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Kamara's New Life

LilSprout

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Phil
Some of you may know Kamara's story from the welcome thread when I first joined. She was my grandmother's bird who was severely neglected her whole life, she's 15 now and within the last few months she began feather plucking so I asked my grandmother if I could have her and I was like "Yeah sure"
She's been with me for about 2-3 weeks and she's gotten a lot more bold and talkative. She's still quite timid but she's happy to explore the top of her cage, the table in front of the cage where I set up foraging puzzles for her, parts of my desk (she'll only go on the part closest to her cage, the other parts are still scary to her) also sometimes the floor, she can't fly well due to feather plucking but she's figured out how to get back to her cage so she's a very smart girl.
Previously she was only fed seeds, I've successfully got her eating pellets and in the afternoon and evening she gets her homemade bird bread hidden in foraging puzzles which she loves. She doesn't know how to play with toys yet but she loves climbing and also loves shredded paper and paper in general, last night she tore a big piece of paper and proudly carried it up to the perch she sleeps on, it was funny because it was bigger than her.
She's unsocialized so we're working on bonding, she's getting less scared of me sticking my hand in the cage to change food or water so I'm trying to have her accept treat from my hand, she's receptive but cautious. She's seen a vet and she's getting tests done to find out why she's feather plucking, the vet wants to see her in a month after she's been on a good diet for a while. I hope I can earn her trust and make her last years enjoyable
 

WendyN

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You are doing a great job!
 

Birdbabe

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Keep it up! You sound like it's going well..
 

iamwhoiam

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Great that she is making progress. She is very cute.
 

Cynthia & Percy

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awe so sweet
 

Tyrion

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She is very cute ..good job with her :)
 

Laurie

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I sounds like you are doing a wonderful job! Keep up the good work :)
 

fluffypoptarts

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She's adorable. I love their little faces, especially when focused on something! ;)
 

sunnysmom

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You are doing a wonderful thing for her. :) I'm glad she's improving so quickly.
 

Aubrey

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Keep up the good work!
 

Heather F

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Wonderful progress! It's lovely that you have taken in this charming old lady. @Ankou knows a thing or two about older lovebirds, and @webchirp also has a huge soft spot for senior birds. They might have some tips on care and potential health challenges and how to handle things like arthritis as they come. There is a specific subforum in the special needs area for senior birds that you may want to check out.
 

LilSprout

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Wonderful progress! It's lovely that you have taken in this charming old lady. @Ankou knows a thing or two about older lovebirds, and @webchirp also has a huge soft spot for senior birds. They might have some tips on care and potential health challenges and how to handle things like arthritis as they come. There is a specific subforum in the special needs area for senior birds that you may want to check out.
Thanks for the information! I'll certainly check out that subfourm
 

webchirp

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Aww, thank you for taking her in. I love the elderly babies. @metalstitcher has an older lovie, Gracie.
 

metalstitcher

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Who was overly cranky this evening and a nibbler. She was just not having it at all today when I got up for work tonight. She went after my fingers and my neck I think hubby kept her up a little too late the night before and that was her way of letting me know Uh Why am I not going to to bed right now????

Platform perches are something you are going to want to take a look at depending on the age of your lovie. Mine are 16 and have a little bit of a clutz factor going on but they love their and use them all the time. Also try the senior nutri-berries too. Gracie and Bo have been doing very well on them and it gives them the extra vitamins they need as they are getting older.
 

LilSprout

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Who was overly cranky this evening and a nibbler. She was just not having it at all today when I got up for work tonight. She went after my fingers and my neck I think hubby kept her up a little too late the night before and that was her way of letting me know Uh Why am I not going to to bed right now????

Platform perches are something you are going to want to take a look at depending on the age of your lovie. Mine are 16 and have a little bit of a clutz factor going on but they love their and use them all the time. Also try the senior nutri-berries too. Gracie and Bo have been doing very well on them and it gives them the extra vitamins they need as they are getting older.
Kamara is pretty ok with balancing most of the time but she likes to poop off the egde of things and sometimes it seems hard for her to balance. Her favorite sleeping spot is a rope perch but I was going to make her a sleeping platform and I never got around to it for whatever reason
I'm probably going to petsmart today so I'll look into senior nutri-berries as well
 

LilSprout

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Kamara has become brave enough to approach my hand, unfortunately she thinks it's food so she tries to give it a little test nibble. Anyone have any ways I can help her understand hand=hand and not food?
 

Peachfaced

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Kamara has become brave enough to approach my hand, unfortunately she thinks it's food so she tries to give it a little test nibble. Anyone have any ways I can help her understand hand=hand and not food?
On days I know that somebirdy is going to be nippier, I use a wooden clothespin to give treats (I pinch the tail of a millet ball). It gives just enough barrier between the bird and your fingers. It's also good for those birds who aren't yet trusting of fingers/hands.
 

LilSprout

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The good thing about the hand=food thing is I've discovered she'll try anything I offer to her with my hand. I had an asparagus sprig and I held it out for her and she walked over and gave it a few nibbles. She didn't like it but I'm happy she gave it a try! I'm going to try this with a few different fruits and veggies and see if she likes any
 
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