Parry has just gone through 2 weeks of cipro medication (.3cc twice a day) and after a recheck from the vet, they found that she still has elevated levels of white blood cell count - which means that she is still fighting some kind of infection. we have been asked by the vet to have her x-rayed to see if there is anything internally going on that is causing this prolonged infection. we are waiting for more direction from the macaw coordinator, but im sure that will be coming shortly.

Parry continues to enjoy her time with my husband. she enjoys scritches from him. i have not been able to touch her yet (except on the toes through the cage bars), but i have been able to give her nut treats to her outside of her cage. (i think that is due to my own personal hesitation to try this than parry's fear of me).

I also allow her out of the cage (only if my husband is around though...i have not yet tried to have her step up on to a stick in my hand - again, probably due to my fear of being bitten by such a large beak). i don't flinch back when she tries to crawl around her cage to be near me. i just talk to her very softly and not give her full eye contact for longer stretches of time (i don't want her to think that i am either challenging her or thinking of her as a meal).

She LOVES to forage. we do make it a point to fill up her "foraging stations" that she has around her cage (there are about 3, but i will hide a nut in new places to just have her roam around her cage). she will go to each one, fling out all the stuff i put in them (SO cute and funny!) and go for the nuts. she thinks that she knows where all the nuts are so if i were to hide a nut in a cardboard cylinder, she usually doesn't think to look in that and just flings that to the bottom of her cage with the nut inside - oh well...

she has gotten VERY good at unlocking the plastic foraging treasure chest i have in her cage. it took her a while to get to know how it worked, but that lasted about a week. now she can get it open in a blink of an eye. (and that thing has two "keys" you have to manipulate to open the chest!)

Parry likes strawberries! we have strawberries growing in our veggie garden and she eats them with gusto. oh, and we also have her on pellets. she has really taken a liking to roudybush, but we now mix those with harrison's. so far roudybush continues to be her favorite.

Parry also is getting a little more vocal - no noises longer than a second or two, and nothing as loud as what you would normally think a macaw would make, but she has started to make honking and short whining-type of noises - especially if she is in the midst of going through her foraging stations.

I do think she is still plucking, but that will take a while, if she ever gets out of the habit.