bentley seems to have recognized my husband since day one. my husband has been able to handle and scritch bentley all over and bentley sings very sweetly to him. for me, on the other hand, he has shown the direct opposite. he climbs anywhere that is closest to me when i approach and lunges for me with an open beak. he makes his "stay away" noise if i get too close and really pins his eyes. but he has been good about taking tasty treats from my fingers without biting.
i am taking it slow with him. something about women (or me) he doesn't trust or like. it could be that he sees my husband as his "mate" and therefore i am just competition and therefore despises me. it is just his first week, so i am planning to get him to do some targetting with me, just so that we can get some positive interaction with each other.
he seems to still have a bare chest, back and upper legs like he used to have while we first fostered him...im hoping he is still able to grow them back.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
Through unfortunate circumstances, Bentley is back with us (since last night, 5/11/2008) and is again available to be adopted. I do NOT believe that it is Bentley's fault for being returned to Mickaboo, but rather due to lack of information and knowledge among his adoptive family. And I'd like to share this, since it is a HUGE learning experience.
A week ago, Mickaboo was contacted by Bentley's adoptive parents stating that Bentley killed a budgie that landed on his cage. They stated that the budgie has been landing on his cage for the last 6 months without incident. They were horrified, to say the least.
Let me just say that allowing A-N-Y bird to land on any other bird's cage is a disaster waiting to happen. This was the first BIG mistake. Cages are a bird's home. It is their private space and it is their's (and their's ALONE) to master and do whatever they please in this area. This is their safe-zone. Any one (human and animal, alike) must first respect the bird who "owns" the cage before approaching or touching it. failure to do this could result in a possible serious injury. Even with friendly birds...All birds (including humans) have their good days and bad days. If you catch a bird on a bad day, it doesn't matter if you are their "favorite" or not, you will be growled at and warned to stay away. Bentley may have had an off day (considering that he allowed a budgie to land on his cage - without incident - for 6 months) and when the budge landed on his cage that one fateful day, he was really upset about this, became territorial and allowed his wild instincts to take over (remember that parrots are still wild creatures - they have not been bred for thousands and thousands of years like domestic dogs and cats for their loyalty and companionship) which is to defend his territory. this is what he did. unfortunately this lead to the death of that bird.
No matter HOW long a bird has been landing on another bird's cage without incident, this is something that should NOT be allowed or encouraged. It only takes one incident to turn this happy ritual into a serious injury or death. Please don't allow this. Parrots, by nature, are territorial about their space.
Also, parrots are basically prey in the wild. They are hunted by other animals, many of which come from "above". Something which hovers above a parrot can make him/her fearful and ready to attack.
In fact, it is because Bentley accidentally landed on a cage that held another parrot that led to the amputation of one of Bentley's toes (the other parrot bit so deeply into his foot while he was on the cage that it had to be removed). So PLEASE don't allow a bird to land on another bird's cage - it is just a disaster waiting to happen.
Bentley is NOT a child nor should he be treated like one. Bentley is an intelligent, wild creature that is an amazon parrot. Most of the time, parrots act on instincts. They do not have that intellectual capability of imprinting kindness on everything even if they are shown kindness from it's flock. A parrot needs to be respectfully introduced to anything new or situations involving his space. You seriously cannot expect more from a parrot than wild instincts kicking in, in any given situation. If s/he sings, talks, or whistles to you...if s/he steps up onto your hand/hand-held perch without incident...if s/he does tricks for you...consider yourself lucky and be in awe of your bird's ability to adapt and imprint on you their need for a flock family. all of the birds i care for says one thing or another, and all of them know how to laugh - it makes me always happy to hear their "conversations", no matter how many times they repeat themselves.
i treat all my birds with respect, but there are those that just don't like me for one reason or another (reasons I don't know). I don't question why, I just continue to try and interact with them as much as they are comfortable with and with respect to their space. you really need to do this. they may be placed in a completely new and scary situation where you are the only person that s/he knows and s/he will come to you for comfort, even if they want to bite you up to a pulp in their comfort zones, because they know they can trust you.
Another problem prone to people with animals (birds included) is idea that people believe that a bird will be a good bird as long as you treat him right. Okay, this is partially true. You need to treat any parrot with respect and love in order to gain trust from the parrot. This needs to be a daily show of respect and love to continually hold on to their trust. BUT, to think that this respect and love shown by a bird's owner should encompass all animals in the house (i.e. i show a parrot love and respect, therefore i expect that parrot to show love and respect towards everything in the house) is just completely absurd. Birds are NOT people. Birds are birds. Do NOT imprint feelings, emotions and cognitive thinking as how humans do, on your bird companions. When you do this, problems will surely arise and that's when some birds find themselves in the care of rescue organizations like mickaboo.
i hope this can be a learning experience for everyone. Again, Bentley is back up for adoption. it will take some time for him to become comfortable with us again, of course, but he has already sung for us and said a clear "okay" for us. :-) gotta love those amazons!
Bentley is a blue front amazon. He is a superb singer, whistler and can say a few words. For the most part, he is rather friendly and good bird.
A week ago, Mickaboo was contacted by Bentley's adoptive parents stating that Bentley killed a budgie that landed on his cage. They stated that the budgie has been landing on his cage for the last 6 months without incident. They were horrified, to say the least.
Let me just say that allowing A-N-Y bird to land on any other bird's cage is a disaster waiting to happen. This was the first BIG mistake. Cages are a bird's home. It is their private space and it is their's (and their's ALONE) to master and do whatever they please in this area. This is their safe-zone. Any one (human and animal, alike) must first respect the bird who "owns" the cage before approaching or touching it. failure to do this could result in a possible serious injury. Even with friendly birds...All birds (including humans) have their good days and bad days. If you catch a bird on a bad day, it doesn't matter if you are their "favorite" or not, you will be growled at and warned to stay away. Bentley may have had an off day (considering that he allowed a budgie to land on his cage - without incident - for 6 months) and when the budge landed on his cage that one fateful day, he was really upset about this, became territorial and allowed his wild instincts to take over (remember that parrots are still wild creatures - they have not been bred for thousands and thousands of years like domestic dogs and cats for their loyalty and companionship) which is to defend his territory. this is what he did. unfortunately this lead to the death of that bird.
No matter HOW long a bird has been landing on another bird's cage without incident, this is something that should NOT be allowed or encouraged. It only takes one incident to turn this happy ritual into a serious injury or death. Please don't allow this. Parrots, by nature, are territorial about their space.
Also, parrots are basically prey in the wild. They are hunted by other animals, many of which come from "above". Something which hovers above a parrot can make him/her fearful and ready to attack.
In fact, it is because Bentley accidentally landed on a cage that held another parrot that led to the amputation of one of Bentley's toes (the other parrot bit so deeply into his foot while he was on the cage that it had to be removed). So PLEASE don't allow a bird to land on another bird's cage - it is just a disaster waiting to happen.
Bentley is NOT a child nor should he be treated like one. Bentley is an intelligent, wild creature that is an amazon parrot. Most of the time, parrots act on instincts. They do not have that intellectual capability of imprinting kindness on everything even if they are shown kindness from it's flock. A parrot needs to be respectfully introduced to anything new or situations involving his space. You seriously cannot expect more from a parrot than wild instincts kicking in, in any given situation. If s/he sings, talks, or whistles to you...if s/he steps up onto your hand/hand-held perch without incident...if s/he does tricks for you...consider yourself lucky and be in awe of your bird's ability to adapt and imprint on you their need for a flock family. all of the birds i care for says one thing or another, and all of them know how to laugh - it makes me always happy to hear their "conversations", no matter how many times they repeat themselves.
i treat all my birds with respect, but there are those that just don't like me for one reason or another (reasons I don't know). I don't question why, I just continue to try and interact with them as much as they are comfortable with and with respect to their space. you really need to do this. they may be placed in a completely new and scary situation where you are the only person that s/he knows and s/he will come to you for comfort, even if they want to bite you up to a pulp in their comfort zones, because they know they can trust you.
Another problem prone to people with animals (birds included) is idea that people believe that a bird will be a good bird as long as you treat him right. Okay, this is partially true. You need to treat any parrot with respect and love in order to gain trust from the parrot. This needs to be a daily show of respect and love to continually hold on to their trust. BUT, to think that this respect and love shown by a bird's owner should encompass all animals in the house (i.e. i show a parrot love and respect, therefore i expect that parrot to show love and respect towards everything in the house) is just completely absurd. Birds are NOT people. Birds are birds. Do NOT imprint feelings, emotions and cognitive thinking as how humans do, on your bird companions. When you do this, problems will surely arise and that's when some birds find themselves in the care of rescue organizations like mickaboo.
i hope this can be a learning experience for everyone. Again, Bentley is back up for adoption. it will take some time for him to become comfortable with us again, of course, but he has already sung for us and said a clear "okay" for us. :-) gotta love those amazons!
Bentley is a blue front amazon. He is a superb singer, whistler and can say a few words. For the most part, he is rather friendly and good bird.
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