birdhouse

Clean water is important for both drinking & washing. If you have reason to suspect that your available drinking water is tainted w/something that's unhealthy for humans, then don't use if for your fid, either. Cups should be kept as clean as possible so they don't incubate their own problems. Whether or not your fid tends to make a mess w/food & droppings in the dishes, they should be thoroughly washed, preferably w/an antibacterial dish soap & thoroughly rinsed at least once a day. Water should be replaced as needed by busy, soup makers. lol I would argue strongly that stainless steel cups are the best food & water dishes. Stainless steel is used for surgical instruments & implantation because it can be most completely & easily sanitized & not known to leach harmful chemicals. You can easily see that the surface is clear of any residual soap or food or film caused over time by chemical build up. Plastic is much harder to sanitized & tends to absorb odors & chemicals. The surface becomes scored & scratched quickly. This ultimately becomes a great breeding surface for germs. It also makes it more difficult to rinse thoroughly clean. Water bottles (like this http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752722 ) have the added problems of hard to reach surfaces & prohibit the fid from bathing on their own, even if they wanted to. Plastic is also being researched for the detrimental long term effects caused by some of its chemical composition. Food is obviously important as well. But there are so many different opinions about what's best. Everyone is also limited by what they have available to them. This sounds like a good time to re-evaluate your fid's overall diet, though. Maybe check out some additions like Red Palm oil or Palm nuts, too. Palm nuts are good nutritionally. They're a large part of a grey's diet in the wild. They're also good fun to eat. Boredom can be as big an issue as anything. Your fid sounds like she's getting time out of the cage which is very good. But if she's just sitting in a different spot for some part of the day it's less helpful than it may be. Although don't get me wrong. The interaction & exercise are all good! But it would be a good thing if you taught her to play. I am very fond of many of the suggestions in these e-books. I recommend them all the time. You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to download them. Everything's free, but of course you can make a contribution if you want. http://parrotenrichment.com/books.html I'm pretty creative & I've kept birds for decades. I've been making toys forever because my guys weren't very interested in much of the commercial stuff. I still found some very interesting ideas here. There's a ton of ideas about making toys from pretty common household items. There's lots of intelligent suggestions about teaching fids to forage & play, too.

How did it go w/Barnaby's vet appointment?

^^^ HeHeHeHe!!

And Phenix laughs exactly like me. But it's almost the only thing left. He learned to talk here & he talked like me. But somewhere along the line he stopped & I never realized it. The only time he sounds like me now is when he's ordering the dogs around. They don't pay any attention when he uses his own voice which ticks him off to no end!! But I can't tell you how long it took before his voice changed. lol It was quite a while, though.

Those are very nice pics! I don't know how right it is, but I've read that some babies can get the red feathers from something they're fed. Then they go back to normal after the first molt. Is that the case w/Ellie, or did you expect her to have the red factor gene?

Yes, it definitely sounds like she read your body language & knew you were up to something. You still won the day & outsmarted her anyway. If you can keep finding her something fun to trade for the nightly bedtime game, maybe you've figured out how to win the war. Sounds promising, fingers crossed.

Aww, very cute. I have gotten all of my fids that type of toy w/the traveling bead(s) because it seems like it would be exactly the right type of fun. None of them have ever bothered w/them & I have no idea why. :confused: But hopefully Judy's right & Ellie will do better w/hers once she warms up to it.

Thanks for posting that pic of your little cutie. It's just the right size for a money shot. lol Love the name Archimedes. I've always wanted to name someone that, but so far it hasn't fit anyone. But now I guess I'll get to watch yours grow up & that will do just fine.

I'm sure she understands. Good luck. I know I'm lucky to have found something that works w/this particular cast of characters. But I know how frustrating (not to mention painful) it is to have an ongoing battle over anything but especially when you're tired. If you have a scheduled bedtime, maybe you could try putting Nilah in early while you work thru this. Aside from recognizing the routine, they just tell time. If I'm in the kitchen for any reason, Phenix makes spoon tapping noises from about 4 until whenever his food arrives. Just in case I need reminding that it's about supper time. lol I just realized too that a number of people say they put their fids in the cage & turn out the lights. I've always put them up for the night w/something to eat. Given them the time to eat it & let them call "good night" back & forth w/me while I do the rest of the bedtime things around the house. 15-20 minutes later I'll actually turn out their light for the night. Maybe the extra step helps, if you thought it was worth a try.

Just a little concerned about Roscoe not having ever been inside the travel cage. You don't need to spend a long trip dealing w/the traffic & Roscoe if he suddenly reacts to being trapped inside the cage. Things will also probably go more smoothly once you arrive if Roscoe's as relaxed as possible. You might tie something irresistible inside the traveler. Make him have to actually go inside to get it. Once he's okay being closed in, maybe take him for a test drive.

Yep & that earns you a huge gold star. You just learned something that so many parronts never, ever get, even a little bit. I have no doubt you 2 are going to be just fine!

Ray, have to disagree w/you about bribery, but love your idea about hiding surprises for the fids. Think it would be great anytime, just to encourage foraging & keep things fun, too. I've always been somewhere in the middle about how to react to being bitten. Frankly, it just feels better to say something rather than try to smile & pretend. There's no lying to them, anyway. Some of them (Phenix) will continue to push for as long as it amuses them & that's just too many bandages later in my book. So I wouldn't say I don't react. Just don't overreact. Don't take it personally, make it amusing, scary or a battle. I also really try to ask my fids to do things. That means sometimes I have to take no for an answer. Nothing says I can't ask again 30 seconds later. It's just what works for me. I really, really try to avoid telling them to do most things on the spot w/o good reason. Most of the time this approach works the first time. Except on the occasional bad day, during thunderstorms, or mating season or... lol I'm talking a more than reasonable majority of the time, here. But bedtime is pretty nearly perfect w/this group. When I take out the container w/the treats, everyone evaporates into their cages. I make it a point to tell everyone how wonderful they are as I dole out their munchies & say our good nights. I like that very much when I'm in a hurry But I'd rather spend a bit of quality time w/each of them first. So I gather them up in some random order & give each a little face time on their way to their cages (not in). Then get the magic container. Then say good nights. I truly do believe it's good to communicate & explain things to the fids. I also believe it's my prerogative to cheat a little sometimes.

Not quite how you planned it, is it? Might help if you can think of the plan as chalk on the sidewalk. Or comic relief. Which ever. It happens when it happens. And it really is happening, even when you can't see it. You don't know it yet, but one of the best things about this time is that you aren't going to just expect Gracie to love you unconditionally like some parronts make the mistake of doing. Gracie's not easy. She won't let you take her for granted. Speaking for myself, I think that's an even bigger gift, anyway. Not like any relationship w/these creatures isn't something special. But you two have the potential to be extra special. You're doing greyt. Gracie's doing greyt. Don't worry! It really is fun to be a parront.

I think the temperature increase may be a hangover from the old days. We didn't understand as much about birds & weren't as prepared to transition them into their new home comfortably. Increasing the temp may have been in case of shock. You really should quarantine for the same reasons that you should have a vet visit as soon as the fid comes home. There are problems that can't be found w/o an exam. You'd obviously want to address them immediately & wouldn't want any other fid affected in the meantime. You might make your new baby more comfortable by covering some of the cage. It will offer a more sheltered place. It also limits the bird's having to react to everything that might be new & scary because they have a limited field of vision. But some birds don't like cage covers &/or it may just be one more new thing to adjust to if they haven't been in a covered cage previously. So it's good to try, but just see how well it's received & adjust accordingly. Which is pretty much the same advice for putting the bird directly into the cage. A new cage is as alien as the fid's new home. If the fid is more comfortable w/you than the cage, then be sure to ease them in. Don't push... anything, really. It's almost time, then Can't wait to see your next post

That just makes me smile. Happy Hatchday AnnaBella!!

Happy Belated Hatchday Rikki!! And don't worry Penny. Everyday's a party when you're a well loved fid. It may have been a little late in coming. But it looked like Rikki thought that getting her way w/that bowl was worth the wait.

Hi Alan. Welcome to you & your flock. Sounds like you & the fids have been pretty happy together for a while. But there's a ton of ideas on the forum to help keep things interesting. Seems like we're always talking about bird food, for instance. Plenty of interesting stuff of all kinds to be found here. And by all means, please feel free to share any questions, stories or pictures often.

This is another place to remember that our fids know what we're thinking. So try to focus on every positive thing when you have no reason to actually believe something's wrong. You don't know how old Barnaby is or what his life was like before this. Certainly doesn't seem likely it was anything good. Barnaby's been thru so much in the short time since he's come home, too. You obviously have to watch for symptoms & are going to fear the worst sometimes. But maybe you should interpret his quiet times for peace & contentment. He may well just be resting, recovering & settling in ...happily.

Priceless! Such happy, happy bird. Thanks for posting this.

There's absolutely no harm that can come from using vinegar unless you sprayed it in anyone's face. It rinses off extremely easily & it's actually good to eat anyway. There may be an effective concentration. Jay was a huge vinegar fan. You may be able to research his posts & find something. I don't bother to dilute it to clean. I spray it on a damp cloth for wiping over the cage. Big fan of microfiber cloths btw. I also spray it directly on poop, etc & let it set for a minute, then wipe w/a wet cloth. The only possible concern is the powder coat on the cage. Any exposure to UV, water & chemicals promotes aging that will eventually lead to damage & peeling. But the cage needs to be sanitized at some point & somethings like poop, obviously, don't just dry wipe off. Vinegar is one of the least harmful alternatives as long as you rinse & leave everything reasonably dry.

Thank you for the warning. I just can't watch this type of thing. As much as anything because Phenix likely survived something similar. I love him too much & in my mind, I always put him in the picture. It literally gives me nightmares, sometimes.

I'm sorry I missed this yesterday, Ray. Happy Birthday and many more!

Sounds like Gracie's going to have you trained up in no time. lol I really think you're going to be a super parront, Jeff & Gracie's a lucky little girl.

Look how far he's come!! So much progress in so short a time ...in spite of how long it seemed while you were actually getting here. All the positive interaction w/so many people. Love that Gilbert decided to charm the hotel staff! Greyt to hear that he's getting so comfortable w/the rest of the family. Gilbert's progress is even more impressive because he's not just making these huge strides w/a favorite who he's managed to create a bond with. Way to go Gilbert!! This really is such a perfect year end story for Grey Forums. :cool:

Did you give her new cups or her food? Have you tried dumping everything, cleaning & refilling it? But really, it sounds from what you've posted like something may be making her nervous enough that she's not eating while she's in the cage. She's more comfortable whenever she's w/you, so she's getting what she can from your hand. So I'd try taking her out & letting her eat until she's full. Clean the cups & refill them w/anything that you know she'll tuck into, even if it isn't the healthy stuff. If that works, great. If not, then you'll need to find out what's causing the problem, obviously. Remove any new toys, perches or anything you've recently put near her cage or where she can see it. If she's ok about cage cleaning, I'd clean her cage (are you using anything new for a cage liner?) while she watches. Meanwhile, try not to act like you're all that concerned. Our birds pick up our emotions, so your anxiety will feed hers. The more normal you can act, the easier it will be for your fid to work thru this. Hopefully, something's just rattled her cage & you'll probably be able to work it out w/a little TLC & some detective work.