Update on Eshe and reflections on bird ownership.

[Trinkapuppy]

You may or may not have read my threads in the welcome lounge, and my slightly panicky threads asking for advice on a few things.

I have had Eshe home for a week and a half now, and we are taking full advantage of the honeymoon period.

I started target training her today--after FINALLY finding a couple of food items she will work for--almond pieces and cheese. Since she does have a calcium deficiency, so near as we can tell, these are both great things!

She will step up for my husband--not with great joy, but without bloodshed! From either me, my husband, or the floor, she will step up for my four year old (who always asks first!) and she lets me or my four year old give her scratches--though does not tolerate them from my two year old or my husband.

 

Her diet when she arrived was ONLY zupreem pellets. She still won't take anything much better--she's making me crazy by feeding ALLL of the harrison's to the dogs--SOOO expensive! (FYI: Harrison's can be ordered on Amazon Prime at a decent price recently). I have some roudybush on the way. She takes the lafaebers occasionally, which is a similar shape, so here's for hoping!

In the meantime, although she won't take any fruits or vegetables, she DOES eat the tinkerbell mash I have in the freezer. Which is GREAT b/c I don't really have anyone to share the extra's with, and Jynx can't eat it all himself! Although I halve the recipe, I still would have ended up tossing nearly half of it. I have been adding a D3/calcium supplement and a vitamin A supplement to it, as well. Just small amounts. She is already looking SO much better. Her feet have stopped peeling, and her skin is healthy looking--not super white and flaky. She will also destroy anything I put on her skewer as if it were a toy--she's not eating it, but at least she's getting used to the taste.

 

She keeps trying to pretend she's phobic, but I've noticed that if I introduce a new toy of some sort, she will act all puffy and scared, but if I immediately leave the room for ten minutes, she's playing with it by the time I come back. She has had NO evidence of feather picking since the third day I had her. The little bald spot under her feathers has filled back in with down, and she is SO much kinder to her tail.

I sat and made toys for her for a couple of hours the other day--sadly, most of my 'parts' are for small parrots like my caique, but I still managed to make quite a few foot toys, and some great in cage toys. She 'helped' watching and commenting the entire time. Once I put them in, and moved some of the perches that were beside her cage for desensitizing her, she literally didn't come back out of the cage for the entire day. She just spent the day moving about her cage, checking out different perches, toys, and exploring. She seems so much happier in there than she used to.

 

I got the "parrot guy" (he has several large birds, though no greys) across the street to towel her so she couldn't see me, and hopped into the room and made quick work of using the dremel to shorten her nails, so I can now handle her easily. She was surprisingly accepting of the procedure, and even gave me a "hug" afterward, and didn't seem to blame me at all for it. Within an hour, we were back to normal.

 

When we go to bed, we bring her into the bedroom with us--she sleeps for awhile before that, but doesn't like going to bed without us. She then hangs out on the bed for about half an hour while we brush our teeth and then read for 15 minutes before bed. While we read, she has a book of her own that she shreds. When I pick up her book and clean up all the little pieces, she says "Bedtime, Eshe!" (she already knows her name!) and steps up to go into her sleeping cage.

 

Someone in her past taught her to give sweet kisses, and when she gets aggressive, if you ask for "nice kisses" she will reach very gently toward your cheek and make kissy noises. Generally, it calms her right down, and gives me a chance to step away when we're both comfortable with each other, rather than one of us having to give in to the other.

 

We have been taking advantage of her TERRIBLE wing clip (so many, many feathers =0 ( and going outside to soak in some vitamin D....I believe that greys may be like reptiles, in that they aren't particularly adept at absorbing D through their digestive tract. I spent a lot of time and effort studying the process when I was breeding some rare and expensive chameleons, and I know that it is very similar for humans and birds--I have a very high end complete spectrum reptile bulb--the bird ones do not cover as big of a spectrum, and the way the bulbs are made, they often rely on neodymium for UVA, which burns off rather rapidly even in the light. The human SAD treatment and reptile fluorescent bulbs are made much more similarly, so we will be using the reptile fluorescent (incandescent UV bulbs are worthless, and create too much unwanted heat). We will install there in the winter, and in the summer, we will use the natural lighting. I have also re-screened a window screen with very large weave mesh, which stops far less of the UV than the window screens we normally have. Sure, I get some flies from the nearby cattle fields, but that's what fly swatters are for!! I have built her a nice windowsill perch, and she spends several hours there, often with her head down and wings slightly spread like she's literally bathing in the sun.

 

We have discovered that she will let us do ANYTHING if she gets to sit on our shoulder. Including take a shower with us. This is a three times a week ritual now, and may be a large contributor in her healthy skin. I hated going after her with the water bottle--she just hated it so bad!

 

She has a HUGE vocabulary, though she prefers the whistles, and has learned the particular tone Jynx uses that makes me cringe. =/ Thankfully though, both of them are using it less now, as I continue to ignore it completely.

 

All said and done, I let the perception of African Greys as being difficult--near impossible--get in the way of my seeing the bird underneath. She is a parrot, as my others were. We are in for many wonderful times, and many difficult times, as we learn to merge two entirely different worlds into a single happy family unit. But we are already beginning to form a bond, and I anticipate that bond lasting for a long, long time.

She isn't a cuddly bird, but I have that in Jynx. In her, I wanted an intelligent companion, someone to help me fill my days. Once the girls are both in school, I will be on my own during the day, and someone to care for will help me be more motivated. I feel, after only a week and a half, that I have that in my Eshe. My entire family is enthusiastic about her and her future with us. Jynx....not so much, but he'll come around. I still make sure to give him the same love and attention as always.

 

A bird is a companion, not a pet. I have scoffed in the past at the thought that we have "companions" and not "pets" but a bird talks to us in our own language. A bird is our equal. A bird loves as much as it is loved. While this is true of dogs and cats, and I never mean to undermine the value of a dog or other animal as a family member--the bird loves knowledgeably. The choose to give us their trust when we earn it. More so than any other pet I have ever owned. And the bond becomes so much deeper and more complete. Honestly, I find it second only to the bond with my family--my girls and my husband. Maybe it makes me anti-social that I find my birds are more dependable as companions than friends--but I spend so much more time with them. I still appreciate my friends, love them, and want to spend time with them. But at the end of the night, when I come home, it's my birds I kiss goodnight and my birds who will be there in the morning.

 

I think she did have a rough start, but in some ways, I think that rough start has given her the ability to accept change without imploding, and I have gotten her young enough that she'll hopefully just remember the positives of her life here with us.

 

I am excited and thrilled to spend the rest of my life with this baby--my eternal two year old--and I thank God that I found her and was able to give her a good, forever home.

 

Sorry for the novel....that's just me.

[Barbara2]

I love your post! It's great reading about all your positive steps in such a short time. I had to go back and read your introduction because I missed it last week. Wonderful story and wonderful pictures!

[chelseaB]

Glad to hear things are going well with Eshe, she sounds like such a joy! You both are lucky to have found each other.

[Cupid]

Happy story, Eshe is lucky to have you!

[judygram]

I love your novels as most people do not put many of their thoughts into words like you do and Eshe is one lucky fid to be with someone who appreciates her for the unique awesome creature she is, thanks and I look forward to the next chapter in the saga of Eshe and her new life.

[Birdnut]

I enjoyed your post. I love to read stories from another person who "gets it" about birds. Lucky Eshe.

[Trinkapuppy]

Thank you, everyone, for the kind words. =0 )

Eshe and I are happy to have each other. I'm looking forward to my husband being able to handle her some--but at least she doesn't bit and attack him. Jynx and hubby are becoming even closer, as Jynx is snubbing me some--mad about the new bird--reminds me of my older daughter when my younger came on the scene. =0 )

I maintain his routine, allow him to rebuff me when he needs to, and soon enough he'll realize he's still getting the same attention. I have always planned to add birds, so I have always given him downtime and taught him to play on his own even when I'm not particularly busy.

 

Eshe let me flip her onto her back several times now, and we're making "giving hugs" into a treat-reward game. =0 ) I slide a finger under her wing when I can, and treat her give praise when she lets me, even for a second. She seems to be more motivated by verbal praise than any animal I've ever had, which is great.

It's not that I want her to be as "hands on" as Jynx (who loves whole body cuddles and love), just that I am keeping the future (harness training, wing maintenance, vet checkups, etc.) in mind. All of which will be much easier if she at least tolerates body touching, knowing she will be rewarded for tolerating it.

Given how fast she's coming around though (she already enjoys scratches on her entire head, bare skin around the eye rubs, and ruffling the feathers down the first few inches of the back) I have a feeling she may end up one of the more "hands on" greys I've met personally.

I'm taking advantage of our honeymoon period--not pushing her to the point of risking her trust--but using the leeway I have now to add as many new behaviors as I can before she gets more stubborn.=0 )

 

Right now, she's on top of her cage, taking all of the toys out of the big foot toy basket I gave her, and laying them out on the tray (I don't leave the play perch on--gets in the way and I can't reach up to take her down w/out a stool-->me=short!) in rows, so she can pick out the ones she most wants to play with. I just love watching her interact with her world! I do wish she were more food oriented--I would really love to start her on some foraging behaviors. But in the meantime, she is finding lots of things to do with her day.

When she start vocalizing excessively, I wait for a quiet moment, and then simply move her to somewhere new, and give her some toys to play with and some cardboard to shred. =0 )