tankaray

Don't have a bag in front of me but I've always added water as directed on the bag. If memory serves it was 1 cup of water and you would also sunshine factor or coconut oil as well. My Grey used to tear it up but not so much anymore but my Caique LOVES it... BTW, ALL vets will say "get them off the seeds asap" but if your smart with their diet and give an abundance of fruits and veggies as well as the bird bread etc I wouldn't sweat the guilt of feeding them seed to much. The bird bread has a ratio as well from Harrisons as to how much bread should be given in relation to your birds overall daily diet. Good Luck.

Thanks, he likes the camera (iphone) where as Our TAG does not.

If he was a chewer to I'd lose the last two hairs on my head. Luckily he's an oddball and is pretty relaxed. He's finally flying pretty good now, he was a ground dweller when we got him last Dec/Jan but living with Charlie he had to adapt. So he thinks he's a big shot now strutting his stuff ontop of all the doors.

Hehe, seems like you all wear these bumps and bruises on your house like a badge of honor. I think I am going to break the news to the wife tomorrow that I am just going to leave the new doors in the garage for awhile until things settle down if they ever do. :rolleyes:

It's in the moving plans 2 years from now when the wife graduates, until them I'm living in the bird room.

Just the Caique, I exchanged a few pms with you last year before getting him. He's the same age as Charlie 2.5 years but the difference is he spent all day in his cage with his previous owner and was out at night for a bit where as Charlie spent 12+ hours a day out of his cage. With our recent long term scheduling changes he's out about 2-4 hours I would guess. The Caique is a breeze and is fine with whatever, they are about 20 feet apart in eye view of each other but I keep them seperate as much as I can. The Caique will fly to Charlie's cage and head straight inside to either eat his food or take a bath in his bowl so I am always having to relocate the little guy. Doesn't matter if Charlie's in there or not, the Caique doesn't care. This is why I thought I'd make some changes in location to give Charlie his own space in the AM and later at night but he would still be out the 2-4 hours per day in the main area until the wife's schedule increases. As far as converting our house into a bird only area, we're a family of 5, 2 birds with rather large cages and 1 pretty large dog all squeezed inside of 900 sq ft. It's TIGHT.

I called it misbehavings, the wife not so much. Given the cost of new doors just sitting in the garage she isn't a happy camper. Last night for the first time Charlie flew to our thermostat on the wall. It sticks out what 3/4 of an inch. Anyways while hanging on it he hit the heat button and tried to smoke us out. I just finished up relocating it this morning running new cable under the house so hopefully it won't happen again. Or so I think.

I have, mini blinds gone, went to roman shades which are like Swiss chees now, those went bye bye to so I went higher end roll up/down shades that have no texture for grip and luckily for me I purchased the warranty with them as I have 3 to replace. Even though he can't grip he blind he can get ontop the molding and dangle from one toe to chew. I've tried tape, flip flops, noisy paper etc up there to get him to stop. I've got three sets of entry doors waiting to be installed but with his new talent from just hanging from molding and nothing else, the three doors are just sitting in my garage. These misbehavings aren't the underlying issue for us though and my thoughts on moving him is he does so well with my oldest, in that when I am here during the day he will constantly fly to his room and sit on his chair in front of his computer and preen. I assumed it's a comfort thing. If he Charlie chewed my TV or my doors when I get them installed I'd probably pick drinking back up.

Again I appreciate the advice. I'll take it one day at a time. Time does burden us all at times so it's nothing special here I guess. As our TAG is pretty relaxed in my oldest boys room I am considering moving relocating him in there to redirect the misbehavings ( chewing dining room/living room blinds etc ). All new activity within the last few months. As far as other people coming in to sit with him, it's just me and the wife and kids, though he does well with both male and female strangers we just don't have that outlet. He does do well in the cage for longer periods, and has adjusted well in the last several months to home renovations (all structural repairs under the house etc). I only mentioned that part as any new visual changes might spur an odd behavior or two, but all the work done lately is unseen. I do honestly believe though looking back to when we got him (a well intentioned gift by my mother) that it would have been better timing a few years down the road when the kids are grown and our schedules wind down a little. Just a thought. Sterling is spot on with greys and first time bird owners, it's amazing how much easier our Caique can be. And thanks neoow for the reflection, it puts things in perspective. Thanks again.

Located in VA, yeah your right about them being finicky, sometimes he reminds me of Jack Nicholsen in as good as it gets with all his idiosyncrasies.

Appreciate the advice, our TAG won't set foot in a traveler, it's a chore when it's VET time, our Caique is a breeze with travel cages, changes in structure etc. The time or two I did try to take him for a drive both the TAG and I could of used a tall one. Guess I am looking at what's best for him/her in the early years but I realize changing enviornments is tough on any bird for awhile.

Everything I see an add online for an animal especially an exotic bird and the owner indicates lack of time as a reason for letting go I'd always think what a load of crap they're shoveling here. Now I find myself in a similar long term scenario. When I first got our TAG, I of course was always home being Mr Mom and the wife and kids were always there to lend a helping or entertaining hand. Now ontop of the wife's full time work schedule she gone back to school (like Rodney Dangerfield I tell her), so she's gone 3 nights per week until 10-11 as well as full day clinicals every Saturday. The Mr Mom thing isn't to bad but now my oldest who's 17 works 5 days a week 1/2 hour away in which I am the shoufer every night, and my middle one is in band so I am taking her back and forth to practice. To be honest I am a bit taxed lately. I guess what I am getting at is time caught up to me and I see it affecting our TAG in the form of misbehavings for attention. What's my best possible solution to ensure he/she goes to a good home preferably like the ones I see poster here all the time. I don't want to post an add online just to have him/her wind up in the same situation or flipped for profit nor can I imagine him/her sitting in a small cage at a bird rescue waiting for the forever home to happen. A little insight would be helpful here as I hope I am just doing what's right here. I've attempted to post this thread 2-3 times in the last month and I always get choked up and delete it. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the insight, like I mentioned he's not a plucker so I figured it may have just have been a bad dream. It's funny our Caique wrestles, rough houses and rolls around and never looses a feather, our poor TAG could use some pointers. He's still flying circles around the house so it didn't slow him down any.

Haven't posted in awhile but I check in often to view posts. Got a quick question on nighttime/dreams etc. My birds are pretty regular, our Caique hits the snooze around 7:30-8 and our TAG likes to push the envelope but generally is in lock down between 8:30-9. We never hear a peep out of either one other than the occasional whistle about 3-4AM from our Caique. FFWD to this morning about an hour before both birds are uncovered and our TAG was making some awful motion in his cage like he was trying to take off. I quickly got up, uncovered him and noticed all his tail feathers on one side are gone. When I took him out he was flying around like he tied one on last night. He's not a plucker, and there have been no changes recently other than 7 solid days of rain (still raining)so the house is darker than normal. All of the lost tail feathers were ones slated to come out anyways, by that I mean they weren't broken and no blood supply etc. Would it be possible for him to get spooked in a manner in which he only lost tail feathers on one side? He lost 6 and he has exactly 6 remaining. No changes in his eating, drinking or whistling today, just super affectionate most of the day. Thanks in advance.

Not sure on causing emotional damage enough to thwart his normal bath routine if he's a consistant bather. I will say though that they do have good memories. Our TAG has always received the spray bottle during baths so when I adopted our little Caique back in Jan I just thought it was normal to spray him down during his bath as well. Once he saw the spray bottle coming towards him with my finger resting on the trigger he SCREAMED like a woman (no offense ladies) then bolted and hid under the couch. Not sure, but my wife thinks the previous owners girlfriend may have lit him up a time or two with the bottle. It's his only real FEAR other than empty brown boxes or brown paper towel rolls. Guess he's not down with the brown. To this day if he sees any spray bottle with the exception of a windex bottle (he like the bubbles) he's outta there...