I am really feeling in the know lately; in a good spot to help Viggo and enjoying the understanding I am gaining along the way. Knowledge I am gaining is really shedding light on areas I have been curious about. It's funny...one can go along on the same path forever if everything is good. No need to look into other avenues, why ruin a good thing right? That has been me and how I've dealt with caring for Viggo...until his hormones hit an all time high. Then like a smack I woke up, opened my eyes to the fact I needed help as a parrot owner. One for my sanity. Two for Viggo's sanity. It was like someone thumped me in front of two doors...one with the option to re home and dump the situation on someone else or walk down a new path and go through the struggles and frustrations and learn how to manage hormones so that Viggo doesn't have to bounce through other homes. I believe many parrot owners come to this point and find themselves staring at two doors. It's so easy to just reach for the easiest path, but I think I needed to open the other door and try a new avenue and for that I am grateful and feel that Viggo and I have had small success in our relationship. YAY Hormones! LOL Not so fast.
So just a little update to add hope to others who like Viggo and I are dealing with the same joyous time of year.
I continue with updates every few days as I am a person who needs to see results. If I have to wait weeks, months or years I totally lose focus and that is most people. So in posting more often through these struggles I hope to give others positive outcomes and know that just a few steps can help work in the right direction, and hey if it's not all positive and there's slips, regression ect. I can just strive harder to find ways through it and answers along the way myself.
So a Full Spectrum bulb is on the way and I so look forward to seeing what it does for Viggo over time. Any positive health benefit is worth it and as I am in Canada and outdoor time in the sun is not an option year round for my handsome boy this will just have to do. Any benefits will not be immediately noticeable. I look forward to seeing how it helps with his feathers though and the molting process. Viggo tends to lightly molt through the year and has never gone through a 'Mojo molt' or heavy molt like others share that their Ekkies have. I am not concerned for Viggo as he is a fully feathered boy that for the most part aside from hormonal frustration is content, his vet checks are always good. His feathers are looking a little ratty though, so hopefully the light will help to jolt his body into a good molt and renew some feathers. Lighting can also assist with hormones so it's a benefit all around.
As for Clicker Training- Started though off to a slow start. When Viggo was a baby he picked up on it so fast! Now he's stubborn and set in his ways. But we're just in the conditioning phase, conditioning the click. Sometimes with an older bird things just have to click again (haha no pun intended) and that goes for us too. So we will take our time. It may also be that I need to find the treat worth working towards. Slivered Almonds used to be his candy of choice, now...maybe not? It's a pleasant distraction for both of us.
The Sleep Cage - So far so awesome. It's been just over a week now. Best investment. Hormones have decreased substantially. I don't want to say complete 360 but it's a huge improvement. Worth every bit of the $50 I spent on the cage. He goes in happily, up to his sleep hut and that's that. In the morning he'll pur or do a wolf whistle around 9am. He's content and not nippy towards anyone, nor has he been stubborn or wanting to 'mate'. My girls love that he's not growling and lunging when food dishes are placed in his cage. He's also playing with toys in his cage!! Perhaps his hormones have been controlling him for sometime and he's been fixated. In any case he seems more balanced and happy. This is just fantastic!
I must say, having the new King's cage too has really made cleaning a breeze and saved me time in my day for other things.
Now for Diet - I made another chop for him and enough to last a few weeks. This will keep it controlled while we continue down the path to curbing the almighty hormones. In making so much it meant bagging and freezing some which is fine. I feel ahead of the game. To this chop I put: celery, broccoli, cauliflower, beets (and leaves), carrots, jalapenos, orange/red/green bell peppers, parsley, cinnamon, cayenne, ginger (small amount), flax and cooked quinoa. I know I said I had cut back on cooked and I have all together BUT there is very little quinoa in each serving when it was all mixed together. As it is winter I am feeding very small amounts back into Viggo's diet of Harrison's lifetime fine pellets to allow for vitamins and nutrients. I am trying this out since his hormones seem to be leveling out and the sleep cage is helping. If his hormones seem to increase again despite the sleep cage I will remove them from his diet. The small amount he gets shouldn't make a difference...I hope. 90% of his weekly diet is his chop and sprouts, the other 10% is made up of small amounts of fruit, pellets, seed & almonds. The almonds are coming from his treats for clicker training. The seed he gets in teaspoon sized servings so really just a taste pre-bedtime.
I am glad to be part of the Eclectus group. Each day reading that others are going through the same as myself I find comfort knowing that Viggo is not the only hormonal beast. It's nice to also see what others are doing and what is working. I make notes in the event I should ever need to make additional changes to routine, diet, sleep or anything else.
The Harness arrived but we have yet to start conditioning towards wearing it. I have had a look and I am researching the best methods to approach it with Viggo. I will start the introduction in the months ahead but for now I am focusing on other areas that I feel are first in line, hormones being the biggest.
Many updates to come, but for now the change is very noticeable and I am very pleased that it did not take up substantial amounts of time as we have such a busy household, just a few simple changes.
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