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Learn about your pet parrot!Archive for August, 2007
An outdoor pet parrot?
It’s been a few years since I’ve let my parrot roam around outdoors. Normally I hang on to him when we go out since he has been fully flighted for years. But a few weeks ago he was eyeing up the tree through the window and was indicating that he wanted to go outside. So I trimmed his wings down (he is very good to let us do this, but he shakes a little because he seems to know what the end result of the trim will be)
Sampson enjoys walking around the walkway. Yes, he grabs and uproots small plants.
He also enjoys climbing and pruning some of the trees in the yard. If the sprinkler comes his way, he will either climb to the other side of the tree, but more often than not, he takes a bath. He had his longest bath in history as he spent more than an hour getting soaked in the tree.
Here the bird can be seen in the tree. As the sprinkler would come by he would put out his wings and chatter away. When the sprinkler went in the other direction, he would shout until its return. I’m not sure if he was creating some sort of connection with his shouting, but we tightened up the cycle time nonetheless.
Now I’m sure people will complain about the safety issues here. First off, the back yard is fully fenced in. Some people will complain about toxic plants, others may complain about predators. Well, I’m certainly I would be much safer if I stayed on my side of the street and never crossed the road. But think of the adventures I would miss!
To Clip or not to clip?
For the last 4 years I have not clipped my cockatoos wings. In that time he grew very strong and I noticed a definite change in his behaviour. He had much more independence as he had the ability to move around the room. He was able to fly back to his T-Perch when he had to go to the bathroom and then fly back to join us. Quite amazing really. Typically he would have to communicate his needs with us - he does have a number of non-verbal gestures he uses to indicate when he wants to go upstairs/downstairs/outside/bathroom.
On the other hand, he became more ‘cocky.’ As a pet, he would be a little more agressive. When he would bite, he would fly away instantly. It’s almost as though he knew he was in trouble, and would instantly take off when he bit. Biting seemed a little more frequent when he was fully flighted.
On the other hand, he didn’t get any outdoor time. I’ve just recently clipped his wings in the last 3 weeks to give him some serious outdoor time
Did being flighted make him more content or a better pet?
Anyone else have any similar experiences?
