SkyeDJR

jackpipe wrote: Hi JP, This alone leaves me thinking that a bird (any type of companion bird) is not your best choice at this time. If you are unable to commit to ensuring the bird's DAILY care and fulfillment of their needs (food, water, a clean cage, social interaction), even when you go on vacation, I'd suggest that you aren't in a position to take on a parrot (let alone an AG) in a healthy, responsible manner. Don't get me wrong, I don't equate parrot-ownership with "no more vacations" (although, I know a few parrot people who haven't gone on vacation in years because of their birds!). For example, I go away a few times a year. Often it's just for a 3- or 4-day weekend. Occasionally, it's for 1-2 weeks at a time. Once, I had to leave for 2 months. In EVERY instance, I ensured that there was someone there every single day to feed, clean, refresh water (my TAG likes to make water porridge with his pellets so his water often needs to be changed more than daily), and to socialize with the birds. At the VERY LEAST, this consisted of a pet-savvy friend coming over and seeing to the birds' needs. Most often, though, it consists of a paid pre-screened pet-sitter living in my home during my absence (and also caring for my dogs, my cat, and my fish). Without having a pet-sitter like this (visiting, or live-in), I would not go away, and would consider it irresponsible pet ownership if I did and left the birds to their own devices for more than a 24-hr period. Beyond this consideration, my other concern with your initial post is that you want "a bird with personality" and one that you can train, that will sing, etc. What I've come to learn & deeply appreciate after owning my birds and interacting with many other birds (I'm a vet, and have worked at 2 different zoos) is that when we bring these parrots into our home, our expectation OUGHT TO BE that we learn to live with the bird on the bird's terms. If said bird develops the ability to talk (in English; all birds speak fluently in bird!), flourish with training, and so on, that's ICING ON THE CAKE, but shouldn't be the cornerstone on which we judge whether or not a companion bird is working out. Parrots are closer to their wild state in temperament and behavior than the usual mainstream domestic pets (i.e., cats, dogs, ferrets, etc.). When we bring them into our homes, it's my feeling that we should be adjusting our homes to accomodate them, not expecting them to mold to our wishes. After all, they WILL be parrots and WILL use their natural voices, will make (huge at times!) messes, will occasionally (or more frequently) bite, and that's EXPECTED when we open our lives to parrots. It's then our responsibility to attend to their needs (social, nutritional, veterinary), do our best to use positive-methods training to help them adapt in as healthy a way as possible to a life of captivity, and accept the rest as the "cost of signing up" to parrot ownership. It's my belief that if we don't go into parrot ownership with that sort of outlook, we are setting ourselves up for anguish, frustration, and there will be a much higher probability that your "beloved pet parrot" will be rehomed within 3-4 years of acquisition ... when the novelty wears off, the maladaptive parrot behaviors surface (which could include screaming, biting, plucking), and the frustration level gets higher than the person initial thought he/she had signed up for. I personally share my household with 3 parrots: a Timneh AG, and two Amazons. They are parrots first, then they are "my companions". They have bitten me (infrequently, but it has happened), they have been very loud at times, and my TAG has developed (and worked through with positive-methods conditioning) phobic behavior and varying degrees of feather-barbering (which he also gets over when it flares up, by using various positive-based training & husbandry techniques). While all 3 were "cuddly" as babies, they are now "their own birds" and only accept a head skritch on their own terms and their own time. I'm fine with that - they are parrots first, their social needs are largely met with one another's company, and they seem to be healthy, happy, exuberant players (on their own), and will step-up for me and talk to me (on their own time) and can be managed day to day. To me, that is joyful parrot ownership. I wish you all the best in searching for a companion that will fit into your household. If you're willing to commit to attending to a future parrot's daily needs (even when you go away), and to accepting that whatever parrot you acquire may not conform to your wishes re: training, speaking, personality, then you're PERFECT for an AG!!! *g*

Wow, great pics of some BIG dogs! I'm a fellow big-dog afficiendo, having adopted two Great Danes in November 2006. Here are my two: Gracie, the "merlequin" female 2-1/2 yr old "ants in her pants" spayed girl: Dodger, the heavily marked harlequin male 7-1/2 yr old "sweet as pie" neutered male: And the two of them "horsing" around - LOL! I also have two border collies, both seniors now (BK, on the right, is 14-1/2; Brodyn, on the left, is almost 13!): (Note: they don't live outdoors, they were just out there yesterday for a play session in some newly fallen snow so I snapped some pics. They are all tried-and-true INDOOR couch potatoes!!) Post edited by: SkyeDJR, at: 2008/01/12 17:52<br><br>Post edited by: SkyeDJR, at: 2008/01/12 17:55

In my intro thread, I mentioned that there are two male Amazons in my flock. I thought I'd say more about them here. The first Amazon I got was Moki, my male blue-fronted Amazon. He came to live with me when he was 4-1/2 months old, and a very precocious and adventurous boy he was (and is!). His personality reminds me of Calvin (from Calvin & Hobbes)!! Here are some pics of him: A bit wet still after a bath: A closer view of his head: Moki playing: And bathing (with Kanzi, my TAG, in the background): And flying! A couple years ago, many months after I lost Maliik (my young CAG - his story is in the Welcome forum), I acquired Baliza, a male yellow-crowned Amazon, as a 7-month-old. He has a fringe of orange-red feathers around his yellow crown that remains there to this day (I kinda thought he molt it out, but the colored feathers grow back each time he molts): Baliza and Moki became FAST friends shortly after they met, and will allopreen: Offer toes to each other (which I think is adorable!): And PLAY BOISTEROUSLY!!! (Note, they are in the same cage here, but that's because Baliza climbed into Moki's open cage to be with him and to play .... they both have their own individual cages in which they stay overnight and during times when I'm away, otherwise they are free to roam around the bird room.) So, those are my "bad ol' boy Amazons"! When I had Maliik, he and Moki were JUST starting to warm to each other, and were in the early introductory stages of allopreening. I hope that when/if I get another CAG, they'll become friends, too. (Kanzi tends to stay on his own, even when I had my CAG, but I know he enjoys being in the same space as the others because he misses them if they are separated.)<br><br>Post edited by: SkyeDJR, at: 2008/01/12 17:52

Hi again, and thanks for the warm welcome. Kanzi is the name of my TAG, a DNA-sexed male who was hatched in June 2000. He was purchased as a weaned baby, and has been with me since the age of 4-1/2 months. And, to answer the other question asked, I lost Maliik (my young CAG) after he escaped through a defective patio screen door (the latch had given way without me being aware of it). The defective door was in a spare room I didn't use except for storage, so I didn't notice that it was ajar. He flew into that room after being startled by something else (something fell in the kitchen if memory serves correctly), and I heard him chirp so went in after him. In retrospect, the chirp I heard was him on the balcony (it sounded kind of "far off" when I heard it). I didn't see him again after that. Fortunately, after tons of searching, flyers everywhere, and notifications sent to vet clinics and pounds, he was found in a neighboring township 4 days later. The woman who found him called a local vet, we had given his & my info to that vet clinic, and I was able to go pick him up. He had lost 40 gm and was weak, but seemed otherwise ok. Unfortunately, though, we think that he got into something toxic while at large. He became profoundedly anemic, lost more weight despite eating well, and after two blood transfusions, antibiotics, ICU care, and 10 days of TLC, he died. Necropsy didn't show anything specific other than the symptoms we already knew about (nonregenerative anemia - his bone marrow had shut down - and marked loss of weight). A month prior to his escape, I had just moved into the home I was in when this happened ... so I wasn't aware of the problem with the patio door screen. After it happened, I fixed it and put in wood stops so that they couldn't be opened. In the home where I live now (not my previous home), the birds are in their own bird room and are secured (and all remain free-flighted). I'm moving again in the spring into my own home, and there the birds will have their own 10' x 12' aviary, so I can't wait to get there!!!! I miss Maliik very much, and hope someday to get another CAG. I've actually been looking for the past year or so, but nothing really is coming up yet that is suitable for my home. (Note: there have been several CAGs for rehoming in the classifieds, but few if any have had vet checks or blood work, or even been DNA-sexed, and I'm leery about bringing them into my 3-bird home without any background vet info since I cannot provide a "separate air space" quarantine here. Chlamydophila can spread easily in a one-ventilation-system home, and isn't always detected with one go-round of testing (such as a new bird would get before being brought home), hence my concern. In the new home, I'd have better means of quarantining a new arrival, so perhaps then I can rehome a dumped CAG. Til then, I just miss Maliik.

Hi there, I'm a new member here, but not new to Greys. I have a 7-yr-old TAG, and had a young CAG but lost him (he died) in 2005. I also have two Amazons (a blue-fronted, and a yellow-crowned). Looking forward to seeing what this site is like! SkyeDJR