katana600

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Poor guy has spent the past thirty years trying to keep up. He knew what he was getting into... while we were dating, he was getting stung by a swarm of bees and I locked the car doors so he couldn't get in. He was a crazy man. Someone had to drive to the emergency room! See, I saved him. Oh the things he has seen.<br><br>Post edited by: katana600, at: 2010/01/08 23:20

That would have to go in Bernie's funny farm room. I would swim in the lake before the ice melts though. Not for long.... long enough to convince the boys to jump in behind me just to weed out the ones with weak hearts. Then, I married the only one who didn't cry. LOL:woohoo:

LOL, that is the first pic I have seen of Bernie's #1 babe, Elaine. Way to go.

Since in the wild they are prey, I think whether it is from hearing, feeling vibrations or other methods of detection, they seem to be on red-alert most of the time, even when sleeping. I softly announce my presence when I come in the room where Java is sleeping. It was my understanding that the 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness was for the purpose of convincing especially females that it is not the season to lay eggs or mate. It does help Java maintain a good attitude and she even asks to go to bed and be covered. It may just be the predictablity that she craves, but it works well for us.<br><br>Post edited by: katana600, at: 2010/01/09 13:41

Salsa is beautiful. You can tell he is just into everything and loves life. I especially love those raggedy little tail feathers!

That video was priceless, had our family laughing this morning along with everyone else. Cooper the comedian, he is just precious.

Thanks! Your baby picture just made my day. He is adorable.

How nice for you Lyn that the skies were perfectly colored for your beautiful photography. This is my best photo, LOL.

Where else to go for a good laugh than to see the antics on the forum, sometimes the birds, sometimes the people. LOL.

That is just toooo adorable. I love at the end when he is bowing his head for a little scratch and comfort after something made him look a little skittish. I am just smitten with your little guy.

It certainly sounds like a promising start. Our first few days were spent warily watching and standing like a statue. If she is preening and standing on one foot, it sounds like she has confidence and is comfortable. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/limitstart/20/training/109373-body-language-most-frequently-seen.html This is a good post about body language. Standing on one foot is normal too, they draw one foot up under the feathers and keep it warm and often switch out. Sometimes when I pick Java up she has one very warm foot and one cold foot. I love her name, take Yuki's lead and relax with her. It keeps getting better and better.

It is wonderful for you that in the short time you have had Abby she is trusting and wants to be with you, I just love that. Our three year old parrot hardly said anything for so long I din't think she was capable of speech. Then, I started reading the forum and watching videos and she saw me laughing at the antics of other birds and started talking. While Juno was here, I heard her talk more in six weeks than the rest of the time we have had her. It could be the rival aspect, I thought she was just exceptionally happy. I wouldn't advocate to withhold your attention from Abby to get her to speak, but if you were doing something with her and let her see you enjoy something else as well, it would be interesting to see if she would pursue your undivided attention and give you what you want at the same time... LOL, now that is what I would call a win-win situation. Enjoy.

I just went and checked my jug of Aloe and it is the same. I think my brand name is Fruit of the Earth, there was an earlier discussion about prices etc. but you have the right stuff to put in a spray bottle and spritz Francis. One of the things I have read here was to spray upward as you see in Jay's picture of Freddy. Sometimes if you move from above their head it is threatening, you will learn from Francis how to best accomplish it. Keep your spirits up, Francis will soon learn you are to be trusted and things will calm down for you. When he plucks it may be helpful to you to sit quietly and take deep breaths, he isn't doing it because of you at all, you are going to guide him to better places and being calm and centered and focused on where you are going is better than looking back. I am glad you and Francis are with us. He is beautiful.

Welcome to the forum. You are so wise to realize that it will take some time for Grumpy to get acclimated to your home and family. Every moment of patience that you give him will pay handsome dividends when you gain his trust. I love his name because it reminds me of a favorite movie, Grumpy Old Men. I am sure it will bring many laughs in time when you get past the introduction phase and learn more about his scintillating personality.

Persistence, patience and ingenuity come through for you and Sampson. Congratulations on finding his magic combination to make him feel safe and secure. You are off to a good start now.

I will be doing a lot of research and work with our breeder, vet and organizations dedicated to PDD. I highly recommend you all not do too much looking into this just yet. There are many sad stories and much of the information is really quite old and bleak. There is some promising research, and I did find a link to some folks who are raising money through another passion in my life, quilting, of all things. I am deeply involved and committed to understanding this and if I find links that are helpful, I will pass them along.

Thanks everyone. This journey with Juno has been magical regardless of the outcome. It brought me to this forum and I treasure all of you and will continue to be part of it. I am glad to have gone the extra mile with Juno and have hope that the tissue samples will be used to get a better scientific understanding of PDD. In my logic, Java has definitely been exposed but may never have had contact with the virus so my hopes are high for her. However, there is up to an eight year incubation from exposure to clinical signs in some birds. My promise is that I would rather be a one bird household being very careful not to transmit to anyone else than live with knowledge that we contributed to anyone else's bird being taken too soon. It does give me great consolation that we were careful and observed quarantine and it was a great blessing that Juno didn't suffer. We don't know what the future will bring with the current research, perhaps there will be a testing procedure that will change things. I do know for certain that I wouldn't trade my time with Juno, I have learned great things about myself in the process and my heart is still open to joy and caring for all of you and your birds too.

Juno's pathology reports came back to show that he died from PDD. Dave has a good thread here in the health room with a description. The tragic part of this disease is how difficult it is to diagnose, treat or understand prior to the death of a bird. Even with crop biopsies, if the actual tissue taken does not have the lesion, a negative result may not mean the bird is unaffected. We did use good quarantine methods with Java over the time Juno was with us, and removed everything Juno had touched as soon as he passed away. Our hope is that Java's immune system is strong, she is in good health and she may not be affected. However, I will have to treat her as if she has been exposed and now could be a carrier. We can't bring another bird into our home as long as we have Java. The suspected methods of transmission by airborne bacteria are short-lived, so as long as I don't bring a bird in, I shouldn't spread anything elsewhere, but will keep this in mind if I visit anyone's home where they have birds.

Uh oh, I think in a former life I was a little old Italian grandma. I love feeding anyone and anything. If an Amazon lived with me, it might weigh five pounds. They are beautiful birds and I really do enjoy seeing their antics on this forum. Great job.

She will need a bigger hammer if she is going to fix you Bernie.

Good for Rosie! That was amazing she would do her spread eagle for the screeners. All this airline fuss makes me glad to be home. Great story for Rosie though.

I am thoroughly enjoying this thread. I grew up in Pennsylvania and have seen six feet of accumulated snow on the ground. I have also lived in the desert where it only rained three times in as many years. It has been chilly in Georgia, but I still miss the big snow drifts. My husband says it is easy to miss it when I stayed inside to watch him shovel the snow. LOL. The pictures are beautiful.

Yoshi is just the most fun ever, I love those pictures of her wildly splashing and enjoying her second or third soaking of the day. She is a hoot!

What a great way to start the new year! Welcome to your precious little girl. Blessings to you as you start a new stage in your life with an adorable daughter. I hope she looks just like you with fair skin and dark hair and a lovely smile.... of course that will be a toothless smile for a little while, LOL. It was 24 years ago today that my first little girl was born, what a perfect day to share with you. Thanks for the happy news.

You have done such a great job helping Georgie and Louie get acclimated and they are obviously right at home. It is delightful that Georgie is talking to you already. I am happy that you are sharing his journey with you and all is well in your little nest.