Meet my latest impulse purchase!

Meet Cricket!!!




I finally was ready for another bird. And I've heard so many good things about Duckie!!

awww it's a baby Ducki

OMG, STILL eating like a horse!!! I swear the only time his/her head wasn't in the trough was when he/she was out with me. This bird absolutely loves the window, just like Tiki did! Probably thinks he/she died and went to heaven with the big view on the world! Really likes Barney's old manzanita perch (maybe 'cause it's worn in?). Not so much the other one, but I think it needs to be in a better spot. I'll have to watch for the next couple of days to see how the bird motors around. Still very cute and cuddly, VERY shy, but I'm preparing my fingers for the "terrible twos." I'll need all the advice I can get from y'all!

Adorable mini-Duck! We'll need lots of pictures. What do Freddy and Callie think?

have you tried out dingaling balls yet? And a happy hut?

They all love rope perches

Oh yes. And Carol's Double Trouble


and boing.


and dingalings are by far the favorite

Well, Freddy's indifferent, much to Cricket's dismay because he/she is just enamored with him! Callie is jealous as all get out, screaming and playing Quasimodo with her bell boing in the morning, but amazingly eager to please when she's out. So, good and bad I guess! They'll all adjust.

Rope perches and ding-a-ling balls. Got it. I can believe the ding-a-ling part. I hung a mini bell toy off one of his/her perches and all I hear from behind me (besides munching and chewing, that is) is jingle, jingle, squawk, CLUNK! (when it hits the floor of the cage)

I'm a little concerned about how hand-phobic this bird is, tho. More today than even when I brought him/her home. We'll cuddle with the bird burying it's face in my neck, but as soon as I move one of my hands, it flinches! Although while we're cuddling, things are fine. He/she has even started nibbling on my hair and fingers -- I'm discouraging the fingers. I say, "Gentle," and the bird removes the beak! Funny. I hope it's that easy!!

We had a breakthrough this morning! Cricket was so enjoying his head scratches that after a while he tilted his head so I could get his neck and chin.

They like their ears done, too

If you just sit with your finger pointing they use it as a scratching post

Yep! Did you learn that from Ducki?

Yes it must be a conure thing none of my guys do that

Well-birdy check-up tomorrow. Cricket's starting to get the idea of "step up," but still jumps onto a perch when I try to slide her out the door of the cage. Although, I have to do less chasing her around to "catch" her for out time. Still flops like a wet sack of flour on my chest, though. Like she's cowering. I never had a pet store bird before, so I'm not used to them coming home so skittish.

She feels comfortable enough to protest if I do something she doesn't like, for instance -- touching her foot. And she gave Mom heck the other night when she drew the curtains for the night, lol! WAY too fond of Freddy, though. She yells whenever I take him out of the room, and goes nuts if he's in the room but out of view. Yikes! Considering Freddy's age, this could be bad thing. Any suggestions?

lol maybe it's just a Ducki thing. I think we need a larger sample size. Carol, you're in charge of checking all the conure at Mark's

hmmm...is her cage beside Freddy's? Maybe moving them further apart would help. As for the curtains - does she have a snuggle buddy or anything? I know Ducki was lonely when I first brought him home because he was used to sleeping in a baby pileup in a tent with his siblings. His human Mom gave me a tent she made that smelled like her and the flock so that he wouldn't be too afraid sleeping alone. Now he uses a fuzzy tent but I've also seen conures that like to hide in fleece preeners.

Back to Freddy - I really don't know...Ducki always ignored mom's tiels, almost like he didn't even see them. Pinkie the lovebird on the other hand was an instant enemy. Not sure why. Are they out at the same time? Does Freddy have toys that Cricket is jealous of?

What a wonderful addition to your family Chris. Nothing better than learning what
the little guys loves and then finding you it's you.
Is Cricket a mini-Ducki with a big bird tude like maxi-Ducki?

Cathering, Cricket is still developing his personality but I can tell he'll have that "big bird" attitude lol!

Andrea, they're never out at the same time since Cricket is still in the quarantine stage. That's pretty much a joke since every room in the house shares the same air, but at least I can make sure they don't touch each other. I change my clothes after working with Cricket, too. As far as the curtains -- she wanted them OPEN. LOL -- I think she's liking the view of the front yard and was pissed when Mom closed it off!

It's not Freddy's toys, because he really doesn't play with toys. He has a bell to beat up on when he's frustrated, but normally he plays with a Timbits box or paper wad. It's definitely Freddy that Cricket's enamored with. I'm almost thiking that Cricket grew up around cockatiels before being shipped off, so maybe Freddy's a familiar face, so to speak.

Oh, and my folks were wondering -- does Ducki talk?

YES! Though not a lot of words. He often says 'Ducki' and 'hi Ducki' (that's his contact call when he wants to know if anyone is around). He also knows 'kiss me' and 'kiss me Ducki', but he only practices those in the shower. He has been experimenting with longer phrases by adding additional 'Duckis' (ie "Kiss me Ducki Ducki Ducki Ducki"). He knows but seldom shares 'I love you' and 'Thank you'. He dances and knows the second half of a wolf whistle. He imitates the tinkling of water and Phil's sneezes.

He also knows some tricks - the wave and spin.

His first word was 'Ducki' and he surprised us with it only a month or so after bringing him home. He was snuggling my mom's neck and whispered 'Ducki' is her ear and we both got so excited that he quickly caught on that talking got him lots of attention

Cricket's such a cutie!!

Yay! We now know the "step up" command! And even better, we "step up" and don't jump onto the nearest perch when Mom tries to take us out of our cage!!!!

Standing ovation for Cricket! She's figured out that being out of the cage is fun because she gets to hang out with Mom.

Progress

Okay, we "step up" onto Mom's right hand, but still "jump over" her left hand.

obviously not ambidexterous