Someone pointed out that they thought of butt cheeks when they hear then name "Cheeks". I hadn't thought of that. I thought of rosy face cheeks and his/her name was Chico so it's similar enough. Anyhow. Being me I just had to give it my own name. I've decided to go with Mahana which is Tahitian for Sun. It's also gender neutral.

Speaking of gender I took Mahana for a vet check and all is well. Good health and all. A *little* on the plump side but perfect otherwise. According to the doctor he has never given his bird (he has a 14 year old Conure) seeds. He feeds it pellets only. Seeds are very fatty. So, I'll keep feeding them RoudyBush and use the seeds as treats and training. Oh, back to the gender thing. DNA testing can take 2 or 3 weeks so I won't know the gender until then. Bummer. From now on I'll just call it a her. I hope it's a girl.

I'm also contemplating having her clipped so she can't fly. I'm torn on this one. I know the right thing to do is get her clipped because I would just die if I or someone lazily left the door open enough for her to fly away. On the other hand I really enjoy seeing her have that sort of freedom. So far it has not been a problem. She has never flown away from me; always towards me. She rarely flies. She prefers to walk and climb around and only resorts to flying if I'm far away and she wants to be on my shoulder. So on Tuesday she has another appointment for a nail, beak and probably a wing trim.

Tags: Update

Ran home for lunch and got some pictures. Here's one (cropped). I posted several others in the Freeze Frame section.

Tags: Mahana, Parrot, Bird

This is the beginning of my decent into that 'crazy bird guy'. Before you know it I'll have dozens of birds. Help!

As a semi-birthday treat I picked up a new family member. It's technically a Guyana Conure though it looks similar enough to a Sun Conure I'd be fine calling it that. I say "it" because the gender is unknown. We will put that mystery to rest Friday when I take it in for a general health check and DNA sex test. I hope it's a girl as I enjoy calling it a girl. It's about 7 years old, VERY sweet and talks. Virtually every color of the rainbow can be seen on this bird. Its original name was Chuckles and later changed to Chico. I'm more fond of Cheeks so I may just call it that from this point on.

It is not clipped so it can fly which does make me a bit nervous. However it wants to fly TO me, not AWAY from me. It's absolutely a people bird and wants to be with me (or others) all the time.

This morning I tried the shower thing I do with Beaker. I put it up on the shower curtain bar while I took a shower and it had a great time. Its favorite saying is Kiss-Kiss but it does know half a dozen or so other words/sayings. The pronunciation isn't nearly as clear as Beaker but can still be made out. And I thought Beaker mumbled. It loves having its neck rubbed and makes the cutest little sound, almost cat-like, when getting rubs.

Next up on the shopping list is a nice new HUGE cage for (I hope) her. I'm so excited I had half a mind to just call in sick and just play with it. :P

I'll get some pictures up as soon as I can.

Tags: Update

Hey look at me. I'm talking to you.


Here's the two getting along just fine together. No fights or anything. Jahita will probably be going home tomorrow. I'm able to rub her belly now. Still can't get my hands behind her.

Tags: Bird, Beaker, Amazon

Last night Jahita (the Amazon) and I made some serious progress. She was terrified of hands which made it nearly impossible to get her to 'step up' onto my hand. She'd freak out and try to get away. I spent a good 2 hours with her last night and she is really turning around. I started by letting her just sit on my shoulder which she has no problem with then slowly moving my hands closer to her. I'd just rest my hand on my shoulder for a few minutes to let her know that hands are not a scary thing. Eventually I was able to get her to stay on my hand without freaking out then we did 'step up' excercises by moving from one hand to the other. She'll now do it over and over without any fear though she does still have a tendancy to want to go for the shoulder which is a safe zone for her (no hands). She will even 'step down' onto a branch/perch without fuss.

This morning I was able to put my hand in her cage without any fuss and step up onto my hand. Then I put her on a big branch on top of Beaker's cage so she could have some breakfast and freedom time. She still needs work and she's still shy but boy is she sweet. Not once has she ever bitten me (unlike Mr. Beaker, that little stinker). Of course my hands are scratched to hell because of her sharp talons but that's ok; it'll heal. Next we'll try rubbing her back, neck and under her wings. She's not comfortable with that yet but give me another day or two. Beaker and her seem to get along just fine. Ahhh, sweet.

Tags: Update

I've recently made some new friends and it turns out they too have a parrot. She is a beautiful Yellow Headed Blue Front Amazon. Very shy but pretty nice (at least towards men). I know with some quality time she could really sweeten up and become a lover. She makes Beaker look so small as she's a good 3 or 4 times his size.

They have entrusted me to baby sit her for a week or so. I feel very lucky and trusted. I will attempt to hold her and talk to her every day to see if I can get her to come out of her shell. Just have to watch out for her claws. She has some real sharp talons! She has never attempted to bite me however which is promising.

I think Beaker is enamored with her. Last night he was staring at her and rocking back and forth all excited. Maybe he's just happy to have some company when I'm not around. You can barely make her out in the web cam (behind Beaker's house). I'll see if I can re-arrange my setup to get a better shot of both.

Tags: Bird, Amazon, Parrot

Ate some spicy Chinese noodles (with other bits) and shared with Beaker. He really seemed to enjoy the noodles. Couldn't get enough of them. Funny to watch him hold wet noodles in his little claws and munch on them. Also tried some more fruit which he took to. So-so on Chex Mix. LOVES whole wheat grain bread. I'll probably stop home today to make a sandwich and share with him again. Been doing that every day lately. Good times.

Yea, I like the green theme better.

Tags: Update