Talon

Yes,this is a much needed thread to think about. I have my 3 birds willed to 3 of my kids, but I think I want to rethink who gets who.....also, need to have an emergency plan other than my travel cages at the foot of my basement stairs. It saddens me very much and breaks my heart to imagine my birds having to go thru the rest of their very long lives wondering what happened to me.....did I abandon them? When will I come back? Will I ever come back? After all, my birds are so young, there is no question they will live a lifetime without me. I know they will miss me and miss the life they have with me that no one else will provide in doing the 'little' things we do together. Their routine, the things they are used to.......I feel very bad that I will be, in their eyes and hearts , just deserted from them......there are times I wished I had given more thought to what will their lives be like without me, was it fair to them........don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I am their best parront, and that no one else will give them a better life, but I worry what their lives will be like. What if my kids get so busy with their lives, they leave them in their cages most of the time, etc. I hope not, but you,can't predict the future....seeing as my kids are still teens and young adults....they have a long time before they settle in with their lives.......... So, yes, I am worried, concerned, and do need to put plan in place...

I have all the parts cut, end caps on, sanded the writing off, washed everything, just got back from Home Depot as I couldn't find my 1/4" drill bit....and my sisal rope is 1/4" . I just finished lunch and am off to do the hard part...drilling the holes...wish me luck! Will check back later for an update!

I agree with Dave. IT appears you are trying to hard and too fast to "train" your bird. Especially if you cant even get it out of its cage for other things. Perhaps you should back off a bit, let him learn to trust you 'outside' of HIS home. Let him venture out on his own terms, if you allow him to come around on his own time at his own pace, training him to do what you want will be easier & it will happen faster, but only after you have established a bond with him, and that can take months...

Janet!!!! WOW WOW WOW! I am so happy to see Louie on your shoulder! I couldn't believe my eyes! I knew he would make ity there eventually, but so fast! That is fantastic! All thanks to you and your incredible patience with him. I lOVE the video, Nilah always pulls my pictures off the walls onto the floor, how do you have them so strongly attached? Also, is that grip net in front of your window? How does it work, my birds go onto my windows and chew the wooden parts, does it keep them off perhaps? I would imagine they like the sunshine while on the net.

Thanks all for caring about this ongoing battle. It is still a battle at bedtime with Nilah flying off when I get her close to her cage. I have to keep my other hand at her enough so she can't spread her wings enough to fly off. Some nights I have had to shut every light in the entire house off to get her in her cage, that always works, but it's a pain to run around and shut everything off. I continue to work at it and mostly focusing on breaking her routine of bite, step up, bite etc. I am making progress in changing out her routine. Moseying as I work 4 nights a week, I have been putting her in her cage a bit earlier, and then my daughter covers them while I am at work. I will keep you updated as things progress, but she absolutely does not want to be put to bed!!! Any other time, I have no problems putting her in her cage. Must be the darkness....

Thanks, I bought all the needed supplies today. Will let you know how it goes, hoping to work on it this weekend. Thanks again for taking the time and sharing!

Welcome to our family! Congrats and bless you for taking in Pepper. I look forward to hearing more. Love the pic!

That was so cute! Thanks for the smile today!

I use the hard plastic chair mats under my bird cages to protect my hardwood floors. Easy clean up!

That was hilarious! I can picture the whole event. Too bad it wasnt on video!

A out how long is the space between rungs? I'm guessing 4 inches roughly? And is it attached to the ceiling by hooks? And they are strong enough? I love the way you have other things attached to it. What a great room!

Yay! Thank you so very much! I think I might make this my weekend project! I will let you know! Thanks again, my parrots hopefully will thank you as well!

I have very high ceilings and a giant oval window in the front of my foyer. My birds tend to fly up there on occasion as if to say ha ha, you can't get me.....I have a cheap and easy solution when they are strutting back and forth across the window sill. I have a coat rack right near the front door, hanging on it, I have those cheap colored plastic Marci GRAS bead necklaces that I bought at the dollar store. I pick one up and toss it up there, and off they go! It works wonders, now all I have to do is put my hand on them and say their name and off they go! I have a glass chandler hanging in front of the window, and all it took was one time each of landing on it and the unsteadiness of it wiggling and the sound of the glass hitting and moving sent them off and they have never tried it again. Try the beads, they work great!!

Works at my house also. On the days I vacume and wash the floors, my birds tend to bathe in their water bowls on their tree stand. I always wondered how my cleaning set them to bathe.

I would and I am sure others would love to get your supply list so we may try and copy your design. It looks perfect, but hard to see the dimensions, etc, and how you did it.

Yes you can, LOL! I had a very small one from a stand I stole it from...no, I'm not that creative...

Yes, we have been waiting patiently for these! What a beautiful flock you have. I am so happy to finally see them. I can imagine the joy they must bring you.

Love the bird room! Especially enjoyed watching him swing like that, he was having a blast! Where did you get that long ladder between things? Did you make it? I would love one of those. I like the way the room feels like a giant tree for them.

Is funny the different opinions our parents generation has. My father was appalled when I first got them. He said, " how much did that cost?" and was floored when I told him. He said, " you spent how much. What a waste of money" and then some derogatory things...I came back with this, "well Dad, at least I have something to show for my money for the rest of my life. You spend all your money on beer, and what do you have to show for it?" he never said anything again! Yup, he raised a smart daughter!!! LOL

Thank you Dan for that great info. I didn't know about any of that. I am very leary of the Zoo med avian bulb. As you may remember, Talon got a serious 'sunburn' on her eye from when I used that bulb. It cost me lots of $$ in vet bills and even the vet couldn't figure out what happened, he thought it was an eye infection and I had to be mean and put eye drops in her eyes for many days with no success of cure. It was a couple of weeks before I figured out it was the new bulb I used. The bulb WAS more than 12-18 inches away as recommended.

Aerial,I have 8 as well. Some hidden, some not, but all nicely done and very tactful in my opinion. It's funny, I got these tattoos when I was in my early 20's. One is a wrist bracelet of small flowers, one is a small butterfly on my other hand and a flower signature type line on the top of the same hand. Tattoos had been illegal in the state i live in at that time, sowe had to travel out of state to get one. So, only bikers, ( yes i had a motorcycle too, but was not a biker girl) Soon after I got those, I opened a dance studio in a stuffy, snobby town, people were offended by anyone with a tattoo. I had the worst stares when ever they saw my hands, I was able to cover the others, but not my hands. They looked at me like I had some kind of offensive disease........ Fast forward 25 years, tattoos are now legal here, many parents now have tattoos. It has become quite common and no big deal. Kind of funny...

That was so cute! I loved it! Nilah wasn't too happy, she thought they lived here..

Thanks Dave. It is such a beautiful art form to watch. I have had the honor of working with many Acro/ contortionists over the years at my dance studio. They are a special group physically abled kids. Not everyone is born with the ability robed like that. Usually it's an inherited trait which can be enhanced with training. It does not hurt them, I know for a fact....

I made this strictly for feeding at the table so the other birds don't chase her away, so there is o reason to have a toy on it. If you saw my house, you would understand, I have things hanging everywhere, tree stands, perches etc. it looks like I live in a giant bird cage!!!!