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- I have
to tell you how thrilled we are with our Green Aracari, Olive.
She is everything we've dreamed of in a pet bird: beautiful,
quiet, funny and loving towards everyone. She was amazing from
the minute we picked her up in the airport: she was chatting
and eating on the way home in the car. After one day, she was
all over us, playing in her cage, and acting like she'd lived
here forever. She fits beautifully into our family of Collies
and cats. She loves the dogs, and goes to the bottom of the
cage when they come in the room so she can try and pull their
long hair. She would do the same with the cats, but we don't
let them interact, for obvious reasons!
Olive is
about 95% paper trained - meaning she will leave the couch,
chair, carpet area, etc. and fly to her open cage door and poop
over the paper. We have been working on potty training her with
positive reinforcement every time she poops on the paper, and
so far it's working. She is incredibly smart and seems to want
to please us. She loves the water and takes a bath every day.
She soaks herself in her water dish, then preens her gorgeous
feathers. She loves to spend time in her cage, and is very good
at entertaining herself. She is remarkably quiet. Her loudest
noise is a chipmunk-like chatter that isn't loud at all. We
love her sounds - they are very sweet. So far, she loves all
of our friends and family members, even our young niece and
nephew, and will go to any of them in a minute. It's wonderful
to interact with a bird that really can't bite you much at all.
Her beak is too weak to do much more than exert pressure. It
makes everyone feel comfortable, even people who have never
had any exposure to birds, because they don't have to worry
about being hurt. She won over many of our friends the first
time they all saw her, because she cuddled with them on the
couch at bedtime.
Our favorite
thing about Olive is her incredible personality. She is so full
of herself, and happy. One of her favorite games is to play
peek-a-boo. She sticks her head inside the paper towel roll
to look at us on the other end. I've attached a picture of this.
She loves to pull on my pajama pant drawstrings, so this has
become a morning ritual. She sits on my shoulder, and likes
to watch the cursor move around on the computer screen. Besides
being adorable and funny, she is incredibly loving. During the
day, she sometimes snuggles up with us, tucking herself tight
against us, under our arms. It's the sweetest thing ever. She
purrs and coos and takes a nap. At night, when it's bedtime,
she always does this. It's our nightly ritual. After she has
sat with us for a while, she scoots off down the couch and goes
in between the pillows to sleep for the night. She did that
all on her own about the 2nd week she was here. We put a shirt
over the pillows, so it's cozy and dark in there. It's hysterical!
We have a bird that sleeps on the couch. I've attached a picture
of her approaching her pillows (before we put the shirt over
them). She actually lays down on the couch and sleeps!
We can't
say enough about how much we love this bird. She is perfect
for us: she doesn't bond with one person, she is practically
silent, and she has an incredible personality. Thank you, Emerald
Forest, for breeding these gorgeous, adorable creatures and
for making them available as pets. We love her to pieces!
- -Carol
Fant
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