In the twenty-three years that I have lived with Sam,
35+ year old female my blue and gold macaw, we've been through a lot of
changes, the least of which was moving ten times. When I first started
living with her, I was a full-time animal technician student and was
home studying many hours per day. After graduation, I worked at a 24
hour veterinary emergency practice and my shift changed every three
days. I endured that craziness for two years , then went to work for the
University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School, supervising the small
animal practicum for animal nursing students.
Sam for sale...??!?
I came very close to selling
Sam four years later, when I first started working extremely long hours.
That was about fifteen years ago, when I took on supervising a second
department at the U of P Vet School. I had loved parrots for years and
was also fascinated with other exotic animals like reptiles, so when I
was offered a chance to create and supervise an exotic animal department
I could not pass it up. I began working 10-12 hour days, and was on call
every night and week-end.
For the first time in the eight years Sam and I had
been together, I felt she received much too little attention for a
prolonged period of time. She had her radio to listen to, and plenty of
wooden toys to chew in her 4' x 3’ x 3' cage, but she didn't have the
companionship to which she was accustomed. Needless to say, I felt very
guilty and came extremely close to finding another home for
her.
However, I didn't. I loved her
- I did not want to face life without her.
Life Settles Down a Little
After a couple of
years of working myself into a physical collapse, I left the U of P and
went to work for an avian practitioner. My working hours settled into
something more "normal", and I had a lot more time again to spend with
Sam. I even had days off! Much to my delight, I found that she and I
were able to pick up where we left off -- in other words, she was still
my best friend and she forgave me for my neglect.
Craziness Strikes Again
Two years later, I
cofounded an exotic animal practice and took on the job as hospital
manager. I went back to working ten to fourteen hour days, eight days a
week and carried a beeper for emergencies. The rare times that I was
home I was so tired all I could do was sit and stare at the wall. Sam
had her physical needs taken care of, but was again emotionally
neglected.
Working For Myself
After about two years of that
madness, another change! I started my own boarding and grooming
business, then began to do behavior work with parrots -- with lots of
free lance writing and lots of telephone consultations. Now my office is
in my home, and I have more time again to spend with Sam. And once
again, she was there waiting for me, still my best buddy and glad to
welcome me back.
The point of this story is simple: once you have
established a good, solid relationship with a parrot based on love and
good care and nurturing dominance, then that relationship becomes like a
good marriage. True, Sam did not get as much attention as she wanted and
needed for large chunks of time, but that did not mean that she gave up
on me. She tolerated life's fickle inconstancies, and remained my
friend.
Parrots stressed by change?
Many pet bird
magazines go on and on about how stressful change is to pet birds. The
same message is preached constantly -- a concerned bird owner should do
everything in their power to keep routines the same every day. To
quote a regular column in BIRD TALK, "Living With Birds" from the
August, '93 issue, "They [birds] do not like change in their
surroundings, and stress from that change will shorten lives."
I agree that parrots, like humans, are creatures of
habit and routine. Like humans, they need to know that their basic needs
of food and shelter will be fulfilled on a daily basis. But I have found
from personal and from my clients' experiences that parrots are much
more adaptable than most people seem to think.
For example, I have been boarding birds in my home for
many years. Many people initially want me to go into their homes to care
for their pets, because they are convinced that changing the bird's
surroundings would be too stressful. In the past when I had more time, I
would do this but discouraged it -- I am not as comfortable only seeing
an animal for a limited time per day. But when birds stay with me, I own
a good scale and weigh new boarders daily to be certain of adequate food
consumption - and not
once have I encountered any
appreciable weight loss. Of the hundreds of birds I have boarded in my
home, most have actually gained weight during their stay.
Taught by the flock...
Sam, as a wild-caught
bird, was probably taught to adapt to change by her parents and the rest
of her flock. After all, I think it is highly unlikely that
everything is routine and unchanging in the wild environments these
birds have lived in for thousands of years. What with changes in
weather, food sources, etc., about the only real constant might be when
the sun comes up in the morning and goes down at night. Wild parrots may
return to the same feeding area day after day, but if the food source
has dried up or a predator is lurking about, the wild parrot
must
be adaptable and come up with alternatives. It's survival depends on
it.
Problems with Domestics
As an avian behavior
consultant, I find that serious problems arise with domestic-bred
parrots that have been protected from change by their well-meaning human
parents. Without exposure to change, the young parrot never learns to be
adaptable. As a result, the parrot becomes inflexible -- and a creature
that is inflexible is much more vulnerable in the long run. After all,
we know that parrots have the capacity for extremely long lives -- as
long as eighty-plus years for the Amazons. And who among us feels that
we can provide an unchanging routine for eighty-plus years? I know that
I can't.
So when change does come, as it al-ways will, these
young domestics often don't have the flexibility to cope -- leading to
classic behavior problems like feather plucking, biting and excessive
screaming.
Teaching Them That Change Can Be Fun
Consequently, I think that parrots must be taught to accept
change in their lives, not be protected from it. Filling a bird’s life
with interesting changes in location, people, toys, and food will help
produce a mentally healthy, well-socialized and self-confident companion
parrot.
So instead of keeping to rigid patterns, parrot
companions should be slowly introduced to changes that are
non-threatening. Move their cages periodically, and rotate toys every
few days. Take them into different rooms in your home. Take them for
rides in the car, and visit different friends. Send them to a "slumber
party" -- to stay overnight with a special human friend. Take them with
you on vacation, if possible. Offer tremendous variety in their diet, so
they don't become rigid in their eating habits. In other words, teach
them that change is fun and interesting and non-threatening.
Peace of Mind
Then you won't have to worry what
will happen if unforeseeable changes occur in your life -- emergency
hospitalizations, business trips, job changes, etc.. You won't feel that
you have to find another home for your parrot if you suddenly have less
time to devote to it, because it will have learned to be adaptable. You
will have taught your little feathered friend how to cope, so you will
have peace of mind when you face, as we all do, an unpredictable
future.