MetaChat - Beaker Update: Or How I Know That My Bird Watches Television

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22 August 2013

Beaker Update: Or How I Know That My Bird Watches Television I hope you don't mind another one→[More:]So Beaky is getting used to a lot of stuff. Today both the wife and I had to leave the house. We put him in his cage and he was not happy. We closed the blinds and turned off the TV. (We used to leave it on for Scooby) Beaker does not like being in his cage. He was weaned in a little glass tank. When he was bigger he shared a huge tank in the pet store. He has never been caged. This makes him a combination of scared and frustrated. Even though we put him in the cage at night to sleep (and he's not too happy about that) he's never been in his cage for very long during the day.

So we left feeling as if we had done something wrong to our birdie!

After my doctor's appointment we went right home. Beaker was fine. In fact we could tell that he had been sleeping. Our fears of him hurting himself somehow were unfounded.

We also worried that he would show anger when we returned. Scooby, our Quaker, could be really pissy when we came home :-) But no. He was just really happy to see us again. He got treats for being such a good boy. A hurdle has been passed.

Another thing that I noticed the other day is kinda funny. I had Beaky on my shoulder. The TV was on but I was on Twitter and so not watching. (Shut up, you do it too) Anyway he started to hiss and his crest went up. I was surprised and looked around the room to see what might have surprised him. Nothing there, So I look at the TV. It's the local news doing a thing on convicts training helper dogs. Just then they show a dog walking towards the camera. From the dog's height. Beaker hisses again! He's scared of the doggie on the TV!

Instead of laughing I calmed him. His body was up to my ear and his heart was RACING!

I told my wife who was in her office upstairs and she kinda didn't believe me.

So last night I had gone to bed early. I was on Twitter (shut up) on my phone when she starts laughing in the living room. She comes in and says, "He did it again! You were right."

She was watching The Dog Whisperer. Any time that they showed a dog from a low angle walking toward the camera, Beaker would freak out.

Now I know that there are people that say that pets don't actually perceive anything on TV but colors and sound. But I think this proves them wrong. At least where cockatoos and other intelligent birds are concerned.

BTW. If the mods don't think that i should post any more updates. Like if this is spamming the forum or something. I will make this the last one.

Otherwise, love you all. And kisses from Beaker. :>

post by: Splunge at: 20:26 | 18 comments

I love the Beaker updates!

posted by occhiblu 22 August | 20:46

Also, I've had cats who very definitely could see the tv, though they would generally ignore it unless there were birds on the screen. One of my kittens leapt up to the window the other night when a bunch of turkey chicks were on the screen; he apparently thought all the cheeping was coming from outside. When he realized it wasn't, he did move over to the tv, but couldn't put together the picture with what he was hearing.

posted by occhiblu 22 August | 20:51

I like Beaker updates, too! Smart birdie :D

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 22 August | 21:14

Well he is smart, but he's clumsy too. When we first got him he stuck close to either the wife or I. He sometimes gets on his cage, like in the front, just hanging there. He'll start flapping his wings but he's in no position to fly, being clipped. So he yells, "Hello! Hello!" that means that I have to save him. He is really just a baby. I'll save him from his peril, which isn't really dangerous because once he drops off he flaps to the ground, but he doesn't know how to really fly yet. Once he's off his grip though, instinct kicks in and he makes it to the floor just fine. As well his cage is over a carpet so he's okay. Once he hits the floor though he's all, "hello? Hello? Hello?"

We have a fun game. I have an island in my kitchen. Y'all know what that is right? So he'll come waddling in and I hide on the other side. I say, "Beaker? Where's Beaker?" And he circles the island looking for me. When he sees me I say, "There's Beaker!" And he trills. Then we do it again. We could play this game all day. He has this hop run, hop run thing when he's in a hurry to get somewhere that is so comical that I laugh hysterically when I see him do it. Wings out, run hop, run hop. It looks like a penguin that is looking for a bathroom!

Another thing that he does, that I'm trying to stop, is that sometimes when he's on me he reverts to being a baby. Actually not surprising, as he is still a baby in some ways. He will start acting like a little baby Beaker and make baby noises at me. It's hard to describe so if you're really curious Google mother bird feeding young or something like that. We were warned that he might revert to baby stuff. We were also told not to let it happen.

When we first got him we fed him oatmeal from a spoon. And he loved it. But the pet store guy said not to do that. So now when we make him oatmeal we put it on a little pyrex bowl on his cage. He still sucks it up like a birdie vacuum.

Another thing we have to work on, which I don't like, is that we have to make him stop sleeping on me. When he's eaten his fill, baby remember, he likes to cuddle up to my neck or on my chest and go to sleep. I love it. He's so cute. Sometime he purrs. Sometime he dreams and makes squeaky noises. Sometimes i can hear him digesting! A birdie stomach growl in my ear! But honestly he has to get used to sleeping on or in his cage. Well, he's young...

Sorry for the wall of text. Night night for me now.

posted by Splunge 22 August | 22:06

When you get a chance to answer:

What's the negative of letting him revert to baby behaviors? (I know nothing about being a bird guardian!)

posted by occhiblu 22 August | 22:16

OMG, he sounds adorable. I so would love to have a bird. They're so fascinating and social. I used to take care of some parrots and I got a huge soft spot for them - smarties, and lovable.

posted by Miko 22 August | 22:27

Those are great stories! I am so happy he has so quickly become part of the family.

posted by msali 22 August | 22:29

he just sounds great, Splunge. how wonderful for you.

posted by gaspode 22 August | 23:06

Oh so adorable. I think I am getting addicted to Beaker updates. And I too don't see why he can't be a baby. He is one! And his lifespan will be long so can't weaning wait a bit?

BTW we have a now elderly cat who adored Michael Moriarty on Law and Order. We have pix of her staring with love and devotion at him on the screen. Nothing has interested her much on TV since he left that show. Though our dog tunes in whenever a TV dog barks or whines or howls.

posted by bearwife 23 August | 00:14

I think the updates are charming! I'm falling in love with Beaker too.

posted by mightshould 23 August | 04:41

These bird stories are great! If anybody has a problem with the bird stories, send them to me and I will deal with them very severely.

posted by JanetLand 23 August | 05:32

I like these updates too! A lot of what you describe is similar to what I'm experiencing with my 10-week-old son, right down to "I can hear him digesting!".

posted by altolinguistic 23 August | 06:43

Yes, more bird stories, please! I love hearing Beaker updates.

posted by needlegrrl 23 August | 08:27

BIRDY STORIES

posted by The Whelk 23 August | 18:21

Occhiblu, cockatoos and indeed many birds are weaned a bit too quickly when they are handfed in pet stores. This is just a market issue. They can't afford to have a bird that is weaned for a year.

In the wild a cockatoo will be fed by its mother for about a year. By then they are essentially an adult. And as well they are bonded to the parent for life. A pet store can't let that happen. So they introduce them to solid food early, at about 3-5 months. This doesn't cause them any problems for the most part. And then they are put in general population, as it were. There they are touched and handled by a variety of people in the store. This is a good thing. It boosts their immune system and gets them socialized. But since there are a lot of people there they don't bond to a single person, yet.

As the bird gets older the store will start lowering the cost of the bird. They want someone to buy it and take it home. There true bonding will happen. Sometimes very quickly.

If a cockatoo reverts to baby feeding it will sometimes ignore solid food completely. This is bad. Because it may stop eating completely. The bird can actually starve itself.

While early weaning can indeed be problematic, it's not a bad thing. But you have to consider the bird's wants as well. So I will often make oatmeal for Beaker when he's particularly squeaky. But i put it on top of his cage so he eats it like a big boy. Then when he finishes it he'll usually still be hungry and then eat his pellets.

posted by Splunge 24 August | 16:23

Interesting.

I know that with cats and dogs, the domestication process means that they retain kittenish or puppyish behaviors as adults. Sounds like that's not the case with birds.

But now I'm totally wanting a squeaky birdy!

posted by occhiblu 24 August | 16:46

As well, the pet store owner told us that we can bring Beaker back and let others handle him to continue the socialization process. Other people do it often. It's a good way to stop them from being too territorial at home. We were going to do this today, but when we called (always call first) they said that they just got a Moluccan cockatoo baby and they wanted it to get used to things first.

BTW, the pet store is All 4 Pets. I don't Facebook but the wife does. And if you do you should go to that page and favorite the heck out of it. Tell them Rich and Caryn sent you!

posted by Splunge 24 August | 17:25

Well. Hrumph. I am Facebooking again. I had to Like my favorite pet store. Now get off of my bird poop filled lawn.

posted by Splunge 24 August | 17:31

← Thanks to all for your help. Another question... || So last week the fire, tonight we have this →

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