Olive and Bluto from Phoenix, AZ

[moisheweiss]

Hi. I have had two Ringnecks for about 7 months now. They were turn-ins at a local bird shop and the owners estimate them to be 3 or 4 years old. I purchased the female and the owner threw in the male for free because they seem to like each other and the male was unsalable, being too standoffish. Their original names were Preciosa (female) and Baby (male). The store owner changed it to Precious and Baby and I changed it to Olive and Bluto. (I was considering Olive Oil and Popeye, but decided to drop off the oil and the male is no Popeye.)

When I got them the previous owner had badly butchered their last trimming session, taking off way too much feathering. Four months later when I brought them back for grooming, they were nearly flighted. I just took them back for their second grooming session last week and the owners said they look much, much better then when I got them.

According to the owners, Bluto may never become people-friendly. It is banded so was probably caught wild. It eyeballs me carefully every time I approach the cage and screeches at me if get suspiciously close. (It is okay with me maintaining the cage and stuff so long as I give it room to get way on the other side of the activity. It usually purchases on top of or behind the cage when I maintain the cage.) It is absolutely beautiful but has a voice like Janice Joplin. It's favorite activities are playing statue (pretending to be catatonic?), staring at the wall and staring out the window.

Olive will probably never learn to talk as she has quickly trained me how to whistle instead. She knows the catcall and the yoo-hoo. Her favorite activities are attack the tissue, attack the water bottle, peal the paper off the water bottle, debating the finer points of whistling with her owner, nibbling her owners fingernails, biting her owner suddenly, pooping on her owners shoulder, perching behind her owners neck and converting her owners rubber slippers (and the inside lining of an actually comfortable pair of ergonomic steel toed boots and cellphone) into perfectly identically sized little marbles.

I will post pictures soon.

[moisheweiss]

I guess I'm not posting pictures after all - "Sorry, the board attachment quota has been reached."