LisaM

I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your dear Charlie. I agree wholeheartedly...every single breeder or store that sells birds should be required by law to provide a listing of all the things that are bad for birds as it's just not common knowledge! This should include plants known to be poisonous, foods known to be bad, ceiling fans, zinc, lead paint...and definitely Teflon and other non-stick coatings. A lot of people don't have the internet or wouldn't even know forums such as these exist! They rely upon the people from whom they got the birds to provide them information to ensure the bird's future health and safety. And yes, vets should do the same thing for a person who comes in with a new bird. I actually got a info sheet that contained some of this information from my vet the first time I brought mine in...but my vet is an avian specialist. (Maybe yours was too though) Please hang around and "lurk" through the posts here. You might even decide to get another one now that you have some additional knowledge and know how important doing tons of research can be. Again, I'm sorry for your loss.

How long has it been that way? Mine periodically get a feather that goes haywire and they usually fix it within 10-15 minutes (I don't know why they wait...I'm sure it's to get some sympathy from me in the form of "oh, poor baby. did you do something to your feathers?".

Thanks Joe! I love karma! (both here and in real life) :-)

Me too...i think it would take enrollment in a 12-step program (GFA - Grey Forums Anonymous?) to get me away from here! :-) And I got the picture of the white fronted amazons because they were one of the pictures he had posted of his drawings (so I kind of feel like I cheated)...which are so awesome! This is such a great family of people here.

I actually can't believe I got that one right. I guess that's what a day off work, sending kids to a day program and spending 8+ hours straight on bird forums (with periodic searches through oodles and oodles of bird identification websites) will get me! I couldn't have gotten it without the "European" clue! Thanks Minime! I love these! Judy - I don't think it's that you guys never had a chance...i think it's just that you guys actually have a life! (It was a heck of a way to avoid writing reviews of my staff, which I had planned to do today...this was MUCH more fun but I'll be paying for it with some late nights this week! :-))

Okay...here's my guess... Is it a juvenile or female Red-Backed Shrike?

Thanks LMG! If you would feed it to your flock, I feel confident giving it to mine. That is, if I can keep it in stock! It's really, really good! I had a piece toasted this morning with a thin spread of butter...yummy! Usually I put peanut butter on also (yes, in addition to the butter...i know I'm bad). Also, I don't put butter/pb on for the birds! This didn't need the peanut butter as it has a great nutty taste itself. I'm going to use it instead of my other bread for the kids' toast tomorrow morning and see if they notice (he he he). Thanks again!

True, and then if you do see changes you'll have no idea to what to attribute them exactly! But hey, as long as you see changes for the positive you'll know you're doing something right! So after the elapsed time, the hand with the aloe juice might be a little less dry, but that may be because I want it to be :-). I didn't expect silky-smooth though either, just didn't want it to be drier than the water alone, which it's definitely not. So I guess my study is "inconclusive" (as so many are). I'd be interested in what information they're looking at though so if you find out ever, let us know! For now, I'm going to continue to use it after their showers. Let us know how your calendula and chickweed mixture works!

That is one awesome playstand! What a nice hubby!

That's GREAT! Yay Elmo! What a good boy!

That's nice of you to say, but I don't think I would have got the location even if I was in the U.K.! Thanks for the challenges! I love them. I love amazons but I don't have any. :-(

Some sort of thrush or flycatcher? Can you give us a hint like where is this bird found in the wild (continent)?

I'm going for White-Fronted Amazon this time... Where? Knoxville Zoo, Tennessee? (Hey for a stab in the dark guess, why not?)

I'm in...love a challenge!

Have you noticed any difference in your greys since adding the red palm oil? Interesting about the aloe juice comment from your bird shop. Mine both recommend them to customers. I'm doing a little (and very unscientific) study right now! I just went and sprayed my right hand with aloe juice and used plain water on my left (both of them were showing signs of dryness). Aside from the smell of the aloe juice, which I really don't care for, they both felt the same when wet. They are now dry. The tiny lines on my right hand don't show as much as on my left hand but I'll see what they look like in an hour or so. I have a hard time thinking that it is drying, but anything is possible!

Wow..I really hope that leaving for an hour won't be detrimental. I would think that it would happen quite often but I know nothing about breeding and eggs. I'm really interested to hear from others on this. And I'll keep my fingers crossed in the meantime!

Siobhan is right on a couple of accounts... 1) We definitely want updates! 2) As difficult as it is to admit, it is only realistic to expect that you may have to adjust things with Gizmo a bit. I know you will try to minimize it as much as possible but new babies do take a ton of time and you will barely find time to take a shower yourself some days. If you can at least provide some 1-on-1 time every day though, he will likely do fine. That said, it makes sense to try to get Gizmo used to more "ambient" attention now (which may be difficult as he is clingier than ever now). If you do this now, he won't associate it with the new baby coming into the home as much. As long as Gizmo is still out of his cage as much, and is part of the family, he will adjust. You can continue to "contact call" with him. Heck, maybe he'll even pick up some baby lullabies! (How cute would that be?) One of the things I would do when the time comes is have times when baby is sleeping in the car seat/bouncy chair/floor/whatever and you sitting nearby holding Gizmo and playing with him. I'm sure there will be times when Gizmo will be in/on his cage/playstand and you'll be holding the baby so if you do it the other way around he may not be as resentful (if he is at all). Interesting dilemma. I'll be interested to hear from people who have gone through this before. I may get blasted for suggesting that you can't keep up the pace you currently have with Gizmo, but it may in fact be a reality. You won't do yourself, your baby or Gizmo any good if you're too exhausted and frustrated by not being as "perfect" as you think you should be. There will come a time when the baby sleeps throught the night and you get into a manageable daily routine that provides everyone a happy and healthy life.

Smokie is a cute name...and would actually work for either a male or female. He/she is very cute. I'll bet you're just so excited you can hardly sleep! I know I would be! Keep the pictures coming as you get them!

It sounds like he is happy so that will help immensely in the development! Unfortunately, we can't choose for our greys who they become "bonded" to. I wouldn't assume based on one evening thought that he is choosing your wife...at least yet. And even if he does, it doesn't mean you can't have a relationship with him at all. I know there are threads out there about this and some folks with experience in this will likely chime in! Also, your wife can interact with him by talking or sitting in the room by him providing "ambient attention". If she's not comfortable holding or skritching him, she shouldn't feel forced to because if she's tense about it he will pick up on that and may potentially bite out of nervousness...which wouldn't help the relationship between them I'm guessing! I'll keep my fingers crossed that he decides you are his chosen slave! :-)

I actually just recently became aware of them (i guess I sort of blew off the reminder PM's in the past). I do plan on actively participating AND voting in them in the future (assuming I have something to contribute...for instance I don't know if I have any barnyard pics!)

Wow Tari! I'm so impressed!

Greetings from me and the flock in MN!

Oh my God that picture is so cute it almost brought tears to my eyes! Love the feathers starting to open!

What a cutiepie! I saw your posts on the parrotlet site. I'm hoping to learn more as my daughter may become a foster parront for a retired breeding pair of green rump parrotlets (she's doing tons of research as well). Doodlebug looks like he will turn into such a sweetheart! (just don't run out of "chew" toys or he may become a monster! :-))

Sweet! PerfectPeter seems to know his Amazons and Macaws so here's to hoping we're right! The suspense is killing me! I hope Ian logs on soon! :-)