Nychsa

I don't know, I've felt no compelling need to experiment with free flight. I'm like you Dan, I harness Bella if I take her outside and she really has no interest in leaving my shoulder when we do go out. I know initially it may sound cruel that I have no desire to experiment with free flight with Bella, but I think when I think of the joys of flying, I'm viewing the experience from a human perspective and not from a prey animal. The truth of the matter is prey animals live in constant terror and readiness to make a run for their lives (or in this case a flight for their lives). Living as prey is one of the most stressful forms of existence, something we, as humans, can't relate to being at the top of the food chain. So, when I see Bella happily playing in her safe domain, I'm not sure I would think she is missing anything. I am letting her flight wings grow out after this molt, but that is for indoor flight. She likes to follow me around the house and she usually has to glide to the floor right now and the run after me. My conure is flighted now and when he wants to follow me, he simply flies after me. So, I can appreciate that. But I don't think taking them outside would do anything for them. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong! But it just doesn't seem to me like we're missing anything. Cheers! Terri

Well originally my membership was won through my conure Jigme, but in the mean time Bella nailed me good :blink: We were playing tug-of-war with one of her ropes and she was really into it, I mean growling and spinning around. Then she reached out to grab the rope from me and got my thumb instead :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: That darn beak went right down to the bone I think!!!! I started yelping and to put icing on the cake she started running around going 'ouch ouch ouch' :blink:

Christo wrote: Oy Christo! You think so??? :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: My head is spliting at the seams :laugh: About an hour ago I got a bunch of little strips of leather and tied them into strings of knots and tied them to her playtop. That distracted her - she can't stand to have a knot in front of her, she has to open it, so for the past hour she's been preoccupied. My kids trained me well to deal with a grey - distractions!!!

The have such diverse personalities Christo. It always amazes me! Today I've spent a good deal of the day telling myself I really, really love Bella - I'm home with a terrible cold, head ache and all, and she has been going "Peak-a-boo" non-stop a the top of her lungs! She does all kinds of variations of it too - Peak-a-boo-boo, Peaky-boo, you name it, she's saying it. I know she wants my attention and she's welcome to come join me on the couch, but she wants me to come play with her and I'm just groggy! While I was on the phone with the doctor, Bella got so loud with her mimicking my laugh, my cough, peak-a-boo, beep beep, "hi there pepperoni" (she's talking to my dog:P ) The doctor's assistant finally started laughing and asked me if a child was chattering in the background! When I told her it was my parrot, the whole office came to the phone to listen to her So, I figured I'd take some more aspirin and try to enjoy the peak-a-boo :woohoo:

Hi, in addition to letting your aunt know this is not acceptable, when Ozzie bites, I would put my finger up in front of his beak, make a stern face (they can read your facial expressions) and say firmly "No bite!" and then immediately after that I would muster up as much confidence as possible and firmly tell him to "step up". When Bella was staying with my daughter she picked up some bad habits which I had to immediately deal with once she came back home and I found this to work quite well. She had to see I didn't think it was cute or funny. Cheers! Terri

siobha9 wrote: Isn't that the truth Siobha! I was dumb enough to actually think I could work on the couch yesterday with Bella hopping around on the table! She made off with every single document I had, jumped on my keyboard, got into my water, climbed the lamp to pull off more beads, chased Jiggy off the couch and on to my shoulder, and stole my bread! I finally gave up and did another video of her She really likes to get video taped, she hams it up something awful!

Wonderful pictures!!! She sure looks like she's having fun in that water! Isn't it funny how you can put a decent sized bowl in there with them, but the water bowl is the favorite? Thanks for sharing! She is BEAUTIFUL!

Ok - so she's not going to let me work - she ran off with my papers, she's in my hair (litterally!), and she jabbers every time I'm on the phone! So, I decided to film her playing since she seems to like the film attention - sigh - here she is - Miss Queen Bella saying her Peak-a-boo http://www.mydeo.com/videorequest.asp?XID=20202&CID=189387

Hi there Tracy! Yes, Bella is full of character to say the least :laugh: She is such a little freak with things like the camera - did you see how she constantly either wants to lick it or she puts her neck down so she can get a neck scratch from it :huh: She has a thing going on with my feet I may try to video tape. She's constantly messing with my toes, either nibbling on them or trying to get a neck scratch adn lately she's taken to holding one of my toes with her foot :laugh: I have no idea what her deal is with feet, but she's fascinated by them!

:laugh: Judy, my pleasure! We'll get the video thing down - she's hard to video because she's always beebopping around somewhere and if you move the camera too fast the pictures gets all fuzzy. Then she kept wanting to lick the camera The house has huge windows so there are lighting issues - the light is usually too bright and this little video cam doesn't handle that too well. I do have a good sized digital Kodak camera, but it has a problem- I think it is with the card - I may need to get a new one, just found that one in the packing stuff too. We'll get some better videos soon. Cheers! Terri

Hi there everyone! Well I tried to get Bella to let me video tape her for those who wanted to see her on video - we've had marginal success. She kept wanting to play with the camera, but she did feel like doing her Tutitah dance (and now she's standing behind me going "peek-a-boo" :laugh: But, here's our first film. Please do share your dancing videos! Cheers! Terri http://www.mydeo.com/videorequest.asp?XID=16312&CID=189147

LOL Dan! I have no idea what I'm going to do with those feathers, I just don't have the heart to throw them away. Maybe my grand daughter and I will do an art project with them, maybe make a picture or something 102 degrees - yikes!!! Tallahassee has just been absolutely heavenly. The temps have been in the low 80's and low humidity. The beauty of the area is wonderful - large oak trees everywhere with Spanish moss hangning on them. The managerie seems to love it here too. I joined a local bird club. They baby sit each other's birds - I find that SO comforting. A wonderful couple took care of Bella and Jiggy while I went back up to Baltimore for a couple of days. They have 5 birds - their grey is about Bella's age, wonderfully adjusted! I'm loving it! Cheers! Terri

LOL Dan! yes - I'm working my way up to 1/2 bottle! Yesterday she was sitting with me and I was stroking her and one of her lovely tail feathers came off right as I was petting her Call me crazy ,I'm saving them all :laugh: Since she wanders around the house everywhere I little white downy feathers everywhere. I imaine it would be quite the pile if it were in one place. I just gave her a bath because she was trying to take one in her water bowl. Now she's back at her water bowl trying to pull it out of the holder (she's such a little brat!)

Funny video!! I need to make one of Bella watching your video! She was bobbing her head up and down doing her laugh and cough!

No kidding! That tittle was startling!!! I almost didn't read it because I couldn't stand thinking something had happened to Cosmos!!! I think we need to thump you upside the head for that one!!!

jjcool, My Bella is very active as well. I do a number of things to channel that energy, and frankly, it's a good deal of fun for me too! First she can forage everywhere in and on her cage. On top of her cage she has a playtop with straw on it and lots of goodies hidden in the straw. Her playtop also has ladders and things hanging down so she can climb around and do her gymnasitcs, which she does quite often. Inside her cage she has a block of wood she likes to climb around on and chew, she also has tons of things she can shred. At the pet store I found this simple roll of shredding material, and I just tie that at various places in her cage and she loves to climb around and shred things from all angles. Also in her cage she has foraging opportunities. I have little dixie cups that I've trimmed off a bit, put two holes in them, and then run a little rope through the holes and hang the dixie cups in various places around the cage. Then I put goodies in the cups. I make a little cover for some cups so Bella has open the cup to get the goodies. I also put little pebbles in the cups and hide goodies underneath the pebbles. And sometimes I leave one or two empty so she has to search around. Ugh - speak of the devil, she just landed on my keyboard :woohoo: Let me see if I can finish this without getting harrassed by her! :laugh: I also have rope toys in her cage with lots of knots. She loves undoing knots. She really plays a good deal all day long - lots of energy, and just like a child, I think if I didn't channel that energy somehow she could develop destructive behaviors!!

Oh that is a hoot! Bella unfortunately mimics all kinds of sounds - door bell, micro wave, door alarm. But, she's really made it clear to me what kind of sounds I make! When I want the dogs to get out of the way I say "beep beep", so now Bella uses beep beep for all kinds of things! When she wants to have a drink of my water she frantically goes 'BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!" And then during allergy season she started to mimic my cough. I didn't realize she was copying me (because I didn't think I was coughing that much :lol: ) So I went into a panic! I thought she had an illness! I called the vet and just went crazy on the phone describing this cough, all the while the vet was saying "Terri, Terri, wait, Terri listen" finally I shut up and the vet said "Terri, Birds don't cough! She's mimicking you!" :huh: :huh: :huh: Alrighty then! Talk about making me feel pretty silly! Then she picked up my sneeze, but put a Bella twist on it, I had NO idea what kind of a wierd sounds she was making, but it was loud! She barks like the dogs (which can scare the petudies out of you if you're not expecting it).. So, I've just resigned to the fact that my house is a 3 Ring circus! :laugh:

Oh that is a great video! Karma to you for sharing! No idea what he's up to, but it sure looks "interesting"

Judy while unpacking I found one of my little video cams that attach to my computer (still waiting for my son's wonderous video cam surprise .... drumming fingers :whistle: ) I'm going to put the computer in the great room and see if we can't get some of her stuff on tape. She is a one bird comic show! You should hear her talking to the TV now - she goes badabadabadabadabaddddaaabadda and then she'll say beep beep! :laugh:

Thank you Tracy!! The downy feathers have been coming out for a while, so maybe we're coming to an end of this molt already? She's lost three red feathers over the past two days and two of her large wing feathers. But I can't tell where they were. She doesn't look like she's lost any feathers. I'm wondering if she'll loose the feathers that were clipped by the breeder. If she does, I think I'm going to leave her flighted. The house is quite large, with 9 foot ceilings and I'm putting an outdoor lanai in place. She'll be able to fly around a good deal. What do you think? See Sevi - I'm feeling anxious as well.... it is disconcerting seeing those feathers all over the place! I bathe Bella every other day, and I know she enjoys that. We'll do a good soak again today. She does like to play with those long feathers that came out. She picks at them, but quickly looses interest. She's fixated on two toys I have right now for her that require she figure out how to open them to get the walnuts. So, she'll play with one thing for a few minutes that head back to the two puzzle toys. She got so mad at one of them the other day she rolled over on her back, and beat the stew out of it with her feet while yelling at it at the top of her lungs! Scared the dogs away!

Hi Matt, My routine did change when I brought Bella home, but in a very good way. During the week, I do get up before the birds do (5:30 am). I wake them up around 7 am. I start by opening their cages, and then opening the shades. Since the bird cages are located in a section of the kitchen that is like a sun room, Bella can jump on to my shoulder while I'm opening the shades. She's usually very hyper first thing in the morning and I have to be careful that she doesn't nip my ear or my cheek as she's really into rough play first thing. So, I tumble around with her a bit - she likes to be rolled around, I dangle her upside down, and she likes to swing back and forth upside down, I then roll her into my arm onto her back and tickle her belly and she play fights my fingers when I do that. After we have our morning tumble, I'll make their breakfast. I usually put little whole shredded wheat checks into a bowl, mix it with some Mueslix and fresh flax seeds, pour a bit or orange juice on it, and then a bit of lactose free milk and soak that mixture. She likes to drink the remainder of the milk. Once the mixture is nice and soft I put it into her bowl and add fruits and some veggies. My conure, Jiggy, eats a mixture of fresh fruits and his pellets and some seeds. While they are eating, I get ready for the office. Of course they stay in their cages while I'm gone. When I get home I let them out immediately and they both forage on their playtops. Bella joins me for dinner usually - meaning she sits with me and eats off my plate She pretty much hangs out with me the rest of the evening, sitting on her table top perch (which is actually on the floor because it's too big to put on the table), watching TV with me, or meditating (yes she meditates with me :laugh: ). Before she goes to bed she loves to snuggle. She'll climb around on me until she finds the perfect resting spot, which is usually right under my chin. She'll snuggle really tightly, and will nibble gently on my fingers while I scratch her head. Eventually she falls asleep, and that's when I put her to bed. Jiggy puts himself to bed usually right at 8:30 pm. Bella goes to bed around 10 pm. Cheers! Terri

Yow know Judy, they have a wine maker here in Tallahassee who will do custom wine labels - maybe I need to get him to put a picture of Bella on a bottle and that will be my Bella-is-driving-me-crazy relief bottle

Hi there Acapella - yes, Bella loves getting her head and neck scratched in the opposite direction of her feathers. That's where I saw all those new little feathers coming in. They feel like little pieces of plastic and look like tiny needles. When I give Bella a head scratch she rolls her head in all different directions so I get her under her chin, her throat and all over, she puts her beak straight up in the air and does this kind of open mouth kind of thing, closing her eyes - almost as if she's saying "aaahhhhh" :laugh:

:laugh: thank you for the hugs Judy!!!! Yes, I'm a wreck about this! :unsure: :unsure: Geezum I love that little bird so MUCH! Anything that even remotely looks like it could cause her discomfort drives me crazy! I think I better go to the gym, and get a vigorous work out and then drink a bottle of wine afterwards :S

LOL Judy I need a hug!!!! LOL! The ends of the feathers are not frayed, they look perfectly fine. I have downy feathers everywhere too. Oy, I know she picks up on my body language instantly, so I'm trying not to let her know how nervous she's making me, but this is driving me crazy! I hope she's not uncomfortable. She seems to have an ear itch constantly. Her poor little head is full of those new little pins coming out and I can't help but thinking that must itch something awful!