birdhouse

Sounds like he's been pretty happy ruling the roost, to date. No one has known how to handle him except the daughter. Hopefully that changes at your house & he will be an actual member of a whole new flock. Remember that birds are hyper-aware of emotion. Being excited by the presence of a new flock member is natural when kept to a reasonable level. But only for a little while. Ideally, you'd like him to think this happens all the time... "Welcome to our world, now it's time to get back to whatever we do at 2 pm on Saturday." Definitely respect his space, physically & give him time to absorb his new world. But interact with him so he knows that he is a welcome part of it. Occasionally call or talk to him &/or make eye contact from across the room as you're doing other things. Read his body language & see how he reacts. Randomly do quiet things like watch TV sitting near the cage so he can be with you for short periods without any demands being put on him. See how he reacts to a couple of quick visits to the cage with some good food & a little sweet talk. Each fid is his own bird & will react in his own time & way. See what activities might draw his attention. Most of us have seen that our fids watch the vids from the forums. My guys think the laptop is kind of fascinating. If you do crafts, you're almost guaranteed to get his interest. Once he's feeling up to it, he will probably want to investigate & join in. Then it's time to start socializing. You can find so much greyt information on the forums about handling, feeding, playing, etc. You can post your questions every step of the way. You're also welcome to post anytime you want to brag about your new baby Congratulations on becoming a Grey parront!!

It made me a little bananas to read this post. According to their website they are a "Federally licensed nature preserve of free-ranging exotic and endangered animals." For anyone to deprive a creature of the most basic necessities of existence is very wrong. For such an establishment to do it is to me, inexcusable. If they can't adequately provide for such an "easy keeper", how well cared for are the more exotic charges? Seems like they would be licensed by the Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources. Calling them would likely get you the number of an enforcement division who would be responsible to inspect the facility. It might be a good idea to have a knowledgeable official see that everyone in their charge is being well cared for. Especially if they have endangered species, as the website says. That said, all government officials are stretched passed their limits. They may or may not be able to respond in a reasonable amount of time (like now). It might be a good idea to do what you can about this bird, in the meantime, as you & Judy have been discussing. If that doesn't generate an immediate response, you might also consider asking the forum to start emailing them. Let's just say I think it should be able to generate enough response to uhh, get their attention...?

How lovely! Glad you two had such a good time & welcome back.

LOL I actually remember thinking this could be some kind of payback. I also remember thinking maybe I should keep more alcohol in the house... ? That spring pic isn't even the worst of it. I couldn't bring myself to take another pic by the time she finished clobbering herself. I wish my camera was better because the pics don't actually do her justice, Judy. She's just shining! My cockatiels used to breed in the fall. They were just gene encoded for the southern hemisphere. I think that's what made me start thinking all of this. I've been holding my breath because I was a little afraid Kura might start up again. So far, so good. Hopefully, this will only be a concern in the spring. Meanwhile, Kura will stay her beautiful, happy self.

I finally figured out that the best results from my cement perches came when they were swings. I think the way the birds move around on them files the claws to a more rounded, less painful, edge. Most of the time, I just end up with welts, now, instead of slashes.

Continue to follow Jakob's progress on http://jakobsjourney.wordpress.com. Was hoping you might consider posting some things. Now that Jakob's been with you for a month, is he still throwing himself off his perch when he's in his cage? Where did you end up settling his cage with relationship to the rest of the household? What did you end up doing with him for the weekend you went away? How did that effect him? Will you post any of the video of him any time soon (I hope :~)? Especally after all this poor guy's been thru, it's so great to see the progress you've all made. This looks like an amazing success story in the making. Thank you for continuing to share it with everyone.

Kura is the only female ekkie I know, personally. The few other ekkies I've known have been males. She's a rescue, about 4-1/2 y/o. I got her at about 1-1/2 y/o. I'd heard that females weren't friendly, but I just needed to rescue her. I already rescued an unfriendly grey, so what the heck. If Kura is any example, I am constantly amazed at how wrong the hype is about female ekkies. She had a really tough hormonal thing this spring. She had a lousy start in the world. She has never truly bitten me, even once. Otherwise, she's extremely well adjusted, even tempered (for a parrot) & lower energy compared to most parrot breeds. She's a cuddly muffin, in her own way. She preens my hair, leans against me, or holds my finger. She doesn't like to have scritches. She likes her beak & feet rubbed. She loves to travel & meet new people. So far, she's gone to anyone I've let hold her. Quite a few of them have been very excited because they've never previously even held a bird. She is a great charmer & one of the sweetest tempered birds I've met.

WOW!! He even stopped & made sure he matched the ring color to it's post. Thanks, that was impressive.

I don't know if this is still true, but originally, all chips couldn't be read by all chip readers. Might check in a few different places to see about this. If this bird is chipped, you've got no way to know how old the technology is. Good luck finding the owners & good on you for the effort.

Yep, first class is the only way to fly! Happy Hatchday Gorgeous George!! and many, many more to come.

Kura says thank you to all of you. I think Sully made her blush... but it's kind of hard to tell with her I'm reading everything I can on parrot hormones & particularly eclectus females. I've found some things to try, but it's going to be trial & error over the long haul. Afraid we may be in for a bumpy ride were springs are concerned I'm just hoping this spring was extreme... think what you'd get if you crossed a 3 yo w/an earache with a teenager with PMS :eek: I'll be very grateful if we can dial that down. We were both a mess at the end of a week!

Kura just looked particularly lovely today. I kept thinking how great she looked compared to the way she looked when she went hormonal during mating season. Since she's the only one who doesn't seem to mind, I took some pics. Then, I found a "before" pic I took this spring. Massive damage in a matter of days & it broke my heart to look at her for months. But you'd never know it to look at her now.

We were lucky! Earl bounced eastward off North Carolina & broke up as it came north. By the time it got here it didn't even qualify as a bad nor'easter.

About a month after I got her, my ekkie's first molt produced a bunch of yellow feathers. The pattern on this bird's face & head look a lot like the stress bars that Kura had. I found out there are a number of possible causes besides natural mutation. This can be caused from hormones, disease, feather destruction, dietary issues & stress. Because she was a rescue I was pretty convinced that Kura's problems were the last 2. Once corrected, there was a huge difference in her feathers & her colors were normal by her second molt. There are apparently some conditions where the change can be permanent, though. There's a lot of information in this link, if it helps... http://www.landofvos.com/DifferentColors/thoughts.html

LOL! Points might also be awarded for anything that's thrown at or to the dog? My birds seem to have an endless fascination with interacting with the dogs. Feeding & teasing are at the top of the list. Hit the dog in the head, 1 pt. Deliberately tossed food that's caught without hitting the floor gets 3 pts. Also, there might be a timed event where points are awarded for calling the dog over. Extra points if the dog was in another room beforehand. The nice thing for me is that there's less clean up. And the dog gets a really healthy, if expensive, diet.

We live on the northeastern seaboard. First thing we did this morning was check all the weather resources for updates on hurricane Earl. Hopefully, we're just in for a 2 day nor'easter with a lot of rain. Guess we won't know until we get there. But that's pretty much normal with New England weather. Right now, it's overcast & tropical. It's dead calm, which is really kind of rare along the coast. But it's the incredible stillness that seems to predict more than NOAA can. The only sounds are the crickets & the idiot squirrels running through the trees. No bird sounds at all. Everyone is being quiet inside, too. Normally, there's a lull in the action late in the morning. But that's after breakfast, morning vocals, fun & games etc. No one's done anything except eat & fix their feathers. Phenix isn't even perched in his normal morning spot. The only thing I've heard from him is one "hello" & some lip smacking over his pineapple. Always fascinating (& a little scary) to watch. They all know it's coming, even though it's 900 miles away.

OK... I'm crying I am just so happy to know that part of Jakob's nightmare is over. Awesome, awesome job getting him out of there!!

I see your point & agree with it, but only to a point. Jakob is a specific situation & if this breeder got him through until he found a safe & healthy environment then they did a good thing, even if it wasn't for the best reasons. Everyone has expenses & limits as to what they can afford. If the breeder doesn't chose to make Jakob a humane cause & neither does anyone else, then Jakob will live in his nightmare until he dies from it. That is the most important thing. Jakob is the reason that all of us are invested here. No guilt or pressure intended, here. You may or may not be the only one of us who are in a position to rescue him. Paying this breeder for the privilege is just another sad issue in a long list.

LOL Think any parrot was sure to find that box of hay. Just the mess factor alone. And of course it would be nesting material. Don't really think it's a bad thing, assuming you don't mind the clean up. But there are a couple of things to consider. Hay quality is always a factor with any animal. Timothy hay vs Orchard Grass hay vs hay that may have been mixed with other plants might make it more or less safe for Ash to play in. For instance, have seen it said that Orchard Grass hay may mold more easily than Timothy hay because of when it's harvested. That could cause problems for Ash. And the other plant material that might be combined with the hay might also need to be checked (see Oxbow Botanical Hay).

I watched both the birds & parrots of Australia videos. Such beautiful birds & amazing colors!!! Couldn't get over what beautiful condition their feathers were in. Australia is definitely on my "Must Visit" list. I really want to see them all just flying free through the trees.

LOL See Dave, no good deed goes unpunished. :rolleyes: I've been being computer challenged. :confused: I think Dave made his point quite brilliantly. Thanks again for the help !!

I just cannot remember when I started that batch of food a month after the fact. Now, I'm thinking it was max 24 hr. But, again, I thought all was well in my fridge. I put people food into the freezer if no one wants to eat it by the end of the next day without incident. For years I've been making the bird food in 2 stages. Most of the cooked portion needs to soak overnight. So, it isn't going to get frozen any sooner if it's separate from the veggies. Then it goes into Pyrex cups, rather than plastic which I think clean better & may be better temp control. On average it probably hits the freezer, in 12-16 hrs. I'm familiar with the risks inherent in food handling & try to be careful. Clean, cool & covered always. But this was an unusual combination of circumstances that I look to have seriously misjudged, overestimated & just didn't know about. I lucked out & it didn't go horribly wrong in the long run. I'm grateful that it only ended up being a serious reminder.

My new cages came with lock rings... thank you, thank you. But, I have an old King's Cage stainless cup that locks down into it's ring. Also, I have a plastic one that the bottom of the cup locks on top of a slotted base. I've seen them at pet stores in the dog department. They use this type of dish in the carriers & cages. Very nice design for the bird cage, too.

Too bad the fireworks don't work. This one reminded me of bird poop. LOL Welcome home Isaac!! So glad you're back!! Hope I'm not overstepping when I say... You're grounded MISTER!!!

... and that would be why they manage to get away with all the shenanigans that they pull & we still love em so-o-o much!!!