Marauder

Congratulations... Be sure to post more pictures as her feathers start to grow in... ;-)

LindaMary wrote: My lesson would have been to get rid of the nose stud. :-p Schrodinger spens much of her time hanging out on my shoulder. Granted she likes to try and chew on my glasses (and my watch when she's lower down). But a firm "NO" usually gets her to stop (at least for a few minutes). )

HeatherStrella wrote: You're very welcome, let me know how it works. I'd be happy to offer any additional help and advice you might need.

Some pretty amusing stories. It would probably be easier to list the places and things they haven't relieved themselves on. um.... uh.... yea... I think that about sums it up. ) So, who wants to team up with me and buy out bounty/kleenex? ) (I am actually getting them better potty trained, but I still have to keep an eye on them to make sure I get them to an approved poop location before they decide they have to go.)<br><br>Post edited by: Marauder, at: 2009/05/12 00:53

clothes, watches, blinds, desks, chairs, computers, fingers, toes, books, cables of all sorts, CDs, checkbook, bills... If it's within beak's reach it's fair game.

HeatherStrella wrote: Thanks. I use a D70 and a D300 Actually the watermark is applied by the online gallery software I use (gallery2) which has a watermarking plugin. http://gallery.menalto.com/ http://codex.gallery2.org/Gallery2:Modules:watermark I create a transparent PNG, insert whatever you want to watermark your images with, and set the translucency. (You should be able to do that in PSP, PhotoShop, The GIMP, etc.) At which point, I upload the PNG set it as the watermark, and it overlays it on top of every image, thumbnail, etc., depending on how I configure it. I can change the watermark by uploading another one, have multiple watermarks for different galleries, etc., move it by adjusting the position in the web interface, remove it, etc. because it still retains the original unmarked image on my server. What I recommend you do, if you want to apply a watermark is basically do the same general thing with PSP. Create a second layer, insert whatever watermarking you wish, and then adjust the translucency to where you want. Then you can re-export it as JPEG/TIFF. Of course, Google is always our best friend... ;-) http://www.google.com/search?q=Paint+Shop+Pro+Watermark Edit: fixed typo in my Google link...<br><br>Post edited by: Marauder, at: 2009/05/10 14:34

As Dave said, it's not unusual. Alex had a single distinctive red feather on his neck as can be seen in this picture... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/11/science/11parrot.html

I have uploaded a pile of new pictures to my gallery, many show Schrödinger (my grey) and/or Mozart (my 'tiel) in flight. ) http://gallery.uid-0.org/v/Birds/ Feel free to take a look! )

rayyan wrote: I'm sure he will. It will probably take a while for him to get used to the new home, but it's likely that as he gets more comfortable he will get more vocal and will pick up new sounds and words (and as Murphy dictates it will likely be the sounds and words you DON'T want him to pick up (like alarms)) ) Before you can really teach him anything, you need to build a trusting relationship and bond. That said, Grey's are extremely intelligent. Get used to it! Be gentle, don't try to rush him, give him time, and allow him to bond to you. You WILL get bitten. The more time you spend and stronger the bond and trust, the less likely you are to get bitten. Keep in mind, parrots are prey animals and anything that makes them feel threatened, uncomfortable, scared, etc. can activate those prey instincts and cause them to bite. There are other threads that talk about biting as well. I've been bitten by birds both big and small, birds that are mine, and others' birds. Usually it hurts, sometimes it bleeds, but I consider it part of the price of having the privilege to live with these amazing creatures. Most of the time, in hindsight, I did something to provoke them.

Mozart, my 'tiel climbs in and out of the cage as she pleases. To her it's home and she'll spend plenty of time in there even with the door wide open! Schrodinger on the other hand, not so much so. She usually tries to stay outside of the cage (though will often perch on the top of the open door). When I need to put her in, I'll take her and then "nudge" her onto a perch. Often she'll quickly grab at the door opening so sometimes I'll have to be ready to get it closed before she is able to get back out. Recently, I've seen her briefly climb in from time to time so I think she's warming up to the idea of it as her "home". Mozart has lived in her cage for the past five years, ever since she was big enough to come home. Schrodinger (who is 6yrs old) has only been with me, and her new home and cage, for the past six months. So I'm not surprised it might take time. I used to have similar difficulty getting Mozart into, and to stay in, her cage.

chimaysmommy wrote: None taken. It's possible that I have been approaching it the wrong way. I've (gently) wrapped her head in a sheet which seems to have kept her much calmer when I've put it on, though she still complains after it's on and I take the sheet off. I'll then immediately take her outside in the hopes she will associate the harness with exploring outside. She seemed a lot calmer yesterday then the last time. I'll freely admit that I'm not an expert on these matters. I'm looking at some of these other good tips and am more then willing to try other methods to make it less stressful and more of a positive experience for Schrodinger. I can survive a few more few bloody fingers if it means that she's not as stressed out. )

I'm *trying* to get Schrodinger to accept a harness. She keeps fussing and I've had to towel her in order to get it on hoping that she'll see that it's not going eat or otherwise hurt her.

Brilliant! I love it. I tried to put Schrodinger in her feather tether and you would have thought I was trying to kill her, she screamed, I bled... I eventually was able to wrap her head in a sheet to subdue her and get her in the harness. We went for a walk and she calmed down be when she started asking to go back I headed back home. I'm hoping to be able to get her used to it so that we can go out more/for longer periods as it's getting warmer out.

Joolesgreyuk wrote: It really depends on the variety of tea. Some teas blends and varieties have little to no caffeine, others have higher caffeine levels, upwards of half a typical cup of coffee or more.

Joolesgreyuk wrote: Please avoid sharing tea or other caffeinated beverages with your birds. Caffeine can be very bad for them, and potentially fatal. http://www.multiscope.com/hotspot/caffeine.htm http://www.petco.com/caresheets/bird/Parrot_AfricanGrey.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congo_African_Grey_Parrot#Foods_Toxic_to_Parrots

Schrodinger says PLENTY, and has recently started amusing herself by tormenting the cockatiels by mimicking them and waiting for their response. ) The only way to be sure to have a talking grey is to get an older one with a vocabulary, however as has been said, most will eventually start to pick up words and use them. Then will come the point where you just can't get them to SHUT UP! ) It can be quite amusing at times though, especially when she goes into the telephone routine.

It's hard to tell who a Grey will like and dislike. I live by myself but have company over regularly. Of course she is an absolute doll with me (she was a re-home through Phoenix Landing as she wanted nothing to do with her caretaker and wanted to bond with the husband who wasn't really a bird person. We started bonding the first day). My brother and a buddy of mine, who are over every weekend, have become afraid of her as they have the bruises and bleeding fingers to show that she does not particularly like them. On the flip side, another good friend from out of town was visiting for a week and she pretty much took right to him. So, it's hard to say. They defiantly will choose favored and less favored/unfavored people, and there will be different levels. But to say that Greys are only good for single person homes is ridiculous. As had been said, you'd need to be careful with small children as both children and Greys can be unpredictable in those circumstances, but they are really great birds. Since your youngest is 14, I wouldn't worry at all. With smaller children, supervise, supervise, supervise.

Dave, I consider myself to be lucky to have met and chatted with her. She was really nice answering questions about Alex, about where she is going with her research now that Alex has passed away (It's hard to believe it's been a year and a half already), some of the progress Griffin has made, etc.

Congratulations on your newest family member. Greys really have a way of stealing your heart. We're happy to help with any sort of questions and issues you may face. As far as the dust goes, bathing is good of course. I also highly recommend getting a really good HEPA air filter, or several, for any rooms where the birds will spend time in. You may end up paying several hundreds of dollars in filters, but it will be worth it to help keep the air (and lungs breathing that air) clean.

Schrodinger is on schedule like that too... around 7 she'll start saying "good night"..... "good night".... "good night".... until I take her back to the cage. Sometimes she'll wait for 7:30 or 8 but she'll start to get cranky if I don't put her to bed.

"someone in an adjacent apartment is whistling to Ursula and teaching her the Mayberry theme!" Maybe it's Schrodinger, she seems to also like whistling the first little bits of that tune as well... )

Alex and me was an amazing book. I read it a few months ago after it was released. Dr. Pepperberg was in Northern VA a few weeks ago speaking to Phoenix Landing about Alex, her research, training methods, etc. I meant to bring my copy for her to sign and was upset to realize halfway down the road that I had left the book at home. I ended up grabbing the last copy of The Alex Studies which she gladly signed. It was a very interesting talk and I feel privileged to have met and spoken with her, as I am sure did the others who came to meet and listen to her talk. Dr. Pepperberg truly loved Alex and the other birds (such as Griffin) and as others here have stated, they are all extremely well taken care of. (I would say more so then many of our birds since many of us have to leave them for many hours during the day while we work whereas Alex WAS Dr. Pepperberg's work and they spent all day together, forming a great bond in the process.

Schrodinger isn't really a huge fan of Apples.

Schrodinger loves tearing apart (unsalted) peanuts in the shell (and I enjoy watching her). Previously, she would toss the peanuts aside, but I was eating some with her nearby and showing her that there are good bits inside, now she keeps asking for more! She also loves chicken nuggets (*REAL* chicken, not that over processed stuff McDonalds sells, lol).

Char wrote: Very true... fiber... :-)