rbpittman

The peanut butter idea sounds wonderful. I have all of my fids on Harrison's and the switch was not easy until I found out that lightly spraying them with baby white grape juice (literally meant for babies). It doesn't cause the pellets to get mushy, even though Dixie is a dunker, she readily eats them instead of just throwing them out. Beau and Morgan started on Harrison's so not major issues with getting them to eat them. Yoshi is in the process of switching. I've added about 10 pellets to her normal meal daily and she's eating them very well. I do keep a bowl of just Harrison's in their cage without anything on them for that "snack" they need/want when I'm not looking or it's not meal time and they do get eaten without the spritz of juice. I also keep a bowl on the playstand - Morgan thinks he's getting more than anyone else because that's his preferred "eating" station. Robin

Wow what a day! Yoshi has warmed up so wonderfully to everyone in the house (people wise). LP is not feeling very well today, but she brightened his day by sitting on the shower curtain rod while he showered and played "peek-a-boo" with him. She's unleashing all her charms quickly. She's enamored with Sarah. When we let her out of her cage this morning she climbed up the door and stepped up onto my hand. This has been normal since I got her Friday night, but then she flew off me to Sarah. She was giving kisses and letting Sarah scratch her head and neck within just a few minutes. We decided to hang a small net across the door way from hall into the living room and kitchen so she could have the three bedrooms on the back of the house to wander in until after her vet visit on Thursday. She has explored all three bedrooms, decided that Sarah's room is the most favored place at the moment. We rolled her playstand in there for the morning. She followed Sarah every where she went this morning - between the spare room and her room, even coming when called. She's flown to all of us for that matter, being extremely social. Jessica has done a wonderful job socializing Yoshi. It's "naptime" at the moment, so everyone is "in jail" as my husband puts it. Yoshi (along with everyone else) enjoyed fresh papaya and green beans for breakfast along with some whole grain wheat toast. She is eating very well and is so much fun immediately. What a major difference in comparing her to when Dixie first came home. Yoshi talked to me almost immediately - Dixie took a week. Yoshi is eating well immediately - Dixie scared me for almost 2 days not eating anything. Yoshi is happy to see everyone - Dixie wants her "Paul." We are having a grand time and fortunately enough people in the house to make this transition an easy one until everyone joins the same room, splitting people between the rooms so no one is neglected in any way. (Sarah usually studies and watches TV in her room, LP is usually in the great room with Sterling, I'm almost always in my office.) The biggest challenges are yet to come I know when we introduce Yoshi to the rest of the flock. I'll probably start a new thread about the transition, acceptance, indifference, problems, you name it, I'm prepared for it all. Pictures to come soon! Robin

I'm gonna have to take Beau to see that - maybe he'll figure it out and learn to fly himself! Thanks for the post - looks like an amazing movie to see - now I can't wait! Robin

Just one more dig for my snowbound friends in the North - but remember that I love ya and wish you tons of warmth. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=31241091&l=712dc846ab&id=1446877228 PS - I'll kick in two quarters. Robin

We have made the trip home. It was difficult leaving Jessica in Florida with Yoshi coming to South Carolina. We have Yoshi temporarily housed in our spare room - she's settled in for the night and will only have to stay there until after we see the vet on Thursday and come home with a clean bill of health. Having that all done, Yoshi's cage is now assembled and up in my office. We did a clean up on it with vinegar and water as the disenfectant (not that it would need it). Morgan and Beau were both instrumental in putting the cage together. Morgan checked out the play top to make sure it was assembled properly and Beau inspected the interior. The hard part is now waiting until Thursday for an introduction. Yoshi is eating well and traveled wonderfully from Florida in the travel cage. We stopped a couple of times to let her out in the truck so she wouldn't feel like a prisoner the whole time. She enjoyed a french fry when we stopped for lunch. The trip home was uneventful, which was a blessing. Tomorrow we will let her spend a lot of time out of her cage in the spare room on her cage and a new boing that my husband hung up. She also has her playstand to play in as well in there. We'll post more as we have more info to share. I'm hoping that the rest of flock is excited to see her and accept her well. I'm sure they will, I have faith in them. Robin

Sitting here in Cocoa Beach with little Yoshi happily sleeping in the travel cage. This is the first time I've taken a bird into a hotel with me, so we're both having a new experience. Once we got into the room she ate a little, drank a little water and ate a little more. When she realized Mom and I were sitting there watching her eat she decided she would stop. I opened the cage door to see if she would step up as easily to me as she did at Jessica's house and sure enough she did. We sat there watching Mom flip channels for about twenty minutes, Yoshi on my shoulder and attempting to get my glasses. Of course I prevailed in "no you can't have my glasses" and she decided she would settle for some head scratches. I let Yoshi sit on top of the travel cage and she started making a few beeps and chirps for us, and eventually regaled us with ten-twelve rounds of "Peek-a-Boo." Tomorrow we're going back to Jessica's to gather up the remainder of Yoshi's belongings and head back to South Carolina. I had a wonderful evening with Jessica and Mike. They both care very much that Yoshi is taken care of and given the best home possible. I know it is breaking Jessica's heart to see Yoshi go, but I'm so thrilled to be the one to get her. Robin

After watching Blue climb around the hospital cage this morning I am happy to report he is doing very well. He's using his right leg to maneuver around the cage, as opposed to move left leg, move right leg to same position, move left leg. Today he is using both legs/feet equally and screaming at the top of his lungs to get out. I let him spend an hour in his cage with Bean and he seemed to much happier and active. I put him back in his hospital cage while I was away to run errands and pick up LP, but have him back at "home" for dinner. He's playing and eating very well, doing his usual, grab a piece of food, climb up and over to dunk it into the water bowl. Believe it or not I had almost three full days of not having to change the water three times a day! Guess that's gone! Oh well, I'll see how they do when I turn out lights this evening, if he roosts in his usual place then I will leave him in there, if not - back to the hospital ward! Robin

Just so you know I'm feeling your pain (tongue in cheek here) I drove to pick up LP from school with the top down and my shades on! It was a balmy 77 degrees and no signs of snow! No shadow, winter should be over with soon - at least here in the South! Robin

Ditto what Morana said - greys are great empaths and sense your anxiousness. Then again, I've lived this story. Dixie was brought home for ME, not my husband. She was my mother's day present for goodness sake. As with all children, they have their favorites, I am not Dixie's, but I still love her with all my heart. She chose my husband, such is life. She still lets me snuggle her on occassion, but forget it when it comes to the things she will do with my husband or son for that matter! Love Romeo from a distance and let him come to you. Robin

As much publicity as goes on about Phil & Pete (or James if your from the islands down here) I think they may tell you "Here's a quarter, call someone who cares."

Wow, You are one of the BEST parronts and Sydney is so lucky to have you! My baby's story isn't about mutilation, but he did have some issues, maybe his story will help. When I got my Beau he was totally naked on his chest. From there he went to totally destroying his right wing - to the point of his vet removing 22 flight and secondary flight feathers. I did my best to keep him from heights, but his determination to be near me would cause him to jump off even the shortest perch on the ground and crash, causing breaks in his skin right on the breast bone. We went through all of the normal bathing twice a day, once with clear water, the second with aloe. After multiple scares with his chest wound, the scab would get pulled off by: Beau himself, rubbing it on the cage, rubbing it on a toy, rubbing it on his perch, falling, using his beak, you name it, I used aloe gel. I applied the aloe gel every four hours to keep the scab from becoming to dry. The dry scab would itch, pull on the skin, irritate Beau and cause the process to be repeated. After almost 3 months of this ugly scab and on his chest which only seemed to grow larger and larger, it fell off, and revealed a beautiful little pink chest! Today he's completely covered in feathers on his chest. His wing is growing new feathers and he's not destroying them. I got Beau 16 monhs ago and while he's still not "perfect" in appearance, he's perfect for me. He still gets a daily shower, is the sweetest little guy and loves to snuggle. I think he's perfect on matter what his feathers look like. Keep up the GREYT work, it is so wonderful to hear that Sydney has found such a wonderful loving home. I'm sure Sydney will benefit from being with the rest of the flock and enjoy being a part of the "big picture." I can give one piece of advise and it was given to me by Dr. Flock himself - don't let your emotions about Sydney be obvious. Greys are empaths and can read you like a book, and will feel your stress and distress over their wounds and in turn stress themselves. Keep us posted on the progress. Robin

Pray for snow in Philly, Pray for snow in Philly - if it's snowing the groundhog can't see his shadow! There Val, I talked to my people and they decided we needed to pray for more snow so you wouldn't have 6 more weeks of winter weather!....LOL. Robin

All of my fids (10 of them) eat Harrison's pellets supplements with a seed mix (no sunflower), a few nuts weekly, fresh vegetables and fruits daily. The primary food for mine is the fresh stuff and the nuts. The pellets they do eat and readily, but that is more of a staple with the other food being their primary. What was your bird eating before the Harrison's - conversion may be your biggest challenge. Robin Yes, even the parakeets get Harrison's fine pellet mixed with their seed!

Of all the people I've encountered in talking about my birds (10 of them) the bigggest question that is asked is "do they talk" and of all of them, there has only been one who has an aversion to birds - and she's owned by her husband's U2 "Lulu" who is insanely jealous. I've yet to have anyone tell me they were afraid of birds though. Guess I live in a bird friendly place. Socialization is very important, Beau loves to go out and meet people, as long as they respect him, they are cool, he respects them. He's often a "boy scout" when we go camping or just to meetings. Robin

Sorry about that Judy! (not really) Here's what we had last February: 22 miles from the Atlantic Ocean and that much snow! I don't think I want any more! Did spend the rest of the afternoon working on an Eagle Scout project in the snow which was fun. Ray - Keep your snow and I'll keep my sunshine! Remember - I love you all!

It's Tuesday and I can't wait to make the trip south to pick up Yoshi. We've already rearranged my office to accommodate Yoshi's cage. No the TV didn't get mounted on the wall, but that was a delusional promise to begin with...lol. He's not perfect in every way, just perfect for me! Blue is currently using my travel cage as a hospital so this purchase has been put into use quite a bit this week. We'll be moving Blue out of ICU (his hospital/travel cage) on Friday morning into the smaller parakeet cage I have that is currently empty for a brief stay over night if he's still limping as much Friday morning as he is today. Otherwise, I'm thinking he'll be fine in his normal cage with all perches moved to the bottom of the cage and toys lowered to "reach" level from the cage floor. Jessica called last night and we will be having dinner on Friday night in Florida - I'm looking forward to this, there is so much I want to learn from them about Yoshi. The more information I have, the better the transition for Yoshi. I'm planning on taking my camera so I can get pictures of the cage set up and everything before it's taken apart so I can reconstruct things the same way. Consistency for Yoshi is also important. I'm sure there will be a lot of trauma with the long car ride and then coming into a new flock. We've set up a cage in the spare room and a stand for Yoshi to spend the first few days in until we can get to the vet for a check-up. I'm sure Yoshi is in excellent health, but any time we have brought a new bird in there is always a quarantine time until after the vet check to make sure no one gets sick. That means we don't want Yoshi catching anything from our flock or bringing anything in. Timing is absolutely perfect as everyone just went to the vet for their annual check-ups in October (except Blue, he saw the vet this week!) Jessica will be giving me all of Yoshi's vet records to give to Dr. Jose so everything is in good order and I already have an appointment for the next week. I'm sure all of the readers of this forum are well versed on bringing in a new bird to the rest of the flock, but it was through this forum that I learned the right way to do exactly that. I have been extraordinarily lucky with every bird that we've brought in. Only one was unhealthy, but he was sick and injured, not unhealthy in a way that could affect the rest of the flock, and all were health checked by my vet before coming into the same room. I've been truly blessed in the babies who have joined our flock, for they all bring their own distinct personalities and joys, and they truly are my babies. My husband says I will never suffer from "empty nest syndrome." Robin

Beware - all south bound snow loads will be turned around at the border. Passports may be required for those entering and wishing for snow in the south! PS: I slept with the windows open last night! Will be camping in a few weeks (sleeping in a tent!)

Quick update on Blue - he flew today for the first time since his ordeal. I let him out of his "hospital" for a while - extremely supervised - this morning. He was more his usual self today than the past two. His "limp" is much less noticeable, but he still is not put full weight on his right leg, although he is using his talon to grasp the cage bars and hold on to his perch. I am happy to say he is climbing all over the travel cage. Bean (his cage companion) was very happy to get to spend time with Blue. They spent quite a bit of time preening each other and obviously happy to be together - not separated by a cage. I hate keeping the two of them separated, but I need to keep Blue from climbing up and possibly falling since his leg is injured. The vet's office called today to follow-up and said that if continues to make such good progress he should be back to normal in no time. Not sure I want normal - want not getting into trouble! Will settle for normal. Robin

Absolutely wonderful - thanks for the share - now I have another thought of what to do while Dixie and Flock take their baths!

Yesterday was one of the worst days in the flock. Blue (sun conure) took it upon himself to sneak into Dixie's cage while no one was looking and got tangled up in the strings (paper) hanging from her pinata. Dixie wasn't in her cage of course, she was off with Daddy (Paul) but I had stepped out back to scrub a cage grate. I don't know how long he was tangled, but I was gone for about 10 minutes with the grate. When I found him, he was totally exhausted, he has some damage to his right foot/leg as he is favoring it. To be real honest, I thought he was a goner when I found him. Not totally limp, but just no energy at all. He wasn't holding his head up at all. I examined him from head to tail to make sure he hadn't broken his wing or leg. He lost a blood feather and had a spot of blood on his wing, but I didn't see any break in the skin. Not confident in my own exam we went to the vet today. X-rays don't show any breaks or dislocations so his vet feels it is "sprained/strained" from the thrashing around. Blue spent the night in our "hospital." It's the travel cage with all toys/perches/play things removed. I lined the bottom with a towel and placed small crocks of water and food inside. After I was able to get Blue to take some water from my finger, I set him inside the cage close to the crock of water. He did drink some water and then squealed loudly when I walked away to get something from the kitchen. An hour or so later he was eating. The hospital was moved to my bedroom near my bedside so I could check on him often. I partially covered the cage to block most of the light. Blue will be spending the next 3 days in the hospital unless he shows remarkable recovery, but we're not pushing it. If you haven't considered a hospital box/cage, please do so immediately. Having the things I needed in one place at the time I needed them was so important to the well being of Blue. I didn't need the first aid supplies that are stored with it, but I had them if I needed them. Robin

I'm right there with you and totally elated for you as well. Morgan has finally started letting me get near him. He was stepping up (while grumbling loudly) while hand feeding, but after that stopped he really did so begrudgingly. In the last two weeks he's decided that I'm not the big bad wolf after all and will step up more readily and without the grumbles. Congratulations on the breakthrough. I know you are over the moon with this one!

No south bound snow allowed! Here in South Carolina we had enough snow last February to last us another 20 years - 4-6 inches - and it had been that long between measurable snow falls. Thank goodness it lasted only for the morning and by afternoon it was completely gone. Having gone through 2 blizzards in Michigan and another two in Indiana - I've had my fill and prefer my coastal weather. Even the occasional hurricane is more welcome than the snow. Robin

I didn't see you list any wood chew toys for him to play with? I now mine would be absolutely bonkers if they didn't have an assortment of "wooden" chew toys to shred. It keeps them busy for a while, although they have been known to destroy one of their favorite toys in a few hours.

Nothing weird about that at all! Enjoy it while you can, they grow up so quick and become independent. Pretty soon he'll be asking for the keys to the car along with cash, coming in late. What's a momma bird to do? Seriously though, it's absolutely wonderful they way they let you cuddle and hold them. Beau insists that I cradle his entire head in my hand, almost completely covering it, while gently rubbing the top of his head with my thumb. Cuddle up!

Dave I have my Beau who came to me completely naked on his front and has severely damaged his right wing. I'll be glad to participate. Robin