Vinny's recipe for succes!

It's been a while since we've made a batch of freezer-food, as we call it. Basically this is a large batch of mixed rice, pasta, beans, corn, miscellaneous vegetables and sometimes some fruits or sprouts. This all started out mainly as a bean mix, but recently we've been deviating from the original mix more and more.

The mix is now a healthy mix of avocado, coffee beans, chocolate, gummy bears, cheese, onions, lots of garlic, fried chicken, french fries and some raw eggs.

No! I'm just kidding. 

Those are pretty much the worst foods you can give to your parrot. If you are in doubt about which foods are healthy for your (particular kind of) parrot, Google it. Find forums that talk about healthy parrot foods. They are usually a rich source of information, as long as you don't go by just one opinion, but try to find the general consensus. And if you're still not sure, call a vet or a parrot expert. They will gladly advise you.

Our mix as stated below is a mix of what we know are good for Eclectus parrots. But we do keep in mind that this mix by itself by far is not enough to call a full diet. On a daily basis it needs to be supplemented with fresh foods and vegetables, a good seed mix, fresh sprouts and healthy snacks. This mix is just a decent base food. 

We also left out certain juice/water rich fruits and vegetables that don't freeze well. Leafy vegetables like spinach are well loved by Vinny as well, but are no good to freeze.

Please note that this mix, or the idea of pre-making small batches of food is not new. We wrote about making batches like this before, in the early days of this blog, for example in this post from June 2012. And of course many people have done this before us.

So, the basic idea is simple. You throw a whole bunch of healthy ingredients together, you mix well, you take little scoops and fill little bags, then put those little bags in the freezer to be taken back out one by one to be defrosted and given to your parrot. And if you have multiple parrots that all eat the same food, more bags.. ehh power to you!

We've been talking about giving you the run-down of what goes into making a batch like this. So here it is, the exact ingredients of today's batch, and how it's made.

Normally we do this with the two of us, but Vinny's 'mommy' is out of the country at the moment, so I did this by myself and obviously it took me quite a bit longer. This batch took me about 1.5 hours, but I didn't hurry and was watching TV while doing the bagging up.

The ingredients we used:

• 1 kg (2 lbs) brown rice
• 500 gr (1 lb) whole wheat macaroni
• 1 cans (600 gr / just over 1 lb) corn, drained
• 1 jar (350 gr / 12 oz) pre-boiled peas, drained
• 1 jar (250 gr / 9 oz) pre-boiled white beans, washed and drained
• 250 gr (9 oz) pre-boiled brown beans, washed and drained
• 2 bags (total almost 2 lbs) of veggie mix from grocery store *
• 1 large or 2 small zucchini's, diced

The vegetable mix bags were simply stir-fry mixes that contained (and I quote from the bags): red paprika, green beans, kidney beans, cabbage, leek and corn.

We use a plastic tub approximately the size of a kitchen sink to mix everything in. Using a 1/2 cup measuring cup, we managed to get 70 bags out of this amount, but depending on the size of your parrot and how much he/she eats on average, you can put a bit more or less on 1 bag.

Either way, you should end up with 2-3 months of food for one parrot.

The freezer bags are very simple small or medium size light-weight bags that come 80-in-a-box. The ones we use are a bit too large, but they're easy to close by tying a knot in them, then we cut off excess plastic.

So, the whole run-down goes as follows:

1. clean the tub/container/bowl well. Disinfect it if you see fit, or wash well.
2. Start boiling the brown rice and whole wheat macaroni. Follow the instructions on the packing in case you're not sure how to do this. We boil the pasta till it's 'al dente'. Any shape of pasta will do, but small standard elbow macaroni is easier to mix and bag. 
3. In the mean time mix the rest of the ingredients together in the tub/container/bowl.
4. Add in the boiled pasta and rice after it has cooled down for a little while. 
5. Mix it well, with your hands (wash them well first, or use clean gloves) or with a large spool
6. Find a comfortable spot. On the couch in front of the TV works, or at the kitchen table with family or friends (for good conversation). 
7. Use a 1/2 cup or 1/3 cup or a table spoon to put scoops into the freezer bags
8. Close the freezer bags
9. Put them into larger bags (in our case, 15 per zip-lock bag)
10. Put them in the freezer (but leave 1-2 out for immediate or next-day consumption). If you're in doubt about the power of your freezer, put half in the freezer first and half in the fridge. Then add the fridge-half to the freezer the next day.
11. Feel satisfied that you made it easier for you for a while to come. Reward yourself with a nice glass of whatever your favorite beverage is. Well done.

Taking a break half way through
the bagging process

Further notes and thoughts:

• The amounts listed above are far from exact science. We just put together these ingredients in these amounts because that is how they were packed. Just try to balance it out. 
• Try to find these foods fresh, or in case of jars/cans/packs/bags, make sure you use ones with the least amount of additives. None of our ingredients had additives, except for a tiny bit of salt in the cans of corn. Use organic/natural foods if they are available. 
• Once you take them out of the freezer to be used, put them in the refrigerator to thaw. This takes longer, but try to think a day ahead. After thawed, we use them within 2 days for freshness. If we haven't used them after 2 days, we usually throw them out and get new ones out from the freezer.
• Make sure you work in a clean environment and please do wash your hands before starting. If you put anything spicy such as peppers or jalapenos in the mix, do not rub your eyes if you've touched them with bare hands. Trust me, I've made this mistake before. Wash your hands thoroughly. 
• Feel free to experiment by adding extra ingredients that your parrot likes and that are healthy. A good idea is to add already-frozen fruits, like berries and pomegranate that you get from the freezer section of your supermarket.

And well, that's basically it. Vinny just eats it up, literally! Usually he eats the pasta and beans first, then goes for the rest. Fruits are usually saved for last.

If you have any further questions, tips, comments or remarks, please do speak up below. For example, what do you usually add to a batch that isn't listed above?

Have fun!

Vinny gets a manicure

Time for a parrot manicure!

Here is something that most parrot owners will recognize .. sharp nails! And by sharp nails I mean razor sharp! It had been gradually getting worse of the last few months and it got to the point where he left too much damage.

I'm sure parrot owners are not strangers to scratches and the occasional bite, but with Vinny it reached a typical 'that's it!' point. We got a pet-nail clipper before and used it on Vinny by grabbing him, holding him (gently) in a towel and doing his nails. But it was troublesome to keep him still long enough and we were definitely not looking forward to it. However, evidently it was time to face the fact.

Our clipper, bought at a local pet store

He was on to us as soon as he saw the towel. He's not traumatized, he's just smart. Towel in hand: beware, could be shower (YAY!) or attempt to catch (NOOO!). Clippers by themselves: Curious, could be a new toy? Clippers combined with towel: Time for a game of 'Catch the bird!', also known as 'FLY AWAY!'.

In the end we did manage to lure him in and hold him. Needless to say he wasn't happy and while we were ignoring his angry growling, we realized that Vinny was way too restless to even attempt anything with our 'instrument of terror'.

Nail clipping in action

So we gave up on that attempt. This gave Vinny a chance to calm down and sent us into a brainstorm session on how to make this process go any smoother.Meanwhile Vinny was sitting on my hand and as usual he was cute as a button, talking up a storm, making laughing sounds (seriously, I think he was laughing at us!) and fluffing up his feathers.

And then it dawned on us, he may not have to be caught. I got the clippers, approached his feet and he was fine letting it all happen. We clipped his nails (not too short of course, only got the needle-sharp ends off. Of course that was our goal to begin with.

This is how our endeavor got a happy end after all. It's 2 days later now and it's much better now. His nails are still sharp enough for him to hold on and climb up and down chairs, ropes, and us, but not sharp enough to break skin on the lightest of touches anymore.

So here's our tip on bird manicures: train your parrot well while he or she is young. Make sure it's not afraid of new things. Let your bird be comfortable with being touched and prodded. Play tickle games as part of the training. And the result is that you'll get a bird that you don't need to hold or force down as much.

Sea-shell covered perch (found on E-bay)

Now, there are possibilities to prevent their nails and beaks from getting too long or too sharp. There are special perches that are made of coarse concrete or are covered with sea-shells or other materials to give it a rough surface similar to sanding paper. And there are brand-grade products out there that sell very colorful perches that are supposed to have the same effect.

Our personal experience is that they don't work for Vinny. He simply doesn't like them. Maybe the surface is too rough for the padding on his feet. Or maybe he thought he was too manly for the pink perch we got for him. Color can definitely be a factor for a bird's opinion about anything, so make sure you know your bird's favorite color, or pick a neutral one.

Example of brand-grade perches

We're not against these types of perches by definition, but we do stay away from them. They're relatively expensive and they may just become an ornament in the cage, just for show. Plus it's not always clear what types of materials are used in production. Besides that, our vet didn't seem to find Vinny's nails too long, so we don't consider it a concern and we deal with it by just clipping once in a while.

Using special perches is a personal choice (such as many things related to bird-care). What do you do to prevent long or sharp nails? Do you use those special perches and have you tried different ones? In your opinion, what are the best perches made of and/or what are the best brands/types? Or if you clip your bird's nails regularly, what is your trick to do this with the least amount of hassle? Feel free to leave a comment.

Vinny has the Winter Blues

It's early March. Vinny turned Two not long ago. And Vinny has the Winter Blues.

A while ago he was still fine. He was talking, chatting, showing many many signs of happiness, playing, learning, he just picked up the awesome skill of whistling, and did I mention talking and chatting?

He would just sit there at the top of his cage, especially around sunset, he would just talk away, go through his whole vocabulary in all directions and especially when stimulated, he would whistle. We had this thing where I would do a simple 2-tone whistle (high-low) and he would repeat it. Sometimes this went back and forth over 10 times. Always followed by laughter from both Vinny and me.

During our morning showers, we would have complete discussions about anything that fits his vocabulary.

But now?

It's gone. He lost his mojo. He still does all the same things, being cute, showing signs of happiness, playing, communicating, but sans the talking and whistling. One day, about 3 weeks ago, he just stopped.

All he does now, is make short sounds. Like humming, but a bit higher pitched. Sometimes he does it in an asking way, sometimes just to give confirmation. Like someone just saying 'uh-huh' instead of 'I agree'.

Actually, come to think of it, it stopped around the time when we were giving our bathroom a big overhaul. We used a lot of chemicals and the bathroom had a very strong swimming pool odor, so obviously the bathroom was not a very healthy place for a parrot. We had to put showers on a hold for a little while.

After the smell went away, we gave it a few more days and an extra, very thorough, hose-down. And this week we have resumed giving Vinny showers in the morning. Yesterday he uttered a half-baked '.. come out' or something, but today he's back to uh-huh and uuuumm.

Of course we did our usual Google sessions, where we tried to figure out if other people have dealt with this before. And people have. Apparently it's a pretty common thing for a bird to stop talking, and we read a million and one reasons for why it could happen. But you know... everyone's just guessing, no final answers or studies on this behavior.

Our advice:
Don't google this particular problem. If the no talking persists and if your parrot shows other signs of trouble (depression, physical signs of illness or injury, other very strong behavior changes), just give your vet a call.

Vinny has been and is as happy as a parrot could be. He's affectionate, playful, trainable, he's been eating well, need I go on? He's also not going through a hormonal phase. No molting, no biting, etcetera. In fact, now that he just does the humming thing, he's actually more communicative. Vinny has just stopped using words.

So what is the cause, in Vinny's case?

No clue. But we suspect that it's just a case of the Winter Blues. Lack of sunshine and thus vitamin D12 deficiency, like in humans? He has been sleeping a bit more than usual.

Although the Dutch Winter of 2014 was extremely mild, we haven't had a lot of sunshine. It's been a pretty dull and grey winter. And today, this weekend, is actually the first weekend of beautiful weather. This morning Vinny had the longest shower in quite a while. He kept asking for more by fluffing up, spreading his wings, the usual. And now he's been sitting in front of the window, in the bright sunlight.

Maybe it's an instinct to look for natural light? We like to think so, and this has also confirmed another valuable lesson for us ...

Vinny Is Sunbathing After A Shower

Watch your parrot's behavior closely. Be a true bird whisperer. Just read the signs, weigh them, and draw your conclusions. Don't panic. Discover what your parrot's sad, neutral and happy sounds are. "It's elementary, my dear Watson!", as Sherlock would say.

We are not worried. We are confident that he will be his old chatting self soon enough!

Word!

Vinny writes a letter to Santa

Dear Santa Claus,

First off, I hope you're okay! It was disturbing to see this video and I would hate it if something happened to you, because of a parrot! Please understand that not all of us parrot-kin are aggressive and/or destructive! Of course I'm saying this after finding this unsettling Youtube video!

I know it's only early September, but I'm writing you now because I don't know if I can trust my humans to forward my letter to you in time. Or actually I'm not sure I can trust them at all!

The thing is .. I really do feel awkward at times. I can sense that my body is going through some changes and I really can't help it when I let out some yells now and then. I don't do it often, because I've noticed that every time i do that, I have to go back in the cage, my humans are leaving the room, or I get a blanket thrown over my cage. They really seem pissed off at me at times!

Please, Santa, you have to trust me, I'm NOT a bad boy! I just can't help myself!

The other day, when one of the humans I'm living with, the chubby one who's feet smell so delightful and let's me play with them now and then -let's call him 'daddy'-, was taking me for a shower. I know, I got a bit overexcited again. I just couldn't sit still. It was like, I don't know, a whole bunch of bees were swarming around me. I felt so agitated, but enthusiastic at the same time.

And the other human, the one with the long hair that is so much fun to play with -let's call her 'mommy'-, I had lost her! I could hear her, but I couldn't see her. I guess there was a small element of panic there as well. So I jumped around the small wet room with the great acoustics, and let out a few yells.

And daddy was very angry! He came out of the waterfall, chased me, tapped me on my tail, and I really do think he thinks that I'm a bad boy. But please Santa, you have to trust me, I'm NOT a bad boy!

Most of the time, both mommy and daddy are really nice to me though. They get me new stuff all the time. To play with, to sit on, to eat, to chew on, to exercise with, and more! So I'm still very happy with both of them, and the small chirping birds as well of course. In the end I think we're all one big family and we love each other very much, even though we have our squabbles now and then. And, even though they don't always do what I tell them to do.

That's why I'm not sure this letter will reach you in time, or at all! We'll have to see. Maybe I'll send you a short note by pigeon as well. My neighbors, a whole flock of 20 pigeons, have this whole courier service operation going on. I've been getting along with hem very well, so maybe they'll give me a discount, especially when they know my situation at home and that it's a letter to you, of all people.

So, that said, now let's talk about my 'demands'. This year, my wish list is as follows:

• A nice natural looking Java tree stand, one of those with white curvy branches and all
• More toys. I like the leather one. Great to chew on. Flexible, yet sturdy.
• A bigger cage! (although I'm not sure my humans would agree)
• A harness that doesn't feel icky, so my mommy and my daddy will take me out more often
• A dictionary! I'm practicing my speech, but my humans keep repeating me. I want to learn new words! 
• A dictionary! I love shredding paper in general, but especially dictionaries.
• 
  

I can't think of anything else for the moment, but I'll let you know. I'll CC Mrs. Santa on this note as well, I know you're really busy with prepping and all.

Take care, dear Santa, and I really do hope that you know that I'm not a bad boy!

Vinny the Eclectus

The Netherlands

Ps.
Recently I've discovered that when you have a pitcher or bottle with cold water/drink, the outside gets really wet! And that the cold wetness on the side is absolutely fantastic to lick off! And ice cubes are great to munch on too, as long as they're being dunked in water first. I don't like it when they're still 'dry'. They get a bit sticky. Anyway, can you also send along a big bag of ice, please, you know, with you living at the North Pole and such? Thank you Santa! You're the best!

Vinny goes back to basic!

Lately, and I'm talking about the last month or so, Vinny has become somewhat of a teenager. We can tell that hormones are surging through his little body and he's become more difficult to handle. Especially Mommy has gotten a few jabs, probably because she's more around than Daddy.

I guess Vinny has become a Daddy's boy, or in bird-keeper terms a 'one-person-bird'. And being Daddy's boy, he's also shown his affection towards Daddy. Especially after eating fresh fruit, he's more than happy to share this food with Daddy, bring it back up in his beak and offering it to Daddy with a load of head-bobbing and wing flapping. Daddy can deal with it, but Mommy is disgusted to say the least, especially when Vinny mistakes Mommy for Daddy and shares his food with her!

Of course we're not really too alarmed by this, all the experts say that it's just a phase. However, because we were reading up on this phenomenon, we did learn a few things that we've been doing wrong. Unwillingly and unknowingly, we've encouraged his hormonal behavior by giving him tickle sessions, playing with him, touching his beautiful candy corn beak, and the like.

The head bobbing and the regurgitating wasn't the worst. But the last 2 weeks or so he's started to become more aggressive and certainly louder. He's started short but ear-pounding screaming sessions, especially when about to be left alone or when he's been demanding some TLC.

A few days ago we drew the line.

Rule no. One: No more touching of erogenous zones, i.e. no more tickle sessions.

Rule no. Two: Change of diet. Less sugar rushes (read: less carbs), more healthy food.

Rule no. Three: Start over with training.

The first one is pretty obvious. If you play-wrestle with your bird, he might interpret that in an entirely wrong way. We're not his natural parents, he has nobody else besides us, and he doesn't have another Eclectus mate. So if we show the 'right' behavior, he'll start seeing us as his potential lover, even though it's just for short moods swings. I guess tickling areas of his body (i.e. under his wings, his belly, his beak, his neck) doesn't help. So we're done with that.

The 2nd one might seem less directly linked to his hormonal behavior, but hey, it doesn't hurt him. And the sugar rush thing makes sense, right? There was too much pasta and rice in his diet anyway, as opposed to legumes, sprouts and fresh fruits that are not too sugary.

Rule number 3 we read on various blogs. Training is fun and non-sexual attention. And attention is always good. Leave any parrot by himself too long and he'll go bonkers. A daily dosage of attention is very important.

Now, in that area Vinny had no reason to complain, but it's not just about the quantity of the attention, it's also the quality that counts. So, we've started training him again. Potty training, target training, simple commands like 'step up', etcetera.

Now, I can read your mind a little bit and I can see that you're wondering where we got all this 'wisdom'. We promise that sometime soon we'll just make a whole blog post about sources of information. For now you'll just have to believe us when we say that we get our information from various reliable sources (websites, blogs, etc) and we blend it all together.

There are as many opinions on bird-care and bird-handling as there are bird owners. But there's definitely some consensus to be discovered, when you read closely. We just go with the 'general opinion'.

The results?

Even after a few days of change we can tell that his hormonal behavior has become less. It definitely hasn't completely vanished yet, but we're on the way there. The no tickling rule and the training has helped the most so far. So really it's about the type of attention we've given Vinny.

With the training, we've also read up on what's the best way to go at it. Target training is a general type of training that will help with further more specific training later on. And simple commands like 'step up' and 'come here' should definitely be worth the effort.

One source says that you should always stop a training session before your parrot does. Try to figure out his attention span and use that info. Let's say that that's about 7 minutes, make sure you stop the training session after 6 minutes. We've noticed that this really helps. This way training doesn't get boring to Vinny and he stays eager to learn.

Usually he picks up a trick after 4 or 5 tries within one session, but we've yet to discover how many sessions it takes for him to consistently do a trick correct on the 1st try in a new session.

Anyway, as we said, we'll go into reliable sources in a separate post and give you a further update on Vinny's teenage behavior.

Do you have a bird that is or was going through a phase like this? Do you have any hints and tips on how to deal with it? Feel free to comment. Take care and till next time!

Vinny shakes a tail feather

Normally a Vosmaeri Eclectus has 12 tail feathers. Vinny is down to 3. That is three. That's right. Luckily, they'll grow back, and that should happen over the next half year or so, while he's going through his first major molt. He's just about 1 year old now, so if you know your Eclectus, you know what I'm talking about.

Clear view of 2 snapped tail feathers after yet another typical
Vinny-stunt. Vinny is quite wet here, just having had a shower.
Moments later, we freed him of his broken off feathers.

It's actually pitiful (read: funny) to watch, he truly looks like a handicapped bird, but in a funny way, like a pirate with a peg leg. Even though he can still fly quite nicely with just 3 tail feathers, you can tell that his maneuvering is a bit wonky. He sways a bit left and right now, and if there was something like a parrot police, he would be pulled over for drunk flying for sure.

I may have said it before: Vinny is a true stuntman from time to time, mean that he often climbs in and on his cage in ways we never thought was possible, uses his swing like a real trapeze artist, and so forth. He sometimes gets himself in trouble and has to make emergency landings. During the first 8 months or so we've had him, he's lost a few tail feathers doing just that.

left: broken off baby tail feather
middle: shedded stump of broken off tail feather
right: naturally shed flight feather

Recently, we've been on vacation and we put Vinny in a Pet Hotel at a bird-expert vet about half an hour drive away. 17 Days later he came back with yet 2 tail feathers lost. This was probably due to pacing around a very small cage. This is normally his sleeping cage. We have it in the darkest room in the house, to make sure Vinny get's at least 12 hours of rest every day. Of course the cage is still big enough for him to spread his wings at least, but other than that, it's not intended for him to stay in it for a longer period of time.

At the vet, we had no other option, because this is the only cage that will fit in our car. So he lost a few more. No big deal. But after we came back from vacation, Vinny seemed to be more fond of that cage, I guess he saw that as his comfort zone. So we let him stay in there more than normal. He even went in there by himself when we were around. And that caused him to lose 2 more, the day after we came home from vacation.

So three it is. No biggie. Not a problem. They'll grow back. Of course, because of this, we've been looking for signs of his first big molt, and last week our patience was rewarded. Two days in a row, we found two flight feathers (for those who don't know: the big long feathers on his wing) in his cage, perfectly intact as they're supposed to be.

And yesterday we found one of his stumps of a broken off tail feather as well, with a nice and intact base, a clear sign of a naturally shed feather. Perfect, perfect, perfect! He's  right on schedule and within half a year, he should have most or all of his tail feathers back.

The thing with tail feathers, and we've read this on various parrot and Eclectus expert websites, is that the first feathers a bird has, are more flexible, but at that also weaker than his adult feathers. The reason for this is that nature has figured out that baby birds are more reckless and are more prone to feather-breaking than adult birds. Makes sense, right? Imagine chicks ruffling around in a small nest, or kids doing all kinds of stunts that are actually very helpful in getting in touch with their agility and dexterity. If everything we've read is correct, he should grow back stronger feathers.

New pin feather on his left wing

And then this morning, to top it all off, we noticed two very nice pin feathers on his wings, one on each side, in the same spot. Those must be the replacements for the flight feathers he shed last week.

Remember, this is all new to us. If you're a weathered parrot-owner, you must probably be laughing at this! And if you have no interest in parrots whatsoever, you must probably be asking yourself what the big deal is.

Vinny is nowhere close to a human kid of course, but just imagine your own kid missing almost all of his front baby teeth, and then noticing the signs of his adult teeth breaking through. That's why we deem this a Kodak moment and write about it, for your pleasure!

Do you have an Eclectus or any other kind of parrot, and you have funny stories about their first molt? Please do share, that's what comments are for.

More coming up about Vinny's adventures as a young Eclectus finding his way on this great chunk of dirt we call Earth. He's about to see the big Oh-One, so time to sum up a year of new experiences, for both Vinny and his 'parronts'.

Good Eats for Vinny!

For us, as first time parrot owners, figuring out the food has been an experiment. We've fed him just about any type of food we've been recommended. All kinds of fruits and veggies, the right pellets (no additives and only with natural coloring), the right seeds, beans and peas, and so forth.

For about 2 to 3 months now, he's been off the Nutribird formula and he's doing great. One night, about a month after his last formula feeding, he was on a rant around dinner time and wouldn't eat his bean mixture. So we tried to feed him the formula again, but after 2 spoons, he flung it all around the room and went back to his old 'new' food. And that was that.

We've gotten into the habit of making his food once per month, bag it up in small batches, and put it in the freezer. On a daily basis, he gets one of those batches, additional fruits and/or vegetables, and a small handful of seeds or nuts.

The most important ingredients for this special Vinny-mix are: wheat pasta, barley, rolled oats, couscous, yam, pumpkin, mango, brown rice, chick peas, green peas, mung beans, black-eyed peas, adzuki beans and lentils. We boil it in separate batches and put stuff together according to boiling times. After cooling, we mix everything up in a huge bowl and put a good spoon full (half a cup) in each freezer bag. We've also experimented with putting in some veggies like broccoli, but stuff like that doesn't thaw out well.

In the morning, he gets a healthy seed/grain mix (again: no added vitamins/minerals), around dinner time he gets the mix and in the evening it's usually snack time. His absolute favorite snacks are red grapes, corn-on-the-cob, and pumpkin. That last one, we sometimes buy at the farmer's market.

He also loves almonds or sunflower seeds, but we usually only give him those when we train him. We do stimulate him by making him open the container himself, or hide it inside a toy.

If you have an Eclectus yourself (or maybe more than one), feel free to comment and let us know what you're feeding your 'child'. If you don't have any Eclecti (maybe this is it?), feel free to skip the technicalities above. Oops, too late! At least I hope you're enjoying the pictures in this post!

Take care and Bon Apetit!

Leash & Leisure for Vinny

Today is Queen's Day in the Netherlands, an official holiday that brings fun for all ages. And today is also the first day of actual nice weather. A comfortable 75 Fahrenheit (over 20 Celsius), nice sun, light breeze, couldn't be better and what a coincidence that we got this today! Actually felt like spring and we even got a little sunburn.

Even better, because this morning we went out to the 'Vrijmarkt' here in Groningen, which is basically a big open free flea market in the streets. We got lots of new cheap toys for Vinny at an average of 60 cents a piece. Vinny will be so happy!

Since the weather was so nice, we decided to do a nice picnic in the neighborhood park and give the Aviator a run for its money. The Aviator is basically a harness on a leash especially developed for parrots. They come in various sizes for different types of parrots and it's very well designed and made. Based on this alone, we think it's an excellent product. We bought it online from Avonturia, a store in the Hague, the Netherlands.

So we went out on our bikes (only a few minute ride), Vinny in a carrier and already in the Aviator harness. You have to understand that, aside from twice in the back yard, this was Vinny's first day out! Since the weather has been bad over the last few months, we didn't really get the chance to try this before, but today was definitely the day.

Here's a little tip, in case you are considering getting the Aviator, or already bought it: watch the instructional DVD that comes with it, and/or read the manual. IT people use the term RTFM (Read The Fricking Manual) regularly. Well, it definitely applies here as well. When you go through the whole loop of getting your parrot used to it gradually (like we did), you will be rewarded! It'll be easy to get the Aviator on and off your parrot, especially if your parrot is used to being touched on the head, back and wings.

Vinny was perfectly fine on the way over in his specially prepped carrier, he even made some cute sounds. Oh yeah, about the carrier: We use your basic plastic cat-carrier, but put a (natural) perch in, leaving some room at the bottom to slide a sheet of paper in.

Anyway, when we arrived in the park, we set out our blanket in the shade and unleashed the beast. He was somewhat anxious at first, but soon got used to being outside, to the big sea gulls flying over, and crows shooting through the canopy. He got settled in for sure when he got some food as well, although he wasn't too sure about hopping through the grass or even our blanket. He did seem to want to sit on our shoulders more than normal (I guess it is his safe spot).

The Aviator did its work perfectly. He flew off a few times, but got gently pulled by the elastic cord and was able to stay in the air, doing a few circles before landing softly on our hands or on the ground. At least it made him more comfortable with the grass and at some point he even rolled around in it 'for funzies'!

We even did some starter recall training and we found out that praise is a very good motivational thing for Vinny's training. Works even better than treats. What a perfect bird!

We did figure out one drawback of the Aviator though. Vinny was picking on the harness a lot. Of course this was a first time that he was wearing it for more than 5 minutes, but he didn't seem to be able to get comfortable wearing it. At some point he even loosened it up himself by pulling the strap from the clasp! Not just a perfect bird, also a very clever bird! We did double check if we put it on correctly, of course, but maybe we still got it twisted or something. Hopefully next time he'll be better about it (or we, for that matter).

All in all we had lots of fun, and so did Vinny. After getting back, he flew to the top of his cage and fell asleep in a matter of minutes.

Do you ever take your parrot out? Do you use some kind of harness or is your bird perfectly trained to fly back to you when you call him/her? What are your experiences with the Aviator or similar products?

New toys for Vinny

Today it's Queen's Day in the Netherlands. April 30th, like every year. Official holiday, celebrations and parties everywhere. Part of the Queen's Day tradition is the 'Vrijmarkt', which literally translates to 'Free Market'. This basically means that anyone can lay out a blanket in the street (designated locations) and put old stuff up for sale. You'll see all kinds of stuff: pots & pans, clothes, weird antiques from the attic, complete collections of whatever people want to get rid of...

Lots of toys to be found that are safe for parrots

One of the things that you will frequently find, is toys. Lots and lots of toys that kids have grown out of. And that's why we went on our own scavenger hunt today at the 'Vrijmarkt' in Groningen City.

Cool people, weird stuff

The things we've been specifically looking for, are small colorful plastic toys that are Eclectus-resistant. No rubber parts that he can chew off, no small parts that can come off, you get the idea. Then of course we were also keeping an eye on safety. No metal parts (unless it's stainless steel), no sharp edges, no toxic paints, no unknown types of wood ... again, you get my drift.

The one thing that we've found quite a number of times, are small plastic 'Fisher Price' type key rings, little spoons and cute things like that. We also found a perfect basket for Vinny to sit on that can hold his toys, so he can pick out one to play with. On the side, we also found a few Coca Cola collector's items that are for the other big kid (me).

More weird stuff

Overall we got about 15 to 20 toys for an average of 60 cents a piece. Once run through the dishwasher (if it won't survive the dishwasher, it deserves to be tossed anyway), they're good to go and we'll give Vinny the first batch. See, what we're trying to do, is not give them all at the same time, but spread them out, no more than 4 or 5 at the same time. We've discovered that Vinny gets bored of a toy in about a week, and to keep him stimulated, we need to do some kind of rotation system for his toys.

So, if you're in or anywhere near the Netherlands next year on April 30th (and the night before), make sure you read up on the Vrijmarkt and other events going on. You'll have a blast, for sure! And you'll be able to find good toys for your parrot. Other flea markets and yard sales might also be a good place to look for cheap toys to buy in bulk. Tip of the day!

Where do you get your parrot toys and what do you spend on those per year?

Our loot for the day

General impression of a Dutch Queen's Day's flea market

Be amazed at the stuff people collect over time

Wanna play, boy?

In the previous posts I already mentioned a bunch of recognizable moods, at least so far. There's sleepy, hungry, quiet, playful, vocal and nosy. In that post, we went into the nosy a bit.

I guess we can add angry/upset to that list as well, but more about that later.

So what is Vinny like when he's playful?

Well, to be honest, this can mean a bunch of things. Basically it means that he's into everything. It can be anything in his toy basket, but could easily also be his play stand or swing, our couch, the food cup, you name it.

In our office, we have 2 desks set up, with a table in the middle and an Ikea Expedit 2x2 up against the wall. On top of that, there's a small play stand which he loves. It's high enough up so that he has the feeling of it being his 'throne' (good view of both of us and the rest of his room), plus it's where he gets playful.

We did this by getting a wooden tray at a dollar store that's easy to clean. Then we got 2 wooden ladders from a pet store, screwed them to the tray, screwed 2 sticks of natural wood to the top like perches, and there you go. Of course we used stainless steel screws/washers (not zinc or galvanized, since it's poisonous). And for natural wood we used de-barked willow. Took about 15 minutes to make. It's actually inspired by a similar play stand we made for the budgies (see 2nd picture, with the 2 ladders sideways on top).

He loves it! He climbs around on it, he hangs from it with one foot while grooming himself, he picks at the wood a bit, but mostly he just realizes he can be himself there. Actually, he's not just playful there, he can have any type of mood up there. Sitting quietly, observing everything we do or singing along with Youtubes that we play for him. Then of course sometimes he throws in some drama when he's grabbing hold, flapping his wings as if he wants to take off with the whole thing and growling.

Playing seems to come in two flavors for Vinny. Either he's in the aggressive 'attack the toy' mode, or he's just rolling any type of toy around in his beak, trying to take it apart. We asked the family in the USA send over a bunch of discarded baby toys and selected a bunch that were bird-safe. There's a few that he really really loves, including the yellow-green-orange (his 'fav' colors!) monkey-ring-thingy. He'll be happy just laying on his back, and picking at it.

Then there's the aggressive playing as well, where I think he's pretending it to be some sort of enemy. This is where we're on guard because we've had a few occasions where we thought it would be fun to join the 'fight' playfully but discovered that that's probably why our hands now look pretty banged up lately.

Another example of how to keep a parrot entertained for quite a while:
Go to your local hardware or DIY store, get a few yards of plastic chain, hang it from the ceiling or make a swing out of it (just use tie-wraps to put it together). And there you go!

We'll be making a lot more toys for Vinny and we'll definitely keep you informed! Just remember: 'Playful' is one of the better moods for any parrot to be in, and making toys or designated places to play is just so easy.

Till next time!

Welcome to Vinny Takes Charge!

This is Vinny's blog. He lives in Groningen, in the northern part of the Netherlands. He's a funny bird! He's also a young one, still. At the time of writing, he's about 14 weeks old, can't speak yet, but is definitely discovering the world around him, bit by bit.

Just to get this clear right away, Vinny is not proficient in typing (yet). Yes, he can walk on a keyboard and anything that comes out would probably look something like this: 'aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAASDFFFFFF <<<<///////' before hitting some key that would shut down the writing screen open at the time. So, it's Vinny's proud 'parronts' (parrot parents) who are writing this blog.

In short, this blog will tell you about Vinny's adventures and show some photos and videos, but also try to talk from a parrot owner's view and explain the problems we've encountered, how we solved them and the wonders we've discovered. We'll try to deal with all of this topic by topic.

See, the thing is: we've noticed that there's a LOT of info available on blogs, forums and other informational websites. However, there aren't a lot that deal with first time baby parrot stuff. So, even though we have had our baby parrot for over 3 weeks now, we'll start from the top.

Why did we pick the species of parrot that we liked, how did we go about selecting a cage, how did we find a breeder, etcetera. After that, we'll tell you a bit about Vinny specifically, and things that we've discovered.

As you may have noticed if you looked at Vinny's Google+ profile, he's a male Eclectus. For this reason, plus given the fact that we don't have experience with other large parrots, we can only talk from an Eclectus owner's point of view. But some of the stuff that we talk about, will definitely be solid information, regardless of the species of parrot you have.

So, what will you get when you read this blog?
- fun read
- info for new parrot owners
- anecdotes about Vinny

At this point, before getting to the good stuff, just a few tiny disclaimers:
- 'Fun' is very subjective. If you don't think it's a fun read, please let us know by giving constructive criticism. If you do think it's fun to read this blog, you can send us flowers, lots 'o money, front-row tickets to 2012 Olympics events, but of course just compliments by email are very welcome as well.
- Info for new parrot owners: please realize that in no way we're experts. We're handling anything that concerns Vinny in the best possible way we see fit, by finding info on various websites but also by trial-and-error. However, we strongly believe that it can be very helpful to learn from other people's mistakes and experience, so hopefully the info we give you will be of help to you.
- Anecdotes about Vinny: actually this falls under the header 'fun read', we hope. We'll put some pics and vids in here for fun as well. The only reason I'm mentioning this under 'disclaimer', is that we provide most of the stories and pictures and video's for this blog ourselves. And where we don't, we'll tell you the source.

Alright, on with it, enough of the boring babble!
Have fun reading this blog!