What's life like living with a parrot? Hmmm it's ever changing much like life with young kids.
Viggo is curious, funny, sometimes he challenges and it reminds me of my days with a teenager pushing the boundaries. He's smart, very smart! He gets into things like a toddler and knows when he does as he gives me a look before he does and then will open or toss whatever it is he's getting into then laugh and take off. It's alot like when he tosses his mushed food 8 feet across the room to my wall and then does this cackle which is a direct indication that he did something he knows I don't like. I think he gets as much of a kick out of me as I do him.
Viggo mimics our laughs and friends laughs, sounds off the TV like light sabres and laser beams. He hums and makes sounds from music he's heard. Viggo also has quite the vocabulary! We have one friend and when she comes over he says "Pretty Girl". Smooth isn't he? He asks for kisses, makes sounds of blowing kisses. He says what, whatcha doin, whatcha do, love you, big bird, big boy, pretty boy, boom boom, bye bye, awe, Yuuuup <---thanks to Dave from Storage Wars. He's said "Yack yack yack" in the past while I'm on the phone. His favorite game is to lean his beak down to fingers tilting his head slightly to look up then says "No biting, uh uh uh!" My favorite is always during the hockey season when my hubby yells at the TV, Viggo will say very clearly "Ass-ho". What a character eh? He also has an abundance of different whistles and clicks and so many more words and sounds that he does. All the time we hear new words and phrases and sounds.
Our days start when I get up. I've never ever kept a solid routine with Viggo because I don't want him to scream at 6am every day for breakfast. I vary the times I feed him and will sometimes feed him when I am up at 6am, sometimes I get myself a coffee first, or enjoy my own breakfast before getting his. This also allows me the chance to sleep in on weekends when I can. Sometimes I even let him out for a bit before feeding him. I know he's hungry if he heads right to the fruit bowl. If I'm not fast when he goes for the fruit I will have multiple little bites out of my fruit.
Don't get me wrong, Viggo does have his moments and does do screams during the day, he is still a bird. In comparrison to many though he is very quiet for the most part. Perhaps it's because he has never come to expect anything on a specific schedule, or maybe it's because he's always sponging in and soaking up everything in the busy house and our busy days but I'm happy that he's not a screamer.
There's been mornings when Viggo perches on my head while I make his breakfast. More often than not it's on the weekend when I have more time. I have to be careful when I allow him to perch there as he has used my hair as a rope to lower himself like spiderman to his food dish and snatch a bite of food. Why careful? When perching on a head I've had 2 things happen in past. One, strawberries and banana mushed into my hair and two was when I went to put a piece of fruit into my mouth and almost got nailed with a bite when Viggo attempted Spiderman to steal the fruit. He never actually connected but could have.
I have never recieved a real chomp from Viggo. He's bitten me and it's bruised but never hurt or brought tears to my eyes. He's never broken skin. He could though. I think over the years we have developed a respect for one another. Viggo has never ever attempted to bite my husband, but has gotten both of my daughters with a light pinch to their forearms. His bites have never scared my girls off and they still happily give his beak kisses.
I have been bitten in the past by another male Eclectus as well and that one didn't break skin either. Females on the other hand...WOAH!!! It's like they go to break bones and draw blood! Anyone with a male or female Ekkie want to weigh in or add to the male/female chomp?
After he has his breakfast and depending on the day and what I have planned I will let him out. This is when he will go through cleaning off his beak, toss toys off the top of his cage, untie the night cover from his cage, zip around the house for a bit and then when called he will come and sit on my shoulder and preen my hair or eye lashes for a bit. This preening always precedes his breakfast burp. Yes he lets out quite the low man burp and always right in my ear. I think that's his way of complimenting his delicious food.
While I work he hangs in his cage and listens intently. This is where I think he picks up a lot of words and music. Sometimes my little peanut gallery even adds his 2 cents throughout the day. "Yack yack yack" or "Uh huh uh huh uh huh" can often be heard even if it's only mumbling he makes it clear enough.
If it's the weekend I will put him outside to enjoy the sun, in a cage on the deck partially covered if he wants shade or we head out to walk the dog where he rides along in his pak-o-bird carrier. That's another thing he says, "Wanna walk the dog?" He likes walks as much as our dogs. He gets more outdoor time on the weekends but on nice evenings after work I will take him out to walk the dogs.
Anytime between 5-7pm I feed him his dinner. Like breakfast I vary the time so he doesn't come to expect meals at certain times. After he is done he's out again while I change the paper in his cage and wipe the bars around his bowl. Word to the wise...do this daily and it takes 5 minutes, literally. If I don't all the mushed food caked to the bars like cement takes forever to remove. Poop Off is a lifesaver with an Eclectus. It breaks down caked on food on bars like a power washer and makes wiping dried food off walls a breeze. I have also used Poop Off in my carpet cleaner instead of the chemical cleaners to clean berries and other foods out of the carpet, white carpet no less. Works like a charm!! I should buy stoke in Poop Off.
I do a very good clean of his cage once a week, wiping all bars well, as well as his perches and any toys that have food on them. 2 times a year I powerwash his cage.
I tend to move a toy or two around each time I do the full cage clean (once a week), but I never ever move his sleep perch or his food perch. I've learned with the sleep perch if I move it from the top of his cage he will still go to the top and cling in that area to the bars. Sleeping on a perch as difficult and uncomfortable as it appears seems so much better than bar hugging.
Evenings are our chill time. This is when he follows me as I do evening chores. If I vacuum he flies to his cage and jumps in his water bowl. Why parrots do this is beyond me but I hear of it often from others. If I fold laundry he sits on the side of the basket watching, he just really likes being involved and a part of the family. After any chores we enjoy our time on the couch watching a show or two. I've heard Eclectus aren't that cuddly but Viggo is, he's like a green cat and will cuddle against me under my chin or curl in my lap. He loves having his back stroked and patted like a cat. Sometimes I can flip him on his back for tummy scritches. He loves scritches, especially on the head and under the wings.
I never thought a bird or parrot could be like this. What I expected was a bird that would maybe learn to talk and do some tricks, scream and fly but thankfully he's so much more then I ever thought he would be. There's so much intelligence and character packed into that green feathered package.
At his bed time I give him his seed or almond and a beak kiss then put him into his cage and cover it. I could listen forever at his content beak grind sounds and soft hums as he settles in for the night.
When it comes to showering him, Viggo gets 1-2 showers a week. I always seem to do one on Sunday and that never fails, early morning after breakfast. He'll stretch and fan out his tail and wings. It's a fantastic display. He has a shower perch that he goes on and I do shower with him. It's in the shower that he's most talkative. I get out before he does and watch through the glass door at his endless displays with his wings and tail and the brilliant color. He's a hoot to watch! Even more if there's music playing. I think in the climate I live in that if a bird was showered daily it's too much and would dry his skin, thus why I don't shower him more than 1-2 times a week.
Eclectus are very aware of feelings, I've noticed this over the 8 years with him. If I have a headache and feel crappy or I'm sick it's like he's worried and will scream and point from his cage. It sucks when I am under the weather but my husband generally lets him out and he comes right to me to snuggle and is quiet. Doesn't matter if I'm curled up on the couch or in bed he will find me. Even with a headache I find myself smiling and playing peek-a-boo with him and a blanket. If I am stressed Viggo rocks and seems uneasy. Sometimes he will scream and take a wild flight as if on edge. If we are packing bags to travel he gets very quiet and watches intently and if out of the cage he tries to stay as close as he can to us. If I am sad I hear ongoing long drawn out "Awe's" but he doesn't tend to come to me when I am sad. It's rare but I've noticed over the years when I have lost loved ones and more recently my old cat. I can open his cage and wait but he stays in the cage and watches me. I think that's the male in him.
Viggo really is a part of our family and is always a part of whatever is happening. We've had some big get together's over the years as I coach my daughter's ringette teams and in the past after winning cities we've had the parents and girls all over to celebrate. That's a pretty full house. Viggo LOVES when the house is alive and busy with activity and will become very vocal adding words, showing off, mimicing laughs. He loves when the girls do karaoke. I've recorded the girls in the past on video singing only to watch later and hear Viggo singing loudly in the background. Not word for word but he will pick words and sing them over and over and loud and drawn out. I will attempt to post videos sometime.
I don't know how we lucked out with such a wild crazy wonderful and sweet brat, but he landed in the perfect place for crazy ;)
