Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Ditto Update

Ditto, who we've written about here and here, is still at the Center, looking for a home. You can read her history by clicking on the first "here" in this post. She's been with us for around 4 years now.

Ditto loves to exercise! When we take her out of her cage, one of the first things we do is lift her high in the air. Make sure to hold on tight to her feet as she starts flapping wildly and sometimes gets a bit of lift off of your hand if you're not careful!

Here she is, in mid-flap:When she's had enough, we bring her back down while she recovers, then we repeat. She normally likes to do this at least three times.

Exercise is so important for these captive wild animals. In nature, they'd be flying for miles and getting lots of exercise. They are far too sedentary in our homes. As much as possible, we try to get the birds panting at least once a day. Each bird is an individual, so we need to find a way that is fun for each one. This helps with their physical health as well as providing behavioral benefits!

Back to Ditto -- she's still looking for a home. We can't understand why she's still here -- we suspect it has something to do with her plucked appearance. She has an amazing personality, and though we'll miss her very much when she finally finds a home, we really hope she's able to have a permanent home of her own soon!

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