birdhouse

^^^ Me too. Thought I'd just take a minute & post the link for it. ...not! I do like a number of things about the stand in the link I ref'd. It's also a design that can be customized pretty easily. But it's just that our own members have shared some really, really nice projects over the years & it's a shame not to be able to show them off to new members. Search is a little more better if you know a member's name to Google, though. :confused: ...so of course I'm pretty much drawing a blank. lol But I remember Doug was always making Ellie new stands. These are a couple of his plastic projects. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?193747-I-made-a-playstand! http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?194139-DIY-Window-Perch There are some really greyt wood stands "out there", too. This is one of my fav's that Acappella made for Dorian. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?195538-Playstand-I-made-for-Dorian

GRRR! GF actually had discussions about some pretty sweet stands members have made. The forum search engine just can't find anything since vBulletin or whatever it's called. But this is a pretty detailed link: http://www.birdtricks.com/blog/how-to-build-your-parrot-a-playstand/ Don't know how elaborate you were thinking or if you wanted something that large, more portable or hanging. But really the only "rules" are to use stainless or nickel plated (not galvanized) chain or fittings & any sisal should specifically say "bird safe" because it has no oils & pesticides. Otherwise, CPVC pipe might be a better alternative to PVC which is starting to get some bad press as a potential cancer risk. Hopefully, that link will give you some ideas to start, anyway. Then you can incorporate whatever you like into yours. The nice thing is that nothing gets glued because it's not necessary (or good for the fids btw). If you eventually decide to re-invent your first creation, you can just cannibalize it for your next one.

I rescued my ekkie at about a year old & she was up for a cuddle any time then. Although that may certainly have had to do w/how happy she was to be in a different environment. But it didn't slow down until she started to get more hormonal in her third year. Even though she's all grown up now, she's still fairly big on cuddling. Even when Kura's not in the mood, she'll still go for kisses & beak rubs almost any time. She loves to plant her face in my cheek, close her eyes & just sit like that for a while. She also loves to "hold hands" which reminds me so much of the way an infant will wrap their tiny fist around your finger. That always gives me the warm fuzzies, too. For the most part, she's a very sweet natured bird.

Phenix learned to roar from watching me play w/the dogs. But he sounds just like a little boy who's playing lion, too. He goes "ROAR!", then laughs & laughs. ...and I break up every single time I hear him. Phenix rarely does that kind of cute & he is so-o adorable whenever he does that!

My ekkie will snuggle whenever it suits her. My grey, not all! It's his version of a big deal to come lay his beak against me for a few seconds. And I mean just his beak & only a few seconds. Lucky, lucky you!

Thanks, I love these!

^^^ that's just part of the charm. Just glad you're uploading vids! So much fun to watch!!

Might be a good idea to call Animal Control because this little one may need some help. If it is a grounded baby, they'll hopefully know how best to reunite it w/mom so it doesn't starve or get eaten. They may also know a sanctuary if that isn't doable. The other real possibility is that the poor baby is sick. Bats, like all mammals can carry rabies. So it would be important to keep your distance until you can get a professional involved.

^^^ But eventually you just couldn't resist could you.^^^

Dave & I are probably going to end up on totally opposite ends of the scale here. So, Dave, in advance, absolutely no disrespect intended. My instinct is that Jake has no idea why he's being treated like this. There's no way for him to connect the dots the way you want him to. And there are a lot of ways his brand of logic can go horribly sideways. To me, what you're describing is traumatic & trauma leads to more issues. Which is why I'm all about positive reinforcement. That means most everyone ends up relatively happy during any behavior modification. And no one's smiling now. No disrespect to you guys either. You're there. I'm not. Just this approach worries me. You said your vet's a behavior expert who would be able to make recommendations based on observing everyone. So at this point I wish you'd consider riding it out until you see her.

No offense taken. In the absence of specifics, that's the generic check list. Things might or might not be worth trying. Some points generate useful feedback. But if I might suggest keep looking around. I've posted about a rough few weeks w/Phenix that I'd finally chalked off to attitude. But eventually I found out he was pretty alarmed by a pair of hawks I didn't realize had nested in the yard. They see/hear/smell a very different world sometimes. I think the most useful skill in working w/a biting bird is learning to get bitten. It's also the hardest of course because it hurts!!! I don't know whether some of us have a higher pain tolerance or are just better actors. But I think on some level, birds are like dogs. If you act afraid, even the most laid back dog might think it would be fun to yank your chain. It may actually get you bitten by the more aggressive & insecure dog. Also, fids are ultra-hypersensitive & our negative emotions are particularly contagious. When the flock leaders are edgy, the flock is on guard & it takes much less to get a reaction. You're both flock leaders. So if you're spooked, Jake can be more proned to over react. That still doesn't mean he might not just be playing. And that doesn't eliminate the possibility he got his feelings hurt because he feels rejected by something you did. Or just ticked him off about something random. Or he freaked out about who knows what. Each bite needs to be handled as a unique episode to some degree. I noticed you left out the part where I suggested creating as much positive interaction as possible. Assuming you think that has merit, it might still be a good place to start no matter why Jake is acting like this. You'll be in control but you'd all be working together. Helping to establish you as flock leader at that moment & also that will help some w/whatever this problem is doing to your bond. If Jake's decided that he just enjoys aggressive play, he'll be learning something more passive. It might help build better socializing skills as well. It will also help break the tension & help make things easier. And in the meantime you'll study how much he's changing. You'll learn new things about his mind boggling thought process. You'll get a better grasp of his body language. All very valuable, especially right now.

Admittedly, few of my gloves live long enough to die of natural causes. And it has only been warm by Houston standards. But it's hit 100 in the shade this week. So I guess I know better than to push it next time. But geez, what a rude surprise & a nasty mess!! ps this is me ignoring you, Dan

My dish gloves were a little sticky when I picked them up. They'd actually lived long enough for the latex to be breaking down vs the usual little tiny hole they normally get in one finger. But I figured I could still get one more job out of them. They felt fine when I started sudsing up the fids' cups. Then I went to dry the cups & found sticky prints all over everything I'd touch from the faucet on. Something like the residue tape leaves. A little heavier but not quite as sticky. It didn't wash off w/dish soap & elbow grease. I had to rub & rub w/a damp dry towel because I didn't dare use anything I would usually use for tape adhesive on the fids' cups. Latex is perfectly safe in chewing gum. But I lab tech'd in a latex factory & they'll add all kinds of chemical fillers & stabilizers, depending on what type of use they're compounding for. No one should be eating most of that stuff. Trust me. So maybe there's a new compound for latex gloves, now. I will say it seemed to work great up until now because they lasted pretty long. But I've never seen cured latex break down quite like this before. So I thought I'd just kind of mention it before someone else had as much fun as I had trying to rub it off everything in all this heat. :mad: ...although I have decided it was a perfect excuse to blow off my chores & go to the beach. :cool:

There's always a reason, whether or not a parront ever figures out what exactly that is. Sometimes, it is a very good idea to make sure it's not a medical issue if there's such a drastic a change in behavior. But if Jake gets a clean bill of health then it's either environmental or behavioral - both the parronts' & the fids'. So, the next step in the process is to see if anything in Jake's environment has changed. Any... Little... Thing. New hair style, glasses, personal care items, laundry detergent, tattoo? Moved a lamp, a pic, a nic knack? Anything that Jake can see through the window even if you can't (yeah, that's pretty hard to track down!)? Abandon what you think you know & spend a serious bit of time over the next week looking at the world thru his eyes. Meanwhile, try to closely observe how your partner acts & reacts & ask them to really watch you. It's very easy to think we know what we're doing until someone else points things out from a fresh perspective. Until you can get this sorted, it's even more important to have positive time w/Jake. Everyone's emotional right now. So it can only help if you deliberately create good interaction. You can't trust physical interaction right now. Maybe try something vocal like playing the whistling game where you can praise him tons, cause they are honestly astounding at it. Maybe some clicker training where you're bonding & teaching fun behaviors w/o actually touching. You don't want to give up physical contact though. Just maybe make an effort to make more frequent casual contact when he looks like he's interested. But it might be better to limit his time sitting on you. Maybe make a portable activity center for him so he can enjoy being nearby, instead. Birds don't naturally hang all over each other all the time. They're not like dogs & cats who might actually sleep piled on top of each other or their owners. So a little extra space when things get out of control might not be a bad thing. Just so long as it doesn't become permanent. You don't feel like you deserve this so it's painful emotionally & physically. And because you don't feel like you have any idea what's going on, you don't feel like you have any control. But Jake may be feeling the same thing. So take a few deep breaths. Step back & start over. This is a process & it will take some time. So honestly commit to it & try not to get hurt or frustrated because that just doesn't help. Unfortunately, you can't just fix this. But you really can work thru it one step at a time. You're about to learn a whole lot more about yourself & Jake than you ever dreamed. And in the meantime, you can come here to get the next bright idea or just vent any time you need. But the day things finally start to turn around, you're going to realize that you've achieved something so huge that it will pay for this whole ride on the crazy train. Honest!

I don't want to be a downer, here. And I'm not saying this isn't encouraging because it really is. But it's a little soon to get more than cautiously optimistic. That's part of the frustration w/a plucker unfortunately. So if you haven't already been to the vet, it would still be a good idea to ask for that blood panel, for instance. It would be unusual for Harley to just stop this quickly after plucking for a 1 1/2 yr. Cheyenne may be a magical distraction & the aloe baths may be doing that great thing they do. I really really hope you get that lucky. But it only takes a couple of hours to undo many months of progress & it is heartbreaking (she said from experience because Kura is a seasonal barber). So it still might be a good idea to continue anything that works & the full drill to try to isolate the cause(s) if you're fortunate enough to find them.

Awww. He is just so easy to fall in love with! No wonder poor Pat couldn't say NO to him.

Wow, like Jill said, drama queen. I get that about too's from what I've heard. But it's something to watch in real life. They're so beautiful & generally seem to have such an over the top mentality. They've always fascinated me! I also watched the rest of the vids you uploaded. That one where Gus did a little screaming certain said it all. A little bit of that goes a very, very long way, I think. How is that going?

Very cute! Reminded me of a little kid w/a hot wheels car. Only a lit-tle more aggressive. At some point I was also waiting to see Gus get wound up to where he was going to go for someone's naked toes, like Dee said. I thought it was interesting when Pat stood his ground & said NO it deflected Gus even though he was obviously too over stimulated to leave it at that. But when Pat actually reach toward him it seemed like it escalated Gus' reaction, too. Was wondering if it makes any difference when you squat down to Gus or reach from the same height as his feet vs from overhead?

I've never seen a TAG w/a tail that red before! Thanks for posting that.

Oh, no...!I must say, I admire your restraint. Hahaha The way these things go, you would get it home & Babalu would absolutely hate it. So hopefully, it will have found its forever home by the time you go back.

Different smokes for different folks, right? ;> I figure since I get my chocolate high as often as possible, it only seems fair to let the fids go a little bananas occasionally.

I haven't eaten a whole banana in decades. My guys love bananas & the skins. So I'd better be sharing or there will be a bunch of noise until I do. They're more than welcome when I put them in the dish. But they seem to taste best when the fis share mine, for some reason. lol But I have read that banana skins are kind of high'ish on the list for pesticides. Also there seems to be some question about dopamine...? I haven't found anything credible enough to ban them. Just keeping an eye out so far. Bananas also are high'ish in tannins. Too much tannins can cause problems w/digestive enzymes, block vitamin B12 and iron absorption & potentially cause liver damage. So I do let the fids eat bananas & well washed skins. But because of the possible issues, they're something less frequent than a staple, more like a frequent treat, I guess.

Phenix is absolutely a manipulative liar. Very big on premeditated assault. Luring me in w/sweetness & charm before he lets me have it both barrels. My favorite part is when he says he's sorry, though. Even when he doesn't laugh. That is so not cool!

Would that change your perspective at all?

It was a hard decision for you. But it sounds like it was a good one. Hopefully, Gus will be in a different head space by the time his flights grow out.