LindaMary

That's what I'm talking about, Jane! Now, Lord, give me the strength to be as patient with Tanner as Jane has been with Kea!:blink: B)<br><br>Post edited by: LindaMary, at: 2009/02/19 15:18

Hi Carol - welcome to the forum! Sounds like you have quite an interesting flock! We will look forward to any how-to's you have to offer! The Homemade Toys and Playstands room is fairly new on this site, so it'll be great to have a prolific new contributor!

Love your pictures - and what a great toy! My TAG would be terrified of it for weeks, I expect:huh: , but my severe macaw would be all over it. Is that some of your birds hanging out on a shelf behind the toy in the top picture?

Greetings, Debbie - and welcome to the forum! One thing we all know for sure is that you have adopted a coddled and loved little Timneh boy! We've been following him (I'll bet you have, too) since he was scarcely hatched. I think it's wonderful that you have decided to give him his new home. We'll look forward to seeing more pictures of him as he settles in!

Hi blln - I noticed your post the other day, and I'm sorry it's taken so long for you to get a response! You ask some very good questions, which are not necessarily simple to answer. The easiest one is #4: starting fresh with a baby bird would probably be easiest for you. HOWEVER: you have obviously done a lot of research, and are you approaching the option of adopting an older bird very thoughtfully, which makes it very hard for me not to encourage you to keep going in that direction. I am speaking, by the way, as a person who chose to get a baby as my first bird, because I didn't think I'd have the nerve to re-home an older bird - for the very reasons you are being cautious. I do not regret my decision - I LOVE my Maxi! But after living and learning with her for a year I did take on a second bird who had a few more "issues", and I am getting at least equal enjoyment out of working with him and integrating him into the family. How well the bird will adapt to changing homes will have much to do with the personality of the bird as well as with your ability to be patient as it adapts. Of course it will be an adjustment for the bird to switch homes after seven years. But many rehomed birds adapt quickly. When you go to visit the bird, have the owner show you how he handles the bird. Watch to see how well it is socialized. Can more than one family member handle it? Will it let YOU handle it? (Don't be surprised if it won't at first: that would be a lot to ask!) Look around at the bird's current evironment (cage, toys, playstand(s), access to family, etc.) so you will know what it's used to now, and have an idea what seems worth continuing and what you might be able to improve upon. There are many members on this forum with re-homed birds, and I hope some of them will answer you in more detail. I would encourage you to look around at the existing threads on here, too, while you are waiting for them to respond. Meanwhile, welcome here - and do keep us posted on what you decide to do - and how you make your decision!

Hm - the red spots instead of tail feathers does sound more like those tail feathers were plucked, to my untrained ear...

Good for you, Jen - I think baby steps are definitely the way to go. It's certainly the method I'm having to use! Having Lyric physically higher than Sadie up on her playtop last night may have contribted to the success of the evening, too. That's great that Sadie seemed accepting of Lyric's presence up there. Did she and Sterling used to chase each other around, too - in play? I am wondering if she is just used to playing that way and Lyric is scared because he just doesn't understand yet that it's all in good fun. Keep up the baby steps, and keep us posted!B)

BTW, kl : it does take a while for a full set of light feather to grow in. I made the decision to allow my grey to fully fledge last fall, and she still doesn't have a full set, though she has quite a few, and is already doing little "training flights" with what she's got. I have heard it can take up to a year for the wing feathers to grow back in, so be patient!

Yes, Rierie - you're making sense to me!

I'll answer the question I know the answer to: Don't worry about his wings. He will grow new flight feathers, and if you choose not to have them clipped, he will eventually learn to fly as well. A lot of pet stores seem to clip birds very close - I know both my birds had very severe wing clips when I picked them up. There are many threads on here about this issue, and in fact, take a look at the thread "yeah Tyco" this morning for a story about an older bird learning to fly finally. Rest easy on that one! The plucking is more complex, and there are a lot of folks on here with more experience in that. Young greys can also damage their tail feathers with falls and clumsy landings - especially if their wings are clipped very close! I'll let the folks with more knowledge answer you on the plucking issue, but I would also encourage you to read through the existing threads here on plucking and molting while you are waiting for more responses. In any case, welcome to the forum - and we'll be looking forward to hearing more from you!

Spot on, Dan. Another recent example which actually also has to do with Tanner (the severe macaw, who is kind of my special needs child at present): I am still trying to teach him to spend less time screeching for my attention - his screeches are truly ear-shattering, and I fear for my neighbors once the windows are open here in New England again soon. I've been trying a combination of ignoring it, responding in what-I-thought-was a normal voice saying what I'd LIKE him to say (e.g. "Tanner, can you say "Hi Mama"?"), and sometimes even covering his cage for five minutes when it really got out of hand. But one element I started to realize was getting in my way was my own emotional reaction to the noise. It's a harsh sound, and it sounds angry just by its nature, and even if I didn't feel like I was physically doing anything different in my response to Tanner, I was certainly aware that I was irritated by the noise, and woudl gradually feel increasingly annoyed with him for persisting - especially if I'd just walked in the door from work and he would immediately start screaming away. Of course I also had the contrast with Maxi, who contact calls with the best of 'em, but her calls are all pretty whistles, of course, and I don't find them irritating at all. Well, I finally had a little epiphany a couple of weeks ago: it dawned on me that Tanner doesn't know HOW to make pretty noises like Maxi yet (and may never do so). He's just doing the best he can with the tool he has to greet me and tell me he loves me! Duhhhhhh...Earth to Linda : come IN please....!! TOTAL attitude change on my part, and guess what: total attitude change on his part in response. He still screeches his hellos frequently, but I am sure that when I call back to him, the quality of my voice has changed, because with this new understanding I am really not aggravated now. He clearly hears that in my voice and converts to his gentler noises almost immediately. Amazing. Actually, maybe the only amazing part of all of this is how loooonnnngg it takes the hairless ape in the household to Get It... :whistle:

And I like Hazel, too!

What a little doll she is! I like the name Suki...

Good point, Jane - I have always done the same when Maxi had a fall or something, or when we were going to the vet, or in any situation where it was obvious she might be stressed. I think what I find interesting is experimenting to see how far we can expand beyond that point, to communicate with our animals over a much wider range than I had ever thought possible. I've been trying it out on the cats and the bunny, too, but either I "speak" better in "bird", or the birds are just more perceptive - I haven't seen such clear responses from my other beasties...

{Love-0002011E} What a handsome dude!

{Feel-good-000200BB} Woohoo! Yay Tyco! What excellent news!

That's exactly what the book tlks about, Jane - what you are doing. And your method doesn't sound crazy to me at all - I have been doing similar things myself more often lately, and I agree that I really think I see a noticable response. In retrospect, I used to do this with my daughter when she was an infant, so why wouldn't I do it with my animals? It's been very interesting to me to watch the effect it has - and it's also an interesting challenge to try to look at the world through their eyes more.

My niece gave me the book Animal Talk, by Penelope Smith, for Christmas. It's basically about telepathic communication with animals, and I have found it interesting. I'm curious to know if anyone else has read this book and what they think of it. I don't know that I have much in the way of telepathic skills, but reading it seemed to reinforce for me the concept of looking at situations from an animal's point of view, and I think it has actually helped me to resolve a couple of behavior issues I was struggling with with my birds. One example: Tanner, my severe macaw, was backsliding on his hand-tameness and screeching a few weeks ago, and I started to think it might be connected to the fact I had a lot of work to do on the computer at home at that time. He, Maxi and the computer "live" in the same room, and it's set up so that when I am on the computer, my back is to the birds. I wondered if he was acting out because he interpreted my back to him as rejection or punishment. So I got him out and sat down with him at the computer and talked to him about it and said I'd try to be more considerate about his feelings when I needed to spend time on the computer. The next few times I was on the computer, I went and talked to him first and said I needed to work for a bit, and we'd play afterwards. Call me crazy: he stopped the acting out. It wasn't a telepathic conversation, of course, but more of a response based on being a bit more mindful of what I was doing that might be bothering my bird friend. Any reactions?

I'm thinking G, Dan. I hope you don't feel put upon, carrying this thread so much - I think you just know a lot more little-known facts about greys than most folks!

Welcome to the forum, Julie and Flock! Pictures - right off the bat! You go girl!

I expect there are far more expert folks who will answer this, but here's one suggestion. The next time he does his flop-over-and-bite thing, just squat down and gently set him on the floor. Some birds really don't like being on the floor, and will change their behavior if they are put there. Give him a minute to think about it down there, and then pick him back up again. (I'm assuming you don't have cats or dogs prowling, of course!) This has worked for me in the past with both my birds when they got too feisty - they were happy to step up quite docilely and behave again when I reached back down for them. If he doesn't like being on the floor, and he learns to associate that with his flop-over-and-bite game, maybe he'll back off on the game a bit.

You should be so proud of yourself, Jen, for raising such beautiful, healthy babies! They really are quite stunning! I hope that in time you will find a way to help Lyric and Sadie get along better - I know in your shoes I'd have a hard time giving that little beauty up! But after all, it must be hard on Lyric right now - it sounds like he is really feeling threatened, not just socially, but physically, poor little fella. How wonderful that Sterling has moved in right next door. Your neighbors don't by any chance want to take Sadie in, too, do they?

Well, I certainly am no expert, but I do share the issue of having two birds who don't necessarily play well together. Tanner, my severe macaw, would actually LIKE to be closer to Maxi, my TAG; but Maxi (who was my first bird - and hence is The Princess) won't have it. Neither of them is fully flighted yet, but I am letting them both fledge and Maxi's starting to gain some range, so my problem with this is likely to get worse. So far neither of them has chased the other, but Tanner gets down off of anything you put him on and "goes visiting" where Maxi doesn't want him, and then thing sget tense. If they should end up fighting, (God forbid) I'm sure she'd get the worst of it because she's about 2/3 his size. I do what you do: let them out separately, or when I can really supervise. And I have to say they have noticable "good hair days" and "bad hair days" - they are more at ease around each other on some days than others. I often share my attention - e.g. while holding Max I'll talk to her and then to him and then to her, and vice versa. As loopy as it sounds, I have even had solemn conversations with both of them explaining that I would like to keep things peaceful in the kingdom and I need them to get along, and maybe I am hallucinating, but it actually seems to help for a while. I am very careful to always give Maxi her props as the alpha bird - first greeting, last goodnight, etc., but there are times when she just gets wenchy if she sees Tanner snuggling with me too much (which he is wont to do!) Keep us posted, Jen, and good luck!

Yes, Pat, I have to say Tanner has become quite the mama's boy. He prefers to be out of his cage now rather than in - IF the right people (i.e.: me, Mary or my mother) are in the room - but he still doesn't readily go to anyone but me, especially not if I'm in the room, too. Mary had "evening duty" with the birds a week or so ago while I took my mom to a doctor's appointment in CT - and to my surprise she was apparently able to get him to come out of his cage and sit on her and do the whole lullaby routine I usually do - with her instead of me. Now that I know he WILL do that for her if I'm not around, I'm trying to get her to share it with me a bit more - for all of our sakes!:evil: He's still very spooky, tho - and prone to nip - if anyone else approaches him, so I have to be really mindful when anyone else is around. He still nabs me occasionally, too :pinch: - I've obviously not yet reached the stage where it is second nature to me to know what is going to set him off. I am sure that when he gets into the kind of molt that Gizmo is in, he's probably going to be a buzzsaw for a while! NOt looking forward to that! I don't know how he is going to reconcile pinfeather discomfort with being the Velcro bird he wants to be with me all the time lately. As always - your experience with Gizmo is a good foreshadowing for me - I thank you!

Hey there, Pat - I've been wondering how Gizmo's been getting along! Thanks for the great update! I am so glad to hear that he has found a friend in Fergie (she sounds like SUCH a sweetheart from everything you say about her...). Maybe they are sharing race memories of South American rain forests... I wish Tanner had a friend like that: he'd obviously like to be closer friends with Maxi, but she's just not interested. In fact, she likes to nip at his tail if she gets half a chance. I do think they keep each other some company in spite of that (they tend to copy each other's mischief!) - but I can't say I've really heard them chatting back and forth. I am looking forward to seeing pictures of Gizmo in his new suit of feathers, too!B) I think Tanner may be going into a molt, too: I'm starting to see little grey down feathers here and there. I have been lucky with him in that so far, given a choice of being on me or off me, his choice is ON about 99% of the time, even if it means I take him into the bathroom and try to put him on the shower perch. The other day he would NOT get on the shower perch, and I really needed a shower myself, so I just turned the water a bit cooler and got under it with him on my shoulder. Amazingly, he managed to hang onto my bare shoulder tightly enough to stay on, but not tightly enough to hurt, and it didn't seem to bother him at ALL to be under the water as long as he got to sit on me. Do you use a humidifier around your birds at all? I am wondering because I know that even when I don't actually get mine under the water, I often will take them in and set them on the shower perch while I am showering, and they seem to enjoy the moisture in the air.