zooman

ditto from me you did a great job and commend you on taking her into your home and beautiful birds period i love the pionus as well

Have a great trip and yeah i def could not see myself packing everything up, but im sure you gotta do what you gotta do..Its the Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday so i get an extra day off yah!! i think im going to build some new toys for the boys instead of buying them its a nice day out so its something to do and save me $$. What are some of your birds fav toys? im looking for inspiration?

here is my enrty with zuri and his love of my watches. This was the 2nd watch hes secretly broken. he finds the little caps on the side and plucked it out within a few seconds and now it wont work.urgh but i still love the little guy.

4 hours is nothing to be worried about yes its less but def enough time and more than lots of people devote to their birds out there. But i can imagine how it must feel having to be away. Well that was really nice of him to do that for you and im sure it'll be nice to get away.

and def have an amazing trip! vegas is a little crazy for me but i hope you enjoy it. Dont miss your birds too much though they sound like they have a great sitter while your gone

Im sure she didnt mean it towards you and i know you are def doing your best. I dont think you could possibly do that much damage to them considering you love them and spend even small amounts is basically better than none. Like i said before i noticed when i have to go out for a wedding lets say the next days they are needy but after a day or so they get bored of me again..lol. Family is more important than trying to be exactly normal with your birds, and your husband plays with your grey no? Birds i think seem a lot like kids and they are tough little guys i dont have kids but you know when your kids are mad at you and the next day or days all is forgiven, at least ive noticed that. I think she was tlaking bout more people who buy them on a hey that'll be a cool pet along with the lets get a bunny on easter people and find out wow this is too much work, lets leave them alone and and they are abused emotionally.

Oh cleaing of cages how fun that must have been for all those feathered friends. I try to once a week wash down their cages in one way tiagos gets washed weekly because he wont accept a shower unless its in his cage so after it wet i take that time to clean it, poop comes off muuuch easier. My 2 spend a lot of time out too but the stand just gets dirty instead of the cage and zuri has what ive noticed is normal and hates pooping in his cage so his cage is dream to clean mostly his dander. I know im at my limit and its why i stopped getting birds sure there are many more id like to have but for what? it would drive me to have no other life. With the 2 i can still go out and do things and not have to worry as much. I always just wanted one or two kids so until that happens i have the 1 or 2 birds. Betty i can tell your a great bird mom and i know life sometimes throws a little curveball and your getting that now. Keep your head up and your birds will love ya for life. They'll act a little more needy when you finally get life back in order but after a while they'll settle. When i switched shifts at work they quickly adjusted after many mornings of being woke up with whistling they both are pretty quiet till i get up and then they are maniacs..haha

congrats on your upcoming new baby, this is a perfect place to "talk"...really brag about your parrots..haha. and no questions are stupid, ive learned tons since joining and everyday is an adventure with your bird you'll find that out soon. In the meantime learn all you can and yes socialize is key right from the start i had troubles at first with my TAG with anyone else but its slowly coming.

Thanks judygram, you should get one haha. They are much underrated birds to keep. When i got mine i was told by the numerous people that they werent their fav birds in the store because of their temperament but luckily one very nice lady there steered me to him and loved him and hes been showing it and ive never regretted getting him.

Wow she is a piggy!! Zuri when he gets into the corn on the cob watch out he looks like a corn monster..But at least they are eating healthy and fresh right? Thats great that shes getting more tame, Tiago has gotten back to laying on my chest while watching tv, he actually looked like he was dosing off the otehr night while on me..haha As for training i bought the barbara heindrich dvd and it wasnt worth $30 but it did give me some ideas for training. Ive taught zuri to to wave and also to turn around on command im working on the head shake. Tiago has a verrry short attention span but has the turn around down. I started last winter and kinda got busy this summer but started up again. Its fun and i know zuri loves it, tiago is more of do his own activities type of bird wants to be around you but not always engaged. Are yours like that? Zuri just wants to be on me or around me 24/7. As for carrier its a work in progress im starting to actually use his old carrier and cutting holes out to put the mesh in instead of building one from scratch. Im just waiting for colder temps in case i need the carrier now. I looked around and couldnt find a good way of piecing one together. Yes how she deals with that many birds god love her for it. The way i look at it we have the smartest birds in the greys and the prettiest birds with the alexandrines so im set..haha not everyone would agree but im ok with that. how about you?

I know what you mean both my parents are well now but its hard seeing them having trouble when before they seemed invincible. Broken hip is not a good thing for sure. Hope she heals quickly. As for your Zsa Zsa she def looks very cute and i figured the flash didnt do her justice, she is well taken care of i can tell, keep up the good work!

aww she is a pretty one.. got that gorgeous long tail. Our birds do look very similar minus the male colourings. I see what you mean about when you said they look similar. Im sorry about your mom hope she is feeling better

phew thanks ladies!! i know what you mean about being powdery but it just seemed different but im so glad you both think he looks ok, since both of you have the same bird so it helps hearing that. He is such a camera diva, zuri is not scared but apprehensive and tiago gets excited when he sees the camera. I looked at that site and all i could do is shake my head at it. Your right they wouldnt be an aleaxndrine anymore and what a shame. The alex has been around soo long and i think one of the most beautiful birds available to us, course im biased but i think they are, although they lack a bit of friendliness and why i think people shy away from them, they shouldnt be touched just cause they think the market for them is running dry, the breeder in my area had 6 and they are all gone, id say thats a sign people want them i think anyways. When you start mixing breeds you get problems. You guys should post some pics of your alex's and IRN.

Ive gotten zuri hooked on the trick training too, hes a TAG and i started last winter, we were bored and its collld outside and i thought he wouldnt want to but hes like yours hes excited about the training. I got him to do the head shake took a bit longer but the turn around took 5 minutes max. now the wave ive wanted to try but i dont know did it mess with your step up command? thats why i didnt try it, i didnt want to confuse him, but maybe im thinking too much..lol

I too once worked ina pet store part time and I gave people my all in trying to give them the best advice, though not with parrots but with budgies tiels so to my knowledge all the birds were from local breeders who sold them to the store when they had surplus etc. I bought both of my birds from a chain store later in the years and they gave me all the info i needed about my boys so not all stores are bad. I def think you can tell once your in the store and see the birds if your adoption should take place there or not

I think you were right about different lighting in strong lighting he seems duller but in normal lighting seems brighter, ill let you compare to zsa zsa and let me know.

Thanks for the tip ill try and leave those pellets out if im going to eat them..haha maybe its time for them to share their food with me for once though...yeah i would have to say that they keep to their own plates during dinner, i share and give them from my plate and they stay over on their playstand, tiago begs more than zuri does for sure, i think he understands that ive gotten my share so ill leave him alone, tiago believes im hiding the best and wont give up unless hes eating. But i wouldnt let them fly over to me but i guess them being clipped helps a lot. As dor the mutations im strongly against that of any species being deliberatly mutated. I agree god made them the way they are why mess with it for the almighty $. But thats my 2 cents. I took a couple pics of tiago let me know what you think..urgh i took one of the side she hacked to share with his ugly side.

ill have to try those recipes for sure, they do sound even good to me..i cooked squash and they loved it, went all over the place though it was cute to see their beaks all full of orange squash before they wiped their mouths. I have tried the warm oatmeal a few times but never stuck with them, they ate very little of it, so i stopped. I do give them raw corn now since its in season and bought the harrisons fine pellets zuri has aten a bit of it this time so far.zuri is a very much in the bowl eater like a cat or dog would eat you know and tiago wants to hold his food and eat so its different methods, ever notice they can be either right or left handed, zuri is right handed and tiago is left handed.

paid $1000 for my TAG 2 years ago here in Ontario Canada and $600 for my alexandrine, both fully weaned.

Thanks for the tips i think im going to try the harrisons fine instead of the coarse because i gte the feeling its just to much work for them to eat it. Zuri eats the pellets now almost whole and peanuts in big pieces where tiago grinds down all his food first. Guess different birds but ill try again its just expensive food but if they'll take it ill buy it. I love squash and the new crop is out now so im going to make some up for all of us. See since i had him clipped the beak looks wayy better but i think hes looking duller ill take a pic this weekend and see what you think. I actually almost bought another grey one was in the local classifieds and it was a congo, i had to quickly go away from the page..haha. I would love more birds but not at the expense of time with mine. I bought a dvd 2 weeks ago and started doing some trick training with my boys its harder than it looks but fun, itll be good for the boring winter months.

Zuris a TAG and lovin' him

I tried the harrisons and followed the direction but they wouldnt eat it at all, i chickened out and gave them back there old food its the hagen lifetime pellets, ive heard its good to feed harrisons and would splurge and buy it but it hurts me if i dont see them eat you know? Was it easy for you to get them eating it? or is that what she ate from the breeder? I know diet is very important with the feathers and both seem very happy etc, im a worry wort about this stuff, i want them to have the perfect feathers and health, i wish i had something aorund here i could compare you know? like a breeder or someone with birds i can see if im doing a good job.

I agree i take my tag into the shower with me well i have no choice he wont be quiet unless i do, he knows its shower time and he'll be "wanna shower" "are you all wet?" so def air dry is best unless its cold out like if your in a colder climate like me when its cooler out i give him a blow dry as well.

It is funny how they are like us and have their tastes and how it comes and goes. Tiagos fav treat is sunflower seeds when im working with him for tricks etc. but he loves all veggies basically except for lately hes told me to go eat the green and red peppers myself. I try and get them used to eating it whole and not feed them stuff like raspberries and such while out of their cage my apartment would be plastered all over the walls. I gave them mased potatoes once and it was all over the walls..but as for meat ive only gave them chicken so far, im not a meat eater myself i dont eat pork or beef so they'll have to live without it. They both have a very short liking of it and will only eat very small amount. Ive heard palm oil is good to spread over the food, do you ladies agree? Ive noticed tiagos feather since he finished molting have dulled over the chest area and a bit of his back does your look like that? As for clipping urgh trying to forget that as well, i have to clip and they dont fall like a rock gratefully but i just cant take the risk if them being flighted and with the training and flapping i have them do they certainly get their fitness.