Animalspirit

That would be nice! BTW, I added several new pics to my profile, showing how we ( birds, dogs and I) go for a walk in the forest!

Hello, Jenny! I have 7 adopted parrots, so the issue of introducing is very familiar to me. Parrots are animals that should live in groups. I had one, that had lived for over 50 years in a cage with humans as only company. He couldn't speak any parrot language when he came to me. My other amazon taught him amazon sounds, and my CAG talked to him in human language. He didn't stop talking, though. He enjoyed talking like a human, because of the reactions of people. The TAG that I have now, also talked when he came to me, and he still talks, and whistles, and makes the most wonderful sounds. My new Yellow Crowned Amazon is also a talker, and a good one, too. And he doesn't stop talking either. The CAG is the only parrot that also in the wild mimicks the sounds of other species. Pet parrots that are kept alone often learn human speech. Not all of them have that talent, and not all of them enjoy it in the same way. But I'm sure that, if they are already talking, that they won't stop because you introduce them. I would only introduce parrots that are proved completely healthy. If they are free of diseases like PBFD, Chlamydia and Polyoma, you can introduce them. Make sure they have separate cages! In my living room the parrots are free, so if a newcomer is introduced to the group there is room enough to avoid each other. In your case, I would have separate cages and a play gym or climbing tree inbetween. I would give them both a treat at the same time, when they first meet. Don't force anything! You will notice, that there will be at least a 40 cm distance between the two, certainly in the beginning. Later on, they might come closer. It doesn't matter what sex they are, I know of two male greys that behaved like a couple! If the parrots get along very well, maybe it's a good idea to have them together more often. For instance by taking Vera with you when you visit your mom! Here in Holland we have often parrot meetings, and when someone goes on a holiday, the parrots can stay with someone else. Of course we all have our parrots tested! Good luck!

And then the final result. Tabu often went with me bringing mail, which she liked very much. She could hide under my coat if she wanted, but she mostly insisted on sitting on her perch. Later, i had a much higher "bicycle stand" with two perches, on which I took Tabu and Borre. She loved to hang upside down, especially when we went over a viaduct, with heavy traffic driving some five meters under us...

Yes, I did. At the time I wrote the story, I had no drawing materials, so I decided to create them in the "Paint"programme on my computer. I first made a raw sketch, and then zoom in to big format to make the details the way I wanted them. I had my observations of parrot behavior of course, but for some details I took my CAG Tabu and used her for a model. Not all details, because she was a plucker and looked horrible except her head and feet. Here's a portrait I made of Tabu and me on the bike. The "raw sketch":

I wrote this more than three years ago, with the knowledge and experience I had on that moment. and yes, there was the wing-clipping. A few months earlier, I had my first parrot, a free flighted Senegal. He flew around in the living room, like your grey. But... he started to attack me. At that moment, I knew little of parrot behavior, and I got into contact with people from a dutch senegal forum. They told me there was a meeting for parrots and their owners. I went there by train, my Senegal in a crate. When I arrived there, I noticed many parrots sitting in a "play-jungle"made of willow and elder branches. They were all clipped! Mine wasn't, I thought it was like mutilating them. But I also wanted my parrot playing freely in that jungle. They asked me if they should clip my bird, and after a little thinking about I said "yes". There are many arguments for the "pro": you can take your bird outside. If you don't have an outdoor aviary, this is the way to provide your bird of his share of fresh air and direct sunshine. The birds can't really flu, except in a downward glide-flight, which prevents them from crashing into windows indoors and cars outdoors. The risk of losing your bird by an accidentally left open window are diminished. And of course, Drs. Hooimeijer, the vet that promoted the 5-step training system, is strongly against free flight. But... there are also many arguments for the "con": a bird should develop his flight muscles. A flighted bird can live a more bird-like life than a non-flighted. I am sure about many greys being rather frustrated about their life as a pet. But those shouldn't be kept as a pet at all: they should live in gigantic aviaries, in large groups, like they do in the wild. My experiences with my first African Grey ( who, BTW, served as a model for the story) made me change my mind about the methods shown in the story. But, since I don't have an aviary, I keep my birds clipped. For me taking them outside is more important than having them flighted in my small 7x4m living room. I want them to play around in the forest, to feel the earth and the grass under their feet, to chew on decayed wood, to climb in trees and jump down in glide-flight. A baby parrot should be raised by his own parents in co-parentage with the breeder. He should learn to fly first, to have the flight muscles fully developed. And, the most important of all: he should be exposed to direct sunlight, to avoid the development of rachitis. Too many young parrots have weak legs and crooked toes because they have always been indoors. If you wnat your bird flighted, make sure you have a large outdoor aviary, and train your bird to come back on cue. If you really want to fly your grey, start training from scratch, and practice in large indoor rooms, such as a riding hall. Other alternatives are of course the Aviato harness. Keeping birds, however, always brings dilemma's. Bird training is an important skill, clipping or not clipping is a personal choice. Clipping a bird makes him easier to handle as a pet, but behavioral problems could be solved only by training.

All parrots rub their beaks, it's a normal way of keeping the beak in shape. When greys preen, their tail-gland produces the white substance which they put on their feathers to keep them dry when it rains. Because of that stuff their beak is a little grey. When they rub their beak it becomes shining black. I observed that many parrots also rub their beak like some territorial action. My TAG does it when an amazon comes too close, my lovebirds do it when other parrots come too close. One of my amazons always cleans her beak thoroughly after she has eaten something.

Maybe you can also talk about a grey in a playgym or play-tree being far more decorative than one in a cage. Tell him that the wings can be clipped, and that a bird can be taught to stay on his tree. Tell them also that a bird feels safer is his sleeping cage is not in front of the window. Tell them about creating a day/night rhytm. Tell them about foraging toys etc. Good luck!

Yes, that's true. This story is a combination of different cases of course, all made into one recognizeable story. Actually, I wrote it for children, because they are the future generation of parrot keepers. The character of Clarice is what I thought was the ideal parrot keeper at that moment. She uses the 5-step method, developed by the dutch avian vet Hooimeijer, who also studied in america and was much influenced by Liz Wilson. This is the vet shown in the story. At this moment I would do the training a little different, but I keep my parrots the same way Clarice does. I am studying to become a parrot behavior therapist, and my goal is to advise people with their parrots, so that they can stay in their homes instead of being adopted. I will use this story for my final exams, writing step-by-step programmes for each owner of Polly.

My parrots sleep in their own bedrom, and come out in the morning. After their shower they get their food. In the morning they get often cooked beans, which i buy dried. I soak them in the evening, and cook them in the morning. The parrots each get some beans ( white beans, kekers, kidney beans, green peas etc.) together with a slice of apple, raw carrot or broccoli, sometimes parsley, sometimes cooked green beans ( depends of my own meal that day), sometimes a slice of banana, some grapes, fresh chili pepper, sometimes potato or pasta, and always half a walnut. Depending on the quantity, I also give them Harrisson's HPC. I give them also water, half a litre, with one teaspoon biological apple vinegar. At noon I go to work, and I return around 10.00 pm. Then they get some biological seeds to nibble on before they go to bed. Sometimes they also get a palmnut. Or a rosehip, or other wild berries. My birds are busy foraging all day, and I take away the leftovers. The vinegar in the water works fine against bacteria-growth. I often go outside with them, where they can play around in the forest, chewing on decayed wood, and digging in the sand. It's good for their resistance.

Difficult situation, but so recognizeable! In my house the parrots live freely in climbing trees in the living room. In the evening I bring them to bed: they have their own bedroom, with separate cages for each of them. In the cages is only a perch. No food, no water. The bedroom has a darkening screen instead of only curtains. So it's dark as long as they are in that room. In the morning I take them all out to the bathroom for their shower. There they drink a little until they are in the living room again. I'll explain this to you: Wild parrots sleep in roost-trees. They don't bathe there, they don't forage there. In the tropical areas where they live, evening falls suddenly, as suddenly as day breaks. In the morning, they get wet from the dew on the trees. They preen themselves, and gather to go foraging. They forage on fruit trees, they drink from ponds and they eat clay from the river banks or similar places. The flocks are gathering and breaking up in smaller family groups, depending on the species. At the hottest period of the day they withdraw between the trees and shrubs, for a nap and a little preening. In the evening they forage again, and drink a little before they go asleep in their roost-tree. Only couples stay together, and during the breeding season they search for a nest-tree. The couple defends the nest. When there are eggs, the breeding parrot stays at the nest, while the other feeds him/her. All are chased away, except the partner. A tame parrot that sleeps and eats in the same cage, feels like he/she is occupying a nest tree. If the owner has a partner-relationship with the parrot, he won't be bitten. But... even when they are bonded, a parrot can react by biting if there's something different. A parrot has a vision of 360 degrees, and can see more details and colors than we do. Often a parrot warns, and an other parrot notices. We often don't, unless we have developed special skills... Hopefully this does help a little in understanding your parrot...

There are many theories indeed: eye, shape, head round or more flat, bigger beak, dark stripes in the tail feathers, but none of them 100 % sure. DNA-test are really the only reliable way to know if your cag or other parrot is male or female. Except when you're dealing with Eclectus, King Parrot or many cockatoos of course. I'd like to share a funny story with you, though: This summer I had 4 parrots to test on DNA: my Yellow Crowned Amazon, my Orange Winged Amazon, my hybrid Lovebird and my TAG Fernando. The vet thought that the YCA was female, and the TAG as well. By observing the behavior however, I was sure they were all males. And I proved to be right!

That must be really cute, your Shi-Tzu mothering the birds. I have a Shi-Tzu as well. Peggy was adopted a year ago. Her owner was in difficult circumstances, financially and mentally. The dog suffered from allergies, and I got her with prednison pills. I am the fourth owner of Peggy, who will be four years old in november. She probably came from a puppy mill, and lived with the owner of a cattery when the former owner found her. By that time, she already gave birth to a puppy before she was a year old. The father was a mix dachshund and it ws an accident. Peggy lives here for a year now, and she's doing fine. Sometimes I find her and Fernando together on the sofa. Fernando reaaly likes the dogs, but often meows like a cat. He is also befriended with my cat, Zerlina.

If I have this one published, I should take it from Internet. A publisher told this to me. So for the moment I decided not to have it published. I think the story would reach more people this way, you see.

Well... yes, that's what I want to be. I write stories and perform sometimes as a storyteller and singer. But I need to find an editor for my writings. The story about my adoption parrots has been published in "Parrot Society", in the UK, and I will have another one published there. But I have to write it first... If I could only earn my living with writing, training parrots and doing educational programmes...

Yessss!!!!! I succeeded in putting the english translation online. Here you can read my story, in its original colors! The parrot that nobody wanted...

Here's a little movie of Fernando chasing Monet. Outside I can ask him to fetch the dog for me!

All my birds are clipped. Probably I will do free flight again in the future, but only if I have the right bird for that.At this moment it's easier to take them all for a walk.

Fernando is quite a character! He loves to go with us to the forest, where he looks for pieces of mouldered wood. He likes to climb on fallen trees, and follows my welsh corgi Monet everywhere. <br><br>Post edited by: Animalspirit, at: 2008/10/09 21:52

Fernando is my second African Grey. The first one was Tabu, a CAG, who accidently flew away two years ago. Soon after Taby was lost, I found a message on one of my own forums. It was about a TAG, who was left behind in a house of which the occupants were forced to leave. The bailiff entered the house and found the bird. He was brought to the asylum, and someone wrote a message on Internet. I contacted the asylum, and told them about my studies to become a parrot-behaviortherapist. They asked a lot of money for the bird, which I wasn't able to pay. So I offered my assistance, just in case they found a new owner who lacked the skills to deal with parrot-behavioral problems. They called back, and told me that I could have the bird for a volontary donation. I went to the asylum, which was about one hour away from where I live, and I got the bird.

Sorry, still didn't find out how to put the pics in my story. You'll have to wait...<br><br>Post edited by: Animalspirit, at: 2008/10/09 08:41

Hello! I am new on this site, and now trying to put a pic in this post. From left to right you can see my old Yellow Crowned Amazon Borre, who died a year ago, then my timneh African Grey Fernando and my Eastern Rosella Asterix. Cootje, my Blue Fronted Amazon is hidden behind my hair.<br><br>Post edited by: Animalspirit, at: 2008/10/09 00:10

Oh well, I read the topic on the Welcome Forum, so I will upload the pics on Photobucket and then try again.

... but I can't get the images in here. I wrote the story in dutch, and translated it into english. The story is on my homepage, and I took the URL of the images from there. So how does it work on this forum? It's a story with 25 images.<br><br>Post edited by: Animalspirit, at: 2008/10/08 23:17

I am no longer in search for the story, because I found it here. I wrote a dutch translation of the story and wanted to put the name of the original author with it. I registered here in order to contact Graehstone.

Besides: we humans are primates, like chimpansees, gorilla's, Orang Utans and Bonobo's. If we like eacht other, we hug and cuddle. But parrots are not primates, they have a totally different "etiquette".