February 23, 2004
Last night I turned all the lights out and sat in the kitchen for a short time before I went to bed and Fred whistled pretty. He also trys to say pretty bird but it sounds a little garbled. But its good enough to make out what hes trying to say. I just feel like my life got bigger and its awesome. You guys would probably flip if I told you what my house consisted of. Don't get me wrong, I have a huge house but I have 3 dogs (2 large, 1 small which one large dog is 12) I have 3 cats (which could care less about birds) I have two fish aquariums (10 gallon and 55 gallon) and I just got rid of our rabbit right before we brought the birds home. My mother lives with us (until the 1st when she get her own apartment) she has a small dog. I have 4 children (one which is my step son we have every other weekend) my husband and my mother. Lordy my house is full. As of the 1st of March we will have one less person and one less dog. LOL. Fred, Romy and Julie seem to like all the attention. Oh one more thing, Fred and Romy will chatter off and on to each other. Its amusing.
February 24, 2004
I decided to only take Fred to the vet and make a seperate appointment for Romy and Julie next week. So he's all beautified and he looks great. I was so excited while we waited to see the vet. Fred tipped his head to be petted. The first contact with him ever. The one reason the tethering really bothers me is he is EXTREMELY frightened by a glove. You only have to have it 4 feet away from his cage and he flips out so bad. I told the vet and he decided to forget the gloves and just towel him. It was cute. Fred was walking all over the office like he was a little Lord. I know it was not something major but it was AWESOME. His cute little birdy butt strutting his stuff. I just had such a wonderful experience today.
Tonight we all sat down to eat supper and Fred decided to make his little noises to get our attention to say he wanted to eat with us as well. He ended up eating, mashed potatoes and corn. Fred reminds me of my one year old. They may not talk well but when they want something to eat, they will sure let you know.
As you all know, Julie and Romy are a mated pair and do not like human contact or attention. They were not ever handled for what I know of. Well tonight I bent down to their cage and stretched my arm as far as I could which barely reached the cage and tried to get Julie to take a shelled peanut from my hand. She came close but was very scared. I ened up dropping it in her treat bowl and moved away. She immediately jumped to her bowl and grabbed that peanut up so fast that Romy tried to take it from her. They ended up with a half each. It may not seem like a big deal but it really is. Every time I would put anything in Romy and Julies treat bowl (peanut, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables ect) they would not touch it at all. I feel even though I have not gotten close enough with them for them to eat from my hand, they have taken a step to allow me to get close enough to accept a treat from me. Mated or not, I will work on some sort of bond large or small. Things are wonderful in the birdy home.
February 25, 2004
Not to much has changed today. Fred seemed to be mad at me a little today. I went to work and was gone for about 6 hours and when I returned he went to the other side of his cage when I approached him. About and hour later he seemed to warm back up and take a peanut from me. I introduced peas in a pod to all of the birds. Fred was the only one who seemed to like them. Romy and Julie don't seem to like any fruits and vegetables. I sure hope that will change since I know they could use it in their diet. Romy and Julie seem like they are getting a little more comfortable. They have finally changed from their center perch to their top perch. Romy makes this funny noise every night like he is a horse. I read a few things saying it could be because he wants to mate but right now I am not too sure. It is a very interesting noise though. I feel a warm feeling with them all and feel they have came a long way in such a short period of time. As I sit here right now, Fred and Romy communicate with their interesting sounds (almost like they are saying HEY to each other or even WHAT to each other). Its a pretty high pitch sometimes. What a delightful sound they make together. Who needs music when you have the real thing in your livingroom.
February 26, 2004
I built Fred a play gym out of PVC piping and put it on top of his cage. He looks at it and knows its there but I don't think it will anytime soon for him to come out to try it out. I am not sure when it will be but hopefully soon. Romy and Julie are still perching on their top perch and only come down for food or night time. They are really picky. Its interesting watching how Romy controls Julie. It reminds you of cavemen. He won't allow her to drink or eat unless he moves for her. Thats all for today so far.
February 28, 2004
Last night was such a wonderful experience. My sister-in-law and I were sitting in the kitchen talking when Fred out of the blue started whistling pretty. My siter-in-law (motherof3rjandt) would whistle back. It was great. Fred whistled back and forth a lot last night. He also got a little bite in too. I got a finger a little too close to the cage and he got me. No skin broken but it still hurt a bit LOL. I am just happy to see Fred making a little progress. Right now I am babysitting 3 children which if you add my 4 that makes 7 running around my house. But Fred seems to enjoy this. He will climb the top of his cage and all over the side like he's asking to be let out to be included in their play. Interesting....
Last night when Fred was doing his whistling, Romy and Julie sort of got into it a couple of times. The squaking was so loud both time that you would think one of them were getting hurt. I am not sure if it is breeding season or just a spat. Things are moving slow but everyday is progress one way or another.
Fred let me pet him....... My sister-in-law got him to allow her to pet him and then he allowd me to pet him. Its AWESOME...... It's going great. He seems to really beg for attention which is just what he's going to get.
March 1, 2004
Fred seemed to warm up to me today. 
He let me pet his head and his cheek. He also grabbed for my finger and touched it with his foot. Everything seemed great for the day. But I think he gets crabby when its time for lights out because I sat and talked to him and he got close and tipped his head and when I went to pet him he bit me. 
I didn't pull away this time and I did not scold him (I didn't scold him last time either) but this time he drew blood. 
Not too bad though. I just kept telling him that it hurt and for some odd reason it was like he knew what I was saying and released at that moment. We are taking it slow but it sure feels great to start feeling the bond starting. Romy and Julie seem to be starting mating season (seems too soon). Or I should say, Romy wants to start mating season and Julie says NO WAY.... 
Just a cutie little birdie family LOL.
March 5, 2004
The noises Fred does, really seems to be an attention getter. I was told to ignore him instead of coming to his rescue. Well it proved to be correct. He stopped immediately when he knew I was not coming to him when he did this act. He seems to test me when he does this. Fred and I have come even closer since day one. I can pet his beak and then his face. He is doing better and better. Also, I was so excited last night. As I sat in the kitchen, Fred whistled like I whistle for the dogs. It was very unexpected since I have only used that whistle like 4 or 5 times since I've gotten the three. He is very smart. Romy and Julie are mating which two nights ago Julie allowd him to mate with her. The first time she was shoving him away. I have their nest box in the cage just incase. I am sure nothing will happen until next year since they need to adjust more. But we are not in it for the money of babies as we are for the love and attention. As I said before, the mated pair may not be a good pet since they have each other, but they have a happy life. They talk to each other so much and its fun sitting back and listening to them.
Fred just now sounded like he was trying to say a word but as we were trying to listen, the dog barked and he quit. MAN!!! So close..... Another thing I wanted to say was, I was reading this book called "Guide to a Well Behaved Parrot" and WOW.... I found out exactly what Fred is doing when he does his spats. They hit it to a T when they described what a parrot does when he is overbonding. His spat is him overbonding with me. Well since we finally pinpointed what his problem is, now we can work on that as well. LOL. We are having so much fun anyway..
March 6, 2004
Fred has been bonding to me really well and I always leave his cage door open but he never ventures to it. Today I had it opened for 4 hours and finally I went up to his cage and tapped on the cage door and asked him if he was going to come out. To my SURPRISE he did. At that moment he stepped out on the door. He even bent his head all the way down for me to pet him. Then he took my finger and licked me (pet me). He was SO gentle and I am sorry, It was so AWESOME.
March 7, 2004
Fred has come out of his cage and is sitting on top. He has been out for two hours. And guess what he has chosen me as his mate. He started his spat again, this time he was on top on his cage. Which when he's out, he is extremely submissive. Anyway, Fred started his spat so I went over there. He grabbed my finger and (GROSS) regurgitated on my finger. He tried grabbing my finger many more times but I couldn't watch that nor allow the finger junk. That was beyond gross. Hopefully after mating season is over, he will give me a break. LOL
March 8, 2004
Today is just a great day. I feel so bonded with Fred. I am able to stick my hand in his cage and all he does is grab my finger. He won't bite me no matter what. He has come so far. He did his crazy spat this again and this time when I gave him my finger, he did not regurgitate. He would grab my finger and then let go. His spat only last about 10 seconds today. I believe a lot of what I have read. It said if an Amazon has bonded or trusts you, they will blink. And he sure does. When I am at the cage, he will blink a lot. But if anyone else goes to his cage he will stare them down no matter how long they stand there. The one thing I am trying to work on Fred with is stepping up. I am not sure if anyone has ever taught him that or not. But we will try.
March 8, 2004 (same day above)
Fred spoke, he really spoke. My heart is SOARING.... I was in the kitchen and everything was quiet. I heard this really really weird noise coming from Fred so I walked to my stairway and listened. He sounded like his voice was a robot (synthesized) and he was saying "How Are You" over and over until he saw me and quit. He said it like 5 times. It was BEAUTIFUL. It was like hearing your infant speak for the first time. The emotions are racing and I never thought I would ever feel this kind of excitedness. WOW 'O WOW.
March 9, 2004
He did it again just 3 minutes ago. My husband and friend heard it and finally believe I wasn't hearing things. I thought it was funny because they couldn't pick their mounths up off the floor... LOL I asked him, "How are you" back this time, but he quit. See my husband and I smoke so we spend 1/4 of our time in the kitchen with 3 fans, one ionic, one outdoor, and a occilating to keep it going in the right direction. So Fred gets a little bit of quiet time here and there. (Don't worry the smoke is completely kept from the babies) It was great, awesome ect... The rushing feelings all over again....
March 14, 2004
Fred has really made so much progress, I just don't know what to say. Today, he kept playing with my fingers it was funny. I would put my hand in his cage and he would move his head around my hand and then grab it with his beak. He is so crazy. He has not come out of his cage since the last time except for today. It was great. I kept tapping on his cage door telling him to come out and he kept coming over to the side like he was debating on coming out. Finally he went to the bottom of his cage (which he has NEVER done before) and he looked up at the cage door as I was tapping on it and decided to climb up and then out. He was so cute as he did this. He sat on his door for about 10 minutes and then decided to go back in. He just had a day full of playing. Also, this little guy is starting to play with his rings. He has never played with a toy before. He is just blooming every day. I thank the heavens for drawing me to these guys. They are wonderful birds. I am thinking about enrolling in some courses and in the future opening a rescue of my own. With an aviary and the works. I cannot stop thinking about all those abused and mistreated birds out there. All the research on the lives some of these guys go through is horendous. It may not be in my near future but I have the will and I'll find the way.
March 17, 2004
Everything is still going great. Fred is such a sweetheart. He is becoming very playful with me. I just cant say enough about him. He is a little piggy though. He will harrass me everytime I eat anything and most of the time he will win. I watch what I give him. No sweets, chocolate, greasy foods ect. He normally gets, mashed potatos, chicken, vegetables, pasta and anything else you can probably think of. Hes just so spoiled. I still cannot get Romy and Julie to eat any good food other than seed. But were working on it.
March 19, 2004
Fred took his first bath, it was awesome. He normall would shake the water off and hate it. But this time I turned on the vaccuum and he hung upside down and spred his wings. It was great. He is one soaked birdie.
March 21, 2004
What an exciting day today was. I let Romy and Julie out of their cage today. They sat on top of their perch which is in the opening of their cage top. Everything went well until my mother (not thinking in her right mind) decided to go talk to them and got too close. Romy got startled and flew over by Fred's cage. OH NO.... Fred was not happy. Fred seemed as if he wanted to take a chunk out of Romy. I put my hand up by Fred and Fred took a bite. OUCHY... Boy did that hurt. I got Fred to go back into his cage and I then went to get Romy. Romy flew again to the couch and then back to him cage. Ok, I was fine with that. So later I turned off all the lights, put treats in their bowl and they went in just fine. I went to close the cage top and Romy got startled again and flew out. This time into the kitch with my dogs. My dogs took one look and they ran the other way LOL. I toweled him at that time and put him into a kennel until I got Julie back in since she decided to come back out too. But she was not as easily startled as Romy was. She seemed to be much calmer. It took about 30 to 45 minutes and Julie went in. She then got rewarded with her man Romy. It was a fun night for us. I know I need to get my birds wings clipped but with the breeding and stress levels at this moment I elected to wait until after breeding season. We will not give up on letting the mated pair out. It may take a lot to training but we will get this worked out for them to feel more freedom. They are sweet. Their attitudes outside the cage is awesome..
March 23, 2004
I have not let Romy and Julie out again yet. I am going to wait a little while until breeding season is getting close to being done and then have their wings clipped. I am just so frightened and don't want them to hurt themselves. But trust me, they will come out and learn to explore and have a play gym to play on. My husband is building them one big enough for them to play for hours LOL. Fred today got spooked and flew to the floor. He was on top of his cage when someone knocked on my door so hard that my dogs bark REAL loud and spooked Fred. I felt bad because you could tell he was nervous of what just happened. I unfortunealty had to towel him to get him back on top of his cage. He didn't stress too bad because I gave him a spray down right afterwards and he enjoyed it. Fred has learned something a little new today. Actually he offered this new thing to me instead of me to him. I had a piece of bread in my hand and he wanted a piece but instead of begging like normal, he reached down to give me a kiss and then I gave him a piece. He did this continiously until I had no bread left. It was comical. He just has the heart of gold. He may still get nervous here and there but not even close to how he used to be when I first got him. He is just a little charmer.
March 29, 2004
Since my last post, Romy has started enjoying his showers. He spreads his wings and hangs upside down and enjoys it like crazy. Julie still seems like shes not sure about it. It was funny because when I was spraying Romy, he nipped at Julie to make her move so he could turn upside down where he was at.
The best part is today. Fred is scared of shirt sleeves and perches when I have tried to get him to step up, so I try with my hand and arm and he still refuses to step up. So I cannot get him to play other than walk across the top of his cage which doesn't look fun. Fred is not scared of being towel (which is weird) so I toweled him and brought him down to the floor. He went NUTS. He followed me everywhere and played with me like crazy. It was GREAT!!!! He was so nice and sweet when he was on the floor. He even let me pick him up (not by feet unfortuneatly) and put him back on his cage. I think I may try this once a day to get him used to having fun. He really enjoyed himself down there.
April 3, 2004
Fred flew to the floor again and I decide to work real hard with him on stepping up. I had both hands closed fists and used one arm to go to his under belly and the other arm to come up behind him and it took A LONG TIME.. but I got him to give me one foot and then he put the other foot on my arm (I had him on my arm I had him on my arm) and then he flew off (jumped flapping wings) I then picked him up and place him on top of his cage. I praised him so much that he wagged his tail feathers and peeped and peeped and peeped. He knew he did something good. He seemed like he accomplished something as well as I did. He did bruise my arm with one bite (no blood) but man it was worth it. He's not scared of my arm anymore either. He does not run from it when I offer it like he did before. I think we made progress today. We will work on it. But bite or no bite, it was well worth it. He is not mad at me at all and seems happier. I know I am.
April 5, 2004
Fred got to go outside for the first time. We put him in the kennel and out we went. He was in birdy heaven. He loved soaking up the sun rays and listening to the other birds. It was great. Things just keep getting better.
April 12, 2004
I gave Romy and Julie their bath again today and Romy is truely enjoying them. I sure wish I can get Julie into the fun of it like Romy is. Romy is different than Fred on how he likes to be sprayed.. Fred likes it falling onto him and Romy likes to get sprayed (misted) right in the area. So if Romy spreads his wings, he likes to be sprayed directly on his wings. He loves it so much you can see the joy in his reactions. If I were to spray him and let it fall he would just sit there and not enjoy it. Fred is really loving his toys more and more. He will hang upside down and tug at his smaller wood blocks with the bell. He bangs them so hard into the side of the cage to make his bell ring, its a funny sight to see. He reminds you of a monkey having a blast with something new. Thats all for today.
April 21, 2004
Julie finally is understanding her showers. I got Romy to spread his wings and Julie followed along. She enjoyed it so much that when Romy and Julies wings came together, she pecked him like she was telling him to move away so she can get the shower. LOL. One thing I noticed on Julie is that when she fluffed up her neck feathers she had a lot of bare feathers. She is not plucking so I am hoping they will grow back. When her feathers are not fluffed she just looks like she has scraggly feathers but don't look missing. So now I know why she looks scraggly in the neck. My guess is it happened before I got her. Since there are no signs of ever plucking since I have had all three, I am sure she should regrow them. They are really settling in and they seem so happy. We are still working with Fred stepping up but we know it will be a long process. But we have all the time in the world for him so we will keep you updated on his progress.
May 5, 2004
Fred got to go in his carry kennel to go see Betty for the first time today. He was so excited to see her as she was to see him. You would think they were a mated pair. I haven't decided if I want to mate them but if I do, I think they may be a perfect match.
July 5, 2004
It's been way too long since the last post and I am sorry. Fredrick has been trying much harder with his bonding process. He allows me to touch me more and kiss him. He has not spoken since the last time. I think it may be because Tonto is in the same room as him. Romy and Julie came out of their cage again today. They still cannot get the going back in proceaa down yet but they will soon learn. Otherwise all is good.
December 20, 2004
I HAD FREDRICK ON ME!!!!!!! I toweled him and held him and then stood up with him and opened the towel. He climbed on my shirt and stayed there. He was nervous but IT WAS GREAT!!!!! We walked around a little then I returned him to his cage. He chirrped his butt off. You could tell he liked it too. I almost started to cry..... MORE PROGRESS!!!!! That is the best Christmas present I could ever receive. The funny part is my mother kept calling for me but I wasn't answering because I did not want to sppok Fred, so she walked into the room and her mouth to the floor told the whole story. She could not believe her eyes either. I was more than words could say....
