Sep 17, 2017
When you won't let your human scritch you, you have to improvise
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When you won't let your human scritch you, you have to improvise
They say the camera adds 10 grams...
The Yawn
Pea and me have been having THE BEST day!
Normally if I want her to eat millet from my hand, which we’ve been doing daily, I have to very slowly put my hand in the cage. She will then fly to her swing which I think she sees as her safe place, then after a lot of speaking to her gently and a lot of waiting, the lure of the millet will become too strong and she’ll reluctantly hop on to my finger.
After breakfast and telling Pea about my night (I am a night worker) I went for my usual mid-morning nap and when I woke up I did I as always do and approached the cage to say hello to her. Normally she just looks at me from a perch like I’m insane but today she came right up to me and was more inquisitive than I’d ever seen her.
At first I wondered if she wanted to come out so I opened the doors but she showed no signs of wanting to move, so I grabbed some millet and without any hesitation she just started munching away! Normally at this point I gradually move the millet a little further away but I didn’t have to. After a while she looked at my hand and seemed to think ‘well it’ll be easier if I just eat from there’ and she got onto my finger. And that was that. She also looked much more relaxed while she was eating. I’m so happy, we’re really getting there now!
In other news, this week she has eaten egg, parsnip, kale, sweetcorn, sunflower seeds, walnut and also this morning she licked a mango (she didn’t seem impressed). I am so proud of that little green bean!
It's been such a good day- Pea finally perched on my hand!
Pea had her first out-of-cage time yesterday and she loved it! I have four toys hanging from the ceiling for her to land on but nope, she chooses the teeniest bit of string. After three hours I had to text my sister for advice as Pea was so tired but was showing no signs of getting back in the cage even though she must have been hungry, so I gently placed a pillow case over her and scooped her up. She didn't seem to mind, and I'm getting good at recognising when she's grumpy so I'm fairly certain of that fact. She lets me get very close to her but we still haven't had that initial hand contact! Today she properly began learning not be scared of hands though, as I want her to be able to step up as soon as possible. As soon as that's mastered she'll be off to the vets for a once-over and it'll be less of a problem when I need to get her back in the cage. Keeping her inside is not really an option as she's letting me know without a shadow of a doubt that she wants to come out and play. Plus she needs the exercise as she's not all that good at flying yet. Practice makes perfect!
Pea has been with me for five days now and we’re learning loads about each other! I have learned that she is scared of all her toys and to put any in her cage with her means one frightened little bird. Pea has learned that I really, really like to take pictures of her. But she doesn't seem to mind.
So far her favourite song seems to be You’ve Got Time by Regina Specktor, but sung by me. I can’t quite work that one out Pea, you seem to be the only creature on earth who likes my singing!
Yesterday Pea started sitting with one foot tucked up in her feathers, and she’s been grinding her beak too. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me that she seems to be happy! I know that sometimes when people get pets they don’t realise what a huge commitment it is but I've gone too far the other way, obsessively Googling parrot body language to check she’s doing OK. Thankfully my sister is an experienced parrotlet owner and is on hand to calm me down and offer good advice.
In fact it was my sister who suggested opening the cage doors for Pea and letting her build some confidence and gain some trust. It worked too! Although I nearly wet myself as I didn't want to disturb her by getting up to go to the lady’s room, then nearly popped an eardrum suppressing a sneeze. Pea does NOT like it when I sneeze.
Eventually she went back inside to get a drink of water, but we’ll do it again tomorrow and see how we get on!
It’s been such a busy day for Pea today! We’re not even half way through and she’s already tried blueberry, strawberry and green bean. Plus she threw a bit of edamame. That’s still an achievement! And I’ve seen her have a drink of water too.
At the moment she can barely keep her eyes open but is still stubbornly refusing to have a nap. Just like a tiny human!