Petey Blog

Petey is content sitting on most people's shoulders, but for a select few he is not satisfied until he burrows down your shirt. This can be a good thing. For example, if you are on the phone, most of the time he is fairly quiet when he is inside shirts. If you have ever had a Sun Conure near you, you know how hard it can be to conduct a phone conversation when the bird wants your attention. For the people who haven't had the pleasure, between the noise he makes when he is not on your shoulder trying to get on your shoulder and attacking the phone randomly when he gets on your shoulder, it makes it virtually impossible. Getting back on topic, sometimes he even peacefully sleeps on your belly for extended periods. But there is an ugly side to bird shirt burrowing, one or two of the follow may occur if you are only wearing one layer. If you are ticklish, expect the bird to exploit that and use his beak to tickle you if he is in a calm but not sleepy mood. Or if if the bird is full of energy expect to have scratches from his claws as he explores, and gets stuck in your sleeves. One solution to the problem is to wear at least two layers and only let the bird in between the layers.

Comments:
blueyes : Never seen a bird do that but I guess he's gotta really like the person to do it.
Carwyn : Love this picture!
moirana : our sun conure girl bella does the same thing.... she spends hours sitting in the shirt enjoying the world...great pics of petey... have to say, i LOVE the flight pic...
Bruce -- Harper Blue : Actually, I can think of a third, rather alimentary problem....
sweet_wolf : I have a Fallow green conure that loves to burrow in clothing, she will fall asleep when she is that close to myself and her papa
katrina : can we please have more petey???
Christine : That is funny my sun Conure loves to climb in my sweatshirts when I am holding her. When I hold her she leans back against my chest or shoulder. she does not like to sit on my finger.

Petey has found one more food that he will get excited for, Lafeber Tropical Fruit Nutri-Berries. The bag explains it can be used as a complete diet for your bird, but Petey has just been eating them in addition to his regular diet. He not only likes the papaya, pineapple, mango and bananas in the food, but he really seems to like the berry shape. At first all he was interested in was breaking them apart; however, he quickly he realized what he was dropping. The description says the shape minimizes wasted food, and claims that 96% of it is eaten. Maybe it just takes some practice because Petey does drop quite a bit of it as he breaks it apart. He has gotten noticeably better at eating them in the past week though.

Comments:
Jade : Petey looks like a Sun Conure...is he? I had one a long time ago. Best pet I've ever had! I'm trying to talk current hubby into getting me another one (the last one died a horrible death and it's taken me 10 years to get over it!)! First time here, I am sure you can tell! Good luck in the battle! :-) I'm off to explore more! I adore Petey!
Carina : Just wanted to say, that Petey is soooo cute!! I have a couple of red-rumped parakeets, but they are afraid of hands and rather shy at all, but also cute. :-)
stewie bird : I think the 96% eaten thing is a marketing ploy. Stewie drops at least a third of his NutriBerries (probably because he knows there's tons more where those came from. spoiled little bird)

Petey likes to climb around. He basically has three arms: his beak and his two legs. Sometimes he shows off to people by hanging with only one leg.

Comments:
Badger : Is this all some sort of joke?
Raivyn : I just came across your blog and was completely amazed.. I too have a bird like Petey.. with the same name! They look very much alike. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/LittleDarkRaven/My%20Pics/My_Pics_005.jpg

Previously we had no means to quickly give Petey positive reinforcement. He already is a pretty well trained bird; he steps up on anyone's finger just about every time except in the evenings. But we would like to see if he can do more advanced activities. He loves banana chips, but he takes quite some time to finish them. To help with his training, we needed something that he would work to get, and could also finish eating it quickly. We found out that he goes crazy for dried papaya bits. At first he did not have much interest in them, but soon we found him climbing out of his open cage to get the bits left on top of his cage. The brand we used was made by Kaytee and named Healthy Toppings. We had experimented with another Kaytee treat, Yogurt Tropical Mix, but Petey has no interest in those yet. I would recommend that you don't give up too quickly when testing a treat with your bird. I have read that Conures and other parrots may benefit from seeing other birds or even humans eat a food before they have much interest in it.

Comments:
Charlotte : I love your parrot Petey! Is it a sun conure? I have a Meyer's Parrot who is ugly. xD

Visitors have noted in comments that it is important to have hardwood perches available for your birds. Petey does have natural hardwood perches in his cage. In the background you can see a manzanita branch. Manzanita is one of the hardest woods you can get for parrot perches. Make sure the perch you get has variation in its thickness. Although you can probably find some online, it is best to pick an individual branch out at your local pet store. Each branch is fairly unique and picking your bird's perch out will ensure the best fit possible.

Comments:
howlinmadmurdoc : Petey is a lovely bird.
Antonette : That is a beautiful bird!

Some visitors have asked if Petey's wings are clipped. Yes his wings were clipped before he came home. Most people agree that clipping a bird's wings is necessary. It is noninvasive. When done right the bird should not be able to gain altitude, but also should not sink like a rock. If the wings are clipped incorrectly, the bird can injure itself if it falls from a height. Even birds with clipped wings can gain altitude if the winds are sufficient, therefore just because a bird's wings are clipped doesn't make it safe to take your bird outside. A leash or Feather Tether Bird Harness is highly recommended if you take your bird outside. If Petey will not use the Feather Tether, then clipping his wings will be mandatory. So far progressing with the harness has been slow. In the photo, Petey is playing chewing on the Cal Sea Yum Bird Toys I mentioned before. Lately he has begun to chew on the rubber, before he would just crunch up the calcium wafers.

Comments:
YummY! : Do you clip his wings yourself, or do you get a vet to do it?
The Creep : You blog about a stupid bird, how fucking pathetic.
Anji : What lovely photos. The information is interesting too.
jill : i don't think blogging about a bird is pathetic, especially if you've ever owned a parrot you would know how much they mean to their owners and how most of them have way more personality than some humans I know. Documenting parrot antics is quite funny. anyways it's better than your lame site. BTW petey is adorable. I have a 2 yr old girl named sunny, she is a crackup. I just love them.

Petey is now a year old, but he is still a baby. In the photo, Petey is working his beak on an 8 in 1 UltraCare(TM) Mineral Treat, hopefully it will help trim his beak. So far the calcium wafer toys seem to work best on his beak though. Also while at the store picked up a feather tether, or basically a leash, expect to see progress (or lack of) in the next couple posts.

Comments:
Mike : I hate peety.

You can see Petey's maxillary beak tip has an issue. Overall playing with toys seems to have improved the condition of his beak without any other action being required yet. Petey crunches up a lot of Cal Sea Yum Bird Toys, and loves to demolish Cuttlebones.