Acappella

What about slivers of almonds, or walnut pieces?

Wow, she's doing well. I've been reading your posts in the Messages for our birds room. Things still going ok integrating her into the rest of the flock?

Sorry I missed your hatch day, I wasn't on line. Hope it was a happy one.

My dear Dorian. Please stop chewing my iPad cover. I think people are laughing at mommy's iPad 'cause of the beak size bites that have been taken out of it. And while we're talking . . . You're about to be forbidden from mom's desk. You're getting too aggressive and defensive when you're on it. Being on the desk with catalogues to destroy is a privilege not a right. Mom's arm didn't appreciate the bite you gave it when I tried to use my computer mouse. It's been sooo long since you bit mom that I'm thinking maybe you just can't handle being on the desk. Since you don't fly you have to depend on me to put you on the desk. Think about it dude.

Wow, congrats. That first year is such an important milestone.

Yeah, you always have to treat the first bird as such to try to minimize jealousy. Beemo is a cutie.

Cereal boxes are a big hit around here. Ask neighbours with kids to save theirs. I pop one over a toy hook, or put a hole through the top, thread a chain through the hole, then something big at the end of the chain inside the box to keep it on the chain. Keeps Dorian busy for hours.

So sorry your MIL was so badly hurt. A trauma like that can definitely make Alzeimers/dementia worse. Glad to hear that GG has handled the change with only a little feather destruction. Her growing resilience is an inspiration and a direct result of your care of her.

Well, he got a new cereal box to eat, and got to hang out on the desk with me while I work, which are his two favourite things. Plus he got extra pistachios and tons of kisses. I think he enjoyed his day.

How are GilGirl and your MIL doing?

I don't want to scare you, but it can go on for months. There's a reason we refer to 'grey time'. It moves much slower than our time does. Mostly the changes are so slow and incremental that they can only truly be seen by looking back. Something I wish I'd done with Dorian is kept a journal of his small steps forward. He took years, literally, to step up onto my hand for me. I just respected his boundaries. He was also cage bound for the first few months he was here. I took the advice I found here and let him make his own decisions. That helped build his self confidence, and his trust in me. My advice is to resign yourself to having a hands off birdie for now, unless you absolutely have to handle him, like getting him into a travel cage for a vet visit. That doesn't mean you stop offering him a step up. The fact that he steped up for you for the first couple weeks was because of what we call the 'honeymoon' period, and was mostly because of fear. Now he's testing you to see if you'll respect his boundaries. It's part of building a trusting relationship. You know that all you want is to offer him a richer, better life, but he'll need time to figure that out. Luckily, time is something you have plenty of. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. You can always come here to vent when you're getting frustrated. Lol

Welcome to you and the little nudist.

So sweet. He's gona be a music lover for sure.

Today my little grey boy turns 11. That means he's been with me for just over 8 years. Happy Birthday sweetheart. Momma loves you lots.

Lol at the kiss temptation. It must be hard to hear her growling in fear when you know all you want to do is love on her. Hope she figures out that she has landed in birdy paradise soon.

Sorry you're not feeling well Lisa. I hope you beat this bug quickly. Can't believe you're adding another fid to the flock. You're a braver woman than I! I hope the fiddos don't make you suffer for it. You really have a gift for taking on special needs birdies and I am in awe of you and Pat. Hope he takes good care of you while you're not feeling well.

Glad to meet you. Thank you for re-homing.

Maybe she' stood cautious for the love at first sight experience. Or maybe she knows deep down in her little heart that she couldn't have it better anywhere else than she has it with you.

And because you're so conscientious that means not only changing their food and water, but spending time with them for company. Can you take her birds out of their cages?

Dave, Not many working birds out here in rural Ontario. Plus, I'm afraid Dorian's a one woman bird.

Dorian will be 11 at the end of November. He's exhibited this behaviour before but I've always been able to distract and divert him. Not so now. He's being very persistent.

Lately Dorian has been obsessed with hanging out on my desk. He climbs down from his cage and walks over to me, trying to climb up my leg, the desk leg, tickling my feet, until I put my hand down to pick him up and put him on my desk. I give him lots of stuff to do on the desk, but no matter what I do it isn't long before he starts panting and getting 'excited'. He gets obsessed with my hand or the computer mouse. I pick him up and put him back in his cage and the whole thing starts again. He also gets that same way in the morning when I open his cage for the day. He's getting a full 12 hours of dark sleep time, no nesting boxes etc... I don't pet him anywhere but his head, except for an occasional kiss on his wing, never when he's in this state. Is there anything else I can do to deter this behaviour?

I don't know anything about Zons other than that they're a challenge I don't feel myself up to, but I wanted to chime in and say thank you for giving these fids a forever home.

Well Mr D., it seems you have another obsession, my tea mug. What is it about my mug that screams 'tip me over!'

Poor baby girl, that looks so sore. Forget the diet, she needs a pistachio stat!!!