ziggy

Jimmy, every bird will have a favorite treat. Unless you have Ziggy he is a garbage can. Mangos, nuts, brocolli,snow peas,banana chips,peachs,apples,spinach the list goes on and on. You need to figure out what he likes and use that. You should also be giving him fresh veggies,a and fruit to give him a vitamin boost. In there natural enviroment they feed on many differant items. I for one am a believer of differant foods everyday, just like with humans to much of one thing is no good. You need to give him a good veriaty of differant foods to keep him active and to keep him happy with his food. Keep trying you will get the answer soon enough from him. He will let you know what he likes and dislikes. For use to say what is the best treat would be foolish, he needs to make the disishion. We can give you advise thats all, put it all comes down to what is he going to be happy with.<br><br>Post edited by: ziggy, at: 2007/12/04 06:05

Hello This is a catch 22 for people that let there bird on the shoulder and the ones that dont. I let my birds, all 17 go on my sholders( not all at once ). There is nothing wrong with it. You as the human have to have conrtol of your pets at all times. Like dogs birds will feed on negative feedback. If you as the controler show you are the dominate one and he is the lesser one you should have no problems. You need to show that you are the leader of the pack. Do not jerk your hand away when you are going to get him off, he will feed into this and think he has the upper hand. You dont need this at all he has a really sharp weapon on that face of his that can do alot of damage. You need to have the fullest trust in him for this to work 100%. If you have even the slightest dought dont put him there. the main thing is to feel comfy with him there and not have to wonder if you get nipped. This should be the last thing on your mind. Just enjoy him and let him post up there.<br><br>Post edited by: ziggy, at: 2007/12/04 05:51

Hello, Welcome to the FAMILY!!!!!! It is great to know you are going to rehome him. 18 is not very young so he might be set in his ways. Have patience and i hope he will come around for you guys. Ask as many questions as you want there are great people here to answer them for you. I have a B&G Ziggy they are great birds. Just be alittle careful with the into between the two. B&G's can be very aggressive toward a new comer. I hope you have a quarintine area for Ajax for at least 45 days. If I were you I would also make a trip to the vet before you bring him home to make sure he gets a clean bill of health. You dont want to have any airbourn viruses brought to your home and get the B&G sick also. Again welcome to the FAMILY!!!!!

Hello welcome to the FAMILY!!!! Totoro is gorgeous, and look at those baby eyes just melts your heart. Good luck with him and enjoy him. He will be a companion for many years to come. Being a baby he will go through many stages and fazes. The best advise I have for you is to have alot of patience and you will reep the rewards later. Please ask as many questions as you want there are many people here to answer them. You will get the best answers on the internet right here. Again welcome to the Family!!!!!!!

One more thing you are lucky to work in a store that the owners care enough to hire the right people. that is not the case in MOST PET STORES!!!. You are lucky that your co-workers are knowledgable that you can learn and teach them. That is not the case in most stores. I live by christina and I can say that most pet shops here are filthy and you would not even by a cricket in them. So you a lucky that your store is the exception to the rule. You should be happy about that. I did not attack you, and you are basicly putting me up on the cross about this.<br><br>Post edited by: ziggy, at: 2007/12/04 06:10

Hello BMustee, I never said ALL employees did I. On a whole thats what you get when you go to a pet store. This is not to affend you this was to let Jimmy know that he has a great heart and should do rescue work. His knowledge about birds sounds like he needs more to make a differance in the pet store. You have the exreriance and thats great, good for you. People would appreciate that knowing that you have more knowledge then the others that work there. Another thing are you in high school? That was what I said so if you are in high school then you are much better off and advanced then the regular high schooler. I have been in the restaurant business for 22 years and I can tell you that people that hire young unexperianced (high schoolers) are not the answer for a sucsessful business. Point here is you must have been to a fast food restaurant before and they are mostly high scool kids that work there and how many times has your order been messed up.My POINT HAS BEEN MADE. I think we can all agree on that. Why are you telling me about sanitizer I said they probably dont use any or tell customers to use it.<br><br>Post edited by: ziggy, at: 2007/12/03 23:54

very cute and original what an idea i tell you. thanks for sharing it and for the laughs

One question for you is he fluffing up like a turkey when you go near his neck? If so he could be doing 1 of 3 things. 1) He is showing you how much he likes that. 2) He is trying to say Im watching every move you make. 3) He is just trying to test you to see how much he can trust you. This is common with birds. One day they love it and the next they will try to take your finger off. They are very social animals but they also have the same mate for life. They need to trust you fully before they will be reseptive to your every move. Some greys are very warm while some are very distant and kind of cold. I see more cold then warm they are just not very cuddley. The nature of the beast. Cockatoos are known for there closeness to humans and are one of the best family type birds because of their behavior patterns.( again not all but the most are that way)

Great story i think thats really funny. I got one=== Ziggy every time I give him a bath lately he starts yelling OUCH-OUCH-OUCH, what a cry baby he is. You would think I was beating him with a wooden spoon. My friends think what a character he is. If you did not know any better and just heard him screaming you would think I was beating him or a child. This bird is a TRIP I tell you. One day I am going to be reported to dept. of children. When someone that does not know whats going on(I will Kill him for the imbarrasment).

Hello, Ringnecks are part of the parakeet family, they are known to be very voicetress. This is the same as the conures like judy was saying. I have ringnecks and conures(nandays). They love to scream at each other all day long. The nature of the beast. Ringnecks are a bird that can loose control very easily. They are beautiful birds no dought but as beautiful as they are they are a bird that needs alot of hands on time. They revert back to there wild behaviors in a short time if contact is not made all the time. The best advice I can give you is to have a load of patience with ringnecks(they are a tough nut to crack). For your grey he will pick up there scream very easily they mock alot of sounds and whistles. So if you dont want 3 screamers you need to work with the ringnecks alot,to control there screaming.

Sound like you and churchill are bonding great. Good luck with the future tricks. Please keep use up to date with your progress.

Hello Lynne, I have to say Dave hit the nail on the head for your question. I will add if your grey is stressed in any shape or form this could also be a reason for the sudden plucking. Hope you can get it under control for the sake of the bird. I hope you are ok also.

Hello, I agree with Dave birds dont carry fleas. Mites are also kind of a rare find unless they are around alot of foul.

Hello Richard Welcome to the forum and the family. Please ask any questions that you want there are many great people here to get great info.Again welcome to the family!!!!!

Welcome to the family Mike We look foward to hearing some stories about Jocko and timber. There are alot of great people in here and can help you with any questions you may have. Again welcome to the FAMILY!!!!!!

Here is a great point also how many of the so called employees dont use or tell customers to sanitize there hands before touching those birds. I say never, they are kids from high school that have the knowledge of a flea and they think they know something. For the price it is a shame how many people buy them at the prices they ask. The owners of the stores are too worried about saving money on payroll by giving jobs to $7.00 an hour kids. With the prices they charge you would think they could afford to get a person in there that is qualified to handle birds. Jimmy no offense to you, being a person that has no real experiance in birds like yourself would not do any justice to the cause.Being a good hearted person, you got upset with the girl for doing that, but that does not make you a person that can give the best advise to people that never had a bird or that want a question answered that you may not have the answers for. True you do have more knowledge then them thats probably a no brainer, but I think your emotions are telling you to get the job and not your experiance. You would be better at a rescue or sanctuary for birds you have a heart for mistreated animals. Plus you would get more out of that then in a pet store. You would be working side by side with people that have alot of valuable input. You will not learn any thing working with those moreons at the pet store(thats my opinion) Post edited by: ziggy, at: 2007/12/03 04:40<br><br>Post edited by: ziggy, at: 2007/12/03 23:19

Hello Kris, First of all your grey is stressed. Lets step back and think if you were him how would you feel. First he is taken from his normal enviroment, next his home(cage) is now not there, Next he is in a travel crate, And to top it all off he is scared. So is this a tramatic time for him? You bet it is. The feather thing you are discribing sound like a molt and not a pluk. Pluckers are very nerotic and very nervious. Pluckers are not very common in greys, cockatoos,and macaws are more common pluckers.(not to say greys dont do that). You need to get him a regular cage and get him aclamated to his new enviroment. This will take time no dought. You will have to watch him closely to make sure that he does not keep plucking his feathers. I my opinion he is molting. For his tail I would say he keeps hitting it on the carrier. He is fine just needs to adjust to his surroundings. You know that greys have a great memory and you should do everything in you power to get him in a cage, that is what he is use to and this will help handsomly in getting him comfortable in your house. He will adjust better if he feels secure. He needs to get to trust you fully before he becomes comfy in his new home.

Hello Tash, Welcome to the family. Sound like you have a long road with Mojo. Sound like he got along with the guys at the shop. Now he is in a home enviroment and it will take time to adjust to that. For the cussing that will HOPEFULY go away in time. they have great great memories so he might reflect to those days in the shop. It will take time for him to adjuct because he need to trust you first.

Hello Tash, First of all welcome to the family. Greys are not the type of bird that you can cuddle with( on a whole there are exceptions). He is 10 years ols at least you think. First he is set in his ways. Before you got him he was comfy in his home. Now you take him to your home he is like where is my home. You may want to be friendly and loving toward him which is excellant but he cant until he trusts you and becomes a companion to you. This will come in time and in time only. Be patient and he will come around. Like Judy said you should have done your homework if you were looking for a cuddly bird. A cockatoo would have been a better choice if thats what you realy want

Hello Sean, This is the age that she is trying to train her vocal cords to make logical words out of her mumbiling. Like baby humans they need time to get the sounds right to make sense out of the mumbo-jumbo. This is my favorite part of training a bird they sound so unorginized. Like a baby that cant get all the words to sound right. Have a great time with this experance you will enjoy it and have great laughs. As for the driving thing greys are very skittish and with all of the movement around her in the car she is very nervious thats all. I travel with my birds on my shoulder all the time. I love to carry them like that, but others tend to think differantly( thats ok) You need to make your own choice on this issue. The more you travel with her in the car the more she will become accustom to it. For the biting she is nipping and holding on I bet. This is security for her she is not bitting she is looking for refuge from you. She cant tell you in words but she is in the behavior that she is expressing to you. That is a great thing because she trusts you and she wants to feel secure. You should be honored with that. She loves you and lets it show. Great bird you have.

I agree with Mrspock a vet appointment is needed A.S.A.P this litte guy needs help. This just happened to another member and the results were not good. They need to be looked at when they are acting strange. The vet will get a blood sample and any test that are needed he will perform. Does he have a yeast smell at all?

Hello Sean, Welcome to the FAMILY!!!!! You will love it here we love pictures also. Sounds like Cleo is a great bird and has a great home with you and your children. I wish you nothing but a great big welcome we all get along here and you can ask as many questions as you please. We here are very helpful and answer treads with the best info you will ever get.

Hello Carol, Cookie sounds like a supper sweet bird good luck with him/her. It is a good thing you purchased a regular cage for him, he needs to be in a cage for birds. They are so smart they are always looking around and listening to the sounds. When he goes in the new cage this will be alot easier for you to have a better connection with him. He will be able to see you from all sides and will see you at eye level. Sounds crazy but birds look at your eyes to tell how much clout they have with you. If he looks down at you he feels superior, if he looks up at you you feels over welmed, at eye level the field is even. Am I making any sense to you. Can you see where im coming from( I hope). For a week he has made alot of progress with his new home. After a while after the shock goes away and he settles in he will come around. He needs to trust you before he will start to listen to your commands. He steped up for you already and it is a short time. He will go through another shock when you move him to his new cage.( its all new and he needs to trust his cage also). He may become a little baby when you put him in the new cage and want you because he has a little history with you and will trust you more then his new cage. This will make you very happy because you will start to bond with him during this time. By the way welcome to the FAMILY!!!!!!

hello KatB, how old is Oliver? This may be a faze with him. Greys go through fazes. First they are your best friend then he is best friends with someone else. Greys are very smart it could be that Oliver knew he was going to the vet(some way of knowing he was uncomfurtable). Birds have a great memory so this could also be the reason for the sudden turn on you. Birds can loose trust in a human very easily especially if he went through a tramatic experiance. The glove could have spooked him, or knowing that you did it to him he might be holding a grudge. this is all in theory.

Sound like you and Edgar are starting a bond together. The best thing is trust if he learns to trust you he might come around and let you touch him on his head and neck. Greys are very smart and love the attention, but they will push all of your buttons to see what he can get away with. Some are just very stubrin and will not want that real tight nit bond with humans. I hope you continue with the results and keep going he will learn a little more trust everyday. Your wife should also try to get a possitive responce from him. You dont want the stereotype grey(a one persom bird). But the results are great so far, good job and good luck.