Char

Mine doesn't dunk much.

I am thinking you frightened him with the movement of the paper near him. Birds are easily startled by movement or noise near them. My bird has never bitten me but has been frightened and lunged at my fingers when she was sitting on my hand and turned around and saw my fingers sticking up. She didn't realize what they were. I never clean the cage with her inside. It just makes sense that I could make some movement that would frighten or startle her. I don't think they always realize that our arms or hands inside their cages are us. Look at it from a bird's eye view. I wouldn't get all worked up thinking you have to get that paper out as soon as it gets a little poop on it. My vet told me that in the wild these birds walk around and step in their poop all the time. But that is easy for me to say as my bird doesn't play around on the bottom of the cage. Her toys and paper are hung up high where she can reach it from a perch. Post edited by: Char, at: 2008/12/20 20:38<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2008/12/20 20:40

The main staple of Whisper's diet is Harrison's pellets. I supplement this with a few Zupree pellets in the evening just for variety and because she likes them. She loves cooked chicken and steak with she only gets occasionally. She goes nuts for french fries which she only gets rarely. She also likes raw sweet potatoe, mashed potatoes, grapes, orange slices, watermelon,corn,and popcorn which she makes a big mess with. Surprisingly she does not care for seeds or nuts. Go figure.

Whisper knows what a scratch is. She lowers her head and says 'want a scratch". Once when I was sitting at the computer with her on my shoulder, she climbed down my arm and onto my chest. stretched her neck so she could look me right in the eye as if she had something important to ask me. Looking me right in the eye she said "Are you a smart bird?" I said yeah but not as smart as you. LOL.

She sounds wonderful and it sounds like you are doing a great job.

Whisper also makes a grinding growling little noise when I do something she doesn't like. I call is "fussing".

Thanks guys. I think she is gorgeous too but her tail feathers are a little ragged right now. Can't wait til she gets new ones. She is molting so maybe soon. Did you notice the music playing in the background? Did it seem at one point that she was trying to sing?

I have a video of my baby on YouTube if you want to take a look. She just turned 1 yr old this month. Stay with it til the end if you can. She really gets going then. P.S. Her whistle is so bad because I can't whistle.:lol:<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2008/12/14 20:55

Thanks guys for all your replies. I have noticed that there are things I have offered him earlier that she refused but will now eat so I guess it is everchanging.

I always thought that all birds liked nuts. I have tried several different kinds as a special treat but she won't eat them. She will tear a peanut open but doesn't eat it. She also isn't interested in sunflower seeds. I wouldn't give them as large part of the diet but thought for a treat or training reward. Has anyone else expererienced this?

I will share with you my experience with the bath and you can take as you will. The popular advice is that your bird must be bathed and to force it on them until they get used to it. When I first got whisper I tried spraying her and forcing her to get wet in the shower. It terrified her. I mean literally freaked her out to the point that she looked right at me reached down and pulled a feather out of her leg. My vet said this is reaction shows EXTREME stress. So I put away the mister and let her be for a few weeks. Then I started taking her into the shower with me a couple of times a week. I would just set her on top of the curtain rod and she watched. Then I would have her on my hand and not really try to get her wet, just used to the water being nearby. All the time talking and keeping it all upbeat. I gr adually got her a little more wet each time. Just recently, and it has been months since I started, while on my arm in the shower she will walk toward the spray instead of away from it. Just this week she walked into the spray while on my arm and lifted her wings and got totally soaked all on her own. Victory! MY patience paid off. She prefers cooler water also. During these months, she has not suffered any side effects from lack of shower while I was being patient with her. She probably benefited from the moisture and steam in the shower even though she wasn't getting all that wet. Also my vet advises me not to add any other sprays or oils to the feathers. She says it only coats the feather and doesn't get down to the skin anyway but you should check with your vet. Whatever you are introducing to your bird watch their body reaction. The way Whisper showed her stress was to get very rigid and her eyes would look wild. She wasn't freaking out in the normal way you would think like screeching or flapping. It wasn't until she yanked out those feathers that I realized how much it was stressing her. Remember that trust lost is hard to win back again. Your bird is an individual and you should proceed by listening to her. Post edited by: Char, at: 2008/09/04 01:08 Post edited by: Char, at: 2008/09/04 01:14<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2008/09/04 01:18

I have read about the red greys before. They are a mutation.

Before bedtime I have cuddle time with Whisper. This is time that she sits on my shoulder while I am at the computer or watching T.V. I scratch her head and talk softly to her. She gets sleepy during this time and is usually ready to go to bed.

Hi everyone. I have not posted in a while so I thought I would check in and give you an update on my baby. Well I guess she is no longer a baby now. Whisper will be 9 mo old tomorrow. She is a sweet and gentle bird who thinks our role in life is to be her personal head scratcher. I am pleased that she does not show a preference between my husband and I. She seems to love us both even though my husband swears she likes me more.(He's a whiner.) She can say quite a few things very clearly and a lot that we can't understand yet. She can clearly say: "Are you a good giiiiirl?", "Hello", "Gimme kiss", "Ginger" (our dog),"Good girl!". "Are you a good bird?" She also laughs, whistles and lots of other funny sounds. She has just recently begun to enjoy the shower. She will now raise her wings and walk into the spray. The shower was something we had to slowly adjust her to as it totally freaked her out at first. Even a spray bottle. So I began taking her into the shower with me a slowly over time got her a little more wet. Well I have rattled on. Gotta go and put the baby to bed. Here is a photo taken in July. http://lanephotography.smugmug.com/gallery/5555163_rY8sE/1/341122297_dCMLk#341122297_dCMLk<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2008/09/02 02:18

What a beautiful baby! I would wait until the first vet check-up for the DNA since they will have to draw blood for the first well check anyway.

I finally have a few minutes to post an update. It turns out that Simon is indeed a girl. I knew it all along.:laugh: We did not care for the name Simone so her new name is now "Whisper". She is now 5 months old and we are getting to know each other. She loves to be near us and puts her head down for scratches. She has learned many different whistles and copies some of the bird sounds she hears outside. Also mimics the squeeking of the door. She seems very well socialized and nothing seems to bother her too much. We have exposed her to lots of different people and noises. I make her toys myself and it is such a great feeling to come home and find she has destroyed the toys and stuff in her cage. I then have to start over again.:laugh: She does require a lot of attention and keeps us very busy but we enjoy it.

I am no expert but just a thought.. What if you put your hand between him and some food so that he had to step up to the hand first in order to get to the food. Might that help him get used to the hand?

Thanks guys for your interest. I got a note from the vet today that said the lab work will be back in a few days but that the DNA could take up to 30 days.:unsure: The vet said that the reason she thinks he is a male is because of red around his you know thing? And also because his tail feathers are such a vivid red. I am going to get some pics up this weekend. Things have just been so hectic the last few days.

My baby had his first check-up today and she said he looked wonderful! We did the DNA and next week we will know if it is really Simon or Simone. The vet thinks it is a boy. I think it is a girl. We will see who is right next week.

I am jealous about the bath as Simon doesn't care for it but he did let me mist him more today than yesterday.

Thanks for the quick reply. I was ready to go take the toy out of the cage until I heard back. I think all the toy part ideas above are great except I am careful that any plastic parts are not hard brittle plastic (like the round discs in the first picture) that could be shattered by a strong beak and produce sharp edges. Just a thought.<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2008/04/16 03:15

Is natural hemp okay for string? I made mine a toy with it and he sure does like to chew on it. I hope he is not eating it. How could I tell?

Raposa, I will have to try the oatmeal soon. Tonight he ate supper with us and he ate a little white meat chicken, (don't tell him that a chicken is a bird} and some corn. Improvement! Perhaps he was willing to try new things because he saw us eating it.

Hi Marty and Charlene. My name is Charlene also and I have a cousin named Marty ::ohmy: . I am new to the forum also since I just got my new baby CAG on the 14th. Welcome to the forum.

Yes I am. I posted in your other thread before I saw this one so I will not repeat it all. I think I am going to have to DNA mine. We decided that Simon was going to be a boy but somehow It just doesn't feel right. I just have this feeling that he/she is a girl and I find myself wanting to refer to her/him that way. Maybe it is because he/she is so small compared to her sibling. Anybody else ever feel that way. Oh and by the way I haven't said anything because I didn't want to seem like I was bragging but my baby is already trying to talk.:ohmy: Just jibber jabber and robot sounds of course.