Australian Parrots

SETTING UP HOME FOR HUMPHREY
I couldn’t wait to show Humphrey of new Alexandrine his new cage. I had decked it out with so many gadgets to make him a happy and spoilt friend. Humphrey’s cage and some of his toys were hand-me-downs from MiniMickyMoo. The cage was about 1.2 x .8 x .6, we layered the base with shell grit and filled it with various types and sizes of perches. We gave him a bendy soft pliable perch, a plain wooden perch, a mineral perch and various sized branches. We also brought him a swing and a play gym, a cuttlefish, and several wooden and plastic toys.

FOOD, PERCHES AND TOYS
It didn’t take very long for Humphrey to settle into his new home. I brought him the best quality seeds I could find and offered him all the fruit and vegies that we could find. Within a week he was looking really good, his beak was a bright healthy red, I had given him a number of light sprays of water to help him clean up his feathers which were looking perfect.

LEGEND CHEWER
Now I always new that parrots needed to chew, but Humphrey proved to be a legend chewer. All the small toys, bells, balls and mirrors were smashed within hours. He then set about destroying all the more expensive wooden toys. In a couple of days he had pretty much destroyed all of MiniMickyMoo hand-me-downs and most of his new stuff. The only things to make it were the hardwood branches, the pliable and most the mineral perch and a large hanging wooden ball toy, and I believe if he could have found a way to get a good grip, it would have perished also.

CHEWING ADDICT …lol
When I lived on the farm I had a pet Cockatoo that did far less damage then Humphrey and his giant beak. Humphrey loves to chew, and he happens to be a professional, we often joke about whether or not the latest toy will last more then 10 minutes. We quickly taught him which areas were his, and made sure that we keep important things clear from there. We have learnt at lot from Humphrey, he has us working very hard to support his Chewing Habit. Every now and then I will treat him to a set of vegetable shaped wood chews, he can down a wood chew in minutes, they cost almost five dollars and their gone in less then thirty minutes. At least we get to keep the metal hanger they come with, I use them to serve up his vegies and fruit treats.

MAKING CHEW TOYS
We go to local schools, parks and bush walks to hunt down he latest chew hit. Pine cones are really good, I wire them into his cage and he crunches away for hours. We get a lot of branches, especially the seeded branches of the Banksias, Grevilleas and Bottlebrushes. We make most of his toys now, from the branches and seeds we find.

THE GENTLE APPROACH
I don’t believe in forcing myself onto a bird, I prefer to let them decide on what type of attention they want and need. This simply involves slowly approaching the cage and quietly talking to him or leaving a little treat. I quickly had him taking treats from my hand. I let Humphrey out of his cage after week of gentle talks and treats. I placed his play gym in front of his cage and opened the door. He was out in minutes, nervous but excited with the opportunity of chewing up his wooden play gym. Later when I went to put him back in his cage, he flew off. It took a long time, a stressed human and an exhausted, frazzled parrot to get him in for the night.

TO CLIP OR TO NOT CLIP
On his third day out of his cage, he finally found the inclination and/or courage to sit on my shoulder. However, he only did it when I had my back to him, washing up the dishes. I was so excited. I continued to have awful experiences when trying to get him in his cage for the night. I was sure his was going to fly into the window or wall and break his neck, we also had ceiling fans and they were a terrible worry even though I always made sure they were switched of. I eventually gave in and clipped his wing. He could still lift himself of the ground but he couldn’t fly very far, the guilt! In all honesty I would have preferred to have left his wings, but I was so scared for him and hopefully he will be a lot more settled when it grows back.

NOISE??????
I was always a little worried about Humphrey’s noise potential. I was very surprised, the first couple of days, he would squawk a little, but after he settled in he pretty much stopped. His sounds are mainly directed at the family, gentle chatting or calls to get our attention, which we always happily provide. The whole family are trying very hard to teach him to talk. Good morning is his first greeting each day, repeating various words throughout the day. I image if my neighbours could hear me they would be convinced I was a nut. I even go online to YouTube and entertain him with other parrots taking.

All in all, I couldn’t be happier with my little buddy. Our lifelong friendship has just begun, so I intent to work hard at making it a mutually pleasing relationship. We are off to a good start.