Azzie

I'm not sure I ever had "it" to begin with...

Wow and Marvin managed to fertilise that chicken egg in those 5 short minutes. If he hadn't broken the egg, what do you think might have hatched out of it Jamal?

No such thing as a spoilt bird! Just a well loved and well looked after bird :silly:

Taco might be trying to clean his beak of any food scraps that are left on the side. Birds also rub to help keep the beak in good shape. You may notice his beak looks a little flaky, with different layers showing. This is normal, and the rubbing helps get rid of excess flakes. I also read a post by a breeder on a different forum that birds have nerve endings in the ends of their beaks, and rubbing creates a comforting vibration. In any case, it is perfectly normal and you have nothng to worry about = )

Jamal OH MY GOD!!! You let your son perform an EXPERIMENT on your parrot??? How could you? Poor parrot! Don't you know that performing science experiments on poor defenceless parrots is really really bad? You should put a stop to these science experiments immediately! What a horrible thing to do...

Cleo made me search for Schroeder but I could not find the name on Facebook. Cleo is most disgusted with me.

You guys rock! Jason had his operation 3 days ago, and he's made an amazing recovery. He's up and about. He was on national news last night, and the nurses were wondering why he was still in hospital, he's doing so well. Thank you for this <3

Jamal, please read Dan's post again about how bird eggs are fertilised, and you will see Char is correct on the first point. And abula, this is Wikipedia's description of a cloaca: "a cloaca is the posterior opening that serves as the only such opening for the intestinal, reproductive and urinary tracts of certain animal species." Basically what that is saying is that birds have only one opening at the back, that serves as a way for the bird to get rid of urine, feces and make babies. "Vent" is just another name for this opening. And when Dan mentioned "snogging" I don't think he meant snogging like humans do, which usually means kissing. Snogging in this instance means mating.

There it is...

Heh I don't deserve sympathy Jane. This is all self inflicted.

So I had some ink done today on my right upper arm, extending onto the shoulder socket a tiny bit. It didn't feel too bad. Until I got home and let Cleo out of her cage. She seems to prefer my right shoulder, and who knew 500 odd grams of bird was so heavy! I had never realised Cleo has razor blades on the end of her toes instead of nails....

Powder stuff...like the Farex baby rice? Tell me more! Anything for my sweet little girl!

Well the Heinz organic baby food was a real hit! I had to eat a little first in front of her and make lots of "yummy" noises. Once Cleo decided she wanted what I had, there was no stopping her. Thanks for the advice guys! Must admit, baby food tastes pretty bland lol.

Birds are pretty much self-cleaning aren't they? They produce a little oil to condition the feathers, and powder for grooming and waterproofing. And in any case, if anyone's bird happens to be SO covered in oil or other hard to remove stuff that it needs shampooing, one has to ask if that person really should own a parrot if it is allowed to romp without supervision in a place that has not been made safe.

Actually Judy I hadn't thought of that! Thank you for pointing that out. I shall get my sieve out and puree some things. I might even see if there's any baby food on the supermarket shelves and see how she likes that. I thought about making her eat politely off a spoon, but she enjoys the "normal" way so much, I'll put up with the dribbles. Dan, that slinging of food yes. If I'm not unknowingly covered in bird poop down my back, then it surely is dried globs of oatmeal in my hair!

This topic had me intrigued, so once again I surfed the net: http://www.stuff4birds.com/shampoo.htm This stuff contains pyrethrins. This from Wikipeadia: "The pyrethrins are a pair of natural organic compounds that have potent insecticidal activity." "Pyrethrins are used in many varieties of insecticide, fogging products and in some pet products. Care should be taken when using this substance around humans and animals. Overdose and toxicity can result in a variety of symptoms, especially in pets, including drooling, lethargy, muscle tremors, vomiting, seizures and death.[5] Toxicity symptoms in humans include asthmatic breathing, sneezing, nasal stuffiness, headache, nausea, incoordination, tremors, convulsions, facial flushing and swelling, and burning and itching sensation.[6]. Pyrethrin is extremely toxic to aquatic life, such as bluegill and lake trout while it is slightly toxic to bird species, such as mallards. Toxicity increases with higher water temperatures and acidity. Natural pyrethrins are highly fat soluble, but are easily degraded and thus do not accumulate in the body. These compounds are toxic to bees also" The other ingredient is Piperonyl butoxide: (PBO is a pesticide synergist. It does not, by itself have pesticidal properties. However, when added to insecticide mixtures, typically pyrethrin, pyrethroid, and carbamate insecticides, their potency is increased considerably. And dimethicone is a form of silicone. The rest of bird shampoo related products I found contain a variety of oils, aloe vera, vitamins for conditioning and many different chemicals as preservatives. Products as being marketed to get rid of "birdie smell" and "dandruff". Given a bird's delicate and sensitive respiratory system, there is no way I'd go anywhere near my flock with pesticides, especially not crap that is marketed as "shampoo" that can be used on a regular basis. And as to why anyone would want to put silicone on a bird's feathers is beyond me.

Forgive the spam please guys. Jamal, this is directly copied and pasted from The Alex Foundation website: http://www.alexfoundation.org/support_research.html) The Alex Foundation Research Publications Dr. Irene Pepperberg has been studying the intelligence and reasoning abilities of the African Grey parrot for almost 30 years. She has published consistently and extensively in some of the most highly respected scientific journals in her field. Below is a partial list of her papers that can be downloaded in PDF format, requiring Acrobat Reader for viewing. If you don’t already have Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free by clicking here. These papers are being provided for private use only, and cannot be published or reprinted without the express permission of the publisher. Quotes from these articles can be used only within the specifications of each publisher. Please consult the individual publishers about their particular guidelines. This list of papers available for downloading will be expanded as time permits. We think you’ll enjoy reading the work of Dr. Pepperberg, her work that has demonstrated the amazing intelligence of African Grey parrots to the scientific world. Publications: Pepperberg, I.M., Vicinay, J., Cavanagh, P. (2008) The Müller-Lyer illusion is processed by a Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus). Perception 37:765-781. Pepperberg, I.M. (2007a). Grey parrots do not always ‘parrot’: Phonological awareness and the creation of new labels f rom existing vocalizations. Language Sciences 29: 1-13. Pepperberg, I.M. (2006a). Ordinality and inferential abilities of a Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 120: 205-216. Pepperberg, I.M. (2006b). Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus) numerical abilities: addition and further experiments on a zero-like concept. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 120: 1-11. Pepperberg, I.M., and Gordon, J.D. (2005). Number Comprehension by a Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus), Including a Zero-Like Concept. Journal of Comparative. Psychology, 2005, Vol. 119, No. 2, 197-209 Pepperberg, I.M. (2001). Lessons from cognitive ethology: Animal models for ethological computing. Proceedings of the First Conference on Epigenetic Robotics, C. Balkenius, J. Zlatev, H. Kozima, K. Dautenhahn, & C. Breazeal, Eds., Lund University Cognitive Science Series No. 85, Lund, Sweden, http://www.lucs.lu.se/Abstracts/LUCS_Studies/LUCS85.html (online only) Pepperberg, I.M., Willner, M.R., and Gravitz, L.B. (1997). Development of Piagetian object permanence in a Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus). J. Comp. Psych. 111:63-75. If you take a look at the names of the publications, it will give a very good idea of what was researched and what was learnt, IF you can understand the big words used. Some of the things Alex was able to do was differentiate between different colours, shapes, sizes and textures. An example of that was Alex asking for a "long yellow", by which he meant a banana. "We" are not going to put a stop to Dr Pepperberg's work. In any case, all the information contained in the reply post were already covered, which indicated to me you are either stupid or just looking to stir up trouble. In either case, and I only speak for myself here, why don't you go away for a very long time and perhaps put your time into something useful (maybe read some of Dr Peppperberg's work) before dribbling out useless and inflammatory comments.

Cleo absolutely loves warm mushy food. She goes nuts over warm oatmeal, and recently managed to get a few gobfulls of the lorikeet nectar replacement mix. She doesn't just eat it, she puts her whole beak into it and scoops out great big globs, like a pelican feeding, then smacks it down while dribbling out the sides. Does anyone else have any suggestions of food that have that same warm mushy consistency that I might be able to feed her?

I hear that about the "what if". When Sam was at his/her worst I was starting to make plans to give my beloved lorikeets to a bird sanctuary. They have a massive outdoor walkthrough aviary there, and I thought if Sam doesn't settle, for his/her best interest and health they could go there. But as it turned out, Sam IS settling, though slowly. I think it's probably good you are in the same room as Bonkers for extended periods of time. It's not direct contact, but he still has part of his flock there with him for company. Feel free to vent = ) that's what we are all here for too!

I'm sorry to hear Bonkers hasn't settled down yet and how badly this is affecting you. Firstly though, don't blame yourself. It's nothing you've done wrong. This is just nature doing its thing. See it like an extreme case of PMS - think of all the sexist jokes about females with PMS, and I'd say that's probably close to the truth for birds! Secondly, it WILL pass. Remember I told you my lorikeet Sam turned into a hellish little bird? She is still settling down. There is still some nest making with the newspaper (can't remove it unfortunately, lorikeet poop is so liquid and runny!) Sam climbed on top of Kip the other day and mated(gender of either bird unknown, and I've seen Kip on top of Sam so go figure). Sam is a lot calmer now, but still not quite back to normal. Still lots of very runny poo, nest making, aggression towards me at times. Sam is less vocal now and the aggression has lessened, but Sam still acts territorial when I go into the cage to change food and water. However, I did have them both out yesterday and Sam was very sweet, licking my ear, grooming my hair and being playful. Is it possible that Bonkers has now decided your husband is his/her mate, given the level of jealousy and aggression shown when you are there with them both? The crankiness displayed towards your husband when you are there could well be a displaced aggression. There's a wee blurb about that here: http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=1ki1V0RmPHoC&pg=PA59&lpg=PA59&dq=parrots+displaced+aggression&source=bl&ots=dPNpqLEl8t&sig=yTr8rnd4NFGcx0zLyf5iol2MaCI&hl=en&ei=3N5bStnFH4P8tQOM2OWhCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1 Hang in there though. This will pass. I really do think you are suffering more than Bonkers is. Try to remember he IS a bird after all, and does not reason the way people do when we are feeling moody or cranky. Bonkers is acting the way nature has programmed him to, and it might not always make sense to us why our little friend has suddenly turned into a nemesis. It's not your fault (nor Bonkers nor your husband's) that you aren't the object of his affections, it's just "how it is". Hang in there, be strong, don't blame yourself. Also, perhaps avoid close contact with Bonkers because it affects you so badly when he is nasty to you, and I wonder if it is damaging your relationship, because the more aggressive he is towards you, the more afraid and worried you become. Good luck!

The cage right at the bottom is the one Cleo has. http://www.drurypets.co.nz/BIRDS/Cages/tabid/5882/Default.aspx The disadvantages (for me) is that cleaning it is not the easiest, as you literally have to climb into the darned thing to change the paper at the bottom. It does have a pull-out tray, but to remove the tray the cage has to be turned around, as the opening is on the opposite side of the cage door. However, it is large enough for Cleo to romp around in, she seems very happy in there, so I just take the cleaning issues in my stride.

Cleo (at 6.5 months) has rediscovered the joys of snuggling. Her latest thing over the last few days is to squat or lie down between my neck and shoulder when I'm reclining in a chair, and push herself into me. She then puts her head so far back the top of her head is almost touching her back. I then cup her head with one hand so it's completely covered, with my fingers gently holding her beak, and with the other hand gently stroke her throat, the sharp tip of her breastbone and that vulnerable looking spot right under her lower beak. She so seems to love having her beak touched and rubbed. She stays like this until I have to shift because I'm getting cramps. I hope I am not promoting sexual behaviours by rubbing and touching her beak. Can someone please shed some light on this for me? I do know when she wants to play rough, she likes for me to "beak wrestle" with her - grabbing her beak and gently shaking it and making grabbing motions at it whilst growling at her. God...if some of my friends could see me do that they'd think I had gone insane.

After Cleo's 2 words a few weeks ago, she is still stuck on "quack quack quack".

Wow that bird has clean feet lol. Cleo's are sooo discoloured, from the steamed carrots and raw bell peppers she likes to clutch. Her feet are orange lol.

Did a bit of checking the net for you. Here's some links you might find useful. http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww8e.htm http://web.info-galaxy.com/Cockatiel/Housing_and_Cages/Natural_Perches/natural_perches.html http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=15+1794& aid=177 And in case you were interested, another link that lists safe and not safe woods to use. I linked this one specifically as it mentions the kind of wood you chose: http://www.mdvaden.com/bird_page.shtml'>http://www.mdvaden.com/bird_page.shtml http://www.mdvaden.com/bird_page.shtml