KatB

I thought it was odd, too. If they have them at all, I would think they would keep them in the same place they keep the bulbs? Anyway, I googled it this morning and I'm beginning to think that T12 might be on its way out, to be replaced with the more efficient T8. If that's the case, perhaps the T8 full-spectrum bulbs just aren't in ready supply yet.

Can T12 lamps (bulbs) be used in T8 fixtures? Yesterday afternoon I visited 2 hardware stores (Home Depot and Lowes) and Walmart looking for a full-spectrum flourescent setup. I found lots of T8 fixtures and lots of T12 full-spectrum tubes, but no T12 fixtures and no T8 full spectrum bulbs. Am I missing something? The pins on the T12 appear too large to fit a T8 fixture.<br><br>Post edited by: KatB, at: 2007/12/02 14:21

Nychsa, it sounds like your business partner is Bella's entertainment :laugh: I'm suprised Oliver hasn't taken a dislike to my almost-three-year-old grand daughter. She has been living with me for the past three months and can be quite the peace-disturber on occasion. But Oliver just watches her with interest sometimes and ignores her mostly. For her part, she respects his space and doesn't even attempt to put her hand withing reach of his beak, although she does like to stand in front of his cage (at a safe distance) and talk to him.

Good news, I think he's decided to forgive me! He's started asking for scratches again, and last night when we were playing on the floor before bedtime he climbed into my lap. I don't think I'm totally trusted yet, but at least he's speaking to me again.

Nychsa, thanks for the hint. I do buy soy yogurt for Oliver, but I hadn't thought about looking for soy cheese. Is it easy to find, or do I need to go to a specialty shop?

I purchased a stand for Oliver a couple of weeks after he came to live with me, and he took to it immediately. It isn't as nice as the one you have -- the 1 foot square tray is about 3 feet high, with 2 natural wood perches, two ceramic bowls and a shepherd's hook for toys. I keep it in my office and he seems to enjoy hanging out on it while I work at the computer. I'll bet Harrison will come to enjoy her new perch soon!

To my thinking, the main reason for providing lighting would be to provide a sunup/sundown routine. Living inside and not being able to go outside, especially in the winter, has got to be depressing for the birds. I know it would be for me. Then there's the extra dimension bird vision has that BMustee referred to. I imagine not having the full spectrum of colors in their environment would be like losing full range of hearing or killing a taste bud might be to us. Anyway, I noticed Oliver seemed much happier when I got a clue and began providing supplemental light for him. I still don't have full spectrum, but I'll take care of that within the next few days.

:laugh: Thanks for the advice, Dave :laugh: I'm happy to know I probably haven't lost him to the vet tech. Next time (which I hope doesn't happen for a loooonnng time) I'll try the double-team approach, and I'll move the carrier to a different part of the house. I think I'll continue to work with him around it a little while each day, to see if I can get him to be less afraid of it, but I'll wait a while before I get back to it to give him a chance to forgive and forget. Kat

Thanks!

Thanks for the encouragement. At least I feel like there's hope, now!

Thanks. I was hoping I could reuse a $500 light fixture if possible since full spectrum MH bulbs are available. But the heat aspect did concern me. Guess I'll go shopping for a new flourescent fixture. Do you hang yours above the cage, or do you just use the full-spectrum bulb in the ceiling fixture in your bird's room?

Yes, I was definitely apprehensive about putting him into the carrier, because I knew how much he hated it and how painful it could be for me. You're probably right, that he picked up on my dread. I hope you're also right that it will pass! I've never done so much kissing-up. My nose is turning red from all the contact with his tail-feathers!

Thanks, Birdmom. I leave his cage door open all the time when I'm at home and he's usually on his play top or hanging out on one of the exterior perches. The only reason I can come up with for why he wouldn't come out that day is somehow he knew he was going to the vet. Even when he doesn't want to come out he doesn't react that way when I put my hand in the cage. I wish I could have found a better way to get him into the carrier that day. I started about 30 minutes before we had to leave and thought I would have plenty of time to do it gently, but Oliver had his own ideas! My plan was to introduce him to the carrier slowly and take him for "fun" rides before we had to go to the vet, but I was not able to get him to go willingly into the carrier before the "necessary" visit. I had read about a slow process of playing near the carrier, playing on the carrier, playing inside the carrier, walking around the room with him in the carrier, going to the car in the carrier, driving around the block in the carrier, etc. as a way of making him feel safe and happy in there, but we didn't get past the "playing near the carrier" part in two weeks. I'm continuing to work with it, but needless to say, the vet vist set us back a bit. Before the visit he would stretch his neck into the carrier far enough to pick up a pine nut in there. Now he won't walk within a foot of it!

Hi, Ziggy, Oliver is 21 months old. I do hope it's a phase and was going with that theory until I read about Mazy's dad, who saw her only a couple of times a year for years and she never gave up her bond with him. I know a grey will choose his person, but what happens when there's nobody in the house he wants to bond with? Ever heard of that happening?

I think Oliver has dumped me for his vet's assistant. It's been almost 2 weeks since I had to take Oliver to the vet for his blood work and DNA, and he has been angry at me ever since. Here's what happened. He hates his travel carrier. He hadn't been in it since I brought him home almost 2 months ago, but I had placed it near his cage a couple of weeks ahead of the vet appointment so he could get used to it. Every day we played around it, and I put pine nuts inside it for him to fetch, and although I hadn't been able to get him to go into it, he wasn't scared of it any longer. When it was time to get him into his carrier to drive to the vet, he somehow knew what was coming. When I reached into his cage to get him to step up, like I did several times a day up to that point, he attacked my hand and scrambled for a corner of the cage. When I moved toward him, he attacked my hand again and squawked and rushed to a different corner of the cage. I tried to be patient and let him calm, but the time came when we had to leave so I put on leather gloves and just captured him and put him in the carrier. He flapped and panicked and squawked and you would have thought he was being murdered. I felt horrible for having to do it, but once inside the travel carrier he seemed fine, and didn't fight any longer, just peered out of the little window and seemed interested in what was going on. At the vet's office, he came out of the carrier onto the vet's table and was very well behaved. I asked them to check for broken blood feathers since the "capture" was so traumatic, and sure enough there was a broken blood feather. The vet decided to put him to sleep and do the nails, pull the blood feather, get the blood for the CBC and the DNA, and get everything done before he woke up. When he woke, he was drunk as a lord. The vet's assistant brought him back into the room where I waited and he looked up at her as if she were an angel. I could almost hear him saying "I love you, man!" And ever since he has tried to take a bite out of me any time I get close enough. Do you think he is he still angry about the travel carrier, or do you think he transferred his affection after that one visit with the vet? I thought if I remained patient and loving he would come around, but it's been almost 2 weeks and I'm beginning to get worried. Boy, do I ever sound like an insecure teen-ager! :pinch:

I have a pretty good understanding of light from my days of running a reef aquarium. I'm not an expert by any means, but color temp and spectrum are not foreign concepts to me. The metal halide fixture I used for my aquarium puts out some heat, so I was wondering if it should be avoided when designing lights for Oliver? Flourescent is much cooler, but since he needs a warm environment, might the metal halide be appropriate?

How cool is that! :laugh:

Oops! I wrote the above reply without seeing the posts on the 2nd page! Sorry, I'm out of date!

My first reaction would be to wonder how closely calibrated your mother's kitchen scale is with the vet's scale. I know 44 g is a big difference, but I wouldn't panic just yet. Does Izzie look like she's losing weight, or feel significantly lighter when you're carrying her? Can you tempt her with some higher calorie foods? Do her poops look normal? Just some things I would look at first.

Do you think it sounds like the thieves know at least a little about birds? Any idiot would know they need food, but these guys also stole toys and treats. I agree they should be strung up for doing this, and I'm happy to think the breeder bird took his revenge out of somebody's flesh, but I'm also slightly relieved to think the thieves know how to (and want to) keep the birds healthy and happy.

Wonderful photos! Are the birds not nervous of the big dog? I've let my labs in to meet Oliver, one at a time. They are well-behaved and just sit and look at him, but he would get nervous and flutter to the furtherest corner of his cage and trembles, so I've kept them apart since.

Hello, Bruce, and Welcome! What a wonderful description of your life with Mazy. It's amazing to me how loyal these little birds are. Only seeing you a couple of times a year, and she still holds on to her bond with you. Now that's a special relationship! Kat

Awww, sounds like lots of fun. Where do you do this, on the floor, a table? I wonder if this is what Oliver is doing when he flings his finger (foot) food (like carrots, bread, etc)? Sometimes I'll pick it up and give it back to him and he'll fling it again. I think maybe it partly has to do with him not particularly liking the food he's flinging, but also maybe it's a game of fetch and I'm too dim to realize it? Now that I think about it, he has done it with his saucer, too. I put his meals on a saucer and sometimes he'll pick the saucer up and fling it. It doesn't go far, but it does make a racket!

I agree it would be a hoot, maybe someday I can train Oliver to play like that. After we get tired of the "make Kat bleed" game, that is

I bought a perch from www.theperchstore.net and noticed they have some interesting training items, such as the basketball set and roller skates. Skates here: http://www.theperchstore.net/mawicisk.html No, I'm not affiliated with them, they're just the first site I've found that seems to have everything I've needed so far.