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Sometimes you might need to answer first if someone has a question that may need immediate attention. It seems there is less time I am able to be on this computer and everyone has distractions or work so we just each contribute as we are able. Don't let anyone get you down.2 points
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Keep this post going...There are more than 12 subjects that new posts could be made... THIS is Luvparrots Post.... Posted January 22, 2013 (edited) Some things you need to know (just the tip of the iceberg): 1. Parrots are not domesticated. Domestic animals have been bred for hundreds of years to live in the care of humans and as such are distinct from their wild ancestors. Parrots normally have long lifespans which can range from 20 to 50 years or more. Being owned by a parrot can be a life-long responsibility. 2. Parrots, particularly cockatoos and African greys continually shed feather dust or dander which may aggravate asthma or other breathing problems in some people. Many homes with pet parrots have hepa-type air filters installed to control allergies or respiratory problems from bird dander. 3. Parrots are normally noisy. Squawking, chirping and imitating sounds are an important part of any parrot’s social communication. Parrots are active and inquisitive creatures and must be provided with ample safe space to flap their wings and move about . Safe wooden toys and clanging stainless steel bells are a must for a happy, healthy parrot. Having an unhappy bored parrot is detrimental to its health and the health and peace of your home. 4. Parrots eat continuously throughout the day and think nothing of dropping, tossing and flinging food everywhere. In plain words parrots are quite messy. 5. Parrots instinctively chew and shred wood and can be very destructive. Chewing electrical cords, window blinds, curtains, kitchen cabinets and other household furniture seems like great fun to parrots. You must be vigilant and observant if you want your cabinets, woodwork and glassware to remain intact. 6. Parrots must be provided with ample healthy foods and a varied diet. A parrot cannot live on seeds or pellets alone and should also be given an ample supply of grains, beans and leafy green vegetables as well as some fruits sparingly. 7. Light exposure is a necessity for a healthy parrot. Parrots must be exposed to Vitamin D from sunlight or at least full-spectrum indoor lighting on a regular basis. Vitamin D promotes Vitamin A absorption, which is critical for upper respiratory health. Parrots must always have a minimum of 10 hours of sleep at night. In the wild parrots normal bed down from sundown to sun up. 8. Parrots are very sensitive to air quality. A parrot replaces nearly all the air in its lungs with each breath. Because no residual air is left in the lungs during the ventilation cycle of parrots, they transfer more oxygen and more pollutants during each breath. Parrots should not be exposed to tobacco smoke, hairspray, household cleaners or other chemical fumes, and most definitely not Teflon coated overheated materials. Exposure to toxic inhalants can cause immediate death in some cases and premature death in others. 9. Parrots are often compared to human toddlers in their need for emotional and social nurturing but unlike human children, parrots never grow up. Parrots are very intuitive and nosey. If they see something they like they might inspect it including moving ceiling fans and large glass windows. It is up to you as the caretaker to keep parrots safe from their own curiosity. 10. Parrots are prey animals and therefore hid any illness. You will need to be very vigilant and be able to read your parrot’s body language for any unusual changes in eating or other daily habits. Proper avian veterinary care for parrots can be very expensive. You should think nothing of at least $100 “just to walk in the door” on your first veterinarian visit. 11. Before you bring home a parrot ask yourself: Do I have quality very day time to spend with a parrot. Am I ready to raise a toddler who never grows up. Perhaps this parrot will choose someone else in the family to bond with and dislikes me to the point of daily bites and nips. Will I be unselfish enough to continue to love and care for this parrot all in the hopes that someday this parrot will at least tolerate me. 12. If my parrot should outlive me, do I have someone in mind to care for this sensitive and intelligent parrot after me. Good luck in your decision. I made my decision 5 years ago. I am now owned by four (4) birds: 2 greys, 1 amazon and 1 male singing canary…… and loving it! (Note: I am no expert. This is information I have gathered from personal knowledge of owing 4 birds; from reading posts in the Grey Forums; and from reading numerous books about parrots and different published articles. In other words, things I have read from here, there and everywhere.) These are my opinions and others may not totally agree with what I have written. Edited May 13, 2014 by luvparrots1 point
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I wish to say something before it's to late. My whole life I've tried to devote it to others, humans, pets, any living creature. When I was on the Forums before, due to meds and illness, I hurt a lot of people, I'm sorry, but even then I was standing up for my friends of the Forum. At the time one of the members said something not proper about our son who was just wounded (Army) and something bad about our Country, that's when I lost it...I Apologize.. I have ministered most of my life, Maggie and I, When I lost the ability to move, I only had the Net, My communications (tongue) came to almost a stand when I could no longer speak. When my banned was lifted I didn't expect to be greeted with a open arm by all but I've stuck by my goal of only offering my help and happiness, I am not in competition with anyone, but I hear the messages you send my way, so I'll do my best not to answer any post's until someone else does first. I still hold the utmost respect for al of you, everyone has a lot to offer. So in ending, no more updates, or crying or drama... God Bless You All, Reverend Jay d May God Be with You...1 point
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Please hang in there Jay we do care and wish you lessening pain and bountiful love. The birds need your assistance training their humans how to interact and how to reach a common understanding. I sorrow for your suffering and know Maggie will keep fighting for you too. I must have missed a chapter in the twists and turns of greyforums.⛅1 point
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Joey loves music but he is very particular about the artist....we were talking about old artists and we were playing Elvis on TV...when it came to him singing "FEVER", Joey (our little conservative Buddha) perked up....the video speaks for itself...(Play picture video) VID_20180603_140752899.mp4 VID_20180603_140752899.mp41 point
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Joey was getting his strut on! Timber doesn't have much reaction to any music but metal. He will head bob and shift back and forth for that. I'm always amazed at how "human-like" they are when it comes to likes and dislikes.1 point
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Funny about the paper towel roll, that's one of Timbers favorite things to play with/chew on. On the other hand, anything orange in color will set off his alarms and cause a scene. I love to hear the vocalize, so hope that is OK in your situation. That's one of the things that sets them apart from the other non-human occupants of the house, their ability to communicate.1 point
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She's DNA tested confirmed female. No surprise there. This morning she came out of the water bowl door while I got her water. This time she was completely on the side of the cage and didn't volunteer to go back in. I tried to lead her back in but she wanted to hang out. I unfortunately had to force her to step up to get get her back in. Voicing her displeasure set off the Eclectus, not something I wanted to do at 5:30am.1 point
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Thanks. Will do. I was at work all day, getting home at 5pm. I split an hour between all 3 birds. Again she came out onto the cage front when I left the door open. I gave her some scratches and went to the next bird. She went back in. She came out the water door this morning and went back in when I put the bowl back in. No mating behavior today. She continues to look calm and curious. I heard she had a whistling contest with our oldest son today. Not sure who won but I heard it was close!! She continues to get more vocal. Hmmm.... Maybe that's why they wanted her gone!! :?) She continues to add more whistles, noises and words that she must already know. I finally found something that scares her. An empty paper towel roll. BAD PAPER TOWEL ROLL!!!!1 point
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Everything I've read here and other places says it is best to ignore the behavior. Also, don't touch her on the back or tail, which I don't think you are doing anyway if I've read your posts correctly. Timber tends to get a bit too "affectionate." When that happens, I just put him back on his cage.1 point
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I've done some research, and as I suspected, the whimpering, slightly drooping of the wings and regurgitation motion is a sign of affection towards me. Pretty amazing since we've only had her 6 days. But not surprising due to her behavior since we got her. Should this be encouraged or ignored? Or just let it slide? Nothing I've read so far has said to ignore it. She's been the best bird ever, so far. Other than wanting me for her own, she's eaten anything we've given her, out of our hands (blueberry, pepper, broccoli), even on day 2. Amazing! She's easily converted from the crap sean/nut mixture she's been eating her whole life, to colored ZuPreme pellets. And she's coming around on stepping up. She's certainly not the fussing, sometimes bitey Grey I've read about. I know that could change.1 point
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Hello CTGull and welcome to our family. I am so glad you could give this girl a new forever home and she is making great progress. Poor dear has been thru a lot but with your love and attention she will flourish and make a great addition to your already large flock of animals. Everything in a greys world moves slowly so what may look like slow progress is actually a big deal in grey time, lots of time and patience is needed right now and she will let you know when she is ready for closer or more intimate interaction. She is lovely though she looks a little ratty but I imagine in a years time there could be quite the difference but only time will tell.1 point
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I'm gonna burn for this one... I put a new toy on the outside of her cage not far from her water bowl. As long as she doesn't avoid that corner, it'll go inside in a day or 2. And I put a shallow ceramic baking pan on the bottom if she wants to bath. I splashed in it a bit so she's know what it was.1 point
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And I got her to step up after she came out onto the top. Although I don't know at what cost. She was kind of lightly huffing or crying, with her wings slightly open and slightly drooped and a slight shake. I'm thinking I got too touchy and she got "excited". Al she wants is scratches. Out of the cage she went easily from one hand to another, unlike our other 2 birds that are right hand only. She kept looking up at the ceiling. Maybe she's not used to the popcorn ceiling texture. I didn't take her more than a foot from her cage. And put her back after a couple of minutes. Once inside she was back to not wanting to step up. Although she's getting less resistant. A little while later we did it again. Same result.1 point
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Ha to the "make a profit!" I shudder to think how much money I've spent on Timber since he came to us 6 years ago, but don't regret a penny of it. When he has an inclination to bath, I put a 8x8 glass baking dish (heavy one) on the cage floor. With the encouragement of a few ice cubes he will usually dive in. The dish has "lips" on either end that he can perch on easily.1 point
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The perch I put on the door came out the next time I opened the door. She freaked when it moved and walked back and forth on the far wall. I opened and closed the door a few times so she could see they were connected. Nope. It's gone. Maybe in a few months.1 point
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Another story from the category "You can't make this stuff up", my wife was just woken up from a nap by a guy our oldest works with at the local pet store. He wanted to negotiate terms to buy our new African Grey. "How would your husband like to make $300?? AND I'll throw in a Nile monitor!" I asked her if she mentioned how many hundred dollars we're into this bird in vet bills. NOPE!! Don't think so!!! Ain't happenin!!! In bird news, she continues to get more vocal. "Hello." "Good morning." Various odd sounds. I removed a shredded rope toy that was probably dead a year ago, and a nasty tangle hazard. And moved one toy from the toy farm in one corner to another corner. And I moved a 10" long pearch that was covered with the bird equivalent of plastic barbed wire!! I removed the nasty stuff and put it on the door near the hinge so she could perch on it and it would pivot out when the door opens. We're done that with our Alexandrine and he likes it. Then again, he's dumber than a box of rocks. He greets me by grabbing a toy and the side of the cage and violently bobbing his whole body up and down. When I talk to him he stares at me with his puppy dog eyes. But, getting back to the Grey, she came over to check out the perch, hanging upside down and looking at it closely. Hopefully she doesn't get too upset at all the changes. We still need to put some new toys in there, but I figured I'd spread then out a little first. OH!!! I FORGOT TO MENTION!!! SHE'S A BATHER!!! We came home this afternoon to find her standing in her water bowl taking a bath. Our naked Eclectus is also a bather, while the Alexandrine would stand forever if the spray kept coming. Oddly, the vet had mentioned the white crust on her feet and said she needs to bath more. So she must not of always had water available. She's still in the cage she's been living in her whole life! My wife was thinking of putting a large ceramic bowl in the bottom, but there's no easy way for her to get out of it. We used to have some larger bolt-on-holder bowls that would giver her more room to bath. I have to look to see if we have one left. We got the some of the blood results Friday. We'll get an explanation from the vet on Tuesday. I remember there being many values that were normal, and a few way out of wack, probably due to her feather destruction..1 point
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There is never a need to apologize. We are all human, we all have drama, issues, problems, and busy things going on in our lives. Sometimes we are in a hurry and post a quick reply...sometimes we just read and don’t contribute....we all make mistakes....ALL are welcome here and ALL are forgiven. You have been a big contributor and for that I will always be thankful. You both are in my prayers as always.1 point
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I'm sorry, I can't help you with your profile problem, I haven't changed my profile picture for a decade lol. Thank you for taking in this partially naked little bird. Glad to hear her diet is already improving. I'm afraid you won't be able to start to build trust until after the medication is over. As long as you have to towel her to give meds it's going to be traumatic for her. You've got the right idea in showing her how you are with your other birds and letting her observe her new environment. Trust me, she's processing all this new information at light speed. Don't push the hands on stuff at the start. It'll come in its own time. Sit by the cage and talk to her, read to her, just spend time by her letting her get used to your presence. Make sure the other members of the family spend time around her cage as well. You don't want a bird only you can handle, especially as she's already showing signs of being partial to you. Just let her observe her new home for now. Relationship/trust building takes time. Again, thank you for rescuing this little soul.1 point
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I am going to repeat what you will see many times on this forum. Greys are unique and very special. They each move at their own pace. This is known as "Grey Time." It is much better to allow the bird to make the first move. Please give her more time and space! You will be rewarded with a much happier and friendly bird.1 point
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A little update: Our son told us today he could hear her talking and making sounds during the night. His room is closest to the livingroom. So it's probably not a good idea to move her into our room, if we'd like to get any sleep. A little progress today. She still wants lots of scratches, probably to block access to her legs. I continue to pick up the other 2 birds, say Step Up, and bring them to the front of her cage. I was able to touch her foot a few times without much of a growl, but she would still move away. I didn't push it much. It's still a big improvement from 3 days ago. She's gotten much more vocal today. Our Eclectus has also gotten a little more vocal. Probably because he wants to be the center of attention.1 point
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SERIOUSLY, how do I answer this question at the end of the EDIT PROFILE page?? I can't add to my profile! Random Question – this is to verify that you are human and help keep spam off our forum.: REQUIRED What is the colour of the sun?" That value is not allowed.1 point
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Well, Sorry, I'm back.. I asked for forgiveness and to offer what ever suggestions, love, smiles and encouragement. It was like having a party that no one showed up for...I'm a dying man and I tried as hard as I could to get you together, some day's I hurt so bad I could hardly type, other days my MS held me down, but I reached out to all of you, to bring you together, no one showed up...No one post's you only hear from one or two moderators once in a while. (the best moderators in the world) KittyKittyKitty, Timbersmon, Greywing, bless you, Ray your heart was there but guess you we're busy...Talon you gave me your love, but you we're busy to. I asked for nothing, no crowns or hearts but was always compared to others. I have no more to offer, each day is getting shorter, I tried my best only wanting to bring the forum back together. I'm done posting, please no PM's. SR, Judy, Ray I'm done. I truly love you all. Reverend Jay-D I turn my cheek and wish you peace..0 points