Still not convinced our parakeet is ok

[Eric&Rebecca]

I know I've posted about this before but our parakeet is still being really... disinterested. I'd never take him back...EVER but i'm just worried we aren't doing it right... I've been in floods of tears tonight because i've been reading about how they should behave and ours doesn't and I feel like a bad bird owner...

Background:

He's five months old
He has been with us since Saturday evening
He is parent raised from a reputable breeder.

We have tried letting him out the cage and he doesn't want to come by himself. We've left the cage fully open for 2 days, he didn't really show an interest in that- So we've managed to train him with the wooden dowel to get him out the cage.

When he's in the cage, he'll hop down to the food bowel and go back. Then eat perhaps chirp a couple of times and then go back again to exactly the same spot on his perch. Then later on he will go hop down to the water bowel and again return to the same place. He sits there literally all day, he likes looking out the window but he doesn't really react to anything else. He doesn't hop around the cage but he still seems alert and healthy. He has pecked at his preening toy a couple of times but that's it.

Health wise there's NO fluffing up (apart from preening) and he eats enormous quantities for such a little bird. Although he won't eat spray millet, that may be because he's not sure what it is. His poops are well formed and good colour with no smell. I just can't figure out what the problem is because he doesn't seem stressed :-/

When he's out of the cage he'll fly and find somewhere to sit or crash land and sit there for an hour/hour and a half. He can fly because during training he has flown away and hung off various things and we managed to get him up unto our finger then he flew off a little bit. He's not clipped so he can fly and when he arrived he certainly made is obvious!

He just doesn't seem interested in us at all. One of us spends all day in his quarantine room with him in the bedroom/study so we try to stimulate him. The only time he really moves is when we place our hand in the cage or when we move around the room.

This just doesn't seem right at all.... Austrailian grass parakeets are described as animated and active... Ours is just the total opposite and if that's ok then I'll love him all the same but I just feel like he's not happy or something.

[marie83]

I'm not sure what ages grass keets are supposed to reach their milestones but was he brought straight out of the aviary to come home with you or was he kept in a domestic environment for a while before you picked him up. Either way its a big change for him and it Will take a while to adapt. Maybe just slow down a bit and sit outside his cage talking to him. It really isn't unusual for some birds to take a longer period of time to get more relaxed in a new environment for particularly when its a drastic change.

[Eric&Rebecca]

I actually think he is sick. He has had a couple of poops with bubbles in them. The poop itself was normal and formed but the liquid part had some bubbles. He also seems to be sleepy but he's grinding his beak so that's confusing me. I didn't think a sick bird would grind his beak. I am convinced his doing a little tail bobbing too but they said it's because he is little as keeping his balance on the perch. I called the emergency vet and they said a bubbly poop isn't an emergency and to listen for clicking in his breathing. I got as close as i could and I couldn't hear any clicking. He sneezed a couple of times but there's no discharge. I'm keeping an eye on his poop but the vet totally gave the the brush off saying it was probably just gas bearing in mind i was sobbing on the phone. I can't believe they told me not to worry. He's just doing his crop emptying action too. Maybe he is just napping and i'm being paranoid.

[friend2parrots]

Hi eric&rebecca, I just wrote a long post in response to your first post, and when i went to submit it, i saw that two other posts (maries and yours) were already posted during that time. so i saved it to my word processor.

im just going to post it here below anyway, just so its there, in case you might find the info in there useful, either now or in the future.

then i'm going to reply separately to your second post, about his possible sickness that you wrote about, etc.

[friend2parrots]

first off, I wanna say that from what you've written, both in the other threads about Percy and this one, I think Percy is doing really well. To explain why I think he is doing just fine, I'm going to respond to each of the things you've raised here point by point below:

I know I've posted about this before but our parakeet is still being really... disinterested...

well, I think this is actually what the grasskeets are like. Theyre really not anything like regular parrots in behavior, really. While I can't speak for Red Rumps in particular, I do believe that the the Red Rumps personalities are similar to that of other grasskeets like the Bourkes, Princess parrots, Scarlet Chesteds, Rosellas, etc. This whole bunch (and my Toby included) is pretty much known for their independence. They are perfectly content not interacting with you. Yet they like to be "near" you. Thats what Toby is like. he is happy sitting near me for a long time. he often looks quite disinterested doing this. but if I get up and go to the next room, guess who's following me? Toby. and in the next room, he might find a place pretty far away from me to sit, and stare out the window. but if i leave that room, he will follow me again, maybe sit on my shoulder and nap (if Ringo is busy elsewhere or in his cage). Then fly away and do his own thing, and ignore me for an hour.

so this is just the grasskeet personality. they are VERY different from budgies. I've had a number of budgies in the past, and all of them were SO much more interested in me than Toby. some were even clingy, wanting to sit on my shoulder all day. the grasskeets are really a different kind of bird. They do not seek interaction from people as intensely as regular parrots (budgies and tiels included) do. In fact, sometimes they want to be left alone to just do their own thing. Toby often doesnt want any direct attention from me. During those moments, he prefers to just sit on a high place and watch the household, ignoring me, Ringo, my husband, everybody. Just doing his own thing, napping, etc.

i've been reading about how they should behave and ours doesn't and I feel like a bad bird owner...

goodness! from what you've posted thus far about both Edmund and Percy, I would rank you among one of the most conscientious bird owners i've ever encountered! i think any bird in your care is destined to be a happy bird, because you really have made a lot of effort to make both Edumnds and Percy's life really great, checking on small things, etc. so even if Percy doesnt meet your expectations , please dont see that as a reflection of your care for him. i think you're taking wonderful care of both your birds!

and also (and this is a word of warning about EVERY single species out there) there's no cut and dry formula for how a particular species ought to behave, it depends on a lot of things really, just SO many factors. in the case of Percy, youve only had him for a few days. a birds personality doesnt come out until the bird feels ready to reveal it. and Percy is parent raised besides. a parent raised bird is going to take a LOT longer to get adjusted to living with a bunch of bipedal mammals who have long appendages and binocular vision . Percy has not been imprinted to humans. but as a bird of the psittacine family, he has the intelligence to learn, over time, that he's in a safe and good place. but its going to take him a while. and remember, even if he does feel safe and good about his world as a bird, he is a grasskeet - a parent raised budgie or tiel that gets acclimated to a new home is going to behave a LOT different than a grasskeet in the same position. The grasskeet is going to be more independent - it is not going to seek your company as much as a regular parrot, even if it likes you and feels safe in your house. thats just how they are.

We have tried letting him out the cage and he doesn't want to come by himself. We've left the cage fully open for 2 days, he didn't really show an interest in that- So we've managed to train him with the wooden dowel to get him out the cage.

i think using the dowel to get him out is fine.

When he's in the cage, he'll hop down to the food bowel and go back. Then eat perhaps chirp a couple of times and then go back again to exactly the same spot on his perch. Then later on he will go hop down to the water bowel and again return to the same place. He sits there literally all day, he likes looking out the window but he doesn't really react to anything else. He doesn't hop around the cage but he still seems alert and healthy. He has pecked at his preening toy a couple of times but that's it.

Health wise there's NO fluffing up (apart from preening) and he eats enormous quantities for such a little bird.

all this sounds really behaviorally normal for a grasskeet. they have big appetites, because they expend a lot of energy.

also, not all birds like spray millet. Toby is a healthy bird, with a really good appetite. But he doesnt like spray millet, even when he's hungry. he prefers walnuts. each bird is different.

if Percy's eating well, and his poops are well formed, and his eyes are bright and clear and wide open during the day, and his feathers are not fluffed, and if he's not sitting on the bottom of the cage, and if he's not exhibiting any signs of typical illness, i would just not worry too much, and just give him some time to adjust.

I just can't figure out what the problem is because he doesn't seem stressed :-/ ...This just doesn't seem right at all.... Austrailian grass parakeets are described as animated and active... Ours is just the total opposite and if that's ok then I'll love him all the same but I just feel like he's not happy or something.

really, from what youve written, he sounds healthy, and his behavior sounds really normal for a parent raised bird thats just arrived home from the aviary. although i havent met Percy and can't really tell, from what youve described - his little chirps, and the preening, the healthy appetite, etc - he sounds REALLY happy to me!! the grasskeets are pretty layed back birds. theyre really not demanding at all, they are just SO different from regular parrots. sometimes this comes across as lack of interest on their part. but i do think Percy will warm up within the next two months. its going to be a long time frame like that, because he is parent raised.

here's a way to put the whole thing in perspective. there's actually very little difference between Percy and any of the outdoor songbirds that come to visit your garden. So in the beginning, having him in the house is going to feel like you have a wild bird in the house. Over time, he will learn to appreciate your company, but its not going to be an automatic thing, like with a handfed. Yet there are countless benefits to him being parent raised, which i think you will discover in the future.

[cml]

EDIT: As friends2parrots, I noticed several posts have been posted since I typed this...

I mean this in the best possible way, but: Chill out!

From what Ive read you are doing everything you can, and very good at that. You are not a bad bird owner.

What I think you need to realize though is that he is in a new environment, and that it takes time to get used to it. I wouldnt even open the cage for a while, thats just a new scary thing atm. Let him get used to his surroundings, and you. As I think I remember people posting in your other threads, do this by just being in the same room, a bit away from him, maybe reading a book. Dont force him to interact with you yet.

Leroy came to us in a situation much like yours. He was older though, 8 months, parentraised and not treated in the best way (which from what ive read, your guy was). He took some time trusting us, and to start playing with toys etc took longer. He'd never done stuff like that before.

Its been over a year since Leroy came to us, and we've seen HUGE changes over that year. From the first few weeks with a bond building, to early training which took time. We had a crisis where he lost all trust in everyone and everything after hitting a wall, and it took weeks and weeks to rebuild that trust. Now, after a year, he WANTS to be with us, and flies to us, but rarely lands. He's also a daddys boy, and does anything for my attention. Its so heart-warming to his development over time, and I am so proud of him. No, he cant do as many tricks as Stitch, nor talk as well, but damn right I love him and am just as proud him anyway!

His development is a great joy to me and I am sure you will see the same with your guy.
Dont expect birds to be what you've read, or how other birds are. They've all got different personalities and quirks. Stitch isnt anything like the screaming monsters you read that WFA can be.

Your guy seems to be doing just fine, he is eating, he is preening and his poop is normal. I think that sounds great, and it might be that you are expecting a bit much in very little time.
As Ive said, until you can be sure to get him in and out of the cage without any negative actions, I would let him acclimatize to his new surroundings. That doesnt mean that you shouldnt interact with him, but let it be on his terms for a bit. Trust isnt built in a day!

All the best.

[Eric&Rebecca]

HI guys,

Thanks so much for that and the literal slap. I needed that so much and its not rude or anything its truly what I needed. I'm just a bit concerned by his bubbly poop just now... please read separate thread.

[Baylee4ever]

How often does he sneezes? If its moré than 5 times in 1 hour then get worry.... If its just once or so its normal... Baylee sneezes and i asked her vet and she said once a day its normal. Baylee when she was sick she sneezed a lot without having nasal discharge, she did had liquid coming out of her nostrils without sneezing. So just because he dont have nasal discharge doesnt mean he is healthy, he could be sick. Take him to the vet, vets sometimes they think owners exagerates what they see. Especially If You tell them by the phone. Better take him to the vet.

[janetafloat]

I can hear how worried you are and it may be that you won't feel okay until Percy has been checked out by an avian vet.
What I will say, though, is that Percy, who is parent reared in an aviary, is a very different proposition to your hand reared (I think that's right?) confident Edmund. Percy is virtually a wild bird and it's going to take weeks if not months for him to settle into your home and feel confident. It doesn't seem unusual that he's not showing interest in you just a few days after he's been removed from his flock, moved to a new and very different environment and handled possibly for the first in his little life. Give him some time and cut yourself some slack, you're great porrants!

[Eric&Rebecca]

Yeah I think you're right. I knew he was going to be different and compared to having Edmund I think it's exaggerating it! It's just like having a guest in your house thats unhappy and you want to help them but you can't because it's just a case of time. I will take him to the vet tomorrow. I know he's been screened and vet checked before he came but I know I won't feel right! I just hope they have appointments, when we tried to get one for Eddie last time there was a 3 day wait!