spookyhurst

Soldier is coming along great! You must be super proud of your boy .

Terri, that's interesting! About once a week, I go to a site to download some ROMs. There is a little shoutbox there, like our chat box, only you don't register, so you choose a handle each time you visit. Without fail, every time I'm there, there is a person impersonating another user and saying nasty things under their name. I don't know if it's one person who has no life, or multiple people that do this, but I've never understood why they get their jollies off of slandering other people :dry:.

Ok, I gotta ask, what the heck is a Bodhisattva ? Sounds exotic B).

Nychsa wrote: I remember it was African Greys, and I'm thinking I read about it in one of Maggie Wright's books or websites. People brought their greys and they sat in a circle. They passed each other's greys around so that they got used to being handled by many people. I'll do a search and see if I can come up with some more info. Nikko goes to the vet once a year for a checkup. I'm sure the vet could probably sign off on something saying she was negative for any icky diseases. I do take her out in public though (the park, stores, etc.), so I don't know if that would invalidate such a certificate. She doesn't have physical contact with any animals or humans while we're out, but I suppose she could be exposed to something that was airborne.

Wow ziggy, I've read several of Nychsa's posts and she seems like a perfectly nice person. Why the vicious attack? I'm not particularly familiar with your posts, but weren't you one of the people who said you were leaving and never ever coming back :dry:?

I also add 4 drops of Grapefruit Seed Extract per gallon of water to kill any nasties in the water. I can't remember where I read that tip, but I thought it was a good idea.

What's up with all the conflict on the board lately? There always seems to be somebody cranking at someone else, or someone threatening to leave and never ever come back. Has the holiday stress finally made everyone go crackers ?

Oohhhh, Hawaii! Me likey . I think a grey get-together would be fun too. I've read of places that do it (everyone has health certificates for their birdies to prove they're healthy) as a way to socialize their birds with new people. Nikko loves people, and has shown a lot of interest when we've seen other birds in pet shops. We haven't seen any greys, but the doves and cockatoos really drew her attention.

My Nikko, 6 years old, has become very lovey over the last month, mainly with my mother. Typically, she likes to have her head and neck scratched, and occasionally her back petted. But now she likes to be touched all over (depends on her mood and time of day of course). Sometimes she tries to regurgitate for my mom (and sometimes my dad), but not everyday. She also sometimes makes a squeaky sound and drops her wings, but again, it's not daily. We just try to distract her. Whenever I hear my mom scream, "Ack!!," I can pretty much figure Nikko has made her move . Usually this behavior starts sometime in November, and ends sometime in January. I tried to take a picture of Nikko in the throes of passion (is that wrong :ohmy:?), but she had settled down a bit before I got the camera. Still, it shows pretty good what your bird looks like when she's in the mood for love:

Putting Nikko in her room when we have visitors isn't a good option with me. She will fuss and fuss and fuss because she wants to be where the action is. She seems to enjoy it when people come over (even though she does act a little shy with direct attention). When my aunt and uncle visited for the first time, she even cried when they left. I guess she had already accepted them as new flock members. Even though the children were pests, Nikko was very tolerant. When my nephew poked at her with something, she gave him a "WTF are you doing?" look, but didn't lunge or bite.

Make a pamphlet and test them on it. No playing with the bird unless they get at least a 95% .

I've done the same dumb thing, Nikko LOVES the outdoors, and when she was clipped, I would step outside on the back patio to let her look around. One of my neighbors likes Nikko, but can't come inside because she is wheelchair bound. I brought Nikko out to the front of the house, and I can't remember why, but she spooked. She was clipped, so it was her usual glide down...but it was out to the street :ohmy:. Our street is pretty quiet, but there is the occasional crazy person who drives down it a hundred miles an hour. Much to Nikko's dismay, she can now only go out in her travel cage. I wish I could get her to wear a harness, because she just loves being out in the open.

For the most part, my visitors (with the exception of children) are good with Nikko. If they are interested in holding her, I will pick her up and then ask her to step up on their hand. One of my dad's friends was sooooo good with her. As far as I know, he had never been around birds. But when he held her, he talked softly and explained everything to her (like he told her he was going to take his glasses off so he could get a better look at how beautiful she was . He was a complete natural. My problems lie mainly with children. I don't know how many times I told my nephew, "Stop that," or "Don't do that," when he would do things like poke at Nikko with an object or shake her gym. Apparently, he has long forgotten the time when he pulled my conure's tail and Jesse latched onto his tender child flesh (it was mainly my brother's fault, since my brother often pulled Jesse's tail to tease him :angry:). I do have one other problem with adults. When I take Nikko out in her travel cage, people seem to be compelled to stick their fingers in her cage :ohmy:! Just what is going through their minds? Do they think she's going to nuzzle them or lick their fingers? Also, I often share the story about how Nikko bit my mom (a person Nikko absolutely adores)for no apparent reason, causing major bloodletting and a bit of nerve damage (her finger was numb for a long time). I also let people know that she is wild, not domesticated, and that she has the temperament of a 2 year old child.

I don't eat a lot of fast food. I had a record of probably 3 years where I had nothing more than ice cream from Dairy Queen. However, I started mystery shopping a year or so ago, and so my fast food consumption had gone up quite a bit (at least I don't have to pay for it . Unfortunately, due to eating more of it, I also have started craving more of it :pinch:. If I'm not shopping a store though, I probably don't eat fast food more than once a month, if that. I allow Nikko certain fast foods. She can have a little pizza (we had Peter Piper Pizza tonight ), macaroni & cheese, mashed potatoes, biscuits, etc. No meat though, and if a food is greasy, she can only have a little bite. She loves it when we eat at IHOP, because I bring her back pancakes, scrambled eggs, and hashbrowns. Tonight, Nikko ate squash, carrots, and apples with her pizza, so I don't think that was too bad. We don't have many chips. Occasionally, I'll get a craving for Cheetos (not very often though), and Nikko likes to try them too. Other than that, we just have tortilla chips, which Nikko loves. I love cookies ! I get really yummy sugar cookies at the bakery, and let Nikko have a nibble off of one. This isn't everyday though. I just believe in moderation. A little junk food once in awhile won't do me or Nikko in...hopefully .

When I adopted Nikko, she came to me with nothing at all. She was 4, and had been with her previous owner since she was 8 weeks old. She had a new house, new people, new cage, new toys, etc. We also brought her home very close to bedtime. She was frightened of her new cage and it was difficult to get her in (she clung to the door for a long time), but that was the only issue. By the first morning, she was doing very well. So I think Talon will do just great . Plus, in the wild, this is about the age she would be considering new digs anyway .

briansmum wrote: Thanks, it's nice to know that Nikko's normal .

The other night, Nikko let me inspect her head/neck a bit more than usual. When I parted the grey feathers, I saw she was bald on both sides of her neck. I was a bit concerned, but my mom thinks that maybe she rips the downy feathers out with her toenails when she scratches. The skin is very soft though. I love the way it feels! Nikko is 6, not a baby. Is this normal for an older bird?

Glad to hear that Soldier is coming along well! I love seeing updates about the little guy .

It's not a grey, but a caique. I saw the original on YouTube that was posted by the bird's owners. It's super cute though! Wish Nikko could cut a rug like that . EDIT: I refound the video at YouTube, and the owner says, "This rascal really knows the moves. A marching caique. This video is made during a renovation after a waterdamage in both kitchen and bathroom. All kitchen inventory is stacked on top of each other. Mannfred decided to have a marching session. She enjoys doing that. She also bounces up and down the ordinary caique way. She is a blackheaded caique and originated from the Brazilian Rainforest."<br><br>Post edited by: spookyhurst, at: 2007/12/16 07:08

My vote for the poor birdie's name is Trooper. I also like Jengo, which is African for "One with Reddish Complexion," since it probably had a pretty red tail .

I gave this suggestion for renaming Indie, and will suggest it again here: Trooper. He/she certainly is one to have survived so long.

I'm a bit of a perfectionist. Before I hit submit, I click on spell check on my Google toolbar :blush:. sandra, here a t-shirt for ya : http://www.cafepress.com/cp/moredetails.aspx?showBleed=false&ProductNo=46737922&pr=F

How old was Red when you rescued her?

And they strike again (the negative karma police, that is)! I'd say someone doesn't like me very much. At least I've given them a new hobby :silly:. Back to PBFD, does anybody remember the user name of the person who said their grey was diagnosed with it? I think they also had a second grey that had polyoma, and a cockatoo. I'm curious about how her birds are doing now. I hope that the cockatoo didn't come down with anything .<br><br>Post edited by: spookyhurst, at: 2007/12/13 05:46

Tari wrote: My TAG is 6 or 7 and she still wants her oatmeal every morning . There was a woman on another grey board who had a bird that was around a year old and it still wasn't weaned. She thought it was normal, and would have gone on handfeeding it forever if it weren't for an unfortunate accident. She fed the bird formula that was too hot and it burned its crop (the bird recovered just fine ). The vet was shocked that the bird hadn't weaned and informed the woman that this was not the norm. What a lazy little bird :silly:. Has anyone else heard of a grey refusing to wean?