She-Woman Man haters club.

Lola hates men. HATES them. She attempts to bite any man that approaches her cage, but will happily take treats from them. She will allow almost any woman to scratch her neck, and loves giving kisses. Throw a man in the picture and she bites. Now, of course, the men of the house are afraid of her, so they react and pull away quickly when she goes to bite. So she now finds joy in scaring the boys.

....one battle at a time I guess.

Her vocabulary is impeccable. She now says "step-up," "come on" "hi Lola" "good girl" "come here" "okay" "no" and a slew of other understandable phrases. Her sound effects are spot on... everything from the dogs barking, to the sound of the cicadas outside. She loves to monologue, and will talk for hours. I have not been able to get her to talk on command. she usually clams up if I try to get her to talk.

She enjoys her outside cage, and spends some time out there every day. It is located under the gazebo, so she is able to spend time with the family as we eat, and watch all the other outdoor activity. It is also out of direct sunlight, so there is little risk in her over-heating.

She steps -  up much more easily now. It sometimes still requires asking more than once, but within a minute she will step up on to my hand if she is ON her cage. no luck in getting her to step up from inside her cage, although I can usually coax her out and then get her to step up.

She steps up readily from the interior of her outdoor cage. Go figure.

She loves shelled almonds and sweet potato. Is beginning to like steamed carrots and peas. Has to be convinced to that broccoli is delicious, and turns her nose up to any other vegetable. She enjoys papaya and banana. She LOVES lafeber's nutri-meals. One bar lasts about 4 days, and she gets a piece a day as a snack. Nutri-meals have fruits and veggies in them, so I feel better about her veggie intake when she has one of those.

We are going to try sprouting soon, and seeing if she will go for those!

Chatty Lola

Lola won't shut up! She mumbles and sings and says many different words in different tones. She seems to not only be able to repeat, but is picking up the meaning of several words. For instance, I say "good morning" when I first uncover her, and she replies with a "hello." Her favorite word seems to be "ok." Since she says it quite often!

She is stepping up off her cage almost 50% of the time. She is more apt to step up in the morning, then she is in the afternoon. Once she is off her cage, she will step up every time she is asked to. She enjoys spending time in her outdoor cage, and loves a little slice of banana every morning. She is also a fan of papaya.

Still fighting over vegetables. She loves sweet potatoes, tolerates steamed broccoli, and is starting to try some cooked carrots. 

She isn't the biggest fan of her flight suit, but after a few minutes with it on, she stops trying to bite it. She doesn't like the sound of the Velcro undoing when I take it off of her.

Here she is in her glory, shredding a toy on her play stand.

Flight suit.... Check!

Lola had her first flight suit training today! She was fine having it next to her, was playing and biting it while it was on her perch. I picked her up and placed her on top of the suit, and she was fine. So I began scratching her neck, and carefully picked each foot up and placed it in the "holes." She was very still because I was scratching her the entire time. Once the feet were in, I pulled her wings through the holes, and velcro'd her in....all while scratching her neck. Once she was in I immediately made a big fuss about her being a GOOD girl!

She wasn't THRILLED with the idea, but tolerated it. She tried munching on her suit, but I would say "no" and redirect her attention every time. 

 

She wore it for about 10 minutes, while I fussed about how she was such pretty bird. She was very nervous when I had to take it off, because of the Velcro sound. I reassured it her the entire time, and scratched her while I unvelcro'd it. Then I spent a few minutes doing up the Velcro, and undoing it so that she can grow accustomed to the sound. Overall, she was such a good girl, and has really taken everything in stride! We celebrated 5 weeks together on Saturday!

Great weekend for Lola!

Memorial Day weekend has proven to be Lola's weekend! I had a personal emergency on Saturday, so was unable to spend much time with her. She was allowed out of her cage, but did not get any "training time" or time on her play stand since I am the only one who can bing her out of her cage,and I  wasn't home. She spent a few hours outside on Sunday, while we washed cars, BBQ'd, and enjoyed the sunshine. Lola LOVED talking to the other birds, and ruffling her feathers at the wind.

Today was Memorial Day so we were not home for about 10 hours. When I arrived home and opened her cage,  she came right out for kisses and snuggles. Than she "stepped up" on the FIRST ask, and traveled to her outside cage so she can spend some time watching the sun set with the rest of the family. This was her first time, stepping up the first time it was asked. It usually takes about 6 minutes of convincing to get her to step up from her cage. So this was fantastic!

After spending a couple of hours outdoors, she came back in to her cage. I decided to try and see if she would do her two tricks.... AND SHE DID, from her cage, with visitors over, and dogs barking, etc! She "waved" and "turned around" on command every time it was asked! She must've been very happy to see me after an exciting weekend, because she did everything when asked the first time. 

what a great weekend for Lola!!

Vomiting..?

Lola did something very strange today, she "threw up" a piece of nut that she had eaten earlier, while we were playing. She was not upset, didn't fling it around, or show any sign of distress. She simply started to pump her head up and down, and out came a piece of nut. Her behavior has been normal, lots of talking, playing, and exploring her newly re-decorated cage.

I am worried that she may not being feeling well, or that she got too many nuts. Or perhaps she is fine, and just loves me so much she wants to vomit on me. Either way, we are laying off of the peanuts for a couple of days and seeing if that may be the cause.

New diggs..

Lola's outside cage won a home-makeover! She got some new perches, a ladder, a swing. A couple of new toys, a even a small mirror. After cleaning her outside cage, and redecorating it, Lola, was given the opportunity to check it out! 

Seems like she was impressed! She was a little nervous at first, but quickly settled down. She climbed around a bit, tried out her new swing, and checked herself out in the mirror. Then she spent some time trying out all of her whistles, and some of her words. 

It was interesting to note that she didn't choose the highest perch as her favorite. Instead, she chose the large pink sandy one, which is in the middle of her cage. 

All in all, she has been with us for ALMOST a month, and really seems to be settling in quite well. I think varying her routine, and introducing her to new things constantly, helps her become a brave bird.. And increases her trust in me.

The great unknown...

On Sunday, Americans everywhere celebrated the woman who raised them, loves them, and cares for them - MOM! Lola showed her appreciation for me, by allowing herself to venture off of her cage, at HER leisure, and joining the family for a brief gathering outside to enjoy the warm weather. She has an outside cage, that is a bit smaller then "home base" and perfect to help her feel secure. Although she was little nervous about getting in, she settled down on a perch and watched as we "crazy people" used ladders to climb up high to put the canopy on the gazebo. She even fluffed up and rested a leg!

She was outside for a total of 45 minutes. She then decided she liked it out there, and was in no hurry to step up and come back in the house. Given the success of her first venture into the unknown, I have ordered some perches and toys to "spruce up" her outdoor cage which currently only contains 3, same-sized perches. I am hoping Lola can Join us for breakfast out in the gazebo on warm summer mornings!