skmunson

Benji has been sitting on my forearm for about an hour now. He's being very affectionate, staring at my face, turning his head. He just keeps doing this tiny little chirp--a happy little chirp. But three times now, he has made this noise like he is inhaling through his mouth a little. He does it like three times and then a little sound comes from the back of his throat--a little squeak or chirp. I know often the first sign of illness or distress in a bird is thru their breathing. He seems otherwise fine. He's just very lovey, dovey and seems to be experimenting with some different sounds. He had his pellets today and some apple this morning--no seeds. He grabbed a piece of tomato off the chopping board at dinner and I took it right away from him. That was like three hours ago and he's been fine. Now it's been about ten minutes since he made that breathing noise. He is clearly getting sleeping but he's about 20 mins away from his normal bed time. Do you think he's ok?

My Benji is four months old and the other night we were sitting in the living room and he "meowed" just like one of our kittens. I jumped up and ran around the house saying, "he meowed, he meowed." Then I saw the kitten come from under the couch. The joke was on me; but, I was psyched for a minute. I guess, in this case, the learning curve is all mine.

That's what I call it; but, I'm wondering if any of you can give me a better idea of what he is doing. When Benji first comes out of his cage in the evening when I get home from work and the whole family is doing their thing, he sits on a chair back or a perch and watches for a while. Then, without warning, he lets out this huge screetch and flies around the family room a couple of times and lands again. He'll sit for a while and then do it again. He does it about three or four times an evening and then he just relaxes into his hanging out with the family routine. There is no provocation that I can see. It just seems like he is acting or playing like he's a bird out in the wild or something. Any ideas?

I'm sorry but you signed a lease that allowed pets. Now that they've changed the terms of the contract, you are no longer bound. I would see a lawyer and ask them to send a letter threatending legal action to break the lease if they don't release you. Usually, they will release you rather than deal with the hassle of a drawn out affair. You could send a letter on your own; but, unfortunately they may pay more notice to one from a lawyer. The lawyer might do it for a low fee.

Benji's DOH is 4-9-09. I saw him from birth on at the breeders so I know this is accurate. He is about 3.5 months old. I was reading the personality stages topic and I'm a little concerned. When I took him to his well check he bit the vet and she acted surprised saying, babies don't usually bite. In the personality stages, it says at this age he should be docile and compliant for the most part. But he will bite if he doesn't want to step up. He stops if you say, "no bite." But, he bites. He doesn't do it really hard but he can if he wants. If he's on the table and I ask him to step-up he will turn and run around and around the table and then take flight. Now I can deal with all of this. He is mostly very sweet and loves attention. I can understand his not wanting to do everything on command--who does? My fear is that if he is acting like this at this early age, will he become more aggressive? I mean what will the terrible twos be like if he is already like this? I didn't give much thought to his behavior and assumed it was normal until my vet commented on the biting and I read the stages. Is he destined to be a more aggressive bird b/c he is fairly bold at this early age? Or do I need to be extra careful in enforcing boundaries at this early age?

Everything I've read--here and elsewhere--discourages having your bird on your shoulder. I guess this is because it puts them in a position of dominance? Then they can also be in a position to bite or hurt you inadvertently or not. I'm not 100% clear on this; but, I've done my best to remove Benji everytime he lands on or climbs up there. But he is soooooo perisitent. So awhile ago he crept up my arm, to the shoulder and snuggled my head, groomed me a little, and just gurgled and coooed with delight. So I'm asking do you recommend a strict no-shoulder policy? Once in a while or not at all? Thanks

Okay. Last evening Benji was out of his cage hanging with the family. I was cleaning his cage and took the fresh food bowl out to clean it. I didn't put it back in b/c he ate dinner out of the cage and I wasn't putting any fresh food back in until this a.m. Of course, he had his pellets. Apparently, I didn't latch the food door where the bowl was missing. This side of the cage is like two inches from the wall and the gap without pulling the cage from the wall is like maybe an inch or so. Anyway--I'm sure you see this coming--when I came down this a.m. he wasn't in his cage. But there he was, sweet little boy, perched right beside his cage on his mobile perch which is sitting on the dining room table. There is no poop anywhere so I'm assuming he made his escape right b/f I came downstairs. He probably woke up, went to look for breakfast and discovered the gap and--with some great flexibility, wriggled out of the cage. I am so glad he didn't get into anything while he was out. And he was so sweet just sitting there like a big boy on his perch waiting for me to come down. Obviously, the lesson is to double check the cage doors; but, I'm also really proud of how good he was.

I sort of felt like he knows what he is doing and that toys they sell must be safe. Surely they anticipate the toys being chewed to bits. Besides I think if I reassembled the pile of wood shreds on the floor beside the cage, they would just about equal the missing pieces from the toy:laugh: Thanks for all the input.

I have bird friendly toys in his cage and he seems to like them. One has a wooden part--it has red coating on it. He chews it and shreds it and throws it all over. I know he needs to be able to chew and shred, etc. But I worry that he is swallowing some of it. I mean most of it is on floor of cage or on the carpet around the cage; but, surely he swallows a little of it. I ordered it from a bird site and it says safe materials; but, I'm just concerned.

I like that idea, Jane. Thanks

Every time I get up to walk across the room, he flies from the perch and lands on me. It's like he's afraid I'm going to leave him. But I just keep putting him back. When I see him getting ready to fly off, I tried holding my hand out in a stop sign and say, "stop." I saw this in a book. He comes anyway. I guess it's all about consistency and repetition. I hate putting him back b/c I'm so happy he wants to come to me; but, I know in the long run it's in his best interest to be trained. On a good note, he has quit biting at my hands when I remove him from my head/shoulder when he lands there. If I feel him make the move I just firmly say no and he stops. If only my two and four year old DDs listened so well.lol

I could eat a whole bag of them--and have. Maybe I'll take the seeds out and let Benji try them. It seems the general rule is that fruit seeds are bad? But you can't avoid tiny seeds like kiwi, grape, and banana. So maybe a rule of thumb is, if it's a seed I'd eat and digest like kiwi, etc. then it's ok. If it's a seed I wouldn't eat: cherry, apple, watermelon, then it's a no-no?

are they ok?

I had Benji on one of his perches in the kitchen tonight while were all eating dinner. He kept flying over to the table and immediately trying to snatch food. I returned him to his perch repeatedly until finally I gave up and put him back in his cage. He had already had his dinner. Did I handle this correctly? I really want to perch train him so he can hang out with us; but, only come when he's called so he doesn't get hurt or become too aggressive about his business of socializing. I'm so happy to have this forum. I hope you don't grow tired of my asking questions.

Okay, that's what I thought. Maybe they were just mixing pictures of different parrots. Thanks

If you don't mind, what is the difference btwn. the amazon and the macaw? I've googled the pictures and some look just alike depending on coloring. Thanks.

He was sitting on his portable perch last night in my bedroom. He was comfortable on his perch with one leg pulled up. And he started making this noise with his beak: it sounded like card shuffling almost--but quieter. He seemed pretty peaceful at the time. He is also fixated on his tongue--sticking it out all of the time. He's 3.5 months old. Thanks

with "flying" colors. The vet said he looked great. She said she only sees healthy birds coming from my breeder so that was good to hear. He did nibble on her finger once :ohmy: and she said that was a first in the last two years. She said she let her guard down because he was a baby. He wasn't being mean or anything and he stopped when she said no; but, he I think he was a little nervous. Anyway, happy with our clean bill of health.

Thank you all so much. I've owned dogs and cats and fish my whole life. I have a dog and two kittens now. But this is my first bird and I sort of feel like I did when I brought my first daughter home from the hospital. Benji is just so dependent upon me and I don't want to let him down. He left the breeder where he lived with his brother and sisters (they were leaving too, of course) and the flock that the breeders keep for themselves (all resuced parrots of various kinds) and now he's on his own. He has no choice but to trust and depend upon me. I just look at his sweet little face and you can see how trusting he is of me and I don't want to screw it up. Thanks for all of your help.

Okay so now I'm freaking out. I've been reading around the forum and I've seen a lot of talk about putting blankets or towels on the floor of the cage for safety. He is in his big cage and there are no towels or blankets on the bottom. He is 3.5 mos old. He can fly. He has perches very near the bottom, in the middle, and at the top. He climbs all over and likes to perch on his food or water bowls mostly. I put him on the lowest perch this a.m. just so he would know it was available and he immediately climbed higher. What if he falls though? I've seen him slide down the bars of the cage once with his feet wrapped around them like a firehouse pole; but, it almost seemed intentional. He flies outside of the cage just fine. Maybe I should leave work early and go put towels down. He doesn't seem completely sure footed but he is not discouraged. He climbs like crazy.

Introducing myself here. I just brought my four month old TAG, Benji, home a couple of days ago. Everything is going well so far. He steps up for me and my four year old daughter. He is eating well. He slept in his sleep cage last night. He flies to me upon request. He is adorable. I have a few questions: 1. I think he is preening. He runs his beak along his feathers and nibbles at his down feathers. One little down feather came off in his mouth and he spit it out. Is this normal preening? I'm worried about the plucking I've heard about. 2. I put him in his sleep cage last night and after exploring a little, he settled in on a perch. This a.m. he was in the same spot but was awake. Do I assume he slept all night? He stepped right up this a.m. and went to his big cage and ate. But, I'm worried about how I will know if he is sleeping and getting enough sleep. 3. Is anodized aluminum cookware safe to cook with? Maybe I should put him upstairs in sleep cage while I cook to be safe. His living cage is about ten feet from kitchen in another room but with no door seperating. I have his well check tomorrow a.m. and can ask the vet; but, I'd love to hear your opinions. Thanks. I'm so excited about my new baby boy!