Jayd

:blink:The baby carrots I was refering to are the ones that are cut down from large misshaped ones. If there left in the fridge for a couple of days the start to turn white! this is the bleach leaching out. The amount of these agents our fids can absorb is far less then we can!:sick: We don't read before we eat, but we do for our Fids.<br><br>Post edited by: Jayd, at: 2009/05/15 19:08

Were lucky, we have a small veg garden and grow what our fids and we eat.(except carrots:( )The main point is that all veggies are washed in a bad solution, and a carrot with a skin soaks up less the a skinless carrot! then if you freeze it or can it, more chemicals are introduced! YES, wash your Veggies This is true for all fruits and veg's:P

I received an e-mail from a friend of a friend of a carrot farmer. Since we feed Spock and all our other birds fresh carrots regularly, we started buying baby carrots because of the convenience. The story is: Baby carrots are shaped in a machine from misshapen and broken larger carrots. After processing, all the baby carrots are soaked in a chlorine/water solution. The amount of chlorine absorbed into the skinless carrot is much greater than in a skinned carrot and also due to the length of time spent soaking. Chlorine is a known carcinogenic and needless to say, we have stopped feeding Spock, our other birds and ourselves the baby carrots. We will be going back to organic carrots. We thought this would be interesting to all. Maggie and Jay

:cheer: Greetings, Not yet decided about PVC OR CPVC, where they sell PVC pipe they sell a snip like tool for cutting it, fairly cheap. PVC come in Schedule 40, and 80, 80 is stiffer. If I remember right. Jayd:unsure:

THANK YOU to all. It really was scary. It looked like bright red urine. Spock must have had it on his feet because it streaked when he ran across the couch. Looking at Jay, I do see that his gray temples have turned white...:laugh: Maggie

This morning, Jay and I were sitting on the couch, having breakfast with Spock between us. Spock was on his place-mat, playing with his toy abacus and having a grand time. We saw Spock take a hop/skip and then saw a large red spot on the couch about the size of a silver dollar. We then saw a long streak/smear of bright red that we thought was blood. I immediately picked up Spock and checked him over while Jay checked his rump area. We were ready to take him to the vets office and then visit the emergency room after for our heart attacks. It then occurred to us that his RED vegetable dyed toy abacus had been laying in a little bit of water left on the place-mat from Spock's breakfast earlier. WHEW!!!!!!! What a scare that was!!!!! Now all toys are washed in warm water, you'd be surprised how much dye comes out of these toys! Maggie and Jay

Greetings,theres a lot of love there! Jayd and Maggie (AND Spock!!)The people here are GREEEAT!!!

Rollo eats just about anything he can get his hands or paws on, especially if the birds had it or he thought they had it first...:laugh: I think he draws the line at pickles though he does like them on his hamburger...:laugh: Spock is a little piggie for sure; Spock still wants his morning and evening formula. When Spock is done, we serve Rollo the last spoon of formula (with his own spoon) and then Spock will growl for his formula again when he sees Rollo eating the last bit. Jay always saves a bite to feed Spock again and Spock will do the head bob and pretend to eat but the formula just goes everywhere. :laugh: Spocks weights 509 grams and growing!!! Maggie & Jay<br><br>Post edited by: Jayd, at: 2009/05/12 07:08

Oh, she is darling!!!! What a cutie! You are very lucky to have such a beautiful baby. Maggie and Jayd

When we got Spock, his breeder had him on Exact Formula so we continued him on the same diet. At six weeks, we started putting assorted pellets and veggies in his cage. We believe in the abundance theory and even though he did not eat them at the time, it was there for him to play with and taste. At seven to eight weeks old, we introduced finely chopped green leafy veggies. At ten weeks, we added finely chopped squash, zucchini, steamed carrots, broccoli and cauliflower (all finely chopped)and fruit pieces. By this time, he was down to 3 formula feedings a day and he weighed 496 grams. We also introduced him to his "smash". We continued his pellet/veggies mix with a little larger chunks added. The "smash" which we fed once a day consisted of boiled sweet potato, fresh cooked carrots, butternut squash, peanut butter and banana. This was all pureed and was fed to him via a spoon at 104 to 108 degrees. (He had given up his syringe and was spoon feeding at this time). He would eat about 2 heaping teaspoonfuls. He ate very little pellet/seeds but ate his cold veggie mix and fruits He went to 506 grams. At 11 weeks, he lost his butterball butt, cut out his morning formula feeding but continued to eat his "smash" twice a day and lost 37 grams but started to do short hops. After three days, he started his morning formula again and this has been his routine since. Now at 14 weeks, he has dropped his afternoon snack but still has his "smash" as lunch time between his morning and evening formula. He has also started nibbling on pellets and other hard food and is eating his veggies in big chunks now. We try to keep him away from any processed food as much as possible. We expect him to cut out his formula soon because he is eating more of the pellets and other foods with no digestive problem. He is putting on the weight he lost and is now eating a bean mash that we give to him daily. (I will post a "smash" and "bean mash" recipe under a separate post) He nibbles on ZuPreem Fruit Pellets, RoudyBush Maintenance and Tropican High Potency and Avian Science parrot seed, (no sunflower/peanuts seeds). He just nibbles on all of these. He does not care for Harrison's, Pretty Bird, or Kaytee Pellets.Maggie

Thank You! Happy Mother's Day to all that qualify (lol). Spock's about 506 grams!(big eater)He grew out of his last harness, hope the "Aviator" lasts him.(lol) I tend to agree with you, what they'll lack in long graceful flight they over come in maneuvering.<br><br>Post edited by: Jayd, at: 2009/05/10 18:58

Thank you caitb2007 for the usefull info!We haven't received our "Aviator", yet right now our temps have been as high as 123 degrees! also being in the desert theres a lot of hawks flying around and we have to be carfull that Spock don't see them:whistle: Echo and Spock do look alike. Maggie is going to do a post on what we've fed Spock. Thanks Jay & Maggie

Definition of attitude: Spock! Spock is 14 weeks old and started eating eating his morning formula again after 2 weeks of only night-time formula. He also eats his mash mix 2 times a day plus aaaaalllll his fresh veggies. Today, I was sitting on the couch with Spock on his playpen behind me and Rollo (his pet Min-pin) on my lap. I had just gotten a few pieces of his favorite veggies, Sugar snap peas, broccoli, zucchini, squash and cauliflower for his afternoon snack. I set the food down beside me and Spock moseyed over toward the food. Rollo jumped up, ran past Spock and proceeded to eat all the veggies while Spock looked on with a quizzical expression, as if to say he could not believe it was happening. When Rollo was done, Spock went over and beaked where the food should have been and bleeped me. I had to get up and get more food.:laugh: Maggie<br><br>Post edited by: Jayd, at: 2009/05/10 02:24

To start with, check out Echo's flight photos and movies, they're "Great". The question is "Does the surroundings a fledgling learns to fly in affect its flight abilities"? Three of us have babies that were born within a few days of each other and the flight perimeters (I assume) are different, from what I have seen of the photos. Echo's flight area seems fairly open with long flight areas and few obstacles. We live in a mobile home and the flight area is approximately 12' by 18' by 8' high. Echo's photos show long graceful flights with enough room to fly body level at a moderate speed and slow descent into landing. Spock's area is somewhat cramped and his flight is basically short hops from cage to the arm of the couch, from the couch to window ledges, fingers and heads. Maximum flight distance for him is approximately 8 to 10 feet which he flies in an upright position at a slow speed. Example: at the end of the living room flight area there's a doorway at the left of the entrance to the hallway that leads to a small room. In his normal upright position, Spock flew across the flight area to the entryway, hovered and made a 90 degree turn and hovered into the room and landed on a chair. This was all done at a slower than walking pace. (We can't wait til we can take him outside tethered, so he can stretch his wings) With no conceit intended, he seems to be developing spot and precision landing and strong directional control. This brings up another question; being that his forward speed is somewhat sedate, will he develop the skills needed for long distance flying and gliding? To sum it up, has the lack of open flight area and how much does the surroundings affect a baby Grey's flight in their lifetime? Spock first flew three weeks ago Sunday. Looking forward to any responses. Jay and Maggie<br><br>Post edited by: Jayd, at: 2009/05/10 01:50

Those pictures sure are Great! They really bring back memories and tears. It is amazing how quick they grow up and change. Having pictures really makes you appreciate everything that you go through with the bird, both good times and growing pains.... Jay & Maggie

That is FANTASTIC! What wonderful pics! You must be so proud and rightly so...it is such a wonderful moment to see them in flight and so proud of themselves. Your pics turned out fine and we loved the video. Jay and Maggie P.S. We are going to show Spock the pictures and video. He will be sooooooo jealous!

Hi, Spock here: I've discovered a new game that I like to play with my slaves. Meal times can be sooooooo boring...Scoop up, scarf down...this morning I decided to spice things up a little. My slave was in the kitchen getting breakfast for me and I decided to fly out to see what he was doing and see if I could help. I checked out the spice rack to see if anything caught my eye while he got my formula ready. I looked at the fruit too but it seems to be too much trouble to get into them so I flew over to the chair so I can supervise. When he walked back to the living room, I flew over and landed on his head so I could get a free ride. I tried to hurry him along by helping him stir but he did not appreciate my help so I flew over to see what Rollo was doing. When he finally got done and ready to feed me (it was about time) I flew back over and landed on his arm (my favorite position)and let him feed me a few bites. I flew over to my playpen and picked up a toy and my human followed me and fed me at my playpen. I ate a few more bites and then I flew over to see if my friend Rollo was awake from his nap. My slave had followed me and was feeding me while I sat on the ledge. I thought it was funny that my slave had to keep warming the formula before chasing me around to feed me each time. I looked over and saw a toy by my cage and I flew over to check it out while my slave followed me again to feed me while I played there. Boy, that was fun! They are my slaves but I love them anyway....:laugh:

Greetings! We were told that Spock was hatched on Feb. 1st so he is about the same age as Echo and Adaya. Spock had us trained within the first week we had him. When he was hungry, he would "clean house" and we would run to his cage. Jay would hold him, cuddle and feed him and I would clean out his cage and replace the shredded papers, etc. The next time he wanted to get out, he would "clean house". Needless to say, dummy me :blush: took a week to realize that he had us trained to jump and run when he wanted out. (Who's the brains around here anyway?) :laugh:

Just to ease everyone's mind, (:cheer: ) they are always supervised but Rollo and Spock get along great. Spock loves to preen Rollo and Rollo lets him. When we grabbed the camera (because we could not believe that sight:laugh: ) Spock was just out of camera sight, checking out Rollo...

That is what I call baby-cooing by Spock. He makes those sounds when he hears us get up and when he gets ready for his formula at night. This is Rollo, Spock's buddy...Rollo likes to clean up after the birds by eating their seeds, formula, veggies or anything else that they drop for him. That night, he came over to us not even realizing he had a feather in his mouth.:laugh: (I hope this does not offend anyone, it was shown in the spirit I hope it will be received.)

Thank you so much! We enjoy him so much. We have set a playpen and assorted perches for him throughout the living room and he uses his cage mainly as a sleeping cage. Spock does love those bright colors and he loves his ball too although he still goes for curtain tassels, curtain rods, other bird cages, etc.:laugh: Is your Echo quiet otherwise? Spock really is a quiet bird, especially compared with all our other ones. When he wants to eat, he baby-coos but otherwise, besides growling at a toy occasionally, he is very quiet.

Shortly after we brought Spock home, we had given him a stuffed animal in his cage with him and had a towel rolled up in the corner for him to cuddle up to. We changed the towels daily but when we put in a purple towel, Spock was immediately drawn to it...so much so that when Jay took it and the toy out to clean up the cage, Spock growled at him and flapped his wings, letting him know of his displeasure:angry: When I got off work that day, Jay and I headed over to Walmart to see if we could find a matching towel so we could take that one out to be cleaned. After 30 minutes of "discussions" debating the right shade of purple, we took our new towel home. Imagine my embarrassment:blush: when I realized Jay had been right and I had the wrong shade of purple.... Spock accepted it though, long enough for me to wash and dry his favorite towel... A few days later, we heard a horrific growling and noise coming from the cage. We ran over in time to see Spock wrestling with his stuffed animal and then he flung it over his shoulder across the cage! :lol: Needless to say, that was the end of his friend... The next week, he had the wrestling match again, this time with his purple towel...the purple towel lost... and that was the last time he had a towel left for him to cuddle with.... Aaaahhhh, always an adventure...

Good idea...didn't think about that! I started eating my morning formula again; I've really got Jay and Maggie freaked out...I like to keep them on their toes and NEVER forget who's boss around here...:laugh: Live long and prosper...Spock

Hi, this is Spock! I had a great day yesterday. I flew around the living room and into the kitchen where I discovered the window ledge and the cereal boxes on top to the freezer. I also discovered that the cereal boxes are fun to tip over, kind of like dominoes. My slaves didn't have as much fun with the boxes as I did so they came and put me on my playpen. That was fun too because they put all kinds of toys there for me. My slave stacks up a tower of blocks and I have fun knocking them down. (Anything to keep them happy and entertained...if they want to keep stacking, I'll be happy to help{Feel-good-00020069}. My favorite toy is the min-pin Rollo. I like to preen his ears and tail and I even share my mash and formula with him when I am done. This morning, I started a new game with him. I leaned over and pooped on him and then looked at him to see his reaction.:evil: I was disappointed to see that he did not move and kept on napping. Oh well, I guess playing tired him out...Got to fly...

A big thank you to caitb2007, Lyric, Luvparrot and judygram for all your kind words and welcome. You have helped to put our minds at ease...:laugh: We uploaded some photos to the gallery but we don't know if we did it right because we can't find them...we put them under Jay & Maggie with Spock as the title. (boy, do I feel dumb :blush:) At 11 weeks, Spock weighed 490 grams and he now weighs 459 grams. We were told that his parents always produce large birds. Spock has cut his morning formula for the third day in a row, no matter how Jay doctors it so we are just keeping fresh veggies/seeds/pellets in there for him. He is still eating his afternoon and evening meals. He eats pretty hefty going to bed (30cc's of formula and sweet potato mash along with his warm water.) We don't have a large flight area for Spock but he has very good control and he flies now to ledges, counter tops, other cages (Including top and sides) our Min Pin's back...They get along great except when Spock tries to preen him. :laugh: We also breed conures, cockatiels, grass parakeets, budgies and he could care less about them because he knows he is the center of attention...Hand-feeding and raising the CAG is a whole new experience compared to our other fids and we love it! We keep all entrances to his cage locked because he knows how to open them. We have a shop vac that he is not afraid of and he has learned how to push the button to turn it on and off. We found out how to upload photos so we will send them and will have more questions later... Maggie & Jay<br><br>Post edited by: Jayd, at: 2009/04/30 02:11