sandra902

thanks you guys for the support. i was afraid my friend, in her enthusiasm for having a new birdy buddy was moving me along too fast. but i really did take my time in making the decision. we did laugh more than once because when she and her daughter brought merlin to my house they each exclaimed: "wow! she has room for at least 3 parrots in this room!" so i have been accusing her of setting me up for MBs as her diabolical Master Plan. but we have always had multiple katz so why not multiple birds? and i haven't screwed up merlin any worse than when he went into rescue in fact i daresay he is slowly and surely coming into his own even with my being a greenhorn. 'love covers a multitude of sins' i guess!

thanks LMG for the good wishes. pretty big step we're taking but we are all ready, even my offspring who thought i'd gone mad when merlin first came home.

girls girls girls "give him one" does not carry the same sassy meaning here in the states that it does over there.

yes i am bringing home a companion for young merl. his foster mum has a wonderful female eclectus that we believe will be a good addition to the monkey house. she is lively, loves to be handled and loves also to be in the middle of all the action. so she will be a good complement to merlin's more guarded approach to life. we have taken a long time (oh boy since at least january if not before) to consider bringing in another birdy but the more she and i talk it over the more we agree that merl did much better as part of a flock and by observing the good behaviours of his pals. she actually had him stepping up and got to handle him a little while she had him which we chalked up to the good example of her flock. of course i factor in her far greater experience too! so that is the big news from the monkey house. i leave tomorrow for a very quick trip to & from. i wish it were longer but i need to be home saturday nite so it'll be a fast trip but an exciting one.

hello miss pammy tell us all about you!

now they will adore you all the more because you are normal!

ok so they say greys have the cognitive ability of a 3-yr-old. so to me that includes the meaning of the word 'no'. well it also includes the same reaction to the word 'no'... i moved merlin's cage to get ready for the arrival of his companion this weekend. i never thought that its closeness to the drapery would have any attraction for him at all. one of the first things he did when having a scrimble-scramble out of his cage was to approach the curtains and give them a good tasting. i thought that was funny and said 'hey there merl whatcha doin there?' well i was so happy he was not afraid of it as he has been of EVERYTHING that i just remained amused...until i thought a bit more about it and pictured chewed up drapery on one side of the window. so i thought to myself that my children learned 'no no' so maybe we'd give it a try with merl. next time he tasted the drapery i said sweetly 'merlin. no no.' which interested him, so he thought he'd see if my response to his drapery tasting would be consistent. which it was. and it was. and it was. as i could see this was quickly turning into an irritating game i started to praise him for turning away from the curtains after i told him 'no no'. that seemed to work well as a new component to the 'no no game' so what did i learn here? i learned that yes indeed he has the cognitive ability of a 3-yr-old in fact he picked up 'no no' faster than any toddler i ever met. i also learned that he is just as wilful as my children were and happy about it too. but i also learned that he really responds to praise. that pleases me as one does not always have a treat ready at the opportune moment. and when he was alone the next day chattering away he said 'no no merlin' about 30 times to which i nearly burst into the room to defend myself. hey! i did not say 'no no merlin' 30 times! it only felt that way.<br><br>Post edited by: sandra902, at: 2008/05/01 22:48

hey beloit's not so bad i'm just outside of milw. you're just a jaunt down hwy 43

howdy neighbor! i live in WI as well. whereabouts are you?

hey james welcome to the board! my merlin is a rather anxious little fellow, not even as sociable as yours! i am happily envious of you. but, when i want to introduce something new (the ladder for instance which merlin was convinced was some new bird killing device) i placed it away from his cage but where he could see it. after about a week or so of his careful observation i then started placing it at his open cage door. took him a while to start using it, but now he gets big praise when his going up up up the ladder or down down down the ladder. and it is so rewarding seeing him sit like the little king he is on his ladder. one thing i am continuing to learn is that a parrot is not a cat or a dog. my katz and dog are naturally curious about new things, but parrots see new things as threats. it has been a real transition to change my thinking around but it is an interesting journey. merlin and i also have toy-making time during which he watches carefully while i build toys for him. then he knows they are not bird killers when i put them in his cage. hope this helps! -s

what is going on dear one? tell us as much as you are able. oh my goodness, how old is your petite flower? i am afraid i would go MAD if anything happened to my children! you take good care and we are all rooting for you and for your lovely daughter. -s<br><br>Post edited by: sandra902, at: 2008/04/14 01:13

merlin's foster mum is fostering a female vos eclectus for me (she should be coming to the monkey house in may) and miss lucy (my ekkie) and miss libby (her ekkie) definitely do have a bit of a competition going on. i am very happy that miss lucy likes to be handled and to be in the middle of everything. i am hoping she will be a good example for mr merlin. and that is what i know about eclecti. time to start reading...<br><br>Post edited by: sandra902, at: 2008/04/13 16:00

hello carol and welcome! i too am having the same 'problem' with my merlin. he is a 3-yr old rescue that does prefer daddy man to me. he too retreats from me and interacts a lot with me though but on his own terms. not much i can give you in terms of facts or strategies, but i can definitely connect with your concerns and will be watching to see what good advice the others give you. i agree with the concern about 'harassing' your birdy and i too am taking a light touch with merlin. being a dog person i have had to really switch my thinking around! what i do to keep the joy in my day and to reduce any anxiety vibes is to remind myself that these little guys live to 50+ years and we have plenty of time. i spend a great deal of what they call 'ambient time' with merlin because i work from home and he is in my office with me. but perhaps that is working against me too? because having daddy man come in is a big treat for merlin. ah well there is always a flip side to everything i guess and you can drive yourself crazy if you take it too far. does cookie have a special treat that he just adores? i see he likes his peanut so if you are the only one to make with the peanuts that should be a step in the right direction. merlin likes a bit of eggy and i am the only one that makes with the eggy. he loves grapes too and will only accept them from daddy man. sorry this is so long, i guess my advice to you is to find the joy in every day and to embrace the good things you and cookie already have. they say these little guys are very perceptive and having those good vibes might then help your progress. i myself have read 'for the love of greys' several times (it'll take me several times more i am sure) and i also subscribe to Bird Talk magazine. a friend of mine gave me a barbara heidenreich DVD also which really helps me get my head together (being a dog person and all). happy sunday sweetie and again welcome to the boards. are there any bird clubs near you? they are very easy to find on the internet. and do you have a dedicated bird store near you? what a wealth of information there that is for sure. and one more question may i ask where you are located geographically? there might be a board member near you. happy sunday! -s

eee-yikes! i know the recent Bird Talk had a whole big spread on pest control this month.

hey LL the bottle says it should be refrigerated once it's opened. my merlin is a bit 'cautious' so to speak so i have been introducing him to the spray bottle gradually. i have 2 spray bottles, one will hold the aloe spray the other plain water. i find if i spritz the paper in the bottom of the cage, less dust come up when i roll it up. so i show merl the spray bottle and he watches me spritz the bottom of the cage and in a week or so i will try a little gentle spritz or two over his cage and see if he doesn't go 'spud' on us. who knows? he might be a little water hog and we never knew it! but i am usually overly optimistic when it comes to young merlin ha ha ha.

i am sorry to hear it is thor's time to go, tari, sometimes it is a hard decision and sometimes it is a very obvious one. one thing we have always done here at the monkey house is to lay out the animal on the footstool so the others can come to terms with it. however they process death, it seems to be easier if they can see and sniff the body. animals are so much more matter-of-fact than people are that we have found having the one lying in state makes them process it quicker. then nobody is roaming the house looking for the missing animal. just a little tip from us here who have had to help several little loved ones to the bridge.

hey birdzilla welcome aboard! my merlin (3 yrs old) has been with us since oct...6 months now and it surely is slow going, isn't it? but we are going nice and slowly and one day he will step up. in the meantime i have to remind myself that he is not a dog or a cat so i have to be working on parrot time which is a lot longer! find his favorite treat and that is what he gets from the Hand. right now merly likes pine nuts and since they are so small that is getting him real close to the Hand. except in his enthusiasm i did get a couple snappers today! but i made a joke of it and did not let on that he had done wrong. there are so may little joyful things to enjoy with your birdy while you work towards handling. sometimes we get so focussed on the goal that we forget to enjoy the journey. keep up the good work and we are cheering you on all the way! keep us posted as to your progress.

aw mamma i am sorry to hear about your little millie. did you have a thread on her that i could read? then i will better understand what happened.

howdy neighbor i live in racine! mammafawkes is a WI-ite too. what a wonderful tribute to a wonderful friend. i am sorry you lost her so young. what a special little creature!

big daddy was not overly enthusiastic about merlin, but we spent a lot of time talking about it and i just kept giving him good information for each question he asked. daddy does not begrudge me anything really, he just wants to be sure everything is well thought out and not just a whim. and of course as good fortune would have it, merlin prefers him to me! and daddy-man is behind our next bird-to be who comes home from rescue/foster in may. but for me to tell you any more would be hijacking this fine thread. anyway, wikiV, just keep talking and no pouting or bullying or there will be lots of bad vibes when birdy comes home. perhaps exposing your good wife to some well behaved birdies at a bird show or seminar will enchant her!

hey rusty welcome aboard! find the treat your birdy likes the best and then he only gets it from The Hand. my merlin is a rescue bird so we have a lot of ground to make up but he will now take a desired treat from The Hand without hurling himself to the floor. (grape, bit of cheese, bit of scrambled eggy, pine nut have all been very successful) i have found a lot of ambient time spent together is very helpful as well. being a cat and dog person has not helped in my relationship with merlin as he is on the opposite end of the food chain and i have to think more like a birdy does. and with a lifespan of 50+ years i have to look at the passage of time differently too. what i start to work on with merlin today might not come to fruition til weeks and months have passed, whereas in the dog world you can expect more immediate results. i am looking forward to hearing more about you and your little fellow! i will say i have learned a great deal from this forum and venture a guess that you will too.

ah miss tracy there is no shortage of laughter between merlin and mamma! so i am glad to hear that is a Good Thing. it really disturbed me the first time i heard him imitating my laughter but now i love it. i sit outside the door sometime and just listen to all the amusing things he has picked up. thank goodness i do not swear in front of him, the worst i say is 'monkey's butt' which he has not yet picked up. and i talk to him like a krazy bird lady and if i am quiet too long he gets me going again. i do admit i worried about the smiling=baring of teeth so i will put that out of my mind now.

thanks LMG for this listing now that i know i am not in fact killing my bird (new mamma syndrome - it passes) i am learning merlin's silent language. at first i thought 'hackles raised' were similar to a dog's (back off) but now i'm learning in merl it is 'happy feathers' and he does what i call the sailor dance when i come in in the AM, head down, wings half open, walking side to side on his perch as he knows mamma always gives him a splendid treat first thing. to me it suggested aggression, but given the circumstances (treat time) i guess it is a happy dance. ha ha ha maybe he is really saying 'make with the treats ma or somebody gets hurt' edited to add: so let's turn the tables here. i have wondered if my smiling at merlin might be misconstrued by him as baring of teeth? Post edited by: sandra902, at: 2008/03/30 16:19<br><br>Post edited by: sandra902, at: 2008/03/30 17:19

what wonderful snaps! The Grape is one of merlin's favorites! i give him half grapes and big daddy gives him whole ones. The Grape was one of the ways BD won merlin over. i think i have BD trumped with bits of eggy. not really that is really wishful thinking as merl does invite BD to touch his beak but does not invite me to do so. guess The Grape did win after all!

i found this soft sided collapsible cat carrier that i thought merlin might like as a fort. i found one of those toddler toys with a wooden base and the big beads they could make go up and down the metal/heavy wire hills. so i propped it open on the floor near the base of his ladder thinking it would be fun for him. um, no...it was a new bird-killing device from the devil's daughter. ah well! they are each little individuals that is for sure.<br><br>Post edited by: sandra902, at: 2008/03/29 23:04