Saturday, July 7, 2007

He's a Parrot :)

Hi All! Last week I finally brought a feathered friend into our home. Rigel is a Green-Cheeked Conure, born April 20th. He loves Nora Jones, bells, and biting.

I keep reading that they like food hung in the cage so they can play with it and get exercise. I'm not sure what to use to hang them. I feel like string would be a bad idea, I'm afraid he'd get tangled in it. I've heard wood skewers are good so I'll be buying some soon. I have a bag of fresh red cherries on stems. Would it be okay to give them to him whole, or are the stem and pit choking hazards? I offered one by hand cut in half with the pit removed, and he was extremely disinterested.

Also, he does a few things contrary to what I've read about green-cheeks:

- He does not like baths. I provided a wide shallow bowl of fresh water, and he wouldn't go near it. The next day I bought a spray bottle with a fine mist, and misted him gently from above. He ran for cover like the sky was falling. Should we be doing this at a different time of day or in a certain spot?

- Loves climbing the walls of his cage, but won't go near the perches or the ladder. It came with a large dowel, but it seemed to wide for his little feet. So I bought a thinner natural wood perch, and a smaller cement perch, plus a ladder. He only climbs the ladder if I put something tasty (millet) at the top.

- Spends most of his time wandering the bottom of the cage. The cement perch is now connected to the bottom of the cage, since he spends most of his time there I'm hoping he will use it to file his beak.

MMMmmm It might be too late for this bag of cherries, I've almost polished them off myself. Thanks for reading my long-winded post.

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