Bringing Home Frodo

A routine visit to a local pet store in 2002 ended up being an eventful day. Fed up with customers who didn't properly take care of their birds after getting them from her store, the owner and I spoke about educating folks on the care of birds. When I admired her four newly weaned green-cheeked conures, she gave one of them to me, saying that she knew he would be well cared for with me as his owner than if she had just sold him to someone she didn't know. So, I went home that day with a new friend, one who was small and had funny-looking feet. Decided to call him Frodo. Can't imagine why.

Keeping an extra cage in the house for emergency rescues, I quickly made him right at home as soon as we walked in the front door. He was quiet for the first few days and kind of took in his new surroundings but did not seem fearful. Making sure he was eating and drinking regularly, I left him to his own devices, away from the other birds, and didn't try to handle him for a few days.

Every day I would go to his cage, greeting him sweetly, and would open his door, giving him his freedom should he desire to venture out, though didn't try to interact with him otherwise. On the second day, he did come out of his cage, and though fully flighted, he stayed on top of it and didn't try to fly around. He too was trying to get a feel for the place and to get adjusted. He was content to stay where he was and just watch me and the other birds interact. He even went back into his cage all by himself when I turned the lights down in the room a bit.

On the fourth day, I was sitting on the couch, watching television, and all of a sudden, Frodo flew over to me and landed on my shoulder and snuggled into my neck, rubbing his head up toward my chin, begging to have his head rubbed. I was flabbergasted! Apparently, he'd thought he'd had enough adjustment.

I was his best bud. He liked to snuggle with me whenever he could and begged for treats when I was eating. I quickly learned that he loved apples and carrots. He also liked fresh broccoli, corn, peas, and most fruits you could imagine. I was eating a Ritz cracker one night and saw Frodo on top of his cage, leaning forward and bobbing his head up and down, reminding me of my grey-cheeked parakeet, Kiwi, who used to do the same thing when she wanted something. In the case of Kiwi though, she would also make a beeping noise as she bobbed and strained forward. Frodo, however, just did the bob and strain maneuver. Those of you who own a green-cheek will recognize the behavior of which I speak.

Working diligently with Frodo, we established the step up and step down from both my finger and a stick perch that I keep around for rescuing my high-strung cockatiels who freak out over the budgie giving the warning cry at regular intervals. The budgie loves to do this to freak them out, and the cockatiels fall for it every time.

Frodo is also semi-potty trained. He will back up and seek an edge to poop from instead of just going where he is standing. If he hasn't gone in a while, I can hold him over a trash can and say "go potty" or "come on, go potty," and he will go. You might have to say it a few times, but he will do it if he does have the urge.

When he first became a member of my flock, he loved playing the 'tickle tickle' game. I would reach around and gently nudge him onto his back and then tickle his belly with my fingers. He just loved it and would grab onto my fingers and nibble on them.

Another game we played then was 'peek-a-boo.' Since Frodo, like my former grey-cheek, is a snuggler, he likes to snuggle under the throw with me in the evenings if I watch television or read. He crawls under the throw, starts grinding his beak, and is fast asleep. I got in the habit of peeking under the throw and saying, "peek-a-boo" to him, and then would lower the throw again and would do that at regular intervals for a bit when we had our evening times.

Imagine my surprise when I walked out of the room one night, out of his view, and heard this little, "Peek-a-boo" coming from the other room. I walked back into the room, and of course, he clammed right up. The next thing he learned to say was, "Baby." Now he changes that up with, "Hey, baby" which has become his call for me as I come in the door fresh from work. He also says "hello" and mumbles a lot of other things, but I haven't quite figured them out yet. I'm repeating "good boy" a lot these days so hopefully he'll pick that up, especially when it is reinforced with head scritches.

I very gently plucked a few of his chest feathers and sent them off to a lab for a DNA test that first week to verify that he was a he, and he was. Green-cheeks are not sexually dimorphic (i.e. can't tell the males from the females), so I felt I needed to find out.

That's all about the Frodster for tonight. I hope you enjoy your green cheek as much as I do mine. I bid you good night and hope you don't complain as much as Frodo does about having to go to bed these days. Such noisy vocalizations at bed time. If you don't believe me, check out this video that an owner shared on YouTube. The individual who posted it didn't allow the code to be embedded elsewhere, so visit this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js1gSj-0Brg