ZivaDiva

Thanks for the welcome. Deby - I'm in West LA over by Cedar Sinai Hospital. I'm going to be heading out your way soon to check out the bird store Bird Bungalow. Have you been there before? I'd love to know if you think it's worth my time. Your bird is adorable! Joann

I don't know what happened at her previous home. I doubt she was covered because the woman is 91 and wheelchair bound and probably wouldn't have been able to cover it. She doesn't seem freaked out by it. I was up late and hadn't coverd the cage and Ziva got down on the bottom of the cage herself. It looked like she was putting herself to bed so she may have slept there anyway. I cover it because her cage is partly by a window and I'm afraid it might get chilly. I also cover it because she's right next to my bed and will start talking as soon as there's any hint of sun. The blanket keeps some of it out and she seems to stay quieter longer, which I'm sure my neighbors below appreciate.

Thanks. I was afraid that was what you were going to say! I wish they wouldn't sell toys that are dangerous. I won't use bells because of birds getting caught in the clapper part. There are a lot of other toys that make me nervous and I just didn't think about it when I saw the rope toys. She came with several but they were dirty so I threw them out and bought some more. I'll save them for the playpen. Or maybe I just won't use them at all. I wish I'd kept the receipts.

Thanks for the replies. I have no idea what she did with the previous owner. I thought this was more of a younger bird behavior and she's 6 years old but if she wants to sleep there, it's fine with me as long as it's safe for her. I clean her cage nightly before bed so she isn't sleeping in a mess or smelling sour food.

I recently purchased several toys for Ziva that are made out of rope and the ends are knotted and frayed and bushy. I was reading somewhere that toys that have any kind of strings should be removed. The picture showed the kinds of toys I purchased for Ziva. Are they not safe?

Is it possible to use some sandpaper and roughen up the wood so it won't be so slippery? Have you contacted the company and asked for some suggestions? Good luck and let us know what happens.<br><br>Post edited by: ZivaDiva, at: 2009/04/01 21:04

I cover Ziva at night and the blanket isn't big enough to cover the entire cage. I haven't added another blanket as it's not that cold and she seems more comfortable having a place to see from. As soon as I put the blanket on the cage, she climbs down to the bottom of the cage and sleeps there. I'm not sure if she's afraid because the blanket is on the cage or she just likes to look out of the space at the bottom of the cage. There is a space at the bottom of the cage for her to see out of and the blanket only covers about halfway down on each side. The back of her cage is completely covered and that is up against a window. I did try covering the entire cage and she still slept on the bottom. She seems fine with it but I worry about her sleeping on the bottom. As far as I know, she doesn't go back up for food and water. Is it ok on her little feet to be on the grate all night long? As soon as the sun comes up, she starts in with, "Yoo whoooo. Good morning. Hello. Yoo whoooo." She's right next to my bed and I no longer require an alarm.

I'm attempting to stick train Ziva and failing at it miserably. Most of the time, she hops right over it and takes off when I get close with the stick. She has accidentally stepped on the end of it and the stick drops down a little and she freaks. Where do I begin? I have been doing it when she's on top of her cage and I guess I should towel her and take her into the bathroom. I've not done that yet as I've only had her a week and she hates being toweled. I do put the cage in a corner and kind of back her into the corner and then get up above the cage with the stick. She waits for me to get close with the stick, hops over it and takes off. I'm also not sure how to not let the stick lower when she steps on it. I'm used to cockatiels and they don't weigh quite as much! She is very verbal and while attempting to get her on the stick she said, "Oh, G*d. What the h*ll?" And, "What are you doing, a$$h*le?" She seems to have learned a lot from the woman I adopted her from.

Thanks. It does seem to be mating behavior but I wasn't sure. I'm not touching her at all as all she wants to do is kill me. She jumped off her cage on to my bed and came after me yesterday. She has a very large vocabulary but isn't using it much as she has moved on to screaming. It's been a very noisy weekend.

Ziva is 6 years old and not sexed but the bird store said they think she's a she because of her behavior. I saw her sit on the hand of a staff member and Ziva kind of squatted down and held her wings out and fluttered. That's what they said was behavior of a female. That was last week and she has been doing that behavior all day today in her cage. At the same time she also makes a sound like a baby bird cheeping. Is this typical female behavior or something else? She doesn't act scared. She seems to do it when I'm talking to her or she has my full attention. I want to make sure there isn't something else going on or that it has another meaning and I'm missing something. I'm new to the CAG world and don't quite understand all the body language yet. When I take her to the vet for a check up, I will do the DNA testing. I really don't care what sex she is, I'd just like to know for the heck of it.

I've adopted Ziva 4 days ago and she's a chatterbox. She does all the normal whistles and beeps. She must have watched cartoons because she loves to say "boing oing oing oing." She also - meows and calls for kitty barks farts coughs And says - Santa brings presents. Santa goes ho, ho, ho. Santa jingles. Where are you? Pull up a chair and sit down. Shut up. Dummy S!!t head Did you kill the cockroach? Splat! Peek-a-boo Hello Whoooooooooop. Certified! (I have no idea what that's about) She also does a great siren. I live across the street from a hospital and we hear sirens a lot which she loves and joins in on. This morning she was very animated and hanging upside down and swinging and making beeping sounds. Then I realized the trash truck was outside and backing up and beeping and she was talking back. She sounded just like the truck.

Me,again. I am going to buy a radio of some kind for Ziva this weekend. Any idea if it's better for her to listen to talk radio or music? I'll obviously see if she has a preference but didn't know if there were any reasons or ideas about one being better than the other one. We don't have tv so that's not an option. I'm tempted to get it now for her. My daughter would be so thrilled. I'm working on the out of cage time. Ziva likes to be petted and she'll put one foot on your hand. She won't do both and let us lift her up. She's also not stick trained so getting back in the cage is drama. I'll be working on the stick training this weekend so it will make life easier for all of us.

OK, very funny about the truck comment for the toys. She came with a zillion toys and I threw most of them out as they were filthy. I went to the store and bought a bunch and it took up quite a lot of space in the car. I then walked into the room and Ziva freaked out and fell on her back. I thought I'd killed the poor girl. She's fine and I learned to not just strut new stuff out but to introduce it slowly. Baxtersmom - thanks for the advice. It seems I might have been feeding a tad too much. I give her probably a cup of seed mix - with nuts and some dried fruit (it's the food she came with) - in the morning along with a large crock half full of warmed up frozen veggie mix and some grain mix from Volkman's. When I get home, I give her fruit and a taste of whatever good stuff I'm eating. I've learned she hates salad greens, broccoli and tofu! I bought a bird mix of beans, grains and hot peppers and cooked that up last night and gave it to her this morning and she chowed down on it along with some birdie corn bread. This weeked I'm going to purchase some Harrison's pellets and see if I can get her interested in that.

I can't wait to see what people think about the different carriers. I want to purchase one for my bird but don't have a clue as which one to pick. I've also seen a stroller for birds. My dog, Shiva, rides in one but I'm always concerned about being attacked by a big dog. I think I'll stick with a carrier. BTW, I also have a dog named Shanti. I love that name!<br><br>Post edited by: ZivaDiva, at: 2009/03/26 23:26

I wasn't happy my daughter had given her 4 grapes. She had a bowl full (!) of them and was feeding her when I walked in. Thanks for the reply. I have been reading all the things people feed their birds and it feels like I need to buy a truck to get it all home.

Hi All, My name is Joann and I adopted an AG on Monday. Her name was Diva and I'm not thrilled with the name so we are calling her Ziva. I wanted to stay with a name close to her original name since she says it all the time. She's 6 years old and her former human is 91 yrs. old and can no longer care for her. Things are going well but I feel so guilty leaving her home while I'm at work. Her former human let her sit in the doorway of the cage all day and she'd pet her and talk to her. I can only do that after work and well, I do have other things to do. I'm trying to come up with things that will keep her entertained and happy. We also have 2 cockatiels and a lovebird. I've never had a grey before and she's a blast as she has quite a large vocabulary. My daughter was reading to her last night and stumbled on a big word and Ziva laughed at her. My 15 year old is concerned that Ziva is smarter than she is. I can't wait to read this site more and learn as there seems to be a lot to be learned. Joann

Hi, I'm new here and this is my first post. I adopted an AG this past Monday and am not sure how much food to give. I give her seed, veggies, fruit, etc. but am not sure how much to give at one time. I have read here that people are giving their birds oatmeal and I'd love to give Ziva some but am not sure how much to give. I know not to give more than a small french fry as a treat but when feeding fruits or veggies, etc. do you give them a cup of it, half a cup, a tablespoon? I don't know how big their tummies are and don't want to waste food. My daughter gave her 4 grapes last night and Ziva stopped eating and didn't want anything else and I'd already cut up a bunch of melon for her. She'll be getting the melon tonight when I get home. Any input would be great. Thanks so much, Joann