Hercules' turn

Yesterday Hercules escaped the kitchen/dining area and roamed my place. In the process, he tipped over three potted plants, ate two of them (one will survive) and kicked dirt all over the carpet. Can just one of my pets not be destructive?

I also found out that Manzi does not really like the strategically positioned second air filter. I bought a second one after the first was so successful. I put the second one right next to his living room stand. That way, when he is preening himself (which he likes to do on that stand), the feathers/dander will get sucked right up keeping my place clean and dust free.

Well, that was the theory anyway.

Turns out, that Manzi doesn't like to preen himself when the very loud and strong air filter is blowing a powerful draft right at his bum. At first, I noticed he kept trying to land on my chairs to preen. I promptly would return him to the play stand with the conveniently located air filter. He would promptly return to a chair or his cage. After about 4-5 times of this, when I was putting him on his play stand I noticed my hair was blowing upwards, then I finally connected the two. I need to put the air filter in a place that not only I find convenient, but Manzi as well. Maybe two feet away will be nearly as good.

Manzi in sink

Manzi has been quite an explorer recently. Today he decided to look in the sink and to his delight, he found dishes I recently put in there that had not yet been washed. He spent a good 20 minutes cleaning off the dishes. Here are a couple shots.

Usually Maui is more destructive than Manzi in terms of furniture, but Manzi has been on a roll lately. He figured out how to chew the corner of the refrigerator and pull off little bits of plastic. I temporarily am holding him off by putting an object that he is very much afraid of (a piece of cardboard) on top of the fridge. It isn't visually appealing, but it is right now beating Manzi in the stand off.

Manzi has also figured out how to land on the door frame of the coat closet. It is a very small landing where he ends up sideways, but he has mastered it pretty well. From there he pulls off bits of wooden door frame (who needs those anyway, right?). I wedge the piece of cardboard in that door and close it to keep him away. Before long, I'm going to have scary pieces of cardboard all over my house protecting it from Manzi.

Halloween Attack

Manzi and Maui seemed to get a big kick out of seeing all the kids come on halloween. They were chatty and the kids always would see the birds and get very excited. One group had about 12 people and when I began passing out candy, Manzi no longer could contain his excitement and flew over to the group. Instead of excitement, the kids and adults in the group began to scream and run. Manzi had no where to land out in the hall, so he picked the shoulder of an adult. The adult began running away with me running after her. I told her that if she didn't stop, then I wouldn't be able to get Manzi off of her. She did stop and Manzi gladly stepped onto my hand from his very unstable perch.

Anyway, I kept my door a lot more closed after this, making me look like the person with the messy house who doesn't want people looking in. Still, I'd rather that the the person who gets sued for having a curious bird (being mistaken as an attack bird).

On another note, Manzi hasn't been really destructive lately. So he made up for it when he decided my cell phone charger made for a good chew toy. Surprisingly, it still works, but I can see the electrical components now, so I am sure it would not pass any safety checks. I am trying my best not to let it shock me.

Hercules is growing

I haven't posted Hercules in a while. I put Maui next to him for a size comparison (and the usual quarter). Maui wasn't so happy about it. She is a lot more wary of Hercules than Manzi. Lately, Manzi and Hercules have been battling it out. Manzi will threaten Hercules, which causes Hercules to tuck his head and front legs into his shell. Still, Hercules keeps his back legs out and pushes himself towards Manzi. Manzi then backs away. Once backed away, Hercules comes out and goes straight towards Manzi again, which leads to Manzi reaching out and causing Hercules to tuck in again.

This usually happens when Manzi drops food. Hercules will make a bee line for the food, as will Manzi. Manzi arrives first and tries to keep Hercules away, but he is becoming more and more passive towards Hercules.

Maui also often stands on Manzi's cage. Manzi will stand near her on his cage as well and they do not bite at each other. They will just puff up when the other is making direct eye contact, but other than that they have been fairly peaceful. Manzi also goes into Maui's cage still, now even when she is in there as well, but they don't hurt each other. Just eat each other's food.

Air Filter

I ended up buying the Honeywell Air Filter:

Honeywell Filter

I have been very happy with the filter. It is very loud, but that is alright. I keep it in with the birds in their sleeping cages. The dust in that room was incredible, so I couldn't imagine that it was very good for them to breathe. It has a double bonus. Since it is pretty loud, they don't ever scream for me to get them out in the morning because they can't hear me moving around. This wasn't a huge problem or anything, still, it is nice to be able to get up in the morning and do morning activities for a few minutes before they begin asking to be let out.

Anyway, if you have a parrot, I would highly recommend this filter based on a few weeks use. Maybe my opinion will change with time, but I'll post an update in six months or so.