ScubaJ

Update: Looking better so far, after changing out a few "responsibilities" around the house though. While Alex originally just "spent" time with her, talking and playing, it just wasn't enough. So now I make Alex wake her up and feed her in the mornings. And once I get home from work I feed her and spend time with her at night. She has become a lot more docile to Alex, even when she is on my shoulder. She lets Alex pet her and scratch her neck without going to bite. Hopefully this trend continues! I figure since there are several people with new birds that might run into this kind of thing, this might be useful.

I felt the same way, but that changed quickly. Echo prefers me over everyone else, which is nice, but not nice to the extent where she wants to bite everyone else! My dad is much larger then myself but when he goes to get near her... well, hes the only person that Echo has made bleed... and of all people, my dad is the only major pet person in the family. He tries to bond with her but she is just vicious towards him and I have no idea why...Hopefully she warms up to him. She is tolerant of my girlfriend which was the only other person that I wanted to make sure she at least tolerated. I split duties between myself and my girlfriend so I am not the sole caretaker. So she bonds with both of us. Not just me. I figure if my girlfriend got a new pet that hated me, I would not want to help take care of it or play with it. So I do what I can to make sure she doesn't get put in the same "situation".

Juji, what a great name! Echo does not like me trying to put her upside down yet... She doesn't freak out, but she doesn't like it. Mine isn't too vocal yet either, ~6 months old. She is very very quiet, but she is trying to mimic words, nothing solid yet but I am working on her when I can. Good to hear yours is coming along great though! Keep us updated!

Yes, I started the Organic Gerber Babyfood as well! Echo loves most of them that she tried. Not only is it convenient, its cheap! Baby Food or Oatmeal is usually the breakfast of choice before I leave for work. As for flavors, its hit and miss. She likes some, doesn't touch others.

Great info! Thank you! My goal is set then. Just have to be more careful, which shouldn't be a problem. Again, thanks for the good insight.

You can almost buy a underwater housing for most popular cameras today. I use a Canon A630 which I bought a couple months ago for only $200, housing $175, strobe... $400ish... but it came with an old SeaLife Camera which flooded. The funny thing, out of a week long trip I take anywhere between 250-500 shots... only about 20-50 are good ones... Thanks for the compliments, its not often I get to showcase some of my amateur pics!

I bought Echo ~4 weeks ago. She came clipped and she is going on 6 months old. I am pretty sure they did not let her become flight proficient, so that may be the next best step. Let her molt out new feathers and let her begin to fly, although I will have to just be extra cautious. Mainly our big open kitchen is almost always cooking something... and my german shepherd can open doors. He isn't a threat though hes met Echo and they almost don't notice each other. I guess that small bit of information is enough to push me in a direction. Ill let her become flighted and learn, and at the same time, if I can control her and be cautious enough, I may let her stay flighted... Safety first though! Thanks dbl!

I have a small dilemma. I want Echo to be flighted although currently its in our best interest that she is clipped, for safety reasons. In ~2 years I will be moving into a new house of my own which she can have her own room and I can properly "bird proof" the entire house. Is it fine if I keep her clipped for these first few years and then let her be flighted? Or could that cause problems behavioral/neurological?

Ya I go overboard on groceries for my bird as I am still learning how to prep and preserve many of them. Such as Mangos... So big, and she only eats a little. So now I am letting them ripe up silce the whole thing up and freeze what I don't use. Last 2 I just bagged and put in the fridge... rotted before I got 1/4 of it slice up. That is slowly applying to everything except berries.

At the moment, Organic Lactose Free String Cheese, in very very small manageable cubes. Small enough she doesn't have to use her claw to hold and eats within a second or two. It is the ONLY food that she loves that isn't messy, time consuming, and easy to prepare. She doesn't like Sunflower seeds very much, nor peanuts, etc... And for nuts in particular usually she takes more time then I want her to eating them. Fruit, fresh or dried, she likes, such as raisins but I don't like that she gets all sticky afterward... so the cheese is the only thing thats to both our liking.<br><br>Post edited by: ScubaJ, at: 2008/01/23 21:07

This was so hard for me. Picking out just one? My entry is the top, first one. The following ones are just out there for your viewing pleasure. I tried to resize all to appropriate sizes, making them so small does no justice to them. Entry Photo, Pair of Sea Lions (Sea of Cortez, 2006) -----Additional Pics----- Pair of Dolphins (Socorro, 2007) Stonefish, one of my favorite shots. (Socorro, 2007) Pair of Silky Sharks (Socorro, 2007) Manta silhouette, pictures don't do these creatures justice, these things are between 15-18' wide... and pretty friendly, love to have their bellies rubbed.(Socorro, 2007) Hammerheads! A little photoshopped because clarity wasn't the best.(Socorro, 2007) Whale Shark. Close enough to touch, and I did. (Socorro, 2007) Octopus, one of the few things I am very cautious of touching, think of parrot beak but would only use to take a finger off... So many other pictures... but Ill stop with those.

Great stuff! Echo is actually my only bird. Probably won't be my last either. I actually make Alex spend time with Echo alone so neither one are distracted and get some one on one time. In the end I hope to still be the one, but I don't want her to be defensive to Alex either. It actually already looked better earlier today. So I will update over the next couple months... Now I just have to fix her poo poo problem... I think she is finding it funny to poop when we pick her up so we have to clean it. Not sure how to describe it. But sure enough, it has to stop! :sick:

Breaking sounds like such a harsh word for such delicate creatures... Anyways, I am ~3 weeks in and I am Echo's "one". But this is Alex's (girlfriend) bird to, but her schedule the past couple weeks has made it so she hasn't spent but maybe a quarter of the time with Echo as I have and she has already started being "defensive" with Alex. Now, it's still early so I know Echo can change this direction but we have to do our part in helping her. But what would be the best way? My thinking was, Alex would just have to spend more time then me during the next few weeks with Echo until she is comfortable with her. Almost like balancing it out. Any thoughts, ideas, links? Thanks in advance. :laugh:

That list reminds me of something... As my sister found out from getting a dog. I took the bird route and came up with the same conclusion. Pets are the absolute best natural form of birth control ever!<br><br>Post edited by: ScubaJ, at: 2008/01/12 07:08

Yes, indeed, always in moderation. I didn't get a chance to look at the ingredients heavily, at first glance I didn't see any red flags. Being Organic makes me slightly better about trying it.

I paid 775 for my TAG and I think CAGs from the same breeder (fully abundance weaned) go for $900. I must say, the breeder I bought her from was wonderful. They even offer a 30 day return policy, which from what I have seen is unheard of for pets. I will be buying any and all future birds from them. (www.TLCbirdsoftampa.com)

Being new to parrots and all and reading how they are lactose intolerant and cannot have more then a bit of cheese. Anything wrong with Organic Lactose-Free String Cheese? Still in small quantities that is since it is still a little too fatty. But other then that anything I should be aware of? Haven't fed it to her yet but am curious. Thanks.

Hehe, reminded me of the Oxy Clean commercial but for bird training... just doesn't sound right. KatB, thanks for the link, got one on order already!

Dan, thanks for the info, I will get one on order soon as it makes perfect sense. As for the clicker training, I heard about it last week or so. I am interested in finding out more but haven't looked it up yet. The only thing I found was that Chet Womach guy, and... that looks like a scam. I googled him to find some reviews... nothing praised him anyways. Thanks for the info chap and Kat. Hannah, thanks and good luck with your future grey!

Great tips! Judy, I can't really take the credit for the step up. The breeder that I bought her from was very hands on with her birds, I think they started her... and I am just continuing. She actually has been pretty good about staying on her cage/play stand, even when I leave the room. But I will be bringing her to my work probably in February so I am sure she will try to explore then, and I will have to make sure she stays. Kib, Training Harness like a flight harness? I am still in the debate on weather to flight her or not. I will be searching/posting a thread on this as well, but I am sure there are TONS of great debates done on this already. Sun, sounds good to me! Thats one thing I always wonder when reading some of these "Successes" or tricks, how old are the birds? Ours being the same it will be nice to watch how they grow. Well, thanks for the replies!

A little background, my TAG is 5 months old and have had her for a little more then a week. I am still letting her get used to her surroundings and probably won't start really training her for at least another week or two, maybe longer depending on how she acclimates. Anyways, I was looking for some suggestions on what kind of things you should train your bird early, "baby steps". Really any tips or advice on training a young, and early bird would be great! Right now, the only thing that she is fairly good on and I am just "reinforcing" is the step up command. And other then that I am just trying to get her used to me touching her, specifically her wings. But other then "tricks", what useful things should I start to train. Potty training is on the list but that will take awhile as I am still trying to see signs early enough to do something about it. Well, any tips would be great! Thanks.

I just bought my first bird, a TAG. After some extensive research, but it wasn't my first choice until later on. Birds I considered because of their personalities, colors, and... well everything else in between. Sun Conures as mentioned above. The only thing that I did not like was not how loud they were, but specifically the pitch of their scream. It was ear ripping to me. But if that isn't a problem, they are great and very beautiful. They aren't great talkers either, but from what I have seen/heard, their personality makes up for it. (Fairly cheap to, ~$300 range) My next bird though, will be a Senegal Parrot. From what I have seen, I would compare them to the Sun Conure except... Better talker, quieter, and similar playful personality, and of course a higher price tag. Only about $400-500 in my area. But having no real experience with those birds, I will agree with danmcq. If this is a companion for you, you should have a say in the pick. Now if he's paying for it, he might have the final word.

Well, I have only had my TAG for a week now and I have been trying to get her to eat veggies but she is real picky. I am unsure of how nutritious they are but I have great success with Sweet Peas. I just dump a small amount into some boiling water, boil for 5 mins, serve. They probably aren't as good as any leafy green or broccoli but its some veggies in her system... better then seeds. The only problem, if I server sweet peas with any other veggies... she will eat around picking out the sweet peas, avoiding others. Post edited by: ScubaJ, at: 2008/01/02 15:37<br><br>Post edited by: ScubaJ, at: 2008/01/02 15:52

Thanks for the open arms. Its rare to find that kind of respect online for FAQ. Good to be a part of the family. Well here are some pics of Echo. (Might take me a few tries to post, never seen this forum setup) Echo enjoying some green beans... he wouldn't eat the husk... Just posing. <br><br>Post edited by: FairY, at: 2007/12/26 07:29

Yes, I have done a lot of research. Throwing a couple hundred dollars into something uniformed is quite... well everyone makes mistakes. But I am sure I didn't. Yes, I was planning on getting some Organic Aloe Vera to mix in with water, I heard it helps a great deal during molting especially. But good to know, thanks for the answer! I do use the search function a lot as I am not new to forum etiquette. But 'bath' was too broad and 'how often bath', well, couldn't find what I was looking for. :pinch: Again, thank you!