Acappella

Check the dryer is balanced before you chuck it. I've got a friend who has repaired appliances for 40 years & that's one of the first things he looks at. Hope your flock starts to " Give Peace a Chance" soon!

My mommy went to visit that birdy Toronto again and left a Shannon girl to come take care of me and Jac the cat. The Shannon girl was ok and sat and talked to me, but of course I didn't talk back to her!!! I was going to be mean to mom when she got back, but then she came home and she didn't look very good. I heard her say to the neighbour lady that her fibromyalgia was really bad from doing too much with Toronto, so I decided to be nice to her. Maybe if she likes me better than Toronto she won't leave me with Shannon girl again.

Well Bogart sounds like he's fitting in great, and you're doing great not rushing him. What's his body language like when he's in your lap? Is he shaking, frozen in place or is he moving around, exploring? The ultimate relaxed birdy would be if he is grinding his beak. How does he react if you move to touch his head or back? I like Sterling's idea of having some foot toys handy to where you're sitting. Always end these sessions on a positive note. Remember the saying "Always leave them wanting more"? Don't wait until Bogart is overstimulated and becoming nippy. Take him home and give him a treat while things are going good. Get him associating his time with you with happy interactions and treats and you'll soon be able to lengthen the sessions. It's all about building mutual trust.

So glad GilGirl didn't have a problem after you got your braces off. There's really no predicting what they will and will not stress out about. It feels weird when those braces come off, doesn't it? Do you have to wear an appliance for a while? Are you happy with the results?

Sometimes we stress out about how our fids will react to a change of routine and at the end of the day they're perfectly fine and we've wasted our energy worrying. I just went away for the weekend and had a new pet sitter. I worried and stressed about my boys all weekend and, of course, I got home and they're both fine, if a little sulky. Glad your flock didn't hold it against you.

I love my Avian Adventures cage. After 5 years it's escape proof, and food and water bowl flinging proof. Lots of people here have had good luck finding deals on cages on ebay.

I hope your Roxy is better soon. Let us know how she's doing.

I'm just talking about the sounds of nature, which sound pleasant outdoors, being brought indoors and at AG volumes, at which point they are more ear splitting than ear pleasing.

Thanks guys. What I mean by alarm call Dave is the loudest sounds local wild birds make. A Bluejay bossing other birds out of the yard, a robin defending a nest, two starlings fighting over a piece of food. In other words, not the pleasant chirping of birds first waking at dawn.

I take Dorian outside with me, in a cockatiel cage, whenever I can weather permitting. At first it terrified him, but with lots of reassurance and with mom sticking close by, he's even started to get comfortable enough to play with toys and interact a little bit, mostly barking at neighbourhood dogs walking by. However, there has been one really annoying consequence of outside time. He's learned the alarm calls of all the local birds and has decided they're ideal sounds to make, at Grey volume, when he is displeased about something. When I'm out if sight, on the phone, visiting with a neighbour, here comes the whole flock of bossy feathers. I'm working the sound extinguishing program, but the habit gets re-inforced each time we go out. Has this happened to anyone else whose fids get outside time?

Dorian digs away into the cubby holes on my desk, when he's allowed on it. I try to limit his desk time because occasionally he gets, hmm, let's say overexcited, and starts making panting noises along with the digging. I've never seen him do it in his cage.

Ok, so here are some concrete things to try with JW. First, use his natural instincts to accomplish your purposes. Eg. He's a flock animal so he naturally wants to be 'with'. Let him see you be affectionate with Asia, giving scritches, having her on you etc... Ask her if she wants scritches, give her some scritches, then approach JW and ask if he wants some scritches. Any negative body language, just say Ok, and go back to Asia. One day he may get brave enough to say ok. When JW seems fearfull, don't approach him head on, but instead look at him side on, even try half closing your eyes. This makes you look less like a predator and therefore less threatening. Try just sitting beside his cage close to where he sits with the bars between you. Gradually move the chair closer. Again, first sign of fear, back off a tad. When he feels like his subtle signals are being seen and respected he'll be less inclined to escalate to bites. That's just some of the things I did when Dorian first came home. Hope this helps.

There would be a lot of money in it for the person who found a less destructible material to make aviator harnesses in.

We have some other members whose fids chew their harnesses. From their experience all I can say is, buy some stock in the company that makes the harness. Lol

I love your description of sibling one up-man-ship, especially the picture of Java calmly preening after her bath while Gilly heckles her. I think your house is on the verge of getting a lot more interesting.

Please don't take offense where (I'm sure) none was meant. You've taken on a big job, and even in the most experiences hands things can go wrong. I know nothing about taking care of a chick this young. I would definately get a good digital scale. My common sense tells me that the main thing to be concerned about would be that baby is consistantly gaining weight. Thank you for giving this little soul a chance at a greyt life.

That's the only way around here to get Dorian to try something new, I have to eat it in front of him and make yummy noises. lol

My best cleaning friend is distilled water and my steam cleaner.

I know my rice cooker doesn't have a timer, so Katanas is probably a better model than the basic one I have. The Volkman mixes are popular around this house as well. Also, their seed mixes don't have those annoying pantry moths that every other seed mix I tried have.

I agree with Inara on the aggression vs fear response. Take a look at the thread on body language in the Training forum room. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?109373-Body-language-most-frequently-seen It should help you differentiate between when he's coming to you to interact positively and when he's coming to you to 'attack' or assert himself. I also agree that you should not be trying to get him to step up from inside the cage. As he had been cage bound, against his will, for so long, he is likely very cage defensive. Try attaching a perch to the outside of his cage, and when you see him on it, ask for a step up from there. Actually, if I were in your position (and I was in a similar one with my Dorian) I wouldn't worry too much right now about physical contact. Since there have been attempts to train him using dominance techniques he may have learnt to assert himself in a negative manner in new interactions. Eg. He seemed eager to step up onto your arm, but then immediately attacked it. Better to spend lots of time just sitting by his cage talking to him, reading to him, letting him observe you and the household. I understand you wanting to protect little fingers by keeping him in a separate room, but he does need as much chance as possible just to watch the house and it's inhabitants. Could you spend more time in his room with family if you did it only when his cage was closed? Then open up the door and let him climb around when it's just the two of you. Thank you for taking in this older grey, especially when you already have two little ones in the home. Hopefully you'll all grow into a greyt flock together!

Welcome to you and Arnie. He' s cage bound like my Dorian was when I first brought him home. I didn't keep a diary at the time (wish I had), but I know it was more than 6 months before he poked his head outside his cage. At first even leaving the door open made him shake severely. I had to work very slowly opening the door further in small increments until it was wide open. I spent a lot of his first year with me sitting by his cage or on the floor in front of his cage trying to make 'outside' look fun and interesting. I put together toys in front of him, and played with them, spent time playing with my cat in view of him, trying to make the world outside his cage look fun and interesting. My memory is telling me it was at least 8 months before he took his first tentative steps into the outside world. Even now, inside is his default position. If I leave the room and he is playing/crawling around outside, 9times out of 10 when I get back to the room he'll have gone inside. Arnie may be the same, but there's no reason to think he'll never come out. Remember, grey time moves very slowly, and Arnie may just be extra slow, like Dorian was.

I don't have any suggestions above and beyond what have already been made. I just wanted to log on and give you a cyber hug. I can easily imagine how upset I would be if Dorian started plucking and I empathize with your struggle. (((( )))). And sending some scritches for Isaac. {{{ }}}

Has your babysitting adventure ended yet? How hard was it to give that beauty back to its parronts?

I remember getting off my braces the end of grade nine, after 4 1/2 long years. The smooth surface of my teeth felt so alien to me. Lol. I hope Gilbert doesn't make you suffer too long for the change.

He sounds like he's growing into a wonderful companion. How is it going between him and Lorrito?