birdhouse

Did the grill fire spook him in the first place? If it did is it still where he can see & smell it if he's thinking about coming home? Do you know of any other parrots in the surrounding area? They can hear each other from a good distance away. Also, do you know if anyone inside his circle of flight has bird feeders, fruit trees or a veggie garden? He's sounding pretty perky.

Also remember that you aren't the only one who can bring Isaac back. You have posts, posters & people who are aware that you're looking for him. You have a lot of support to help bring Isaac home to you!!

So right! lol It's all good again once your fid starts flinging her toys at the dog. New hypothesis... Fridge stopped cooling because an ice block gradually formed & stopped the cold airflow from the freezer. It isn't where the thermostat lives & was likely not keeping a consistent temp for days before I noticed, especially in that heat. The cooked portion was left to cool for about 30 hr. I finished & froze the batch in the morning then found the problem that night. Now I'm wondering if the cooked food stayed warm enough long enough to culture bacteria before I froze it. Its being out of the freezer may or may not have contributed to the problem rather than actually caused it. Of course, a month later, I'm never going to know for sure. So, like everyone keeps saying, we can just never be too careful with food.

So do I, which is what scared me enough to post this. I don't have a/c & it was so hot the milk jug was sweating in the time it took to pour a glass. That's what the pyrex cups looked like when I put them back. When I move a cup to the fridge at night, it might not even be thawed through by morning. So, I had no reason to doubt they were safe to keep. Also, none of the other birds had any reaction as far as I could tell. And all the people food has passed just fine. So I wonder if this may be about something in that particular batch of food that turned it so easily (like maybe I didn't wash the greens well enough?) &/or ekkies' unique metabolism. But something was extremely reactive to a short term temperature change. And I really wanted to share in case it helped someone else some time.

Please don't go there!! This is the most horrible, helpless feeling & it's really hard to stop, but it will not help at all. Doing something will help tonight. Did you go to the rescue room & get information about where to post? Can you put a post on Craig's List? Can you make flyers & go out & put them out in the surrounding neighborhood tonight like Judy said? Maybe talk to the neighbors you know & ask them to talk to the neighbors they know? Isaac is not gone, he's missing. Keep the faith that you'll find him.

A few weeks ago, my fridge died during a record heat wave (of course), the day after I'd made a major shopping trip (of course) & I lost pretty much everything. The freezer wasn't involved & everything stayed frozen, which I definitely appreciated. More so because I'd just put up a huge batch of bird food which I make up & freeze monthly. The cooked portion of barley, rice, dried peas, beans, corn, macaroni, whatever, gets done the night before & refrigerated &/or soaked overnight. Then any freezable fresh diced greens, veggies & fruits are mixed in & frozen in cups that are about 1-1/2 day's portion. A couple of weeks went by & my ekkie started having stinky poops. Some foods do that to her & we'd been pigging out on cherries, which I thought was the cause. Then she started having very wet, stinky poops. Again, there was a seemingly reasonable explaination. She was drinking more because of the heat. She was also getting long baths daily. She always drinks enough to change the amount of water she passes. She also got quieter, but everyone was because the temperature was staying in the mid to upper 90's. The solid part of her droppings looked normal, but the water content continued to rise to an alarming amount on the 4th day. When I started to worry, I remembered the fridge problem & wondered if it could be the food. Unfortunately, I had to dump everything out of the freezer so the repairman could fix the fridge. I tried to be conscientious about inspecting everything before I put it back. The pyrex food cups were a little sweaty, but looked like the food was still frozen solid... But apparently it wasn't. I stopped the mix & within a day things started back to normal. By the second day, she felt well enough to start being mischievous again. I, very gratefully dumped the remaining food. No other person or bird has gotten sick from anything in the freezer. But Kura gets the lion's share of the mix. It was apparently just tainted enough to cause her real problems.

Don't know if you were looking for info to buy parts or make toys. These are free e-books that have a lot of information about making toys. You'll need adobe acrobat reader to download which is also free if you need to install it. http://onafricanwings.com/Parrot%20Enrichment%20and%20Activity%20Book.pdf http://onafricanwings.com/PEAB2.pdf

I like them because they tend to have a greater inside height than the playtops with the same footprint. I don't have a lot of room for 3 good sized cages, so this helps give the birds more area while talking up less floor space. I like the styles better, most times. Many have more of a design to compliment a room vs the playtops that just look like a cage to me. Phenix is afraid of having a perch over his head on the outside of the cage. I don't like having a solid "ceiling" where the upper tray is on the play tops. I'd just rather the birds had the visibility when they're inside the cage. I also guess I feel like the dome might be easier to climb. I have open dometops, so the birds still have the ability to play on top of the cage & so they can come & go without interacting with the dog if they want. I don't have to accommodate an open door & the dog doesn't get to stick her head in the cage. The trick is setting up the cage so it opens without having to rearrange everything & so the bird doesn't shower droppings over the entire cage. It just takes a little practice. I really don't notice it, so I guess I have to say I don't have any real drawbacks to report. Hope that was "informative & helpful", not just a lot longer than I thought it would be!

Thanks for sharing. Glad you're so happy with your nice, new stands. Sometimes, I honestly don't know who gets more excited about new bird toys, us or them. Looks like both from your last posts, so it's win/win all around.

The baby rings look like fun, bright colors & great potential. I hadn't seen those before, but I think I'll go looking when I get a chance. Thanks. The dog rings might be a problem around here, though. Phenix & Kura are pretty good at getting snagged in cloth. Honestly, an ekkie can trip over their own feet sometimes.

Making things for the fids is always a learning process, no matter how long you're at it. Part of the process is accepting that we're making things to be destroyed. The faster they destroy it, the better the toy was to them. Next time, he might try using a different type of wood. Maple & manzanita wood seem to last best around here. I like the manzanita wood because it's irregular shaped & maybe better for their perching. Also, both woods clean well.

So very glad to hear this had a happy ending!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That really does look nice. Sachi looks beautiful & very comfortable already.

But sorry to hear it anyway.

...thanks Jay. Forgot to mention that & a few other ideas when I flew by this am. Looks like most of the other things got covered. But, Phenix & Charm were mad for the smallest size Kong's for the longest while. So, I thought I'd suggest it for Isaac, too.

Can't help much with store bought except to suggest that you might get smaller birds' toys. Issac might be able to destroy those more quickly & maybe be more satisfied. Also, treasure boxes & foraging toys aren't so much destroyed as taken apart & so might satisfy him. I'm big on homemade & there you might find alternatives. Skewering fruit & veggie pieces on a kabob is a naturally "destructive" activity. Paper cups, individual serving fruit cups, coffee filters, Popsicle sticks, Q-tips, straws, Rafi (?) the straw-like stuff, things that are tied onto sisal or leather which is easily chewed apart, baby key rings, cat balls (as long as the bell isn't going to be a problem), telephone books & smallish cardboard boxes or pieces of corrugated cardboard.

You can type a colon & closed parenthesis. You can go to bottom left on reply area and press the "go advanced" button. Once you go advanced, you get a lot more options including attaching pics. Having fun so far...?

Just another day of being owned by a grey! At least it doesn't sound like he flung it at you or all over the walls. For the most part my fids just don't eat cooked "bird" food. Cooked people food...? Sure! But the only "bird" food is rice, barley, dried corn, beans & peas. I cook them & cool them overnight, then add to diced fruits & veggies to freeze. Cooking takes out some of the nutrients, so it's probably better anyway... at least that's what I tell myself.

Hi & Welcome! There's certainly a lot to see & a ton of greyt people to share with. Hope you'll feel right at home with a huge bunch of obsessed parronts. Please don't worry if others have asked the same questions before you. Each post brings things to the top of the list where they can be revisited & that's often a good thing. It may help people see topics they've missed & maybe new ideas will get posted. Sounds like you've got a nice little flock to keep you busy. I guess I get to beat everyone else who will ask for pictures... we're very big on them! And Phenix & I are very glad to hear from anyone with a rescue bird because we're big on them, too.

One of my tiels went thru all the tests with a clean bill of health twice but I was sure something was wrong. On the 3rd trip she spiked an incredible blood sugar number where the other trips it had been fine. She was in the early stages of becoming diabetic. Please, don't think that I'm suggesting that this is what's wrong with Cybil. It may not even turn out to be anything really serious. But the vet can only see so much from one visit. Don't be afraid to believe your instincts vs the vet's diagnosis because you may very well be right. Don't stop until you feel comfortable with Cybil's condition. We're all hoping for the best. Please let us know how things work out.

:rolleyes: Looks like Gryphon is a bit of a challenge. I have a cage that's similar to this one. This hasn't got anything that he should be able to reach to unscrew. Any access could be clipped/quick linked, if needed. I like the cage, well enough. Great door! But I'm not crazy about the cup holders. There are only 2. If the bird is waiting for food, I have to be careful toes don't get caught when I clip the bowl in. So I added some of my own & it's all good. Other than that, mine is large, strong, lightweight & well made. I got it like 32nd hand at a yard sale & repainted the litter tray & base. I was amazed how the surface rust on the rest of the cage came off completely with a lemon juice & salt scrub & there was no damage underneath. I don't know if mine is a PH or another manufacturer's. If it helps, I've seen this style cage on Ebay, Craig's List & yard sales. Good luck with your little escape artist ! !

"Heh, Heh, Heh... got ya!!!"

Cute baby pics! Looks like a great way for the family to spend the day. Thanks for sharing all the pics with us.

Birds only keep the vocabulary that amuses them or gets them something. Sounds like the whistle gets Rylie food, attention & amusement so he's not going to stop until all of that goes away. Everyone has already covered the best approaches to your problem. One other thing you might remember is how well our birds read our body language. There's no pretending to tune it out because Rylie will probably know that he's still getting a reaction out of you. That makes it a little trickier, but we always hope we're the smarter beastie when it comes to our greys.

Me, too!! For a minute, I was concerned for a lot more than Cocoa's pride. Yay for Mocha, standing up to the bully. Just hope they eventually settle the power struggle & everyone learns to play nicely together.