The return of Meisha

It's been almost 1 year since my Viggo left us. I wish I could say time heals the heart, but I miss him daily, I think of him often, and sometimes it feels like it happened yesterday.

I tried filling my life with things to fill the huge hole left in his absence, but it wasn't so easy, even as I took on going back to school. I was thankful that life with teenage daughters helped fill some of the time, especially as one was graduating from high school and the other was graduating from Junior High. With those events on the horizon I kept busy with dress shopping and getting ready for the ceremonies. I also dove into planning our trip to Europe, France to be exact, a gift to our oldest to begin her lifetime of adventures ahead. When all the planning was said and done and my classes came to an end I was left with time. Time sucks when it reminds you that there was once a time it was filled with a handsome green brat.

Events came and went, they were uplifting and wonderful, incredibly proud moments for a parent, and then just before we left on our trip to France I got a message from Meisha's owner. I was over the moon to hear from her and about Meisha, a boy Eclectus (Vos/Red Sided) that once resided with us. Circumstances had changed and I was asked if he could return. My daughters were thrilled by the news, even I was excited, yet my heart was sad as I felt like his return would be replacement of Viggo and I didn't want that. I was assured by close bird friends that it wouldn't be like that. Those who had known both of my boys knew how different they were and said Meisha would not be replacing Viggo, I would know when he returned.

So after our amazing adventure to France we made arrangements to pick him up and he came home. Part of me was still torn with every bit of having an Ekkie in the house again. I was actually relieved when Meisha bypassed me and went right to my daughters. Now I have two 18 year olds in the house. He had always enjoyed their company most. I think he filled the void that was left with my daughters when he returned. They loved Meisha and to them Viggo was not a family guy so they didn't participate with him.

It's lovely having a handsome character around again. I so enjoy listening to him chatter away for hours, be it singing, or talking. Meisha is a 'community' boy I'll say. He prefers my daughters, specifically my oldest daughter, however when it comes to attention he will go with anyone who offers their time. That's a far cry from how Viggo was. While my daughters do most everything with Meisha for the most part I do enjoy prepping his meals, just as I had with Viggo.

If you've read through my blog, "Love & Loss & Changes & Plucking" shares our past Eclectus members and the journey with pluckers. Meisha is our nudest as we like to call him. His personality is so radiant that anyone who has ever met him adores him even though he is a plucker. When he returned he was in one of his plucking phases which can mean going almost completely naked! He used to do it years earlier so little had changed. I always found it a welcomed challenge to see if I could figure out why and what was causing the plucking and then to see what if anything my attempts did to help feather in. With Sula it was her weight. If she was heavy she was hormonal and plucking. With Meisha, we've never been quite sure.

So since he has joined us we have added UV light, lots of sprouts and veggies and fruit. We're bathing him with distilled water and have hooked up a humidifier in the house in hopes humidity in our dry climate helps. He has lots of natural shreddable toys and foraging options. Additionally my daughter purchased a couple Hoodies for him from Avian Fashions. These are super cute options to use for any parrot but a great idea for pluckers, especially for those who don't want to go down the avenue of cones and collars. We've been down those years before with Meisha and he was such a depressed boy. The hoodies are new and so we are only doing short intervals to get him used to it but its a start. So far, so good, no broken skin or missing digits.

Meisha so much like Viggo is a piggy and gobbles up his food. He is much neater however than Viggo was and doesn't fling food, thankfully. We seem to be making progress and will continue to update. Thank you all for reading our blog, and for returning and following our boy Meisha. Much love to all.

I forgot to include a couple pictures of Meisha from years ago before he left. The above pictures are all in order from when he arrived with us in July until I posted this. Below are the pictures from years ago. Another handsome green boy.