Hello everyone!

Welcome back to Animal Wonders. As you might know, we like to share as many parts of caring for and working with animals as possible.

We love sharing when we get a new animal because we like to acknowledge each individual for who they are. We love sharing the challenges we encounter in housing them, bonding with them, and training them. We also share when an animal is having medical struggles and, when we're able to talk about it, when an animal passes.

Today, I'd like to let Taylor talk about her journey with Archie because he was a hidden gem and his and Taylor's bond was very special. [CHEERY INTRO MUSIC]. Hi everyone! I love working with the animals here at Animal Wonders.

I love caring for them, and I also love learning about each one as an individual. Every animal has their own unique quirks and personalities, and one of my favorites to get to know and work with was Archie, our blue-fronted Amazon parrot. Archie came to Animal Wonders in 2013 as an adult, so we didn't know much of his history or how old he was.

But we were determined to give him the best home possible. He got the best nutrition and as many toys as he could ask for, but he never quite clicked with Jessi. So when I started working here, I began interacting with him and he slowly became my best bud.

I had never formed a bond with a parrot before, so I was really nervous and unsure. At first I just offered him treats and talked with him, and we slowly got to know each other. As time passed though, I gained more confidence and our bond strengthened.

But I wanted to offer more. I didn't want to just be friends with Archie. I wanted to give him the best life possible.

So I began training him and bringing him out of his enclosure. I taught him to offer his foot to step up and to touch his beak to a target stick. I also slowly trained him to go into a crate, and after about 5 months he went on his very first show.

We took him to a Senior Center and he did fantastic! He was definitely nervous, but he stayed on my hand and he calmly took treats from me! I was so happy and proud!

Not only because he had come so far, but because it meant he trusted me. It meant that, even in a new place full of strangers, he felt safe with me. That summer he went on a bunch of shows with me and we had a blast!

Later that year, we noticed he was sneezing and he had a lot of discharge from his nose. So we took him to our vet, and we found out he had a respiratory infection. This meant that we needed to take a break from shows.

Archie enjoyed going out on shows, but they can be loud and stressful sometimes and we wanted to make sure he he had enough time to fully heal. So I went back to just hanging out with him and training. Over time, his respiratory infection never seemed to fully go away.

We would give him antibiotics, flush his nose, and nebulize him and he would seem fine for a few weeks, but then he would be sick again with a different bacteria. Jessi and I were definitely worried, but he was still spunky and active and finishing all his food, so we kept fighting the infections. Then in January, we noticed that although he was still eating all his food and he was staying the same weight, he was getting skinnier.

We could feel his keel, or breast bone, becoming more pronounced. We were very concerned, so we took him to our vet to get x-rays. It turned out that Archie had a very large tumor in his liver, and it was affecting his liver's function as well as putting pressure on his air sacs.

This restricted airflow and it's what caused him to keep getting sick. There was no way for us to safely remove the tumor, but our vet assured us that he was not in any pain. This was really hard news to hear.

But Archie was still happy and eating active, and while we couldn't heal him, we could make him comfortable and happy. So we brought him back home and we gave him the most that we could offer for whatever amount of time was left for him. Then, in the beginning of August, I had to say goodbye to my best buddy.

We learned from our vet that his liver had stopped working. And she did have options that would have kept him alive for another week, but it would have been really hard on his system and it would have been really stressful for him. And while I would have loved having more time with Archie, it wouldn't have been a good life for him.

I loved every minute that I got to spend with Archie. I loved bonding with him, and I loved learning all of his quirks. His favorite foods were peanuts and sunflower seeds and apples, and he would meticulously peel all of them.

And when he saw me coming, he would whistle or a loop and he would come right to the front of the enclosure. I loved talking to him and taking him out on shows, and my favorite thing that I had just trained him to do was to turn his head and look up at the ceiling when I said, "What's up there?" Archie taught me to pay attention to what an animal is telling you. Whenever training didn't work or he got confused, I learned to stop and reflect on what I was doing wrong and why he got confused.

Most importantly though, Archie taught me how important and precious a trust bond is. It took a long time to gain his trust, but it was worth all of the effort. I love caring for all the animals here at Animal Wonders, and we all work very hard to give them the best life possible.

And of course we're sad when we have to let them go, but they have all taught us so much and I have truly loved caring for all of them. Taylor has been an absolute light in Archie's life, and I want to thank her so very much for her time with him. Our goal at Animal Wonders is to give every single animal that passes through our doors great nutrition, excellent medical care, enriching homes, and a loving team to ensure their quality of life is top notch.

If you'd like to continue getting to know the animals at Animal Wonders and loving them like we do, be sure you're subscribed and we'll see you next week.