LisaM

I hear ya Erika! Living with parrots is all about compromises, be it taking more vacations, changing our own diets (for the better!), going into the other room to talk on the phone, feed kids vs. get toys for the birds (just kidding about this one ). And yes, sometimes we just find a way to live with something to "make the peace". I don't have a tabletop perch as I have big rolling ones for each of mine, but I like the idea and I think I'm going to run out and get one today (which will probably cost me $200 by the time I walk out of the parrot store! :blink: ) You can try putting them back over and over, and giving treats when he does stay there for a minute, then two minutes, then three...etc. Then he may associate getting the reward for staying put. Some people seem to have very well-trained birds so maybe they'll have some more ideas. I know it takes a lot of patience and time. Like Erika, I have found ways to have them with me more but they generally will stay put when I absolutely need them to or will tolerate going into their cage because it's not as frequent. Good luck!

Hi Matt - sorry to hear all that you're going through. That must be pretty scary. It would be for me! I hope you can at least get a root cause so you have something to work with and treat! Please keep us posted as you hear! As far as lights go, there is still debate over the benefits but I certainly haven't seen anything that would claim they could cause harm so at the worst they are "neutral". You are correct that regular windows filter out the necessary UV(B I think) rays. I have the Ott Lite, which is a full-spectrum and you can get them at any craft store (they're great for people who do fine needlework, etc, apparently). My vet recommends I have them on 2 hrs/day so that's what I do. They are pricey, but in my opinion worth it. There are certainly others out there also. I think if you do a search on the forum under "lighting" or "UVB" you'll come across some others and some great information/debate about this. Lisa

Very handsome/pretty tiels. I had a tiel many, many years ago, before I knew much about bird care, unfortunately (15 years ago). My husband reminded me that he used to whistle "Bridge over the River Kwai" all the time. Trust me when I say nothing sounds crazy to us when it's coming from another parrot-lover! We've all been there and understand completely! :lol: My ekkies love showers so much that this morning I put my Max in first and a few minutes later I went in and there was Katie sitting underneath him getting soaked. Still working on Kenya though...the tolerates them but only because I give her lots of lovin' aftewards!

Acappella - I don't see a new thread yet in the off-topic forum... Please do start it so we can keep up with how your kitty is doing. (I had a free kitty many years ago that miraculously turn into a $1,200+ kitty within a month of getting him...so I can relate). Good luck to you and kitty.

Thanks Judy...I learn from the best.:kiss: :kiss: John - you will find that whether you get a bigger house or not, the Greys will pretty much take over at least one room. :lol: We had to do an addition on the house because the "living" room no longer had room for human furniture! :-)

Welcome Steve and Charlie! Nice tat Steve...where are the pics of yours Judy??? Can't wait to hear how it goes bringing him home. You must be soooo excited! We are excited for you! Lisa

Welcome Edi! Give him lots of time to adjust. It sure sounds like he immediately took to you though which is absolutely fantastic for a 18 y/o neglected Grey! Please post the pics and keep us posted on your/his progress and the transition into a much more loving situation. I am very happy he found you. He's got a long life of habits built up. Sounds like you have the heart to help him. Lisa

Hello Nina and welcome! We LOVE people who come here before they have greys. There is so much to learn and I'll bet you'll learn more lurking around here and reading old posts than from pretty much any book or "information only" website. I will be in Finland in a few weeks. I was happy to learn that it's similar weather to here (Minnesota) as I was thinking it would be even colder!! Have fun here! We all do! :)

Welcome Kim, family and flock! Sounds like you keep pretty busy! What a wonderful home. Texas to ND? Quite a culture/weather shock I imagine. I'm in MN but have been here for 37 years (Yikes! That makes me sound old!) :-) Lisa

First things first...TAKE ME WITH YOU!!! :woohoo: Honestly, Pumpkin will be fine if you have someone who can provide good care, be it in your home (best option in my opinion) or at a boarding place (where they require health cert from vet). If you have someone come to your home (preferably staying there overnight), I would have them meet Pumpkin several times before you leave so he's at least familiar with them. Go and have fun! When it's that time, it's that time! Lisa

YES!!! Absolutely get back to the vet ASAP! Blood in the stool...not good. You didn't say how long ago the vet visit was and how long you've been giving the medicine. Was it a specialized avian vet? I'm only asking because I've never had my vet give me medicine to put in the water because it's not a very effective way as you can't gauge how much they're getting. Do you know what the vet found wrong? If it wasn't an Avian vet, find one and take your bird there. Please come back and keep us posted! Lisa

In my opinion, it all comes down to the education and training of the kids, which it sounds like you have already started. The only thing you can do with the littlest one, which you likely did with all of them, is keep them away from the birds until they can be trusted to treat/handle them correctly. I have a kids, 10 and 7, and one of our rules is that no bird is ever allowed on their shoulders (my 7 y/o still only handles the birds when my husband or I are right there...just in case). Only their hand, lower arm, lap. And actually they don't handle our Grey much anyway (only if she gets on the floor for the most part). I don't think it's a different situation than with any other bird. I have actually heard of some pretty vicious tiny parrotlets that nip and draw blood more than any Grey I've heard of. Any parrot can, and probably will at some point, bite someone. The best thing you can do is make sure the kids learn to "read" the body language and keep their exposure limited to less vital parts of the body (keep away from the face, etc.). I don't think having young kids should be a reason to not consider a Grey. Our Grey is the most entertaining for our kids of all our birds.<br><br>Post edited by: LisaM, at: 2009/01/31 05:41

Send an IM to Talon of which ones you want deleted and she'll delete them. I just had to do that a couple of weeks ago. Lisa

Here's another idea to mull over... It sounds like you're pretty handy...you could build something to surround the playstand with wood/PVC and large screen. Like a big homemade cage with the playstand inside so he could be on his stand but protected from the dogs/from flying too far. Or...You could get one of those nice travel cages (clear acrylic with a perch, food, water) or a "sleeping" cage to have in the living room and if the dogs are out, keep Jaco in that cage. That way he can still be out with you and your roommate. And put the cage somewhere the dogs can't get at it and frighten poor Jaco (especially after the one incident). I would definitely try to make a deal with your roommate to put the dogs in her bedroom for awhile so you can have Jaco out free (and out of the small cage). I wouldn't keep him in the small cage for long periods of time, but it might be better if he can at least be in the main area with you than in your bedroom all by himself. Just a few ideas...I hope you can find a good resolution that works for all of you and keeps Jaco safe. As Dan said, dogs, and particularly sight-oriented dogs, cannot be trusted to be in a situation where they have access to birds. Not worth the risk. Lilosmom: 1000 may be a low estimate for some. :-) Instead of putting mine back and back and back, I put them back in their cage after the 3rd time. I try to avoid that by putting them back on the stand/cage and then if they stay there for a few minutes I'll go get them and give them some attention, trying to reward the behavior of staying on the stand/cage.<br><br>Post edited by: LisaM, at: 2009/01/31 05:19

I'm glad everything is okay with her Grey. She may want to get her hearing checked though...the government may be interested if it turns out she has bionic hearing! :laugh: :silly:

I hate it when they have a feather all messed up. It worries me also. I'm glad Whisper took care of it!

The concept of having a bird see another bird (or you) eat a new food is successful with some birds. However, I would not presume to know what the motivation of a bird is to do or not do anything (other than obvious rewards). To say they are scared it will kill them is taking some pretty big liberties in my opinion. No one can possibly know what they are thinking and should not presume to know. Just my opinion. Lisa Dennisandholly: I'm really glad you found this site. I certainly don't presume to know everything about these wonderful parrots, but I don't get a good feeling about your breeder or the people who ran the training course you took. I hope you take the multitude of opinions and ideas you'll find here and figure out what makes sense to you and works for you. Parrots are as individual as people so in many cases generalizations just don't apply.

Parrots in captivity have a MUCH different lifestyle than those in the wild. in the wild they fly miles and miles and spend a TON of time foraging for food. Most seed that they eat is still "fresh", or sprouting. that is when it is very nutritious and not just junk food. otherwise they eat all the things BaxtersMom listed. there are some foods out there that aren't high quality, but several that are. Talk to your avian vet to determine the best diet you can provide for your parrot. I think (hope) you get a different message from the vet. Lisa

Ah...thanks Lynn. I might have figured that out if I got one, but probably not until it was too late. The ones I currently have don't have a ridge and they are actually real rock so there's nowhere to put water. I just thought it looked like a fun idea. Thanks again, Lisa

Welcome Siroxius! I'm going to be totally honest with you here...one of the things that concerns me is when you say you don't have enough money to pay for a bird. Do you have enough money to buy a large enough cage, playstand, healthy food (ongoing expense), lots of toys (ongoing expense), vet visits (ongoing expense), etc.? They are not an inexpensive pet and if you will end up only buying the cheapest food you can find, etc., that will only be bad in the long run as your bird may get sick and may require more vet services ($$$) in the future. There are greys in foster/rescue organizations (www.petfinder.com is one place to start) but it depends on what a "reasonable" distance is to you and if you're prepared to deal with whatever baggage may come with the parrot. I hope you're not offended by my questions regarding your ability to pay for a Grey, but there are a lot of people who get into it not realizing how expensive they can be to maintain and that is how many of them end up in the rescue places. I just looked on Petfinder and there weren't any in Ohio but there were some in NY and IL. Also, I found all of mine through the local newspapers. I waited until I found the right fit for me and for the bird and got to see the environment they were in and how they had been raised up to the point of them coming into my life. I didn't buy the first, second or even third one I looked at, though it was very hard to walk away from any of them. Good luck to you in finding what's right for you. Please post any questions you have or come up with and do a lot of reading through these forums to get a good understanding of what you're getting into. Kudos to you for considering adopting an older grey vs just getting one from a breeder though. There are benefits to both. Keep us posted, Lisa

Dear Kook - Please don't think for a minute that you're boring us with your messages!!! For one thing, if people are tired of a thread, they just won't go it anymore. Like me, the others who keep coming back to read your thread care about you and how you're doing and want to be here for you to bounce your thoughts and feelings off of. We are all sympathetic to what you are going through even if we haven't experienced it before. I have another question for you. Is is possible for you to purchase birds from another place like Dubai and bring them home or are they not allowed into Qatar from another country? Please excuse my ignorance but I'm just trying to think of ways you can possibly get a parrot (or two) and have a better chance of them being healthy. lisa

Pepper is very cute! And Taco is very handsome. Looks like he loves being outside! I had mine on the grass once and they didn't know what to think of it. Didn't move an inch! :-)

We went to Xcaret and Xel-Ha a couple of years ago when we went to Playacar. I don't rememer which one of the places it was, but one of them had this fantastic show at the end of the night and had all sorts of macaws flying around this huge stadium...it was one of the most extraordinary things I've ever seen! Great pics! Lisa

I think it was a bit quieter than a grunt (I didn't hear it until she was about 6 inches from my ear), but maybe that was it. I didn't notice the wings but I'll look for it. Twitchy would definitely describe how she was moving around. Maybe I'm just too darn good at those parrot neck skritches! :lol: I know she has a ton of pinfeathers coming in on her head/neck right now so I was trying to rub those a bit to help break up the casing for her. Maybe that's what did it as it felt like I was "grooming" her. As much as I want her to "love" me (whatever that means to a parrot), I'm fine not ending up with a hormonal girl regurgitating and all. Her blowing kisses at me from across the room works just fine for me. :kiss: :kiss: :kiss: I'll have to pay better attention next time to see what exactly is happening. Thanks, Lisa

Thanks Sweet! I have a flat stone perch in a couple of my cages also and only one of my birds uses them (but loves them). I like the fact that if used upside down you could put some foraging stuff up there or even some water to splash around in). I might get one of these and see if I can entice my Grey up there. Nice find! Lisa