mirrors...?

[The Spasticat]

Quick question for y'all: Do y'all use/recommend mirrors for our little friends? I bought Froot Loop this cool little purple mirror with beads on it (ooooooo) and I was so excited about it, and the breeder warned me against it and made me promise I would take it out of the cage....she said he wouldn't want to be my friend if he fell in love with his reflection. :rolleyes: So i didn't put it in the cage, but it is just sitting on my desk and I wish I had a use for it.... do y'all use them? thanks much

[marjet]

Why don't you just make the mirrors dull with sandpaper or something so your birdie can't see her reflection but has the fun of the toy?
Bibi here has a toy in her cage she's very fond of. It has two mirrors but they are so 'unshiny/dirty' that she can't see herself very well in it and that isn't its charm anyway. She's just cuddling herself with it (do I say that correct? I mean she's holding it with one foot and steers it to her neck to 'fumble' there)

[AndreaFahy]

If you have a good, trusting, loving relationship established with your little one and include him in your routine daily the mirror will not become a problem. The mirror presents issues for people that might not play with their birds daily - the problem there is in the fact that the birds aren't being interacted with, it's not the mirror's fault!!

[ArtS]

I second Andrea's comment.

Art S.

[The Spasticat]

Um he gets taken out almost everyday. (There is the rare exception day that I get in late from class, work, or studying and just crash without taking him out for at least 15 minutes or so.):rolleyes: I don't really know how to gauge if we have a wonderful relationship, but he seems to be pretty darn fond of me. EVERYTIME I leave the room, he starts beeping (that's what we call his cheeps and tweets) like crazy!! It drives other people crazy. :rolleyes: I talk to him and sing to him a lot though....he loves that and scritches from me. So I guess we have a good relationship. That's a good idea about dulling them up, marjet. Thanks y'all!

[ArtS]

Parrotlets aren't as bad as real parrots but 15 minutes isn't really enough (though I'm guessing you spend much more time than that with him). I think you need at least an hour, preferably more.

Having him run around on your desk while you are doing homework does count as time with your bird! :D

Regards,

Art S.

[The Spasticat]

Oh yeah I know they need more. He almost always gets more than that. Sorry if I was unclear...the "bad days" are when I can only get him out for about 15 minutes; the rare, rare exception days are when he gets out even less than that. But most days (I'd say about 5 out of 7) of the week he gets an hour or more...sometimes much more. thanks, spasticat

[AndreaFahy]

Include him in your life as much as possible. Does he have a same species mate? If not he is aching for companionship 24 hours a day - this is a natural instinct for parrots and I have yet to meet someone that can stay with their parrot 24 hours a day. He can be included when you get ready in the morning, during meals, just about anything. Find ways to incorporate him into your time while you are home.

[The Spasticat]

No he doesn't have a mate. I think I gave off the wrong impression....he really does get a good bit of time out of his cage with me and others. I just have those rare days where I can't take him out, but even on those days, he gets taken out by someone...I was just talking about strictly MY relationship with him. I take him out to sit with me when I'm studying, doing stuff on the computer, tv, walking around, when i have people over, etc...he gets out very often and does a lot with me

[AndreaFahy]

GOOD!! :)

It's hard to communicate effectively sometimes online, it can be easy to misunderstand.

But, some people are clueless as to how much time a bird needs to spend outside of the cage with their "human flock" so we have to help those people understand !

[ArtS]

By the way,

I knew a guy that did corporate plant maintainance (he maintained plants in office buildings - talk about a nitch profession :D ) that had 5 parrotlets that he brought with him on the job. While out of the house, they lived in one of those fleece lined winter boots! He'd tip the boot on it's side and they would cautiouly peak their heads out the begin exploring their surroundings.

I also heard of a woman that would travel with her parrotlet in her shirt pocket!

I'm not advocating this behaviour it just rung a bell when Andrea said 24 hours a day.

Regards,

Art S.