birdhouse

That time I forgot to add that it's important to use something specifically labelled as a bird cage. The powder coated paint is different on birds' cages because otherwise they can have problems w/ the paint fumes long after it's dried. The paints that are more commonly used on metal have ingredients that are toxic as well.

I swear the 2nd time Kilaya flew at the camera, I felt talons grabbing my hair. lol He's such a beautiful boy. Love the body language. So full of wonder about everything around him. So sweet! Maybe it's time to take a step back, find some patience & just love on him for a while. Kilaya can't frustrate you if you don't expect anything from him [...time honored rescue parronting defense mechanism]. But if you keep being patient & keep asking nicely, you'll eventually get all the important stuff worked out [...time honored rescue parront's reward!].

If it helps any, here's a quickie tutorial about setting up an account. NOTE it's craigslist.org not .com. & a quickie about posting ads how to post something on Craigslist

First, I somehow skipped shelf perches on the list for your cage. There are a few types & if you read the links, someone has a DIY w/instructions posted. I have only zipped over these. I didn't really read them. But if you haven't already found them, they looked like they could have at least some useful info. http://www.birdtricks.com/blog/making-the-cage-suitable-for-your-special-needs-parrot/ https://www.google.com/search?q=cage+for+handicapped+parrot&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&biw=1366&bih=657&source=lnms&sa=X&ei=npF6VInlPPWAsQS0zYHABQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAA&dpr=1#rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&q=avianavenue.com+cage+for+handicapped+parrot

Basically, you're just looking for a long, low cage to overload w/perching & toys. This type of bird needs lots of beak holds & support, support, support. They usually learn to get around amazingly well, all things considered. But just like other birds, they'll keep going up & up, like they've learned to bounce or something. Unfortunately, that's so not true! So the ideal is lots of very branchy perches & ladders to cradle. "Grabable" toys help steady them, too. W/a nice soft layer of shavings &/or washable flannel on the floor, they'll be about as safe as they can get. You could see about using a travel cage as permanent housing. As long as it's specifically made for birds so the paint, etc is safe. Maybe a fold-able carrier, but you'd at least need to keep some parts of it zip tied & check to make sure they stay that way. Ours is 30"L x 19"D x 22"H. Really roomy. But I don't like to have Phenix in it because no matter what, he'd eventually find a way out. He's just that kind of guy. But it's great for Kura because she isn't ...that kind or a guy. lol So basically it would pretty much depend on the bird's personality. I just don't know how they'd stand up to constant use & cleaning, long term, though. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=25320&d=1402969708 I also have King's aluminum travel cages. I really like them a lot. They're heavy, solid, well made & are officially Phenix-tested-escape-proof. Very big points in almost every category. It might be worth looking into investing in a large one. They're expensive for a travel carrier. But not really as a full time cage. I have seen where some smaller bird owners have made them their bird's permanent home. Apparently, some bigger bird owners use them for sleep cages, too. VVV might want to turn your Volume down first lol VVV They come all apart for "easy" cleaning (it's still bird poop so "easy" is a relative term here lol). The cups & door latches are the only things that may need to be replaced eventually & King's usually has them in stock. Otherwise, they're made of aluminum; they should last a very, very long time. http://www.lavoliere.ca/reviews.php?language=En http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kings-Cages-Parrot-Bird-LARGE-ALUMINUM-TRAVEL-CAGE-ATM2029-Red-bird-toy-toys-/370867955795?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item565973e853 http://forums.avianavenue.com/index.php?threads/table-stand-for-kings-travel-cage.131064/

Looks like someone should dust off the GF "tradional" Turkeyday thread for Dan this year. So from me & mine to all of yours Happy Thanksgiving!!

I do realize there's been some things goin on & all, but... ????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????

To me, Phenix has become more like the perfect hearth fire. Not roaring. Too much like raging. A rather lovely deep pile of embers & coals w/beautiful glowing shades & that wonderful radiant warmth that melts into your bones on a cold damp day. Sundance saw to it that Phenix never got to be king. For some time now though, he has of course seen himself as royalty; expecting all that might imply from his minions. From your perspective at this stage, you may be surprised to hear it can get a wee bit old in oh say... 10... 15 yrs give or take . But I won't try to deny I may still get the occasional little warm fuzzy jolt watching his lordship hold court.

Yikes already! Well, good luck again ...again. lol Looks like she's interested in her new home vs cowering in the cage. Good start!

Figures, the cantaloupe is the best part!!! In fact, I meant to tell you to start w/some extra because I've had such good luck w/it. Cantaloupe seems to be a universally loved fruit flavor. But, yes, every bird I've given that mix has eaten it no matter how picky or at what stage they were recovering, assuming they could eat normal food. Next, you might also add into the mix a little unflavored, all natural pro-biotic yogurt w/the cantaloupe.- The active microbes are good to help to re-balance the naturally occurring things that might have gotten out of whack. Maybe later in the day you can see what you can do about getting Loki to eat things off the list I said was fattening, too. Hopefully, she's a) getting an awesome nutritional balance b) lots of fun grazing c) which is helping her settle happily in d) put some meat on those bones e) recreate a more functional metabolism f) & keep her mind off any feathers she may or may not have been thinking about removing. Did you think it was going to be so easy? :cool:

^^^^ What means "link hopping"?? I have been getting the warning below for the past day. The info page that linked to the warning said that the site had 16 pgs that were installing software w/o user's consent, or some such. Just clicked to check at 09:09 11-16-14 & didn't get any warning. So YAY if the tech guru's eventually got this all cleaned up in like 24 hrs! ps Sorry, but I haven't been able to control the size of any pic I post lately. They're all huge for some reason.

You're very welcome. Now, no fussing allowed, ok? Our stress adds to our fid's stress, especially before they've really settled in. Just slap something in a dish & walk away (before anyone can fling anything at you ). Not like you care or anything. No big deal if it gets eaten or not. I think it's more true about greys than any other fids; but it seems the odds are the more they think we want them to like something, the less likely they will. Of course it's also bred in the bones of most greys that a-a-all new things are bad, very ba-a-ad. Fortunately, *most* Zons are *usually* a ton more adventurous. So fingers crossed!

On no you didn't! lol If a sound is interesting enough, a grey will pick it up on the first time. I always get a kick out of "new" parronts finding out about themselves because of the things their greys repeat back to them. Some of the craziest things interest them & absolutely nothing gets by them!

Coconut water is the liquid inside young (unripened ?) coconuts. Coconut milk is the juice inside the meat of the coconut. They both have the right electrolytes & are supposed to help w/hydration. But coconut milk has the fat & fiber which will help w/the healthy weight gain as well. If she likes it, you certainly can feed her coconut meat too. My rehab diet is a mix of Gerber baby beef, quinoa (cooked or not), raw broccoli & cantaloupe. I just usually make a chunky smoothie out of everything but you can change the proportions & totally change the consistency to suit Loki. No real proportions, just easier on the beef, heavier on the broccoli. The fids lap it up. So hopefully Loki will keep eating it for you. If you still need ideas, you might read this thread for some different combinations. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?194243-Mash-amp-Chop Because in a perfect world, "all" you need to do is let Loki loose on an awesome load of healthy food & "just" get her to gorge for a while. And you may even be that lucky. She may just not have been comfortable enough to eat for whatever reason or not fed enough "good stuff". So you could also see what happens if you make her feel safe & happy, keep an endless supply of tidbits in her dish for the next couple of weeks. In this happy version of things, you can tip the scales a little w/some extra things like hard boiled egg (shell & all), nuts, grains & a bit of very well cooked fish or poultry. Again, "well cooked" chicken bones w/marrow, too. Once everything gets back to normal, these are the types of things to feed more sparingly, because they are healthy, but can be fattening. And while I had one fid who was on the rehab formula for more than a month, it isn't balanced for the "long term" either.

Oh, definitely... all bets are off w/anything in a cup! lol My guys really are good & I don't have any complaints about dinner time. But Phenix has always had a huge cup thing that actually helped me get thru to him back in the day. So while I make all the cranky noises about sharing my drinks w/selfish little fids, they so know better! Besides, anything the fids can't have goes in a "sippy cup". No one can accidentally commit death by hot chocolate & I have that many fewer failed attempts to clean up too. >;>

ROFL !!! I absolutely love that! You do realize however that you're in deep yogurt, right...? W/a flock as big as yours I'm guessing that you've discovered how one good belly laugh makes anything likely to become the favorite thing for (quite) a while.

So glad the vet trip was so encouraging, all in all! I also thought those pics looked like Loki had someone aggressively preening her. Still doesn't say that it was Zeus, though. And it doesn't say whether or not it was well intended, if it was. Couple of quick things about the Pedialyte, just in case... It can be a life saver, literally. But it needs to be stored w/great care because it's a marvelous breeding media for nasty little things. So it also needs to be used w/in 24 hrs after opening & kept refrigerated in the meantime. It can be put up in ice cubes to safely use over a longer period, though. After water, the main ingredients for any concoction that rehydrates are basically sugar & salt. Actually a lot of sugar & salt for a bird to consume over more than a day or 2 unless their metabolism is extremely compromised. There are some additional benefit, if you wanted to replace the Pedialyte w/coconut milk for Loki's rehab'ing period, though. It has less salt & sugar. Fresh or all natural/organic coconut milk contains no artificial colors or preservatives. It is also a little fatty... in the healthy sort of way. But that will have the added benefit of helping you put some weight on your baby girl.

Isn't it funny how even after years of "abuse" they still manage to inspire that certainty that no matter what else, there really is a heart of gold buried under all of it? The longer it takes to dig it out, the more precious, though. And that's the thing that makes them so special, even among all our special fids. jmho

Of course you are. Very few people who live w/1 grey aren't card carrying members. It's the very definition of a sure thing for anyone who lives w/a flock of them. That is some serious menagerie that you've collected over a relatively short time! Looking forward to getting to know them all, though.

Glad you posted that. Well, not "glad" glad. lol But my antivirus has been flagging GF's main page as "...a malicious IP address" since before the lock out a few months ago. I didn't think it would be available again until it was safe. But the page is still getting flagged even after it became available again. I was kind of wondering if my software was being over protective. They can do that sometimes. But apparently not the case, here.

lol You guys almost make me feel guilty. Almost! Everyone here gets their own food in their own dish & gets served at the same time. No critters allowed at the dinner table. Seconds & left overs wherever available to be distributed afterwards. NO mooching! No exceptions! I fixed a lovely meal for everyone & now I expect to be allowed to enjoy it -period- Apparently, I'm a very mean mommy.

Phenix has a foot fetish, too. He loves to sit under the sofa & cause mischief. Sometimes he likes to untie shoe laces. Sometimes he just appears & startles people. But more often he likes to attack feet. Bare feet & floppy slippers seem to bring out the worst in him!

OOOOOH, TU, LOL. Cuz I never would have guess!!

Phenix has about 3 words that have stayed in his vocabulary & I can't even guess what they mean to him. Something very good & very exciting, though, given when & how he uses them. He also makes up word noises to accompany songs he likes. Even though he's never learned any songs, he will feel free to customize the music or lyrics whenever the spirit moves him. Sometimes, it's fascinating to hear. The first Xmas we played David Bowie & Bing Crosby's "Little Drummer Boy", Phenix did the most "inhuman" adaptation of his own harmony. I've always regretted not getting to recorded it because it had such a creepy kind of beauty we all just stopped whatever to listen!

^^^ NOPE! lol Color me clueless as well. I keep thinking it would be greyt to spend a day w/the person who does these/Felix' parront(?), though!!