MrCongo

I agree, that 2nd picture sure is cute! btw- I'm thinking about getting a buddy for him since I'm gone so much during the week. (If the bird costs more than a cockatiel, it will be like like a year or more....) I am wondering what kind of bird would he get along with? The store said to get other S. Amer birds and same size or bigger... When I took him to get groomed I took him around to the diff birds and every single one was either scared or attempted to bite(even all 3 macaws) except the hawkhead which could care less but Petrie wanted to bite him! So I am not sure if he could even handle a friend... I want like a cockatiel or something b/c it's cheap but I was told Petrie would have him for dinner... lol

she or he, I don't know,but I think Petrie must be a he since he seems to not like his reflection much... I figure it's territorial like some of the wild birds do on mirrors. I am giving him scratches and birdy massages all the time, I can touch him anywhere! I love it! My mom's amazon Bing gets feisty if your hand comes anywhere near her! lol.. I'm scared of losing a few fingers everytime I visit lol.

pics

Update on da cutie Petrie He is still very needy but so awesome! He only says "what??!!" still but is experimenting on some noises. I have been whistling constantly to work on my skills and he did pick up on some already! I am gone all day 4 days a week and leave the radio on for him. He always makes an excited whistling noise or "What!" when I open the door. :silly: We have been extremely close these days. When I took him to get groomed, they brought out a towel and of course he freaked and flew to me and ran down my back to hide! He knows for sure I'm his protector. I have been working on his fear of towels/blankets and got him to at least chew on the label and the corner a bit. He also is eating pellets! but we are far from done yet... When I leave for work I need to give him a treat so he doesn't get upset (he wouldn't let me leave a few times)so I leave a small handful of seeds. I have a couple times not given him seeds but he will beg to no end! It doesn't help I am running out of pellets and can't get anymore for a bit (no one sells them in Yuma). No one except bird stores(none here..) sells raw nuts either. I want to get a dehydrator so I can make more foods for him like banana chips. oh! and we moved to a newer quieter place and he gets his own room!!!!!B)

http://www.birdchannel.com/bird-news/2009/04/23/hr669-after-the-hearing.aspx yeah! I was one of those 50,000 letters! It looks like this bill is gonna die! I hope!

If I had TV I would lol... my TV didn't have an antennae and I don't have cable I do turn on the radio for him, not sure if this is working for him yet. I am getting my old ipod set up for him with some good songs and stuff. I'm thinkin about also those rain forest CDs and putting those on the ipod too in the mix.:silly:

right now we are sitting outside the coffee shop in the sun and he is enjoying himself and getting some attention! he is being a very good birdie right now

Thanks for the advice! He eats the pellets sometimes since they did put a few in the seed mix at the store, but now he actually begs for nuts and seed!!! His feathers all puff up and he starts bobbing his head and makes a little squawk lol... it's adorable! I try distracting him with something else but he knows what he wants! He does love to eat or at least try everything i eat but sometimes he wants stuff he can't have and he'll start begging for that! lol! and everything i do he has to be with me which gets really really annoying. If I don't have him on my arm he is up against the cage watching me and whining and after a few minutes he'll squawk the loudest Macaw squawk ever! This is tough because when I leave him alone he doesn't really play or eat much and I'm gone for about 11 hours M-TH! He has been plucking too. He started that habit in the store and me being gone all day does not help. I've given him a ton of cool toys and stuff so we'll see. It's only the first week. For now I don't mind not covering him because there is no draft or anything nearby but eventually when i get out of this apt i will. He hasn't freaked out as much when i turn off the lights at night since i have 2 night lights right next to his cage. He also hasn't fallen since his 2nd night!

I don't mind the mess, it was worth it! I felt bad leaving him home alone all day to go to work so we needed some mommy/birdie time together. This morning he ate blueberries with me :cheer: The only thing that worries me is he only likes to eat peanuts and pumpikin seeds from his bowl. He doesn't really go for the pellets. I hope I can get him off the seeds eventually. I got a ton from the store (he came with it) so I will use that up first and put more pellets in as the days go on. He does love raw spinach tho, which is great! tons of nutrition in that!

I think I figured out the red face. The first night was definetly due to stress. but now I am positive he is excited when he does that. I searched on the web only found like 2 vague entries about face turning red when excited. He is sooooooooo cute and has been getting calmer as the days progress. last night I popped some popcorn (just kernals, no salt/oil/butter/teflon) and we were eating it together! every time I stuck my hand in the bowl he'd make a noise and eat faster then stick his head in the bowl for more! he even grabbed the popcorn while I was trying to eat it! haha! adorable! do you guys know if the unpopped kernals are good for him or not? I know we can't eat them but he snapped those in half pretty good and there was like a little seed in the middle. I took it away since I didn't know.<br><br>Post edited by: MrCongo, at: 2009/03/10 16:21

So my Severe Macaw Petrie came home on sunday and went through quite a bit of stress and his schedule is changing drmatically so I'm not sure if he is really scared of the dark or not. When I turn off the lights he paces the perch and leans forward making a frustrated whining/hissing noise with his feathers all raised. The first night I put a blanket on the cage and he freaked out, but I think he is just scared of it from the vet experience (they threw the towel on him ). I turned off all the lights and about once an hour I would hear him moving on the cage bars and he fell once. Last night he hissed at the blanket so I left it off and the frustrating noise was worse when I even made it just less light in there. I ended up putting a blanket over the lamp so I could sleep and he did a lot better but fell again at 3:30am lol. He is still a baby (8mo) so his balancing skills are sub-par haha Also. His face has turned red twice now and he got super hot feeling. The first night it was mostly due to the super late night and stress from earlier but yesterday there was no reason that I could guess except still stressed from it. anybody got any experience with that?

Here is my cage! <br><br>Post edited by: MrCongo, at: 2009/03/06 19:40

glad I could provide some entertainment hahaha :silly:

I did it! Just as luvparrots described! I can't see those pictures at work, they are blocked. But thank you SO much for all your help!!!! As soon as I got home and looked at the pieces I hit my forehead with my hand lol.. it was so simple!B) My mom's amazon cage has the ones the clip together. When I see her tomorrow I will try to put that one together as well.

hmm.. so when/if I finally get it... where exactly on the cage will it sit? above the pull out tray just below the bars of the cage? the exploded view is not very good at showing where lol the cages on the internet are slightly different than mine but I think i get it.. maybe lol also, the long side of the catchers have a small ridge on one side. Does this stick out toward the cage or away? on on the top or bottom? the directions show it on the top back side but that way doesn't seem right to me. (I could be wrong:whistle: ) it's all cornfuzzling but at least i got a little better understanding of it, and I know now that it can be done. If anyone one else wants to jump in with their own explination, please do. It's better sometimes to get a different view on the same thing, esp something like this lol... oh and I will try again tonight and update you guys on it in the morning with my results (or lack of haha)<br><br>Post edited by: MrCongo, at: 2009/03/04 23:53

they make it look so easy in the pics... sigh. I already had to scrape the inside of the top lock to get it to lock because of the buildup of the powdercoat. I would like the seed catch because my apt is all carpet lol

I'm not sure what you mean by pushing them out till it makes a square... the metal won't bend like that and the edges of the seed catchers won't budge when together since it hits the other piece (if you know what I mean) sorry to make it complicated sounding but without any instructions this is not easy

mine is similar to this. http://www.americas-pet-store.com/details/prodid/665.html<br><br>Post edited by: MrCongo, at: 2009/03/04 20:49

How do I install the seed catchers that the cage came with? It doesn't make any sense. There were no clear instructions, just an "exploded view" of the cage without even the name of the company! There are 2 holes on each end and a bunch of small nuts and screws that I guess go there since there isn't anything left on the cage to put on. BUT.... when I screw in the holes similar to the picture, I can only get 3 and it makes a triangle NOT a square. I don't get it. maybe I am doing it wrong? Can someone help me? pictures would help. I want to get this installed before I bring home Petrie, my Severe Macaw, so that he is not scared by it.

I have a question and not sure where to post it.... How do I install the seed catchers that the cage came with? It doesn't make any sense. There were no clear instructions, just a poor "exploded view" of the cage without even the name of the company! There are 2 holes on each end and a bunch of small nuts and screws that I guess go there since there isn't anything left on the cage to put on. BUT.... when I screw in the holes similar to the picture, I can only get 3 and it makes a triangle NOT a square. I don't get it. maybe I am doing it wrong? Can someone help me? pictures would help. I wanna get it done before I take Petrie home if possible. I don't want to scare him putting it on.<br><br>Post edited by: MrCongo, at: 2009/03/04 20:03

thanks guys! B) I take him home on saturday and by next week I'm sure I will have more pictures and stories and maybe questions too. This is a great site! thanks for all your help! I'll be back! Jacqueline :silly:

yup, I will come here often since most tips on greys apply to other parrots as well and I will get a grey eventually since they are incredible. I will post more in that section when I start getting more pictures and fun stories!:silly:

.

pics... <br><br>Post edited by: MrCongo, at: 2009/03/03 22:23