Azzie

Cleo recently has started doing the same thing, clamping on to my nose if she is on my shoulder. I feel it's a limit testing thing with her, and I think we've managed to knock it on the head. I would watch her from the corner of my eyes and each time I saw her opening her beak and making her move, I'd turn to her, raise a finger and say Ah! No biting! She understands the words "back into the cage", which is what I would tell her as well if she tried, and have had to put her back in when she didn't listen. She doesn't bite anymore, and in fact now just puts her beak along side my nose and kind of rests there.

Wow Dave that is wonderful. Bless you and your wife for having such big hearts and patience.

She loves to sit on my lap and cuddle up, except she probably doesn't realise how big she really is!

Oh lol thats where it went. I was sure I had posted it under the what do you look like thread!

Well thats weird...I posted a pic of myself earlier here tonight and now it's gone. Here it is...again

Taken tonight...watching tv and my 11 month old puppy decided to join me.

Just a suggestion...instead of a ladder, maybe a thick piece of rope with large knots and/or large wooden beads for Sydney to climb up and down with?

My 4 month old CAG is flighted, and she will remain so. I have 2 lorikeets, one of whom refuses to go back in the cage after having been out, and I am seriously considering having her clipped. She's refusing to step up lately (mostly since the CAG arrived interestingly enough), and I cannot continue spending hours trying to get her back in the cage, especially since my attempts to do so are obviously distressing to her. I personally agree with TinyTimneh's comments.

That link was interesting, even though I didn't understand a lot of it. Thank you for your explanation!

Pic of the wet purple feathers: Sorry about the poor quality. I wanted to get a close up and Cleo wasn't sitting still.

I gave Cleo a bath in the kitchen sink today, and noticed when her chest feathers were wet they were a distinct violet colour. Not just a purply hue, a definite purple colour, but only when wet. Does anyone else's AG have this? I managed to take a picture of it which I'll post if people want to see.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8026592.stm

I am in hysterics here over the last two posts! I've got some awesome visuals here. The things people do for their birds..

One of my 'keets, Kip, also likes the taste of blood. 'Keets are well known for trying to pick at any mark or blemish on skin. Kip managed to removed a small scab from my arm and wasn't paying attention, and when I felt it I looked to see him licking up the drops of blood. Gross!

Waiting for a comment from one of the men here...

That's so funny Jane! Maybe Rangi is not as smart as he thinks, 'coz if he was he would not have given the game away by speaking! Something Cleo does that I find amusing is how she clucks her disapproval of me. When I am too slow in giving her a scratch, or I am taking too long preparing her food when I've told her it's coming, or putting her back in the cage when she does not want to. She literally clucks and quacks at me, like she is grumbling.

When I first got Cleo her nails were indeed like needles, and my arms looked like I had been dragged through a blackbery bush backwards. I got some really long pieces of driftwood from the beach, soaked them overnight, let them dry and put them in her cage, starting from the bottom corner and going to the opposite upper corner. She loves clambering up and down, and this has worn her nails down where they are so sharp anymore.

Cleo had her pellets early in the morning. For lunch she had a mixture of boiled potatoes, carrots, beans and corn. Not sure what's for dinner yet. Turns out she favours the potatoes over the carrot and corn which have always been a big hit.

Cleo accidentally got a few sips of my glass of coke, and now each time she sees me having some, she goes crazy trying to get to it. Tom, about the messy corn business, Cleo is exactly the same. She will eat a whole cob of corn in one sitting, but I do worry about her over eating on it. And guys, I don't mean to alarm you, but you should check out this site in regards to unshelled peanuts: http://www.avianweb.com/aspergillosis.html

Sometimes Cleo will sit on my shoulder, but most often she will wander off and sit on my knee or the back of a chair. I've read that greys don't have the same height dominance issues like some other birds do, and that they will naturally perch on the highest point available. Bites, yep a few, but those were my own fault. Cleo gave me plenty of warning not to persist, but I did, so I got bitten. Nothing too serious really when you bear in mind a grey can apply 200lbs per square inch of pressure! Good luck with your baby

Luvparrots, I reckon you are spot on! Cleo is too young to talk, but she knows certain things I say. She's learnt to associate the word yum-yums with a tasty treat and becomes very excited. I've had her for a month and she already responds to her name and flies over when called, and she most certainly understands the word scratch, and assumes the position when I say it. Cleo has also gotten into the habit of grabbing my finger and tugging on it when she is trying to tell me it's time for a scratch.

When I first visited Cleo at her breeder she growled at me, and was in a crouching stance with her beak open, so obviously not happy with me being there, and definitely not friendly. It took three days for a small amount of trust to be established, where she would no longer come running at me and lunge to bite. I still ended up with a few small chunks of flesh ripped from my hands though in the days following, just to back up what PrettyPax said. Now, a month on, Cleo lets me touch her anywhere and everywhere on her body, and she flies over when called. She still likes to lunge for my nose and clamp on, but given the way she looks at me after I think she is pushing limits to see what she can get away with. Cleo's tail is also scruffy. The edges look like they've been nibbled on, but I've never seen her do it. Maybe you could ask the seller if you can have the bird at home for a week or so, and see how you both get on before making a decision to buy or not? Perhaps once this baby realises you mean no harm and will actually spend time with him/her, baby might settle down.

http://www.parrotparrot.com/birdhealth/recipes.htm AnnMarie, here's some bird food recipes! Just looking at some of them made me hungry.<br><br>Post edited by: Azzie, at: 2009/04/24 13:50

My puppy Jinx will eat anything though. She is known to steal tomatoes off the kitchen bench and eat those. Yesterday she stole the bag of nectar powder for the lorikeets and ate all that. It's not as if Jinx is underfed though, so go figure.

Cleo is right, the green rods ARE nicer. The taste is subtly different, not sure in what way except that they taste "green". The rods are also way more crunchy that the flower shaped ones. I only tried one of each flower shape colour, but tried a few of the green rods, just to make sure. Admittedly they all tasted pretty bland to me, so not sure what these birds see in them.