Friday, March 30, 2007
BREAKTHROUGH
my husband talked to me about bentley eating his pellets!! i could not believe my ears, so i had to see it for myself. i went into the bedroom and as i was talking to him, he went into his cage, to his food bowl, picked up a purple pellet (its the zupreem fruit blend) shaped as a bunch of grapes...AND HE STARTED EATING IT. unbelieveable. he could've just been chomping it to pieces and not eating it, so i have to take a look next time, but its wonderful that he's trying them! i think we will still continue to give him some seeds, but we will decrease the amount of it every other day. this is great because he needs to get rid of some weight. we will then use seeds and nuts more for treats.
what bentley has also been doing is showing his "love" for my husband. bentley has started to regurgitate for him. i have told my husband to turn away from bentley if he starts making motions and sounds of regurgitation to discourage this behavior (bentley needs the nutrition more than my husband!). so far he hasn't done this action for 1 day.
oh, and before i forget, the cipro dosages have been going well. my husband has been administering these, and from what i hear, without problems! this is great! it should be ending soon.
Monday - dose #9: given successfully
Tuesday - dose #10 & #11: given successfully
Wednesday - dose #12 & #13: given successfully
Thursday - dose #14 & #15: given successfully
my husband talked to me about bentley eating his pellets!! i could not believe my ears, so i had to see it for myself. i went into the bedroom and as i was talking to him, he went into his cage, to his food bowl, picked up a purple pellet (its the zupreem fruit blend) shaped as a bunch of grapes...AND HE STARTED EATING IT. unbelieveable. he could've just been chomping it to pieces and not eating it, so i have to take a look next time, but its wonderful that he's trying them! i think we will still continue to give him some seeds, but we will decrease the amount of it every other day. this is great because he needs to get rid of some weight. we will then use seeds and nuts more for treats.
what bentley has also been doing is showing his "love" for my husband. bentley has started to regurgitate for him. i have told my husband to turn away from bentley if he starts making motions and sounds of regurgitation to discourage this behavior (bentley needs the nutrition more than my husband!). so far he hasn't done this action for 1 day.
oh, and before i forget, the cipro dosages have been going well. my husband has been administering these, and from what i hear, without problems! this is great! it should be ending soon.
Monday - dose #9: given successfully
Tuesday - dose #10 & #11: given successfully
Wednesday - dose #12 & #13: given successfully
Thursday - dose #14 & #15: given successfully
Monday, March 26, 2007
Sunday - Cipro dose #7: given successfully
Today - Cipro dose #8: given successfully
it is amazing how strong and adaptable they are. just 4 days with us and bentley has really opened up to my husband. my husband gets a personal concert, chat session and head scritching rights every time he walks in the room! what do i get? an occasional running (so far feigned) attack, rare eye contact and usually rights to give mr. bentley a nut. :-) lol. im SO okay with this, as long as he is eating some good stuff, he is blossoming with strength and can trust a human.
bentley seems to become more and more aware of his surroundings. he LOVES to play and chew stuff. he likes to bite off the clothespins holding up the blanket that covers the back of his cage (meant to give him a greater feeling of security in comparison to a cage that is open on all sides), he bit apart a birdie kabob in one afternoon and he has started to chew on the other wooden toys in his cage. its like he just got a big burst of energy since the day after he arrived.
im thinking that cipro is really working for him in killing the bad bacteria and he is feeling a lot better. that may mean more lunging at me with much more enthusiasm, but it wont be the first time that i get bitten by an amazon. :-)
i do spend time with him one-on-one, without my husband in the room. we talk, sing, just spend time together. i often give him a treat and he always takes it nicely from my hand (the only time bentley has ever shown aggression to my hand while holding up a nut was when my husband was in the room).
since bentley has not shown any interest in roaming away from his cage, we usually just leave his cage door open during the day and check in on him every once in a while (4 or more times per hour). my husband is home all week so we'll see how things come along.
Today - Cipro dose #8: given successfully
it is amazing how strong and adaptable they are. just 4 days with us and bentley has really opened up to my husband. my husband gets a personal concert, chat session and head scritching rights every time he walks in the room! what do i get? an occasional running (so far feigned) attack, rare eye contact and usually rights to give mr. bentley a nut. :-) lol. im SO okay with this, as long as he is eating some good stuff, he is blossoming with strength and can trust a human.
bentley seems to become more and more aware of his surroundings. he LOVES to play and chew stuff. he likes to bite off the clothespins holding up the blanket that covers the back of his cage (meant to give him a greater feeling of security in comparison to a cage that is open on all sides), he bit apart a birdie kabob in one afternoon and he has started to chew on the other wooden toys in his cage. its like he just got a big burst of energy since the day after he arrived.
im thinking that cipro is really working for him in killing the bad bacteria and he is feeling a lot better. that may mean more lunging at me with much more enthusiasm, but it wont be the first time that i get bitten by an amazon. :-)
i do spend time with him one-on-one, without my husband in the room. we talk, sing, just spend time together. i often give him a treat and he always takes it nicely from my hand (the only time bentley has ever shown aggression to my hand while holding up a nut was when my husband was in the room).
since bentley has not shown any interest in roaming away from his cage, we usually just leave his cage door open during the day and check in on him every once in a while (4 or more times per hour). my husband is home all week so we'll see how things come along.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Saturday: Cipro dose #4 & #5 given successfully.
Today: Cipro dose #6 given successfully.
BREAKTHROUGH
gosh, i can't believe Bentley has honored us with a breakthrough just a few days after moving to our home...bentley allowed my husband to scratch his head while perched on his cage door. and a great, long scratch it was too!
every time my husband walks into the quarantine room, bentley gets sooooooo excited and starts to sing and make noises. he bobs his head, open his wings a little, indicating that he r-e-a-l-l-y wants to go somewhere (that somewhere being closer to my husband).
since bentley likes my husband so much, my husband is also given the task of toweling bentley so that he can be given his meds. i just put the syringe in his mouth and squirt it in.
bentley used to really take a while to catch his wind after being towelled (at least 10 minutes) but now it doesn't seem to scare him much. he quickly recovers.
he still doesn't seem to eat the pellets, but we are being persistent. tomorrow i will have my husband try to soak his pellets into some apple juice and see if he will eat that.
between bentley and myself, he seems to only be very good if he sees a piece of nut between my fingers. when on the bed, he has charged at me. i do my best to stand my ground, only backing up a bit if need to. so far i havent gotten bit by him. (that will probably come in time, but im ready). he has also charged at me when on the ground. i stand my ground easily by poking out my elbow in his direction. he may think it is like my own beak and he stops in place and stares at me.
bentley, in general, doesnt seem to fear humans. i think he wants to be around people - it is too early yet to say he likes men over women or just hates me in particular - its just that it may have been a while since he last had one-on-one interaction before finding a place with Mickaboo. therefore he has lost trust in humans, yet he earns for the companionship.
when bentley sits on his cage door (his favorite roost when out of his cage) i could sit a few feet away singing and talking to him and he would feel comfortable enough to start preening himself (he doesnt pluck feathers anymore) and even doses off a bit. usually he doesn't look at me eye-to-eye, but i do know he is getting the benefit of my ambient attention. when we do meet eye-to-eye. i play the blinking game with him. he usually plays it with me, which is great. i hope that i can possibly gain his trust as much as my husband has received, but if not, then the interaction i get with him now is good.
he is such a beautiful bird and has many golden feathers on his shoulders. i wonder if that is a normal characteristic of blue front amazons?
Today: Cipro dose #6 given successfully.
BREAKTHROUGH
gosh, i can't believe Bentley has honored us with a breakthrough just a few days after moving to our home...bentley allowed my husband to scratch his head while perched on his cage door. and a great, long scratch it was too!
every time my husband walks into the quarantine room, bentley gets sooooooo excited and starts to sing and make noises. he bobs his head, open his wings a little, indicating that he r-e-a-l-l-y wants to go somewhere (that somewhere being closer to my husband).
since bentley likes my husband so much, my husband is also given the task of toweling bentley so that he can be given his meds. i just put the syringe in his mouth and squirt it in.
bentley used to really take a while to catch his wind after being towelled (at least 10 minutes) but now it doesn't seem to scare him much. he quickly recovers.
he still doesn't seem to eat the pellets, but we are being persistent. tomorrow i will have my husband try to soak his pellets into some apple juice and see if he will eat that.
between bentley and myself, he seems to only be very good if he sees a piece of nut between my fingers. when on the bed, he has charged at me. i do my best to stand my ground, only backing up a bit if need to. so far i havent gotten bit by him. (that will probably come in time, but im ready). he has also charged at me when on the ground. i stand my ground easily by poking out my elbow in his direction. he may think it is like my own beak and he stops in place and stares at me.
bentley, in general, doesnt seem to fear humans. i think he wants to be around people - it is too early yet to say he likes men over women or just hates me in particular - its just that it may have been a while since he last had one-on-one interaction before finding a place with Mickaboo. therefore he has lost trust in humans, yet he earns for the companionship.
when bentley sits on his cage door (his favorite roost when out of his cage) i could sit a few feet away singing and talking to him and he would feel comfortable enough to start preening himself (he doesnt pluck feathers anymore) and even doses off a bit. usually he doesn't look at me eye-to-eye, but i do know he is getting the benefit of my ambient attention. when we do meet eye-to-eye. i play the blinking game with him. he usually plays it with me, which is great. i hope that i can possibly gain his trust as much as my husband has received, but if not, then the interaction i get with him now is good.
he is such a beautiful bird and has many golden feathers on his shoulders. i wonder if that is a normal characteristic of blue front amazons?
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