Finicky About Bird Food or Jelly Beans?

Some parrots and conures are choosy about the brand of bird food they will eat. Our cherry-head conure, Mr. Spock, is not only selective about the brand, but he has a pecking order (pun intended) as to which color he will eat first. It reminds me of how some people will eat jelly beans, Starburst, or lollipops in a certain order.

His favorite bird food is Pretty Bird brand medium size fruity pellets. There are four colors in the mix, and they have a nice fruity aroma. First to go is the purple, next is the yellow, then the red, and finally the green ones. Many times when we change his food, all that is left is a bunch of the green pellets. What's up with that?

What have we learned? Cherry-head conures are not color blind.

Good Bird Medicine (Yum)

As a child and I was frightened of needles. Injections of any sort brought out my wild side...kicking and screaming all the way. Well, as a bird owner, I have that same thing to contend with when medicating Mr. Spock, our cherry head conure/parrot.

Today is day 18 of giving Mr. Spock his 21-days of medication. The stress poor Spock goes through while getting his medication using the vet's method should probably warrant a sedative for him (and for us). What a commotion! Spock is a very independent minded bird and doesn't do what Spock doesn't want to do. He tries to bite and claw his way out of getting dosed. He's also a biter when he feels threatened (the vet techs approach the little guy like he's a vulture).

If it wasn't so serious a matter, I would call it comical. Two human adults chasing a small green and red bird around the house with a hand towel. Slapstick. Spock sees the towel and dives to the floor, then starts a wild run and hop all around (his wings are clipped). Are you a bird owner who knows what I am describing? When we finally get hold of him, it breaks our hearts to see him in that stiff mummy pose. Then...it takes two of us to keep his beak open enough to slide in the tip of a syringe filled with medicine (a needle-free syringe). The first few times, Spock actually tricked us. He concealed the liquid meds somewhere in his beak, then"spit" it all out. Can you imagine? So we learned how to overcome Spock's trickery and get the meds down twice per day...and...make it a pleasure to do.

After about 10 days of the 'stalk/capture/medicate method', we really thought that he would become more accustomed to it and trained to accept the medicine routine. A delusion, I guess. So we switched over to the the 'sneak in to the beak' method. It all came to me while eating a yummy treat from Mercier's Apple Orchard in Georgia. We mix the two medications with about 6 cc's (very little) of sweet, smooth, delicious old fashioned apple butter. I hand feed it to him and whisper sweet nothings at him the whole time. He loves it! Tastes good, he's happy, and he doesn't hate us. We love it too. (Of course, we called the vet's office and got the method approved...which leads me to wonder why in the world they don't give you a little hint like at the start.)

What have we learned? A negative becomes a positive for bird and mankind. By sweetening things up a little when giving our bird medicine, we turned it in to a treat and bonding process with Mr. Spock, instead of one that seemed more of a discipline exercise which controlled him with fear and force.

A Bird in a Bag is Worth Two in the Bush

You never know when a bird will do something that seems so ordinary to him, but becomes so memorable for you. Today our cherry-head conure, Mr. Spock, couldn't have done it better than if he were performing on stage. We brought the little guy in to the kitchen and put him on the countertop so he would have our company instead of screaming for us. He nonchalantly stepped over to a paper bag we just emptied and walked in to it, turned around, and made himself right at home. Of course, I grabbed the camera clicked away. He could not have known how cute he looked.

Maybe the bag represents a camping trip for him, like a little tent. After all, it is made from trees. Why did he want to be in the bag? He was so content to be there, centered, quiet, no sounds or "talking" at all. Just looking like he was trying to say "why haven't you brought me here before now?"

He then had to endure our big faces staring at him and telling him how cute he is, trying to get him to pay attention to the camera, then snapping pictures. Our little star.

What have we learned? An simple, inexpensive and quiet way to entertain the bird, while he in turn, entertains us. Symbiosis.