Friday, January 29, 2010

Environmental changes

When we came home tonight and let the birds out, my boyfriend noted that Zuri did not touch the piece of toast and the Nutriberry I had put in her breakfast bowl that morning, which is highly unusual for her since she's basically a garbage can on feet. Of course this worried me a little..however, when offered the toast out of the cage she guzzled it down and quickly found the Nutriberry I had taken out of the bowl and placed in one of the foraging holes on the swing and did the same. Obviously, she had some appetite. Still, to be on the safe side I weighed her and she had her average weight. Ok, no biggie. Maybe she forgot to look in the bowl? There was obvious sings that she had eaten other things in the cage.

When I went to put her in for her dinner, an explanation for the uneaten breakfast came about. She would not, for the life of her, step onto her food bowl or go on the left side of her cage for that matter. She looked terrified. But why?

Yesterday I had made some changes to my birdroom; there used to be an empty cage next to Zuri's. In an effort to reorganize better, I had put the cage in the closet and taken out the bin in which we keep the newspapers for the bottom of the cages. I had also put a hoola hoop (which I use to make atoms) and another big bin which were in my room next to the newspaper bin. The change of scenery had totally thrown Zuri off (the same bird who is fearless of just about any new toys). Seeing this, I removed the hoola hoop, took out the extra bin and covered the newspaper one with a known blanket.

She ate her dinner.

This goes to show how sensitive parrots can be to changes in their environment.

No comments: