I can't believe how much fun, enjoyment, and amusement one little ball of feathers can bring to me. Each day is filled with smiles as I watch the activities, listen to the sounds or directly interact with Pepper. He makes each day special.
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It's amazing how he uses his feet. |
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Don't be fooled for a minute that everything about sharing life with a companion parrot is a bed of roses. Many compromises or outright changes may be needed by you to give your parrot the best possible life experience. In all honesty, with rare exceptions, I don't mind these changes at all.
Here are things I've learned after a year:
Pepper is messy. What he doesn't want he either drops or throws. I sometimes think I could fill a down comforter with all the feathers I've picked up or vacuumed over the past year. When will you have to clean up the most recent poop to hit the floor . . . the second after you've sat down with a good book. Clean corn cob bedding off the floor quickly, it seems to migrate room to room, and walking barefoot on it is not comfortable.
Pepper is an intelligent, sentient bird. Usually, he mirrors my behavior. If I'm bouncing around and active he's doing the same. If I'm quiet and reading he sits down for some serious preening or maybe a nap. He loves to be entertained, either by me or by playing with his toys. I love watching him problem solve. How to reach a new hanging toy? How to get an item out of a foraging toy? How to swing on a hanging leather strap so that he can reach me? How to get my attention so that I'll play with him?
If I have something in my hand, it becomes Pepper's property. If it's out of his immediate reach, he'll figure out some way to get to it. This includes climbing down arms, hanging upside down, and climbing across my chest. Also, he's an expert in the "sneak attack". If he sees something he wants, he may casually take a meandering course towards it, only to sprint or lunge at the item when it's within inches.
It's usually easy to know what mood Pepper is in by a combination of his appearance and the sounds he makes. When in a relaxed mood he has a slightly puffed, fluffed feathers look and is making a variety of soft sounds. When nervous all his feathers are flat to his body, he's usually standing very tall, and he is either silent or makes a middle-volume high-pitched whistle. When mad, all his feathers are flat to his body, but he is bent over, often with his head lower than his body, and he will either growl or make clicking sounds. When he sees something that intrigues him he'll flatten his feathers, bend low, swing up to his tallest height, point his beak up and pinpoint his pupils, while remaining totally silent.
Pleeeeease . . . may I come out ? ? ?
Birds know that they are prey animals and their instincts never totally go away. Pepper is usually on my hand about two hours each day. Even with that, if I make a quick, unexpected movement with my other hand or leg, he may jump off and flap to the ground in an attempt to get away. When exposed to unknown items a fear response may be shown.
Though Pepper usually accepts toys instantly, one toy was a great exception to this rule. It took over a six weeks for Pepper to accept a food skewer designed for parrots. When I first placed it hanging from the top of his cage, he stayed down on his lowest perches and stared at it. After about thirty minutes I took it out and played with it myself. This usually brings an "it's mine" response from Pepper, but not this time. So I placed it flat on a table next to Pepper's cage for about a week. Then I hung it to the outside of his cage in a location he usually doesn't go. After another week, I hung it from the same location on the inside of his cage. After a few more weeks I moved it towards the top of his cage's door. He still avoided it for a few more weeks. Then one day I heard a different banging coming from his cage. It was Pepper grabbing the metal rod of the skewer, swinging it, and letting it slam into the cage. Since then I've moved it to the top of his cage where he still plays with it. My one problem is that when I put some food treats on it for him to forage, he won't go near it, though he doesn't act terrified of it.
Pepper has a daily routine that is flexible, based on the amount of natural light. When there's more daylight during the summer, his day is longer. Here's how his day goes:
5:00am - 7:30am -- Pepper begins making sounds and moving around. After a few minutes of making sounds I uncover his cage and place him on his play gym. He then gets a drink of water, eats a few pellets, and does his morning poop all in less than two minutes. After this he plays with his toys, usually in the same order each day, then we share some one-on-one time together. Often after about thirty minutes I have breakfast and share some with Pepper.
8:00am - 10:00am -- Depending on when he got up and my schedule, Pepper goes back into his cage and gets his warm breakfast.
10:00am - Noon -- Often, during this time he'll eat, play, preen and nap.
Noon - 1:00pm -- Depending on my schedule, if I'm home Pepper will come out on his play gym while I have lunch.
1:00pm - 5:00pm -- Depending on my schedule, Pepper may be on his play gym or in his cage. He always takes an afternoon nap that last about thirty minutes.
5:30pm - 6:30pm -- Pepper gets served his hot dinner.
6:30pm - 7:30pm -- After Pepper has finished his dinner I remove his food and water bowls. While I'm cleaning my dinner dishes, then his, he's allowed to climb out of his cage and play on it.
7:00pm - 8:30pm -- After all the clean-up is done, I bring Pepper into the living room with me for some one-on-one time. He's usually very active for a few minutes, then calms down for some serious preening. During this time he loves getting his head scratched and will often lay on his back on my chest while I'm scratching his head. He especially loves getting his cere (the fleshy area at the top of his beak), his cheeks, and the soft spot on his throat under his beak scratched.
7:30pm - 9:00pm -- After we've shared our one-on-one time for about thirty minutes, I put him back in his cage. I close all the blinds and turn on one low wattage light.
8:00pm - 9:30pm -- After about thirty minutes of being in his cage, I cover his cage and shut off the light. I leave the cover so that he can hide in the back or look out the front. There's always a night light on in his room.
I've learned a new way to judge the age of my clothes. All I need to do is count the number of holes Pepper has bitten into them. He tends to bite holes most in the shoulder area, then sleeves, and least in the abdomen area. Shirts are one thing, but he's taken a real liking to my light-weight, summer bathrobe. I've gone through two this summer (2006). The part he bites through most . . . the elbow area. Until one day I held it up to sunlight, I didn't think he bit anywhere else. Was I ever wrong, it looked as if it had been shot with over 100 BB's. I was amazed at all the holes.