HeatherStrella

I don't mind bird poop at all...my husband is another story. Is there any kind of bird ...pet bird, I mean, that has stinky poop. I would imagine birds of prey have stinky poop...but I don't know.

AnnaBella doesn't likr RPO, I was thinking about trying coconut oil...any thoughts?

One time, I was sitting with AnnaBella on the couch. I didn't realize she had pooped on the seat of the couch. When I stood up, I put my hand in the poop ...I'm assuming that's what happened because I didn't realize I had poop on my hand until I brushed my hair out of my face and smeared poop all over my forehead. All I could do was laugh...

I'm curious about the toilet paper roll. What scares me it's the germs that may be on it. Is there a way to clean something like that...or am I worrying for nothing?

AnnaBella used to be Harrison... the breeder we got her from was positive she was male. We named her Harrison then about a year later, we had a DNA test done... turned out he was a she. I figured we would keep her name... we did for a short time... it just didn't feel right and I got sick of telling the story ... " her name is Harrison" raises a lot of questions. She took to it better than I thought... it's been about 5 years and she'll say her old name every once in a while. But she knows her name is AnnaBella.

Thanks for your responses. I wasn't sure what about the fluorescent lights caused birds to be uncomfortable. My husband is going fix the kitchen lights so they don't flicker. He is bugged by the kitchen lights too, he won't even turn them on. Suggesting I watch ghost hunters a bit too much is a bit too rude, you don't know me.

I'm curious what your thoughts are on fluorescent lights and emf affecting our pet birds. I've heard that emf can cause you to be irritable. We have fluorescent lights in our kitchen and I usually keep the lights off if AnnaBella is in there with me. Well, today, I didn't even think about it. When I was done washing dishes, I picked her up from her perch and took her to the living room. Just before she took off from my hand, she bit me. She used to bite me for no reason quite often. It's been 6-8 months since she's bitten me for no apparent reason. I'm thinking the lights caused her to become agitated. About a year ago, we were in the kitchen with the lights on and when I went to pick her up, she bit me HARD. She flew to the floor and when I tried to pick her up, she went after me. I had to wait a while before I could pick her up. That day, in that moment, she bit me 5 times in the same place on my hand. My husband suggested it might be the lights. I've kept them off ever since and she seemed to get better. She only goes in the kitchen a couple times a week. There are no other fluorescent lights in our house. We are renting otherwise we'd take them out. Has anyone else had any experiences with this? I did a search of the forums and didn't find anything. Thanks...

I look forward to my time with AnnaBella ALL day! I can't wait to come home from work to be with her. Our time varies. I think our favorite is her sitting on my legs...going back and forth from my legs to the leg rest of the couch. She'll climb up to my stomach and chest and sometimes on the back of the couch. We chat, she likes to chew on paper. We play with foot toys. She loves her new cell phone. It's a child toy so I only allow her to play with it with me. Someone else said this too...I always tell her what I'm doing, where I'm going, etc. I think that's why she's got such a big vocabulary. Sometimes we watch birdie videos on the computer. I don't know if she can really understand what she's seeing, but she likes listening anyway. Sometimes we just sit and I give her scritches. Sometimes we just sit...and sit. Ha. I'm always looking for new things to do with her, thanks for creating this thread!

Emma is so cute!! AnnaBella talks like crazy but it seems like as soon as the fideo:pcamera comes on, she stops!! Drives me nuts! Dayo looks like he really likes his music!! :cool:

Some news...this woman's daughter is taking him back to her house on Wednesday. I know she's told her daughter all about our fight. I'm hoping the daughter has seen the light and will take care of him. Unfortunately, I don't know where she lives so I can't call anyone to check on the bird's welfare. I really hope this is good news. She has a new baby, maybe that has caused her to be more sympethetic to little beings needs. Thanks for all the advice, you guys really helped me keep things in perspective.

AnnaBella loves music. Her taste varies from country to disco to rap. I listen to most anything except rap and heavy metal. I have some rap tunes on my iPod that I downloaded for work. She's so funny, when she hears a song she likes, she sings "let's go, let's go"...I don't know what song that's from or where she got that...it's not something I say..or my husband says. She watches cartoons every morning, maybe she got it from them. Anyway, I'm just curious what kind of music your bird(s) like to listen to. Anyone dance on Wii with their birds? I like to dance to the Michael Jackson Experience...she loves it! She likes me to hold her while I'm showing off my fantastic (not) dance moves but it's hard when you're trying to get a good score...LOL. I recently ordered Abba and Grease for Wii...I'm anxious to see how she responds!

Thanks guys. We keep the house pretty cool all year round. At night, she sleeps in a bedroom (uncovered) with a heater that has a thermostat on it. It kicks on if it goes below about 68. We closed the vent to the house heater/AC in that room because, with the door closed and the heater on, it gets hot fast. Same with the A/C, it gets cold fast. Thanks for the comments, I feel better about her "cold toesies". Judy, I thought about a heated perch for the living room cage. I'm paranoid about putting it in her bedroom cage because I'm afraid of fire. Anybody have experience with them?

My sweet little AnnaBella is 6 years old today. She's one of the best gifts I have in life. She got a toy cell phone that sings and talks to her and a new foraging toy. She loves the phone but isn't sure about the foraging toy just yet :-) Here's to many more years together...we'll be old and Grey together ;-)

My husband and I went to a party last night. We're usually not party types...we're not drinkers (anymore) and drunk drivers scare the hell out of us! I love to be home for any occasion. Since I got AnnaBella, I'm more of a home body and I'll take advantage of every minute I can spend with her. When I do go out, I hurry home to AnnaBella...it's become a bit obsessive, I'm afraid...but I don't care. I don't have kids...she's my baby and the reason I wake up every morning. Being home on New Year's Eve is a gift...I love it!

Sometimes AnnaBella's little feet feel cold after she's been on her perch and flies to me.The room is 70 or 71. Does this mean she's cold? There's no other evidence that suggests she's cold. The vet says 68 to 70 is a good temp for her. Is it possible that birds just get chilled like humans do? I like to turn on the heat a little when I feel her feet are cold...my husband thinks turning on the heat makes it too hot. The temp goes up to maybe 72.

I was reading about reporting animal abuse...this is what part of it said: After the investigation: If an animal has been abandoned or is being kept in an unsafe or unsatisfactory condition, a notice to impound the animal within two (2) business days is posted at the location by the officer. This two day period is required by law. At the end of the two days the officer returns, and if the situation is not corrected, the animal is impounded. So, if they find that the bird has no water, they give a warning and come back two days later. She'll make sure he has water on that second day and it will be dropped. They won't do anything about seed. I know that the bird looks sickly because I know what a healthy one looks like. He's not obviously sick...his face is pinkish and his feathers are tattered. He climbs all over his cage, bobs, weaves, etc...I don't know if I'm willing to do this if nothing is done. If he was obviously sick and obviously abused, I would. I would have a long time ago. It sounds like I think it's not bad enough...it is to me but I don't know that it would be to another person. Especially with how the store I turned in turned out. She has a lot of dirt on me...she works for the same company. As it is, her youngest daughter goes to the school where she works...the daughter went to my school for years and is friends with lots of students I know. I have a feeling all my past dirt is spilled out all over, but I don't know. I know I don't want it to be. If I do this, she'll for sure do it. I wouldn't lose my job but I would probably have to quit.

One more example of who I'm dealing with. During this fight we had, she rear-ended someone. This whole fight was on text and she was reading one of my texts when she rear-ended a Lexus. I didn't know she was driving, I figured she was at home. She sent me a text that said "you made me rear-end a Lexus and I still have 3 more texts from you to read". I couln'd believe she blamed me for that!! I really hope she was honest and told the police or her insurance what she was doing when she got in the accident. Yeah right!

DawL, that's awesome that you know ASL. How did you learn? Elvenking, I've thought about stealing him, I really have. That was suggested to me before, when I posted about this. I told her when we last "spoke" that people suggested I kidnap him and she just laughed. She can't believe people actually care that much about birds. She sees them as "less than" a dog. I would seriously think about it if the consequences weren't so bad. At this point, she would know it was me. If I lost my job, because of an arrest, I wouldn't be able to take care of my bird. I wish there was a solution. I don't think the authorities will do anything...I'll think about calling them. I'll have to drive by her house to get her address. Yikes, I hope she doesn't see me. There's no telling what she would do. I'm actually afraid of what she'll do if I do call the authorities, but I don't think I have a choice. I really wish she wasn't so damn stubborn!

I thought about reporting her. But, I don't think it's "bad enough". I reported a pet store one time for their treatment of birds. This store was worse than this woman. The authorities went to the shop and checked on everything. The store came up with some excuses as to why they were in dirty cages, had dirty water, and some were covered all day. The authority told them to fix it and he came back about week later. It was better on his second visit so it did work. I don't think the authorities really know how to take proper care of birds. The store was feeding seed only and the authority said all the birds had food. I'm not going to contact this woman ever again. She thinks researching a bird's care is a waste of time. Taking care of a bird just requires common sense. That's what she thinks. Unfortunately, she doesn't have common sense and she's wrong. I learned so much from websites before and after I got AnnaBella...it's not common sense. Some of this stuff we do for our birds is weird sounding when you first read it. No candles?? Sounds weird until you read why. She just doesn't get it. She's extremely narrow minded and not too swift. She actually does treat her dogs like family. Her dogs are very well treated. She spends a lot of time and money on them. That's why her treatment of the bird surprised me so much. She has a cat, though, I don't know why because she doesn't like cats. She actually put dog flea medicine on her cat and it had seizures. She took it to the vet and it was ok...she said she knew the box of flea med said not to do it, but she did it anyway. I know people make mistakes, I've certainly made lots. But, if I know something is better for my bird than another thing...I'm gonna do the better thing. I would think most people do. Another thing that happened with the bird was this: The cage they have is an old cage and it didn't come with its own food/water bowls. They use whatever they have so they don't fit right. The bird got his head stuck between the cage and one of the bowls and was stuck there for some time. She woke up in the morning and found him. She thought he was dead....but he was ok. His head was mashed for a couple of days...she didn't take him to the vet and she didn't get new bowls. I tried to tell her in a way that wasn't insulting but she doesn't get it unless you tell her straight out...I found that out the hard way. Anyway, they also had a 'tiel. She died shortly after they got the Grey. I told her that you never know what she died from and her Grey might have whatever was wrong with the 'tiel. She STILL didn't take him to the vet. She thinks it's a waste of money. She once told me that even if she had lots of money, she still would not take him to the vet because it's a waste and he is fine. There's no talking to her...she takes everything as an insult. These examples of her "care" are just what I know....I wonder what I don't know. Thanks for all the replies. She's never going to take this seriously, it's useless. I feel a little responsible because they got their bird because they liked mine. They had a sun conure and in order to have the money to buy the Grey, they sold the sunny. Makes me SICK!!!!

Thanks. AnnaBella is my bird. I didn't want to say her bird's name...I don't want to be accused of slander by her. Anyway, she's posting about it on facebook. I have a friend telling me things she's posting. Someone she must have told the story to, offered to bring some bottled water for the bird...joking. Then someone else joked that they'd bring her dogs some potato chips. When I told her (a long time ago) I gave AnnaBella filtered water from my sink, she thought I was nuts. So, this is all a big joke to her. I just hate to think how that bird is cared for. I hope my actions don't make her treat him worse. Thanks for your reply.

I posted about this a while back. I had a friend who got a Grey after seeing mine. First thing, they had his wings clipped...twice...the second time was so short, he looked deformed. I visited twice in a couple weeks and both times, the bird's water dish had a white ring with some slimy looking stuff in it. I gave the bird fresh water and he just drank and drank and drank. He was so thirsty. Also, they feed 100% seed. They refuse to take him to the vet because "he's just a bird". Everytime I saw him, his face was pinkish and his feathers were disheveled (sp?). He looked very sickly. Well, I've told my friend several times about going to the vet. I tried to be nice about it because she's a very proud person and any advice given is usually taken as an insult. I told them that feeding seed is like your dog eating potato chips all the time. She's a dog breeder so I thought that was a good analogy. But, she said "they don't sell potato chips for dogs but they do sell seed for birds". UGGH! Well, we got into it the other day and I told her I thought she should find him a new home. I was sick of holding back and at this point, I was ready if the friendship ended. She BLEW up! I even talked to my vet about the bird. She suggestd I help her find a new home for him. She won't let him go. It's actually her young adult daughter's bird. She just had a baby so my friend has him back in her house. I thought it was the perfect time to ask if they were planning to rehome the bird. Wrong! I just don't understand why people don't want what's best for her animals. I even gave her this website and told her to ask you guys about seed, vet, water, etc. She said she would absolutely not waste her time here. I don't know what more I could do to help this bird. She and I are not friends anymore, she deleted me from facebook and I deleted her from my contacts. I guess I don't need friends who neglect animals. My only regrets are not telling her sooner and telling her some pretty "sensitive" stuff about myself. We work for the same school district, different schools. We're both sign language interpreters and there are only about 20 of us in the district. We don't work together but we do go to the same meetings and stuff. I'm so mad about the bird. I wish I never showed them AnnaBella, then they wouldn't have theirs...or maybe they would. I don't know. Would you guys have done the same thing? I'm just curious if people think trying to save a bird is worth an 8 year "friendship". Some of the things she said, I wonder if we were ever really friends. It was worth it to me, even though I was unable to save him. I feel better having said something and losing a friend than not saying anything. That last sentence...hope it makes sense. Ha

Thanks for the replies. We put zip ties through the holes. So far, AnnaBella hasn't destroyed them...we'll see! DawL, you're welcome. :-)

Those are different holes. I know the holes you mean. My video isn't clear enough, maybe, I'm using my phone to shoot the video. Anyway, the hole she got stuck in isn't for the grate.

AnnaBella was having a good time on top of her cage this morning when I heard her flapping her wings and squawking. I went to her and saw that her toenail was stuck in a little hole in the cage. She ended up being able to get out herself, I think she was more calm than I was. Ha. .here's video of the holes. http://youtu.be/Z4Y3XOcuVTQ Just thought I would point these out....in case someone else has the same type of cage...

Thank you. We are in the process of learning how to chop and edit video. It seems like she talks and talks then as soon as I turn the camera on, she stops. Ha. She says a lot...but the best, I think, is when she drops something accidentally, or loses her balance and stumbles...she always makes some kind of noise like "oops" or "hup"...kinda hard to expain but it's so cute! I'll definately post more later! Thank you