birdhouse

Phenix loved his swings for years & years. It was always his favorite place in the cage. Then I got him a boing. Once he learned to swing that, he never bothered w/the swing again. :confused:

I think it's a statement to just how much my fids & I trust each other when I'm allowed to stick half of myself in their cage just to give someone a kiss. I'm very well aware that it risks serious consequences, which is why I'm so honored by their acceptance. Like Talon said, "It is always their choice ... I never force it." Their cages are their territory & I understand & respect it. Enough to be welcome to clean, handle them & their young or give them a big ole kiss, just because. But rarely by Phenix. He's a totally different case, w/a lot of different rules & a completely different perspective. But why would I expect anything else from such an intelligent, emotional creature who spent the beginning of his life soaring thru trees, living wild & free in the jungle? The goals of taming a wild parrot are not the same as training a fid. Training is meant to communicate acceptable behaviors where the trainer feels (s)he's clearly in charge. To me, taming is quite the opposite. It's a very genuine attempt to prove trustworthy. Certainly not the upside of the power curve. Not a time to dictate. If anything, it's about doing everything possible to accommodate the bird wherever possible to help it overcome its very justifiable fears. Once a wild bird has established its cage as a safe haven, the farther away it gets, the more fearful it often gets. Especially if the bird is clipped & knows it can't get back. So working in his cage may very well have been a great part of why Mikko has come such a long way w/Joe in such a short time. They've actually done an amazing job together! But Mikko has a lot of fear to overcome yet. Fear cannot be trained away. It can only be minimized by sufficient overwhelmingly positive experiences. It can & usually does resurface at the most unexpected times. I've always thought given a grey's basic mentality, fear must be even that much harder for them to conquer. It's another reason why I've always had such huge respect for rehab's who overcome their past to become even relatively "normal" fids.

Hi Clarhe. Congratulations on your soon to be new fid. Can't wait to hear all about the big day!

Hello & Welcome, Jocko. Congratulations on the new member of your flock. We're always interested to hear how parronts came together w/their fids. Sounds like Jocko's might be a story for the Rescue Bird Haven...? But please do tell us & go ahead & post any pics or anything else. Then maybe you could post some things about your lovebirds in the Other Birds room, too. Jocko may be unsure of herself because she's still settling in. Greys, especially by her age, are pretty slow to trust new flock members. It doesn't sound like you know exactly what type of baggage she has to unpack, either. Be patient. Use whatever you do know to try to gain her trust. It may take a while. But it's so worth the effort!!

Very nice! And lucky for you Simon knows it, too. Really does take some of the fun out of a new cage when your fid doesn't want to move in. Like how you've got it set up w/things going all the way from the top to the grate. But it does take some tweaking to figure out how to keep each level from getting as pooped on as possible.

I can't whistle either, Aerial. My friends taught Phenix. They were all impressed by how quickly he could pick up a tune. It was also a great way to get him to socialize w/them. We managed to get a contact call out of it too. Phenix does an exaggerated first note of a wolf whistle & I do the second. However poorly. lol Unfortunately, Phenix also expected me to be able to play the same game that Misty plays w/Steve. I'm supposed to parrot a series of increasingly complicated phrases designed basically to show off. Phenix, at least, enjoys the heck out of it & would do it all the time if I could hold up my end. I really really try, but... Never let it be said that our birds don't learn & adapt though. He used to get really angry at me. Then he figured out that I'm just hopeless. So I'm still expected to answer. But now he'll do it "right", then do it like me. Then laugh his butt off. Jeff, since you can apparently whistle, this might be a greyt game to play w/Gracie.

Since you believe he's wild caught, I think the fact that even stepping up says good things about the trust bond that's forming between you. That's a very rough process for a grey to live thru & traumatic. Phenix still has problems trusting bare hands. He'll go completely insane if anyone wearing gloves comes towards him. Unfortunately for us, whoever "stick trained" him did even more damage. You really need to understand how much trauma he needs to work thru before you can overcome the first things he learned about human contact. It's going to take time & patience (aren't you just sick of hearing that?) and a lot of it. There's no tricks to make him forget that kind of terror. I think Mikko trusts you quite a lot in some ways since he let you clip his nails. And I think he's trying. Very hard in fact. But being in/on your hand just scares him too much, still. The harder you push him, the longer it's likely to take for him to come around. And a lot of what Dave said also applies. Mikko may be more willing to step onto your hand if he weren't in his cage when you ask. But, you should only use that. Don't abuse it. Let Mikko climb onto your hand & keep him there for a few seconds before letting him off again. Let him repeatedly come away w/the feeling that nothing bad happened. Having no control, not being able to "get away" is bad. The more scared he gets, the more you are reinforcing the trauma you're trying to overcome. If he gets scared enough, he's likely to start to bite &/or flee blindly even if he causes himself harm. One other thing. Many of our fids are hormonal right now. That is simply a kind of temporary insanity. lol They do not act like themselves. Phenix, my bad boy is being an absolute sweetheart. Kura, my sweetie, is being a witch. So maybe you could try to just keep things simple for the next couple of weeks, until the madness recedes a little.

That was so much fun!! Thanks Dave

Greys are very intelligent, curious & emotional. But Gemma hasn't had many things to stimulate her. So, her first reaction may be to be suspicious of your new attention, to freak out about new toys & to shy away from new activities. But she also probably wants the chance to do more than sit in a cage all day. Slowly offer her the opportunity to do some new things w/o being overwhelming. Do not expect her to jump at the chance. Be very sensitive to anything that scares her or even makes her nervous, especially at first. Let her decide what she can handle no matter how long it takes. It may be easiest if you start by just trying to make friends. You do have a long standing relationship w/Gemma. You didn't say anything about it being negative. So you've got a nice head start here. Talk to her, sing to her, keep in contact from a distance, but not too close at first. Hang out & do quiet things near her cage, until she seems like she wants attention. Like others have said, leave her cage open so she can come out when/if she's ready. Praise her & offer her treats whenever you can think of a reason. btw, just because is a perfectly good reason. lol So start slow & see where it takes you. Give her every opportunity to get to know & especially trust you. Trust is the key. Patience & sensitivity are the things that earn trust. Some fids are harder to convince than others. But they're all worth it!

Wonder if that was a territorial display. In the wild some breeds may tolerate others surprising well as long as there's no real threat. But for the most part, no one is going to be allowed too close to a potential nest site during mating season. Even w/no potential mate, Marcus is displaying hormonal behavior of his own right now. He may have been making a display to warn Tybalt to back off & stay out of his territory. Or it may simply have been his way of discouraging Tybalt's overly friendly behavior. Marcus used body language to tell Tybalt, "Don't even think about it!" at the same time as he was trying to maybe vocally make your hubby aware he "...could use a little help here!"

A member posted a possible solution to your problem a few months back. No need for climbing or structural alterations. Clever, portable & cheap. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?194001-The-High-Altitude-Avian-Extractor-%28H.A.A.E.%29&p=238757#post238757

lol Especially if there's a really loud crash that causes a major adrenaline rush for everyone else in the house.

Oh my goodness, that sounds like it must have been pretty scary! I'm glad it ended ok, though. How did Kiki manage to get out of her cage while you weren't there? Did she stop trying to escape after all that?

My fids like to play on the bottom of the cage which is why I leave my grates in the cage. A grate allows much of the food & poop to fall thru so the birds & their toys don't get into it. It also keeps the bird from foraging the food they've dropped that may have spoiled or fallen in poop.

Such a spectacular horse. Such a spectacular story. Such a spectacular race. Very first triple crown I ever saw & not likely to see anything like it ever again. 2:24 that will go on forever

I enjoyed this immensely. I have such a fascination w/Australia & truly love their beautiful native birds, particularly the eclectus. Thank you very much MarcusCAG & Wingy.

My fids love them. They would live on them if I'd let them. But they get as much fresh food as I can stuff them with, TOP pellets & Nutri-Berries are just for treats.

I am sorry. I really do try to keep up, but things just keep changing. I'm trying to edit my recovery recipe wherever posted because I hadn't looked at the ingredients in Gerber Baby Rice Cereals in a while. It's just rice, right?? I would not recommend including Gerber Baby Rice Cereals in anything being fed to fids in the future. Apparently they're adding more/different vitamins & minerals. It didn't used to have added zinc or anywhere near the amount of iron it has now. Zinc, as most of us know, is toxic for fids. They do need iron in their diet. But under some conditions, too much can lead to iron overload problems, particularly in certain breeds. From now on I think I'd add Nabisco Cream of Rice Hot Cereal instead of baby cereal. Possibly Quinoa or oatmeal, but rice is supposed to be very easily digested. I wouldn't have realized there were any changes to Gerber's recipe if Katana600 hadn't emailed to ask about the iron. So, thank you for giving me a reason to research this, Dee. If anyone else finds any other questionable nutritional facts, please, please post or email.

I am sorry. I really do try to keep up, but things just keep changing. I'm trying to edit my recovery recipe wherever posted because I hadn't looked at the ingredients in Gerber Baby Rice Cereals in a while. It's just rice, right?? I would not recommend including Gerber Baby Rice Cereals in anything being fed to fids in the future. Apparently they're adding more/different vitamins & minerals. It didn't used to have added zinc or anywhere near the amount of iron it has now. Zinc, as most of us know, is toxic for fids. They do need iron in their diet. But under some conditions, too much can lead to iron overload problems, particularly in certain breeds. From now on I think I'd add Nabisco Cream of Rice Hot Cereal instead of baby cereal. Possibly Quinoa or oatmeal, but rice is supposed to be very easily digested. I wouldn't have realized there were any changes to Gerber's recipe if Katana600 hadn't emailed to ask about the iron. So, thank you for giving me a reason to research this, Dee. If anyone else finds any other questionable nutritional facts, please, please post or email.

There's no question that Sundance, my tiel is the benevolent dictator here. At one point, I was fostering a Patagonian Conure who had gone crazy mean & brutally loud. He was also the biggest bird in the house at the time. The others couldn't stand him. Phenix would sit in a corner, cry & yell "Stoppit!" repeatedly trying to get him to be quiet. Sundance had pretty much ignored the whole situation. The conure, I'd noticed, never bothered w/him. I had thought it was because he was the smallest & pretty ancient by then. I figured the other birds who were bigger & younger, seemed more of a threat. The conure had been here a couple of weeks & had really amped it up one day (attitude & noise). Everyone was in their cages, mostly looking miserable. Phenix yelling w/no effect. Me trying to figure out how to fix this before it damaged the entire flock. Then the most amazing thing happened & I was sitting center court when it did. None of the chaos had ruffled a feather on Sundance before then. But this particular day was so bad that even he had apparently had enough. He made his way to the highest part of his cage. Then he just looked down on the conure, deliberately made direct eye contact across the room & just barely shook his wings at the big bird ...who went instantly silent! Body language & all, it was like someone threw a switch. I could never have imagined anything like it. I still have no explanation for why Sundance could shut him down like that. But it was THE most stunning thing to see. Fortunately, Sundance doesn't really bother to actively rule the roost very often. Everyone talks w/him. They're welcome by to visit occasionally. He rarely leaves his cage anymore. But he will invade Phenix' "No Fly Zone" if he has a mind. He's the only one who gets away w/even thinking about it. Phenix just cusses him out quietly from the other side of the cage. Even still though I'm usually right behind. He's just too old & fragile to tempt fate. But Sundance is most often gone before I even get there. I think he just enjoys "tweaking Phenix' tail" occasionally. Just to remind him who's boss.

Very, very sorry to hear that Oboe got himself in such trouble. Poor little guy!! I'd be surprised if the vet didn't send you home w/food. Maybe hand rearing formula. But I've been giving out my recovery recipe a lot lately. I just make a smoothie out of everything. I've been feeding this to sick birds for the past 20 yrs or so. Everyone has liked it & done well w/it. So, this might be an alternative, or supplement if you want & your vet doesn't object. Syringe feeding didn't go at all well w/Phenix. It just added to the stress of being sick. I found out he loved this stuff as long as I'd let him take it off the spoon. I'd just let him gorge whenever his crop started to empty. Plain active culture yogurt Gerber baby beef Broccoli Cantaloupe *PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS - Gerber baby rice cereal Unless the vet says otherwise, you might set Oboe up a small cage w/a single, low dowel to discourage much activity at first. Less chance of aggravating any injury. Under the circumstances, it may be stressful if he can see the cat, too. He may even start to thrash around. So might cover the hospital cage & keep Duncan out of the same room for now. I'm sure you'll worry until every shiny feather is in place & Oboe's back in troublemaker mode. But try to remember that as fragile as they seem, they're tough little beggars. They can recover surprisingly quickly & I really hope he starts looking better in the next day or so. Please keep us posted. * EDIT Please do not use the Gerber Baby Rice Cereals as I've just found out that they are adding a great deal of iron, as well as zinc, now. Possible substitutes: Quinoa or Nabisco Cream of Rice Hot Cereal

I'd be careful of willow bark. "The use of willow bark dates back thousands of years, to the time of Hippocrates (400 BC) when patients were advised to chew on the bark to reduce fever and inflammation. Willow bark has been used throughout the centuries in China and Europe, and continues to be used today for the treatment of pain (particularly low back pain and osteoarthritis), headache, and inflammatory conditions, such as bursitis and tendinitis. The bark of white willow contains salicin, which is a chemical similar to aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). It is thought to be responsible for the pain relieving and anti-inflammatory effects of the herb. In fact, in the 1800s, salicin was used to develop aspirin. White willow appears to bring pain relief more slowly than aspirin, but its effects may last longer." http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/willow-bark-000281.htm

^^^ I've had bleeding wounds that hurt less than some of the crunch type bruises. Did one of the big Macaws get you?

Funny. After I posted that yesterday I thought "Gee, if Took were a dog I would have said keep her away from anything related until she trained out of this phase. So how come it really seems like the right thing to do the exact opposite for a grey?" Well, we would be trying to train the dog. The parrot on the other hand has us trained. lol But seriously... (even though I think that's not too far from true) Dogs & parrots have a whole different perspective & motivation. So we lead a dog & negotiate w/a parrot. I think this is similar logic to giving a parrot wood toys that might hopefully distract them from eating the molding. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. I also know a grey is going to continue any behavior as long as they have a reason to continue that behavior. In this case, it's fun for Took which is all the reason she needs to make it a mission. Particularly if you try to stop her. So I would hope that if you give her what she wants, she'll eventually get bored & move on to the next fun thing. Hopefully, you'll have found her some other sources of amusement by then.

I raised tiels for a while. It fascinated me & I really enjoyed it. I still kind of miss it sometimes. So I enjoyed watching those chicks grow up. Although I could have done w/o the captions for the most part. lol Thanks for posting that link.