birdhouse

Super huge good on you for this rescue !!!!!!!!!!!! Hope some of this might help transition this poor baby. Mine is very funny about fruits & veggies. Fresh grass & seed heads are a compromise, if you can find untreated ones. Charm changes her mind a lot, too. When it seems like she's more interested in playing with them than eating them, I incorporate them as part of her toys. She enjoys wrestling with anything oversized. She loves to get things out of "treasure" boxes & is very fond of anything she can swing around, bash & destroy. You might also try replacing her water with juice for a couple of hours at a time & offer fruits & veggies that have obvious seeds. Also, she tends to want what everyone else has. She will usually have at least some interest in whatever the other birds are chowing. So, that might help once Sport's out of quarantine. My first rule for bird rescues is don't want too much too soon & add to the problems. Concentrate on what's life threatening first. Second I go for the most achievable goals. Every success improves the bond between you. Quakers are very territorial & cage aggressive. Coming from such a bad place has probably made Sport even more so. They can display very bad tempers. They bite hard & don't let go easily (I have the scars to prove it From my own experiences, I'd suggest that you give him that space, for now. Maybe take him out before you clean his cage or dishes, or work with him. Once he's out of quarantine & moved to his new territory, you might change cages or wash & rearrange everything & move onto cage issues. Hopefully, you'll have earned some trust by then. For the most part, Charm is the busiest, happiest bird in my flock. I think the only sad thing is that she'll never understand that they squeezed a full sized parrot into such a small body. When in doubt, I've learned to always treat her like the big birds. The size of her cage, her toys and her food seems like they'd be too big for such a small bird. But that's how Charm likes it. Good luck with Sport.

I have this one & a larger model & I really like them. I'm using this cage for my Quaker, who is a really busy bird & requires lots of space & things to play with. I really didn't feel like it would be comfortable for my Timneh. He has the model where the living space is 36" L x 22" D x 45" H. They make this style in a few different sizes. I tried to find a website for you, but couldn't find my model. I personally like this style. I like the bar spacing. I think the all horizontal bars are super for arranging perches, etc., better for climbing & for cleaning at the bottom. Everything wipes off these cages really,really well. Mine are consistent bar spacing, very decent quality, sturdy, but lighter weight than the cages I had before. They're also easy to move around. I won a couple of Ebay actions, last year. They were brand new & the smaller one cost $115 & the larger $165, delivered. After 8 months, I would have been happy with my cages at twice the price. I think my fids are happy, too.

I was once told that eclectus are floppers. I think you're right about the wingspan & they're so solid compared to a lot of birds. I think you're also right to be biased. He's drop-dead gorgeous.

Sorry I haven't had a chance to write. Summer in New England is too short to miss the wonderful weather we've been having. We've all been out enjoying the sunshine. Kura took about seven minutes to freak out a little about how big the world was & what was that wind about. http://www.greyforums.net/components/com_joomlaboard/emoticons/shocked.png :ohmy: Then, I blinked & just knew she was thinking about climbing the 60 foot oak trees. Hated to tell her she wasn't coming out of her cage to play while it was on the deck. Thanks, Talon, but I don't feel busy. They're all just the good part of my day, usually. Sadly, we are camera-shy. I don't know why. I see all these beautiful pictures & want to share. But everyone bats off the cages when I try. I'd like some for me, too. Thanks, Judygram, but I feel like that's giving me too much credit. Though I certainly love them I seem to have "that gene". People get a little confused when their guard dogs sit up & beg the first time they meet me. But that comes in really handy since I have always been compelled to take on seriously sad cases. I don't think I have much new to say in writing Phenix's story. I wish I couldn't say that I've seen too much of it written before by others. Clairbear, I don't remember if I sent you a message or not. I meant to. Thanks & I had been on the Vos site before I was an owner. I have always been a huge eclectus fan. Don't know why I didn't think of them when I joined the club. So many years being a grey owner. I think I headed for what was familiar when I hit uncharted waters. This is the one bird site I've visited most regularly, for all the obvious reasons. Kura does something to make me unbelievably happy pretty much daily now. She has come so very far, so fast compared to Phenix. I was a little afraid to take on another hard-case, but she truly is a treasure which is what "Kura" means. She is, however, becoming quite her own girl. She will no doubt become as independent as Cash now that she knows she's safe to be herself. Cocom, funny you should say that. Kura seems to have the opposite affect on my house. Though she's the biggest & the newest everyone has responded wonderfully well to her... even Phenix... at least so far. I have to go really, really slowly about that, so we haven't done too much, yet. I really thought that had everything to do with her thoughtful, un-threatening way. Very, very interesting. And I love her "stillness". She settles into tranquil mode after she does her exercises during the day. Now that she's strong enough & coordinated enough & at liberty to play she has manic play times. Then, she happily settles down to watch the world or take a nap or talk to herself. She's got a vocabulary, now, but it's just word-sounds. She has no idea what she's saying, yet. She still communicates bird talk or body language. Today, she chased me down the edge of the cage when I walked by with a bowl of ice cream. She wasn't happy when I wouldn't share because it was chocolate. It's okay that she doesn't know english. I get the important stuff. Something I would like to ask everyone about is the "manic dance of joy"?? She goes one foot to the other, side to side, in and out, up and down. I thought she was freaked out the first time. I've come to realize that she is just so darned happy that she's well, manic. Any other bird who behaved like this would be posturing or threatened. Do anyone else's birds do this?? Or do they have some kind of 'I'm so happy I could... uhmm, dance' habit? http://www.greyforums.net/components/com_joomlaboard/emoticons/silly.png :silly: Thank you all for the advise & encouragement. I will be looking to all available resources as Kura develops, so the more the better! And I will check out the eclectus forum as soon as possible. I like that it's an Australian forum. I'd like to know how the people who can watch them out the window see them. That must really be something!

I recently read an article that said that aloe vera is great for all sorts of bird remedies EXCEPT THE POISONOUS PART. You will find that it's listed as a poisonous plant on some sites. I wish I could remember where I read this. But, this article said that it is the bitters of the aloe that are poisonous. The plant needs to be processed without the grey slimey part under the outer flesh, which is poisonous to birds. The article said the rest of the plant can be very beneficial.

I have, several birds. In order of appearance (in my flock): Sundance - 26+ (really!!) male teil, Phenix - 30'ish TAG, Charm - 1-1/2 Quacker & Kura - 1-2 female Eclectus. The old guys go back 20 or so years with me. The Quaker was a couple of months when she came home & my brand new Ekkie. I have some experience with birds. I bred the teils by accident. I had a hen who was going to kill herself if I didn't get her to stop laying eggs and that was the only way. Phenix was a train wreck when rescued. There have been all sorts of birds around all my life. But, nobody thinks quite like my new baby!! Hence, this post. I got her from the pet shop that she'd lived in all her life. They were new owners who didn't know what they were doing, to be kind. She was cowering in the corner when I first saw her. She saw him & started to tremble. She saw him with the stick & started to quake. He said she wasn't friendly and "needed work". I couldn't bear to see this. Short version is, it was love at first sight, on my part. I couldn't help but spend some time with her. In that short time it turned out that I got farther with her than anyone else had. To be fair, the rest of the birds weren't seemingly badly off inspite of the new owners. And the wife struck me as decent. She made me an amazing offer on the bird. They and the previous owner hadn't been able to sell her with her attitude & she quickly assessed an opportunity to make everyone happy. Kura & I are very happy. It took me about 2 hours to have her pretty settled in the crook of my arm & scratching under her wings! She still has issues with coming out of her cage, but is very happy once we get past that... unless, I try to give her a bath!! She is getting around her cage so much better! She has discovered the tremendous joy of fresh food. She never cowers & hasn't done more than nip a couple of times since the first day. Yesterday, she said "Hello" to me!! However... I have come to realize that she has a very different mind-set from any other bird I've known. Some of that is from her past. But, I think a lot is about what goes on inside of an Eclectus' mind. I would appreciate any info from anyone who has adopted a youngster who had a long stay in a pet store. I would really appreciate any Eclectus owner who would share any wisdom with me about living with these wonderful birds. Thank, you so much. Val