chico chupacabra wrote:

> Glorfindel reminisced:

>> I gave him various kinds of physical therapy,

> You jacked him off.

You have a dirty mind and no understanding of bird
psychology or biology.

>That's not PT.

No, indeed. However what I did for him was indeed
physical therapy. I worked on gently stretching his
wing as far as it would go, and helping him build up
his stamina. First, I held him over a soft surface
like the bed and released him to flutter to the bed.
As he got stronger, a friend and I would hold him
above the bed and gently "throw" him to each other,
so he would have to fly a short distance but wouldn't
hurt himself if he fell. Later, we would stand at
opposite sides of the room, later ends of the hall,
and call him, or lure him with a treat, to try to
fly from one of us to the other, gradually
increasing the distance. He eventually could
fly the whole length of the house, but only with
considerable effort. Normal 'tiels are so strong
and fast, many people clip their wings to
prevent injury to them or losing them if they get
out, but he was so crippled I thought it was safe
to leave him unclipped and just watch him carefully.

When we first got him, his keel was like a knife
blade -- no muscle at all. By the time we had
spent several months working with him, he had a
normal well-muscled keel and you could not feel
his keel-bone easily. He had had almost no time
out of the cage or exercise before we got him,
because his former companion had so many birds
she didn't have the time for the therapy he needed.

And the more I read and inquire about
> it, that's also not very "anglo catholic."

Compassion and care for the crippled and needy
"least of these" is very Anglo-Catholic -- or
simply, what someone concerned for animals
would do.

>> and he did get to the point where he could fly reasonably
>> well, but never normally.

> Oversexed?

No. In fact, he was rather old and not particularly
highly sexed -- he was just a normal, unaltered bird
imprinted on humans as a chick.

>> He had healthy veggies or
>> starchy foods on his saucer with us at breakfast and at
>> dinner, walking around on the table while we ate. That
>> was usually when he decided to do his sexual thing on
>> the hand on the table at the time,

> AT THE TABLE WHILE YOU WERE TRYING TO EAT BREAKFAST AND YOU LET IT GO
> ON?

Why not?

> Did you at least wash up when he was done? You keep snipping that
> question,

Because it's stupid and offensive. Yes, I did -- but how much
semen do you think an old 'tiel produces, anyway? You'd
get your hand messier dripping butter off your piece of
toast.

<snip>

>> after I'd feed him a
>> bite of something from his own plate, like a dark green
>> leaf or a bit of couscous. I think he saw it as a mate-like
>> gesture of food-sharing.

> Doesn't really matter since YOU still apparently do.

It's helpful to encourage a bird to eat healthy human
foods if you eat a bite yourself first, to show the
bird it's good, then feed a small amount to the bird.
The tiel wasn't too fond of veggies, but they were good
for him, so I would hold up a leaf like a toy, and get
him to nibble it. It's part of flock behavior, how birds
normally learn to eat things.


>> He was really a sweetheart.

> And you're really depraved.

No, but you are really dirty-minded and ignorant.