Gilbert is home

[katana600]

Today I saw a different side of Gilbert and it was refreshing for a change. He has been a hooligan for days. He will try to bite me in the same breath as then tucking his head for a long scratch. He has been sassy and saying a lot of obnoxious things. All I can figure is he is getting relaxed and settled in his home environment and is showing tensions that he didn't know what to do with while we were traveling. So, today I was rummaging in the basement when I heard the doorbell. I came out the back door from the basement, finished with my visitor in just a few minutes and came back inside. As I passed Gilbert's cage he said "moooom". At that moment I realized he was not in his cage. His voice was close, I looked and looked. I branched out and looked upstairs, in the dining room, under the sofa, his usual go-to safety zones. My bedroom and bathroom are connected to spot where his cage is located. I looked in my bathroom, under my bed. He was quiet as a churchmouse after the initial call out for help. Finally I saw him. I have a decorative iron plant stand with a wicker top. He was clutching the wires of the frame but was under the wicker and couldn't quite figure out how to get up. He wasn't about to go down. He was hanging on sideways like a flag blowing in the wind. When he realized I could see him, I heard the cutest little "Ahhh" like he was soooo relieved to be found. He couldn't let go from the position he was in so he couldn't step up. I leaned in close and he used his beak to hold the front of my shirt for some stability and then waved his little foot looking for a hand to grasp. It was such a sweet gesture. I know he must have gotten into a panic when he saw someone standing at the door and heard the doorbell. I know he was in a pickle and needed me for a rescue, but it was still really sweet that he called out for "mom" when he was scared.

[Timbersmom]

That is sweet! That's the kind of moment that makes all the other stuff we go through worth it

[Ray P]

Some times when you think you have lost you find out that you have won. They know how to keep us guessing.

[katana600]

So true Ray. Sometimes it is the perception of winning the small skirmishes in life that give Gilbert the confidence to have faith and let me win the long term gains. He has had a couple very interesting days. Well, actually in observing him, I have had a couple very interesting days, LOL. He has been coming out and being more friendly day by day as he is getting adjusted to the idea of being home again. He has suddenly taken an interest in the television just inches away from his floor stand. He leans over and looks the front, leans back to look at the back. My take is that it is just inches from his reach and he is looking for a way to chew the bark off it, LOL. The other thing is he is climbing down the outside of his cage and unlocking one of the food doors. He is very quiet and stealth-like. Since I am home for the most part, I am leaving it unlocked until bed time to see if he is just curious or if he has a plan. It is kind of interesting how he will hang upside down, then lift the latch and rotate it and move it over without making the slightest sound. He hangs upside down there for so long I rarely have the attention span to notice he has moved on. He hasn't opened the door from the outside or the inside (yet), seems to be testing it. I don't have a food cup on that side so he is seemingly drawn to it simply for the mechanical aspects. He really is stepping up his game as far as exploration and playfulness. Whether he ever gets to the point of being that playful with his companions is irrelevant toward my goals as long as he seems happy engaging in his envirornment.

[Ray P]

I think you are seeing the start of something.

Corky is the master mind when it comes to opening things, taking things apart and untying knots. she has found her way out of every cage she has ever had even to the point of removing the top of her travel cage to get out

[katana600]

So hard to believe I just posted in another thread about Gilbert's quiet ways. He is withdrawn and he doesn't like commotion, but he has not been quiet lately. This Maaaaa business is the first time since getting my first parrot seven years ago that I am finding myself pushed to the brink. He yells Maaaa at me while I am cooking, while I am in the room, while I am out of the room, while I am in the shower. Sometimes it sounds quick like "Mom" but more likely to be drawn out and urgent. My daughter started this, she has been doing it for ages, but over Father's Day when she was recently home, Gilbert took such a delight in it, he has been doing it since then. I sent her a message that if she thinks it is funny, laugh about this, every time he bugs me, I will say a quiet prayer for you to have triplets. By the end of this weekend, it was for noisy, hyperactive triplets. All boys. All in separate sports. Throwing the ball in the house. Wrestling and breaking things. Hahahaha... When he is annoying me the most, I try to hear the thing he says that I like the best "Hey", like Uncle Silas on Duck Dynasty. Hey can be said so many different ways and means something different based on the tone and the situation. My favorite is when he says "Hey" when I turn out the lights to go to bed because he wants me to come back and scratch his head. Then, just as my head hits the pillow, the last thing I hear is "Moooom".

[Ray P]

Isn`t this what you have been waiting for ? !!

Your opening Pandora`s box, YAH !!

[danmcq]

LOL, Maaaaaaaaaa! Just had to get in one more.

 

Congrats on Gilberts verbal interacting at a whole new level.

[Timbersmom]

LOL! Sorry but I had to laugh. Too old for triplets too so I should be safe Guess this is a case of be careful what you ask for! I'm very interested to see what Gilbert does next.

[katana600]

I guess what gets me most is he sounds just like Kelsey's voice and I have been tuned in to that one for a quarter of a century. Its one of those things that once I have been trained, it is hard to turn it out again. You did pretty good Dan, sounded just like her. And yes Ray, I asked for this over and over again. I used to sit near him when he was frozen with fear and just pray he would come out of his shell. Even then, there was a little voice on my other shoulder saying "be careful what you wish for". And "Jamie" its okay to laugh, just not to have him repeating annoying things in your voice. Kelsey thinks it is pretty darn funny from a thousand miles away. I can be at her place in fifteen hours. As for Gilbert, I have been seeing some new positive things lately. He has been climbing part way down his floor stand and swinging on a toy. He usually will only perch on a "sure thing" solid, top perch of the stand. He climbed onto the rope and leather lace toy that is bigger than he is. He nibbled and explored and he pushed his beak against the wall to make it swing. Not too boisterous, but he is testing his limits. At night and again in the morning, he is showing a little more love while I give him a head scratch. He is starting to arch his neck and lean in to have a neck massage. I am able to put two fingers through the bars and not have him turn quickly trying to take a swipe at me. And finally, I think we are taking a turn in the assertive stance he takes when I change his food bowls on the door of his cage. He has been giving me the bull rush and has every intention of biting me. Usually, I will walk to Java's cage and put her food and water in and in the meantime, he goes back inside so I have time to pop his dishes into his holders. Today, I did something different. I called his bluff. Instead of moving away. I looked him in the eye and asked him what he is going to do. I left my hand on the door of his cage and he came running really fast and then stopped short, looked at me, looked at his beans and backed off. It may mean that he was just really hungry today and wasn't too sure if I would take those warm beans right back if he bites me. That is what I do with the night night almond when he gets in a bite on me. Slowly he is changing. I still look into his eyes every day to see if something in there is beginning to "click". I am still seeing such a slight movement in the eye pinning, I would be hard pressed to read his poker face, but I know he is slightly moving his pupils. He is quite the interesting little character.

[Ray P]

When is the coming out party for Gilbert ??

All of us that have followed the Gilbert is home thread would like to come to that one.

[katana600]

Wouldn't it be the triumph of his "recovery" to have everyone on the forum meet up? It isn't realistic, but Ray, you are only a few miles off my regular traffic circuit when I go to northwestern Pennsylvania. Leave the light on for me.

[katana600]

We have been home long enough to get into a routine. Gilbert has been very steady and quiet. He has been asking for head scratches every time I walk into the room. It's kind of funny when he is outside on his play stand and he will scamper just as fast as he can to go inside his cage to the perch where he permits me to scratch him. He is also doing an interesting thing when I feed him. For most of the time since I have had Gilbert, if I touch the outside of his cage for any reason, he gets spittin' mad. He ruffles his feathers and he charges at me. I respond by being respectful and only touching "his" cage as is absolutely necessary. I will clean it and open the door to feed him. Occasionally, when we come and go, I take out toys or put toys in. When we came home, I didn't put a few of the bigger rope perches into his cage and subsequently moved his food dishes so I can get to them easier if he is "guarding" the regular food doors. His three food dishes are on the door of the cage with a wire stand connected for him to hold onto while he eats. If Gilbert guards the lower dishes, I fill the upper dishes and vice versa. He stopped rushing to the food doors now that he can't predict which way I am going. Most of the time when I open the main cage door and start putting his dishes in there, he will swing down really fast from the ceiling and try to bite me. Recently, I changed things a bit. Rather than retreating to give him time to get calm. I just froze in place to see if he would follow through with a real bite. It was a showdown and I didn't look him in the eye or challenge him, I just talked softly and asked why he wants to do that. I was quiet and calm but I really was sure he was going to take a chunk out of me and set us back a pace. Instead, he just held real still, his beak just an inch from me and he studied what I was doing but didn't attack me. Now he is doing that every day. There are times when it gets too intense and I hold back his favorite warm bean dish and tell him "go up on top" and he will go to the door top. I carefully keep my fingers out of the way and let him have a few bites of warm beans, then he lets me put the dish in the holder without getting into a snit. It seems like a small change, but it feels huge to both of us as we try to find that sweet spot where we can trust one another.

[katana600]

Day by day, small changes add up. Gilbert and I have had a very quiet week home alone. He has been much more reserved and relaxed. Almost the laid back kind of beach vacation lollygagging kind of vibe rather than the clenched up fear frozen quiet of yesteryear. He quietly and systematically destroyed a sisal net foraging ball that he has had since his early days and was formerly reticent to explore. He has moved to come touch my hand as I fill his food dishes. He comes real fast around the corner of the door from the ceiling of his cage and slides down the bars and swipes at me first. When I go against every instinct to move out of his reach, he stopped for the first couple of days and just watched me. I stopped and watched him. He has progressed from doing that to the same fast and furious approach, watchful silence, then tentatively and gently touching my hand, then retreating. I think he is letting me know if he wanted to, he could stop me from touching his danged cage, but he is allowing me the grace to feed him. Hmmph.. some attitude to his devoted servant. The little pip. When we got home, I couldn't find a wing nut from the acrylic holder for the roll of white paper tape, adding machine tape. He wasn't very fond of it anyway and only tolerated it on his travel cage. I don't share toys between cages and didn't want to let the roll of paper get into Java's cage by mistake, so I just put it on top of Gilbert's cage and let an inch of it thread through the ceiling bars. He has been going out of his way, on the inside of this cage to pull it down bit by bit, or should I say bite by bite? Funny how that is the way he allows me to touch him, only when he is inside the safety of his cage. Well, now he has about 8 inches of paper "flag" that he battles when he sits on his favored perch. He is the one who pulled it down there but a breeze in the room will make it flutter and touch him and then it is game on. He seems to be enjoying the burst of energy and I am enjoying the fact that he is moving around and getting some exercise and kind of finding his mojo. He hung upside down from his ceiling and flapped and did the first pterodactyl scream yesterday and it make my blood run cold with the fearsome energy he put into that. He flapped like he was caught in a bear trap but it was all in the spirit of raucous play rather than fear and panic. Our little guy Gilbert is turning into a hell raiser overnight. LOL. Later David returned from a week away and Gilbert just chattered unintelligble but long winded babbling. Then he did the funniest 'new' laugh, "ah haw haw haw haw haw", kind of a mix between a crow and a beligerent bully and when we laughed he laughed his regular amused laugh. It was heartwarming to hear him welcome David home. It was the first time I felt my shoulders relax down from around my ears from the tension of the long time away from home in the circumstances of care giving. Gilbert and I seem to both have relaxed and sighed, we are home.

[katana600]

[Luvparrots]

Sorry Dee, it says the video is private. To log in.

[katana600]

I was still working on the settings. Will you try it again for me please?

[judygram]

He is such a good boy Dee, thanks for sharing that little bit of him with us.

[katana600]

Thanks, this has been our most awesome day ever. He climbed off his cage, explored the house, came to me in the kitchen and asked to come up. He had a little bit of a scare and then he flew, hop-skip-and-a-flap, but he made it over the island and went about 25 feet. His breathing sounded so raspy, it was scary and I was afraid he hurt his wing so I helped him back to his cage and watched him. He was fine and we left the house and came back to him and he climbed down on the floor and came back out to the kitchen and let me pick him up again. He was singing and talking and hooting. I have a hard time catching him on video but he was obliging this time. He is really having a big day of breakthroughs today. I plied him with lots of fruits and vegetables and he flung them in to the sink. So.... he is behaving like a "normal" grey today. My heart is filled with such a joy. Thanks for sharing it with me.

[Luvparrots]

It worked. It's a great video of Gilbert. Gilbert looks very sure of himself. I have enjoyed following Gilbert as he has found his way to happiness and I am delighted to hear his strong voice and relaxed self. Good job!!

[Ray P]

Gilbert is awesome !! Great video.

[Timbersmom]

Loved the video. He really is a "changed bird" isn't he? Way to go:)

[katana600]

I just loved the way he seem to think for a second about it not being time to go night night. Then he swung quick to look out the window, then he laughed. I think really he decided he had had enough of the kitchen and wanted to go back to his cage. Every night before bed time when he is on the floor stand or cage top I ask if he is ready to go night night and he scurries as quick as he can to get inside. Other times if I carry him away from his cage he asks if I "wanna go back". Last night he was totally exhausted from his adventures and just slept between his jaunts to the kitchen. That is a long way for a little bird to walk in unfamiliar territory. Today he is showing some mild signs of anxiety, but I am pleased to announce he is taking that out on a coconut rope ball and not messing with his feathers at all. As a side note, we gradually weaned him off the rescue remedy drops starting in late May. He has not had any drops at all in more than three weeks now. I think they helped some but were not a magical cure all. Time and patience and reassurance to him have been slow, but are showing some hopeful improvements. He is calm and chatty in his cage or on his floor stand a lot like this video but not if I get up to record him. The best part of all is that he was the one to decide to come out with me and he stayed for a long time before getting into a panic attack. Then, he returned for the second time in the same day. This is more than he has done for me in well over two years.

[Ray P]

In his mind the message he is telling you is. I think I might stay. Or I think I might give it another year. But I won`t let her know.

[katana600]

Good one Ray, I can just hear him thinking "Well, it isn't Jim now is it?" "Oh all right, it isn't really all that bad, but don't tell her, I've got her right where I want her." And thanks Judy, he is a good boy, he tells me that all the time. LOL. Thanks for helping me sort out the video posting Janet. He is making great strides and I still have dreams that he will fly some day. And Jamie a.k.a. Karen, the changes like this make every day of trying to work with him all that much sweeter. I can't get enough of his decision to let me rub his head and neck through the bars twice a day now. He has not had any second thoughts or quick swipes at me in many weeks. There is such hope when I see him relax, close his eyes and move his head so I can reach down the back of his neck and around his ears. Maybe, just maybe, if I learn to do it right, he will decide to stay. LOL.