spookyhurst

If only I had the camera out tonight, I could have gotten Nikko rooting around in her nare with her claw. What a sight :sick:. My mom wondered just how deep and how long she was going to go :lol:.

I first saw N'Kisi on a show on Animal Planet (Jane Goodall: When Animals Talk). This bird is amazing :ohmy:. You can read about him at the following sites: http://www.sheldrake.org/nkisi/ http://www.newyorkcitypets.com/nkisi-parrot.html http://www.usatoday.com/life/2001-02-12-parrot.htm

I posted this in another thread, but thought it might get missed there, so here's its very own thread . The first segment of the video is about how Alex has been trained, and he demonstrates his knowledge. The second segment is about a bird rescue, and the third segment is about how they're finding ways to entertain parrots (Alex has his own web browser that he can use to listen to music, watch videos, etc.). Scroll down to "Entertaining Parrots" to watch it (you'll probably have to cut and paste this very long link). http://www.pbs.org/saf/1201/video/watchonline.htm?user8=pbs-saf&template8=publishmain.html&query8=scientific+america n&squery8=squery%3D%252BClipID%3A4%2B%252BVideoAsset%3Apbssaf1201&select7=2670149&submit8=GO

The last issue of Bird Talk I got devoted much of the issue to senior birds. Arthritis in the feet and wings was something most birds get when they get old . There was a picture of an old scarlet macaw, and she was really wrinkly and crinkly. It made her look quite wise .

Anybody here read the leaked version of the book? I downloaded it, but I need to reinstall my Adobe reader before I can look at it. I'm going to my local Barnes and Noble tomorrow for their Harry Potter party. The World Wildlife Zoo is going to have a show that features animals from the book. I'm guessing owls will be the main attraction .

Here's a video with Alex the African Grey that has a segment about a web browser they're using to entertain him (scroll down to Entertaining Parrots). He can use it to listen to music, watch videos, etc. I believe it's the last segment of the program, if I remember correctly. The whole thing is good though, so I recommend watching all of it . http://www.pbs.org/saf/1201/video/watchonline.htm?user8=pbs-saf&template8=publishmain.html&query8=scientific+america n&squery8=squery%3D%252BClipID%3A4%2B%252BVideoAsset%3Apbssaf1201&select7=2670149&submit8=GO

I give Nikko a few sunflower seeds a day, maybe 5-10. They have some good fats in them that are essential to a bird. She likes them, but I think she could take them or leave them. She prefers nuts, like almonds and pine nuts. I agree with Lidia, so long as a grey has a varied well-balanced diet, seeds are fine in moderation and won't cause any problems.<br><br>Post edited by: spookyhurst, at: 2007/07/17 17:23

Nikko loves stuff like crackers and tortilla chips, but I limit them. I also wipe off any excess salt particles stuck on the chips. The ratio of potassium to sodium that should be fed to a bird is 3:1, so perhaps if you feed a high potassium food with nachos, it will balance everything out? Just a wild theory. Nikko's blood work was pretty good recently, but her potassium could stand to be a tiny bit better and her sodium a tiny bit lower.

I ordered one . Nikko is very excited, although she thinks I'm cheap for getting the unadorned one. However, I think I'll do a better job because the finished one probably has a lot of stuff on it that wouldn't interest her (she's a bit of a picky butt :side:).

Congratulations on your new friend! It sounds like you're doing a good job with her. Take your time, and she will adjust. When I adopted Nikko, it was probably 2 months before she would let me tickle her head, but with every passing month, she became more accepting. You can also try feeding her soft warm foods (like squash, potatoes, oatmeal, baby food) with a spoon or your fingers to help facilitate the bonding process. I think changing your birdie's name if fine if you want to do it. I adopted Nikko when she was 4, and ultimately kept her name. However, we hardly ever call her that. She has a ton of nicknames (Beaker, Tweeters, Beakie, Nikkie, B, Beaks, Beakie B, Nikkie Beak, etc.) She probably doesn't have a clue who she is . What names are you considering?

I think Joshua should have a talk with his file hosting service about why his pictures weren't up during the final vote. Maybe it was a conspiracy (or Nikko bribed somebody :ohmy:)! Nikko says he is welcome to join her inside her Jolly Ball if it would make him feel better .

This is Nikko's big brother Spencer. He is a 9 year old Shih Tzu, and is terribly jealous of her. Nikko loves to torment him :evil:.

Thanks everyone ! Nikko is going to get a really big head. She has already demanded that I buy her a Jolly Ball as compensation for her tremendous modeling skills (I just ordered it, the spoiled little brat). My dad said his favorite picture was the grey in the argyle sweater.

According to the following site, mulberry is safe. We used to have a lot of mulberry bushes where we used to live, and the wild birds loved to hang out in them. We had purple poop all over the place :sick:. http://www.mdvaden.com/bird_page.shtml<br><br>Post edited by: spookyhurst, at: 2007/07/14 05:30

Bobby Brinker has a book called "For the Love of Greys" that has some really good breeding info in it.

Is the 10 inch a good size for a TAG? I've seen a 14 inch at another site, but they wanted a freakin' $85 for it :ohmy:. I think I'd like to just buy the plain one and decorate it myself. Nikko loves to get in closets and drawers, so I think she would absolutely love this toy. So long as she doesn't decide it's a nest and start laying eggs :unsure:.

I have a full spectrum lamp by Nikko's gym that I leave on for the whole time she is awake. Now I might be nuts, but I feel like she became much less fussy after I started using the light. She sits as close to it as possible too. The lightbulb I use is an Ott Lite which has a CRI of 95 (I believe 90 is the lowest you want to use for good effect).

As far as I know, I don't think so. I've seen the question posed many times, but have never actually seen a definitive answer.

I'm from Arizona . Beautiful day today, only got up to 102 degrees . I have that foraging DVD too. Very good ideas in it! I'm also going to build Nikko a foraging tree. Until then, I'm trying out some stuff on her regular gym. I hang a rope down from one of the perches. At the end of the rope, I tie a crushed dixie cup with an almond (in shell) inside. She hoists the rope up with her beak and foot, chews through the dixie cup, retrieves the almond, chews through the shell, and happily eats chows down. Keeps her occupied for quite awhile. Initially, she didn't like the idea of working for her nut, but after a couple days, she seems to be having a lot of fun with it.

Nikko's vet "shaped" her beak a bit when we visited. He used a dremel first, and then kind of "shaved" off a few flakes. I don't think it was very traumatic for her, and her beak looks very nice. It's nothing I would ever want to do myself though. However, when I was a kid, I had a parakeet whose beak grew out of control. It would eventually poke into his chest, so I used to clip the end of it off, and never had a problem. Hope Charlie is feeling better soon! Wing clipping is a very personal issue, some for it and some against it. I'm for it for safety reasons. Without clipped wings, Nikko might decide to fly up into the ceiling fans, or fly into the kitchen and land on a hot stove. I don't want her dropping like a rock either though. She has 3 feathers clipped on each wing which keeps her from gaining altitude, but lets her glide when she does take off.

I got the instructions from a book called "Parrot-Toys and Play Areas : How To Put Some Fun Into Your Parrot's Life" by Lauren Shannon-Nunn and Carol S. D'Arezzo. I've made a couple of modifications since the pictures too. The cohesive bandaging is great in theory (makes the perches comfy), but less so in practice (it gets grungy looking fast). We made a fabric covering that goes over the criss-cross base so that it can be taken off and washed (we still have the bandaging underneath so the perches aren't slick). I also replaced the 6 perches (the spiral staircase and the 3 perches with the cups) with natural tree branches. EDIT: I'm having an upper GI tomorrow morning . Hopefully this will be the last test I have to have for awhile. Now if they would just give me some good medicine, because the stuff they have me on now ain't working .<br><br>Post edited by: spookyhurst, at: 2007/06/21 08:29

We made one of Nikko's playgyms out of PVC. She really likes it, and it was cheap and easy to build. You can look at the pictures at my photobucket album. http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e373/spookyhurst/Playgym/

Oh, I forgot one of Nikko's favorites: eggs. She LOVES scrambled eggs and the yolk from hard boiled eggs.

A variety of foods is really good for your grey. The very healthiest are green leafy vegetables (kale, mustard greens, collard greens, etc.) and orange fruits and vegetables (sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, papaya, cantaloupe, etc.). Unfortunately, I have yet to get Nikko interested in the green leafies. She just throws them on the floor . But thankfully, butternut squash is one of her favorites. She likes the seeds too. They really have a pungent odor, but she thinks they're a delicacy. The one food to avoid is avocado. It's deadly to them. And of course chocolate. It seems like that's bad for all animals.

For pellets, Nikko eats Pretty Bird African Special, Goldenfeast Goldenobles (organic), and Fruity Zupreem. She also eats lots of other stuff. For breakfast, she has oatmeal with soy milk and flax seed, banana, a piece of walnut, cheerios, and grape nuts. For lunch, she'll have a piece of whole wheat bread with a little peanut butter, apple, and grape. For supper, she has vegetables (usually carrot, peppers, cucumbers, radish, corn, peas, squash, and/or potatoes) as well as whatever we are having (anything from spaghetti to fish to pizza). At bedtime, she has an almond or pine nuts. She also has seasonal items, like tonight she had some watermelon. Sometimes I'll make her some cook and serve foods, like those from Goldenfeast, Beak Appetite, and Crazy Corn. Occasionally, she'll have some sunflower seeds, but not too many.