Muse

This is a very interesting discussion. I have enjoyed reading all the posts. It's very helpful sometimes to see how other Greys behave and what kind of personalities they have. I think it depends on the bird. Mar talks, on occasion. But he is a sweet, docile bird. I can put him on my shoulder, and work around the house. If I set him on the stand and ask him to stay there, he usually will (unless I have food - if someone is eating something, all bets are off!) and he is generally sweet and friendly with everyone. Megan will talk your head off, but is high strung and a handful. She is more prone to bite (and then will self-scold for doing so "Bad bird! Megan, don't bite the mama!"). She also is affectionately called "Megan the Destroyer". They are on the playtop right now, and I have had to get up and put things back on the playtop several times because she has tossed them overboard. She was just now trying to dump a dish of water that I had sitting on the floor of Mar's cage (then ASKING for water....*sigh*). Each of our birds has their own personality. Some of them, like Megan and Maks, love to chatter away. Some, like Mar, are the strong silent type. I am inclined to prefer the lack of chat over a talker that keeps me busy chasing and chastising her all day!

So good to hear the male is finally getting along well with you. I am sure your girl will come around with all the love and care she is now getting. You have to remember what they've been through, with the previous owner. And it has been my experience with all the birds I have known, the females seem more wary. She is going to be even less trusting because she got poorly treated. Once she realizes that is all in the past and not going to happen again, she will learn to trust you.

I was told that soft plastics can cause blockage if swallowed and not to let them have it (by one well-meaning bird "expert") yet another friend said that they are smart enough to know what to swallow and what to spit out. Part of me worries a little, but another part says it is common sense. Indigestible bits of shell and bone can cause problems, but they *have* to deal with these things in the wild. So I am with murfchck, so far, I have not seen problems, so they still get straws. They sure like destroying them. I am going to make new "bundles" this weekend, as well as some other Christmas presents. I will try to get the husband-photographer to do some nice pictures while we work.

Wow! Very nice. I am adding hanging stuff in the fids playroom as well. What is that at the top? I am having problems with Mar getting up to the ceiling from the hanging things.

And yet more proof that our cockatiel, Maks, is psycho. Absolutely minding my own business today in the playroom. I had Maks and Alex in the playroom when Daddy brought Mar and Meg in. Mar went up on the swing and was entertaining himself, and Meg was on Daddy. Alex flew over to give me some kisses when suddenly Maks swooped down from the play stand, landed next to him, proceeded to reach around Alex to BITE ME IN THE FACE. No warning, no provocation. I guess it was somehow in his little feathered mind MY fault the Greybies came in HIS playroom. I am glad he has a tiny beak. I just thank God he's a cockatiel and not a macaw!

I am pretty sure they are the same thing. I buy both and they taste identical.

Have you ever tried peas in a pod, like sugar snap peas? Mine love those I think just for the fun of stripping them from the pods. Also, another trick I use is the "kabob" skewers. We have the metal ones they sell at the bird store. Small bird ones have bells, the heavy duty for the greys are just the rod with a loop on one end and a screw end that screws into a loop with a quick link. I just shove it through the veggies and they think it is a game. Good luck. It's never easy to get them to eat things we want them to eat!

LOL! No doubt! I am not sure if he realizes it or not, but he really has become the master of this house!

I got some organic wild rice blend at the store the other day, and decided today to cook some up for birdy breakfast. I used the usual 2x water to 1x rice ratio. I did 1 c water to 1/2 c rice - but you can vary that to make for any quantity. I then added an extra 1/4 c of water to compensate for the dried spices. To the cooking rice I added crumbled Ceylon cinnamon sticks, star anise broken from star into individual 'pods', dried hot peppers (2), broken into smaller pieces and about a teaspoon of organic raw demerara sugar. I brought it to a boil then covered and simmered about 20 minutes. It was a huge hit. I tasted a little of the rice and it was spicy and very fragrant. Bonus - it made the kitchen smell heavenly. Tip: Wash hands after preparing and before rubbing eyes.... >.<

I got some the other day (pine nuts) that were $29.99 a lb. They were at a mostly-organic food store where everything was a bit pricey (where I got the beautiful organic pumpkin as well). But I got them home and my little darlings were not impressed. I tasted them and they aren't that fresh. Evidently the store outpriced the demand. So I guess I will be looking for human recipes using pine nuts. I realized after the fact that these nuts from this store were the ones that gave me "pine mouth" - I had an extremely bitter taste with everything I ate or drank for almost two weeks. I suspect "pine mouth" may have something to do with rancid pine oils, perhaps?

It is amazing how different their tastes can be. Mine will eat walnuts and pecans but aren't crazy about them but they will do anything for a cashew! That's our bed-bye treat (what they get for going in their cages). Roasted, though. They don't care as much for the raw ones which I bought for myself. Where are you at, Tudor? Maybe I could send you a little bag of pine nuts so you can try them. Ours love them, and especially the in-the-shell ones. I like those too, because it slows down their eating. Although I just read a new study on nuts that said nuts aren't as horrible as people once thought because the fats in nuts are good ones. I'd also prefer they munch the veggies, but as everyone knows, Greys tend to do what Greys want to do and that does not seem to be high on our Greybies' agendas.

The problem I have with peanuts is two-fold: First, peanuts are a major source of aflatoxins. Aflatoxin is a toxin produced by fungi of the Aspergillus family. Once produced, the toxin remains even though the contaminated product is heated, roasted or otherwise cooked. Aflatoxin is not only one of the most potent carcinogens known to man but also highly mutagenic. This means the effects can be passed on to offspring. Here is some good information on aflatoxin: http://www.icrisat.org/aflatoxin/aflatoxin.asp I am also very careful about other nuts. If it looks musty, grey or dirty, we don't eat it. Aspergillus is nearly ubiquitous so many things harbor aflatoxins, though peanuts seem to be a more common culprit. I suppose this is to be due to their underground nature, which is a naturally moist environment. But anything that looks even remotely musty or dusty does not pass our QC here. The second reason we avoid peanuts is that a protein that is the major allergen also functions as a trypsin inhibitor (interferes with protein breakdown) and this function, according to this NIH article, is enhanced by heating the peanuts - which also means roasted peanuts may be more likely to produce allergic reactions as well. This study is contrary to most of the information I have read as fact, as it was assumed heat caused a breakdown of the protein and as such a breakdown of its ability to inhibit protein breakdown. Here is a link to the abstract of the study: "http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12847498 Peanuts don't supply anything special that we can't get from other nuts so I have pretty much eliminated them from the birds diet, except in Nutriberries and we are phasing those out as well for other reasons. Of course, I must give a disclaimer here. I am an RN and an extremely over-protective mother so you can take my paranoia into account. I tend to do lots of research and err very extremely on the side of caution. So yes, I am a bit of a health nut when it comes to my babies. (Another disclaimer - I don't practice what I preach, lol, but my diet has improved since having birds *hides jelly donut wrapper*) .

Those are the dishes that come filled with a Birdy Breakfast every morning, which is one of his favorite things. He's never been bothered by them before. I put the linky rings on because those are one of his favorite toys. I tried covering it with the same paper I paper his cage with also. I am not sure what he's afraid of. He is getting a bit less skittish. I hope at some point he gives in and tries it out. But I am not going to hold my breath. In the meantime, Megan is taking FULL advantage of having her own personal food dishes that he doesn't bother, lol.

It is very common in the US to hear budgies referred to as parakeets. We have an adorable but meaner than snot little budgie that we call "Little Budgie" due to a constant changing of cere color. I know believe the color changes from blue to tawny to orange to blue are due to a seed mix. I took him off it at the suggestion of the vet, and the color turned back to blue. She looked really close at the cere at last visit and says she's pretty sure he is a he so I guess I need to finally give him a name. As much as I have worked with this bird, he still bites the daylights out of me every day. The Greybies don't seem to even notice him. I think it's because he's so small. He makes no move towards them. (The Green Cheeks are another story - he thinks he can take all FOUR of them on at once! And screeching all the way! As others have said, I think it depends on the birds. It adds a bit more time because at times we have to rotate shifts in the playroom, but I love all my babies, large and small and enjoy every one of them. I'd say go for it!

I believe (and maybe it is a nurse thing) that your animals can 'learn' your immunities with sub-pathogenic exposures. That is what a live vaccine is. An exposure to a virus that's too small to make you sick but enough to let your body learn how to fight it off it you ever do find yourself flooded with it. I would be willing to say Sophie has probably built a pretty amazing immune system by now. How do you give a flighted bird a mandatory shower? Mine fly away until I get tired of chasing them and the whole room is wet. Mar and Megan like a pie dish (or a giant-size dog dish or crock) on top of Mar's play top. Then they get in and water goes all over. When they do that, they will let me spray them. Or Mar will get on the play stand bowl and fling water and that is my sign to get the shower bottle. The little birds like to bathe only. They hate the bottle, so I just give them bath bowls. Alex is the only one who takes a shower every time it is offered. I call him "Water Bird". I am trying to figure out how to put a bird bath in the playroom without ruining the floor. It may have to wait until I can install waterproof floors.

I know the thread is a bit stale, but I would also like to point out that board-certified avian vets seem to be far more expensive that regular vets. Our vet for the furries charged about half what one avian (as well as other animal) vet charged. Our other avian specialist vet was even more expensive. Since we moved, I found a place that falls about in the middle of our two previous avian vets (and with EXCELLENT care). However, most all of them have Care Credit signs in their lobbies (all three I have been to do) and take all major credit cards. AMEX loves my birds, I am very sure. I just spent about $400 on the budgie through the course of a bacterial respiratory infection. Thank God no one else caught it. Mar and Meg are due for a yearly with blood work and I am not looking forward to that bill, but it's got to be done. Maks isn't due for a while because he had a bout of illness and had his pedigree read while he was sick, so he is ahead of everyone else. Alex and the four Green Cheeks will be due in summer. But I just keep telling myself, at least I don't have to pay for college or weddings!

And don't forget that the "gospel" about the temperatures at which Teflon (or any object containing PTFE or PFOA) off-gasses has been repeatedly proven wrong. There are way too many reports of birds dying from exposure to cookware heated to much lower temperatures. It's never worth a chance. We were actually told that we could "just always cook on low heat" and it would be fine. Bad advice. I did some research and the end result was ditching several hundred dollars worth of Calphalon. It wasn't worth the risk, in my opinion. We switch the the "Ceramica"-coated Green Gourmet line from Cuisinart (parent corp Conair), who were nice enough to email me assuring me it was safe for my birds. We have had no problems with it at all. And where we stayed for over a year the kitchen opened up into the living room, where the birds were. I can remember around Thanksgiving one year, I was cooking some cranberry sauce as well as studying for finals. Well, I got so wrapped up in studying that I forgot the sauce until I smelled smoke! (Proof that studying makes you go brain-dead!) The sauce was a carbonized mess in the bottom of the pan. And the only thought going through my mind was "Thank you, God, that this didn't happen in one of my old Calphalon pans!" Surprisingly, it came completely clean. Which surprised me. We have had the pans for over two years now, and I love them. We were at Wal-mart today, and noticed that everybody including Mainstays (Wal-mart house brand) is jumping on the "No PTFE, No PFOA" ceramic cookware bandwagon. Which is better for all of us. Who knows what kind of vile things we've been getting in our non-stick cookware made food over all these years?

Is there a reason why? I use the juice from the plant on burns and cuts. I assume it is the same juice, and if it is from virgin growth, I am completely sure there are no pesticides or other chemicals on it. I would think it would be better to grow your own rather than to take chances on what might be in a mass produced product.

I don't usually do grand, and eye-catching. We thrive on simple things like paper lunch sacks full of paper-wrapped goodies, plastic straws, and paper cups. Though I am kind of on the fence with straws, but a friend said "They are smart birds, they know to spit it out instead of swallow it". I am just taking a quick break for right now, but will come back later with a post on the straw bundles and how I solved the "popping the zip tie" issue! I love home-made toys because they RECYCLE! REPURPOSE! REUSE! Yay!

My husband moved it, but he but it back basically where it was. And the stands roll and I am moving them all around the room as I clean. This one just came in last weekend, though, so it had only been in there a few days when the "addition" happened. He was totally cool with the stand no matter where it sat before that. I can understand a bird being freaked out by shadows. It's movement and it is a portent of something to happen. A hawk shadow, for example, alerts to danger long before the hawk is in range to strike. I know they all got understandably freaked when a hawk circled over the aviary. Who knows what they see (or imagine they see) in the shadows?

The only problem was the installation took noisy power tools, so we figured that would upset them. I never once thought he'd be scared of the shelf. You're right, weather, moon, whims... you can never predict these creatures!

We switched to artificial after a real tree killed a vaccuum cleaner. I love the pine smell, but didn't like sweeping up the needles. We tried everything - special additive in the water, we made sure to give it a fresh cut before putting it in the water, the stand held over 2 gallons and was never let dry out, but still it dropped needles like the Greybies drop a bowl full of fresh filled seed mix! And yes, I am sure they play mind games. Definitely!

I fell in love with the stand at first sight. I texted my husband a picture from the store that said "WANT!" lol SOOO many levels for climbing, so many eye hooks for hanging toys! I sincerely hope he comes around. It's been almost a week and he's not panicked any more but he does lean to the other side when we go near. But he has been watching Megan cavort on it. I even put a paper plate with a dab of WHIPPED CREAM (he loves this so I give him little bits now and then). I knew it was bad when he wouldn't go for the whipped cream. All the favorite treats and he still won't go near it. Megan thinks she is in treat-heaven, though! She is probably secretly telling him bad things about the stand so she can continue to have the dishes to herself. Oddly, the little birds all LOVE it. Not one of them were afraid.

Mar likes to sort the "mail" (junk mail). And by sort, I mean shred. Or throw. or both. I guess it is a form of recycling. Our Sun Conure Alex was from a chain pet store. He did not fly. He was evidently clipped before he ever flew. I honestly don't think he realized he was a bird. He walked everywhere. He had no tail because when he'd fall he didn't know how to flap, so he'd just PLOP! He broke every one of his tail feathers. I had to teach him to fly by swinging him towards me to teach him to flap, then gently tossing him forward onto the couch. It took a LONG time to get him to fly. And once we did, he couldn't land properly. He would recall, but I had to hold a stick up over my head between two fists like it was a perch. He'd fly past and hook it with his beak, hang there, swing down, then reach up with both feet and kind of do a 'chin up' to pull himself up on his feet. It was cute but sad. I'd like to slap whoever clipped him at the breeder/broker. But he flies like a jet now. I agree that practice will bringing Tyson around. Flying is excellent exercise and I truly believe flighted birds are far healthier.

So... this past weekend, I finished moving all the birds into what was supposed to have been my office and made what was their room into their playroom. I was concerned it was getting too cold at night as it is a sunroom with windows lining two walls. As a playroom, they are in it during daytime hours, and it's warm then. Part of clearing the cages out of the room left me with plenty of room to bring the MONSTER stand in. This stand was supposed to be a display stand for the pet store where we bought it, and as such the builder did not include the screws to mount bowls. After the Great Pumpkin event, I decided that having a stable flat surface on the stand might be a good thing. So to solve both problems, we took this wire "thing" that the person selling one of the cages we bought from Craigslist kind of threw in with the deal. She claimed she sat it on top and sat toys on it. I thought it was strange but tossed it in a tote with other bird toy parts anyway, and there it stayed until now. I showed this to the husband, who is an engineer by trade, and he immediately found a way to make it work. (See picture) So I take the Greybies in to show them the new addition of food bowls to the stand, and before we were even close to it, Mar just absolutely FREAKS out. I am talking panicked, flying around the room, screaming like a banshee freaked out. He refused to come to me and flew so many laps around the room that he crash landed on the door. (He was okay, thankfully!) Over THIS: I am not sure what it is that he doesn't like. He still avoids that stand and it has been since the weekend. Gah! Megan (shown in the picture perched on the "thing") was also scared but once she saw me filling the bowl with pistachios, she overcame her fear to indulge herself, especially since there was NO competition for them! Megan's weakness is food. She will do anything for a treat. But on the OTHER hand - I figured he'd go crazy over the Christmas tree? He came in and wanted to shoulder ride while I put it up. It's one of those glorified toilet brushes that has three sections that fit together and all the rows of branches open out like upside down umbrellas. I told him "Okay, but you're not going to like this." I fully expected him to let out a shriek and head upstairs. He did not. He quietly and patiently watched the whole process from the vantage point of my shoulder. He did fly up to the top once I got it finished, and we had the "not yours!" discussion and no problems after that. So he's not scared of a giant, seven foot tall glowing green toilet brush, but he's scared of a tiny wire shelf. Go figure!