katana600

It looks like stainless steel. You will be able to clean it up and disinfect it and it will be a life long investment. Hoping you get it!

I've been watching and hoping this works out for you too.

It made me laugh for your son to give a rescue signal to Ollie. Glad he was home with you to ease your grief and give you Sophie and Ollie some comfort. Slowly you will start coming to a new normal with the void your precious Zoey left in your home. Later you may have a loving tribute come to mind that will help you honor her joyful presence and make you smile. Maybe a small angel in your garden or a wind chime will gently remind you she is still with you forever in your heart.

Speaking of a beautiful little butterfly emerging from a transformation, my what big wings she has! I was out of the room and heard a great ruckus. What I had anticipated was that she had been startled off her perch, but as I was coming back, I heard it again and knew she was not on the floor. Slowly, I moved and watched from a distance. She was on the outside of her cage and flapping just for the fun of it. The noise was unbelievable. The amount of energy she was putting into it was greater than I have seen yet and I keep hoping and wishing this could be the beginning of building strength to fly again some day. There is no limit to the dreams we can attain together. It means so much when I read all your encouragement. This little swamp queen has the best village to keep her moving toward bigger and better things. While hubby has had a grueling week of travel, he stops and calls and the first thing he asks is how Miss Gilbert is doing. It is heartwarming to see us reach a milestone and have faith that its getting better every passing month. There is something magical about seeing her face when she is outside her cage when I approach now she doesn't look frantic and make a panicked dash to the safety inside. She is still wary, but not prone to act on it. When she is inside and actively is leaning and posturing to invite me in with a warm bowl of oatmeal, there is no description of the progress she is making. What a joyride this has been and still the best is yet to come.

After a big stress last year with an illness with a close family member, once I was home and long past the crisis, my hair fell out too. Isaac would have been so stressed to see you sick and you both are on the upswing now. Those feathers sure look like they are coming back fast, easy for me to say from "time lapse" photos. You and Isaac are a great team and you have a great group of cheerleaders behind you. Go Isaac!

Keep the faith. Rehoming is a very difficult emotional change. When we rehomed Miss Gilbert, it was five months between the first posting "thinking about it" and the next one saying it was necessary and she was ready. Some people have second thoughts and try to hang on because they don't want to be judged or because they are so uncertain of how to go about parting with the family member without self recrimination. Brooke may have sought out help to look in on her grey during the day or may have found another solution to keep it.

We brought our older Timneh African Grey (TAG) home on a nine hour car ride. I did arrive with rope perches and fitted her travel cage with those. Since then we have made fifteen hour car rides and she seems most comfortable on the ropes. Booda makes one that is in an X shape but I didn't have that at the time. I just used two ropes and crossed them down low on the bottom of her cage. The ropes help absorb some of the stop and go motion and with an X she can stand on the one that makes her most secure with the movement regardless of which way the cage needs to be oriented to fit in the car. Don't hang any toys that will sway and startle him. Also, don't expect him to eat on the journey because he will likely be too stimulated with all the changes. I make sure there is water, his favorite food from his current home. Carry a water bottle to refill. Even if he is not flighted if there is any reason at all to open his cage, make sure your doors are shut. He will be out of his element and may try to get away. Sometimes Miss Gilbert would be clinging to the bars and when that happened and she didn't get down for a long time, I would pull into a rest area and give her the chance to get back down on her rope on her own.

When we brought Miss Gilbert home she had plucked some feathers out of extreme duress. She was known as "having issues" and any little stress would make her chew and barber her chest down to the fluff. Our vet recommended the pet version of Rescue Remedy from the Bach flowers homeopathic series. I was skeptical but willing to try anything. I put three drops on her warm wet food every day and in about six weeks started seeing some improvement. We continued the drops for just under a year and along with time and consistency she has not had any more plucking and very few bouts of barbering. She had been through a few rehomes and she was seemingly pining for her beloved "Jim". She still calls out to him occasionally but in time she continues to improve and is looking much better.

This relatively new acceptance of oatmeal is leading to better and better days. She is letting me stand closer and closer to her. She is letting me speak softly when I am near her. She may stop and look at me but soon her eyes are pinning again and she can't resist the lure of another warm gulp. Last night she stopped in the middle and looked up under the bowl and then touched my fingers. Then she touched my fingers on the spoon. I held real still and she went back to eating like it was nothing. It was a big something to me. She gets excited when she hears me preparing the oatmeal. She comes out to meet me or she might be inside her cage and decide to stay there and invite me in with her. That has been unheard of in the past three years. Tonight she leaned way over, touched the handle of the spoon, touched my fingers and her face is just pink with anticipation to share this warm treat. Whatever caused her to decide the time was right to give this another try, I am so pleased with every turn with her. Today she got on the floor and walked right up to me and not only let me lift her up, she was in no hurry to leave my knee when I sat for a couple of minutes with her. When she started looking a little anxious I asked if she wanted to go back and she immediately put her foot up in a wave for her step up. I am tickled just as pink as her cheeks. If she is approached she always pulls away, but more and more she is the one approaching me. Its kind of hard to keep a poker face and just act as calm as if she does this all the time. I just know we are going to get to the place where this feels like we have been together since her beginning.

I am getting excited to see what you are creating. Your flock is going to love it.

Oh the time and effort I have expended in the attempt to create the perfect monster. Good one Ray. I can think of no better use of my time. And I think, is this the right cage? Should I try a smaller one so she wants to get out more? And by out, I guess I mean on the floor, getting into trouble and making messes for me to clean up behind her raggedy red tail. My favorite line of all "...and if you make them mad, they bite you". It just made me laugh out loud.

What an enjoyable mesmerizing video. They are beautiful. I am guessing those are the palm trees where they get the red palm oil. Can you imagine sitting and watching the flock knowing how incredible, unique and individual they are in their own right? Thanks for this link.

Find something to do that final week when you are getting ready to bring Sterling home, it seems to last the longest. It is going to be wonderful to live with this adorable little fellow in just a few short weeks. I am so glad you have gotten to see him so many times, it surely will make him comfortable in your home from the first day. You are doing such a remarkable service to yourself and to him to wait for his weaning and still get to know him well by visiting. They imprint in your heart with this black-eyed, curious, charming baby stage and that helps a lot when you walk in to discover mischief a couple of years later. LOL. Sometimes when Miss Gilbert is a pip, I look at baby pictures of other Timneh's and try to think of her as that curious, delightful baby grey she once was and settle all the grumpiness right out of myself. You have such a head start on me, I am happy for you.

In another thread, I saw someone wondering if the curled tips of feathers was an indication of a dietary deficiency. Gil's feathers have been curly and she has so many follicles missing she looks disheveled since she has been here. Gradually, she quit most of the shearing/barbering of her chest and legs. That post made me think about it and take a second look and sure enough, some of the replacement feathers are starting to lie a little more flat, a little less bowed and curled. Progress is so slow at times I let these things slip past me nearly unrecognized, but I do believe we are onto something here. She is more willing to try new foods and although her offerings have been well balanced, she was eating selectively. More and more she is eating veggies and grains and she is looking better. I am guessing that is part of why she is feeling so frisky. We are home alone this week and I vaccuumed two days ago, and when I was cleaning today I have found evidence she has been off her cage and behind the sofa unnoticed. It couldn't have been for long but I will have to put a bell on her or something pretty soon to keep track of her. What a wonderful "problem" to consider. There is nothing like the feeling of accomplishment I am getting when she now runs to get to me when I bring her some warm oatmeal. The added benefit from that one change she has chosen is that when I walk past her cage other times she is no longer flinching, ducking and scurrying to get inside to her safety zone. One tiny little grey talon step at a time.

I may be confused but I thought the honeymoon phase was a rescue or rehoming initial time when all was lovely and delightful only to get a surprise when they start getting the lay if the land and want to test the waters. Whatever the case with Ruby, your boyfriend has been patiently waiting his turn. It sure is good to get her to accept treats and spend time with a variety of family members. It helped a lot for us to leave the room and have our visiting daughter go "rescue" the lonely little bird left behind and bring her to the den. It would always break the ice on semester breaks from college to make her seem like an ally instead of an intruder.

Try, try again. For three years I have been trying to find a way to get a shower in for Miss Gilbert through many trials, failures and frustrations. We just had our first ever, no drama, good session. We have a very small, 1/2 pint pump sprayer on the finest mist. I took the advice to spray upward and still it's one success for 150 attempts but it feels like we won the lottery. I think Radar is in good grey company.

She is my leader, I watch for any opportunity to let her suggest the next move. We made another huge step forward. When she splashed in her water dish, I quickly took that as an offer for a mist shower. For the first time ever she didn't squawk, growl or wig out with a gentle spray. She leaned forward and looked ever so much like she may take a chunk out of me but she just beaked the spray nozzle and playfully tried biting the water coming out. Woohoo! She is wanting to be beautiful for spring. First willing shower in more than three years. I can barely believe it myself. Every day when she rustles around with her paper draping and playing with toys I feel a little squeal of my own trying to escape. She is playing! She is whistling happy songs and she will soon be ready for her debutante ball.

Isaac's fluffy photo reminds me of when they are about five weeks old and it seems like overnight they go from a ball of fluff to full feathers. He is every bit your beautiful boy. Glad he is feeling better and you are too.

I was thinking about the changes your two have gone through. Somewhere I may have gotten the idea there was a third bird in their original home, an amazon, maybe? You just never know what the dynamics were, they are busy watching and learning the new "flock" rules at your house. Gracie may be just showing you how happy she is to be getting attention after a very scary time for her. When we first got Miss Gilbert she did the passion dance, love song and regurg head pumping. I thought it was falling in love, but it was just in passing, maybe from being nervous at yet another rehome for her. Your two have been together a long time, they will adjust in your home in time. I am interested in watching and learning from your experience. Thanks for joining us.

Your parrots are lovely. TooToo looks very comfortable out of his cage. Papoo will watch and learn from him to trust you. I saw on another thread that you got some dowel perches for Papoo and are making changes to his cage. Judy is so right that it takes time for him to feel safe with you and to come out on his own. We have taken three years with our rehomed Timneh African Grey (TAG), she looks a lot like your Papoo but her tail feathers are dark where his are brighter and more colorful. Ours like pine nuts for a treat. I once got the kind in a hard shell and she didn't know what to do with them, so I get them at the grocery store for humans. If you have small bits of paper to wrap up a few so he could learn to play with the paper, he might like that.

You all just keep coming up with good ideas. I haven't tried it yet, but was thinking of using Ziti because it would be smaller and they could hold it in their talons. I have cake decorating tips to pipe the filling inside, but cutting the corner of a plastic back might work just as well. My birds haven't taken to the dry raw pasta, but cooking it and filling it might be a new approach to try again.

Now that is a surprise find. It would be quite the challenge to know what to do when one of our girls starts laying eggs. I think you took it all in stride very well. For her to eat the egg, I wonder if maybe there is some instinctual benefit to her to get some nutrient she needs. It does conjure up the spring and newness of life with babies in the house and that part makes me smile too. I can't imagine what an eclectus egg looks like, it must have been huge. Hopefully it was a one time thing.

It seems like forever we could clean Gil's cage by putting one paper towel under the spot she would stand in. Now it was the highlight of my weekend to hear my husband asking her what's with this mess? Now we have to sweep around her cage twice a day and she is flinging things three or four feet out. She got out and about again yesterday and made a beeline to that wooden chest. I have moved it in the living room twice and she knows right where it is even when I drape a quilt over it. I am letting her play her game but I really don't care if she shreds it to bits if it is one of those enrichment things that draws her out just a bit more. It's the funniest thing when she climbs down off the cage, down her ladder and then when she is done she quietly goes back and returns. She reminds me of a hobo on the train tracks, just sliding in and out, not attracting any attention to herself. David likes it when he hears her outside the bedroom doorway. She has taken to hanging onto the side of her cage, peering around the corner and telling him "Hey" as a greeting and "Whatter ya doin' down there?". I am actually watching for the day when Miss Gilbert takes a notice of her power over the dogs. Luckily they can jump up on the furniture to escape her, so far. There is just no limit to what this girl is going to do as she evolves and becomes the head of the household.

Sincere condolences to you and your family Nancy. Zoey is blissful, pain free and waiting for you to join her again. It will be sad at your house and you will feel the great emptiness left by your friend's passing. Gradually you will find your smiles again. You did everything possible to help Zoey and give her a good life and a compassion goodbye. My heart is with you in these dark times.

We have some big changes in the works. We had some excitement around here when high winds came through and toppled a 40 foot pine tree along the driveway. Luckily it fell right between the car and the garage doors and a contractor came and took it out the same day. He came back to remove four more that were in danger after two spit. So, with the noise and crashing Miss Gilbert was in a fuss. Now that she had a quiet day to think it through she wants to go check out the new look. We put a dog crate in the living room to contain them while new people were coming and going from the house. She came off her cage this morning while David was sitting on the floor tossing a ball for the dog. Gil made her way across the living room and onto the dog crate. It looks a lot like her travel cage. She looked a little nervous but did not want a "rescue" to get back to her cage. Now, she is preening and relaxed even though the dogs are running and chasing a ball near her. Just watching her look ever so much like a normal grey surveying her kingdom, I am sure we are fast tracking on that positive path Greywings mentioned.