Hi Maggie,
I regret to write in that my chronic illness that had been stable for about a year has relapsed and I am very ill. I am so concerned about my Timneh. She's the bird I got in July who was kept in a cage in a backyard with a plucked Timneh with no human interaction. She and I had come so far, with her even stepping up from the cage and flying from my arm to her climbing tree. She had become totally dependent on me, only eating with me when I ate, only playing with toys when I played with her.
Now I am bedridden and the tough part is I don't know if this will last a few months or much more. I am heartbroken about her. I have family coming to clean up and feed her and clean her water. Problem is it's 3 different people coming in all the time to help me with her. I talk to her as they do everything, saying the things I always said as I interacted with her. She's had a lot of stress since these people aren't very mindful and sometimes terrify this fearful creature just by working to fast around her.
I have moved her cage so that it is still against a window(having been an outdoor bird, she really needs this stimulation I think), but also near my bed and the french doors to the balcony. A ficus tree overhangs her cage and she perches underneath where the branches are; I think this is calming too. I hope. This way she can be rolled to my bed where I can interact with her through the open door, or she can be rolled out into the sunlight on the balcony on nice days. I moved her cage to this area several days in a row during the day and returned it to it's usual place at night, just to get her used to it. Otherwise, she would be far from me all day long. I think she's eating more this way.
I put a ladder from her door perch to my bed and I am very proud of her for in one afternoon, not only climbing onto the new scary ladder for hte first time but walking onto the bed with me (and then scurrrying back into her cage with her prize). Much coaxing and many treats did this.
I'm hoping to get her comfortable with playing on my bed with her toys and foraging for food (I used to scatter her food on her play top to get her to forage). Maybe that way I can keep her happy enough to keep her with me. She had never been out of her cage before in 8 years, but now she gets nervous and pacey if she doesn't get out everday since she had been out of her cage most of the day before I got sick. I gave her several new toys that I made that have lots of things she likes to explore with her beak--beads, sisal, cotton, and popsicle sticks.
I'm also afraid she's picking feathers. She had dropped some large feathers once a week, but now I'm seeing smaller feathers everywhere.? She is picking at her vent area too, and that's a first, and it scares me after reading the other plucking post here. Poor bird, who could blame her with all my stress and the changes?
I have two possibilities in mind if I have to find her a home. I hope it doesn't come to that, but already I'm feeling really guilty about how much time she spends in her cage seeing me sick all day (we live in a studio apt. together) and it's been 2 weeks. I'm sure my being upset about the relapse hasn't helped; I know how sensitive they are. I also tend to do for her when I should be in bed so I may have to put my health ahead of keeping her at some point.
When does one re-home? When is it better for the bird to stay where they are? I want what's best for her. Any advice would be much appreciated on how to make the bed-bird idea work better for her would help us both.
Allie and Luna