1/31/08 Hormones..

January 31st. 2008
Cleo is going thru hormones. That's ok. She can join the ranks of a lot of women in my life. :)
I've recently noticed that she is pretty grumpy, jumpier than usual. I've found where she shreds newspaper and old toys into a 'nest' in the bottom left of the cage. She, if left alone on the sofa, will back her bottom up to the crevices between the cushions and cluck like a chicken. I have to stop that when she does it. She get's pretty irate about me stopping her. Over the past two weeks, I'd estimate, she has gotten more irate. Lunging at times, biting at times. Not screaming more. Doing what I've read, I increased her sleep to 14 hours a nite. I have strickly kept her food low fat. I have not interacted that much with her...that doesn't set her up to bite as badly.
After doing that for about a week, I think she is better. Last few nites she has really played a lot on her swing from the ceiling. Pretty funny as she flaps and it spins in a circle. She gets mad at her foraging device and nips and screams and flutters at it. So far...she has been prety easy to get off when it's time. She has really gotten nippy if I try to get her off of the manzanita tree. I dunno if it's hormones that is CAUSING that OR the tree itself is causing her to be hormonal, or more likely a combination of longer days AND the tree. REgardless, I took the tree away for awhile. It was setting her up for failure, it seemed. I KNEW when I would take her to the tree that she'd try to bite me if I wanted to take her off. She'd actually move down into the middle branches and lunge. Hopefully, we can get the tree back later.
But, as I said, it seem like this started about two weeks ago and I intervened as I said. Now, she is seeming to get better.
She has gotten REALLY good about stepping up inside the cage. I haven't had the hand perch out in about 3 weeks now.
Twice actually, she has slipped by my hand and scampered up on top of the cage and she did stepup there as well. Not as easily as INSIDE the cage, but she did.
She has surely come a long way.
I have decided to wait on GIGI. Gigi is a great bird. I need to get Cleo a little more rounded off before bringing in another bird. Also, I want to spend some time bonding with GIGI. I have arranged with her family to have weekend visits. Sort of a stepdad thing. I am going to see her this weekend as a mattery of fact. Maybe start clicker training her. Take her a treat from the birdfair this weekend?? :)