I
was a little hesitant about bringing Simon out into the flock. Not
for fear of his safety, even though he is smaller, but for the safety of
Benjamin and Christopher. :-)
Simon
is a hand fed socialized parrot, as I said before, but he is also a little
biter. I'm not sure he means to be biting as I think he feels he
is preening me, but trust me it hurts! *smile* He goes
in his cage, next to my computer, for time out when he bites and it seems
to be working.
The
first time he was introduced to the other parrots they flew off the playset.
He had it all to himself until he decided he wanted to be with his brothers.
He climbed, jumped and flew to get to the top of Benji's cage, where they
were hanging out. But to his surprise they flew away.
He stood their with his head down to be petted, but no such luck.
Each
time since then Benji and Christopher hit the pavement when they see him
coming. I find this strange with Benji because he is willing
to take on Charlie, our red lored amazon, which is a much larger parrot.
Maybe its the colors and the mask over Simon's eye. For whatever
reason I keep them apart unless Simon sneaks to their playset.
In
the evening, when cleanup takes place, Simon has the playset to himself
for about thirty minutes. He enjoys this time, but would rather
his brothers were up there so he could chase them. A game of " tag"
starts as soon as all three are present on any of the cages, or playset.
Needless
to say Simon's play area is my computer desk. I have a container
of toys which he turns over to play with before running up to my shoulder
to hang out for awhile. His favorite pastime is sitting on
my fingers as I type! He chases them for a few minutes trying
to get his tiny head under my hand for a head scratch. He is
such a love bug. But as I said he is also a biter, which I hope he
outgrows soon.
Socialization is not a problem as he is held by everyone in the family,
even though he is happiest sitting with me. I think some of his biting
stems from improper weaning or weaning too early. When we first
brought him home he went after my fingers in a manner of wanting to eat.
I was able to break him of this habit by offering seed, pellets and toys
to chew on.
When he bites, for attention, he receives a firm "no". If
the biting continues he is put in his cage, which for him is the worse
punishment. After a few minutes I open his cage and give him a scratch
to see if he bites. If he doesn't I bring him out of his cage for
more playtime. If he does bite, then again I say "no" and close his
door.
When using this method I do not recommend leaving your parrot in its
cage for very long, because they can not tell time. A minute
to them could seem like forever and if left to themselves they will start
to play to entertain themselves or eat. In my opinion, if this
happens you are sending out the wrong message when returning them to their
cage. They will soon look at this as a positive way to return to their
cage. Parrot bites = cage play time.
In
order for me to get anything accomplished I have set my day as if I had
three small children and its worked wonders!
All
the parrots get up between 9:30 - 10:30 am. This gives them
the amount of sleep required. Their water, papers and food
(if needed) is changed. They are brought into the living room
where they will stay until going back to bed at night.
They
play on the playset or roam - they are little adventurers - until around
1pm at which time they sing to each other. This usually goes
on for about 10 minutes. From 1pm until 3pm I answer email while
I listen to my soaps. :-) Promptly at 3pm the Easy Listening
station goes on the TV.
Simon
is put in his cage, because he would be on me if not, Benji and Christopher
find a branch on their playset to chill out and nap. All three
take a nap from 3 until 4 or 4:30 pm! Actually they look forward
to their quiet afternoon nap and let me know if for some reason I do not
change the TV to music mode close to 3. Its not that they can
tell time, but their bodies do adjust to repeated behavior.
But then again my clock does chime on the hour. Do you think
they know its 3 by counting the chimes? *smile*
Its
the same schedule I followed when my adult children were growing up.
It worked well with them and it seems to do well with my feathered children.
And if there is a storm rolling in...that's a *special* nap time.
:-)
Over
the next few weeks I'm sure all my little parrots with big hearts will
be playing together. But for right now they need time to explorer
and get to know each other. This is their kindergarten time.
*smile*
Lovebirds
are very special in their own right. Their coloring is beautiful,
they are comical to watch, they are definitely adventurous and their messes
are no where near their larger brother and sister parrots.
UPDATE - August 16th - It has been several weeks now and Benjamin (peach faced lovebird) wants nothing to do but bully Simon. Benji sneaks to Simon's cage to run him off, but Simon never ventures to Benji's playset or cage area. Simon is perfectly content with me as his playmate. Christopher, on the other hand, would play with Simon if Benji would allow it, but that is out of the question, at least at the present time.
