GorgASS

not sure if this will help but when i first made my bird bread it ended up crumbling really bad when i cut it, so i tried baking it in mini muffin pans and that worked out really well. and they're the perfect size too!

that's what happened with my aunt. she was completely 'normal' (for lack of a better word), she babysat all of her neices and nephews (my cousins) while the parents worked, and we had 'kids night' every saturday night. her house was a mess but it was because of all of us kids running around being kids lol (there was close to 20 of us), and it was full of bins of toys and books and whatnot (just typing this is bring tears to my eyes from all the good and sad memories). then we all started getting older and not needing babysitting, but she wouldn't get rid of any of the toys because someday there might be more kids. then she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and fought with that (successfully), that's when things started to get worse. i think she replaced having the kids there with buying things from places like franklin mint, (keeping in mind she NEVER threw anything that any of us made her or bought her). then she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia (?) and it got really bad. she was in so much pain all the time even the simplest cleaning didn't get done, and she held on to things even more then. that's when i tryed to help. she refused to get rid of anything (even old bills from years ago that she had new ones of) so i just tried to keep the house clean. i couldn't do much about all the clutter except try to organize it in tubs, but i at least made sure the dishes were clean, the bathroom wasn't dirty, things like that. when she died in 2003 it was one of the hardest things for me. i had lived with her for a while because she wouldn't let them put me in a foster home. and if it wasn't for her hoarding i never would have gotten my mom's drivers liscense (she killed herself when i was a baby). she never gave a second thought if one of us kids needed help, even if it meant her brother or sister hated her after that, she was always there for us kids, and i miss her dearly. i never completely understood why she couldn't part with some things, but i know anything that reminded her of us kids meant so much to her after she got sick and we grew up and she didn't care if her house was a mess as long as she had that stuff.

i hadn't realized that was an old one, and i didn't see all of it (i was flipping back and forth to the football game). i just felt so bad...for the person as well as the birds! my aunt was a hoarder so i understand to an extent how it is for them (i was the one who tried to help her clean up before she lost her house insurance), and it didn't take long before it was right back the way it was.

i certainly wouldn't be very happy if willis started swearing! my boyfriend is insistant on trying to get him to say dumbass and f**k off, despite me explaining why i don't want him to learn such words. i admitt, it might be funny the first few times but it's not something i want blurted out at random. thank goodness willis hates my boyfriend and won't repeat a single thing he says or i'd be in trouble...or he would be rather!

not sure if this goes here lol. did anyone see the episode of hoarders that was on last night? one of the ladies on there had 57 birds!! i'm no bird expert but i saw a grey, an indian ringneck, a cockatoo of some sort (i think), a bunch of parakeets, and who knows what other ones she had. one of the bird cages was on top of a pile of crap in the shower, and a few you could barely even see behind the huge piles of junk! in the end she gave up 6 of her birds for adoption, but still! there was dust, poop, and cobwebs all over in and around the cages. i'm sure she loves/loved them but you would think she would realize she's not taking proper care of them and they deserve better!

how old is josey? willis was one year in jan. and he's been drooping his wings and making noise and does the same thing with my finger (grabbing it and pulling it close) could that be the same thing? i thought he's too young for that??

thank you both so much!

willis turned one in jan. and he's been molting for a while. he's pretty much done now except for the bigger feathers. right now, he's missing 4 wing feathers, 2 on each side, and another 1 or 2 are loose. 3 of the wing feathers that have molted out just came out no problem, but the other one ended up kind of sticking straight out from his body, then when he flew, it broke off. there was no blood ever, but a little bit of the shaft(?) is still on/in him. it doesn't seem to bother him at all, i'm just wondering if i should take him to the vet to get it pulled out, or if it will eventually fall out on it's own. i called his vet this am, and they said if it's not bothering him just to keep an eye on him and if it's still there in a week or so to bring him in, but is this normal? for feathers to kind of break off instead of coming all the way out? also, how fast do the wing feathers molt out? like i said, willis is missing 4 right now, with more on their way out, and he doesn't seem to want to fly lately. he IS able to fly, it's almost as if he's not too confident with his skills right now (which i think is understandable giving his missing feathers). i'm just wondering if this is what usually happens. it was my understanding that they molt one at a time, but i'm not sure where i heard that or if it's even right. this is his first molt, and he was just to the vet for a full work up maybe a month and a half ago (all tests were normal). thank you all in advance!

sorry it's taken so long to update you all on willis but i was having some problems getting onto this site.. willis is absolutely fine! all of his tests came back normal. i guess he just decided he didn't feel like eating his pellets. he's been eating some here and there, still not like normal, but it's better than nothing! and he's slowly gaining his weight back thanks for all the thoughts and prayers everyone!

does it smell bad? i know when i first got willis his poop smelled awful and he ended up having e. coli. hopefully it's nothing like that. willis is on zupreem fruity also, but i've never noticed his poop smelling lol

baxtersmom...that's exactly how willis has been! only he was like that for 3 days...i sure hope it's nothing. i had to go grocery shopping this morning, but when i got back he had his eyes open and was watching me put stuff away. when i had to leave again to go get my daughter, he started chirping and making noise! he's eating a piece of peanut butter sandwich right now i know that's probably not the healthiest thing for him but i don't care as long as he's eating SOMETHING on his own. i think he might be starting to feel better!! he's been awake and flying around for a few hours now. i hope he starts talking again soon, then i'll know he's doing better

willis said "hi" this morning when i gave him his medicine! it feels like i haven't heard him talk in forever. he also ate a tiny bit of his breakfast, and crunched a few pellets last night. i really hope he's feeling a little better...waiting for these tests to come back is horrible!

ok...we're back from the vet. i won't have any tests back until wednesday or so, but she put willis on an antibiotic and an anti-fungal (i think that's what it is) as well as an additive for his water, and formula. i have to go back to feeding him formula 3x a day. i just got done feeding him formula and he took it ok i guess. i don't think he was very happy about it but he did eat almost all of what he was supposed to. if he's not better by tomorrow he'll have to be hospitalized and tube fed so let's hope it doesn't come to that. he's eating part of his muffin right now so that's good! in response to luvparrots: i'm almost positive he hasn't gotten into anything he shouldn't of. the only thing that i can think of that's different is he ran out of pellets about a week ago, so i bought some more. (same kind) he's on zupreem fruitblend, and the last time i bought it i bought a big bag instead of the little pound bags. when i went to pour the new food into the container i use, i noticed it smelled (like it's supposed to, fruity like trix cereal lol) and that's when i realized the other pellets didn't have that odor so i'm not sure if they went stale and lost thier smell or what. i just had forgotten that they were supposed to smell like that until i got the new bag. so i'm not sure if maybe he doesn't like the smell of it now or what. or if maybe he thinks it's something besides his normal pellets. that's the only thing that's changed, and even that isn't really a change. i'm leaving the container open now to see if the smell will go away and he'll start eating them again. i just don't know what to do. there's nothing i can do really except wait for the test results and pray he's going to be ok and does better with the hand feeding. thank you all for your thoughts and support, and i'll keep you all updated on how he's doing.

willis isn't acting normal...all day saturday he was acting really tired, but i didn't think too much of it cuz friday he was out of his cage later than normal, then we were playing video games in the livingroom till 3 or 4 am, so i thought maybe he just didn't get enough sleep. but then all day today it's been the same thing...no talking except a small squeak whenever i leave the room and he can't see me, his eyes are closed almost constantly, and he doesn't seem to want to eat (and he's not pooping either like normal. i think it's only been like 4 or 5 times all day!) even peanut butter (his fav) i had a pb sandwich and almost had to force him to take it. i'm really worried. his last poop looked almost black which isn't good. i'm calling the vet first thing in the morning to see if i can get him in. he's not losing any weight yet so that's a good thing, but i'm scared. i'm almost crying just thinking about what could happen. please pray he's going to be ok...i'll let everyone know what the vet says.

i think i'm already a member of this club (it's been a very long time since i've been bitten) but i most certainly belong here now! the past week or so willis hasn't been very cooperative wehn it's time to go back to his cage at night...ONLY at night! i have 15 or so little bite marks on my hand/arms now after last night. i just don't understand what's going on. i can put him in his cage a million times a day without incident, but as soon as it's bedtime he attacks if you try to get him to step up last night i could tell he didn't WANT to bite me, he just wasn't ready to go to bed...any suggestions on what to do? we go to the vet tomorrow for his yearly, so i'm going to ask her, but my arm really hurts! and i'm getting sick of this-i don't want it to become habit!!

willis wanted me to thank you all for the hatchday wishes! all of my friends think i'm crazy for having a party for my bird, but he's part of the family too!

yup lol! i'm making him a cake and everything! (a bird cake of course) after the kids get home from school we're having a party for him. i'm so excited!

is willis' birthday today! how awesome is that!

i forgot to add that willis seems to always have pin feathers somewhere. right now they're aroung his neck, expecially under is beak, before he had them around his ears. don't know if that helps...

just had a question... when grey's molt, is it an age thing or more of a time of the year thing? willis will be a year old in jan. and i've been finding a few feathers here and there. when i cleaned his cage today i found 2 bigger grey feathers, but there's the white fluffies all over the place. and the wing feather on the edge (the one all the way on the outside) is really ratty looking. so i was just wondering if he's getting ready to molt or what's going on. thanks everybody!

willis just started saying hello a few days ago! he's 10 months old. for a long time (2 months or so) i could tell he was trying to say hello, but it took him forever to actually say it. and now that he has i hear hello about 1000 times an hour lol. and i think he's trying to say something else...he's making noise that sound like they should be words. i hope your little guy starts talking soon!

i wish willis was like this around MY kids! he was really good around them the first 3 days i had him home but after that he decided he decided he didn't like them anymore

lol i said fire alarm but i meant smoke!

i have a carbon monoxide detector...as well as a fire det. on each floor. there's another kind of detector upstairs but i can't for the life of me think what it is for...i'll have to ask my landlord lol. i live in an apartment and all of them were here when i got here and the maintaince man comes in once a month to check them and changes the battery's once a year...except i think one of them is hard wired and doesn't take battery's (obviously! lol) i think it's a great thing to have

oh that is horrible! and the idiots that said it was just a stupid bird?!?! pple...grr...