Goralka08

danmcq wrote: Are you talking about powder coating being the only safe "pain" or application to apply to a used cage? Or are you talking about safe materials for cages? Because stainless steel is another safe way, but ridiculously expensive and harder to find! <br><br>Post edited by: Goralka08, at: 2009/01/13 06:18

These posts make me so sad.

You're quite welcome. I hope you have splendid vacation!

Happy Hatchday Chloe!

I think I learned this joke at church lol... How do you make water Holy? * * * * * * * you boil the hell out of it!

hahahah! We should photoshop our own handicap bird sign! Astro turf? I would have never thought of that. Whatever works! I heard canary and finches are more prone to mites? Not sure if this is true, but we spray mite spray into the cage when we clean it and their food and water is removed. So far we haven't had any problems.

BaxtersMom wrote: He does frequently turn his head during photo shoots! LOL :lol:

Wow, what a scary story! I was bracing myself when I read the self amputation part! lol This story is another reminder at how dangerous leg bands can be, and I'm glad that our rescue organization had our greys band taken off before we adopted her. Anyways, we have something in common...we both have birds with stumps! We rescued a Fancy Canary that we named "Stumpy" because, of course, he has a stump. The weird thing is...we don't know how it happened because his good leg has the band on it. It's possible that another canary bite it off because some stupid person put him in with another male to breed and the other male plucked out his feathers pretty badly, injured the wing, and he was underweight. The uneducated bird buyer brought him back in bad condition with a nub. Nobody wanted him, but I immediately fell in love because to me he was perfect. He has such a beautiful song and spirit that you'd never know he was injured. We've had him since August and he is looking pretty good now! Here is a picture of my boy that was taken in September or October, he looks even better now and a lot of his wing & tail feathers are coming back! His cage is pretty handicap friendly and he seems very happy. He does much better with dowel rod perches that are square so he can rest his "nub" on it. He tends to slip on the regular round perch. The bottom of the cage is a wooden platform with a wire grate on top of it so that his "nub" doesn't fall through when he's at the bottom. His food is on a platform. We recently bought a rope perch and it's wide enough where he stump rests nicely on it. I love him and wouldn't trade him for the world! Post edited by: Goralka08, at: 2009/01/12 04:26<br><br>Post edited by: Goralka08, at: 2009/01/12 04:28

Very nice! I've only seen 2 birds do that in person and it's pretty neat because it takes a lot of trust!

Nope, I don't watch any soap operas...in fact, I can't stand them! lol It just seems like everytime I flip by one on the station, I see really horrible acting that turns me off to even watching and learning the plots. Just so I don't offend anyone (seems like I always do) I am NOT saying that all soap actors & actresses are horrible, I'm sure there are some great ones out there...I just haven't been impressed. Aren't all the soap stories pretty much the same? Like love triangles? Clue me in! lol

Hello there. Do you live near a parrot store? Our bird LOVES this weaved palm that you can weave in and out of the cage bars. We've given our grey an empty unscented kleenex box and put a few almond slivers in it, and she went to town! She only shreds it and throws the pieces on the ground, she won't swallow them. Some birds like shredding rope, but not all rope is safe. You can use 100% cotton, sisal, paper, seagrass ropes, etc. A lot of greys like shredding books. If you have an old phone book, that would work just fine. Or a cheap paperback book. You can make little balls of newspapers that have hidden treats in there and they will forage for food and shred in the process. Some members here have used cupcake baking cups and hide treats in them and then tied them off with rope. Whiffle balls with holes in them (used in golfing) are a big favorite. They get their little beak in the hole and just shred away. If you don't live by a parrot store you can look in the rabbit section of a pet store. They'll have wooden chew blocks that will QUICKLY get shredded because they love to play with them. Pieces of UNTREATED leather. It must not be treated because it could be toxic. Parrot stores usually carry safe untreated leather. Do you have plenty of toys to keep your baby busy? We just bought a box of LEGOS for our girl and she loves them. They are made in Denmark so you don't have to worry about the lead levels. Hmmm what else? There are plenty of things that they can shred, but I'm drawing a blank because of this headache! lol Others here will give some more information, too.<br><br>Post edited by: Goralka08, at: 2009/01/11 22:03

HAHAHAH those were great Chris, thanks!

No it's not OK to give a grey an M&M because it contains chocolate, which is toxic to birds. What parrot builds elaborate "apartment" type nests where each compartment serves a certain purpose?

Hi Baz and welcome. What is your name? Congrats on your new Alfie! I just met a macaw named Alfie, too. lol I don't have experience with baby greys biting, but I do with our newly adopted grey! You'll learn to look for signs such as eye pinning or neck feathers ruffled. I'm still learning, but watching our Kenzie's body language is really helping us a lot. Good luck!

Welcome Chris. I loved your introduction and picture in your first post! I'm a new grey owner and despite all the books I've read, videos I've watched, this site has helped TREMENDOUSLY with the little worries and questions that come up out of nowhere. So I know you'll be hanging out here to soak up some more info. Keep us updated on your progress towards getting a grey!

Got our cage off of craigslist too! It's a large cage, 3/4 bar spacing, with a very nice play top. It was less than a year old and in excellent condition...you couldn't even tell it had been used. I looked up its value before we bought it, and it sells for over $600, and we got it for only $200! Nice deal, eh? The lady was super nice. She lived 5 minutes away from us and we went and picked it up. While we were there we met her African Grey that was housed in it. She ended up buying the same cage version, but one with a Victorian top instead of play top, so she was just getting rid of the old one. If you check craigslist.com everyday, some good deals on bird cages will pop-up. You gotta be quick to respond, though before someone else snatches the deal!

Woah! I have 2 dogs, so this story will definitely stick in my mind when future decision making episodes arrive. Dayo is one blessed bird to have escaped those dobbies! That would have been horrible for Dayo, you, and especially for Kim after all she has gone through lately. So glad Dayo is safe and sound now!

BaxtersMom wrote: I wouldn't always trust Wikipedia. The site is made and edited by people like you and me. You don't know what given information is from a random John Doe or from a professional in the field. I could go to Wikipedia, login, and edit that African Grey page right now if I wanted to. I'd feel better if the information was from someone with certification in the avian field and knowledge on greys than Wikipedia. I'm not dissing Wikipedia because it has some great information that is free to the public, and I myself use it. I'm just saying that some things should be taken with a grain of salt because you can't be too sure who wrote the information you're reading...so it's best to do more research.

Eddie is very handsome and I love the pics! Thanks for sharing these with all of us.

Wow! What a great story and, yea, it's a good thing that it took a while to find that spade! Glad to hear that he is safe and warm.

Welcome back! I'm new here and my name is Kimberly. I'm from Michigan.

Here is what we did so that our bird wouldn't know when she was going back in the cage... Everytime we have her step-up, we reward her with food. We're not rewarding with huge fattening nut treats everytime, but fruits, veggies, a tiny piece of cheese, a tiny sliver of almond, etc. Most of the time she is playing throughout the day, but we still practice her step-up with her randomly throughout the day. She is so used to stepping up for something small, that she doesn't suspect anything when she steps-up for a reward and we place her in the cage. Ya see, 98% of the time she is stepping-up for a reward and placed back down or taken in another room to continue playing. She doesn't know when that 2% chance is that she'll get put in the cage when she steps-up for that juicy treat! We haven't had any problems with this method so far and it's definitely working. When we need to run to the store or something...it only takes less than 30 seconds to get her in the cage. I definitely would keep a watchful eye on your bird at all times. If you can't be in the same room then you need to take the bird with you or put it back in the cage. There are so many things that a bird can get into that aren't safe. You mentioned your bird chewing on furniture...was it wood? or a couch? The wood could have harmful lacquer on it and the couch could be stain treated. Your bird could stick its beak in an electrical outlet, chew on electrical cords, pull off paint or wall paper of the walls, etc. So it's very important to keep it out of harms way.<br><br>Post edited by: Goralka08, at: 2009/01/10 05:33

Nope, our grey doesn't do that. She is between 10-15 years old. If I pick up a feather, she wants me to rub her head with it lol.

LilosMom wrote: LOL there are "birdy parks" if you join a bird club! We have a bird rescue/club in our city that meets once a month and shares a bite to eat, etc. On average there are about 50 people there are 30+ birds of all different species. Everyone brings their little table top stands and has fun. It's cute.

I would NOT do the in home route. Seeing barely anyone for 10 days seems like a long time, especially if he's used to playing outside the cage all day. At least if he's at the sitter place, there will be other birds and employees/people to look at and watch! It will keep his mind active. I would think that the change in environment wouldn't be so bad. Maybe if he was at home, he'd be more stressed because he is in a familiar place where he is used to playing all day and will be wondering where you're at and why the hell he is in the cage lol. At least at a new place there is activity going on around him, which would be ideal. All I know is if that was my bird, I could never leave it in the cage at home for 10 days...even if someone came over twice a day to check on food and water. Does the parrot sitter place take the bird out of the cage at all?? Some do once a day.