ZivaDiva

I'm glad the visit went so well and you got the leg band off. Poor birdie. I can't wait to hear if you've got a boy or girl. I'll be having Ziva sexed next month and I'm already concerned about the name change if she's a he! So, the microchip went well? That's great to hear. I'm going back and forth on it as I'm a coward about the pain and am not sure if the vet will knock her out for it. There's always a risk putting them under. I vote for female also since she's so sweet!

I just saw this thread. I read the book a couple of weeks ago and loved it. But, I have to say it made me feel guilty for leaving Ziva in a cage all day long. Dr. P states several times that they shouldn't be left caged all day long and I truly agree with her. I believe they should be flying free in Africa but that's not an option for Ziva. I loved the book but it made me sad. I think animals are smarter than we give them credit for and it makes me sad how animals are treated in the world today. I did read a follow up that Alex died from heart failure or a stroke and was not ill. It was "natural causes." Too bad he's not still with us. I think he could have showed us a lot more.

She doesn't have any cement perches in her cage and my lovebird and cockatiels each have one along with several wooden and cotton perches. They are free to choose where they want to perch in their cages and the cement perches are in the middle. Their cement perches are also not as rough as the one for the movable stand. I am going to see if there are any other options at the bird store tomorrow and then make a decision. I'm hoping the bird store will have some wooden stands that are small. Thanks for all the input.

Thanks for the responses. I have cement perches in the cages for my lovebird and cockatiels and they do perch on them. But, the one on the movable perch stand was super rough. I assume it's rougher because it's a larger size perch. I guess I can give it a go and if she hates it, she won't get on it. I just don't want to hurt my baby!

I want to buy one of those small movable perches to take Ziva with me into different rooms without having to roll her big cage or play gym around. I saw one at a pet store yesterday and the perch is made of cement and it was really, really rough. I wimped out and didn't buy it because I was afraid it might be too rough on her feet. It's the only one I've seen that is that small which I like. It's the one with the plastic sides and has a cup on the side. Any ideas or suggestions?

That's so sweet! It is a heart melter. Emma sounds adorable. Ziva was being loud this morning and I was trying to not act annoyed. She stopped and asked if I was all right. I said I was but she was being too loud. In a soft baby voice she said, "I'm sorry." She makes my heart melt daily. I almost wanted to tell her to go ahead and be noisy but I know better.

A split keel is what I'm worried about. She is kind of uncoordinated. In the beginning, she fell more like a bowling ball but now she's doing a smoother landing. The other thing that frightens me is she lands right by the corner of my bed and it's a nice sharp wood corner. I keep thinking I'm going to need to baby proof and pad all the sharp corners.

Thanks for the picture. I saw that toy at my local bird store yesterday. I didn't buy it as Ziva just doesn't play with toys. She only likes the plastic baby links and she rarely touches them. Now I'm thinking I should buy this toy and give it a try. I love all the different things you stuffed in there.

Old-ish thread but happy to see it being a newbie and all. There's a local bird store with a well respected owner AKA the bird lady. She has hand fed babies for sale. Ready? TAG's - $1,100 Congo's - $1,200 and, yes wait for it Camaroon's for $1,300! I'm tempted to stop by or call and ask what the differece is just for a laugh. (But, I am afraid I'll fall in love!)

Thanks for the reply. It makes me nervous as I've read so much about them falling to the floor and being injured. She has fallen inside her cage a few times and does say, "Did you fall? I'm sorry." Obviously she's fallen before. But this is actual jumping off on purpose. I have 2 house rabbits that roam at will and it freaks them out when she jumps. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about her flight feathers. She came clipped and I've known several people that lost their birds because someone opened a door and forgot the bird was out. I have a 15 year old (human) that's not the sharpest knife in the drawer. She's been known to come home and sit on the couch and leave the front door wide open.

Earlier this week, Ziva was sitting on top of her cage and put her wings out. I told her she was a big bird and then an eagle. She got very excited with the attention and then flapped a few times and jumped off the cage onto the floor. She's clipped and went out about 2-3 feet and hit the carpet. She was fine. She climbed on to my bed and then back on to her cage. I thought it was a one time deal and I was wrong. She loved it and is now doing it when I leave the room or sometimes just for the heck of it. She gets excited and holds out her wings and then goes for it. I am no longer calling her an eagle or commenting on the behavior. She pretty much hits the floor, makes a u-turn and goes back up on the cage. Her previous owner of 6 years only let her sit in the doorway of her cage while she petted her but she wasn't allowed out. When I'm home, she's out. I did buy a nice big play gym for her but haven't set it up. My plan was to have the gym in the living room which has hardwood floors. I can't have her jumping off of it on to the hardwood. I did go out and buy some thick rubber mats and a 6x9 carpet to put over the mats so she'll be cushioned in case she falls or jumps. Is there anyway to stop her from jumping? A serious talk on safety did not do the trick! :whistle:

Sallas, That is one scary link you provided. I find it sad they can continue to remain open if they are conducting their rescue in that way.

This is an old post but I'm bringing it back. I've been thinking about having Ziva microchipped and was surprised to see people have differing opinions on it. I'm in Los Angeles and the vets here check for chips for free. I've never heard of anyone charging to check. My wanting to have her chipped is in case she does get lost and then found, I can prove she's mine. I'm also checking in to having her DNA kept as proof. Yes, I'm sure I can teach her to say my phone number but I don't usually keep a number for more than a couple of years and I can't imagine keeping one for the next 50 years. And area codes are added here quite frequently. My other reason for chipping is in case she's stolen. I want to be able to prove she's mine. I figure if I have as much evidence as possible, I will get her back. Edited to add that it's not unusual for parrots to be found and turned over to the animal shelter. They will also now check for a chip. And by the way, I love hockey also. We couldn't stand Gretzky and called him "girlie man." I even tortured my brothers one year and put up Gretzky wallpaper in their bedroom. As soon as he came to LA, we loved him!<br><br>Post edited by: ZivaDiva, at: 2009/04/06 22:16

I've had her 2 weeks and she says new stuff (to me) daily and it's always a surprise. I told her Friday morning that I was going out Friday night and wouldn't be able to let her out until Sat. I came home from work Friday night to change and reminded her and she interrupted me and said, "I know." I was sick in bed on Sunday. Her cage is right next to my bed. She sat on the doorway of her cage and kept repeating, "Are you all right? What's your problem? What's the matter?" She seemed anxious that I was still in bed. Then she asked me, "Would you like a cup of coffee?" I told her I don't drink coffee and she said, "Would you like a cup of tea?" I was afraid to say yes. My lovebird started screaming and she told him, "You are so annoying." My mom came over to check on me and I said I wanted to order pizza. My mom knows I'm broke this week and I said I would need her card to order it. Ziva yelled out, "You can't afford it!" I don't know how she knew I couldn't afford to order it but she did. I did put it on my mom's card and we sat on my bed and ate it and Ziva joined us. She freaks me out sometimes as she says things that are quite appropriate to the conversation. I'm not sure how she knows, but she does.

I have Ziva the CAG, 2 cockatiels, a lovebird, a cat, a beta fish, a rat and 2 bunnies. All were rescues except the beta. Tammy - please, please, please think long and hard about adopting a monkey. I rescued a green monkey years ago and kept him until a place was built at a monkey rehab facility for him. Monkeys are just too intelligent to be in cages. They go crazy. If you're really set on one, maybe you can find a rescue that has them. Edited to add - I forgot about our 2 turtles. Yikes! (they were rescues also!)<br><br>Post edited by: ZivaDiva, at: 2009/04/06 22:26

Thanks for posting the picture. I am green with envy and can't wait to get mine next month. Shanti looks like he's enjoying himself. Ziva has a vet appt. next month, so she'll just have to have one! I can't wait to take her to the beach, etc.

Well, I will say it. They are idiots! You did the right thing. I'm glad you knew what to do for Ash as they certainly didn't. I haven't been involved with larger birds for years and didn't know they will put them under to perform these things and I think it's great. I worked at an avian vet office for a few years a long time ago. We would hold the bird in a towel and someone would hold the leg out and the vet would pray they didn't move while they were cutting off the band. It was always really scary when the birds were freaking out. We also didn't knock them out for labs. I am taking Ziva to the vet next month for a check up. She doesn't have a band but she will have labs and I am interested in having her chipped. My concern was the big needle. I guess I don't need to worry now. Let us know what the real vet says. Maybe you should let them know what happened as they might not have any idea what is going on with the other place and won't send people there anymore.

I am not a fan of grates but Ziva's cage has one in it and the bottom tray is several inches below the grate. If I take the grate out, she will be able to get out of the cage. I don't like grates because of the possiblity of foot or leg injuries. I also think she should be able to forage on the bottom of her cage for food and foot toys. I know she'd love to be able to pick up her birdie bread that she drops accidentally. I've had her 2 weeks today and have been changing things slowly as to not shock her too much. This week, I will be putting the papers on top of the grate and seeing how that goes. It's what I do with my cockatiels and it seems to work well. Ziva shreds paper but not that much and at least the bottom tray will be there to catch the mess. I clean her cage before going to bed. I cover her at night and don't want her to have to smell her cage while being enclosed in it with a blanket around it. I sometimes clean it out twice a day if she's really messy.

Ziva is 6 years old. I have had her almost 2 weeks. I am her second human. The first one is now 91 and can no longer take care of her. I'm not really sure why someone 85 years old would buy a baby grey but she did. I'm hoping Ziva lives long enough for me to pass down to my daughter. Hopefully in 40 years, my daughter who will be 55 then, will finally be responsible enough to care for Ziva! (because she sure isn't now!)

Thanks for the laugh! I spit my iced tea out on to my desk when I read the comment about people asking about your pigeon. That was funny. I am so jealous of you that can use a harness. I still can't touch Ziva except for stroking her beak and she isn't stick or hand trained yet. She jumps over the stick or hand and keeps on going.

Ziva is talking more and more each day. She has an amazing vocabulary. Her previous owner was an elderly woman that sat by the cage and talked to her all day long. Her house has a major cockroach infestation and Ziva's cage had roaches inside the metal frame and squished one's inside the cage. I was cleaning the tray the other night and Ziva came on down to check it out. She said, "Are you looking for cockroaches?" I said no and finished cleaning the tray. As I was putting the tray back in, she said, "Did you see any cockroaches?" I told her I hadn't as they are all gone. She said, "Whatever!" and then walked off. I then moved the cage back to where it usually sits. Her cage is on wheels but they seem to hit a groove in the carpeting and it hits the wall which she hates. I decided to kind of lift one end and scoot it over. I was telling her I was going to scoot her cage back by the wall and she said, "I can roll." I guess she likes when I wheel it instead of picking it up and scooting each end over. And finally (for now), she woke me up like she does every morning and I didn't put the blinds up. She likes to watch the wild birds and will say, "See the birdies outside?" If I don't come look, I'm in trouble. I went into the kitchen to make her breakfast and she yelled out "Peek-a-boo" at least 30 times. She never repeats words like that and I went to check on her and she was trying to get at the blinds. She looked at me and then towards the blinds while repeating it and I figured out I was in trouble for not opening them up. As soon as I did, she was quiet and looking out at her friends.

I'm the same with the stainless steel. I did take the bell off my lovebird's boing and have taken the one off of Ziva's. I have a link somewhere for safe bells and have been thinking about ordering some but am not sure I want to deal with the noise. I buy the heavy duty acrylic toys from the bunny shelter. The bunny toys make great bird toys. I hate that pet stores can sell things that aren't safe. I know what's not safe for rabbits and rodents but am still learning for birds. I had bought a chewable/eatable perch from a pet store and one of the ingredients was string. I took that back! I'd seen it in Bird Talk and thought it was kinda cool, then realized it wasn't so great. The pet stores sell all kinds of items that are toxic for rabbits and rodents so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that they sell dangerous toys foro birds. What does surprise me is how many bird stores sell things that aren't safe. Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to go home and stare at their cages again and see if I'm missing anything else. I don't want anything to happen to them and I really don't want anything to happen while I'm gone all day.

Rierie, First - Please tell your son - Thank you for his service. We really appreciate him. I don't have any real advice regarding boarding as I've had my bird for a week and haven't gone on vacation! It is something I'm trying to figure out. A friend comes in and takes care of my other birds but I think a CAG is a tad above what she can handle. I board my rabbits at a bunny rescue and it's like going to camp for them. They love it. I'm hoping to find something like it for Ziva. I like the idea of boarding at a vet so if she needs medical attention, she's right there but I also get nervous since sick birds are also at the vets. When I worked at an avian hospital eons ago, they weren't really kept away from the sick birds. They were boarded in cages a few feet away. I'm in Los Angeles and there are all kinds of doggie daycare and boarding facilities. I wish we had one for birds. Good luck! Let us know what you decide and how it goes and have fun visiting your son.

Yes, the ends are frayed on purpose and it's a HUGE toy so there are zillions of knots that are frayed. AND, I also bought her a boing. My lovebird, JP, has one and it's his favorite toy so I bought one for Ziva. I never even thought about the boing being made of rope. I'm guessing they aren't safe either? Insert cuss word here. I haven't put it in her cage yet as it's huge and I'm letting her get used to seeing it in the room first. I do watch out for welded links as I know they can get their talons stuck. What do people do regarding rope perches?

Congrats on how well that went! As soon I can get the $ saved up, I'm ordering one and off to the beach we go also.