birdhouse

Welcome, Paige. Very glad to hear you rescued Chipper! I hope this is the beginning of a very long happy relationship for all of you. Five weeks is still in the adjustment stage for a grey of that age. Especially if he's only belonged to the one home for that whole time. It doesn't sound like he's been treated too badly, because you haven't said anything about aggressive or scared behaviors. So, maybe you've just got to give Chipper a little more time to settle in. Then, he may start displaying a larger human vocabulary. In the meantime, grey sound effects are pretty entertaining, too. :cool: It's also a good sign because it means he's actively aware of his new home, but isn't trying to go unnoticed. Chipper's saying "Shut up!" may stop entirely. After a while, Greys tend to stop using words they don't hear & don't get any response to. Hope you find a lot of helpful info posted here. And if you have questions, stories or pictures, please post away!!

All kinds of things that you don't necessarily want to know. It's supposed to be bird safe after it cures, but they all have some amount of zinc, among other things. Also, it's a myth that stainless steel is rustproof & parrot cages aren't made from that high a quality stainless, anyway. And part of what makes stainless steel resist rusting is surface treatment. They do tend to rust a lot more slowly than normal wrought iron cages & many of them tend to be more heavy duty, in general. Sadly, this isn't a problem that's limited to macaws. My Quaker drives me nuts chewing on the bars of her cage. I think she likes the sound & it somehow mega satisfies her need to chew. The only thing that works for her is to put a new, intimidating toy in the area she's currently intent on chewing. Eventually, she works up the nerve to approach the toy & forgets the bars for a while. It would be really great if someone has a better solution.

I just read about an escapee who was supposed to have traveled 30 miles in 2 days: http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090828121124AAdayxK In general & I'm only guessing, I would think "they" could go quite far. Migratory birds travel many hundreds of miles every year. There's also been a lot of severe weather around. I'd guess an escapee could get blown pretty far off course, assuming they had the strength to survive. Interesting question, Penny. What type of bird & what made you ask?

Happy belated birthday, Penny! Hope you got good presents & lots of cake

I don't think it's a problem unless the Grey objects or if there are signs of over preening. "The horny sheaths of the upper and lower beak can be called the maxillary rhamphotheca (or rhinotheca) and mandibular rhamphotheca (or gnathotheca). If you tip the head back, you will see a fleshy area under the lower mandible, and this is called the interramal region or interramal space. The tongue and related structures are nestled in this region. Sometimes, the first time an owner sees this region, they panic and think a piece is missing out of the beak. But, be assured, this space is normal." http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/anatomy.html

This works fine for my fids. Kura (ekkie)is in & out of it & is just looking for food & a familiar perch to nap. When she is actually caged, she's busy watching everything. Phenix (TAG) isn't a good traveler. He's looking for a safe place & smaller is more comfortable, anyway. I guess it really depends on the bird & the strength of his bearer(s)

I was actually given the "small" King's carrier that you've linked. It gets a fair amount of use, doubling as a deck cage. For the most part, I like it a lot. PRO's Surprisingly large but can still be seat belted into the front seat of the car. Even the ekkie seems to be comfortable traveling in it. Small enough bar spacing to accommodate different sized birds safely, but big enough to put parrot sized perches & toys in. The living space sets up well. The cups are nice size & no-flip. I have a Booda Comfy Perch Cross in it so they have a good amount of secure perching. Room for a small toy or 2 as well. Comes apart which makes it easier to clean. The magnetized latch & large door are convenient. Really very nice looking (mine is red & silver). It seems very solid but it's pretty light weight, considering. The thing I probably like most about this cage is that I really feel like the bird is safe while we're outside. CON's Big & heavy enough to be a little awkward to move around in tight spaces. 18 lbs + isn't all that light to carry for any period of time. Comes apart; doesn't fold down. There's a lot of good sized pieces to store. OMHO, especially given the price, the storage thingy should be included. I usually leave mine assembled in the warm weather because it's just not worth the effort to do otherwise. Some pieces have sort of sharp corners to watch for, particularly when assembling. None of them seem to be exposed once it's together, though. Simple, but not all that easy to assemble. The clips on mine don't sit together easily. I'm afraid they may eventually get twisted. I wouldn't want to have to assemble it in an emergency. Magnetized latch is nice, but it means there's iron in it somewhere, which means potential rusting. Cup doors on mine don't open or close well. I don't know if this will get better or worse with age. It's decent quality, but for the price I really feel it should be better. So, as a gift, I think it's a pretty good cage, overall. I would get another one. I would recommend it. But I think they're overpriced because of the look & the King's brand. I would wait to find a pretty good sale or a listing on Craigslist. ...hope this helps

Dee, I just read all of this. It really makes me happy to hear how much joy Gilbert has brought you!

Those pics are just so sweet.

Kura & Phenix both do this when they're thinking about taking off. Kura will also do it when she wants me to pick her up & take her with me.

That really does look like something my guys would like, too. :cool: Thanks for the pics!

Don't know anything at all about them, but I saw some cages offered by Elite Cages on Ebay (the one that was egg shaped made me stop & look LOL). I think they're Canadian based from what I read, so I thought I'd pass it along. http://cgi.ebay.com/Bird-Cage-Parrot-Macaw-Pionu-Large-Play-top-A28-CO-/280644818968?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&var=&hash=item870c474cbc

I read Delma's post for votes to feed the parrots ( :cool: Delma!!!) http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?192388-Help-feed-parrots!!!! So, of course, I went to vote. While I was there, I looked at the whole program. I'd just finished reading a FOX news piece about the lost & homeless animals in the aftermath of the nightmare in Japan. I'd seen the picture of the 2 dogs that were referenced in it & had to wonder how much support they'd get in the face of everything. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/03/19/rescue-operations-japan-target-countrys-furry-friends/ So, when I saw the Pepsi grant contest, I thought I would see about submitting a request for a grant for Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support (JEARS). Pepsi has already awarded a $25,000 grant to SAINTS which was the 2nd most voted in its cycle ( http://www.refresheverything.ca/saints ) The grant Delma posted on is currently the 5th most voted in its cycle. It seemed like JEARS might get some seriously needed consideration if it were to be submitted for the next & apparently last cycle. http://www.refresheverything.ca/official-application-guidelines Unfortunately, when I looked into the process, the requests can only be submitted by Canadian residents. Not willing to let a little thing like my inconvenient status as a US resident stand in the way of such a good cause, I thought I'd come back to the source of my inspiration. I'm hoping to see if any Canadian members would be willing to give this a go. I'd also be happy to volunteer to help with any part of the process if someone would be willing to be the Canadian submitting the request. Can we maybe help the animals who have lived through an unimaginable series of natural & man-made disasters find their way home?

I thought it was hysterical when the Grey high five'd after he scored about 30 seconds in. Aside from the fact that it was just plain fun to watch, I thought it was pretty impressive that all those beautiful birds were so well socialized. I can't even imagine trying to teach Phenix or Kura to play basketball, let alone with each other.

So there I was yesterday in a new grocery store with the most beautiful produce dept. I've ever seen. Couldn't help it. Had to buy all kinds of things. And look, there's a pile of sugar canes!! Cocoa loves that stuff! I've seen the vid's to prove it. I've really got to get some for my guys to try!! This morning, instead of all the yummy fresh veggies I hauled home, I just couldn't wait to give everyone a piece of sugar cane & watch them go to town. YEAH? ...NOT SO MUCH!! Charm & Kura just walked away without a second glance. Phenix flung his first. I will try again but it's a good thing a 2 ft cane only cost $.48 because they certainly took all the fun out of it. Sangay, how long is cane good for & does it need to be refrigerated or anything?

That 117 days was just practice for all patience you'll need later. LOL It may help to remember that no matter what you'll have to work thru with Shelby, it will always feel this worth while in the end. Congratulations!!!

As far as I know, these are the only beans with issues Beans: Broad, Castor, Glory, Fava, Horse, Mescal, Navy, Pregator, Scarlet Runner) - Large Beans: such as Anasazi, Black, Fava, Kidney, Lima, Navy, Pinto, and Soy - should never be fed raw. However, thoroughly cooked are safe and healthy. http://www.avianweb.com/toxicfoods.html Although some people disagree with some of these, too. I've always fed green beans raw & put them into my frozen mixes. In fact, we just had some this morning. Phenix loves to wave them around before he eats them. That's his way of saying he thinks they're extra good stuff!!

This takes the game to a whole other level ! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did

LOL Too right Mom.!! How long does it take to learn to say pomegranate when you don't have any lips?

PVC is used in water pipes, toys, packaging & medical applications. Many organizations including Greenpeace would like to see it end up on the same list as DDT & for some of the same reasons. The biggest similarity being organochlorines. According to Wikipedia "Some types of organochlorides have significant toxicity to plants or animals, including humans. Dioxins, produced when organic matter is burned in the presence of chlorine, and some insecticides such as DDT are persistent organic pollutants which pose dangers when they are released into the environment. For example, DDT, which was widely used to control insects in the mid 20th century, also accumulates in aquatic food chains. Because the body is not able to break down or dispose of it, and it interferes with calcium metabolism in birds, there were severe declines in some bird predator populations. When chlorinated solvents, such as carbon tetrachloride, are not disposed of properly, they accumulate in groundwater. Some highly reactive organochlorides such as phosgene have even been used as chemical warfare agents. However, the presence of chlorine in an organic compound does not ensure toxicity. Many organochlorides are safe enough for consumption in foods and medicines." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organochlorines I can't quote the source because I couldn't find it again. But I seem to remember reading somewhere that depending on the application, something like 60% of a PVC product may be additives which are either mixed in to change the physical properties as needed or surface coating. Some of the chemicals found in PVC are * Arsenic * Bromine * Calcium * Chlorine * Copper * Iron * Lead * Manganese * Silver * Strontium * Tin * Titanium * Zinc That list is from http://toxipedia.org/display/toxipedia/PVC The article is worth reading for a few reasons. Maybe not fun exactly, but relatively short & not as hard to understand as some of these things can be.

The more you post, the more I really wonder what Marcus would do if he got some model training like Alex got. He seems like he'd be amazing at learning things & maybe really enjoy the challenge & interaction.

Ray & Dan... Really, really insightful!!

Phenix was sick for the first years, so it made changing his diet even worse. Originally, I got him individual seed & gave him one type for each meal. I don't even know where to buy just hemp, rape, canary etc seed anymore. We totally skipped pellets once we finally start transitioning to anything else. He wouldn't even bother flinging them. He just didn't recognize them as food, at all. Now, he's one of the best eaters going. He will happily try everything I hand him.

I agree with the others. Stay & get the second hand experience with us. Then, you'll be all the more prepared when it's your turn. I'm sorry it didn't happen this time. But it sounds like it's just a matter of time.

Phenix ate peanuts & sunflower seeds before he came home. It was extremely difficult to get him off them. He would actually get angry if his food got his face dirty. Trial & error & a lot of time went into finding a solution for him. The first things that worked were peas cooked or raw, eventually in the pod corn cooked or raw, eventually on the cob green or wax beans raw, a couple of inches long so they were easy to handle raw celery stalks with wet leaves, woven into the bars diced very green bananas peppers, diced or cut into small sticks with the seeds carrots snapped off the bird sized end raisins diced apple with skin I'd put a little of one or two things in his cup in the morning without any other food in the cage. I'd sprinkle it with sesame, hot or fresh pepper seeds. He'd eat the seeds & pitch the rest like it was poisonous. About a half hour later, I'd clean up & put out some more veggies but no seeds. Once he got hungry, he'd usually go back & give it another try. If he didn't eat anything, I'd give him a dish of "real" food about an hour or so later. Cherries were the first thing he thought were worth getting his face dirty. Then grapes. Also he liked drinking out of my cup, so I could get him to try fruit & veggie juice that way.