a week in the life of rats with wings

7 days ago you would have found david and me looking at each other in disbelief as we named each ruined item that made it look like we owned rats instead of sweet little parrots. after we got to a fairly pricey #5 on the list, we decided it was time to sell our birds. they were very loving, but also destructive. we couldn't take it anymore--the poop, chewing, throwing tantrums and squawking for an hour straight--it was time to sell them. this was a hard decision to come to--these little guys are just over a year old, we got both of them 3 or 4 months after they'd hatched at the breeder's, so we were essentially the only family they knew. parrots live to be 30+ years old, and a move can be traumatic for them, causing them to "pluck"--they will literally tear our every feather they can reach with their beaks due to the stress and depression. we thought if we could sell them together, some of that stress would be reduced. when we went out of town last summer we had them stay with a friend of mine for a week. they were certainly glad to see us, but they didn't pluck any feathers. good sign.
5days ago you would have found a posting for "two conures with cage" on ksl.com. we attached great photos and listed their "special skills"--tumnus will wave for a peanut, and lucy imitates whistles. we had a lot of viewers, but no buyers.
3 days ago you would have heard parrots squawking like cats as their wings were getting clipped by the vet. i took them to see dr. yeoma because a. we had to get their wings clipped before selling them, and b. we wanted to make sure everything was ok to sell them. she first asked me what type of diet they are on, water, bathing, toys, etc. i told her their main diet is the zupreem conure pellets, but whenever we have fresh fruit we always slice some up for them, and they love yogurt, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese. she said it's ok to give them plain rice, pasta, beans, and steamed veggies, too. i told her we take apart their cage once a month to clean in out, and we rotate their toys once a month, so they don't get bored. despite this, they chew on everything--our clothes, the screens, books, frames, etc. she smiled and said there really wasn't anything we could do about that, that's just how parrots interact with their environment. but the wing clipping should help. i also told her we'd "potty trained" our birds to an extent--when we got them out of their cage in the morning, when we got home from work, and before bed, we hold them over the trash can and say, "spit spot," and they know to do their business. but all the in between time, they fly all over and poop all over, and we were tired of living with bird poop every where. she was amazed we had trained them that far and said there really isn't anything to do about that, either. but the wing clipping should help. so then came the wing clipping...it's just like getting your hair cut--it doesn't hurt the birds at all. but the way lucy screeched, you would have thought we were cutting her head off. it made feel like the moms do when i give their babies vaccinations. tumnus took it pretty well. when we got them, tumnus's wings were fully clipped, it took a full 9-10 months for his wings to grow out where he could race lucy up and down the house hallways. but lucy's wings had never been properly clipped, she'd always been able to fly. so this was a pretty dramatic change. i told the vet we were planning on selling them, together, and asked if she had any advice we could implement to help them avoid stressors. she said. "oh, i would be so sad to see these birds leave your home! you take such good care of them! but if you sell them together, they should be fine." all these "what-if" scenarios ran through my mind--what if the new owners don't take them out of their cage enough? what if the new owners don't cuddle under the covers with them? who else knows lucy's special scratching spot under her wings? who else other than david would talk to tumnus at the end of the day? who else would let the birds bathe in their sink, feed them leftover yogurt on a spoon, or leftover mac&cheese out of the pot?



so, 3 days ago, you would have found me scrubbing every inch of our house so we could gauge the location and frequency of bird poop with two birds who now had their wings clipped. you would also have found two very sedate birds after their visit to the vet. they didn't chew on anything, didn't squawk unnecessarily, no pooping in all the wrong places. they sat on the perch we put them on and stayed there until we moved them to another perch. lucy didn't respond to the special whistle we do with her, and tumnus didn't demand to get in the sink for a bath when i was doing dishes. i was starting to feel like we had clipped their souls, not just their wings! the difference was night and day--we had good birds again! they knew right away they couldn't fly. they tried a few times, but then gave up. it was like their wings had given them special powers--they could fly anywhere, poop anywhere, and chew on anything, simply because they had wings. once those were gone, their special powers disappeared, too. i went and got them new toys and treats because i thought they were stressed out.
2 days ago you would have found our birds still very docile, but starting to chirp again, and wanting to bathe in the sink again. but their special powers were still missing. they were very good little parrots. david called to ask how they were doing. he suggested we take them off ksl. and so we did. tumnus and lucy are still ours, and as long as we can keep their wings clipped, we think things will work out. so, when we have visitors, there will be no more flying to the door to scare them, no more flying over the visitor's head to see how close they can get, there will be no more chewing on anything other than a toy, and no more pooping on anything other than a paper towel. visitors, you are once again welcome without fear!!