11/06/2022
Update on Rita - BG Macaw our foster from Rocky Mountain Parrot.
Diet: Rita is doing very well and transitioning nicely to chop, mash, and pellets. She loves pine nuts and almonds as a treat. We are not sure if she had nuts in her diet before because we had to teach her to crack them. I was pre-cracking almonds and hazelnuts for her first couple of weeks, but she is getting a hang of it now.
Enrichment and Playtime: Unfortunately I haven’t seen her play with toys much and have been working with her on playing with the toys by having her watch me hide some treats in or by them. She also has a benefit of observing other flock members having a good time with toys.
Health: Rita is doing quite well and her bumble foot is improving with a variety of natural perches and ropes in her cage. She also have been enjoying misting and her feathers look gorgeous.
Interaction: Rita is a sweet girl with a wonderful happy personality. She has not shown any aggression and gets very excited around humans and other parrot company. She prefers to be outside of the cage and not aggressive to wards other birds. In fact our Bourkes and Kakarikis have been foraging in her bowls. She give us plenty of warning with her body language and unhappy noises if she is uncomfortable, fearful or not quite ready with what we are asking her to do. She takes her treats from our hands very gently. She gives kisses (I know!). She is playful and loves to dance. She talks in Macaw gibberish a lot. When she got super excited she did grace us with cat whistles. So far, we are able to make out Bubble Butt, Be quiet, Watch out, Step up, Whatever and Shut up. She does get loud on occasion but only when she is scared like a person or a squirrel outside the window. Rita has not allowed us to give her head scratches, nor did she stepped up. I do think that that she must know how to step up since “Step up” phrase is in her vocabulary.
We will keep working with her on trust, targeting, enrichment and training.
