Rocky update

Rocky was better last night. Only a few screaming bursts. Of course, he had Thomas to himself most of the day. I told Thomas to smother him with attention, so he did.

Here he is, giving him head scratches and getting his pin feathers:
Rocky loves this!

I'm a bit apprehensive about the next time I'm alone with them. He screamed a bit this morning after Thomas left for work. I put him on his perch in the basement (he likes it down there) as I had the windows open and didn't want his screams penetrating the neighborhood at 7:15 in the morning.

He had a blast down there by himself. I could hear him singing and playing. Occasionally he'd call out my name and when I asked him what he wanted, he just laughed. I did still feel guilty about separating him from his flock even though he was enjoying himself.

Richard, thanks for the ideas on the noise-reducing ear muffs. I'm really hoping they do not become necessary, but I'll keep them in mind! I'm going to try your suggestion of smothering him with my attention. It's tricky with him as he appears to want my attention when I'm the only human there, but when he realizes it's me, he sometimes starts to attack.

I did tell him this morning if he screamed tonight, I was going to towel him and give him head pets while holding him against my chest. I used to do this to him when I had to medicate him (about three years ago) to calm him down after the medication procedure.

I'm still hanging in there! I think it helps that I still believe this to be temporary and that he'll settle back down in a few weeks. I can handle normal amounts of screaming. It's when it becomes an almost-constant thing that I worry about my sanity.

Less than a year to go of Thomas's residency and then he'll be around a lot more. The parrots and I are looking forward to that!