Possible New Baby

[linda040899]

Thanks, Ellen!
I lost both of the Plum Heads I had to necropsy diagnosed heart problems and I've been looking for another one for a very long time! I happened to find an ad on Craig's List from a FL breeder and I picked her youngest one that felt like a male to me. He's pretty much completely feathered now and he's beginning to exercise his wings. One of these mornings, the stretching will turn to flapping and he will just take off on his first short flight.

[linda040899]

Fist flight happened last night. He's been stretching his wings and flapping throughout the day and last night, just before his 6:00 feeding he took off and flew from the kitchen to the dining room. I've subsequently closed doors to rooms where I don't want him to go. For now, I want him to fly in the dining room and living room until he learns the lay of the land. I won't clip any flight feathers until he can fly expertly and land where he wants to without crashing. His tail is only half length so it affects his "steering" ability!

[Z28Taxman]

Now it's fun time.

[linda040899]

Now it's fun time.

You got that right!!!!! Flying is more fun than anything else and he's not happy being restrained from doing what he wants to do!!! He's vocal when he lands so it's not too hard to find him......yet. Name that comes to mind is Maverick.

[linda040899]

We discovered last night that he's capable of eating more than just formula. He's hard to hand feed so we tried the old standby.......Cheerios. He loves them, once he realized that you have to bite down to get the cheerio to break apart. I also have very small pellets that are ideal for Asian species and he can break those up as well. He's not crazy about millet but Nutriberries are the bees knees! I'm getting a cage ready for him and we will see what happens.

[Z28Taxman]

We discovered last night that he's capable of eating more than just formula. He's hard to hand feed so we tried the old standby.......Cheerios. He loves them, once he realized that you have to bite down to get the cheerio to break apart. I also have very small pellets that are ideal for Asian species and he can break those up as well. He's not crazy about millet but Nutriberries are the bees knees! I'm getting a cage ready for him and we will see what happens.

Ditto loved cheerios.....

[linda040899]

Ditto loved cheerios.....

Cheerios and just about anything else I put on the bottom of his container! He's not much on seed or millet but pellets for conure, fruit/veggie mix, cheerios, Nutriberries are all attacked and gobbled down. He will take formula but he's cut back a lot. I'm maxing out at 12 cc so his crop will shrink to adult capacity and he won't be hungry. It appears he's heading in the right direction.

[linda040899]

Maverick is spending his first day in an actual cage and he seems to be really enjoying it. He's moving around, climbing, flapping and learning to navigate. My biggest problem is keeping Alex (BFA) off the cage and away from Maverick. I've had to zip tie and/or clip all cage doors closed since Alex only wants to get into the cage. Before today, she had no interest in the cage whatsoever....... Go figure!

[linda040899]

Maverick is getting to be quite the expert at flying. He takes off with no problems at all and navigates very well in the area where we allow him to fly. He picks his landing spot and doesn't miss anymore. I limit where he can go by closing doors where I don't want him to be. His cage is in the Florida room but it's dangerous to allow him free flight in there because of the big parrot cages. The object of the exercise is letting him fly while keeping him safe. I've got him down to 2 feeding/day and he's doing well with it.

[linda040899]

Ken and I had a discussion last night as to why I put Maverick back in the carrier I've kept him in until I thought he was big enough to be introduced to a cage. While Maverick likes the idea of the cage, he's still a baby and doesn't feel secure in a cage that is so big so he squawks to come out and go to where it's smaller and more secure feeling. Just as it starts to get dark, I've been moving him to his carrier and he settles down and goes to bed. He will get to the point where he's comfortable in the cage but he's not there quite yet.