Xtreme575

If your bird is not willingly stepping-up when it is on your shoulder and you want it off, then I would argue that the best remedy is to not let your bird on your shoulder at all. Negative reinforcement will only make matters worse and your bird will become more crafty at hanging off you where you can't get it off. Train it to be a hand bird, and just don't let it climb on your shoulder.

Stephen, you crack me up! Not that Issac wants in, but that you make it sound like you don't enjoy the art of cooking! Me either, I'm a great cook, but just don't feel like doing it, take-away works for me!

Stephen, I keep a concrete perch right in front of the pellet dish. It sems to be working well on all of his talons except for the ones on his longest toe. I did have to give them the smallest of clip as Dave described, but I lucked out and was able to keep him distracted long enough to make the clipping before he knew what was happening. I still don't think he knows what I did!

Mine will reach into his beak with his foot as though he is dislodging something from the top of his beak, but nothing comes out with his foot. I didn't think parrots produced enough spit to do any "spit tricks".

Hahahaha! Dave, I love the interpretation! Stephen, quit being a bore! I get the yawns from Paco as well, usually before a nap or bedtime though, never when I'm entertaining him!!!

I love how she looks while standing on that curtain rod! The slouch that she makes cracks me up almost as much as the incredible argument she has with herself!

Yes, please feel free to PM me and I am more than willing to contact the others with the experience that you need. Use me, not a problem, just do it for the sake of the baby parrot, that is the only concern here.

You know, I used to really like the Hawaiian scented plug-ins (whatever that is?), but I got rid of them before I got Paco. Now that I haven't been around them for some time, I find them overpowering and nauseating. I guess I'm starting to embrace this more natural lifestyle, God, from the ultimate consumer to tree-hugger from the influence of a half pound bird.

No, it's not just burned microwave popcorn that is dangerous. I'll need to really dig, but I remember a study about two years ago that showed that the fumes from the microwave popcorn (even not burnt) are very toxic for people, so I can just imagine what it is like for a bird who is all air sacs. The study wasn't one of those "floating about" on the internet studies either, it was a credible, scholarly study. Hopefully I can find it. I just know that I threw out the microwave popcorn that I had after reading it, and I only use the air poppers now too, the benefit, if for human consumption, you can put as much butter and salt on it as possible!

Jeez! I'm exhausted just reading about it. I just cooked some chicken, folded laundry, and did a quick steam clean on the hardwood around the cage and I'm pooped! I admire you, and yes, the female members of this forum are all multi-talented, they'll give you home advice if you need it!

Yes Jill, I agree, I'd love Michael to film you filming Harvey, the descriptions of the lengths you go to in order to supply us with pictures and videos is priceless! Harvey did a great job of a piggy as well, and the sound was great! Paco nearly jumped off his playgym when he heard Harvey's whistling too! I should have caught that on video!

Paco has different coloured toes and talons as well. He hatched with them, I like it, sort of a character trait. His longest toes both have pink skin, one has a clear/white nail, while the other nail is black. I figure it will make him distinguishable in a flock if we ever need him to be.

That was an amazing pig! I love her slouch on the curtain rod while she is doing it! Haha! It makes her look like she has a piggy belly, which we all know isn't the case with Alfie when she is standing upright! I loved it. Paco has given up all talking and noises except for the bird noises that he heard at the vet last week. Sigh...

Whew Paul! I'm glad it's you and not me buddy! LOL! Sorry, I'll just support you from a distance, I can barely handle the Grey, the thought of adding a baby and house chores in to the mix, I'm overwhelmed already! Your a stronger man than me!!! Good for you!

Hi Billy and Vinnie, welcome! It's nice to have you join us. The users of this site are very helpful, and friendly. I'm sure you will find it to be as good of an asset as I have. I have similar issues in that my parrot is quite nasty to anyone other than me. He's 11 months, but I'm trying still. I don't know if your bird is flighted or clipped, but you can put them on the floor to have someone else ask them to step-up with the least amount of aggression. Keep in mind that this is a stressful place to be (the floor), so many parrots will climb onto any hand that is offered, if he is flighted, then it may be harder to keep him from just taking off. Once somone else has the bird on their hand, just have them offer small foot toys that Vinnie can choose from their hand, hopefully this helps him socialize a bit better. Good luck!

Whoa! Don't panic just yet. Take a breath, and remember, all parrots bite at some point. Your baby could be associating your fingers as the feeding method that has been used on it, and is trying to latch onto your fingers to begin to "pump" for food. My Grey still tries to do this at nearly 11 months old. The bird could be treating you as a parent, and looking to you to provide the food in the method it has become accostomed to. Or, it could just be a matter of still working toward gaining the bird's trust, it may be nervous with you still and getting even more stressed as it moves further away from the area that it knows. I'd like to give some of the owners who have more experience in this regard have an opportunity to chime in, but I can assure you, the differences you see in a baby parrot as it ages are remarkable. Some changes for the good, some for the bad, and some reverse. We are all nervous in taking on this big step, and I can still get overwhelmed with this all, especially at the moment when my Grey seems to be more sensitive than he has been before. Remember, patience, patience, and more patience.

Haha! You got it Dan, God knows if I tried to eat what he does in a day, I'd be gulping down the Aloe Vera juice like it was the freshest water in the world. Jill, I'm glad to hear Havey is a bit sloppy as well!

What a riot! I love that she calls you Bird! Hahahaha! So sweet! I really like the tone that the Amazons use, they almost remind me of a cartoon character when they belt out their songs.

Ha ha! Penny, I hear you on that. Even when I do pull out the camera and take some shots, I never seem to get around to loading them onto the hard-drive, then Photobucket... So overwhelming.

I just have to go away and come back in a few minutes. Otherwise, there is no hope in getting him to do it.

Perfect, thanks for the advice Dave, very much appreciated!

The other day while at the avian vet's office, I was amazed at the noises I heard. There were a number of African Greys there who tricked me into thinking that someone was actually talking to me from behind a curtain, it really sounded like a man's voice. Paco's "Hello" doesn't sound a bit like me, it's higher pitched. Anyway, I'd like to hear thoughts on what the vet said to me, that is, African Greys seem to divide into two groups, the first being ones that love to talk, and talk a lot, and the others who love to immitate sounds. She said that her observation is that both groups do both, but they really seem to take to one or the other as a specialty. All I know is that Paco has stopped talking since the vet visit, but is sure doing a lot of different birdie noises that I'd never heard him make before...

This morning after Paco and I made his favourite breakfast of steamed veggies, whole weat pasta and beans with a bit of warm palm oil as the sauce. After he finished eating I went over to visit him and to have some interaction in his space. I noticed that he had a really dark orange line on his jaw bone with what looked and smelled like palm oil. My best guess is that he shook his head with a noodle in his beak and the past probably made contact with his feathers. I took him into the shower with me to see if the warm water might get some of the oil off of him, but it didn't. The line is about 2 - 2.5 cm long and is just a straight strip under his jaw. Considering how fastidious he is about his feather cleanlieness I can't help but wonder how he will respond to the palm oil on his feathers... Right now he is sitting on the edge of his cage drying off, but I'm going to watch him as he dries off more to see his reaction to the oil. Any thoughts on how to get this off of him, or do I just let nature take its course?

Where are you in relation to the cage when he starts to holler? Are you within sight? If not, then he is contact calling you, remember, you are Gizmo's flock, flocks stay fairly close, and if they can't see one another, they contact call. Try hollering back to reassure Gizmo that you are still around to see what happens. If you are in sight, try having some contact with him before he starts. Open up the cage, when he climbs onto the door as him to step up and spend some time together before putting him down, but its important that you do this before he starts to scream, otherwise he is going to think that the screaming is going to get him the attention. Which is the reinforcement behaviour that parrots look for. At the end of the day, remember, screaming and noise are part of the parrot parcel. Remember, they are wild animals that have been tamed, they still run on jungle instincts, jungles are noisy. I can guarantee that there will be way more noise than you ever expected, and that it usually happens when you don't want it too, like during a business call, or during your favourite tv show. How old is Gizmo, and how long have you been sharing your home together? Some of the more experienced owners may have additional information from you, but I think you may need to give them a bit more information to understand what stage your parrot is in beofre they can offer you a fair assessment on your situation. Good luck!

Oh Paul... Now you are going to start F.A.R.T. ing as well? Well, you won't be able to have one measley, little glass of wine in the house to belong to that group. You might as well go pick up a Texas mickey now and let the commiserating begin! I've never joined, everyone is passed out by the time I get home from work.