dblhelix

Great info Dan! The effect of ultrasonic frequency on birds appears to be in question. My guess is that these pest deterrent devices are advertised as if birds cannot hear them etc, but who knows how they gathered data to make the claim. In addition, the integrity of the data is subject to scrutiny. Many many products, even in the highly regulated human drug world for example, are claimed to be harmless only to later be irrefutably proven differently. None of us should jump to conclusion w/o having reasonably solid data to support it. If I had installed these things in the room of my bird, shortly later noted the bird acting strange, removed the devices and observed my bird returning to "normal" I would highly suspect the device...<br><br>Post edited by: dblhelix, at: 2008/04/19 20:47

Interesting Dave. Have you used them in the same space as your birds? Babette8008 indicated that the emitters were plugged into 4 outlets in the same space the bird was in. Seems suspicious to me, but tough to know for sure. Either way I would not want to "surround" my pets with high frequency pest deterrents. I could see using them elsewhere around the house though.

Hello and Welcome!! B)

Hi Kristin, Congrats on the wedding! Makena does not look so bad! I would definitely stay away from meds unless its a last resort after several avain vetrinary opinions. I fully agree with Dan and others, this is behavioral. We need to study the behavior(s) and causes and work to eliminate the source. You know its certainly no surprise that Makena has been affected by the wedding. Think of all the stress, time, planning, stress, excitement, new people, activity, stress, did I mention stress?, etc etc going on over the last few months and particularly the last weeks leading up to the wedding. I thought our wedding was pretty simple, but there is no doubt the entire thing consumes a ton of energy and this is sensed by our pets and affects them. The fact that you are soon going to be moving and now preparing for that is only going to be more "change" and routine disruption for Makena. But, you cannot shy away from that for you or him! He needs to go through it just like you and you need to balance time with Mak, reasurring him all is ok and frankly letting him learn that he will need to spend time alone etc. I know you are working on this and its waaay easier said than done. I am keeping my fingers crossed for you both and confident you will all make it out of this stronger! Go MAK, get them feathers BACK!! B)<br><br>Post edited by: dblhelix, at: 2008/04/19 18:17

I have the Aviator Harness and am trying to train Kip to wear it. She was not trained as a real baby and does not like the thing going over her head. I have been working with her now for 4+ months. She is not afraid of the harness, will climb on it, beak it a bit etc. She will also now usually let me sort of drape it over her body. But if I try to put over her head its not a pretty site....a few attempts have resulted in me being bloodied in the melee that ensued along with her screaming as if she was being attached! I keep trying and am making progress but its slow going. I think the lesson is that you should try and introduce the harness as early as possible (Kip was about 1yr old when I started). Of course each bird is different. I am confident I will get her to accept with time and persistence, but it sure would have been easier if she was used to it as a baby (say 2-4 months).

We have earthquakes in California pretty regularly. Each time it scares the heck out of Kip, particularly if they happen at night. Its very scary for them to be woken up with no one around and the very thing they consider to be stable is rattling around and maybe even shaking them out of sleep off their perch. Kip seems to have taken them all in stride, though she is literally "shaken" up and scared for about 1/2 hr after it happens. I think Coco will be fine.

Congrats!! Regarding the talking, well just look at the number of posts counter for different users and that "says" a lot!! Ha ha In greys there really is not much difference. Comes down to the birds own personality. Ours if female and talks up a storm. Some bird species there is a difference. For example male budgies are almost always more vocal than females.

No personal experience but I have always thought those devices would be potentially bad for household pets. Most animals hear and see at different frequencies or wavelengths than we do. If something is designed to deter, annoy, disrupt "pests" its reasonable to expect they would do something similar to our pets. It seems your first hand experience is powerful data that these devices may in fact cause problems for birds. If you noted a problem that came up when you introduced the devices and then went away when you removed them that seems like a pretty sound evidence. If you do use them, certainly dont use them in the same room as the bird. B)

I would probably stay away from that with the bird. If the jacuzzi area is enclosed (eg indoors, under roof etc) where the cholorine vapors could be concentrated I would definitely not bring a bird into that environment. If its outdoors probably not as big a concern. However, the truth is it could be fine most of the time but if the spa was recently supercholorinated the vapors may be too concentrated for the bird to handle. I say keep your bird away.

Looks normal to me too!B) Regarding your reference to getting Tuki's wings clipped again now...have the primary flight feathers already molted out? How old is Tuki? If the flights have already been clipped there is no use clipping them again until they molt out completely and are replaced with new feathers. Feathers are not like hair that continually grow. Regarding pros/cons on the clipping issue please do read up on that. There are many posts on this site and information availabel to help you make that deision. One thing for sure, many a clipped bird can and does fly away. Make sure if clipped you do not have a false sense of security on that issue.

Hi Pchela and welcome! Timneh/Congo are both great. Some size and coloration differences but most personality diff's are really just that...just like you and me we are all different. Its not so much Congo vs Timneh as it is inherent individual personalities and the environment that shapes/affects personality. I dont think you can go wrong with either. both can be good talkers, but you never know even with that from bird to bird. Rescue is a really great thing to do, but getting a bird with "baggage" can be more challenging. If you are up to it though it can be extremely rewarding and certainly there are many adult birds that need good homes. What is your living situation? what I mean is how much time does your daily routine allow for you to spend with the birds? More needy birds will likely need more time. Personally I would get a 4-8 month old Timneh or a 8-12 month old Congo. The species do mature at a little different rate and you can reduce the chances of them switching "favorite" people of you stick to those age ranges...though even with that there is no guarantee. Male babies are much more likely to switch favorite people from care taker to another simply as part of the mate seeking they go through as they mature. Females are much less likely to do this regardless of when you get them. So for me, I would go with a young bird so I have a better shape of training it, molding it and picking a breeder/hand feeder that I feel will socialize the animal well. these things can make a lot of difference in the overall personality of the animal. However, some people are really up to the challenge of rehoming a bird in need and the reward of really giving a needy little one a good home and a new beginning. My next bird will be a re-home for sure, when its time for that! Not sure if any of that helps. I am sure others will weigh in. Keep us posted on your decision and feel free to ask away! B)

There was a lot of this odd grammar in old posts. I think at the time there was a group of international members using some sort of language translation software. Or, they were just an odd bunch messing around! I need to get back to deleting some of the really old posts. Much newer info available these days, though some are fun to read and still have value. I wish there was a way to globally blow away old posts (need high ADMIN access for that). But if I could get at the DB tables it would be so much more efficient. Otherwise its 1 post at a time, wait for the page to refresh, drill all the way back to the early threads. Its painful! B) <br><br>Post edited by: dblhelix, at: 2008/04/15 03:11

Great pics, thanks for sharing. Chloe is super cute. Nice bike too. I hope you plan to ride with more safety gear than short sleeves, shorts and standard sneakers. The road rash on arms and legs from 1 otherwise minor spill can be horrible with bare skin. Hopefully you never have the shiny side down, but small things like covering up (even in warm weather) can make all the difference... :ohmy: B)

The average AG has over 2,000 feathers.

The short answer is...You can't keep the area around the cage clean! :woohoo: Ha ha. We have a vinyl type flooring mat under Kip's cage. We bought it at home depot for $15.00 and cut to size, about 1 foot in all directions bigger than the cage footprint. Works well to catch droppings, food flingings, seed husks etc and most can just be brushed up daily. I scrub the mat weekly for more thorough cleaning simply using hot water. Maybe a mild soap/diluted bleach on occassion or as needed. One thing for sure, life with a bird is life with a mess! Its impressive how they can turn small things into huge messes in very little time! B)

Repetition is key to getting behaviors you desire. Getting compliance at bed time can fall into this category. However, just to play devil's advocate, I do not think having a "set routine" is so important and for that matter to rigid a daily routine may make them less receptive to change in general. Its all about balance. Keep working with them, they will get it! B)

I would not worry about it too much. They will more or less live on your schedule and basically be happy to be part of your routine. They do need to get some undisturbed sleep (just like you and I), but if they have quiet time during the day they will nap and balance it all out. B)

Greys are monomorphic, meaning there is no way to reliably tell the sexes apart w/o DNA or surgical testing (or if they plop out an egg!) B)

Does sound like a night fright episode. I aslo choose not to cover for the reason BMustee indicated plus then there is no need to have them covered by sitter etc if you go away on vacation. Kip has done this type of thing a few times at night but it has ALWAYS been when there was a small earthquake. That scares the crap out of her, waking/shaking her up in the dark...dangers of living in California.

Keeping the ants out is key. Nice ideas on options there. However, a very good way to keep them out of the cages (if they get in the house and are determined to make for the cage) is to note where the cages touch the ground (either the feet or wheel assembly etc). If you put a thin coat of vaseline just above the floor touch points the ants cannot cross this barrier. This is a method I use in the house and outside to prevent ants from getting to humming bird feeders. Works great and lasts a looong time...

Awesome!! B)

I am sorry to hear of this loss. Wising you and Nicholas the best going forward. Please keep us posted.

The Aviator harness comes with a 20-30 min instructional video and the clips of the Macaws are taken from the very video. Nice link though for people considering purchase to review

Very interesting, Thanks Dan! I get Kip outside for some sun at least weekly and often daily. No substitute for the real thing, but proper indoor lighting is an asset.

OUCH. At least we live in a time when repair to such injuries is possible. Best wishes for a full recovery.