and canine freestyle. We'll have to see what all I'll be able to train this bird to do once he finally takes to the clicker training. So far we're up to trying to get him to touch the stick instead of being afraid of it!
So, finally done with the super long explanation of why I'm here and all. Now it's time for a picture flood!
First off, this is him and the cage he had as it was found...
And how scraggly he looked...
His setup for the second day he was with me.
First day in the new cage. No, it didn't have a bottom tray at that time, though I did find one that was meant for those metal dog kennels that fits PERFECTLY! It's like it was made for my cage! And the nice thing is that his old cage fits under the new one, and with a nice cover sheet around the stand you can't even see it, so it's a great area for storage!
And how his setup looks today, though it will not by the end of the day! Planning on rearranging since he's not been completely comfortable with going up to his high corner to perch since I added the wall guard/scarf. Hopefully changing everything up [and possibly moving his food bowl up there for a day or two] will help with that. Currently the food bowl is on the outside of his cage to try and convince him that he is allowed to go in and out as he pleases, though he only comes out for food so far...
Jackpot!
