Nychsa

Laurie, protecting one's self is really the best way to ensure nothing untoward ever happens to your information. Unfortunately the many different ways to have your information stolen is too numerous to list and most of the ways are quite low tech - your mail box, your trash, all those things are wonderful locations to find information about people. Paying with a credit card at a restaurant where someone is using a device to copy credit card numbers. Those then get sold on line, in chat rooms - for pennies. So, it really is important for all of us today to take care of our own data - you are absolutely right! :cheer: Terri

Hmm Hawaii! I've nver been! If all goes well, I'll be 1/2 way there soon. I'm game! Will Makena have us???? Do we need a bribe???

LOL I can totally empathize Jimmy! I'm finding since getting Bella I am SO careful about what I eat because she comes flying over and starts foraging around on my plate as if it were the communal plate! I tried to have a talk with her and explain to her that I'm at the top of the food chain for a reason, but all she does is give me kissies and then lick my lips :blink: Well, my doctor couldn't get me to eat healthier, but my parrot can LOL!

*sigh* I wanted to stay out of this one, but I guess maybe I shouldn't. Joanne - I acknowledge your credentials as an IT professional. I'm an IT Security professional - yes, with multiple graduate degrees, and professional certifications in the field and over 17 years of experience serving some very interesting organizations. Now that we have the credential issues out of the way - here's my take on this matter: 1. Is it a good Web administration practice to allow users to provide detailed residential information into a public forum? Probably not. As a general rule of thumb, any web site administrator should only gather as much information as needed. It's best for the user and it's best for the web owners (the less information they store, the less oversight they need to exercise over said data) 2. Does a user's home address and telephone number pose a significant risk to a user's identity, thus exposing a user to identity theft or stalking? Stalking - yes, identity theft - not as much as if it were the SSN. Telephone numbers and addresses can be easily found in telephone books. If someone wished to steal someone else's identity and would require the home address and telephone number, they could look it up on line in the "White Pages" - or easier yet - Google the person. We leave countless electronic bread crumbs all over the Internet - everyone should Google themselves every now and then. However, this information would really only be required if your SSN or account numbers have been compromised. They are secondary forms of identification. The bottom line: this is not the only web site that provides fields for address and telephone entry. Like I said, it's not the best practice in the world and I'm not sure why the owners put those fields there - my guess is it was benign with an eye towards social networking. I don't know how invovled it would be to remove those fields and then update the system - if the information is stored in a regular relational database - should be fairly easy. If the owners prefer not to do so, then maybe a good pre-emptive measure to ensure people understand their information is not protected might be to post a notice when users create a log on that advises users that the information is indeed public. I would recommend the owners do this for the saftey of their users as well as for their own sake as if a stalking incident does occur and can be traced back to this site as the source for information for the stalker, the owners could face some ugly civil suits. Case law to date has held Web site owners responsible for information they've asked for (and an empty field for input could imply the information is being requested by the web site owners). So LOL! For those who are asking what the bottom line risk is - I would characterize the risk as medium. Cheers! Terri

Yes, the disease factor is one concern I would have - or better said my vet has put the fear of disease into me! He's very particular about making sure we do the best to keep bacteria at bay. I would think birds who don't know each other might also get a bit testy with each other no? Bella seems very territorial towards the birds she sees outside. When they are on the feeder she gets very upset with them, growling and flapping as if she wants to shoo them away.

Goodness, a forum wide get together in NYC - now that sounds like a great time! But I'd love to do a local in the interim. I would think it would only be the humans - no? I would think that could get a little too interesting to bring a bunch of AG's together at once no? Cheers! Terri

Radar - what a fun name! Look forward to seeing you and your new little housemate. Cheers! Terri

Hi there Jeff, Nice to "cyberly" meet you, your wife and Doop! I've bequethed my birds to my daughter as well in the event I move along before they do. My daughter and son in law get along well with the birds and I'm grateful they make an effot to connect with them now. I think that makes a difference in the event a situation arises such as yours. I'm sure you'll find Doop quite rewarding and I look forward to hearing how things turn out. Cheers! Terri

Greetings everyone and happy holidays! One of the features I found quite interesting here on this site was the map that showed site members who are in my immediate area. Have there been any Grey Get Togethers - like a pot luck, or open house etc.. so people can meet and greet? I know bringing the greys together for play time might not be a good idea (we do this with the grey hounds, but I realize dogs are a totally different kind of critter!), but Grey socials might be nice - no? Cheers! Terri (yes I love a good party LOL!)

We have a house alarm and when I leave and set it, it makes high pitched beeping sounds in a specific sequence and finishes with one long beep. When ever I leave the room, Bella makes that sound perfectly and in sequence exactly the way the alarm makes it LOL! When the dogs run outside and I ask her "Bella what do the doggies say?" She goes "woof wooof woof", so now when they go out, she runs to the window and does the woof woof woof LOL!

Very sorry about your loss. But thank you very much ahead of time for sharing the results (when you get them) of the necropsy with us. As a new bird-mom, these types of situations scare the petudies out of me, and I appreciate any insights people here can provide to help us newbies avoid such a tragedy. So, thank you for this.

Thanks for sharing Dan! Bella was totally involved with the videos! I had to play them a couple of times for her. We might have a Grey cyber relationship budding here! She seems to like Dayo!

Hi there Chapala, What is a Lixit water bottle?? Is that one of those water bottles that you put in the cage and the parrot has to lick the water out somehow? I couln't believe friggin Jiggy yesterday - he always comes running for juice when Bella drinks juice from my cup (operative word here - MY CUP), and he lured me to put my cup down by his food bowl by going to his bowl protesting loudly when Bella drank. So, while she was trying to get on to my shoulder, he started dunking his pellets into my juice! Talk about backwash! Eeeewwww! Needless to say, he got the juice - I was done :sick: ! But - I digress - re: the vet visit - I really should have written down questions that I had for the vet. I was so nervous about how the babies would do that I forgot to ask him some burning questions. For example everything I'm reading says that greys should have a mix of pellets, fruits and veggies. Bella will not eat pellets - period - no matter what form they're in. She only eats fresh foods. So, I'm trying to find the best mix for her so she gets all the vitamins and nutrition she can. But nothing I've found seems to address what to do if you have a fresh food parrot only. So, I'm going to see if he'll take emails, or if he has articles out. Jiggy - his issue is he won't eat fresh food! But I think I've solved that one. He won't eat it if it's in his pellet bowl. I think he has an over developed sense of order. He loves blue berries, but not if they're in his pellet bowl! Without even thinking he throws them out as fast as possible! But, if they're in a different place - then he'll eat it. Boy, I thought I was a neat freak! Cheers! Terri

I am lucky I found this vet! Important note on this visit, he didn't do any blood work this time around - He wants to wait until the 1st week after the holidays so the samples don't languish in the labs for a week. For me personally, I thought it was important that this visit we don't do lab work as I'm feeling they birds need two people they are willing to work with - that's me and the vet! And I think had he poked them right off the jump on the first day, that may have soured the good day. Next time around they'll still remember that they ahd a good time there, that they played with him, and then we can expand that relationship to include a poke or prode here and there. Something I didn't know - he said I should always keep a shallow bowl of water available for Bella to bathe in, particularly in the winter as the Greys do get very dry skin and he's feeling once/week showering with me might not be enough during the heating season. He's fairly confident she'll make use of it. I'm going to give it a try. Then he also told me to put a drop of Apple Vinegar in their drinking water, particularly because Jiggy dunks his food in the ater - that vinegar will inhibit the growth of bacteria and fungus he said. I change their water quite often as Jiggy does make soup all the time, but when I'm not home for the day, that could be a problem. Re: pictures - we will certainly get a video cam now as these guys are best on video! Cheers! Terri<br><br>Post edited by: Nychsa, at: 2007/12/24 23:42

Greetings Everyone! For all of the rest of you Grey newbies (like me) who are dreading that first vet visit with your new baby - all I can say is - after today, my position on that is if you have the right vet, it will be just fine! Find the right vet! I think one of the best pieces of advice I ever got when I first got Jiggy was to make sure I found a certified Avian Vet. I got that advice from the Baltimore-DC bird club. They also had a list of certified avian vets and as it were, one of them was right down the road from me. I didn't know that any vet could list themselves as an avian vet, and all that means is they are willing to treat birds. A certified avian vet is someone who specializes in birds. I just had the best vet visit with both my conure and my CAG and I am SO relieved! I was on pins and needles thinking about all the different ways this could go south! I was worried that Bella (my CAG)will forever hate me after this - Jiggy, my conure will bite the petudies out of me for the next couple of weeks until he forgives me, but none of that happened! My vet is SO confident and knowledgable about birds, he popped open Bellas carrier, and didn't give her a second to think about what was going on, he slid his hand underneath her and told her 'up' and without a word she did! And then he put her through a whole battery of tests, checking her reflexes, her breathing, her heart etc... And he made a game out of it, making it fun for her - it really seemed like she was actually having a good time with him! Jiggy of course had to take a nip at him and tried to play dominant by jumping on the vet's shoulders, but Dr. Boyd didn't let him get away with that, he just made him step up, and then put Jiggy through his paces, testing everything. Bella sat on my shoulder and watched, and even though she usually protects Jiggy, she just watched in fascination and didn't say a word! In fact, I think she was curious about him. To make sure she understood he will pick her up at will, he made her step up off my shoulder (unheard of usually! If she's on my shoulder, that is taboo for anyone to reach for her!). But she didn't even protest! She stepped up, and he played "weeeeee pretty bird" with her! I am SO relieved! The right vet makes ALL the difference I'm totally sure of that!! Happy Holidays Everyone! Terri

oh oh, Italian curses!! Wait! My partner told me about those to - I've got the red string around me wrist to ward of the evil eye!!! I read your PM Joe, and replied -- all is well. Happy Holidays Everyone! Terri

Joe, I don't know for sure if your reference to a problem in the forum is related to the exchange you had with me or not. If so, then I do want to briefly say that I concur - it is indeed "over". As it relates to that exchange, please know that I can appreciate your reaction to wanting to take care of your son. I'm a parent - I understand this - and even though my children are grown, I still want to make sure no hair on their head is harmed. I'm also sure you're very proud of your son. I'm very proud of my children too - I get this. And while they don't always appreciate my wanting to keep them from harm (in fact most of the time they don't, often reminding me that they're grown), the desire to protect them is there none the less with me. Therefore, since I can't assure you that I will always be in agreement with your son, and since his and my communication styles seem incompatible, it's conceivalbe that disagreement could quickly escalated into something personal - as it did on that forum (you say you are a hot headed Italian from NYC - I'm a hot headed German from Baltimore, and my partner is from the Bronx - and has been training me for the past 10 years in how to handle things Bronx style!) So... since I'm really not the kind of person to agree even though I disagree - "Houston, we may have a problem". Therefore, shortly after your post to me, I requested of Penny to cancel my account and I notified the moderators that it might be best for me to leave. It was clear you and your son were upset and since this is obviously a very tight and integrated forum, having you and your son upset with you then leaving etc.. this created unhappiness all around. However, believe it or not, inspite of my Teutonic communication style, I have struck up some friendships here and correspond regularly with several people. I would hate to loose contact with them, and from what I understand (from them) they don't want to loose contact with me either. So, as a compromise solution, I've decided to participate on another Grey forum on another site, but keep my account here so I can email with friends. This solution should eliminate any concerns that Mario's responses to my posts would be met with disagreement, thus creating discomfort here at the forum. I hope this solution meets with everyone's satisfaction, and your forum can get back to normal again. Last note - I am not posting here on your thread to be of an offense, and I hope you don't take offense. Please be assured - this really is my last post here on the site. Happy Holidays to All Terri

Hi Christina That's exactly what I'm wondering. If these were two dogs, it would be pretty easy for me to tell what's about to happen next. They're almos tlike my kids used to be! They didn't want to be separated, but would fuss and squable all day long! No altercation between Jiggy and Bella has been serious - it usually just involves warning pecks. I've never seen Bella go after him with an open beak - she just pokes him. She has grabbed his tail and actually broke a feather once - but frankly - he started that one. Cheers! Terri

Greetings everyone, Thank you for the replies. Joanne, right after I read your post, I put them on the perch together. They both flew back on to me LOL! BM, when I read your post, I was wondering if I need to think of bird body language as being something species specific. As you described your conure population - Jiggy (the conure) is much more "fight" oriented then Bella, my grey - in fact, I don't think fighting is even on Bella's mind. She is very mellow and loving. But Jiggy always has some issue, some cause he's attempting to defend! He also knows when he's pushed something over the line. He loves to pull the little hairs on my arms, and sometimes he'll get my skin. He knows from the past that I'll scootch him away if he does that, and if continues to do it I'll scold him (I put my raised finger in front of his beak and say 'no bite' very sternly - that gets his attention!). So, now when he does something like that he pre-emptively squawks before I even scootch him along. This is the reason I was concerned he might be picking a fight with Bella so close to my nose LOL! He does the same thing with Bella. If she's sitting somewhere, he just CAN'T resist trying to take just a little nip, usually her tail. And he leans over, very carefully, and just tries to just get one little nip in. In the past, Bella has whirled around and pecked him on the noggin very quickly! And of course he screeches and runs off. So I wasn't sure if this beak touching was one of those things - she has her eyes closed, sitting on my bent arm, with her head tucked underneath my chin, and he's on my shoulder, and he very slowly, very cautiously, reaches over with his open beak and touches her beak. If she was going to whip open her eyes and nail him, my nose would be in between! LOL! Either way - I tried to find some research data on greys in the wild and it was very interesting to find out that there really hasn't been a good deal of research done on greys in the wild. I think understanding how they interact in the wild would go a long way to understanding how they interact in a community/flock. I found a list of common bird body language just about on every site, including this one here, I came across - the pinning of the eyes etc.. But, really nothing that was specific to how greys relate to each other or other animals. One article I found indicated that the grey's intelligence and speaking abilities may have evolved the way it did because they are primarily ground foragers and need to co-exist with other animals who are on the ground and who may not be birds. I see potential examples of this kind of adaptive behavior between Bella and my dogs. She clearly sees herself as part of their community. In the morning, when the dogs collect around me for breakfast, Bella comes flying in and stands right there with them, waiting for her breakfast as well. When someone strange is in the house and talking to me, she seeks refuge with my male greyhound. She is keenly interested in the dog's activities outside and she has attempted to follow them outside when they run off. As for other bird types, we do know she protects Jiggy. So - while a lot of the literature seems to suggest greys only flock with other greys, I'm wondering if research will eventually shed more light on how greys actually interact across different species. I believe there has been a new study commissioned and is just getting underway. I'm going to follow that one very eagerly! Cheers! Terri

Hi everyone, I may be posting this in the wrong area, so my appologies to the moderator and admins if I am. I have a general question about nips/nibbles: The evening is our snuggle time on the couch: Bella, my CAG sits on my arm with her head tucked under my head, Jiggy, my conure is usually restless and bounces between my shoulders, preening my hair, or nibbling on some part of my hand. My male greyhound Doc is drapped across my legs which are up on the couch and my female greyhound Dream is at the foot of the couch - so we're all rather close and if a tiff were to breakout, I think it could get messy really fast. Lately Jiggy and Bella have been sitting VERY close to each other. Bella with her head tucked under my chin and Jiggy on my shoulder and there beaks are about 1 inch away from each other. Jiggy very frequently reaches over to her, his beak open and just kind of touches her beak. She usually opens her eyes, and maybe opens her beak and touches his back. Since I'm not familiar with Bird body lanuage, I'm not sure if these nudges are just friendly nips or is this a prelude to war. Since my nose is very close to all of this I really would like to know if these guys are working there way up to a brawl or are these love nips? Any insights on bird body language would be appreciated! Everything I'm finding on the web is not very detailed - just generalizations. Thanks! Terri<br><br>Post edited by: Nychsa, at: 2007/12/20 01:04

Hi Judy, Well, as you know Jigme (aka Jiggy or Jiggyman) isn't a sun conure but rather a dusky. I think I'm a lot like you, namely that his noises I don't perceive as screaming. He can be loud, but I love his calls I think they are adorable. He likes to watch the birds in the feeder every morning and he calls to them, when I leave the room he has a different call for that, and when I return from somewhere he calls again. When I take the dogs for their morning walk I know the birds may find that distressing that 1/2 of their flock is leaving, so I have a bird sitter video I put on while we're gone. It's a video of an aviary and all it has are the different parrot calls on it. The minute that starts up Jiggy goes to town! He chirps away at the top of his lungs! Maybe I'm crazy, but I love his calls. I think some may consider them screams, but I don't. Bella does imitate him perfectly and sometimes I can't tell which one is which. They had me in stiches the day before yesterday - I laughed so hard I had tears rolling down my face! Jiggy decided he was going to take a bath in his water dish, and that totally stressed out Bella. She want running around the top of his cage, haning upside down peering in on him from every possible angel and she was saying "Jiggyman! Jiggyman! What the hell!! what the hell!!!" Oh my gosh was I laughing!!!

Thanks Dan and Judy! Jiggy is awesome. He gives the best kissies - real loud ones and then after he gives you a kiss he makes a real soft "ke ke ke ke" sound - as bad as he is he makes my heart melt!

LOL Dan - I'm doing my poor Jiggyman a disservice - here's "pretty-boy" Jiggy

LOL Kat - now that would be evil wouldn't it! Then he'd have 3 of them ganging up on him - poor guy would need a shrink after a while! But seriously - I wish I could pick up one of them - but I have to think about the quality of life I can provide and the amount of time I have - and right now - two dogs and two parrots - they pretty much keep my busy!

Good Morning Stevee and everyone else I received a message this morning from our Breeder, Kathy and Karen at www.KandKparrots.com and they told me they have two grey babies that are close to being weaned available. They are very anxious that these greys are placed very well because they are very loving, snuggly, and allow pretty much anyone to handle them. Because these birds have such calm dispositions and are so trusting, and loving Kathy and Karen want to make sure whom ever they go to will provide an appreciation and an environment for this kind of bird. If someone is out there who is looking to provide a warm, and loving home to a grey, these two babies sound like they would return the love in many ways.