Xtreme575

Hahahahha! That's a riot! I've been trying to teach Paco to say, "Nice birds don't bite", but instead he just bites!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Good ones guys! From someone who is the token male in and office of 20 women, I hear ya! LOL! It didn't matter what sex my bird was either, I just wanted one that was fairly outgoing, I hadn't heard the talking thing either.

Good luck in finding your parrot. Please make sure you update us, we all worry about each other's birds and are hoping you have a happy ending to this story...

:woohoo: I agree Jill! Congratulations! I swore that Paco was saying "Hello", but everyone else told me he was imitating a puppy!!! Then all of a sudden it popped out clear as a bell. It took a week or so for him to, as Dan describes, "calibrate" then it will be clear, I'm sure. I'll bet Harvey ends up being a super chatter, he's just been deciding what he'd like to say the most! Yay!!! :woohoo:

I've been squirreling away about $20.00 /month since I got my parrot in September. Should anything happen before I get a decent sized "nest egg" (pun intended), then I'll line up with Jill at kidney sale. I can't remember who it was, but it was one of us who was able to do this. They did this with the intent of being able to pull the money out for both a vet bill or a reward should the parrot get out. It would need to be substantial enough of a reward to cause someone to want to return the bird without keeping it. Anyway, I thought this was an ingenious idea, and I actually like the options that cold cash gives me over an insurance policy which wouldn't cover a reward. :blink:

Jill, Paco is now 9 months, and although I'm hopeful that he isn't near his terrible two's yet, I have noticed a huge increase in his independence lately. What I have been trying is just messing up his expectations. I'm very routine, and Paco has gotten to a point where he can anticipate my every move. So, I'm changing it up. rather than asking him to step up to go back to the cage, I'm playing, rather than playing, I'm cuddling, just throwing off his expectations has created some chaos in his schedule has made him more compliant, he just doesn't know what to expect from me.

Thanks for everyone's input on Paco's veggie issue, and Jay, thank you so much for the great ideas! Maggie, I really appreciate you sharing the recipe with me, I'll be sure to try it for sure!!! I only feed him raw string beans (I think that's what they are called, I hate beans :sick: ) in his salad, but then use the Pretty Bird, Birdy Banquet which is a mash similar to the recipe that Maggie offered with cooked beans. He was eating the Birdy Banquet, but not touching the veggies... I did figure out how to get him to eat his veggies though, I'm now steaming them. He loves them! Leave it to me to get a parrot who insists that everything be steamed. He's cleaning up the bowl now though, lots of greens, beets and carrots, and other veg that I rotate through. So, I'm not getting up an extra 15 minutes early to start his breafast! This is a total of 45 minutes earlier than normal for a non-morning person for the love of a bird! Also, the smell of steamed jalepeno peppers is something I could have lived without, but hey, anything for the love of the birds! Now, off to the kitchen for me to see how many ingredients I have on hand!

Oh just you wait! The jungle hollers will come soon enough! I get a kick out of them, but nearly die in my tracks sometimes from the volume Paco can get! Even my Dad who is pretty deaf commented on it one night! LOL! However, it's the sweetest thing in the world when you try to sleep in and your bird wakes up and says a sweet, "Good morning!" to you! I live for that on Sundays.

Jess, I'm with you, I'd love to get another parrot! After checking out the Amazon Room, and Amazons on YouTube, I've totally fallen in love! I'm trying to hold back though, I want to see how Paco develops over the next few months before I do anything.

Haha! Spock, I love to hear about your world from your perspective! I'm glad your keeping those in your flock in line, especially Jay and Maggie!!!

Not only would we be the busiest, but I think the members here are the nicest! I can't wait to get home, check on Paco, and then get online to see what antics everyone and their fids are up to! Not to mention the invaluable advice... This is truly a family. :blush:

Good job to the techies and admins who have been working on getting the forum back up and running! We should all understand the difficulties involved in a site of this magnitude. As Penny has explained, this is really a "MadDaddy" of a site with all the features we have available, not to mention all of the memory we must use for everything we upload! It's amazing that these people are able to keep us going! So, again, a loud, public "THANK YOU!" fore getting us back up and running! May the hackers get a worm, or worms, it'll serve them right!!! Ryan

This truly breaks my heart to hear that Spock hasn't "picked up" yet, weight or otherwise. I can't imagine the frustration you and Maggie are going through! I continue to will Spock well, and know the rest of the Greyforum Family is doing the same!

Ok, so I think I created a problem... When I first got Paco, he breakfasted on broccoli and carrots and red grapes. As we progressed together, I added variety, asparagus, kale, green beens, peppers, cauliflower, beets, I've tried him on all sorts of veggies. Where I think I've erred, is that after he completely gave up on his baby food I thought it would be nice of me to add the "Pretty Bird Birdy Banquet" bean mix warmed up with his salad. Today, as a test, I thought I would see if he would eat his salad without the bean mix, not a chance! He looked at the salad and put his nose up. I waited about an hour, and then added the beans, sure enough, he gobbled up the beans and some veggies. Is this a really bad thing??? Should I try to get him back to just veggies? The Pretty Bird seems quite healthy, and has fortified vitamins and minerals that get added, it even smells good. I just worry that should they ever discontinue the product, then am I going to be seriously screwed or what? Thoughts, suggestions?

I have a friend who has rescued a Grey that has some physical disabilities. I gotta tell you, this is one of the happiest birds I have ever seen. Due to the problems that the bird has, my friend has decided to keep it clipped, but boy can she whistle! She learns entire songs in just a matter of a day or two and then repeats them back flawlessly. She won't talk in front of anyone, but what a chatterbox when she thinks nobody is listening. I really hope that Vree makes a FULL recovery, but even with some disabilities, these birds can still live fantastice, happy lives! I continue to pray for a full recovery1

I echo everyone's sentiment on Good Bird Inc. If you check on my prior posts, you will find that I had excellent experiences with them. I can't say enough positive about Barbara and her methods, nor with the treatment that I received from Good Bird Inc! I'm a lifetime fan/customer. Although I'm not really interested in having a "trick bird", Paco LOVES doing the tricks that Barbara taught me, and really seems to get a lot of out if it. You will definately do well from seeing Barbara's methods! Good luck! It does sound like you are being a great parront!

The powder from my bird was on of the first things I noticed. I joked that it looked as though my livingroom was lightly coated in cocaine!!! Anyway, I went out and got a Honeywell air purifier which has both a filter on the outside, as well as two hepa-filters on the inside. All three filters can be removed and washed. I no longer have powder anywhere in my house, and the unit is quite quiet, so I forget its even on except for when it turns and blows fresh air at me! I'm really happy with it. I would suggest that you would need one for each room. I keep mine fairly close to the cage, blowing away from my bird. I'm amazed at the amount of powder that I get out of the filter when I clean them each week. There is no way it could do the whole house, especially if you have three in your flock!

I agree with Dave, I have read that newpaper is the only way to go. The newsprint also works as an anti-bacterial, which is an added benefit. I'm lucky, my cage fits 4 of the smalled community papers with just a bit of overlay when I open them at the seam. I just get annoyed with all the colour ads in the centre, so I remove that page as well. The coloured ink can be harmful.

Yes, their sleep is important, I notice a difference in Paco's behaviour if I have been selfish and kept him up to long. I know I should put him to bed by 8 each night, but then I don't feel that I give him enough out of cage time, so I keep him up until 930... His cage is in the same room as my tv, I turn it down, and like Stephen, hear him settle in shortly after covering the cage. He stays that way until 7 when I get up, but unlike many birds, he lets out a jungle holler as soon as he hears me, not waiting for the cage cover to come off.

Stephen, I'm only about five months into parronthood ahead of you, and I can totally relate to what you are saying. When I first got Paco, I settled on my work schedule, thinking that someone has to pay for the food around here. But weekends was a different story, I felt that I had to spend each moment with him. Cuddling, playing, entertaining, and it was to the detriment of my friends and family. It was either they see me here with the parrot, or not at all. Finally, my best friend told me that he knew the bird was going to destroy our friendship, and he found me to be irrational. After some careful consideration, as well as reading and watching Andrew's posts after Tsui flew away, I realized that I was being irrational. Andrew described his relationship with Tsui as being one sided and remniscent of a over-obsessive, one-sided, bad relationship (very loosely quoted), which caused Andrew to stop actually living his life while he had Tsui. Taking this all into consideration, I went to my first weekend party, without Paco. I set him up well, spent lots of time with him, put my lights on timers, as well as the tv. I went to the party, had a great time (I did think about my baby at home), and then got home in the early morning hours, sneaking in like I would if I was a teenager! The next morning, I was awakened by a happy jungle holler and faced a panting, excited bird. Our relationship was not ruined, he wasn't any worse for wear, and I felt a sense of satisfaction having taken the opportuninty to go out and really enjoy myself. Since then, I feel like I'm living again, and Paco is doing well. Sure, I still make some sacrifices, but I don't feel like I'm missing out on the real world either...

Thanks gang! Today I dragged my sorry but outta bed to go "re-load" at the pharmacy. They assured me that they have been seeing a lot of people feeling just like me this week... Anyway, I'm still at home, and yes, Paco is loving it, although I can tell he wants to spend the time on the couch with me. He and I are currently on the same schedule, we are getting up at 10, and going to bed at nine, and I now know he likes two naps during the day, one in the morning, and another in the late afternoon, unless he's just sleeping 'cause I am??? Anyway, glad your hear for me, hope you did ok on your test Robin, I need to do an essay, but can't sit up long enough to get more than a couple of lines in.

Very good! Your lucky if your handy... I can't even make a "Build-A-Box" :blush: The link that Judy sent is my favourite that I have ever seen, and I am def going to use it, they are all exactly what my Grey loves to play with! Remember, lots of wood, we could all probably start toothpick businesses with how much they enjoy shredding wood!

Another option, although it may seem far-fetched, you could consider moving to a more bird-friendly home... I got my parrot clipped, not my choice, in any event, I recognize that my house isn't going to be as fly-friendly as I would like, so I'm going to list and move after I finish university this summer. I'm willing to do whatever I need to do to help give my bird the best life I can. I took on the responsibility of Paco, like having children, sometimes the responsibility will require sacrifices on my part.

Joy is hearing the pants of excitement at my offering my hand for a step-up.

Man, have I ever been hit with a nasty stomach flu the last couple of days. I'm just now starting to feel a little better, but I'm afraid to eat anything, and don't really have an appetite yet anyway. Has it ever been tough avoiding Paco! The moment I started to feel unwell, I remembered other posts and how we can sometimes pass our illnesses on to our birds. Due to this, I've been home, but made sure I left the air purifier on, if anything just to blow my germs away from the bird. My sister popped by this morning and dropped off some juices and such, so I used the opportunity to have her change out Paco's food and water for me, then I spent the rest of the day between the couch and my bed. Paco enjoyed the day out of his cage, playing between his spinning tree and cage. We only had one issue all day, he spooked at something and tried to jump through the window, landing on the windowsill, but he seems fine, I did have to pick him up though, so after washing my hands, I asked him to "step-up" and we went into the bedroom where he stood on his t-stand, and we both fell asleep for a couple of hours. I hope I get better soon, I miss having him chill with me, and the beak rubs on my cheek.