The Birdroom has been going really well the past few weeks. As usual, I'm in possession of a gang of of lorikeets - seven to be exact. Two Rainbows, a Red-Collar, a Musk, two normal Scalys and one lutino Scaly. Phew! As if my hands weren't full enough with those little monsters, I have a total of five Sun Conures - two babies, and three DNA tested adults. Lola, the very cheeky girl, Tango, the shy but sweet boy, and Jack, the terror of a boy! They greet me and any visitor to the Birdroom with a barrage of Conure screams, causing one customer to remark on my 'alarm system going off!'
I had a fun 'wrestle' with the local Army barracks mascot this week, a fiery Sulfa-crest Cocokatoo called Bert. He comes in regally to get his wing trimmed - making me one of his least favourite people - although this time he wasn't too bad. Myself and his handlers both have all our fingers! To start with, Bert wasn't keen on coming out of his travel cage, eyeing me balefully from the perch in the middle while his handlers tried to coax him out with a bribe - a sugar packet! After a few minutes of head-scratches I finally got a step-up and we settled him on top of his cage, where his handlers distracted him with more head-scratching while I very carefully clipped wing feathers, taking several attempts as he whipped his head around to snap at me. But in the end we had a trimmed Cockatoo and we didn't have to wrap him - something that requires two people to hold him, he is easily one of the biggest Cockatoos I've ever seen!
Anyway, onto some photos and a video of the residents :)
One of the baby Conures, ready for takeoff!
Lola knows quite well that she's gorgeous and dares anyone to say different!
Lola was the last of the Conures to arrive at the store out of the five. I had brought the babies from one of my regular breeders, and Tango and Jack had both been DNA tested and were boys, so I'd taken them before the babies' arrival. I had my hands full with the four of them, but I'm glad I said yes to Lola, who is an affectionate if strong-willed bird! I decided to take her as she was a DNA tested female and I thought it would be nice in case somebody was interested in a breeding pair. Jack was excited to see her, dancing all over the place in order to impress her when she arrived. But I actually think she prefers gentle Tango, since I caught them snuggling together and preening each other during playtime yesterday!
But in any case, Lola's old owner donated a bag of her favourite - peanuts - when she dropped her off. And within a day she had taught all five of them to love them and how to eat them!
Lola is quick to show the two babies how it's done
One of the babies tests to check if my ring is tastier than the peanuts.
Lola is quite tolerant of the youngsters, even when one tries to take her nut!
Realizing he's missing out, Tango pops a hopeful face into the mix
Tango politely checks to see if there's any left for him! The babies are still chewing open the shells while Lola has reached her prize!
At this point in time, clever Jack was taking advantage of the empty seed bowl on the playstand and hogging it for himself, fishing out all the sunflowers!
This is a vid of the Musk Lorikeet amusing himself doing what I term his 'Crazy Dance' - you'll see why!
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