Jayd

You can't go wrong with the grey't advice given!!! Suggestion, next time you try to remove her from top of cage, don't put her up!! take her somewhere else and have her step down, do this a number of times a day....Jayd Maggie and Spock and the flock

:confused:Why don't you start a new "Thread" in the "Nursery" as Janet suggested, I'll be looking for you!!!! :confused:Question? What are you feeding now? How much and how many times a day? What temperature are you keeping the tank at? How long have you had the little guy? What is your feeding times? Thanks Jayd:)

The advice given to you by Judy and Cheyenness are true. I'm feeding fid's right now, I'll get back to you shortly..This seires is on going, By Tanya, [Phobe, the Twins,] http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?189623-just-asking plus Cheyenness threads in Nursery, on Loki.http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190265-Loki-s-progress Currant and full of what you need.. Jayd

Ho Ho Ho Ho a pirates life for me.. Parrots: Parrots were probably associated with pirates because of the book "Treasure Island". A character from that book named Long-John Silver, who was a pirate, had a parrot for a pet. This idea, however, caused a great deal of controversy because many people think that the parrots would of gotten in the way of the work that had to be done. Many people believe that a parrot permanently perched on a pirates shoulder would start a mess and during hard times at sea the parrot would most likely be eaten. So it was very unlikely that a pirate traveled with a parrot or any other pet. http://www.tqnyc.org/2005/NYC051310/piratesfactfromfiction.htm We let all our birds shoulder perch, except our TOO's, their intimidating. Dan and Cheyenness Made great points, Always invite you fid to your shoulder! Jayd

One more Bite:p

Chicky,,, GOOD:p

:)This is a excellent Thread, please don't take anything I've posted as personal... Just my opinion's Jayd Do not feed your bird avocado, pits from stone fruit, chocolate or alcohol. Birdy poison http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?137487-Top-10-Common-Foods-that-Can-Poison-Your-Bird/page4 Do not use Teflon coated pans. They may be safe if utterly unscratched and not overheated, but if either is untrue, it is chemical warfare on your bird. Scented candles, incense, kerosene lamps all generate stuff that may sicken and harm your bird. Can kill in less than 1/2 hour! http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?189649-New-Oven...&highlight=teflon Do not feed birds fruits or veggies that overly acidic or have been prepared and kept in a refrigerator (frozen until served is fine). Bacterial overgrowth that is harmless to mammals is a killer in birds. Citrus, tomatoes are quite acid, and can provoke nasty digestive issues. Juices and baby foods are culture media, once the seal is broke, despite refrigeration. Birds tolerance is very low for colonized food. Small amounts of tomato's and tomato juice is fine, baby food ,ones low in iron is acceptable, especially when mixed in Birdy Bread, mixing with Mash and Smash, use normal cautions. Juiced fresh fruit is a excellent treat for our fids. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?7380-what-did-your-CAG-eat-today&highlight=birdy+bread Do not get a bird that has not been weaned. Baby birds are too easy to kill. Do not feed your bird dairy (birds have no lactase), or red meat or shellfish (high in phosphorous; may worsen calcium deficiencies) Chicken, egg and finned fish is fine. A fid can have a bite of your morning cereal, different spoon of coarse. Small amounts go straight through them. Yogurt, cottage cheese, and small amounts of hard cheese is ok! http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?189737-What-our-Fid-s-eat...&highlight=cottage+cheese Do not feed your bird a seed only diet. It is the equivalent of feeding your kid only fast food; it should be an occasional treat, not a 21-meal-a-week diet. Sunflower seeds are particularly regarded as the French fry of the Avian world. Peanuts in shells and dried corncobs can harbor aspergillosis and should be avoided. Pellets without food coloring, and fresh or frozen veggies are the staples for your bird. It's not that seeds in general are bad for our fids, it's the fact that they lack all our fids need. If a person wants to feed their fids a seed diet, that's fine, they just have to feed other types of food with it. If you read the ingredients of Harrison's pellets, It's seed's, pluse added nutrients. Only one of our fids eat pellets, all the rest eat, 60% veggies and fruits, 20% grains/legumes 10% seeds and nuts, 10% misc. [rough breakdown] 1/2 teaspoon of sunflower seeds a day are great for for our fids, their loaded with "EFA" [Essential Fatty Acid's] as are nuts and peanuts. Right on shelled peanuts and dried corn cob....Pellets have one major problem, HEAT, they are processed at such high temperature that most of their benefit goes up in smoke, minimum temp, like Harrison's is 350%. so pellets should be part of... Do not feed grit, or chemical calcium supplements. Use cuttlebone, whole and ground, balanced pellet diet, and full spectrum high intensity light to fight calcium deficiency. Sunlight is the #1 source of calcium absorption, followed by UVB Full Spectrum indoor lighting. Far better than pellets is Dandelion greens, and any Dark Green Leafy vegetable... http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?188081-Calcium-Food-or-Sun&highlight=sunlight Don't let your parrot routinely perch higher than your head. Although not pack animals like dogs, parrots do have a social order, largely visible by who perches where. You don't want an alpha parrot. Shoulders are similarly problematic; there is a reason those pirates had eye patches. Very few Greys will beak an eye or tear an ear. Those that do are remembered forever. This, I'm sorry is a myth! Shoulder perching, it's up to you! http://zoologica.wordpress.com/2010/07/01/eight-myths-and-half-truths-about-parrot-behavior/ Don't isolate your bird. It wants to spend all day with you, out of its cage. That's not practical for mots people, and you must view it as a toddler that can get into serious trouble unsupervised. That's why toddlers have playpens and cribs, and birds have cages. Neither should be regarded as prison cells. Think about it -- a playpen in the family room is cool. The Hanoi Hilton is not. Which describes your parrot's cage is up to you. My personal feelings is to provide as much "Cage out time as possible"

A BIG WONDERFUL *THANK YOU* Jayd and Maggie and Spock and the flock

Hi, a TAG goes on their own at around 6 months old, about 25 weeks, they start getting ready to fly around 10-11 weeks old! *What age was your TAG considered weaned?* The day they take that last spoonful and spit it in your face..lol A TAG AND CAG can be fully fledge, weaned and on their own, and still demand formula! Most TAGS are fully feathered by 10 weeks old. Jayd

Good question? All babies feather in at a different age, if your baby is 99% feathered, give them a light mist, don't soak them, hold the sprayer up, and let a little fall on them. [room temperature, no drafts, don't blow dry] to get them used to the spray and sound and sight of bathing. Jayd

Breeding Season with Hormones Ruling! Dan, Subjects close to my heart. Right now, the home our fids let us share with them is extremely hormonal...Not only is this true, but everyone is molting. Lol Captive birds, our companions, have and are continually having their natural instincts altered. What was and is their normal breeding season, is being changed, sometimes more then once a year by us, their providers…and with this post, I’ll be altering it again by giving suggestions on how to reduce natural hormonal behavior! We do behave as Kings! Everything Dan has stated is more then correct, a couple of points, don’t imitate spring time, cut down on misting and bathes, cut out all egg foods, cut daylight hours down to around 10. [always leave the morning the same, real sun rise!, shorten the day instead!!] What is the down side to changing Seasonal cues? *All creatures Great and Small* run on a clock, a Biological, Clock, Circadian cycle! When ever we attempt to alter a natural process in a human or companion bird, we can be changing things for the worst. In our companion birds, this problem usually shows up in the guise of feather problems. We need To reset this clock, this Circadian cycle, the moment we bring our bird home! How do we do this? To start with: Set your room temperature to 72 degrees, year round! Set your daylight hours to 10 ½-11 starting each day at say 6 am, year round! Bathe regular, once, twice three times a week, year round! I’ve seen to many times where people say, ”I don’t get up till 9 am, so I keep him covered till then”, Disaster, their Biological, Clock, Circadian cycle, tells them this isn’t right, the first thing affected it seems is “Feather” problems, bad molts, incomplete molts, dead feathers that won’t come out!!!! Constant molt! Dan made excellent points.. If you own a Amazon, by all means, Stick train them!!! Dan’s description is more true then not!! Here’s a true story by one of our members:http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190024-Ah-the-joys-of-parrot-mating-season! Be patient: This to will pass, it’s part of these wild creatures we love so dearly…

Welcome!!! 0ur Orange-wing is fairly quiet, Mealy Zon's are quiet and social, one of my favorite..Salsa gets along with our Greys. I'll get back to you this afternoon, Ill research.. Captive Mealy Parrots are amongst the gentlest and calmest of all amazon parrots. All amazons can be aggressive but the Mealy Amazons are considered the gentle giants of the Amazon parrots and is not a naturally aggressive species. They are described as the gentlest and calmest of all amazon parrots. They generally have a docile temperament and tend to get along well with other birds. The noise level and talking abilities vary greatly amongst this species. There are some quiet birds amongst them -- but others can get very noisy. In fact, their voices can carry over a mile. Amazons enjoy repeating a phrase over and over again each time using a different inflection. Species such as Lilac Crowns and Mealies are less excitable than other amazon species during the breeding season. Females tend to be calmer than males during this phase. An attack by a hormonal male can be vicious and will not be limited to one bite. http://www.avianweb.com/ Thanks Jayd

Tango: Triton Cockatoo [blue Eyed?] Present Age: 9 years old Abuse Type: Psychological (Unintentionally inflicted) Preface: An unintentional major cause of Psychological abuse is a lack of proper research before acquiring and a lack of continual research after acquiring. Another major cause of unintentional psychological and physical abuse occurs during the process of hand-feeding. Unintentional abuse could be as simple as wrong size cage, improper diet, improper discipline, lack of proper sleep time and hygiene, giving treats, (such as chocolate, etc) with the thoughts of being kind to your bird. Unintentional abuse when it comes to hand-feeding; once again, lack of research resulting in improper temperatures, environmental conditions, proper techniques, proper hygiene, pride, assuming that this is the only way to bond with your bird and pride as in afraid to ask for help when needed. Background: Last summer we received a phone call, asking if we were the “Bird People”. We laughed and answered “yes” and they asked if we would be interested in an Eight year old ‘Too that they felt they could no longer give proper care to. Without hesitation, we said we would take care of her. We took a ride to see Tango. These nice people lived out of town in the country and in their yard we saw caged pheasants and geese. On the patio, was a large cage with this large beautiful full-feathered Triton Cockatoo. She said “HI!” when we approached. We introduced ourselves and they introduced us to Tango from a distance away. We approached her cage and gave her a scritch on her ear as she put her head up to the bar. She was beautiful. We asked her owners why they thought they had to get rid of Tango. Their Story Begins: Almost eight years ago, they had gone to a friend’s house and fell in love with their friend’s cockatoo which was just recently weaned. It perched on her hand and cuddled with her so they purchased a large cage, toys and brought the baby home. They had no experience with companion birds, especially Cockatoos. For three days, everything went very smooth and she was carrying Tango on her arm when Tango slipped. Tango grabbed her finger to catch herself which cut the woman’s finger and drew blood. She had a normal reaction, she screamed and dropped Tango. From that point on, Tango was put in his cage and for the next eight years was never held by a human again. They were both deathly afraid of this monster beak. (Note: if they would have done a little research, they would have been able to handle a situation like this when it happened.) For the next eight years, they gave the baby the best possible care, minus the physical handling that they could. Per advice from pet stores, they fed Tango pellets, dehydrated veggies and healthy treats. (Nothing fresh) They had two cages they could place door to door and scoot her into the other cage while they did main cleaning to her cage. Every morning she was given a half slice of warm toast while they had their breakfast. Someone told them about some of the Cockatoo’s body language and when she appeared “right” to them, they would scritch her. They knew it would be best if they gave her to someone who could give her proper care but it was so hard for them and they loved her so much, they postponed giving her away. These are good people, just lack of research about large birds. The Homecoming: We brought her into the crazy, noisy bird house in a carrier and as Jay opened the carrier door, she stepped out to his hand without hesitation. We were both in fear, this was the first time this bird has been held for over eight years. Tango stepped up to his wrist, bent her head and waited patiently for a scritch. He carried her to her new cage and placed her in the door way, in she went. Boy, did she look around…here was toys and food that she had never seen in her whole life. Everything was brand-new and so much of it. She flipped up her top-notch and bounced up and down, clicking in joy. The only thing she threw out was half of her pellets and then started eating. Tango was oblivious to all. She ignored Freddy, the other ‘Too, Spock wanted her to preen him but we were afraid that she would have him for dinner. From that moment on, she stepped up on command. On-going Progress: Since bringing Tango home, she has settled in like she has always been here. She is independent from the rest of the flock. Even though she steps up on command, she is still unsure of her footing and takes a few moments to step comfortably on your arm and she is still somewhat wobbly while carrying her. I feel that part of the reason is that for eight years, she had only two immovable perches to stand on and no handling. She has been the easiest transitional rescue that we have ever had to date. The only baggage we have seen is her previous owner was a foreman in the oil fields in Texas. He would work two weeks on and then be home for two weeks. He would have numerous phone calls, speaking to the callers matter-of-factly and curtly. He used a lot of hand movements while talking. At times, Tango will get on the top of her cage and will carry on a conversation which sounds a lot like orders while using head and body movements to simulate expressions with her top notch up. We have seen no ill-effects from this. Food: we introduced fresh vegetables to her when we brought her home. This is something she took a couple of weeks to start enjoying, often with hilarious expressions and obvious enjoyment. She eats proper food without any encouragement needed. Now and into the Future: We are looking into the purchase of a lumber yard. Her favorite toy is 1”x2” clear pine cut into 12” pieces. She makes toothpicks out of two to three of these a day and then cleans her cage twice a day, throwing all these toothpicks and slivers and anything else, loose in her cage out the door. She is a wonderful bird and she balances her time very well. She is self-sufficient and is not demanding. She will let us know when she wants attention (she will yell out “POPPA!”) but once she is done, she will go back to playing on her own. She has a small vocabulary, “Poppa, Hello, Bye-Bye, Whatcha doin?, Night-night, Pretty Bird”.

Nice photo's, Rikki looks young, around a year old..... Good life! Jayd and Maggie

Amazon of the week Index: St Vincent http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?178468-Amazon-of-the-week-1-09-10 Red Crowned http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?180885-Amazon-of-the-week-1-24-10 Imperial http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?178869-Amazon-of-the-week-1-11-10 Red brown http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?184038-Amazon-of-the-week-2-13-10'>http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?184038-Amazon-of-the-week-2-13-10 Blue Mutation http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?180028-Amazon-of-the-week-1-17-10 Mealy http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?188569-*Amazon-of-the-Week*-4-4-10 Red Necked http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?181885-Amazon-of-the-week-1-31-10 Mexican Red head http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?186317-Amazon-of-the-Week-3-7-10 Puerto Rican http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?184854-Amazon-of-the-Week..2-21-10 Red Tailed http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?183172-Amazon-of-the-week..2-7-10 Red Lored http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?189054-Amazon-of-the-Week-*-4-11-10 St Vincent,Guadeloupe, and Cuban. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?187123-Entrys-*Amazon-of-the-week*-Challenge.. Yellow-Crowned, Yellow-Nape http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?189348-quot-Amazon-of-the-Week-Special-quot-4-24-10 Orange-Wing http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?189255-Amazon-of-the-Week-4-17-10 Cuban http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?189452-Amazon-of-the-Week-5-1-10 Festive http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?189547-Amazon-of-the-Week-5-9-10 Lilac Crowned http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?189646-Amazon-of-the-Week-5-16-10 Yellow Billed http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?189738-Amazon-of-the-Week-5-21-10 Blue Front http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?189852-Amazon-of-the-Week-5-30-10 Red Spectacled http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?189949-Amazon-of-the-Week-6-6-10 Tucuman http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190044-Amazon-of-the-Week-6-12-10 DBL Yellow Head http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190157-Amazon-of-the-Week-6-20-10 Vinacea Amazon http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190410-NEW-!-*Amazon-of-the-Week-7-17-10*&p=202676Spanish Amazon, Amazona Hispanolian http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190769-The-official-Spanish-Amazon-Amazona-Hispanolian Red-Browed Amazon http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?184038-Amazon-of-the-week-2-13-10 Yellow-Shouldered Amazon http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190904-Amazon-of-the-Week-09-06-2010-Yellow-Shouldered-Amazon Blue-Cheeked Amazon http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190970-NEW-Amazon-of-the-Week-09-14-2010-The-Blue-Cheeked-Amazon

:confused:So you want a Amazon. Lets start with a disclaimer: All Amazons are not the same, from the same species or a different species, there are many similarity’s and traits, and many variables… New or Re-home? From a post I did on Dan’s : A note on Punishment and your Parrot. :What we consider a stable re-home able bird is: A bird in good physical condition, eating well with minimum bad eating habits, sociable or set in there ways… Set in there ways? This would be a older parrot[?] who knows his wants and needs and says to you: This is how I am, take me or leave me! This doesn’t mean they don’t sing or talk or play or bite, or can’t learn something new, just means, set in there ways… What things should you look for in choosing which Amazon? Choose what traits you personally desire. Is it talking, cuddling, independence, beauty? Lets look at traits that are most of the time similar to all Amazons! Most all Amazon’s are low maintenance and will eat most anything you give the…Most all Zon’s are beautiful and come in your choice of colors, Green! Naw, they have beautiful accent colors. Most all Zon’s talk to some extent, your number one talker/singer is the Yellow-Naped, followed by the Double Yellow-head. Note: A few Years back, a yellow-naped was called a Single-Yellow head! It is very possible that in later years, after sexual maturity, and during mating season, any Zon’s ca turn aggressive. [there’s a number of threads and posts on this subject!] Most all Zon’s are susceptible to Fatty tissue Tumors…Most all Zon’s are acrobats, mountain climbers and taxi chasers…They all need “time outs” when playing with them, they get over involved like a soccer player and need to be benched…. So, which one is best suited to you? Avery sociable and some what calm medium talker is a Mealy Amazon! They lack most of the extra color of the other Zon’s, Your Yellow nape/heads are #1, Personal Experience: Zon’s I’ve owned or worked with: Lilac Crowned, Adorable, somewhat quiet and reserved, our first rescue… Orange-Winged, Salsa never stops, calls twice a day, easy going pig, acrobat, talks very little. Westly, Salsa’s bro, He talks extremely well, with other traits very similar to Salsa. 2 Blue fronts, raised them, very beautiful, owners are very happy, and both birds are talkers. Yellow-Naped, wonderful bird, somewhat noisy, but sure can talk. DBL Head, not my favorite bird, the ones I’ve been around have been unpredictable. In the End! Re-read if you’d like, “Amazon’s of the Week”, there’s also a lot of personal threads and posts available here. Come on everybody , post!!!! And please, I’ll do my best to answer any specific questions you might have…:confused:

We always love this one, it shows intelligence's, dexterity, and satisfaction!. Salsa, our Orange wing, use's a spoop to eat soft food with!lol Jayd

In this room, we've covered 99% of the Amazon Species. For you, I'm going to compile a summary of Amazon desirability form both personal experiences and research. :confused: Your friend Jayd Look for this later today!!! Lets make this a STICKY!

Freddy is deeply embedded in our heart, forever. Each day after working with him, it brings tears.......

Fred: Sulfur-Crested Cockatoo Present Age: 19 years Abuse Type: Physically and Psychologically Abused Background: Fred is an extremely physically and mentally abused Cockatoo. He has two previous families that we know of. He is a typical ‘Too in every way. He calls at sunrise and sunset, he scatters his food and toys and at times he would scream for attention. All these factors contributed to the vile treatment he received. From what we can gather, he’s been a plucker for the majority of his life. His second owners would pluck his white/yellow feathers to wear in their hats. They were also drug users and would slam his cage with their fists when he cried out. They also poked and prodded him and snapped his cage and his beak with their fingers. We also know for certain that he was never allowed to fly. From what we have ascertained he was caged for most of these years. Both families shoved him in a 4x4 closet in the dark, feeding him when they remembered. Luckily, Fred was able to entertain himself for the most part with the little that he had but he did pluck extensively. Most of the damage was to the follicles so he will never grow back wing feathers or some chest and back feathers. [Please see photo # 1] The last owners had taken Fred to the pet store and sold him for $20.00. He didn’t have a cage or toys, they had brought him in a cardboard box. He was extremely skinny and bony and his wings were paper thin. For all this, he was extremely healthy and clear-eyed. While Fred was in quarantine, they came back to the pet store and told the owner they wanted him back. We told them “Over my dead body.” At this time, his diet had consisted of nuts and seeds. The Homecoming: At the end of quarantine, and after purchasing a new cage and toys for him, we brought Fred home. When we got him, his feet was sore, you can tell he is uncomfortable on a perch. He does not know how to perch on your hand and it seems that he is more comfortable on flat surfaces. Again, we are assuming that he never was allowed to fly because he extends his wings but does not have the instinct to flap them. He had so much fear that to get him out of the pet store cage and into the carrier to take him home, we had to dismantle the cage and towel him. That was the last time we did that. Once we got him home, he didn’t know how to step from the carrier so Jay had to pick him up and set him on his new cage in this bright lively room surrounded by his new flock. At this time, he turned around, bent his head to the side and said “Freddy here”. From that point on, he was never Fred but Freddy. From that moment on he let Maggie and I scritch him and pet him. He would lift his wings so Jay could rub his shoulder and arm joints on his wings. He really enjoyed that. In his cage, besides seeds, we had put a cornucopia of fruits, veggies and assorted pellets. We are firm believers in abundant feeding and treated him like a fledgling. He had never seen such a selection before. When we stopped fawning over him, he went into his cage…(note: he totally ignored all the other birds in the house except for Spock) and proceeded with much gusto to sample everything in his cage. Some things were thrown out of the cage, some things he stared at quizzically and then he sampled the pear…it was a look of pure bliss. We don’t think he ever had fruit. When he was done, having no feathers to obstruct the view, his crop was over-full like a baby’s…it was too cute. The next morning, we introduced him to the warm foods, smash, pasta, rice…he found out the joys of feeding. Trial and Error This is by far the hardest rescue we have ever worked with. In the beginning, it seemed we did more crying than anything else. It would take him at least 20 minutes at a time to gather the courage to step off the flat of the cage and onto the flat part of Maggie’s hand. To this day, it is still a process. We have to plan ahead to get him back to where he needs to go. It is no longer a test of trust but an innate fear of falling. At first, Freddy would make his calls at sunrise and Jay would have to get up and not say anything, just sit on the couch so Freddy could see him and he would go back to sleep. This was a 7 day a week process. Freddy needed the extra security of seeing him there. Freddy is definitely Maggie’s boy. He goes to Jay for security and heavy scratching and then turn around and try to bite him. When we put Freddy on the floor, he will chase Jay all over (if he sees him) and tries to bite his heel. Maggie has to pick him up and carry him back since he doesn’t step up. In the beginning, Maggie would have to spend countless hours working with him but he also required Jay’s presence for security. On-going Progress: Freddy has progressed to the point of being more secure. He is still unsure of his body movements but he has no fear of friend or foe. He does not cower any more and he is front and center. A warm friendship with Spock has occurred. (See Photo #2) Some of his plumage has returned but it is an ongoing process because he still plucks and we do not believe that this will be something in the near future that we will be able to conquer. (See Photo #3) He will not eat pellets…they will always be tossed out. Freddy needs constant attention. He is not demanding and he is very well adapted at amusing himself and his only scream time is sunrise. He has low perches because of his unsteady body movements but loves to climb down and explore. The Future continues: Freddy still has one serious problem…we believe it if from being alone for so long…he hasn’t adapted to the busyness and the noise that is a constant with a large flock; he is not a flock type bird. When the general flock is noisy and rambunctious, it stresses him out and increases his plucking. This seems to be getting worse on a daily basis. If we take him into the bedroom with us and shut the door, he calms down quickly but is always on the alert of any flock noise. At times when this is going on, he will call out “Freddy, pretty boy. Freddy here” and want you to come to sit with him. When we moved Tango in, a large Blue-eyed Triton Cockatoo (her story will be in a later installment), we placed her cage near but not close to Freddy’s cage with disastrous results. There is no sexual interest and when into touching distance, they will fight. Separated by a few feet, they ignore each other and co-exist. They both ignore the rest of the flock. They have co-existed approximately 8 months. Neither is demanding of our attention any more than the other. The Future: To the surprise and amazement of some of you, Freddy will be one of our few re-homed rescue (among constant agonizing and tears over this decision). The reason for this decision is that we feel his present environment is detrimental to his well-being (present and future). He is constantly stressed while around all the other birds and is a totally calm and peaceful bird when by himself around us. His new life-home and “parront” will be our son who has been coming over daily for the last three months, spending time with him, feeding, cage cleaning, handling and sitting with him at sunrise when Freddy needs his security. Maggie and I have been spending less intimate time with Freddy and they have bonded extremely well. At this point in time, Freddy will go to him instead of us and is excited to see. This is one of the hardest decisions that we have ever made in our lives but we feel that it is in Freddy’s best interest for a healthy and happy future. Freddy gets along with our son’s wife and daughter. We have been taking him over to our son’s house and leaving him for a number of hours so he gets used to staying there with them. It’s just about time that we will leave him over-night and not return until the next day. If this works the way we think it will, we will leave him for two days, then three days, and then a week, eventually stopping visiting altogether. This is for Freddy’s sanity, not ours. Jayd and Maggie

Pipers going to be okay!!!!, our prayers

Hows HotShot? were really worried?????

This is something that we don't have a definite answer for. We understood that the toy had been with him for over a year. From the time we brought him home we never saw him actually play with any toys and we hadn't changed anything because it was his cage and we wanted him to be surrounded by his familiar things. This incident happened about three days after we brought him home. Yes, it could have happened before, like you said, or after we went to bed and he could have caught his talon in it then. We let Buddy in the other room play with it and he became violent with it so, that could have happened. It looked like this only used!!!

Thank you very much! We've enjoyed writing this (among some tears) and we have received more than we have given...We're looking forward to telling the others stories. i will try to answer these questions in order... Was he quarantined? Joey was in the pet store for six months and the last month before we brought him home, we had him quarantined. Did he come home in the cage previously in, toys etc? We brought him home in his original cage with all his toys. In fact, an interesting story...One morning, shortly after we brought him home, he was standing on a different perch than his sleeping perch, wobbly, squatted down with his feathers ruffled, eyes half-closed. We panicked, our hearts stopped, and we called the vet and made an emergency appointment. Jay put his hand in and asked him to step up (first time-first sign of trust). Wobbling, he stepped up and Jay tried to set him on his main perch. Beside this perch, was one of Joey's original favorite toys, a rope and block bushy toy. Jay accidentally touched it and Joey shivered and squawked. We realized almost immediately that Joey felt the toy had turned against him and was totally afraid of it. While Jay held Joey, I took the toy and hid it out of sight. Joey stepped up onto his main perch after cautiously looking around the cage and proceeded to fall asleep. He slept for almost six hours straight and for some reason, he was afraid of this toy and had stayed awake all night and into the morning. We called and canceled the Vet appointment after Joey awoke wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. How long did you just sit or stand near the cage and try to let joey know you were kind and different humans than the previous two? Every available moment that we weren't with other birds and we often brought other birds over and socialized with both of them. (Group Therapy) How long was it before he began venturing out of his cage and sitting on the perch, also what did you do to possibly encourage it? It took about three months before he would come out on his own. Whenever we were home (except for bedtime) we left the cage door open and the path to his outside cage perch open and available. Slowly, he would move one inch and go back, the next day two inches and back...sometimes we would walk by without saying anything so he wouldn't feel constantly watched...other times, we sounded like a cheer-leading squad.... Did you ever try to step him up before he became comfortable enough to come out? At first we would fuss around the inside of his cage to show him our hands weren't a threat and they were part of his everyday life. We would take a finger to his beak and touch his toes. We would put our finger to his chest and say "Step up" which usually resulted in a pretty good bite (Ouch)...but it took seven months before he finally stepped up. How long was it before you asked for and received a step up? Approximately seven to eight months.(This baby was and still is afraid) Now, if he doesn't want to step up, he will take his beak and push your hand away. Not as much biting... How long have you had him with you now? We have had him for just over a year. We have known him for 15 months. Thank you! Love to answer questions... Jay-d Maggie

Joey: Congo African Grey Parrot Present Age: Four years old Abuse Type: Mental and Severe Psychological (No visible sign of Physical abuse) Background: We know the pet store that Joey had originally been purchased from. He had been weaned and clipped, never allowed to fly. For the next two years we had no record and we have not been able to speak to the previous owners. After purchasing Joey and with some help also with help from Joey himself, we have been able piece together some of his past history and his previous owners. His previous owners were a well-established young couple. The female was never fond of any types of pets, did not fit her lifestyle. Joey had favored the male and there had been a bonding but it wasn’t a healthy bonding. Shortly after getting Joey, which brought problems to the marriage, the male was more interested in maintaining harmony than integrating Joey. This brought about bickering over Joey between the two owners with the female getting more and more agitated, putting him in a small room by himself, being ignored by both of them except for cage cleaning, food and water. There was a lot of arguments that took place within earshot of Joey, possible marital abuse, yelling at Joey by both of them, cage being tapped, arguments about whether to keep Joey or get rid of him. At this point, the owners decided, (not mutually) to get rid of Joey. So, at this point, Joey and his cage was taken to a pet store where the owner agreed to hold him for awhile and let Joeys owners visit him for a while (which was wrong). They only visited him three times over the next six months, arguing in his presence each time. At this point in time, we took Joey into our hearts and home. The Homecoming: We didn’t know this young Grey’s name, so we called him Jim (Kirk) to go along with Spock. At this time, we had enough birds for everyone in the city. He was a quiet bird and would sit in his cage in the back and be soundless. He would let you change his water and food (he had been on seeds only diet). He would also shake if you came near the cage and would constantly head-search while chewing his toe-nails. He was extremely neurotic…he was a small bird and looked like he might have been stunted from lack of a proper diet. We introduced him to everyone and we did not attempt to hold him. We talked to him and talked to our other fids in front of him. If we saw that he was being extremely nervous, we would go out of our way to stop and talk to him with a “Hi Jim” etc, and we were slowly discovering the depth of his psychological and mental abuse. We left the cage door open whenever we were home and awake which at this stage was 24/7. One day, Jay left the room and in the most concerned voice, Joey called out “Hello! Are you okay?” When Jay came back, Joey was standing at the open door looking down the hallway, looking for Jay to come back. He would also say “Hello”, “How are you?” at this time. He also started talking to himself…bringing up his past two years. While shaking badly, he would say things like “Are you going to feed me?” “Get a lawyer”, “You can run but you can’t hide!” “LIAR!” He would make crying sounds…he would do this while we were not in the room (plus other things too sad to say). During this period, we were introducing him to all sorts of fresh veggies and fruits. (It has taken over a year to get him to eat veggies and fruits) Besides his ruminations, he also started talking, calling to the other fids, calling us by name, singing but always reverting to his old self and chewing his nails and shaking. Out of nowhere, as Jay and I were walking by his cage, he looked Jay straight in the eye and said, “I’m Joey, NOT Jim”. He told us this twice (imagine us with our jaws on the ground) and we had to start changing his name on our threads. Now and into the Future: Joey lets us hold him and play with him more each day. He is coming out of the closet so to speak…he is an ideal parrot in a number of ways but it is all from his abuse years. He has built his life on his own routines. He eats at the same time each day, he talks at the same time each day, he preens himself at the same time each day…he definitely has obsessive-compulsive tendencies. For the last two months we have not heard him say anything from his abusive past. He has a growing vocabulary and strong cognitive abilities which we believe has roots in his abusive years. He lets us hold him when he wants to. At times, he is very cage-territorial and he stays on his cage. He will perch and let you take him from his cage for a few moments only. We have a perch on the outside of his cage and he likes to spend most of his time looking out the window. He is extremely vocal and interacts with Spock and Salsa and lets both of them eat and drink from his bowls and he plays tail-chase with both of them on his cage. He is very insecure anywhere away from his cage. It is an ongoing process to try to get him comfortable enough to stay away from his cage. He has attempted to fly on four-five occasions to fly and they have been disastrous. This is definitely due to the fact that he was constantly clipped. (We have set out pillows on his common landing areas that is more often missed than hit.) At times, he will revert to something that triggers his bad memories and will pin his eyes and draw blood out of the clear blue. Once he snaps out of it, he is very affectionate and loving. The Future continues: On-going Progress: In the last couple of weeks, Joey has made some amazing changes. To everyone’s surprise, when you open his cage in the morning, he will hang from the top of the cage, wait for you to support him with your hand and involve you in beaky play. He will hang with one foot and grab your hand with the other (Yikes!) and play roughly while talking to you. (Non-Sexual) He’s molting and he’s also found out that a human finger is excellent for rubbing the pin feathers at the bend of the leg where it touches the body. In the few moments that he lets you hold him, he has leaned against our chest (on his own) and cuddled. Now and Beyond: Daily, you can still see the pain that he has endured. When he thinks we are not observing him, he reverts to his shaking and nail chewing to a lesser extent. His most recent trait that the past is still current in is memory is when we have to leave, he will let out a couple of loud contact calls and puff up to almost twice his size and stare and you and call while you are leaving. It is so sad… They NEVER forget…any abuse is a major and daily part of their lives and they live with it….it is always there to haunt them. Jayd and Maggie