LisaM

I have a place nearby that sells a ton of different cages. http://www.loveonthewing.com Their website says that there is free shipping of orders over $50 but I'd call and check on that. You'd have to call and check on the cage prices also because they're not listed. There are pictures of all the cages though. He has the regular and stainless steel Kings cages. When I had "wire" cages, the one I liked best was an Island Cage due to the rounded corners and food stations that were outside the normal dimension of the cages so here was more room inside. I now have acrylic cages (numerous cutouts on all sides and tops though for those who may be concerned about the airflow). I love them (SUPER easy to keep clean) but with my grey I wipe down the inside almost every day to keep the dust out of her space. Pictures can be seen of my current ones under my profile photos. They are from http://www.parrotislandinc.com They don't ship them though but in my opinion would be worth a roadtrip if it's not too far :-). http://www.cagesbydesign.com has some beautiful ones too, but are really $$$. If you find the cage you want and plug it into Google, you could do some comparison shopping for price there also. There are several sites that carry many different makes/models. Happy cage hunting! Lisa

I have noticed my Kenya acting like that during the day a few times, but I think it's due to not sleeping well the night before. I can usually attribute it to my kids leaving the computer monitor on our our front light outside their window being on all night or something like that. Usually, I make sure that night that nothing is out of the ordinary and the next day she is usually her normal self. If it is like that for more than a day, I would definitely see a vet. If it's been more than a year since he's been to the vet, I'd also take him in anyway. Keep us posted on how he's doing! Lisa

Hello Chip - Great to hear you'll be taking the trek to the vet. I am very fortunate to have several avian vets nearby (I live by Minneapolis, MN) and even though they're close, I always wonder if I should take my birds in as each visit gets very expensive. I do, however, always err on the side of caution and bring them in. One thing you didn't mention was whether your basement is finished, similar temp to upstairs, etc. Also, is there any chance that there could be mold/mildew down there? I'm guessing not with your background and being a self-proclaimed detail freak , but thought I'd ask. There could be possibly something down there that is causing an allergy-type reaction. Good luck to you and please let us know what the vet says. I hope everything turns out fine with him/her. (I'm glad you clarified that you don't know the sex for sure because I was getting confused at first with the mixed pronouns in your post as to whether you were talking about one or two birds...but them I'm not as quick to figure those things out as most maybe:laugh: .

My CAG is 14 y/o and the only time she leaves her cage or playstand is if she is startled, so I guess I am very lucky also! :-) I do, however, have two Ekkies that periodically will decide to not stay put (either on their playstands or cages). Do you have a playstand that is relatively mobile so that Moe can at least be in the room with you wherever you are in the house? We have the Parrot Tower playstands and there is a tray on them so if they want to come down, they have to "fly" or jump down, not just climb. I think that discourages them coming down more. All our parrots are in cages in our front room (with two giant saltwater aquariums - each 6ft long). Usually the only time they are in their cages is if we are in there cleaning them, rearranging them, putting in new toys, etc., or when the kids are on the computer (also in that room but in view of the dining room table), we're sleeping or not at home. Otherwise they're on their playstands in the family room, which is "open" with our kitchen and dining room. The stands have wheels so if the family is in our bedroom watching a movie or something, the birds are wheeled in there also. My kids will wheel one of them into their rooms when they're cleaning the rooms just to keep them company sometimes also. They do get holding/cuddle time each day, but if we're wanting them to stay on their playstands and they keep coming off, we will put them in their cages (door shut) for a few minutes. They don't like that because they're away from the family/other birds. After a few times they "get it" and will stay on the stand. Lots of people have made their own stands (as I did also, but I just found I didn't like it as much as the parrot towers). Just one idea if you don't already do that. Lisa

One more vote for the sitter/boarder! I had always had someone come and stay at our house when we went on vacation, but we ended up getting a fireplace installed so I had to board them when they installed it (new fumes, etc.). I was really nervous about it because they hadn't been anywhere other than the vet since they came to our house. The day I dropped them off I planned to stay there for awhile with them to give them more time to adapt. My grey, who won't normally talk or make much sound other than alarming screams when someone new is around or something's going on that makes her scared, stepped right into the cage there (they have huge cages for the boarding birds that are disinfected between every visit). It wasn't 5 minutes before she was chattering away and didn't make one alarm sound. They all settled in really well and I think they found it at least interesting hearing and seeing other birds. Just my two cents... Lisa

Hi Steve - sounds like Santos is surely bonding to you already (putting his head down for a scritch! Yeah!). When I brought mine into the house it was a little different situation as they were in other homes previously so I had their same cage, but it was just in a new house with new people (I have sinced moved them all to bigger, better cages but didn't want to have everything change at one if not necessary). I would reach into the cage with a treat periodically throughout the day, but didn't make them come out before they were ready. I spent a lot of time just sitting outside the cage reading, talking to them, singing, playing the "blinking game", etc. All of mine came out of their cage and came towards me within the first day home. I've had it really easy from the transition perspective with all three! Good luck with yours and post pics as soon as you possibly can! :-)

Yeah, I'm afraid of that functionality. I think I'll wait until spring, open all the doors and windows and take the birds out of the house before I use that! I never cleaned my old oven anyway. :blush:

I have acrylic cages now, but when I had the wire ones the best thing I found to just "dust off" every couple of days was the vacuum cleaner with the brush attachment (when the birds were on their playstands of course, not in the cages!). I don't know what's all in baby wipes so without seeing the ingredients, I wouldn't use them. There may be some brands that are safe and some that aren't. I'm sure you'll get some more ideas and opinions. Lisa

Welcome, by the way. Stop by the Welcome room and introduce yourself a bit more...your new friends name, a little about yourself, if you have other pets, whatever. And keep asking questions. I spent weeks reading through months of forum posts before I even posted a single thing. There is so much information from everyone! Lisa

We had an older oven and I just always made sure that our parrots were in a room on the opposite side of the house (they have portable playstands on wheels) with doors shut between the the windows open. I hardly ever cooked anything at more than 375 degrees also. Just got a new oven. I was actually more concerned about this one because there were warnings all over the manual about the risk to birds and such when running it for the first several times (and if doing the self-cleaning, of course). For the first month I had the birds in the other room again when I used the oven. Normally they're still a room away but I didn't want to take any more chances than I had to. The great news is that the oven manufacturer (Kitchen Aid) had these warnings in there for people who have birds in the house! And the warning was on several pages...not just some small print on the back cover or something like that.

The only thing that all three of mine will eat every bit of is oatmeal (made with less water than normal) mixed with a little babyfood (sweet potato or mixed veggie). If I ever want them to try something new or take some medication, I just put it in that!

Dave you always give the best and most sound advice! :lol: Mike - I'm glad to hear Kenworth is doing better. Lisa

Those are great stories! My husband kept trying to get a specific reply out of our Kenya. He would say "You da man...No, I'm da bird", hoping that eventually he would say the "you da man" and she would reply with "no, I'm da bird". Now, she just says, "You da bird" to just about everyone! (he never got it to quite work out the way he planned). The best part is she laughs at herself every time she says it too! :lol: Lisa

Welcome HK! First and foremost - thank you for serving in our Armed Forces. I was Army but I sure do love the Marines...for all the reasons described by Mrs. Roosevelt!:blush: Sounds like Hannah is a very normal Grey. Ours started out liking me (immediately from the time I went to her previous house to look at my male Eclectus...I was nervous about a Grey but Kenya just wouldn't let me leave without taking her home with me). She wouldn't even let my husband or anyone else handle her for the first few weeks without going for skin. She now still prefers me to anyone else, will tolerate hubby for short periods of time (took several months) and will only go to someone else if she figures they'll carry her over to me). My kids, 10 and 7, still love her to pieces even though they don't handle her. They talk to her and play with her, just don't touch her. This site has been enormously helpful to me and though I find myself away for periods of time, I always find my way back. :-) Lisa

That's awesome! Let me know how it goes! Lisa

www.organicstorelocator.com is one site, but not many options. I see you're in Michigan...there are three listed there. One in Warren, one in Dundee and one in Saint Joseph. Maybe one of those cities is near you? Here's another...http://www.greenpeople.org/healthfood.htm. That one includes a ton of health/natural food stores, co-ops, etc. Many items can be found in the bulk section of most grocery store. There are some things I can't get there though (like my Red Palm Oil, speltberries, wheatberries, etc.) They can be more expensive though (except co-ops, I've heard they are less expensive but I've not been to one...yet).

Hello Rosie - I'm glad you found a solution that hopefully will mean you don't have to rehome Howard. I too got concerned when you stated you didn't trust your ex, but now that you qualified it a bit more it sounds like it's not for reasons that would impact the care of Howard. I, too, have someone come stay at my house if we're out of town for a week or so. We end up paying around $50/day so your range of $300-$400 sounds about right for that service. That said, we have a dog, two lizards, 4 large aquariums (salt and fresh-water) and three parrots, so it's quite a bit of work for someone not used to it. They have to actually stay at our house also, not just stop in a couple times/day (our dog is old and has difficulty getting around). Fortunately, it's only once or twice a year for family vacations for us. Having to do it once or twice a month wouldn't be affordable for us. Just wanted to provide perspective on the cost of having someone house/pet sit and wish you the very best with your solution. I hope it all works out and that in the end your ex is just doing it because he's a decent human being and is being nice! Lisa

You're all very welcome! Really it was just a cut-n-paste from another site, but I have found it helpful when shopping. There are more and more dried flowers available also...(hibiscus, nasturtium, dragon flower, etc.). Happy shopping! Even when I shop at the Whole food store, the mix ends up being cheaper than buying a ready-made mix. Lisa

Here is a listing I came across on another parrot website that focuses on Eclectus parrots...I'm guessing most of these would apply to most parrots. There are some things on here that are nutritionally better than others, but a small amount of any of these should be okay. One note - quinoa sprouts within about 2-3 hours. Makes it a very easy, healthful food. I put a teaspoon or so on top of their other fresh foods and they all eat them immediately (it seems to be the only thing all three of my parrots agree on! :laugh: ). Make sure none of the dried fruits/veggies have additives of sugar, sulfur, etc. They should just list the fruit/vegetables for ingredients. sometimes you can find the "freeze-dried" fruits also...my birds like them as an occassional crunchy snack but prefer the regular dried fruit on a regular basis (always part of the dry mix portion of their diet). Hope you get some ideas...I can't find all of the ingredients everywhere but they are becoming more common in grocery store bulk sections (particularly Whole Foods and similar stores). Good luck! ******************************************** Assemble your dry food mixture by selecting from the following ingredients. SEEDS AND GRAINS(from health food stores, Whole Foods Markets, & co-ops) ~ Milk thistle seeds ~ Shelled sunflower seed ~ Unshelled sunflower seed ~ Wheat berries ~ Whole oats ~ Barley ~ Spelt ~ Quinoa ~ Dried pumpkin seeds RAW (expensive) ~ Dried squash seeds ~ Dried cantaloupe seeds ~ Sesame seeds (unhulled if you can find them) ~ Flax seeds ~ Rice ~ Milo ~ Corn ~ Buckwheat ~ Poppy seed ~ Sesame seed ~ Millet (red, yellow, white) SEEDS (from bird supply stores) ~ Hemp seed ~ Millet sprays NUTS (raw and unsalted) (from supermarkets, online catalogs, & buying clubs like Sams & Costco) ~ Almonds ~ Pine nuts ~ Pecans ~ Walnuts ~ Cashews ~ Hazelnuts (filberts) ~ Macadamia nuts ~ Pistachios ~ Coconut shreds ~ Soy "nuts" DRIED FRUITS & VEGGIES (unsulfured) (from supermarkets and health food stores) ~ "Just Fruits" ~ "Just Veggies" ~ Banana chips ~ Papaya chunks ~ Pineapple slices ~ Apple dices ~ Apricots ~ Cranberries (sugarless are hard to find) ~ Cherries ~ Raisins ~ Currants ~ Green peas ~ Chili peppers MISCELLANEOUS(from supermarkets, health food stores, & specialty stores) ~ Coconut shreds ~ Nuts (on sale after Fall & Winter holidays) ~ Sesame seeds ~ Sunflower seeds (raw) ~ Dried peppers ~ Dried fruits (unsulfured) ~ Cereals (non-fortified, sugar and salt free) Lisa

Thought I'd add to the string...here is a site with a TON of great (and cheap) ideas for toys, stands, etc., for our fids...and the best part is most of them have pictures! (as in cooking with a cookbook, I need a picture to see what it's supposed to look like in the end) :-) http://www.cheepparrottoysntips.com/toyindex.html#playgymsperches Enjoy!

I did a ton of research on this awhile back and found some great information. I will look to see what I can find and post it here. As with many things, people have differing opinions and find information to support their position in many cases. If you do not feel something is safe to have in your home for whatever reason, then don't have it. However, making blanket statements such as "PVC seems no less harmful than lead" can certainly cause a panic. It's a good thing to bring up to ensure anyone who wants to use it does research and makes the best decision they can for their birds. Also, I would say that most of us here have done things in the past that we then found out to be unhealthy or even dangerous and then adjusted things accordingly with whatever new information they found that made sense to them. Again, I'll look to see what info I found that made be believe that the PVC piping I used was safe for my parrots. Lisa

Muse - I think Sweatpea is so adorable everyone else has just given up! :-)

Nice job Ian! The first was a Scarlet Chested Grass Parakeet (a.k.a. Splendid). I used to have two of these sweeties. The second pic is a Green Aracari (and I don't believe there is any retouching, but as it's not my pic I can't say for sure)! I fell in love with one at the Minnesota Zoo. Started researching and found that people actually have toucans, toucanettes and aracaris for companion birds. The large toucans require a ton of room (as in their own room). Some of the smaller aracaris would do fine in a cage the size we would use for a macaw, but they still do need a lot of out of cage time like our parrots. Totally different diets and such. Having one in my home is probably a pipedream, but that's what I once thought about parrots! :-)

Minime hasn't posted any new ones yet...i'll give it a shot...i'll start with some easy ones: Next one (not my picture but one of my "someday" birds):

You find that the pretty young women in the hills of Italy have a different definition of "taking care of" (as in "The Godfather") than you do. I wish I could cook as well as Joe!