danmcq

Welcome Carol!! LOL - I love it "he actually recognizes his little "spiderman" bowl" They are amazing intelligent creatures aren't they! It sounds like you are off to a great start with a very rewarding relationship wit Cookie. We'll look forward to hearing much more about you two. :-)

Good morning to all...it's 4:50am here, great day to be alive and just know your all out there!! :cheer:

Darn, it stands only at 50% on Dan for president :-( Well, I do feel great, my ratings right now are higher than all the other candidates percentage wise!!:laugh:

Tari, You have Kim and My condolences. These precious pets fill our lives with such joy, unconditional love and truly become one of our family. It is always sad and heartbreaking when their much shorter lives than ours comes to an end. Best wishes to you dear.

My Conure "Jake" tries to defend Dayo when I am going to get him off the counter top or else. That crazy Conure will run over and start beaking me like a Jackhammer :-) Then Dayo defends me and runs him off!! B) They are too much LOL!!

Wonderful video Jimmy :-) We all have different approaches and opinions on the Finger nibbling. I and Kim have let Dayo nibble and test our fingers and toes since day one. At first he did bite the nails hard, but not the flesh. He knew the difference. The nails took a few days to get him to understand how much pressure was allowed on them. He did crack one of my wife's nails while learning :-) but he has not done so now in the last 2 months. The way I figure it (I could be totally wrong) is that they are smart enough to learn and know how much pressure is acceptable and where. The only time this goes out the window is IF they do not want to step up for example cause their having fun, then the pressure increases proportionally to how much they want you to leave them alone. :-) The only time Dayo has bitten me fairly hard and it did bring blood, was when I was first trying to get his aviator harness on. He got the strap around his foot and it freaked him out. I don't know if he cared what he bit at that point, he just wanted that freaky thing tangled on his foot OFF. :woohoo: So, you you need to make a decision on your own on this one, based on your gut feeling and how your new baby is acting. Much like the decision to shoulder or not etc.<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2007/11/26 15:59

Same as Siobha, I started giving Dayo showers when I brought him home at 16 weeks old.

Welcome Fayez!! You will find a lot of information on this Forum helpful. Most of your questions may be answered by entring what you wish to search for. Of course, we also welcome questions and comments :-)

Welcome Tiffany!! Wonderful introduction :-) We'll look forward to hearing more from you.<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2007/11/26 15:36

Thank you all for your wonderful comments. :-) I appreciate you all deeply also. You may not believe it, but you have left me speechless {Characters-00020078}<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2007/11/26 15:06

Ah ok, it's great that he steps up for you. You must get him used to you holding his Talons. You can practice that at times you are just holding him or carrying him, but not to his cage. That way, when you do carry him to the Cage he should be used to it and you will have control over him not being able to fly off. This is this most important part. You mentioned you become fearful, I know it's hard, but he can sense your fear. If at all possible, you need to be confidant and determined to accomplish placing him back in his cage. He will be able to detect your confidence as well :-) I would stop using the Towel since he is obviously frightened by it and is starting to associate your husband with it. You can work on him getting used to Towels by just having one on your leg or on the arm of a chair your sitting in when he is with you. This will slowly desensitize him of the Towel.

Wow, thats very soon Judo :-) Your wait is almost over now!!

Hi Heather, This is the right place. Your doing great :-) In regards placing your new Grey back in his Cage...Does he step up for you? If so, simply firmly, but not too tight, hold his Talons between your thumb and finger he is riding on. That way he can not jump or fly off as you are placing him back in the Cage. Is it possible to pick him up with your hands, one on each side of his body and carry him to his Cage? Lastly, would he step up onto a perch you could carry him back to his Cage with?

Welcome Kris!! Can't wait to hear more as you and your new Grey become acquainted. :-)

Nice video Makena!! It's hilarious watching him try to grab the water spray. :-)

Thanks for considering other options MadKarma :-) You summed it up nicely by stating that both have the right to their own beliefs and each should respect and be sensitive to the others. An example - We have a Jehovah's Witness that not only disdains these Holidays, but anything to do with every holiday we observe in the USA. They hold the same disdain for Holidays and National observances of every Country of the World. To accommodate that persons beliefs, we do not include them in the plans announcing Potlucks or get togethers for other national observances or Birthday observances we have at work. What we do for this person, is allow them to leave work for that time to use as they wish. :-) It works out well for both and no one goes without compensation in one fashion or another. Karma back at Ya!! :-)<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2007/11/25 23:15

Others may not agree with me on this one, but Dayo loves to pick and chew at my fingernails and does not harm the skin. he knows the difference. So I reward him by letting him continue because he knows the difference. He also knows how hard he is allowed to pick at my nails...not enough to crack, but enough to enjoy it somehow in his own little way :-) The act of a time-out or the like, should be reserved only for a behaviour you never want to take place again and should only be applied for the most severe behaviour. Just a no and a movement of your nail away from his beak should be sufficient to change the behaviour. You may need to repeat it several times, but he is smart and will pick it up very quickly.<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2007/11/25 20:53

Turkey is all gone here....BUT, theres still lots of Ham ;-) Weather is cool, cloudy and hopefully helping to put out the raging fire down in malibu today.

What a tragic story of that poor Grey. That is a VERY TOUGH decision only you can make. I do understand there are very tough guidelines on bringing a Grey back into the USA. I believe (could be wrong) that you must be able to prove he was not captured in the Wild. The best scenario would be IF you could afford to rescue that poor guy, nurse him back to health and show him what a true loving and caring home is like. There age does not matter, as far as being able to tame him. But, it does make it more of a challenge. Then, if you could not bring him back, you could find a good home for him before you came back. If that was the case, you could start looking months a head of time, find someone and start letting them come over and ensure they are a match and getting along well before you must leave. It would be heartbreaking to leave him there, but if possible. it would be the right and humane thing to do. :-) As I prefaced this with though, only you can make that dicision.

Laurie - You Wrote: "Dan - have you ever considered running for a public office of some sort? Even your "signature" quote makes so much sense, and would appeal to so many people..." Well thank you :-) No, I haven't actually. But I would like to see people with common sense, good morals and the interest's of "We the People" get into the running, rather than the rich or already Governmental "Good Ol Boys Club" and make good sound decisions that benefit ALL, not just the generous, bribing large corporations wanting to ensure their bad products and philosophies are continued no matter the damage and ill affects they have on us all and this planet. Also, I would not go to War in a Country because "They wanted to harm my Daddy"......but claim I am protecting us from "Weapons of mass destruction" But hey, if you want to write DanMcQ in on the Ballot, I'd appreciate it

Welcome Kathy!! Nice introduction and it's great to have you here. What type of bird do you presently have and for how long? There is a ton of information on this website you can find by simply typing in the topic to search for. There are also many members here that will be more than happy to answer any questions you have on rescue and adoption. :-)

Dislike - What Commercialism and it's message has taken away from the Holiday Season. It has tried it's best psychological driven tactics by using expert consultants over the years to turn our upcoming generations into the mind set of buy,buy,buy. It has driven the message home that if you love someone, you will show it by purchasing lavish gifts. If You don't, you do not love your spouse or children etc. It is up to every generation to pass on our values and morals to the next. Always remember, they are only one generation away from extinction and loss. Likes - The love, family time, great meals with good conversations, remembrances, acquaintance renewals, reunions and all the things we value the most in life our Family and friends.

The statement that had the most impact on me in this wonderful tribute to Alex in BirdTalk was: "He had a way of studying the people in his life and coming up with a quick conclusion of exactly what he thought of you; more than that, he seemed to truly know you - all about you - in a glance. So often it almost felt as if he was reading your innermost thoughts" I have seen this in Dayo and other Greys. They are much deeper in understanding and awareness than I believe we can ever comprehend or appreciate the depth to which it goes.

Hi Badkarma - You Wrote:"Probably the thing that upsets me the most is why do we need one or two stupid days a year to do something special for someone". My Answer - We don't...thats NOT what this time of year is about..... It is a special time of year that has existed for thousands of years in every religion and culture around the world. The Majority of people DO observe this time of year. All I can say, is the ones that don't appreciate the reasons for it. Should be respectful to the literally Billions of people that do observe them. As your co-workers respectfully do not include you in the conversations about it now that they know your feelings.

Hi Ziggy - You Wrote: "I re-size the picture and it still tells me that the resizing thumbnail has failed" Where are you re-sizing the "Thumbnail" at and secondly, why are you resizing a thumbnail? It is best to start with the original photo, then open it in your editor, re-size it down to a width of 500 maximum and then "Save As" and name. then use this new downsized photo to upload to the forum Topic you are posting in. The path look correct to your photo, but it appears their is something wrong with the image file itself. Another way to go about this, would be to upload your photos to Photobucket.com. Then copy the link their and paste it into your post using the () String, with out the parenthesis I put around to stop it from providing a false link.