chimaysmommy

I live in OH about 30 minutes away from Steve Hartman's aviary and we are just DYING to go and see it on one of their public Saturday visiting hours. My mom used to work at Petsmart and frequented his aviary and said it was BEAUTIFUL. At the time she worked there he had a gorgeous Hyacinth Macaw which I would love to see in person (if he's still there...fingers crossed!). We had gotten Chimay from a breeder in GA, not because we had reservations about Hartman but the impression I had gotten from their website is that they do not fully wean their babies before they're sent home with the new parronts. They encourage bonding through the process of handfeeding/weaning while they're very young. I don't at all discredit Steve Hartman for adopting this philosophy, but I felt that given my lack of experience in handfeeding it would have been safest for the bird to opt for fully weaned.

Oh my gosh I'm so sorry to hear about Phoebe's plucking... Poor thing. I really wish I could help you with some sound advice but I have no expertise in the treatment of plucking. Hopefully some others can chime in here with some good advice. Hang in there and please keep us posted!

Dave007 wrote: Their phone number is conveniently disconnected I've tried multiple times and so has my bank related to my complaint against them.

ZivaDiva wrote: Have you reported them to the BBB yet? I also had a terrible experience with them (see threads "Adventure Pack!!!" and "BEWARE if you've purchased from Flying South") and have made a complaint with the BBB over an unauthorized charge they put on my card well after my initial purchase of the Adventure Pack. This place either needs to get their act together or close up shop. Maybe if the BBB gets multiple complaints on the same company (which I'm hoping has already happened) they'll light a hotter fire under them to straighten up.<br><br>Post edited by: chimaysmommy, at: 2009/09/02 22:25

That sounds about right to me...Chimay is the same way close to bedtime. He gets so cuddly and doesn't want to be seperated from us during that time. Once it hits bedtime though he perks up and wants to step up and be taken to his night cage.

He is simply beautiful, and it is so great to hear how well he's doing under your care. You really are a wonderful paRRont Pat!

caitb2007 wrote: Chimay is right in line with Ecko....I think that if left to his own devices he would try and live off of pine nuts. Nutriberries are by far his favorite foraging treat...I have a little soft-plastic like ball that hangs from the top of his cage, I pack that with about 4 nutriberries in various flavors and the ball is ALWAYS empty when my boyfriend gets home from work.

What a gorgeous girl!!!! Captain America is just too cute as well... We have fed Chimay the Zupreem fruitblend, and that is what his breeder had weaned him onto. He absolutely loves it. I'd actually fat-fingered my keyboard while placing an order last month at www.birdsafestore.com for a new bag of pellets, and wound up with the tan colored ones which he poo-poo'd big time. What's funny about him and his fruitblend pellets, is he seems to have a "color of the day" each day. Some days he really goes for the orange ones, some days red, some days purple. Lol! I can always tell what "day" it is by the poopie stains on his newspaper. I spray Chimay at least 3 times per week with full potency Aloe Vera juice....I don't water it down b/c our apartment is all electric heat/cooling and I don't want his skin to get dried out as a result. Most days he REALLY just wants nothing to do with it, but on occasion (usually right after I replace water in his tree-stand bowl) he'll start playing in his water dish and I take the opportunity to start spraying. When I catch him in that kind of mood he LOVES it and gets a really good soaking. I also take him to the shower with me every day to let him stand on the shower door and soak up a bit of steam (I like really hot showers and he seems to like the steam quite a bit). Maybe you could try letting Stazel perch on the shower rod/door while you shower. I wouldn't put her in the path of the water, but maybe just being around it and watching you enjoy the water will alleviate some of the anxiety she feels when getting wet.<br><br>Post edited by: chimaysmommy, at: 2009/09/02 18:19

Just ordered two copies, one for me and one for my boyfriend. I think the author should give us all a group discount! Ha ha

OMG what cutie pies!!!! They look SOOOO happy with their messy messy faces... Such beautiful colors too!

Hmmm....I don't have much experience in the way of greys+children, just greys On one hand, I would think that allowing this behavior will both a) Get your grey familiar with the handling behaviors of kids, and b) Really familiarize your kids from a young age how to properly handle a bird, and prevent fear of them. On the other hand, I would of course be nervous about a bite. As much as one can be aware of how bad of an idea it is to jerk your hand away from a bird's beak, it's still an instinctual reaction I think. I mean, my boyfriend still involunarily does it from time to time. Hopefully there will be more responses from those with kids and more experience in this area, but that's my two cents!

Ooooooo Ecko look at the big scary vampire!!! Isn't it funny what they are afraid of sometimes? GreYt picture Caitlin! Ecko is such a cutie pie....albeit a scardy cat

Makes me worry about what he would/did do if a child was annoying him during some precious Nascar race... If that'd happened to me and someone shot our Chimay with a BB gun, they'd probably have to haul me off to jail in the same car as that idiot b/c I'd for sure get charged with assault. :angry: Aside from the speed of the cars themselves, the events of a Nascar race are rather slow paced. Did he REALLY have to pay that much attention to the television?

I recently posted a recipie in the Bird Food room for a quick, freezable mix I made for Chimay by roasting frozen edamame and corn. Not how similar lima beans and edamame are when cooking but give it a look-see!! Chimay absolutely adores it...It's super easy. It's modified from a people-recipie I'd found on the food network's website, just eliminated the garlic/salt/tomato and altered the oil used (changed from olive oil to RPO)<br><br>Post edited by: chimaysmommy, at: 2009/08/31 18:53

I'd only be cautious if it was cooked with a lot of salt or garlic... I do feed asparagus to Chimay sometimes, raw or lightly steamed. He really seems to like it, particularly the tops

No offense intended to those of you who have either had your pets stuffed, or plan to.... My PERSONAL opinion is that it's a bit creepy...my grandfather had a deer buck head in his house (still there to this day) which I hated as a kid, and stuffing a pet is just a little too closely related to that. I could never treat the memory of my pet in the same manner as one would a hunting trophy. Whenever that dreaded day comes I do plan to have my pet cremated/buried as I would for any cherished family member. When my childhood cat passed away, we had her cremated and the veterinarian's office put together a very nice box for her, with a card containing her pawprint and a small swatch of her fur tied together with a little pink ribbon at no charge. It was a very nice gesture and meant a lot to us.

How long do you leave the fruits and veggies out in the bowl? It should be removed within 2 or 3 hours maximum to prevent your birdie from eating spoiled produce. I've had a lot of success in introducing Chimay to new veggies or fruit by putting it on a kabob/skewer. It tricks him into thinking it is a toy I do agree that weaning your TAG onto a pellet/fruit/veggie diet would be a greYt idea, and there is a lot of really good advice and recepies on the Bird Food room. When you tried out the pellets did you completely remove all seed and only provide pellets? If so it's not too surprising that your birdie didn't want anything to do with it. Too drastic. Mix the two together, at first providing a mixture of more seed than pellets, then over time reduce the number of seed and increase the number of pellets. Post edited by: chimaysmommy, at: 2009/08/30 16:01

I would say no...mainly due to the adhesive that keeps the tube together. I have read that toilet paper/paper towel rolls are glued together with an adhesive that contains zinc which is toxic. Stick with birdie bagels or chew toys made from paper/cardboard just for parrots.

I wouldn't worry about it either. Chimay plays pretty rough and for a while there he only had full length tail feathers on the left half of his tail...the others had lost their battle with his playful nature. Lol. Just a week or so ago a new tail feather opened up on the right side filling in a bit of the vacant space. When he breaks or damages them badly, he just simply preens them off, plays with the damaged feather a bit then drops it to the floor. I do agree with Dan, if there's no blood then I wouldn't worry. Ours is just 8 months old so pretty close in age to yours! <br><br>Post edited by: chimaysmommy, at: 2009/08/28 20:52

Happy Hatch Day Lyric!!!!!! Hope it is a greYt one!

I am personally a big advocate of the microchip...I've heard too many horror stories of birds getting injured due to the leg band. And if he's spent 22 years of his life with nothing on his leg he may fuss with it a lot if he gets one. Not heard of the tattoo though. Have you spoken with a veterinarian about the pros/cons of each? Personally, at my next vet visit for our Chimay I plan to ask about and likely have the microchip done.

Maybe we should all compile any footage we have of our greys and make a documentary "A Day in the Life...the Domestic African Grey." Lol! I've wondered the same thing myself, about documentaries or specials on parrots. Ideally I'd LOVE to see a series on wild greys, but on the other hand maybe not. I'd hate to see a documentary on them cause an increase in the illegal pet trade because of higher demand for them as pets.

I also agree that it is just in their nature...Chimay drops what he doesn't want, and sometimes he just likes to throw his food because it's fun. Lol! I mean who doesn't like a good food fight? J/k...My boyfriend definitely isn't a fan of food going to waste. Neither am I but so long as he eats what he needs to and stays healthy, I'm perfectly fine with it.

As expected, no response from Flying South yet...but I did request in my complaint to the BBB under "desired resolution" that I want my credit card and billing information in their system destroyed with written confirmation, the money back as well as a written explanation for the whole thing. I can't believe this place is still in business

This is sort-of a continuance of my "Adventure Pack!!!" thread...for any of you who've placed a recent order with Flying South for an Adventure Pack PLEASE take a close look at your bank statements. I just discovered an UNAUTHORIZED charge of $54.95, and now I've got some mystery package that Fed Ex has been trying to deliver to me. I've called Fed Ex and told them I'm refusing the delivery (it's coming from the same Kinkos location as the original Adventure Pack delivery). I am absolutely FURIOUS right now! I've been on the phone with my bank who are going to dispute the charge, and filed a complaint with the BBB. What is up with this company??? Sheesh!!!