Acappella

Where are these new fids coming from? I don't know how people with so many beaks to take care of do it. Bless you for giving so many "special needs" birds a safe pace. I hope they integrate into the flock as seamlessly as possible. And I hope Pats poor fingers heal quickly. It's amazing how losing the use of one finger renders the whole hand basically useless isn't it?

That's actually a tip I picked up somewhere here on the forum years ago. It seems to work for shortening the post trauma sulk. lol

I re-read the whole series, finishing with the just published one right before the series started here. I've started thinking with a Scottish accent!

Is anyone here watching the 'Outlander' TV show based on Diana Gabaldon's books? It's on Starz in the States and Showcase here in Canada. If so, don't post any spoilers, we're a couple of episodes behind. We've only had the first episode, which I totally loved.

Well, Mr. Dorian and I have had quite the couple of days. Started with a startled flight down the hallway which resulted in him losing 5 flight feathers from his right wing. Two had a little bit of blood at the tip,but no bleeding. The rest fell out clean. He has been going through a molt, but this was extreme, and I was worried about what would happen if he took out flying when his wings were so uneven. Also, his beak had a piece on his lower mandible that stuck up and interfered with how his beak closed. (Wouldn't be a problem if he wore his beak down chewing wood, but he doesn't seem to know that is in his job description. Lol). His talons were also wicked sharp. So... I'd been given the contact info for a groomer who lives only 35 minutes away from me. I called her today in the hopes that she would come to me, but she works as a team with another groomer and only sees birds in her home when she can schedule her helper. It just so happened that they were doing grooming this afternoon, so she asked if I could bring Dorian to her. I hesitated because I hated to put Dorian through the extra stress of a car ride but I popped him in his travel cage and off we went. She was doing the talons on her partners Umbrella Too when I got there (gorgeous, his name is Fred) so Dorian saw what was going on and would not come out of his cage. Carol had to towel him out of the cage, which I hate, so I went out of the room around the corner where I could see them in a mirror but he couldn't see me. He was doing the grey growl and scream that just broke my heart but she was so gentle with him and talked to him all the way through, let him chew on a towel, which is a self soother for him. She did his talons first, hit the quick just barely on one talon that was really long, then cleaned up his beak and evened up his wings. Then I rushed in and "rescued him" from the big bad towel, and he cuddled right in to me. By bedtime it seems he's forgiven me. Even let me give him night night scritches along with his almond. He's slipped off a perch a couple of times because he's not used to his talons being blunted, but the way he was chewing on them I'm sure he'll have them back to needle points in no time. Sorry for the long post. I had to share my anxiety and relief with people whom I know would understand how it all made me feel.

So relieved that this worked out ok. So many people don't believe the power these so-called non-flighted birds can put into flying when something startles them. Thank you for taking the time to describe what happened so that others can learn from your experience. Beak kisses for Luna from Dorian and I.

My advice would be to read some threads in the training room here and post any questions that come up for you. You're right, training dogs and birds are totally different. One is a pack animal and a predator looking for leadership from the alpha, the other is a flock animal and a prey animal, making decisions based on what feels safe and what is interesting to it at the moment.

Dorian seems to like James Taylor and Jason Mraz, especially any song that has human whistling in it, and he likes live recordings. He whistles and woo hoos and cheers right along with the crowd.

Now I can add "because we don't have terrifying, big as your hand, spiders" to my list of reasons I'm grateful I live where I live. Yikes. I would not handle that well.

Dorian has always responded when I sit down at the keyboard to sing. Sometimes it's to drown me out with his own noise, but he definitely responds. He also loves it when I'm playing music in the house. Sometimes, as a contact call, he'll sing a note or two in my "opera" voice and I respond with a different note. This goes on until he's bored with it. I think it's awesome that your singing calmed Maalik and snapped him out of brat mode.

My dad used to watch Peoples Court.(stay with me, I promise this is on topic). At the end of any case involving animals the commentator Harvey Levin urges people to get their pets at an animal shelter. He believes that they remember being rescued and that they make better pets because they're grateful for the rescue

I get the Volkman Hookbill and their Large Parrot, and mix them together. What I like about their seed mixes is that they're free of those annoying pantry moths that every other seed mix I tried have. I still take out all the in-shell nuts and substitute human grade nuts as treats. What I don't like about Volkman is that they never respond to phone calls or e-mails. The only stores I can find that carry it in Canada both have to ship it to me. A local pet store was willing to try to get it in for me, but they never responded to him either. Kind of annoying.

I agree with Greywings. Cover the cage top before Kia decides to defend her home and Riley ends up missing some toes. It's happened before to members here. You don't want or need the guilt.

It is possible to train your parrot not to go to your shoulder but it takes a lot of time and 100% consistency. Pick them up with your hand and hold them with your thumb over their talons. Hold your arm in a V shape. It's against their instincts to climb down. Since your baby is flighted you'll have to duck and weave to stop her from landing on you, while always giving her a safe landing option near by. (Make sure nobody is filming you for YouTube during the ducking and weaving part.). Keep a bag of her favourite treat with you at all times so you can reward her when she allows herself to be re-directed. Lots of happy praise helps as well. As a typical grey, she'll likely get more persistent in her unwelcome behaviours before things start to turn around. Everyone in the house has to be on board with any training or it will just confuse her. Hope this helps.

I've never been in charge of a baby but from my reading here on the forum I don't think it's unusual for them to regress a little bit when they're first in their new home. They've gone from a flock situation with brothers and sisters to cuddle with to a brand new cage, home, and flock. My instinct would be to give her the formula if she wants it, but to keep presenting her with lots of other tasty options, and as much out of cage cuddle time as she wants. Does she want/like cuddles?

Maybe you could teach me how to fly. And land. I'm really not good at the landing part.

She is beautiful, but I could never have a lovebird. Something about their cry goes through my head like an ice pick. My poor old migrained brain could never handle it.

How is Roxy doing?

I hope you find a home for the kitty. I know how an injured soul can pull at your heart strings. A baby kitten has been visiting a friends back door for the past few days & I've been very tempted to try to catch her and bring her home. She's wild, though. I don't think my flock, Jac the cat and Dorian, would be very pleased, and I know it would be a stretch to an already tight budget. Just try to remember how awful you allergies can make you feel and try to be strong! There's a home for her out there. You've done a good thing.

Dorian is also pretty laid back. Honestly, he's the perfect bird for me because I'm limited in my level of activity due to Fibromyalgia and bi-polar 2 mood disorder. I don't know if I could give a more demanding fid what it needs to be happy. We just hang out together. He's very tuned into me. If I need to lay down during the day he quiets right down until I'm up and around again. He's chatty in the morning and night, mostly if I'm out of the room. This isn't closet talking, he just tends to talk when he wants me to come to him, so once I'm there he doesn't need to talk any more. He usually only plays hard when he's ticked off at me. For example, if I don't come sit with him when he thinks I should he'll attack one of his bells and beat the stuffing out of it. Believe me, I'm grateful that he takes it out on a toy and not on my body! I've never heard him do the pterodactyl scream. He only flies when he's startled by something, although there have been a few times when I suspect he's taken off on purpose to try to get to me when I'm not respecting his orders for me to come to him. He's very lovey first thing in the morning and at bed time, liking a little scritch and some kisses. He is, unfortunately, a bit of a perch potato. From what I know of the first three years of his life, he didn't have a very enriching environment and never had any out of cage time. I've never been able to get him engaged in any foraging activities, he hates having the tv on, he doesn't destroy toys or chew wood, but give him a roll of adding machine paper, a toy made of pieces of cardboard or, the very best, a brand new cereal box, and he really goes to town, so I've gotten good at making toys out of those materials. I worry about him not getting enough stimulation and keep trying to introduce him to new types of toys, but honestly, he seems perfectly content. Lots of tail wagging, beak grinding, and kisses every day.

Aye you on the e-mail list for Barbara Heidenreich? I noticed she has a webinar coming up on birds that are aggressive in September. She just had one on the weekend for birds that scream. Wish I'd seen your post earlier ! There's a lot of good information on her site.

Yep, forget about toilet paper and get some adding machine paper. Dorian's favourite thing!

I was so sick hearing about Brutus going missing I stayed off Greyforums for a couple of days because just the sight of your thread upset me, but I couldn't stop thinking about you and your little man and what you both must be going through. It's so easy to empathize because I know how distraught I would be if Dorian ever went missing. You've also changed my behaviour around here. My window screens were giving me a false sense of security but no more! If Dorian is out the windows are closed from now on! So awesome that you were able to reach out to so many people and got such a great response, especially from the police. I hope everyone gets the word that Brutus is home because I'm sure many of the people you connected with over those horrible days have been thinking about you the way we here at Greyforums were. Sending you a big cyber hug of relief from me and Dorian.

Just give her a few days to observe the household and her new flock. Offer your hand for a step up and praise her like heck if she does it, but don't be worried if she hops right off again for now. You may have more luck getting her to step up from a perch mounted on the outside of the cage, or on the inside of the door so that it's outside when the door is open. Let her new cage be her safe place for now as she adjusts to her new surroundings.

I don't cover Dorian as he's in my office and I can just close the door and turn out the lights at bedtime and work wirelessly for the rest of the night.