chezron

Yeah Dorian! Way to go Buddy!

Had your family experienced "Dayo being Dayo" before? Wow!

Oh I am so sorry for the bad news! You must be sooo upset. I know nothing about Chlamydia but hope she gets better fast. Poor baby!

Great Pictures! So Awesome! Thanks

COOOOL picture! thanks

I am afraid my story is rather simple compared to the rest. Brutus got his name because he was so much bigger than his flock mates. His feet seemed ENORMOUS! When I picked him up I told my husband, "He's a brute!" ....so it segued into Brutus

We have two birds and it works out great! They have each other when we are gone which is much better then one of them being lonely. They tolerate each other when we are home, as our attention is what they REALLY want.

Brutus does something similar as a warning. Sometimes he does it when he thinks things are moving too fast or if situations surprise him. It sounds like a short, high whistle. I DO pay attention to these warnings. Not to do so, would be putting myself in harm's way.

Can Tweety fly?

Talon, Great story! Your description just whets my appetite for more bird joy in the house. I am certainly a long way from getting bird number three, but I am definitely contemplating it for the future. Your timeline too, sounds about like mine for getting another bird. I love to sing along to music and it would be great if I had a duet partner!

Thanks for the warning!

Just a hypothetical---If you had two children and one was physically hurting the other, you would separate them right? You probably would, even considering that the children have been together since they were babies. I think the health and well-being of your hypothetical children is more important than what their room (their cage is the bomb) looks like! You probably can get an additional cage relatively inexpensively on Ebay.

You can make broad generalizations but I think it is also important to look at the personality of the specific bird you are thinking of adding to your home. CAGs can be sensitive, or you could have a CAG like mine who thinks everything new needs to be checked out, whether it is people, vacuum cleaners, toys, boxes, suitcases---you get the idea. I think it depends on the birds' unique personality. Just like people, every bird has a unique temperament. I do agree, however, that small children make quick movements that are confusing to a grey. Any interactions between children and birds must be mediated by a knowledgeable adult.

Have the vet done a blood test? How is her calcium level? Does she get regular full-spectrum light or trips outside for regular sunlight? Good luck with your bird.

Talon, Your description is the kind of happy pandemonium I want in my house!

Thanks for sharing, what a beautiful family!

We are thinking of, at some point, adding a rehomed Amazon to our crew. We currently have a grey and a quaker who have worked out a love/hate relationship. They are both out of their cages pretty much ALL the time. They have their squabbles and turf wars but have been cohabitating for about three years. I have been reading about Amazons and their fun personalities, and think it could be more fun to add one to the mix. From a purely selfish standpoint, it would be great if the amazon had a passion for singing:) It would be just fine if the amazon was a hands-off kind of bird since we already get tons of lovin' from our grey and quaker. Plus, I do not mind exuberant vocalizations, as I equate them with happiness and good health. I guess my question is for those bird owner's who actually have a mixed flock that exist outside their prospective cages. Is that possible? Do your grey and amazon get along together? Do you need to keep one in his cage while the other is free to fly? I hope that I can have three birds who tolerate each other and do not hurt each other. How do you introduce them? Thanks for the advice.

I never understood the importance of sunshine (or full-spectrum lighting) for greys. My grey experienced a seizure, and the next day we were at the vet's. Turns out that 15 minutes a day of outdoor sunlight, most days, is enough to help them make the proper form of Vitamin D that will allow their body to assimilate calcium. Without sunlight or any full-spectrum lighting greys become deficient in calcium. No amount of supplemental calcium will rectify the situation. Only supplemental light in combination with good diet will correct calcium imbalance. You have to remember these birds are from equatorial Africa where the sunlight is intense and long-lasting. They have evolved to need some sunlight in order to function optimally. Upon taking Brutus to the vet we immediately instituted a daily program of going outside, weather-permitting, (in a travel cage, of course) for fifteen minutes. On days that are too cold or cloudy, we leave Brutus in his cage with a full spectrum light above his cage for an hour. For supplemental calcium we feed him a chicken drumstick bone once a week. To say he LOVES eating the marrow, full of calcium, is an understatement! Karl---Brutus NEVER had another seizure because of the changes we made. I wish you and Pickles the best.

Janet---How much fun! You have beautiful amazon! I lurk in The Amazon Room, and have been fantasizing about adding an Amazon to our crew of Grey and Quaker. I guess you have a Grey and an Amazon out together? I thought maybe I could rehome an Amazon. And, like you, I do not need a touchable amazon since I have very lovable other birds.

Gosh, helping him learn to fly sounds like the best thing you could do for him! My own bird LOVES to fly, and land, so much, that to give Rocky that joy is awesome!

I am SO happy Cosmo is okay! That must have been a TERRIFYING experience!

You know you are right about picking up on "moods." Both my guys are VERY adept at reading me. My quaker tries to "correct" my bad moods by nibbling on my face and neck! Maybe I am a softy, but I do not push it when Brutus is clearly not in the mood. I know if I ask to pet his head; I ALWAYS ask first, and if he jerks his head a little, I know he is "not in the mood." Geez, doesn't it sound like dealing with the opposite sex!

I think maybe it is a matter of keeping track of the circumstances when he does bite and learning his body language. Like at our house, we know that for some reason, in the evening, Brutus wants to bite my husband, so Larry avoids trying to handle him at that time. Now for me, if I pick up Brutus around noon when he is full energy, he will give me a pretty good squeeze when I try to put him down because he doesn't want to leave me. So I do not pick him up when he is boisterous unless I have a Plan B, like giving him a toy or walnut to keep him busy. This is one of the reasons I like birds, they are moody like people and not so predictable. It seems that their actions and emotions are more genuine, then say, an endlessly adoring dog.

I think Brutus loves when I sing (at least I have one fan!). When I was initially taking him home for the first time, we had a two hour drive in the dark, so I thought singing would help him feel better. I ended up singing r&b to the radio for almost the whole ride. Even now he seems to mellow out when I sing, and he just sits and listens. My husband though is another story, he just tells me to "let the professionals do their job." Oh well...

Good job with Cricket! Wow! You must love her to pieces!