spookyhurst

Thank you Talon :blush:, that was very kind of you to say! I've always kind of thought of our girls as long lost sisters, they're alike in so many ways . It would be kind of nice if there wasn't a thumbs down. Then you could give karma to people you think have said something really well, and just move on if you don't. I've seen new people's karma go down into the negatives if they say something unpopular, which probably doesn't encourage them to stick around and learn more about how to better care for their Grey.

Goralka08 wrote: Well, my karma is way above what it was thanks to you guys . Nikko was like your grey once. She really didn't know how to fly, so when she wanted to go somewhere, she would fuss and flick her wings till I picked her up. I'm not sure when she decided to give flying a chance, but she was quite clumsy about it and her landings were terrible. Pre-wing trim, she had progressed to being able to fly almost anywhere she wanted, and could land quite well! But like you said, it led to her getting into a lot of mischief :evil:. She also became more bitey, and would refuse to step up from her landing spot (somewhere she wasn't supposed to be). Since I'm not the favorite person, I received the bulk of her abuse. The wing trim caused an instant transformation. She doesn't bite me know, and steps up when asked. It's strange how a little independence can turn a bird into a little monster at times.

LOL :lol: Sometimes I think my dad does need rehomed, but then he'll go and be sweet with Nikko. She loves it when he gives her any amount of attention, and dances when he sings to her. I wouldn't worry about you karma Shanlung . I, for one, really enjoy your advice and stories!

Thanks guys! In the future, I'll pay no mind to cranky karma stealers . It takes very little for my dad's temper to flare, and although Nikko is usually a great little bird, she does a good job of angering him. It really bugs him when she makes her high pitched peep, or even when she whistles little songs. He says it hurts his ears, which is weird, because his hearing is terrible. He really really hates it if she flies when there is food on the counter or table. Tonight, she was able to fly the short distance from her gym to my shoulder at the dinner table, reached down to the burger I had at my mouth, and ripped off a piece of cheese. I could see my dad's blood boiling, but thankfully he chose to keep his mouth shut. He even stayed at the table (normally he would grab his plate and sit in another room). Nikko doesn't make it a habit to fly to the dinner table (I feed her first, so she's usually satisfied), but tonight she just picked at her dinner, and when she saw I had cheese, flap flap flap flap :silly:. It's a good thing he wasn't around the day Nikko was eating carrot soup out of my bowl :ohmy:. I guess some people are bird people, and some people aren't.

Well someone didn't like that I clipped my bird. My karma went down again. I swear, every time I post, someone gets cranky about what I have to say. Weirdness .

Nikko "helping" build the kitchen island:

Nikko hasn't been clipped for about a year and a half. She used to be very good about staying on her gym, but lately had taken to breezing around the house at will...usually to do something that would get her in trouble. My dad was always getting angry with her, so I decided it was time to clip a few feathers. She won't be seeing her vet until spring (it's a looonnnggg drive), so my mom I decided to finally suck it up and do it ourselves. After brushing up on the technique by looking at sites on the internet, we felt more or less ready. Poor Nikko, she was unsuspectingly sitting on my bed when we threw a towel over the top of her. My mom picked her up and positioned her as best she could, and I pulled her wings out and clipped off 3 on each side. She cried horrible cries (she always does when getting clipped), but it was over pretty fast. I didn't do her toenails, because I didn't want to over-traumatize her. When we let her out of the towel, she wasn't angry at all. If fact, she wanted to sit on my shoulder for comfort. Her general attitude has improved in the days since too, namely she has quit biting the crap out of my hands when I go to pick her up from someplace she doesn't want to leave. Nikko can still fly, but she really has to pump her wings instead of effortlessly breezing about. This has curtailed her trips quite a bit. It's kind of sad though when she glides onto the floor instead of making it to her destination. I hated to do it, but ultimately, she'll probably be better off without full flight.

Nikko has a playgym in the kitchen, and we recently built a large kitchen island that is just a hop over for her. Yesterday, I was trying to make cheesecake, and Nikko was much like the bird described below. I don't know how many times I've removed parrot from counter/drawer/cupboard/side of bowl and returned to perch :silly:.<br><br>Post edited by: spookyhurst, at: 2008/12/22 17:10

I've also seen this titled, "How to stuff your Parrot for Christmas" so we better bump it back to the top. Is Dave the original author of this? I've seen it on many sites, but it usually says "Author unknown. And to make this even more Christmasy, here's "How to Wrap Gifts with a Parrot in the House." I don't know who the original author is: 1. Clear large space on table for wrapping your special gifts. 2. Go to cupboard and collect bag in which gifts are contained, and shut the door. 3. Open the door and remove bird from cupboard. 4. Go to closet and retrieve rolls of wrapping paper. 5. Go back and remove bird from closet. 6. Go to drawer, and collect transparent sticky tape, ribbons, scissors, labels, etc. . . 7. Lay out gifts and wrapping materials on the table to enable wrapping strategy to be developed. 8. Go back to the drawer to get string and remove bird that has been in the drawer since last visit to collect string. 9. Remove gifts from bag. 10. Remove bird from bag. 11. Open box to check gift, remove bird from box, replace gift. 12. Lay out paper to enable cutting to size. 13. Try to smooth out paper, realize bird is underneath and remove bird. 14. Cut the paper to size, keeping the cutting line straight. 15. Throw away first sheet as bird chased the scissors, and tore the paper. 16. Cut second sheet of paper to size -- by putting bird in the bag the gift came in. 17. Place gift on paper. 18. Lift up edges of paper to seal in present. Wonder why edges don't reach. Realize bird is between present and paper. Remove bird. 19. Place object on paper, to hold in place while tearing transparent sticky tape. 20. Spend ten minutes carefully trying to remove transparent sticky tape from bird with pair of small nail scissors. 21. Seal paper with sticky tape, making corners as neat as possible. 22. Look for roll of ribbon. Chase bird down hall to retrieve ribbon. 23. Try to wrap gift with ribbon in a two directional turn. 24. Re-roll ribbon and remove paper, which is now torn due to bird's enthusiastic ribbon chase. 25. Repeat steps 12-21 until you reach last sheet of wrapping paper. 26. Decide to skip steps 13-17 to save time and reduce risk of losing last sheet of paper. Retrieve old cardboard box that is the right size for sheet of wrapping paper. 27. Put gift in box, and tie down with string. 28. Remove string, open box and remove bird. 29. Put all packing materials in bag with gift and head for room with a lock on the door. 30. Once inside lockable room, lock the door and start over by laying out wrapping paper and materials. 31. Remove bird from box, unlock door, put bird outside door, close and lock again. 32. Repeat previous step as often as is necessary (until you can hear bird outside door). 33. Lay out last sheet of paper. (This will be difficult in the small area of the toilet, but do your best). 34. Discover bird has already chewed the paper. Unlock door go out and hunt through various cupboards, looking for sheet of last year's paper. Remember that you haven't got any left because bird helped you wrap gifts last year, too. 35. Return to lockable room, lock door, sit on toilet lid and try to make torn sheet of paper look presentable. 36. Seal box, wrap with wrapping paper and repair by very carefully sealing with sticky tape. Tie up with ribbon and decorate with bows to hide worst areas. 37. Label. Sit back and admire your handiwork, congratulate yourself on completing a difficult job. 38. Unlock door, and go to kitchen to pour yourself a drink and feed bird. 39. Spend 15 minutes looking for bird before reaching obvious conclusion. 40. Unwrap present, untie box and remove bird. 41. Go to store and buy a gift bag.

I remember getting an email from them saying that if you order now, you'll get this and that free + free phone consultations. Day 2's email said that due to overwhelming response, free phone consultations were no longer included but they would give you something else. Same thing with day 3's email. So I used a second account to sign up for their emails. I got the exact same ones and in the exact same order. I knew then that they were nothing more than scammers, because legitimate companies aren't going to use such awful marketing techniques.

Dr. Irene Pepperberg is going to be on "The Bird Talks" Sunday night. Here's the email I got: I can't tell you what an honor this will be for all of us. The Bird Talks Live Training Webcast EVENT: The Bird Talks Training Webcast SPEAKER: Dr. Irene Pepperberg of The Alex Foundation- http://www.alexfoundation.org/ DATE & TIME: Sunday, Dec. 21st at 8:55pm Eastern FORMAT: Simulcast! (Attend via Phone or Webcast -- it's your choice) TO ATTEND THIS EVENT, CLICK THIS LINK... http://www.AskTheBirdExperts.com Dr. Irene Pepperberg is an adjunct associate professor at the Dept. of Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA. She is also a lecturer and research associate at Harvard University, in Cambridge, MA. Irene Pepperberg studies Grey parrots. The main focus of her work is to determine the cognitive and communicative abilities of these birds, and compare their abilities with those of great apes, marine mammals, and young children. She is studying the mechanisms of their learning as well as the outcomes. Feel free to cross post this is a free call, so all who want to attend are welcome. See You on the Call. To Fun Bird Training, The Bird Talks Admin ::Welcome to Bird Talk:: TheBirdTalks@yahoo.com

Nikko adores her Adventure Pack and highly recommends it to all birds!

BMustee wrote: The same happened with Nikko and me. I called her a boy for the first 6 or 7 months, and lengthened the name her original owner gave her to Nikodemus James. Then I was talked into a DNA test by my groomer. My little boy became my little girl . Of course she already knew how to say she was a good boy, but now she says she is a good girl too. My nephew was here when I got the DNA results, and he thought I should rename her Nikkarella :sick:. EDIT: Forgot to mention that the family has since gotten used to thinking of Nikko as a girl. It's now hard to believe I ever thought she was a boy!<br><br>Post edited by: spookyhurst, at: 2008/09/11 07:07

BMustee wrote: People on staff have vet care training. That could probably carry over a bit for a human medical emergency . I live in the NW Phoenix area, so Nikko and I could come down and visit you and Tracy some time :laugh:. There's a story on their website ( http://www.the-oasis.org/articles/2005_fire.php ) about how a fire came very close to the Oasis. They had to pack up 400 some birds in the middle of the night to evacuate, although in the end, the fire was put out before they actually left. It's an interesting (and scary) read. Being out in the middle of nowhere definitely has a few disadvantages.<br><br>Post edited by: spookyhurst, at: 2008/09/07 23:38

You can also do a working vacation at The Oasis . I'd do it if I were in better health. Dear Friends of The Oasis... We can ALWAYS use volunteer help....with projects or with bird care giving. Interested? We have a wonderful little guest-house set in the woods with futon and blow-up mattress, shower, micro-wave, toaster over, fridge and freezer. We ask folks to come for a week or more but we can be flexible within reason. Interested in one or both??? Call me.... Syb -- Sybil Erden, Executive Director The Oasis Sanctuary www.the-oasis.org 520-212-4737

Too hot? Piffle . It's only 81 degrees in Benson right now .

I got an email saying that The Oasis bird sanctuary is looking for more 2 new staff members. Take a look: The Oasis Sanctuary is looking for two new staff members to join The Oasis Team. Do you want to work at a Sanctuary? Has it been your goal to learn ll you can about the birds and their care? Are you interested in hard work and life in the country? If this sounds interesting, please read the ad below. I would love to her from you! Sybil 520-212-4737 The Oasis Has Employment for a Two Persons Who can share living accommodations… Are you the people we are looking for? The Oasis Sanctuary currently seeks two hard working, bird and animal dedicated persons to work full-time at the Sanctuary. We are looking for either a couple or two friends who feel comfortable sharing a nice three bedroom single-wide on the Sanctuary's property. The Sanctuary is located in the unincorporated community of Cascabel, a very rural location in south eastern Arizona, 40 minutes from the closest town or schools. We are 26 miles north of the town of Benson Arizona. The Oasis will provide a modest salary, housing with most utilities, and a medical plan after 90 days. We promise you the hardest job you will ever love. Job description: ANIMAL CAREGIVER….Feed birds, wash dishes, clean cages. Candidates must be able to work full time 40+ hours a week with dedicated team of professional staff members. Candidates must be able to do bending, kneeling, sweeping, raking and able to lift 40-50 pound feed sacks. Additional skills which are beneficial but not essential: mechanical or maintenance skills, fence building, electrical or plumbing, vet-tech expertise. The Oasis will train the right candidates for these jobs. Pets are, of course, invited, although birds must all be tested to the Sanctuary's standards before coming on site. -- Sybil Erden, Executive Director The Oasis Sanctuary www.the-oasis.org 520-212-4737

I had a parakeet who got his foot caught in a chain that hung his mirror. He panicked, and broke his toe. It healed so that he had 3 toes in back and 1 in front . He got around fine, but I know the toe bothered him sometimes by the way he held his foot. Joey received no care for his toe (I was just a dumb kid in a small town with no bird vet), so Brandt is bound to be better off.

Aloe vera gel is also good to put on a bite. It helps take away the pain and makes it heal faster.

Were you wearing anything unusual when Raz bit you? I know some greys will get upset over a small change, like bright red fingernail polish, a certain color clothing, a hat, jewelry, etc. Nikko has bit me on the bridge of my nose before, but luckily not the lip. How painful !

Nychsa wrote: I love it Spooky! Yes, outlaw is about right :laugh: Duskys are hard to find from what I understand. Jiggy found us - he made sure he caught my attention at a pet store and held me captive until I finally bought him and everything he needed Just think, all I went to the store for was dog food! Jesse did the same thing with me . He was the first bird I looked at at the pet store, and then I started looking at the other birds. He was practically doing backflips to get my attention back on him. When I held him, he didn't want to go back in his cage. I found out the poor guy had been there for 6 months, so no wonder he was so anxious to find a home.

Nikko is an odd one. The things that frighten her don't make a lot of sense. For instance, we're redoing our kitchen right now. There's lots of loud noises, the cabinets have been moved around, tools are everywhere, and she doesn't bat an eye. She just runs around what's left of the counters exploring all the changes, and trying to look/crawl into dark spaces. Now place a very small tree branch on the counter, and she freaks out :pinch:. The vacuum cleaner is an entity of evil as well. If there's a place we don't want her flying to, we just lean the vacuum up against it and she stays away.

Here's one last Gulliver video. It shows some pictures of him with his people in Kiribati, as well as pictures from his party in San Diego. Even the dog who was shipwrecked with him came to his party : http://www.azfamily.com/video/?z=y&nvid=273350

Our kitchen is being remodeled right now. Nikko's gym is right next to it. When it gets really loud, I bring her to our bedroom. Even though we can still hear the racket, she just tucks up a foot and goes to sleep. However, she is a TAG, and people say they are more adaptable. How does Tobie react when he's put in new situations or hears a loud noise? Does he handle it well, or does he freak out?

I used to have a Dusky Headed Conure. He was nameless for about 6 months. Then I decided on the perfect name: Jesse James. He was my little outlaw .