The light of my life is 11 today! Time really flies... it feels like only yesterday that he turned 10. :(
Since I spoil the birds constantly, I chose not to get a physical wrapped gift for Mika this year. This is partly due to the fact that both my boys have an overabundance of new toys still, so they don't need any more (nor do I have the space to store more!), and I'll be purchasing them Expandable Habitats cages for when we move to the house early next year.
But, of course, being the kind of mommy I am I still ended up getting something - something that is on it's way and will be a combined birthday gift for both Mika and Raptor, whose birthday is on the 25th of this month. I got this medium Java tabletop stand to go in the future master bedroom. I really love this stand because it's got a lot of branches for perching AND it's got a nice empty space on the left to hang a small boing, or swing, from the top branch. This will save me from hanging stuff from the master bedroom ceiling, something my bf said I could do but really doesn't want me to. ;) Yes, I know how to compromise. Hehe. I'm hoping to fall in love with one or two more tabletop stands by the time I set up the bird room and then I'll be set.
We wanted to take the boys out for a nice picnic at a park for Mika's birthday today but 1. the bf came down with a high fever yesterday, 2. I'm not feeling so great, and 3. it's doom-and-gloom outside anyway. So Mika has been having the run of the house, as usual. I gave him his favorite sprouts (mixed with that stuff he doesn't like called fruits and veggies) and yummy Avian Organics bird bread, which he tore up.
Happy bird-day, my baby. I love you so much and hope to celebrate many more birthdays with you. I don't know what I'd do without you. <3
See this face here? This little one did something yesterday or the day before that STILL has me speechless!!
I normally change Mika's (and Raptor's) cage liner every day or every other day. His liner is never really dirty because he's not a messy eater, his poops are small, and he never chews any of his toys up except the occasional fingertrap and wicker part (and even those times are rare). So when I woke up this morning to change liners I was in shock of what I saw down there.
BALSA PIECES.
A small amount of shredded balsa was sitting on top of the newspaper. At first I thought, "How did Raptor's shredding get into Mika's cage?!" There was no way the wind could have blown it in there because the wind blows from Mika's cage to Raptor's. So I looked at the toys Mika had in his cage. He has the Things for Wings pine Palm Tree - no balsa on there. He has the T4W Solo - no balsa on there. He has the T4W Going to Market - no balsa on there. Looked in his foot toy bowl - no balsa in there. I stood back for a second and didn't understand... until I saw the open door staring me in the face. The stainless steel Activity Bolt!! It has two slim pieces of balsa on it!! Sure enough, on the first slab, I saw the cutest little chew marks I've ever seen! <3
Either yesterday or the day before, my almost 11 year old boy has chewed his FIRST piece of WOOD!! I am so extremely proud of him!! Now I need to see if I even have any more of these small slim balsa pieces left so I can continue to encourage him to chew. I may be out, since Raptor really likes balsa... but I never mind making orders with T4W. ;)
Danita's balsa works miracles - first Raptor, now Mika!!
When Raptor first came home, he was pretty neutral and would let both my bf and I give him scritches. Within a month of him being with us, he chose my bf as his "person" and refused to let me scritch him at all. In fact, he would lunge and try to bite me - he even would try to trick me into giving him scritches by lowering his head for me and then lunging at me when my fingers came close. He eventually started seeing me as competition and would get very jealous whenever the bf and I got close. He wouldn't actively attack me, but he always made his presence known and would try to get between us. LOL While my bf loves our birds, he's not a true "bird person" so he always asks me how I could have so much love for a bird that tries to bite me. He doesn't understand that I take the relationship for what it is and I don't take his behavior personally.
In the couple of years we've had Rappy, I've done my best to slowly build our relationship. I'm the primary treat giver, I spend way more time with Raptor than the bf does, etc. Still, the bf is the chosen and preferred person and that's okay with me. The relationship had gotten a little better back in December during my Winter Break. I was home the whole time so I was able to spend extra time with the birds. It was during this time that Raptor allowed me to give him scritches using my wrist. I kept a closed fist so that he wouldn't try to bite my fingers. This was HUGE and I was so happy that our relationship had started taking forward steps! Unfortunately, once Winter Break was over and I went back to spending my normal amount of time with him he regressed and I couldn't bring my hand/wrist near his head without his eyes pinning.
Well, I've been able to spend a little extra time with Raptor these past couple of weeks. I've also been home for the past two and a half days from being sick so I've been spending a ton of time with the boys. Today, I was laying in bed with Mika in his cage and Raptor on the living room playgym. I definitely can't have them both out when I'm sick in bed. I heard Raptor leave the playgym and head for the bedroom. As usual, he sought to get to Mika's cage so he can kill. I intercepted him while he was still on the floor and brought him on the bed with me.
After a little while of just hanging out on my chest, he lowered his head for me. I decided to take a chance and extended my wrist to scritch him - he allowed it! After a while of that I decided to use the outside of my thumb, balling the rest of my fingers to prevent possible damage, to scritch him - he allowed it! After a while of outer thumb scritches I decided to try to use the rest of my fingers - AND HE ALLOWED IT!! I was amazed and ecstatic! What a huge leap forward!! I kept the scritches to short bursts just in case and, each and every time, he would lower his head again for more. I would say I scritched him for a total of over five minutes before his attention turned back to wanting to kill Mika.
I do hope he continues to allow me to give him normal scritches, but only time will tell. He seems to require a TON of extra time with me in order to be fully comfortable with me and, unfortunately, I can't quit my job just so I can give him scritches. LOL Also, if I get any other job besides the one I have now, I'll have to be away from home at least an hour more a day and I won't have huge breaks (my current work schedule is 7 hours as full time with all holidays and school breaks off). We seem to always take a step forward and a step back and I'm alright with that. It can't be helped. No matter what, I will continue to build our relationship at his pace and am willing to take forever if necessary. :)
