Muse

Congratulations!!! That is so good to hear! It is so amazing when they finally realize they are birds. I have noticed a huge difference between our babies who were never clipped and Peck and Alex. Peck at least caught on fast. I suspect he may have flown as a young bird in Africa. Alex did not even flap when he fell. It took MONTHS of training to teach him to fly because of this. It won't be long and Inara will be going all over the house as she gains more and more confidence in her ability to fly and land.

Only onto a stick so far, but this is huge progress from his former habit of attacking the stick! I started getting him used to being close to it, and gradually he stopped attacking it but he would put his head down, preventing me from moving it close to his feet. Last week, I stopped the practice of putting his cage inside the playroom. Now if he wants to go, it's either the towel or stepping up. (He hasn't figured out that he can just FLY in there yet...). He had stepped up for the first time yesterday, but it was rather reluctantly. Today it was all on his own. And FROM the cage as well as back to it, which shocked me because he's so cage aggressive. He also stepped up in the playroom just for practice and he got jackpots each time. Jackpot is when I let them put their head in the pine nut container and help themselves when they've been exceptionally good. He also got lots of praise. I do know he was trying to 'bomb' me from the net while I was cleaning in the playroom today I think it is a game for him. No hits so far. Sorry, Peck! I am just happy he is stepping up. Another step in a life journey through our new relationship. Who knows what the next step might bring?

You are lucky. I have to guard the birds AGAINST one of our dogs. (The other can be trusted completely around all smaller animals). We laid flat patio stones - the rectangular kind - around the dog yard to keep them from digging out. The same naughty dog is also a serial digger and was well on her way to digging her way to escape! I never would have thought about birds digging but at Project Perry, there was some nice sized excavations done by some busy Greys. I did not realize they sometimes will burrow. I guess they feel safe enough on the ground there.

Wow... $1500 for two 6' x rolls? Best we saw was 1K per roll! We *never* had any wire chewing. Mar did pop many of the plastic zip ties, but then again, we were making straw bundles with these so I am sure he readily identified them as toys. Had this been a permanent structure, we would not have used the zip ties but we did it to make it easy to tear down since we knew it would have to be moved. I washed the entire aviary with a spray bottle and vinegar water and a wire brush, as recommended. Our best biting birds were the Greys. All the others pale in comparison to sheer strength and ability to destroy. We did not have the budgies during the time we used the aviary, however we did have a cockatiel, sun conure and the green-cheeked conures - none of which pose a threat to wire. I believe he ordered a 14 and ended up getting a 16, but I will check with him to be sure. I know it was not real thick. Here are some pictures to give an idea what it looked like: Megan on a perch about 8" or so from the wire. Megan hanging upside down from the wire Conner and Aunalese foraging in a wreath attached to the wire. They are normal size green-cheeked conures. This is the aviary just after he finished building it. You can see the ladder, step stool, spray bottle of vinegar and wire brush. I had done the main cage and took this before starting on the safety cage. A safety cage is something I would highly recommend. It makes it much easier to safely get in and out of the aviary without risk of escape. Just make sure the two doors are never opened at the same time when birds are in there and it's pretty fool-proof! This is just a closer view. I hated how the doors were hinged. It worked but they were awkward and often fell off their 'hinges,' however since we knew from the outset it was a temporary structure, we simply tolerated it. We later furnished it with a round expanded metal patio table with the center support going through the hole where an umbrella might be. It worked GREAT! It gave me a place to set their snacks, as well was bowls of water (big, for bathing) and toys. The aviary is built on a piece of outdoor carpeting - not the plastic kind. It's short brown loop carpet, which was easy to hose clean. This made sure no one was digging under (either from outside in or inside out). If I were doing another small structure like this, I think I would dig a footer and pour a couple feet of concrete and leave the floor natural, as well as putting down some bark mulch. This is what Matt has at Project Perry and the birds seem to love it. It also allows plants to grow, so you can plant (and prune to size) small trees. You can also use the footer to raise up the structure by building forms and anchoring to the footer.

So by traffic do you mean on your site - parrotfiles.com? Or is he talking about the Kuwait zoo site?

We took bottled water and that is what they drank. They have had a lot of that (especially our Greys) as they see me with one and they feel they need to have some too. But that is a good idea. Different water sources can vary widely in pH and dissolved solids so it is probably a good idea to take your own when traveling.

My advice on where is to make sure it is close enough to hear and within line of sight to see so that if you have to step inside or run in and out (like when making snacks) you can keep an eye on what is going on, especially if you have mixed sizes in there at the same time. Okay: The site was http://www.thechickenhutch.com/ and we ordered the wire in 6' (72") wide by 100 ft rolls. I think he had to call them to order it. We originally ordered a thicker gauge but they ended up not having what we wanted and making us a nice deal on the thinner wire. I never noticed the birds molesting the wire, though Mar did take out a pretty good amount of the plastic zip ties. The folks at that site were really nice and easy to work with. The rolls were very heavy and came by truck. He was looking at the SS 1/2" x 1/2" mesh (which is what we will be using for the permanent aviary) and it was significantly more expensive ($1K per roll) but then again, it is for a long-term facility and is better than spending less and having to replace frequently. We loved ours most of the time, but one whole summer I did not use it because of the West Nile outbreak. I think if I were doing another aviary in TX I would be using 2 layers and the outside one would be screen.

I managed to find an IM where hubby mentioned price and ordering but did not say from where. I am going to corner him when he gets home (looks like possibly tomorrow night late or Friday) and make him hunt for the info. I am sure he's probably got an email receipt or something.

What do you do with the artichokes? I have never tried these with the birds.

What a wonderful boy you have. I have thought about what ours, who were born in captivity, might have been thinking when watching the wild Grey videos. Do they recognize the birds as being relatives? I can't say. Mar did learn to make some of the wild calls. Megan never really did until we got Peck. Maybe the "songs" are a male thing like other birds? Or maybe she's too busy speaking bossy human to be bothered with her ancestral tongue. After all, "Want some water!" gets action faster than a whistle call I cannot translate. Do they really understand that they were born into a world of being owned by another being? Who can say? But obviously Isaac has made his choice and you are it. I wouldn't want to give up that kind of love either if I were him. As for the speaker thing... with Megan her thing is biting the mesh on my chair. She likes to sit on the back of my chair while I work at the computer. But the mesh is just so appealing. (Fortunately it has been holding up exceptionally well for a cheapo chair). We used to go rounds about this. "Don't bite the chair. You're going in time out if you bite the chair." *chomp* - followed quickly by her going into time out. So, the other day, I had a kind of crisis going on which required me to be at my desk and on the computer and very focused on what I was doing. I eventually got fixated and barely registered her biting the chair. Then, she just... stopped. I guess it was boring her that she was not getting a response. It would figure that the little stinker is doing things just to get a rise out of me.

2.2 lb = 1 kilo, so half a kilogram (or around 500g) is roughly a healthy pound (plus 0.1). I cheated and used an online converter, but it says 635g (635.029318 to be exact) which sounds about right if half a kilo (500g) is 1.1 lb. the other 0.3 lb should be around 140-ish. I have a gram kitchen scale that you can flip back and forth. So far it's been spot on with the vet and was only around $20 at Sears. Meg's got real good at stepping on it even when I tell her she's been packing on the grams, lol. I think in her funk after we lost Mar her activity level took such a nose-dive she put on quite a bit. It's coming down now that she has Peck to keep her on her toes. The reason I remember the ratio so faithfully is a source of great embarrassment. In my physiology class, we were offered 2 extra points for participation in an in-class project of a glucose tolerance test. We had to take our blood glucose several times before and after drinking an amount of honey that was measured per our body weight. We were required as part of the exercise to give our weight (on a piece of paper) to the professor in grams. I took out my calculator and did the math. I handed the slip to the professor and he VERY LOUDLY said "This can't be right. Are you sure you did this right?" I looked at him and said "A kilo is 2.2 pound, right? I did the math twice." He then loudly stated the answer in pounds (which I won't say here) in kind of an incredulous tone said "Are you sure?", and all I could do was nod as my face began to turn red. He said "I can't believe that. You don't look like you weight that much. I mean, no, that's a compliment." LOL Riiiiight....I said, "Well at least seeing it in kilograms makes me feel smaller. "

We moved nearly across country from Texas to North Carolina with nine birds, four cats and a dog in a Ford Excursion. As my avian vet not-so-gently put it "The birds will be fine. They typically handle travel well. The cats will be the ones who have problems." He was exactly right. A few things I did to make the trip easier: I put lots of padding under the travel cages. It cushioned the ride for them and helped me survive the annoying creaks and rattles that cages make when in a vehicle on bumpy roads. I also drove like a granny. I stayed far back from cars in front of me, and slowed early for lights if I thought they would turn on me so I could stop slowly and softly. This kept the birds from getting flung around in the cages. I also took a CD with bird sounds for entertainment. We had great fun making loud noises while going down the road! I took lots of extra paper (we use those rolls of 'packing paper' that is newspaper without printing on it). I also gave everyone a water bottle as the bowls seem to splash out a lot of water. (Ours all had water bowls and bottles in each cage). At rest stops, everyone got treats. Unfortunately, due to the cats being in the the vehicle, I could not let anyone out and chance having them landing on the cat crate in case one of the cats should reach up and claw or grab at them. They tolerated the 1400 mile trip just fine. (The cats were in a large dog crate in the very back, surrounded by cardboard on 3 sides with a blanket on top - the back side was the door and it was not covered to allow air in and also to give access to feed, water and change litter). I agree that you will have to be hyper-vigilant. I have heard stories of hawks grabbing birds right from the owner's shoulders. I am very paranoid about hawks as I had a red-tail that used to raid my bird feeders. Let's say they don't like showers any more than parrots do and leave it at that. *evil grin* The other day I had the birds on the porch for the day while I ran a 'clean' cycle on my brand new oven to burn off some acrylic coating on the insulation. We all spent the day on the porch and twice I heard the cry of a hawk very nearby and jumped out the chair and paced up and down watching the sky. A couple days later, I heard a hawk... IN THE PLAYROOM. Evidently Mr. Peck has had some exposure to a red-tailed hawk because he has their call down pat and he does it quite loudly. >.< Good luck on your trip. I am betting your boy will have a great time.

What a smart girl!

Hubby said he would look for the info but wasn't home long (due to the family emergency that ran into a business trip which kept him out for a couple of weeks). I am going to go through some files and see if I cannot find the place.

I truly think from this post you are being too hard on yourself. What if this is just hormonal? Then it has *nothing* to do with you. You can be absolutely nothing but good for him and yet this behavior can be completely unrelated to anything you might do or not do on his behalf. If you were not good for him, he would not have returned to you. His bond to you was so strong that he CHOSE to be with you willingly. Not many of us can say that. I am absolutely sure that all but two of my flock would probably be long gone. I'd like to believe that Maks and Alex might come to me, but then again, I don't know and am in no hurry to test that. But you have a bird that could have had his freedom yet chose you instead. I think he already believes you are everything good in his life and his returning to you is a testament to this. Please don't be so hard on yourself. It is evident that you are doing all you can for him and that you give him abundant love. And I am absolutely certain that Isaac knows this.

I'm no expert by any means. I showed Marden the harness, and he let me put it on. Megan has given me some seriously vicious bites and is not keen on letting me touch her except by express permission (she makes a soft cooing noise and that signifies that I can pet her without being bitten). I am slowly working with her. We are only up to "touch the harness, please" and if she touches it without a lunge/snap/bite she gets a treat. I am with you on the not being able to put it over a bird's head when they are unwilling. Mar had one moment of reluctance. I'd already put his diaper on (with NO resistance), and we were getting ready to go, and he decided to throw an absolute fit about the harness, but wasn't really letting me take the diaper off either. I finally looked him in the eye and told him he could not go bye bye with mommy and ride in the car if he didn't have the harness on. Suddenly he stopped fussing and let me put the harness on with no more fight. This is why I swear they read our minds. I know he probably did not fully understand the lengthy complex sentences I was using. But did he 'see' the raw thought before it translated to sentences in my brain? I have seen far too much of this type of behavior from our birds to discount it as a fluke. Maybe talk to Isaac and tell him of all the fun things he can do outside if he puts the harness on. Who knows, he may decide he wants to wear it and make it easy for you? Barbara Heidenreich has a video on YouTube about harness training, however, her videos tend to look very easy as she is demonstrating pre-learned behaviors and then giving advice to those whose birds do not yet have these behaviors. I believe she's had Blu Lu from a baby, as I understand, and she's an animal trainer by profession who obviously spends a lot of time working with her birds. Also, I believe she also advocates limiting intake so that the bird is hungry as motivation for reward. Although I like Barbara as a person and respect her work as a trainer, I do not do this with my animals. I did not do it with my daughter or nieces, and suspect that withholding a percentage of a child's food in order to leave them hungry as a way to control their behavior might be construed as criminal child abuse. By the same token, I work with the birds the same way I did with the girls. And so far, we have few problems. No, my birds don't do circus tricks, but they do get in the carrier, even the wilder ones have been well-behaved at the vet, and they all mostly cooperate with routines which is all I will ever ask of them. That said, Barbara's video does give good tips on working with a bird to get them to accept the harness and might be worth a look. I will continue to work with Megan, and at some point she may decide to accept the harness. She really looked like she was thinking about it today, when I offered to take her to the pet store. She had that look of almost being convinced but just not quite. You could almost see little wheels of thought going as she hesitated before turning away. She then returned to her cage, voluntarily, as if she knew I'd be putting her back before going out. She's a smart but very stubborn little girl. Good luck with Isaac and the harness. Maybe we can commiserate as we both try to convince our Greybies that the harness is a good thing for them!

I echoed your same sentiments, but as the saying goes "what is done, is done" -these birds are either socialized or bred to be with humans and would not have a fair chance in the wild. I believe it damps down their instincts when they live in a protected environment where their needs (and in cases like most of the birds in this forum - every whim) is easily handed them. But my guilt over keeping our birds confined is what prompted us to want to sink as much resources as possible into giving them a huge aviary to fly in. No, it's not being 'in the wild' but it is as close as I can give them and still protect them. And then I also think that we started out 'free' and living in caves or tents and that does not mean I'd necessarily want to give up all the comforts of modern life to return to that freedom - so maybe they really can be happier here. I noticed at Project Perry over the weekend that some of the birds were extremely interested in coming to the mesh of their aviaries and wanting human contact. Do they miss their previous lives? Are they ones that had a good human somewhere in their lives that they are fondly remembering? Are they missing the snuggles and scritches they wouldn't get in the wild? It's definitely a very tough ethical debate on whether we should 'keep' them, but at this point, they need us and I like to think they also love us. I can tell Isaac really loves you just from the pictures you share here. I think Isaac will be just fine. He gets a lot of love and has someone who truly cares for him. This plucking could just be a hormonal phase and it may end as quickly as it started. Did I misread or did you say that he did this at some other point, around the same time of year? Plucking or not, he's an absolutely gorgeous Grey. You can see his intelligence and spirit in his beautiful eyes.

Marden took to the harness the first day. He did not like wearing it but he tolerated it because he knew if he had it on, fun things happened - like car rides, eating out, going to the stores and picking out his own toys, and other fun stuff. I am sure Sophie will see the benefit in it, just as Marden did, and learn to tolerate the mussed feathers in return for getting to enjoy the great outdoors. If you get the Aviator, it comes with a DVD on training. I am betting with Sophie it will be really super easy. She's such a smart girl.

I had that problem when I had pneumonia and coughed constantly. Both Greys suddenly developed a barking cough. Our avian vet said birds do not cough like humans do and not to worry about it. Neither showed any signs of sickness except for the coughing sound, so I think she was right. It was pretty convincing at the time, though!

I believe you have a great relationship with Isaac. If you didn't love him as if he were your child, you would not find his plucking so upsetting. The more we love these little feathered children, the harder it hits us when all is not right in their world. I am sorry if my comments sounded as if I were suspecting you of scolding him. I just wanted to urge you to try not to feel frustrated as he may pick up on that. I swear sometimes I think they can read our minds. And I do understand life is definitely complex, especially where emotions are concerned. The frustration is normal. Especially when you don't know what is causing the problem so there is no simple fix. The plucking is not like other health issues, as it doesn't come with a very clear cause. There are so many possibilities that span the physical, mental and emotional aspects and that alone can cause extreme frustration. I think sometimes the feeling of helplessness is the worst form of frustration. I remember feeling that when the girls were little and got sick and there was nothing I could do to fix it or make it better. I hope whatever is causing Isaac to pluck soon passes. He is a lucky bird to have such a devoted daddy.

I got the $14.00 one (this one) http://www.amazon.com/OKONATUR-100%25-Extra-Virgin-Palm/dp/B0012XKO00/ref=sr_1_6/178-7857745-8921048?ie=UTF8&qid=1400260229&sr=8-6&keywords=red+palm+oil because the description used to state (when I bought this) that it came from small farms in West Africa, and it was in a glass jar. It has a VERY strong scent and taste, which I assume, like olive oil, is due to being "Extra Virgin" as that first pressing is usually highest in plant solids which also means higher in the phytonutrients we are seeking from the plant. I would LOVE to find a source for the fruit itself just to see if the Greys enjoy it as much as those I have seen in videos eating it in the wild. Are they just THAT hungry or does the fruit really appeal to them that much? I'd love to test that hypothesis on two well-fed Greys and see what their opinions are.

Our vet has actually prescribed it for Megan for feather plucking. The only problem is getting her to eat it.

I heat baby food and the red palm oil (glass jar) the same way I heated baby food - by placing it in a pan of hot water until it is warm. I am kind of leery of the microwave. I do eat things from it myself, occasionally, but don't use it for anything to give to the birds.

I will have to try that with the vacuum and bathtub. She does not seem to want to bathe in her cage, but it is a tall, narrow cage so she is perched much higher than the floor. (I hate the cage personally but my husband likes it). Her preferred method of bathing involves daddy holding a big bowl on the play stand for her. I have tried putting a big bowl on the big stand on that rack we added for the food bowls. That didn't appeal to her. But at least she's letting me take her in the shower now. And on the upside, I have not seen an excess of feathers (since that one and only time). Maybe this was just a single incident, but I am not willing to take any chances. I am hoping to get the preliminary blood work today, and the protein electrophoresis, which takes longer, sometime early next week. This is what the test is (relating to humans but the same applies to birds): http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/serum-protein-electrophoresis-spe Excerpt: "Why It Is Done Serum protein electrophoresis is most often done to help diagnose and monitor a wide variety of conditions. These include: Some forms of cancer. Problems with the kidneys or liver. Problems with the immune system. Conditions that lead to poor nutrition." We are hoping that if there is an underlying medical condition, this test will help us to pinpoint it. I will post the results as they come in.

Actually, a fountain sounds like a great idea! She actually has let me shower her twice. And the retaliatory bites I keep expecting are not materializing. Maybe she knows I am trying to help her. This started about the same time I started working, which involved a lot of my time being taken up. We had not been that close before I lost Mar, but I think we have become much closer since. In fact, getting her to step off daddy used to be a battle, but now she often does it willingly, and at times even initiates it by flying to me. The whole job thing was a nightmare, but I did learn one thing, it was something I loved doing. So it may prove to be the impetus to start my own home-based venture. I am currently looking at what it will take to get it off the ground. That would have me working, but in the home where she can be nearby and "helping". She's really outgrowing the cantankerous nature she had as a baby. She's never going to be like Mar was. None of the birds I have ever known were like Mar was. And my job is to try not to use that as an expectation or compare her unfavorably to his behavior. It's hard. His breeder used to call him "the best bird in the world" because of his sweet, gentle nature. It was so easy to trust him because he was so trusting and so laid back. I have a much harder time trusting Megan when I see all the scars on my hands (and now on my lip). She's been wanting on my shoulder again. Especially at the vet. I know some may think me crazy, but I have been letting her. She seems to be working on restraining her urges to bite me, so I will work on trusting her. And yes, my emotions are still floating on the surface. I burst into tears at least once a day. Mother's day was a nightmare. I cried off and on the whole day. The depth of this grief is still overwhelming at times. I have been trying to stay away from her when I feel the tears coming just in case that has something to do with it.