Bentley's Daily Journal

2008-12-25T09:36:00.000-08:00

Here are a few new images of Bentley. He continues to be happy hanging around my husband. He seems to not want to poop on him at all. He would start to get restless to let my husband know that he wants to go somewhere where he can do his business. Bentley doesn't really like me, but with a little persuasion (just asking him if he wants a scritch on his head), he will usually look at me for a bit and then bow his head for a little scritch session.

2008-10-23T15:52:00.000-07:00

bentley continues to favor my husband...we had visitors from out of the country stay over at our place, one of which was a male. bentley seemed to have no problems being around this man. but with the female, he reacted the exact same way has he does to me.

bentley is, however, a great gentleman to me whenever i hold a special snack between my fingers - what bird wouldn't react that way? (especially an amazon!)

even tho he has a grudge aganist me, i don't hold it against him. i keep my distance. if i need to pass by him for any reason, i try to make sure that i announce my arrival and have something that he likes that i can present to him as a peace offering.

2008-09-05T13:29:00.000-07:00

You think owning a parrot (or two) is for you? Have you ever thought about whether you would be able to take the chatty "contact calls" that happen every morning and every evening? Play the following movie with your sound up all the way. This is in a house with 8 parrots, just after breakfast. (We cover the ground with towels to catch the poop.) Enjoy!

PS: I look forward to these conversations...:-)

2008-09-05T08:57:00.000-07:00

2008-08-25T12:08:00.000-07:00

bentley really likes my husband (he usually likes men in general) but with me, he doesn't care for me hanging too closely to his cage, not unless i have a treat in my hand. however, he has allowed me to scratch all over his head and neck through his cage bars...yes, he is a sucker for a good head scritch!

2008-08-09T17:17:00.000-07:00

as i write this, bentley is sitting on my husband's shoulder and dozing a bit. well, at least until my husband moves his arm, then he has a look on his face like "what the...? can you stop moving? im trying to take a NAP!"

he doesn't really care for me..he sometimes even tries to run towards me to fend me off from his cage, but i don't give him any attention when we makes these actions. he even gets a bad look from my husband, if he is there to see it. but overall, he's a great bird. i mean, he takes even the smallest treat from my fingers very nicely. he doesn't launch himself at me as long as i don't wear red around him (that seems to be a color that he doesn't think works for me).

bentley still has a bare chest and back, but we do see some feathers growing in. we are hoping that he keeps those feathers there, and lets the rest of the feathers grow in eventually.

2008-07-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

bentley continues to be happily content spending time on my husband's shoulder. he will occasionally allow me to preen his head through his cage bars, but would rather keep me at a distance. i'm just glad that he doesn't try to jump on me as i pass his cage to get to the kitchen - he is definitely a well-behaved boy.

bentley doesn't like it when i wear red - it is one of those things that makes him even more resolved into keeping me away from him and his favorite person. it is funny that if my husband wears red, bentley is not in the least bit phased by it, but if i wear red...oh boy, watch out!

bentley loves to eat fresh sugar snap peas (pod and all), strawberries and, well, just about anything that he has seen YOU eat. he definitely has a good appetite and will try anything at least once.

2008-07-09T23:04:00.001-07:00

bentley has been doing very well with me, considering he doesn't really care for me much (he just ADORES my husband). i have been starting him with targetting. he is very good at it, although most times it looks like he is running to attack it rather than just touch it. i will be working on this.

with targetting and a few pumpkin seeds, i have been able to get bentley to climb up on my leg (while sitting - legs out-stretched - on the floor) and sit comfortably on my thigh. i do think it is partially because he doesn't associate my leg to being a part of my body, but whatever works. i have not pushed the idea about being able to scratch or touch him. i have, however, been able to successfully scratch his head through his cage bars. (he bowed his head for me and i obliged!)

bentley does want to have his space when it comes to me, and i respectfully give it to him. but now, if he wants a treat, he has to work for it. after targetting, i plan on moving to holding a prop (like a ball or wooden ring) and later dropping it in something.

bentley will eat almost anything. so far, he has eaten sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots...its amazing. i guess it is that amazon hunger.

2008-07-03T19:39:00.000-07:00

bentley playing with my husband...

i guess bentley had enough

2008-06-20T08:19:00.000-07:00

the beautiful bentley...

here he is eating one of the first sugar snap peas i harvested today. the other bird ate it so fast i didn't get to photograph it, but bentley took his time and ate the whole thing - peas and all!

2008-06-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

i tried targetting with him for the first time (since he was returned to mickaboo - i have done targetting with him when he first came to us and before he was adopted) and it seemed like he remembered. he went straight for the target. i hope to keep this up...as it can help our relationship.

2008-06-13T11:28:00.000-07:00

bentley continues to be "in love" with my husband. he coos sweet nothings in his ear, until mama comes around (me) and he kinda gives me the "stink eye" to stay away, but if i do come a little close, or if my husband comes close to me with bentley on his shoulder, bentley rarely comes charging after me. whenever i do interact with him, i try to give him some treats to show him that i am not a threat. he has always been taking the treats out of my fingers very nicely.

note: he loves brown bread, pumpkin seeds, strawberries fresh from the garden, and raisins for treats!

2008-05-16T12:05:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-05-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-07-25T15:04:00.000-07:00

Pics of Bentley eating from a spoon...

Video of Bentley eating from a spoon...

Bentley giving my husband a "high four":

2007-07-23T10:38:00.000-07:00

ADOPTED!

As of 7/22/2007, Bentley was picked up and taken to his adoptive family where he will spend the rest of his wonderful life in a happy environment.

All the best, Bentley! Your presence is truely missed, but we know you are in great hands!

love,

your former foster family. :)

2007-07-11T12:20:00.000-07:00

Bentley has shown his talents in eating with utensils! We made a movie of it, but I will have to post it later. It shows Bentley eating a treat from a spoon! I stumbled upon this talent of is, when I administered his Benebac meds to him in a spoon. I held it, and all of a sudden, Bentley tugged on the spoon with a foot, so i just handed it over to him. to my surprise, he held it and happily licked the meds from the spoon. so after that, we have been kinda testing that talent out more with other treats in the spoon.

he is not too good with things that can easily fall out of the spoon since sometimes he would grab it and it would turn upside-down. it has to be something that will stick to the spoon. maybe we will try spearing something on a fork...

2007-07-05T11:32:00.000-07:00

GOOD NEWS!

We just got the results of Bentley's re-test of his culture and he is HEALTHY! No more meds, YAY!

His adoptive family will be picking him up next week to wisk him off to his forever home and a great life.

Bentley doesn't really like me - i think its the hormones and being able to cuddle with his favorite person (my husband). i do occasionally get to scratch his head, tho.

nothing else new to report.

2007-06-19T20:51:00.000-07:00

we've had a very unfortunate incident over the weekend that led to the amputation of the inner, front-facing toe on the left side. I was pretty much sick to my stomach after the whole thing happened and then again when I heard his toe needed to be amputated. (I won't go into the details here. the people who need to know the whole story already know.)

i immediately contacted my "mentor" coordinator about the things that should be done and the family who is set to adopt Bentley soon. We did everything quickly and as calm as can be. I am just glad its only a toe.

Bentley is now on Cipro for 7 days (once a day) and Metacam (pain reliever) once a day for 5 days.

today is the day after the amputation. my husband is on spring break from school so he stayed home all day with him. it seems that he still has his normal activity level and eats normally. its a good sign! he is now sleeping in his cage (we had him sleep in the travel carrier in our bedroom just to watch him).

he does have tape wrapped around his foot. he has been picking on it a little, but has not taken the entire thing off...yet. we are keeping an eye on that.

this friday is a follow up exam and it is when they will take off the tape. i will follow up with any updates.

2007-06-16T14:02:00.000-07:00

bentley has been wonderfully taking his medicine. he is now down to the last week and a half. we found out that he willingly eats the benebac gel without any coercion! the antibiotics doesn't seem to be his taste, so we do have to towel him for that one, but we give him about 30 minutes to calm down and then we let him lick up the benebac.

we have tried to give him some chopped radishes, but so far, i've only seen him nibble on it, but not really eat it. maybe it is just a matter of time, or it could just be that it isn't his thing.

bentley continues to enjoy being with my husband and to ward me off at all times. when he is not home, i have been able to give him scritches inside and outside of his cage.

bentley doesn't seem to be too afraid of new toys. i have made some new toys for all the birds and he is one of those that will go over at test the new toy.

my husband has been working with exercising bentley. what he does is to lightly place his hand in front of bentley's chest and runs straight ahead. bentley flaps his wings and enjoys his play time with my husband. after a few laps, bentley is winded (as well as my husband, lol)

2007-06-09T19:42:00.000-07:00

pics of bentley today:

2007-06-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

bentley snoozing with papa:

(bentley yawning)

2007-06-08T15:08:00.000-07:00

yesterday Bentley joined us for the first time in the living room. yes, he is out of quarantine, although still taking his meds. (final day of meds will be june 25th, and then he goes to the vet for a re-check to make sure the bacteria levels are normal). we have him on the opposite side of the room, closest to the kitchen and he has his own little playstand. so far things are going well. my other birds are kinda interested, but they have been hearing bentley for the past 2 1/2 months so they know "he's okay".

one thing i did learn after moving bentley out to the living room is that he knows how to "answer the telephone", like my other foster bird. when the phone rings, bentley says "hello?". cute! so far, i have heard bentley say "hello", "whats up" and "okay".

this morning, i made a nice omelette with their usual breakfast food mixed in. it was nice to see all birds eating their breakfast as my husband and i sat for some breakfast of our own.

2007-06-06T21:31:00.000-07:00

Today was a cute day for Bentley - he laughed for us for the first time! All of our birds laugh in their own way - our amazon has a high-pitched "nervous" type laugh, our green cheeks have a sneaky chuckle, and our other foster bird does a "ha ha ha" laugh.

well, bentley has an airy "ha ha ha". thats the best that i can describe it. :-) it made me crack up the first i heard it, and it was really a joy to hear it. i don't know if birds understand the joy laughter signifies, but for me to hear it come from a bird lets me know that they are comfortable enough to imitate a sound that us humans do with great expression and drama.

2007-06-03T18:59:00.000-07:00

yesterday, a nice family, (Mickaboo-approved!) came to visit both Zeba and Bentley. They were interested to see if any of them would be a good match for their family. It was a nice visit with a few injuries. (sorry!). I personally think that they would be a great adoptive family. all three of them showed a lot of patience and calmness with both birds. from the visit, i think Bentley will be getting a new forever home. hooray!

i did learn a few things about bentley:

1) it seems that he likes men in general. bentley sure showed he was very friendly to the father. he nipped the daughter on her finger as she offered him a sliver of almond. BUT, it could've been because of some nervousness and hesitation in the air, or i think i was because of the color red that she was wearing. (all of my birds seem to hate the color red.). once she took off her red overshirt, she retried giving bentley an almond and was then successful. great job! (i give her LOTS of credit for retrying after being nipped).

2) bentley loves attention from anyone! they were strangers in his room, yet he happily sang to them and absorbed the happy energy in the room. bentley is sure a peach. although it seems that he does create a strong bond with one person, he shows that he can like other people as well. we knew he was not going to stay with us very long because of his overall happy-go-lucky personality.

because bentley is currently on a 28-day regimine of antibiotics, the family said that they will wait till his meds are done and he has a vet recheck. if he needs more meds after that (which i sure hope he doesn't!) they agreed that they would administer the meds.

congrats bentley! i think you found your forever family!

2007-06-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

Bentley playing with a new toy with my husband...

2007-06-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

Bentley playing with a new toy with my husband...

2007-06-03T18:49:00.000-07:00

Bentley playing with a new toy with my husband...

2007-06-01T09:48:00.000-07:00

Bentley has been doing really good - active level-wise. He is hormonal in the sense that if he is with my husband (who he adores!) and i enter the room, Bentley will try to come as close to me as possible and try and bite me. he just wants my husband to himself. But if my husband is not to be seen or heard, Bentley will easily step up onto my arm with a reward of a piece of nut.

Recently, we took Bentley in for a re-check up. When we first got Bentley, he weighed 515g. For his size, that meant he was overweight. It showed because his chest really heaved while breathing, he didn't move very much, and was very timid. now he loves to go exploring so we really have to keep a close eye on him. he likes to look out of the window and people-watch. if a car alarm goes off, he makes a game out of copying the tone and tempo with his version of the alarm. lol. if people are having fun outside and laughing or yelling, Bentley will also try to ape that.

Back to his vet visit, the vet said he is now down to 440g, but he should still lose about 20g. and that in the culture test, there were elevated levels of a bacteria in his mouth/gut. So for the next 28 days, he will be on 2x a day antibiotics to clean that out. Because the antibiotics kills all bacteria in his gut (including GOOD bacteria), we also have to give him some benebac gel. this helps to replenish the good bacteria in his system while on the antibiotics.

this is the third day of his antibiotic treatment. so far, Bentley has been a real trooper. he doesn't like to be toweled, but hardly gives a fight once wrapped in the towel and after he is done with taking the antibiotics, he calms down instantly and starts to sing and be his merry self.

i haven't had much time to do as much target training as i would like with Bentley, but i plan to pick that up. Bentley is a very smart bird, and with focused training, i think he can get past his territorial aggression around my husband.

ps: oh, i just realized its about time i took more pictures of Bentley. :-)

2007-05-06T23:54:00.000-07:00

Bentley has definitely been bitten by the spring (hormones!) bug. now, whenever i go into his room and my husband is there, bentley feels the need to defend my husband and try to fend me off. if my husband is no where to be seen (or heard) bentley is as sweet as ever. don't take it the wrong way - i really think that after the spring fever is behind us, i think bentley will go back to liking both of us, even if we are in the same room.

as with all the birds under this roof, bentley has been going through a molt. fortunately i dont think he is plucking anything out. he still is bare on his back and chest, but i do see some new feathers coming out at different places. we have been giving him weekly baths to keep the itchiness and irritation down. so far so good.

bentley continues to eat well, sing, whistle and roam around. he is quite the active type - almost uncharacteristic of amazons. this is good since bentley had to lose some weight. i think he has done so because he hardly bobs his head when breathing. he only bobs his head when he gets really excited (head-bob meaning a breathing head-bob, not the head-bob that signifies "i want attention!").

i will be making a follow up appointment at the avian vet to have his weight and condition checked out. in two weeks. after his vet clears him and pronounces him healthy, we will finally take him out of quarantine. (it will be 2 months).

2007-04-26T22:36:00.000-07:00

i think bentley really likes his new living area (in our 2nd bedroom) it gets lots of sunlight through the windows, he has his privacy, and he has a full desk as his play area.

bentley continues to sing and whistle for me (especially when i sing and whistle with him). i think he knows how to wolf whistle because i've heard it a couple of times, but he won't mimic it when i do the wolf whistle to him. hm...

he's getting lots of fuzzy down feathers on his lower back. looks very promising! it will take a while till he's fully feathered, but you wouldn't really realize that his back is plucked, because when he keeps his wings folded, you don't really see his back.

bentley is an amazing little blue front. he's the only amazon that i know that likes both men and women. he took to my husband alot faster than he did to me, but bentley seems to enjoy my companionship as much as my husband's and he also allows me to have him step up on to my hand.

i have been bitten by bentley, but only once really hard. even that was no where as hard as a bite from my own amazon. bentley really seems to know his beak strength and is very careful about using it. when i was bit, it was my fault. i was around his "territory" (the cage) and he was further away. he wanted to just say "hey, thats MY home". when he is on the cage, he doesn't seem to mind while i clean the cage, tho.

2007-04-19T18:38:00.000-07:00

BREAKTHROUGH

for the past two days, Bentley has been stepping up on my hand - with a little sliver of almond for enticement. :-)

he has really blossomed and loves to wander around. this is good and bad for various reasons so we moved him into our second bedroom where he will have more area to look around and explore. plus, since the weather is becoming warmer, the room is useable again (in cold weather its like a freezer in there!

2007-04-15T21:59:00.000-07:00

Bentley singing and whistling along with me...

Bentley thumb-wrestling with my husband...

2007-04-12T21:28:00.000-07:00

bentley is sure coming into his own. he is becoming much more comfortable around us every day. just two days ago, bentley decided to flip right on to his back and play with my husband's hands like that. he has been continually doing this while spending time with my husband. we unfortunately don't have that yet on flim.

bentley still has some issues with me, but he now occasionally allows me to scratch his head and touch his feet. he has not bitten me tho. when he doesn't want me to touch him, he just backs off a bit.

i think deep down, bentley likes humans. he is not afraid of humans at all, when we stand near his cage or approach him. he does have reservations on who can actually touch him tho.

the cutest thing about bentley is that he loooovvveeeessss to sing - no particular song or melody, just different falsetto tones - especially when you sing to him. he has also started to whistle a lot, especially when you whistle to him. like his singing, he doesn't whistle a particular melody, he just does different tones.

bentley took a shower today. i noticed him scratching around his head a lot lately so i thought it was about time he got wet. it didn't look like he was really much into it, but he did sing and whistle with me during the entire shower, so it couldn't have been too bad for him. there was still a lot of sun outside, so i allowed him to sunbathe and dry off after his shower before taking him back to his quarantine room.

2007-04-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

bentley dancing...

2007-04-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

BREAKTHROUGH

i was FINALLY given the honor to scratch sir bentley on the head! and under the most interesting circumstances...

i just finished cleaning his cage and i put him in. i was talking and singing to him as usual, and i started to play peek-a-boo with him. he really liked that! i think he also likes the word "peek-a-boo" he tried to say different parts of the word while i said it. anyways, i started making kissing noises - the pecking kind - and he starts to act very differently...he started to push himself against the cage where i was closest to, he would start to try and make the pecking noises himself over and over again with me, but he would also back himself up away from me and then come slowly back toward me, again pushing himself up against the cage bars closest to me. it was really strange. i then put my finger up close to his head (while i continued to make the kissing noises) and he just bowed down, wanting a head scritch! bentley knows EXACTLY what kisses are and he definitely sees them as something wonderful! he allowed me to scratch his head and i stopped after a while (i didnt want to accidentally rub over a new feather and irritate him) so i stay on his good side. i didnt want to push it! :-)

it was just awesome! for the past week, i have been spending more time with bentley just singing and talking to him. i was also giving him small pieces of almond or peanut every once in a while to make him look forward to seeing me. what i also started with bentley is target training. he loves to chew so it wasn't too hard to get him to touch the target. once he did, i praised him with verbal praises and a small piece of nut. he has been doing so well with it. i think all of this has paid off to this very night when i got to scratch his head! (not to mention that he likes the kissing noises...that helped tons!)

he still needs a ways to go to learn to trust me and i am only taking it at his pace. you can't change behaviors overnight. thats why it is so motivating and rewarding when a positive step forward is made. its just so amazing how quickly bentley has gone through so many wonderful improvements!

2007-04-04T08:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my husband had evening classes, so it was just me and the birds till sleep time.

since it was really sunny and warm, i decided to use the opportunity to get some sun on Bentley's feathers, so i took him to our second bedroom and let the sun shine through the window. the window is single pane, so i think it was more than enough of what Bentley needed, plus it was a little windy outside, so i didn't open any windows. his feathers shown so nicely. we talked and sang together. he was a little wary about seeing the street below, the occasional car and human that passed by, but he was content enough to sing with me now and then.

just to explain, i got bentley to come with me on a stick. he won't step up for me (i haven't really tried this, actually) on my hand, nor does he allow me to touch his head. i do ask him occasionally for this honor, but i don't push the subject. once i see him back off a bit, i say "okay", and back off.

we stood there, basking in the sun for about 10 minutes, until i noticed a piece of down feather kinda being sucked in and out of one of his nostrils as he breathed. with this, i decided it was time bentley got a gooooood misting. (my husband has misted him in the past, but only lightly. so i took bentley into the bathroom, had him perch on top of the shower door and i misted him with a full bottle of lukewarm water. it seemed that at times he really like it. he got his wings up and out, displaying them, and moving his head in and around his wings, etc. but most of the time i dont think he was really into it. near the end he just sat there, wings pulled up around him, so i decided to end it there.

i turned on the heat (remember, Bentley has a plucked torso and back) and then went back to the sun bathing. we stayed in the sun for another 15 - 20 minutes or so with more singing and talking. at the end of that sun bath, bentley's neck feathers and most of his wings were dried, and the sun was setting so i put him back into the quarantine room. i let him hang out on his cage door listening to some alternative music.

well, since bentley is still in quarantine, i spent the next half an hour cleaning, vaccuming and disinfecting wherever bentley and i went. just to make sure that if he has anything contagious, it wouldn't affect the other birds in the house.

i do hope that bentley, overall, enjoyed his experience with me yesterday. every once in a while i offered him a 1/4 piece of almond, which he always gobbled down with enjoyment. maybe that might have helped my relationship with him.

before i put him to bed, i spend about 30 minutes with him as i cleaned his cage and talked/sang to him. (to clean his cage i take him out of his cage and put him on our bed with his pellet food bowl so he stays there). when i put him in his cage, he stayed at the bottom of the cage and looked at me (i sat on the ground). i tried again to offer him a head scritched but he didnt want anything of it. we sang together again and i offered him some shelled sunflower seeds. each time i gave him a seed, i left my hand there longer up against his cage and he did lightly beak me a few times to check me out and if, perhaps, i was made of some nutty substance. it was very cute and i didn't make a move until he found out what he needed to about my hand.

and that was our day together. Bentley seems to respond more to certain songs like "Old McDonald", "Im a little teapot" and anything that is a little more high-pitched and quicker in beat. for example, he doesnt really respond much to the "ABC" song.

OH, and an interesting thing about his pellet-eating...he seems to enjoy the "zupreem natural pellets", the one without the fruity coloring and shapes....the very thing that the other birds will NOT touch. interesting, and i think that is better for him since the coloring of the fruity version throws off the color of his poop.

Bentley's poop look well formed - they do come in many varying shades of green. i think he is growing some feathers on his back. his ceres look clear - he does sneeze occasionally but i don't see any wetness or discharge. i haven't been able to look into his mouth for any white splotches. Bentley does seem to have some problem breathing (he bobs his head slowly back and forth when he is excited) but this may still be attributed to his overweight problem.

we should be getting a gram scale by the end of this month. with that i can better track his weight.

2007-04-01T00:15:00.000-07:00

Friday: doses #16 & #17 - given successfully
Saturday: doses #18 & #19 - given successfully

bentley continues to eat the zupreem fruit pellets, and with gusto! he doesn't eat a lot in one sitting, but he eats a little bit and goes back to his food bowl often.

also, i have heard bentley utter "okay" when i wave to him and say "bye bye" just before i leave the room. he also says "hi".

bentley has also seriously fallen for my husband. so much so that bentley has started to regurgitate for him. (i think i mentioned this before). my husband just turns away or leaves the room for a few minutes when bentley starts this action so that we can avoid bentley losing all the precious nutrients we do work hard to put into him to make up for his previously deficient diet.

bentley continues to show more and more energy. he shows the most energy when my husband enters the room. he flaps his wings, makes lots of noise and reaches as far as he can in the direction of my husband without falling/jumping off his cage door. my husband has been able to scratch bentley's head, have him step up onto his arm and hand, etc. i haven't really tried to touch him. this is because sometimes when i try to change his food/water bowls, bentley would get as close as he can to me and my hands and he would lunge at me. if he is still being fostered by us, maybe he will change after the spring season is over. im sure he is devoted to my husband and all he is thinking about is breeding.

what i have been able to receive from bentley is more attention. i am the one giving him almonds and he knows that i am the person to pay attention to because i hold on to the container containing the wonderful tasting nut! i cut an almond into fourths and feed him a fourth every once in a while. during my time with him, i sing and talk to him. after he calms down from me initially coming into the room, he will start singing along with me. bentley is so cute! tonight we sang for about 15 - 20 minutes. i was amazed at his stamina! at the end of our session, bentley looked worn out (poor guy) and could hardly keep his eyes open. he wasn't breathing hard...just tired. i guess singing takes a lot out of you. so i left him to doze a bit before my husband would give him his evening cipro dosage and put him to bed.

when i do give bentley his almond piece, he takes it very carefully and gently out of my hand, so i am thinking that it is only a matter of time till i can interact a little more with him.

2007-03-30T00:19:00.000-07:00

pics of beautiful bentley!

2007-03-30T00:03:00.000-07:00

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

2007-03-30T00:02:00.000-07:00

bentley singing and dancing!

bentley telling me a secret...

2007-03-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-03-25T15:33:00.000-07:00

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?

2007-03-23T23:15:00.000-07:00

cipro dose #2 and #3 given to Bentley today. of course he doesnt like to be towelled, nor do i think he likes the medicine, but he really is a good boy for allowing us to administer the meds to him without much fuss. im thinking he may know that the cipro is helping him.

today after coming home, bentley was climing all over his cage, being very active! it was a nice thing to see. bentley has been most active when my husband is in the room. bentley would make noises, sing, whistle and "dance" (bobs his head up and down in large movements) with my husband as he himself sings, whistles, and bobs his head up and down. its soooooooo cute to watch. we made movies of my husband and bentley singing and "talking" (so far its just amazon speech; we havent heard any human speech) tonight, tomorrow, i will try to catch bentley dancing.

it really warms my heart to see bentley acting very happy and active. with this much movement and exercise, i think we can work his excess weight off. we're hoping we can get him to eat pellets.

during dinner, we spied that he liked eating fresh edamame, corn and sugar snap peas. my husband also found out that bentley would happily devour small pieces of raw carrots from his hand. this is w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l!!! with his vet visit showing that he has extreme vitamin deficiency, i think it will be a rather painless process to get him to eat some good fresh stuff.

tomorrow, i will feed some fruits along with fresh veggies and some birdie bread. i am also thinking of giving bentley a nice shower. with his former foster parent giving him daily baths, his feathers already have a nice sheen to them. i want to keep this up, although i dont think he needs to have daily baths anymore...maybe once or twice a week.

i have also seen that bentley has munched on his birdie kabob. its great to see him playing with toys. hopefully with some shredding toys, he will allow his chest and back feathers to regrow.

2007-03-23T22:59:00.001-07:00

Bentley singing!

Bentley singing #2!

2007-03-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

Pictures of Bentley taken tonight...

Coming to our home

2007-03-22T21:20:00.000-07:00

Tonight, Bentley - a Blue Front Amazon of unknown age - was dropped off at my home. I will be fostering him until he gets adopted. Bentley is in pretty bad shape, but he is on a 10-day, twice a day regimen of Cipro (1st dose was administered tonight), he is in a much larger cage for him to explore and move around and with a better diet i hope he will lose some weight, lower his cholesterol, get the vitamins necessary for good health and regrow much of the feathers he has plucked out on his back and underbelly.

Bentley seems to have a hard time breathing sometimes. the vet says this is due to his vitamin deficiency and overweight body.

before putting him into his new cage, we had to towel him to give him his first dose of Cipro. that went ok. we then put him in his cage and his chest and head were heaving. poor guy. after settling down, he actually started roaming around and looking for his food. he went to his food bowl and promptly picked out a pine nut. he kept wandering over to his food bowl and then across the cage to the other side where so far his "favorite perch site" is. he did this about 3 times, each time he went to get a pine nut.

i also gave him an almond and a half a peanut. he took both of them very nicely from my fingers through the bars of his cage. he then wandered over to a seed "stick" (one of those long sticks with seeds molded all around it) and started biting on that. seeing that he was happily willing to walk all over his cage made me very hopeful that he will get the much needed exercise his body needs.

after a while of talking and singing to him and watching him maneuver around his cage, i left the room and my husband goes in and spends some time with him. in just a few minutes, i heard some singing and funny noises coming from inside our bedroom (his quarantine room). it was bentley having a "conversation" with my husband! how cute! bentley sang, whistled, trilled, squeeked and squawked as my husband talked and whistled to him. he continued this even after i entered the room. it was quiet a wonderful thing to see him get so comfortable so quickly. bentley even honored us with a contented tail-wag.

when zeba (our other foster - see his blog at http://zebasjournal.blogspot.com) heard bentley's voice, he would also start talking. it was a little bit of talking back and forth between the two, as well as with my own amazon.

its just the beginning of the honeymoon period, so things may change. so far i believe bentley likes my husband more than me by the way he seems more alive around my husband. i hope to convert him to a pelleted diet and away from the just seed diet he only accepts at the moment.