HeatherStrella

I do believe spring has sprung. I hope this season isn't as bad as last year. Although, so far, the bites are worse...last weekend was bad but yesterday and today have been good. I'm crossing my fingers that it was just a bad weekend. Check out my hand. The photo of my hand is two bites..and I have a puncture on the meaty part of my palm. The one that looks like a deep scratch is from me pulling my hand away. (it's healed a lot since it happened) I assume she swallowed some skin on that one. :sick: Then my middle finger knuckle is another bite. It had a band-aid on it, that's why it looks wet and fresh. All from this weekend...two bites on saturday...one on sunday.

AnnaBella is doing great. She's learning more and more words and phrases every time I turn around. She's up to 300+ words/phrases. She loves playing with the toys in her toy box and swinging on her swing in the living room. We just have one problem, jealousy. When my husband comes and sits next to me, AnnaBella flies over from wherever she is and lands on me. That's fine. But, if my husband puts his hand on me, she goes after him. She's usually perched on my knee and she'll quickly waddle down to hubby's hand. If he pulls his hand back, she's fine and doesn't want to bite him anymore. Anybody else experience this? What do you do about it? She doesn't do this with the dog. Instead, she teases her. AnnaBella knows that flying bothers Sandy(our dog) so she acts like she's about to take off and Sandy will hide or run to another room. I think AnnaBella really likes the control she has. Comments welcome....

We named our bird 'Harrison' when we thought she was a boy. I like human names for animals and I just really liked that name. When we did a DNA test 18 months later and found she was female, we were going to keep her name the same because she knew it as her name. After a while it became annoying trying to explain why SHE had a boy name and then seconds later she'd be called 'HE' or 'HIM'. Sooo...I thought of a few names I liked and posted them here. I asked people to vote on them and then picked a completely different name...if memory serves. Part of the reason I picked 'AnnaBella' is because of my last name...'Strella'....now she says "My name is AnnaBella Strella and I'm a superstar!"...ha.

If you're serious, I suggest you find new homes for both animals. Your ideas on how to get an animal to stop doing something is horrible. What are you doing to your grey to get him to stop undesirable behavior? Wait, don't answer that, I don't want to know. Shame on you. :angry:

This is so sad...I've met Robbert many times... :angry: SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Trouble first vanished from The Bird Shop, and now Robbert has been bird-napped. Surveillance video shot Wednesday shows a man taking Robbert, an African Grey Parrot, from the Auburn Boulevard pet store. A ruby macaw named Trouble was taken from the store in November, but it was returned with the help of an anonymous tipster. A store worker said two men in their 30s or 40s came into the store at about 1:45 p.m. One of them distracted the store owner by talking to her. The video shows the other man waiting around, then opening the cage for an Amazon parrot named Sunshine, and then quickly pulling his hand away. It's unknown if Sunshine bit him. After a few minutes, the man is seen opening Robbert's cage, and then puts the parrot under his shirt. The man talking to the store owner walks out first, the video shows, and the bird-napper follows behind him. A witness said the two men fled in a red, mid-size, sporty-looking car. A customer walked up to the owner before her conversation with the first man, the worker said, and told her she saw the two men bothering Trouble. The man who distracted the store owner had some kind of accent, the worker said. Robbert is about 10 inches tall, gray and white, with scalloped-looking feathers and a bright red tail. He has a bad right leg that is curved, and the tip of his beak is rounded off and dull. The worker said Robbert talks. He can say "Hello Robbert," and makes many sounds, including car alarms, phones, wolf-whistles, screams, and laughter. Some customers have said they would offer cash rewards for his return. Police have been notified about the bird-napping. Please send your thoughts/prayers this way for Robbert's safe return.<br><br>Post edited by: HeatherStrella, at: 2009/03/07 04:11

I'm so sorry! I cringe when I read these stories. I will keep you and Harley in my thoughts that you will be reunited very soon. I can't imagine the pain you must be in...I'll be thinking of you. Heather

I'm aware of the dangers. I'm looking for a mirror that is "Grey safe". Or perhaps there's a way of attaching it to the cage that would make it safe. Maybe there's a mirror that's encased in a hard wood. ?? There has to be someone out there who has a Grey and the Grey has a safe mirror somehow attached to the cage.

Hey...I'm just wondering if any of you put a mirror in/on/around your Grey's cage? AnnaBella loves mirrors and I'd love to put one in her cage but I seem to remember reading that there's a reason NOT to. Also, it seems like all the birdie mirrors are framed with flimsy plastic. She'd chew it up in no time. If you do, can you tell me how your grey reacts to it and what kind you use...if you don't can you tell me why you don't. Thanks!! Heather

Hey Carol...love your bird room!! Do you have a photo of the whole room? I'd love to see it...if and when we move, I'm thinking about having one for my Grey.

Very cool! Is there any way you could take a picture of the whole room? I'd love to see it.

Aww..very nice looking Grey. He's very handsome.

Thank you guys for the comments. I really appreciate your honesty and compliments. cf737, your photos are gorgeous. I especially like the second photo. I see what you mean, yours and mine are very similar as far as the depth of field. At the time, when I was taking this photo, I really didn't know what I was doing.... I had just picked up the Konica Minolta 7D and I was playing around. A few months later, I found out there was a factory defect and I had to send it back to be fixed. It had trouble focusing...I had no idea this was a problem because I was still learning about photography...so really this photo may be a result of a defect in the camera. LOL :whistle:

I kinda wish I would've had a little time "forced" on me before I got my baby. There are so many things I wish I would've done when she was young. You're lucky you had the time you did. I'm a very impatient person and once I decide I want something, I want it NOW. I researched for a few days until I found a breeder but I didn't really keep in mind some of the important things. I wish I would have put a harness on her first thing, I wish I would have had more people over and have them handle her as she only allows me to hold her. I wish I would have trained her to let me touch her wherever I want to so that if she's ever hurt I can check her out. I have more wishes like that....I hope that since you had this time before you got your baby, that you won't have a wish list like mine.

I would love to get some Legos for AnnaBella. I think she'd enjoy the different colors and sizes and I think I'd enjoy taking photos of her with all those colors and sizes even more!! I'm afraid she'd break them with her beak in no time, has Tango broken any? Although, I see by his eyes, he's still young. He may not be biting down on things/fingers at his full potential just yet. I'm curious how they break...do they crack, break into pieces, or are they flexible enough that they don't break at all? If I did get some for AnnaBella, I think it would be fun to build something and then she could destroy it. Oh darn, I'd have to play with the Legos. LOL.:silly::silly: I love that second picture of Tango, by the way. You should enter your photos to BirdTalk for their "watch the birdie" contest they have every month!! I don't think I've ever seen a pic of a bird with legos before.

Jen, I posted a reply to your thread in the nursery. I {Love-0002011E}those babies!!! Thank you, birdgirl, for your kind words {Nature-000200AA}

OMG!!! I wish I was paying attention!! This a beautiful thread. Babies...wow!! Sadie said "pretty bird"...that's so cool. See? I think it's the girls who are the smarty pants AnnaBella's first words were "hello birds" when she was just a few months old. Forget DNA tests...let's go for the IQ tests!! Ahhhhhh, I'm juuuust kidding. Jen, you posted in my thread that you don't have a good camera to post good photos....hogwash!! These are great pictures...in fact, I voted for yours in the holiday contest...I didn't realize they were "your" babies...as in you hatched them. Anyway, they are such greyt looking babies...I'll follow them as you post now. Thanks for telling me about them and that you posted the photos here. Like I said, though, I wish I had been paying attention....I need to visit all the room more often. OK...have a good one...

Yeah, the blur in front AND back is what I was thinking the problem is. I love the colors...maybe I need to find another one and do a "do over"...thanks so much for your opinions

Hello...I used to love this photo..it was one of my first macro flower shots. I just printed it out to frame it and I don't love it quite as much as I thought I would. I used to think the blurry parts were good...now I'm not so sure that's ok...please tell me what you guys think...be honest...tell me you hate it if you do. thanks!!

Thanks for all the compliments. Lyric, thanks, you should share more of your photos with us. At first, I didn't share many of my photos...to me it seemed like a private thing. Like if I showed my pics to someone, they might see who I really am or something. Ha. I still feel that way with some of my photos so I have a private photo album on my site that's hidden. I can give specific people a password and they can access it. Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you're embarrassed to show your photos because you're shy, just go for it!! If I can do it, you can do it!!! If it's a different reason, then .... well, do it anyway. ha. I'm about to post a photo I need advice on...I hope you will comment.

Thanks so much for the lovely comments ...I used two cameras for these photos...Both Nikons...D40x and D300. All with the same macro lens. Thanks.. Heather

She really is pretty and that box is the perfect size for a foot toy. I don't want to piss on your parade...really I don't. Cigarettes have so many chemicals and it seems like they would seep right through to the box. I know you said she doesn't eat it but it still touches her mouth. There I said it. I know it's none of my business what you do with your bird so I'm done on that subject. She's gorgeous...my little one smacks herself too. It's funny cuz she gets mad when she does it... as if it's the foot toy's fault. lol.. Have a happy day

Hello...long time no see... I've been so busy..as a lot of you, I'm sure. AnnaBella has kept me on my toes and I wouldn't have it any other way. :silly: I've always enjoyed taking pictures of her but lately I've been in a funk. I've run out of ideas on the how/what/where to take pictures of her. Know what I mean? I now have over 200 photos of her in her online album...and over 30,000 on my computer. It may even be double that. I tend to take 100-200 (or more) shots of any subject in any given session to ensure I get a good photo or two. Anyway, I've got a few new photos. I've got several where she's playing with a miniature orange Croc (shoe)...I love Crocs...they're so comfy. I first had it as a key chain but she wanted it so bad, I gave it to her...lol. I'm curious which Croc picture you think is best. A few are too blurry but I like the composition...then a couple are sharp but I don't like the composition...grr..always something. ha. Then, the last two are some artsy fartsy ones I tried with her tail. Nothing special...like I said, I'm running out of ideas... Also, my husband had just given our dog a bath on the day I was taking these photos and she looked so....so...raggy...I just had to snap a photo...she's at the very bottom. She's Sandy...Mini Schnauzer. We don't keep her trimmed as a regular MS, we don't like the beard and eyebrows, we keep them short...like any girl would...lol :lol: (the photo is in black and white) Thanks for looking... Heather

AnnaBella was talking when we brought her home at age 3 months. She was saying "hi", "hello", 'hello bird", "hello birdies"...something else, I forget. She's 3 years old today (12/31 is her hatch day)and says 250+ words/phrases....she learns new stuff very quickly by us just talking to her. Good luck!<br><br>Post edited by: HeatherStrella, at: 2009/01/01 04:04

I have found my bird to be the opposite. When I first got her, she wasn't very cuddly. She seemed to enjoy contact, but no snuggling. I've always been envious of owners who have such loving little birdies. As AnnaBella got older, she became more interested in me and less interested in her toys and such. Now she prefers to be on me when she's out of her cage. She's not all cuddly, but she insists on being on me...I too hold her and walk around the house. I hold things between my knees, do things left handed, and spill stuff all the time!! But I love it!!

Cool...thanks so much for giving me the step by step directions. I'm going to try this with AnnaBella. Thanks!!! Karma...