My birdy adventure and new rescue

[LauraO]

Well today was a birdy adventure for me to say the least. It all started when I found a baby mynah bird that fell out of it's nest and had a damaged leg and wing. I called a rehabber who would take it if I brought it to her home, which I did immediately. When I met the woman I met all her birdy rescues which included a number of different parrots in various conditions. After a lengthy conversation I mentioned to her that I had been interested in possibly adopting a larger parrot in need of a home. Well if you know me you know how that conversation ended :roll:.

I brought home a young adult (?) Meyer's Parrot :omg: :omg: :omg:. His name is Cookie, which I'm not a fan of but he recognizes his name and I wouldn't want to change it during this tough transition. He even came with a cage and a stand. When I first called my husband he was skeptical as she was kind enough to give me the parrot and the cage at no charge, but he has wanted a Meyer's on several occasions so it only took a few minutes after meeting cookie and he was sucked in. Of course, the bird is in no way tame and I have absolutely no expectations regarding the bird. I'm just hoping to give a bird a stable home and to expand my bird interest outside the lovebird realm :) .

We've been spending time with him today in his quarantine room (our bedroom) and he has been getting used to us. He has even ventured out of his cage, but gets scared when we get to close. But that's okay because we have plenty of time for him to get used to us :).

P.S. How does one go about training a Meyer's Parrot :rolleyes:.

[Elle]

Congratulation on your new addition. I'm sure with all the love you have Cookie won't take long to adapt and be an active member of your family

Elle

[bellarains]

Laura,

That is so awesome. I just know with the time and love you and your hubby will give Cookie, he will eventually come around.

I think training and taming is similar for all birds. Do you know any of Cookie's history? I would think this would very helpful so that you will know what Cookie might be scared of in particular. Hands is probably a given, but there might have been an incident involving something in particular that you will want to avoid. Just a thought.

Oh yeah, Post us some pics please :)

[Paulette]

That is wonderful. She needed to pass him on and you needed to take him home. Isn't it great how things work out like that. It was your good deed for the day, well....2 actually. You got a reward for your good deed. :)
Paulette :grouphug1

[Janie]

Laura, I just did a web search to see what a Meyer's looks like.....beautiful!!!!! Congratulations to you, your hubby and of course, Cookie! If he's tamable, YOU'LL get the job done! :) I'd love to see some photos of him, too!

[linda040899]

Hi Laura and congrats on your new Meyer's Parrot! They really are nice birds and can make good pets.

One thing I've found in my years of having larger parrots is the you don't really tame them. You find common ground and the relationship is built from there. I've had Ginger since 1991 and she doesn't want to be touched. Our relationship revolves around that premise. She will interact with us almost constantly and that's acceptable to me. With Georgia, having been a neglected bird has a huge impact. If I handle her, it's got to be on her terms or I'm in big trouble. I'm still healing from the last bite I got from her! Harley, Alex and Dao all like close up attention so all 5 are very different.

As for the name, hate to say this, but the name he came with is Cookie and he will always recognize it. Georgia was George before she was DNA sexed and I still call her George. ~sigh~

[LauraO]

Thanx everyone! We are pretty excited to have Cookie. I will try and get pics soon as we just bought a new camera. All my previous pics I had stored on our computer got lost :evil: so I' m still upset and not wanting to take any more pics quite yet.

Well Cookie is hanging out on top of his cage just checking stuff out. He seems even bigger today than he did yesterday :omg:. It was soooooo funny because all we did for hours after bringing him home yesterday was to sit on our bed and stare at him and every move he made. I kept laughing thinking that had to be disturbing for a bird who's had little attention in his life :whistle:. He's getting a little more nervous which isn't surprising given that he was moved to yet another home yesterday. Though he was lucky enough to get a ride in my Mini Cooper 8) .

I do know a little about his history and he was basically a bird who bit his owner once and they didn't want to work with him anymore so has been neglected. My biggest goal with him is to at least get him stick trained so we can move him around once quarantine is over.

Thanx for the tips Linda. It's kind of hard to know where to start with Cookie as my only bird experience is lovies. I know what you mean by the name. My only hope is that I can either learn to love the name or to give him a cute nickname or two that he'll respond too.

[butterfly1061]

Hey, That's a sporty bird riding in that Mini Cooper! With everyone staring at him yesterday, I can picture the first day a baby comes home from the hospital. Just can't take enough in. Congrats on the new addition Laura. :D

[zlatushka]

as for the name... we once adopted a kitty named "Cookie" (which we also aren't really fond of...) anyway, He had a lot of little quirks, funny, but quirks.. :) and "Cookie" eventually morphed into "Kooky". :lol

[BarbieH]

Congrats on your new flock mate! :):):)

I wonder which lovebird planted the idea of picking up a larger parrot while you were out ... must've left subliminal messages while you were sleeping. ;)

[LauraO]

Well I called the woman I got Cookie from to get more facts. The story goes that Cookie flew into a women's yard/house and she kept him once she couldn't find the owner. Well she has other birds but apparently Cookie bit her and then she wanted nothing to do with him. So he went to live with the woman I got him from in February of this year. The woman did let Cookie out of his cage daily but there was very little interaction outside of basic care stuff. I do know the important stuff which is he likes almonds and frozen soy beans (these are common here in Hawaii).

Today my husband had a late lunch and went up to eat with Cookie. We haven't seen him go near his food dish but it was cute because he went to his food bowel, got out an almond and took it to the top of his cage to eat it. Maybe I'm wrong, but this seemed to me to be a social move on his part :D .

[LauraO]

I wonder which lovebird planted the idea of picking up a larger parrot while you were out ... must've left subliminal messages while you were sleeping. ;)

I think it was Zimber, he's hopin' that bird will come and eat all the lovies that have made it their goal in life to terrorize him :evil: :evil: .

[jknezek]

Laura -- just a thought.... there are two excellent email groups on Yahoo that I recommend all first-time large parrot (and small for that manner) owners join. The first is a group called Feeding Feathers and is easily found while searching on Yahoo groups. You can guess what the purpose is. The woman who runs it is a huge proponent of organic, do-it-yourself stuff, but she also is an expert on any nutrition related behavioral problems. Something that is very common in older, somewhat neglected parrots.

The second is a much harder group to find. It is called ParrotBAS and it is a very detailed, structured group quietly devoted to behavioral modification in parrots and, more importantly, behavioral modification in parrot owners as we are more easily changed than our companion birds. They are a very demanding group, but run very well and extraordinarily knowledgable and helpful. They have tremendous resource links for helping with bird behavior. If you are interested in this group, contact me at jtknezek@hotmail.com and I will help you find them. I belong to the group, on its fringes as a lurker, and have basically been reading their material before I begin work with my eclectus.

Jeremy