spookyhurst

:laugh: What a character! He sounds a lot like a stubborn little monkey I know *I'm looking at you Nikko*. I bought her a new playgym around last March, and yesterday was the first day she sat on it...for a whole minute :silly:.

Have you visited the female yet? If not, I'd recommend it. Sometimes it's a matter of a grey choosing you, rather than you choosing a grey. There could be an immediate love connection between you two :kiss:. They both sound like they would be very good birds though, so I'd probably just choose the one you click best with. Welcome to the board, and be sure to keep us informed of who you decide to bring home ! EDIT: You beat me to the punch dbhelix!<br><br>Post edited by: spookyhurst, at: 2007/11/08 03:48

That's so sad . Is your CAG exhibiting symptoms? According to what I've read, if your bird is healthy, he should be retested in 90 days to make sure the first test wasn't a false positive. As for how to treat it, it sounds like your doing all you can. Beyond making sure your bird is getting good nutrition, you just treat any complications as they arise. I hope your Too doesn't catch any of this. Maybe since she's older, her immune system will be able to protect her better. PBFDV is more common in younger birds.

Many online bird store carry them. Google "Adventure Bird Pack" and you'll find many of them. The price varies, so you'll want to look around for the best deal. Sometimes "The Perch Store" puts them on sale. Here's a picture of me and Nikko at a Blessing of the Animals event:

loviechick wrote: :laugh: I know what you mean! Nikko would never stand for me getting so personal with her :ohmy:.

I've heard of putting apple cider vinegar in water or food for health benefits. It's in one of the books I have, but I forget which one. However, here are a couple sites that talk about its benefits: http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/features_applecidervinegar.mgi http://www.cagenbird.com/vinegar.htm

I take Nikko out with me, but not in a harness (I haven't been able to get her in one). I have a backpack/cage called an Adventure Pack. She loves to ride in the car and go out and meet new people. It's another good way to socialize your bird .

Someone I met on another board has the same vet as me. She said that when she took her new TAG in for "his" first checkup, the vet said that the bird had a good egg laying pelvis and starting calling the bird a girl, even before the DNA test. Well, the tests came back and...it's a boy! So pelvic bone spacing in not necessarily a good indication of sex.

Thanks for the PM Talon, I didn't realize their was an Edible Person content. The entries were so cute! It was hard to pick just one :silly:!

I hope you make it to Arizona sometime! I don't have any serious issues with Nikko, but I do need to learn to handle her better. For instance, I need to learn how to towel her so I can trim her razor sharp toenails. I'm glad you joined us Ken!

I've always read that Caiques are clowns, I guess this video proves it :side:.

All but the last picture are old pictures of the gym. I've since replaced the 6 perches with natural wood branches, and replaced the vet wrap with perch cozies (see the thread and more pictures at http://www.greyforums.net/forums/african-grey/38204-perch-cozies.html ). <br><br>Post edited by: spookyhurst, at: 2007/11/07 04:14

I picked out some plain, non-frightening fabric to make the cozies. It's nice and soft too . My mom sewed them. This is the top of the cozy: And this is the underside: These are the veerryyyy scary wood perches that needed to be covered: And this is the hemp rope that I wrapped around the PVC to give it better grip: And these shots are of the cozies placed over the hemp rope. You can see by all the food crumbs why I wanted something that I could easily take off and wash :

Yes, cohesive bandaging is vet wrap. The wrap that was underneath the "perch cozies" became hard and brittle, and the wrap that was exposed became sticky. I had to use rubbing alcohol to get the residue off the PVC. Soap and water just didn't do it. We used a little glue to hold the hemp rope to the PVC. Since it's covered with a cozy (the hemp underneath is for grip and comfort), she can't get to it. As long as the glue is non-toxic, it doesn't matter anyway. Just make sure your bird isn't in the room while it's drying because of the fumes. I'll post some pictures of Nikko's gym later today.

I'll take some picture later today .

Nikko hasn't been around children much. When my niece (5) and nephew (10) visited, I told them to leave her alone. My niece gave Nikko's playgym a wide berth whenever she walked by, but my nephew was drawn to her. I don't know how many times I told him, "Don't do that," when he would do things like grab her gym and shake it or poke at her with something. When he poked at Nikko with one of her toys, she didn't bite or lunge, but she did give him one heck of a dirty look :laugh:. While I think Nikko was more quiet than normal while the kids were here, I think she kind of liked the extra activity around the house. She always seems game for visitors.

I think it's a grey, but the video is a little dark. They added the perfect song. The beat matches the bird hopping up and down like a madman :cheer:. http://www.break.com/index/the-techno-parrot.html

Congratulations Liath! You ol' smartypants .

The bird rescue I got Nikko from got in 2 Moluccans about a year ago that had been abused. The one had been thrown against a wall opening a gash on its chest. The abuser didn't bother to get the bird help and the wound festered. I believe it was the guy's mother that finally turned the birds over to the rescue. It took several surgeries to get the chest wound closed because too much of the tissue had rotted away. Yet somehow, the bird remained a sweetheart (it's mate was more skittish) and allowed the wound to be treated daily without a fuss. When I saw Peaches picture, it reminded me of these 2 poor birds.

I didn't use any glue on th PVC gym we made for Nikko. We had to use a rubber mallet to pound the pipes into the connectors, so no glue was needed. Initially, we wrapped the perching areas with cohesive bandaging, but over time it became sticky and ucky and had to be replaced. I eventually got tired of it and came up with a new method. We wrapped the perching areas with hemp rope, and then my mom made fabric "perch cozies" to go over them. They're held on by velcro, so when Nikko gets them dirty, we take them off and wash them.

What a cute birdie! And I love the name . My bird's name is Nikko (she already had that name when I adopted her), but I call her Beaker or Beakie more than anything. Poor Peaches, I can't imagine abusing an innocent animal. Glad he's found himself a real family that will treat him right .

She's gorgeous :kiss:. I love those dark innocent eyes that babies have! One other thing you can try with your baby is explaining everything you do to her. Sounds crazy, but it seems to work. For instance, if Nikko is on the kitchen counter and I'm about to run the blender to make me a delicious milkshake...drool...I'll say to her, "Big noise!" to warn her. When I want to touch her, I'll ask her, "Want some tickles?" Sometimes I'll also tell her how she will always be safe here and we'll always take good care of her.

One other thing. Nikko didn't allow me to touch her body for a month or two. At first, she would lower her head for a tickle, but only let me touch for a couple of seconds. She gradually (over a month or so) let me scratch her head for longer periods, and then let me touch her back. Some nights she can't get enough pets and tickles, and others she wants none at all. But since you have a baby, I bet she comes around faster. How was she at the breeders? Did she like to be touched, or was she more independent?

When I adopted my TAG, she was 4 years old. She had been at the bird rescue for a couple of weeks, which was the first time she had been handled by someone other than her original owner. When I brought her home, I had each family member hold her everyday, even if it was just for a minute (my dad isn't much into birds, although Nikko has grown on him). When someone comes to our house, I also have them hold her for a little while. I started taking her for outings in her travel cage about 6 months after I got her. Nikko was very meek and agreeable (she has since become more independent ) when we first got her, so it was easy to socialize her with people. You now have multiple opinions on socializing your bird, so are you now more confused than ever about what to do :pinch:?

It's actually really easy to build one. If you could get someone to cut the PVC into the right lengths for you, you could put it together all by yourself. Nikko recently had an "Extreme Gym Makeover," so it's now an improved version over the one you see in the video .