LisaM

Dave007 wrote: Or take a chunk of skin off their middle toe! :-) Everything Dave said was true (which, if you read more around the forum, you'll find to be pretty much the way it is)...You can train them to stay on their cage or a playstand, but only to a point. Even if they're perfectly trained (and heaven knows mine aren't!), they could still get startled or something and end up on the floor. He also had a good point that in your situation where the floor can probably pose the most danger to the bird (the dogs), keeping the bird flighted would at least give it a better chance to quickly remove itself from a situation if it did startle, and it would probably be more likely to fly to a table/counter/chair or something like that than to fly to the floor. The dogs would have to definitely be trained that the bird is to be left alone and even then, as one of our brightest, kindest and most knowledgeable members recently found out...they cannot be trusted to be in the same room without direct and nearby supervision. All this said, there are many, many members here who have dogs and cats and make it work, keeping it safe for all! Please ask more questions and read, read, read through the forum here. It is always great to hear people asking questions before they bring a parrot into their home. To some people, it's not as "fun" as they thought it would be. To others, particularly those who research ahead if time and know what they're getting into, it far exceeds their wildest expectations of how wonderful it is to share your live with one of these extraordinary beings. I researched for 4 years and it's been 2.5 years since bringing my first parrot into the home, and I learn new things and appreciate them more every day. Keep talking it through with us...we love to share our opinions! :-)

Hi Kook - You mention being in the Gulf, but not specifically where. There is a member here who lives in UAE who has the names of at least one really good vet (in Dubai) and maybe a couple of others. If we know what country you live in there might be someone else who can help also. Lisa

I'm so sorry to hear about Zahzu. I hope he's not too traumatized by all this activity and that he's not in pain. They are such interesting and complex little buggers that can really push the limits of being challenging to us. I'm glad you love him so much and are doing your best to make sure he has the best chance at recovery from this. Lisa

My favorite perches ever are called Safety Pumice Perches. You can google them and find where they are sold. I had one cement perch in each of my birds cages but it wasn't doing the trick. I was still concerned about them hurting their feet so I didn't have it as their "resting" perch, but down by their food so I knew they would go to it throughout the day. I also found the vet extremely expensive, particularly with three and they'd get nails so sharp it would feel like needles. The Safety Pumice Perches have a smooth top and bottom and only have the pumice stuff on the sides where the nails hit. I put swapped these out with their resting perches so they'd spend a lot of time on them. Within about 2 weeks their nails were down to a very nice level and they have maintained them that way ever since. No, I don't get commission from them :lol: . I just love them (and so, apparently, do my babies!). Lisa

Good for Fred (and you, of course). Even if it's not the pellet you would prefer, it's definitely better than no pellet at all!

Thanks Talon - That's good to know...I generally hate those but I keep trying new ones I hear about just in case someone actually makes one that I like. Maybe the Oh Yeah will be the one! What "variety/flavor" do you like best?

That's great Faisal. You must be so relieved that he's on his way back to good health! Lisa

Wonderful news Steph!

You're not the first to be surprised by their "old" male bird laying an egg! :laugh: I'm glad she was okay though! Lisa

DavidH wrote: David - this is about the best and simplest statement I have ever read regarding parrots/behavior. I love it! Lisa

Here's what I do: I feed them on their playstands first (something they love like cooked mash, oatmeal, fresh sprouts, etc.). Then if they fly off towards us while I'm cooking dinner or we're eating at the table, I immediately put them back on the playstand and tell them to stay put. If they fly off again, I then put them in their cage for the rest of the meal (and ignore the protests). It took awhile but they almost always stay there now and it's very rare that I have to put them in their cage. Our cages are in a room adjacent to the dining area, but they can't see us (they can clearly hear us though). The main reason we do this is because sometimes we're eating something that would not be good for them if they happened to get some and sometimes they move pretty darn quickly!

The second ingredient in the Oats & Honey is sugar...there is also brown sugar syrup, high fructose corn syrup and salt. As a very infrequent treat, it would probably be okay to give a small pinch off one, but I certainly wouldn't do it regularly or give more than that in one shot. Imagine proportionally what a small pinch would be to a bird...probably equal to a 5 pound block of it to us (and any of you math geniuses out there will probably "do the math" and correct me :whistle: , but the point is the same). I don't know about the other varieties, but I imagine they're similar...the chewy one is probably the worst. I used to eat the Oats & Honey ones because I absolutely love them. Then I read the ingredients and I am trying to cut down on sugar and HF corn syrup.. Just my two cents... Lisa

That they are. They're a very different bird than the Greys (and the males are "stereotypically" very different than the females). They are all wonderful in their own way. But yes, getting used to one is probably a good idea! :-) Lisa

Thanks! I needed that! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Without having any more information, maybe you could increase the number of foraging toys/activities he has around his cage to keep him busier and active. 1) One of the guys here, HK955, strapped a phonebook (yep, a whole phone book), to the side of the cage to shred. 2) I got one of those flexible rubber ball things that has holes all over it: I stuff it tight with paper or anything like that. Mine love to dig all that out of there and they tear it as it comes out so it takes awhile. 3) Whole nuts in the shell...takes more time/work to get to the treat. You could wrap a couple in tissue and hide them around the cage (after you have taught him what's inside and that it's worth to go look for!). Just a few ideas. Not giving any attention to it may be difficult but like Judy said, I think that's important so it doesn't unintentionally reinforce it as a way to get attention. That is a great picture! Lisa

Dan - I think she is 7 months old...do you think that is too young for allergies to show up or develop? Sarah - remember to let us know what the vet says! I hope it can be kicked soon! Lisa

That is soooo adorable! I've got to think that every bird would love this if they'd only give it a chance! (That would be a FAT chance in my house!)

That sounds like a very reasonable and sound strategy! Maybe it has always been that way a bit and hopefully it won't get any worse. And thanks for the shot Miss Sandra...lots of :kiss: :kiss: :kiss: back at ya!

Jan - my take on the sweater chewing... Initially, when on your shoulder he was chewing on your sweater. Your saying "no, don't do that" was actually reinforcing it with attention. The second time was reinforcing also with the attention of the hand and same words (the words don't matter, the attention does). All of the subsequent behaviors were reinforced by attention also. The last, with a sterner voice and probabably some "stink eyes" go to along with it, caught his attention enough to distract him from the chewing. If you had gone over and picked him up from the wooden chair that MAY have reinforced that chewing on it would get him picked up (but who knows). By picking him up after he stopped chewing and when he was being quiet and looking at you nicely, you reinforced that he will more likely get attention that way. Sorry, long and windy. Here are my thoughts on the topic: I do believe that my birds have learned that some things are naughty, but they periodically have gotten attention for them ("QUIET", "stop that", etc), so they will still periodically do them(and now Kenya yells QUIET to the others so she's reinforcing any screaming too...don't know what to do about that one!). They know it makes us unhappy, but the fact that they can sometimes get attention for it outweighs it. In order to curb these behaviors we have to be much more consistent in ignoring them or preventing them from occurring in the first place. I believe those are really the only ways to stop undesireable behavior. I don't think they can anticipate consequences unless they are immediate and repeated, except maybe in the case of a fearful situation. I don't believe they inherently know right from wrong, but I do believe they can generalize from one situation to another similar, but somewhat different, situation. Just my two cents. I think I fall somewhere between Dave and Dan on this one...:woohoo: Lisa

Hey Steph - more on perches: Be sure to put some made from a variety of materials (cholla wood, other wood, rope, etc.) in addition to the cement ones. I actually had one of mine get sore feet from those so I got perches called a "safety pumice perch". Google it and you can find it in several online stores. It has a flat top and bottom and only the pumice on the sides so it protects their feet but keeps the nails nicely trimmed...haven't had to have mine trimmed since getting these! The perch is sort of crooked and has variable angles to it helps exercise their feet more also. The more variety in textures/widths the better. I like that your goal is to have him/her out of the cage as much as possible! One playstand that I love is the Parrot Tower from bird.com. It is super easy to clean, has wheels, a tray that catches "stuff", and liners that you can buy that fit the tray exactly (though newspaper works also). There are a couple varieties of perch styles to choose from. Comment on the vet...do you bring your Quaker to one? If not, you should bring it in also. And I would make sure to quarantine the two until the vet tests come back clean. You wouldn't want the baby bringing in something and passing it to your Quaker (or vice versa). I too am very excited. I have had minimal wait with mine (all adult rescues) but even a day can feel like such a LONG time! And to answer your question: I think we all go "broke" every once in awhile shopping either online or at stores for our fids! :blink: Lisa

Exactly what Jan said. Completely ignore the sounds that rattle your bones or shatter your eardrums. And whatever "nice" noises are made, copy them back (my favorite) or otherwise reinforce it ("good girl Dusty"), etc. My Grey has my 10 y/o daughters high-pitched scream down pat. She started doing it and my daughter laughed...oh oh. Then she started doing it all the time. When I got the whole family to just ignore it, it got worse for awhile, but then it has slowed down to a very infrequent thing. She'll make up other high sounds that are awful and we all just don't even acknowledge them and we usually don't hear them more than a few times before she moves on to something else. Remember to reinforce as many of the nice/fun noises as possible or even make up some of your own for her to learn/copy (noises in addition to words/phrases) because they seem to learn noises more easily...but that could just be me and Kenya). Good luck! Lisa

Thanks. I was just curious. :unsure:

Char - I think I got those once and not one of mine would touch them. Maybe try breaking them up and mixing in some oatmeal. They're a bit pricey to give to the wild birds outside! :-) KY - I'm going to run to Trader Joe's tomorrow and I'm sure they'll have it. Been reading about it more today and I may start taking about 2 Tbsp myself each day. Lisa

How is "he-who-has-yet-to-be-named" doing today? :-)

Are you thinking of getting one someday maybe?