ZivaDiva

Ziva had her first vet visit on Saturday. We were in the waiting room waiting to be called. She was in her Adventure Pack and not sure what to think. People were asking about her and trying to get her to talk. She wasn't doing anything but saying, "WOOOO." As soon as she was being ignored, she decided it was time to talk. What did she say, you ask? "Do you see any cockroaches?" I wanted to die! I later explained to the vet how her former home was loaded with cockroaches and she likes to talk about them. He was concerned about her health. I was just embarrassed. :blush:

I made the mistake of stopping in at the bird store first and bringing her in. She had stayed there before when her former human couldn't care for her and the staff there are the people that would go to her home and groom her. They love her but she's not fond of them. She was so scared being there that we didn't stay long. I drove her from there to the vet office. I'm thinking she doesn't like her Adventure Pack at this point!<br><br>Post edited by: ZivaDiva, at: 2009/06/02 00:59

I took her/him to the vet on Saturday and it was quite interesting. He said he's 99% sure that Ziva is male by looking at her. (We're gonna say 'her' until we know. Too confusing!) He said the feathers around her vent do not have any red to them and that usually indicates a female. Her behavior that I described is also male. I've never heard of sexing a CAG that way but he's Mr. Bird Vet in LA. Very smart and a heck of a nice guy. He did bloodwork and gave me a vial to send to Zoogen for sexing because the lab he uses costs $60 and Zoogen is cheaper. I only wanted Zoogen because I'm tempted to have the Life Jewelry done at some point. So, I'm sitting here with a vial of blood and have not sent it off because they want a name to put on the certificate with the sexing results. I'm not sure if I'll keep the name Ziva is she's a he. I'm so confused. I'm not sure if I should change her name if she's male and I have no idea what I'd change it to. She's been Diva for 6 years and now we're calling her Ziva. That might be enough change. Not sure. I do know that I don't want a male bird named Diva! He said her liver shows something is going on. It is probably just her seed diet as everything else looks really good. I am to convert her off of seeds completely over the next 6 weeks and he will recheck bloodwork in 4 weeks to make sure the labs are not worse. She is not thrilled with the new diet tapering I'm doing and I feel like hell. He got to see how she is not stick or hand trained and he said it was really sad. He said it will take awhile to get her trained since she's 6 and not trained. She also freaks out and bolts when attempting to train her, which is not making it any easier. So, that's where we are at the moment. She hated being toweled and put in her Adventure Backpack. She kept repeating, "OOOOOOOh, Sh!t." It was kind of funny.

Luvparrots - CONGRATS! That's really exciting. More Ziva Ziva - Are you happy? Me - Yes, I'm happy. Are you happy? Ziva - ........... kind of.

To those who have AG's that aren't talking yet, I get the being impatient. I have 2 cockatiels and nothing and it's been 7 years. I know they aren't the best talkers but I thought they would be something besides screaming. Then Ziva came along with a built in vocabulary and it's so different to have a bird that speaks English all day long. Your time will come when you will be able to post conversations. It's in their head, they just need to get it out. rbpittman - that is a very cute story! I love when I'm doing something and hear, "What 'cha doing?" You can tell they are actually interested. Quick Ziva story that broke my heart on Wed. night. I was out and came home late and didn't have time to let her out. Me - Hi Ziva Z - I getta come out? M - No. It's late and time for beddie bye? Z - I wanna come out. M - I know but it's late. You can come out tomorrow for a long time. Z - Do you love me? M - Yes, I love you. (ripped my heart out) Z - I getta come out? M - OK, for just a few minutes. She was out fast and knows how to work me.

Congrats and thanks for sharing the pictures. They are gorgeous. I'm so happy and excited for you.

Tha's hysterical. They really do know what they are saying and have no problem letting you know.

Partner is adorable! I want to birdnap him. I'd look for a vet you like a tad better. If there's one out there that doesn't treat you like an idiot, I'd go for it. Sometimes those with lousy perchside manner might be the best around as far as knowledge and you have to deal but if you don't, don't.

lovethatgrey - thanks for posting this. How awful that must have been for those people. One thing I have learned from these types of posts is that if one of my birds falls off the perch in distress, I will move everyone outside STAT. It so often seems to be something from inside the house and maybe getting them out ASAP will save some until the house airs out.

Yikes. I have no idea but wanted to say I hope everything turns out ok. I've heard of birds passing all kinds of things and being ok but also heard of awful stories when they didn't. Can you call your vet and ask?? A button sounds like it might get stuck and/or cause some pain moving thru. Good luck and let us know what happens.

Jane - that is so cute! Just wait, it will only get better. caitb2007 - I have some on my iphone - audio - but don't have a video camera. I do plan on borrowing one but then I don't even know how to transfer on to youtube, etc. I'm behind the times. People love to come over and listen to her and have conversations. They are always amazed at what she says. Azzie - she does seem to understand now and later. If I say 'later', she'll wait and then try again or do whatever later. And sometimes, being told later really pisses her off. If I say she can do something now, she'll do it. My daughter was afraid people would find out about her and come take her and keep in her a lab to study her. I had to calm her down and convince her that's not how it happens and that there are a lot of other CAG's doing the same thing. We had another earthquake last night. I rushed home from work and as soon as she heard me coming up the stairs, she said the same thing as the time before. Weeeee. Are you scared? Are you all right? Weeeeeee! I'm glad she doesn't seem to freak out. Her previous human had cockroaches all over the place, including in Ziva's cage. They came along with Ziva when I brought her and the cage home. I didn't know about it until they crawled out of the cage and Ziva told me they were there. They are now gone but last night Ziva said, "Is that a cockroach?" I looked and it was a moth crawling on a bar of her cage.

They sure can make you feel guilty, can't they? I've changed plans and stayed home because she was begging to come out. She's out a lot but not as much as with her previous human. She was out from 2pm - 2am before and she's out 5 or 6 hours a day with me and more on weekends. I do tell her I have to go to work so I can buy more bird seed. She has yelled out, "bird seed!" when I'm leaving for work. If only she could earn her own money for supplies!

So, it's not a grocery store item? I've not seen it in the bird store I go to. I'll check online and see what I can find. Thanks.

I was getting ready for work on Friday morning and Ziva was screaming and I was ignoring her. Ziva - Wanna come out. Me - You can't. I'm leaving for work in a few minutes. Z - Be right back? M - Not right back. I'll be gone until tonight. Z- Screams and screams. M - (breaking protocal) Ziiiivvvvaaaa! Z - Being too loud? M - Yes, you're being too loud. Z- Talk pretty? M - Yes, please. Z - See the birdies outside? Tweet, tweet, tweet. Caw, caw. That's a crow. I have to go pottie. M - Then go pottie Z then goes pottie. M - Good pottie. Z - Wanna come out. M - Can't. I'm leaving. Z - Get to come out? M - When I get home. Z - starts screaming and then YELLS - BEING TOO LOUD! ANNOYING! BEING TOO LOUD. TOO LOUD. TOO LOUD. She was taunting me and knew it. I said goodbye and left. It was funny but I wouldn't laugh in front of her. As I'm walking out the door - Z - Be right back. TOO LOUD!!

Thanks. She really, really is and I had nothing to do with it. It shows what happens when someone spends a lot of time with their bird. Her former human was with her for at least 12 hours a day and just sat and talked with her. Her vocab is amazing and she really uses things in context to communicate. I have to admit that sometimes it really does freak me out. Oh, I knew there was another conversation that was cool. I'd written it down and just found it. It's coming up.

We had an earthquake the other night and I wasn't home when it happened. I called a neighbor to see if our area really shook and she said it had. I went home to check on the birds and went to my bedroom where Ziva was and said - Me - Ziiiiiivvvvvvaaaaa???? Ziva - WHEEEEEEEEEEEE! Are you scared? Me - I'm not scared. Ziva - Are you all right? Me - I'm all right. Are you all right? Ziva - WHEEEEEEEEEEEE! She seemed to have enjoyed it. Last night I was tired from the stress of the quake the night before. I got home, let her out and crashed on my bed next to her. I was out for about 3 hours and woke up because she was saying - Ziva - Did you go beddie bye? Are you beddie bye? Yoo hoo. Are you beddie bye? Helloooooo. Me - Sorry. I was beddie bye but I'm not now. Ziva - I gotta go back. I gotta go beddie bye. Sleepy. I opened her cage door and she climbed in and went to sleep.

Where do you buy it? I've read about it but never seen it.

I love this thread. It's so much fun to read! I finally found a toy Ziva likes. She was playing with it and beating the you-know-what out of it and said, "I like it!" When I open her cage, I say, "Wanna come out?" and when it's time to go back, I say, "Time to go back." I was going out Saturday night and told her I was almost ready to leave. She asked, "I gotta go back?" I told her yes and she said, "Oh." Then she climbed back into her cage. I got home late and crashed on my bed for a second before doing my nighttime chores. Ziva - What 'cha doing? Me - Resting for a second. Z - Are you all right? Me - Yes, I'm just really tired. Z - Are you gonna go beddie bye? Me - In a few minutes. Z in her cranky voice - You need to go sleepy bye! Last night I hadn't put her to bed yet and I was really tired and yawning. Z - Are you gonna go beddie bye? Me - Yes, in a few minutes. Z in her cranky voice - WE need to go beddie bye! And so we did.

I use diatomaceous earth. It's safe around the animals and in fact, I use it on my cat and rabbits for fleas. It dries up the little critters. It works on ants, fleas, mites, roaches, spiders, etc. It's kind of like baby powder and I spread it around and the problem is gone. You can read about it on wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com It's also used for internal parasites in human and animals. I always try things that repel critters but if that doesn't work, then I don't want to use poison around my animals. It's just too scary. I had ants come in one time and kill baby hamsters I had rescued from the shelter. The poor mom was going crazy and I was able to save a few of the babies. They also went after my hermit crags. No more!

Heck, Ziva talks so much and we have conversations daily. Some are cuter than others. I posted this one already in the thread where she's making me nuts but it was so cute. She woke up an hour early and kept repeating, "Heeellllllooooo. Good morning. What 'cha doing? Yoooo hoooo. Are you sleeping? Are you beddie bye?" When I didn't reply, she went into her evil pissed off voice and repeated, "YOU SON OF A B!ITCH!" over and over again. Last night I was talking to her about how damn hot it was and she said, "I feel like I'm gonna choke." She's never said that with me before. I did turn up the a/c.

Nope. Her name was Diva and I can't stand that name so we went for what was close. I have a dog named Shiva and we call her Shiva Diva when she's being, well, a diva. So, now we have Shiva Diva and Ziva Diva.

I was thinking about him today and was going to post and ask how he was doing and someone beat me to it. I'm glad he's hanging in there. I have no advice on the eating thing as Ziva is a picking eater. I did find out recently that she likes cooked pineapple as she takes it off my pizza. Good luck and please keep us up to date on his progress.

I couldn't find any that had it in stock but went back to the original page and it looked a tad different and took my order. The order page has an awful set up. When I finished placing my order, it said, "Dear (customer name)". I hope I get the cage!

I'm trying to order it from the website and it keeps putting me back to the order page. It doesn't care if I enter my card info or try to pay with PayPal. I have emailed the company and will see what happens. Did any of you order it from someplace else? I need it for a vet appt. in 2 weeks and want to get it ASAP. Thanks, Joann

Ziva update - She's still in my bedroom, which is where I spend most of my time. I was planning on moving her this weekend but it's hot and I have a/c in the bedroom. I want to make the dining room the bird room and then move them into the bedroom when they need a/c but since she's not stick trained yet, it makes things difficult. She has quieted down considerably and I don't know why. One thing I have done is to keep the blinds closed. I feel kind of mean as she loves looking outside and yelling at everyone and everything out there. I open them when I am home and she looks out then but is also happy to just hang out with me. She is still noisier than she was originally but not has bad as earlier this week. I'm still ignoring the bad and praising the good. I wish she had a special treat she liked so I could distract her with that, but she just doesn't. Her new fav thing is to hang upside down like a bat from the top of her cage because it makes me laugh. She looks like she's standing upside down. Then she lifts herself through her legs as if she's doing a somersault. So, we are playing and having a good time. She's screaming more at sunset than before but only for a few minutes and that's natural and fine with me. It's the screaming for hours on end that makes me nuts. She seems to have calmed down and now my lovebird has taken over in the screaming dept. but he's not as loud. Please keep your fingers crossed.