dw310

I started calling Morgan "Sweetheart" occasionally. Then Morgan started saying, "want grapes" followed by "Want grapes, Sweetheart." How can I resist?? Now Morgan gets a grape anytime he says that. :-)

The first time I went out of town after getting Morgan, I had a pet sitter come take care of him. I had the sitter come in a day early, and introduced them. I prepared him in every way I could imagine. I went out of town, and the sitter did a great job, maintaining most of Morgan's routines. When I got home, I let Morgan out of his cage. He puffed up his feathers so he looked twice as big as his normal size and he GROWLED at me!!! LOL. I talked to my brother, who is Morgan's breeder. My brother informed me I had just received my sound scolding for going out of town!! Now, Morgan does just fine with the pet sitter. She has taken care of him for as long as 6 days, with no worries, and no more ruffled feathers. They DO like to let us know how they feel!!!

Morgan definitely gets grouchy if I don't give him enough sleep. So I do see moods in him. I usually succeed in giving him at least 10 hours, but 12 hours is better. I can certainly imagine that an animal would have depression in the loss of a loved one, either animal or human. Have read too many stories about this type thing that has me convinced they do develop a dependence and maybe even love for their best buddy. I wonder if they dream. If your bird isn't sleeping well, that could be something your not observing, but mood changing nonetheless. Not at all sure how you would treat a sleep disorder in an animal, unless something obvious is going on like lights left on, not covering the cage, too much noise, etc.

Well...about 3-4 weeks later I found the snake in the basement, right underneath Morgan's room. I went downstairs and went to open some blinds. Wrapped in between and through those blinds was my friend the snake, sunning him/herself. I opened the window and put out a tray. then I tapped the snake into the tray and shoved it away from the house. Never had to touch it, and have the peace of mind knowing it is now gone. It actually looked very skinny, so I hope it is now feeding well somewhere. (Somewhere besides my house! LOL) Thanks for all your support. I just don't do snakes well at all.

awwww. now THAT is sweet!!!

My deepest sympathy. Bless you and Blue

yeah, he's/she's got to be terrified. I do hope to get it out of the house and set it free. but i also have a very primitive fear of snakes. i wish i knew how it got in.... one day i may also think this is funny, just not today. ;-)

Yeah. No sign of it today. Hopefully it left the same way it came...whatever that was.

You said it, Zoom. Now I've got mice??? I've never seen evidence of a mouse in my house. Plus this little snake did not look big enough to take on a mouse, but maybe I'm wrong. Last July 3rd the water main broke in my driveway. This year a snake. I don't think July 3 is my day....

Me too. I tried to pick it up with tongs. Was going to put it in a bag and take it back outside. I had no idea how fast it would move and I screamed. Poor Morgan, witnessing all of this. I called a wildlife rehabilitation place in the area, and they said I may never see it again. Great (not. I would rather know it was gone.) They also said to get something called Snake Away and put it around the house, which I will do.

May he please check in soon.... Thanks for your help!

OMG!!! I saw Morgan was facing the wall in his room, which he has NEVER done before, so I went in to talk to him and see what was up. I glance over to a side table, and there's a snake on it!!!! It's a common brown snake. About 6-8" long and as big around as my little finger. So I tried to catch it, but failed. It slid to the floor and then behind a filing cabinet. I pulled the cabinet out, but of course, no snake. I have moved Morgan into my bedroom, and now we are both terrified. I hate snakes. I don't do snakes. Any suggestions how to find/catch this thing?

Sooooo happy for you and Val!!!!!

Soooooooooooo very cute!!! Congratulations!!! I love it when they do the head bobbing thing!!

Wanna know what a vet called birds around ceiling fans? Shreaded tweet. Unfortunately, it's a fairly common cause of injury. Another known danger is taking your bird outside, in its cage, onto say a deck. This vet said he had several injured birds come in--attacked through the cage by a wild bird. But back to the ceiling fan issue. I always have mine off when Morgan is out of his cage. He has never flown up to it (mine is about 20 feet high), but there's always that first time. I'm so glad Gracie is doing well. She's a beauty!!! When I first got Morgan, I also learned from this board to not clip his wings. While there are pros and cons to both sides of the issue, in my opinion it's best for Morgan to remain flighted. My main argument for it is that: birds fly. I'm not trying to be sarcastic, but it's a huge part of who they are. I think it's much healthier for them. Morgan has flown into a few things, but never more than once. CAGs are amazingly smart, and he has it figured out.

She's beautiful!! Congrats!!!

How old is Isaac now? He's very cute!

That's hysterical!!!!! Thanks for sharing!

My brother has had his CAG for 18 years, and he's been to a vet once. Even then, my brother didn't think he needed to go, but his wife insisted. ;-) I want to emphasize the point that the avian vet not only has additional expertise, but must have additional equipment/medications/supplies in the office to do his/her job. While it's not right to pad the bill, the avian vet needs to be able to stay in practice. I bet a "regular" vet sees 20+ dogs a day. How many birds does an avian vet see daily? Fewer, I bet, which increases the avian vets' overall cost per patient.

Sounds to me like you're on top of everything! Lots of warm, encouraging/reassuring words will help as well.

My CAG is in a 12 x 12' space that is open to the living room. I just got the "standard" double fan that HomeDepot sells, and it works fine.

Now how did I miss that?? Thanks, Dave!!

Wow. I'm answering my own question. Here's a great read: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=15+1829&aid=2874

I have a teflon question: I bought a breadmaker yesterday, only to discover the bread pan has non-stick (teflon) coating. So I posted on a breadmaking forum, asking if there were any breadmakers with stainless steel bread pans out there (answer to that is 'no.") Below is the response I got. What do you all think? Anybody have any more info on this? Thanks!! PTFE's are toxic to birds if they are overheated. It should be OK at bread baking temperatures--about 350 degrees or so. And, because of the computer control, you are unlikely to overheat or burn with the ABM unless it's malfunctioning. I would open a window and not have the bird in the same room as the bread machine when its in use, but I think it will be OK (though I can certainly understand why you might not want to take the risk). I used a bread machine many years and my cockatiel was fine. I don't know for sure, but I don't think any ABM manufacturer makes a pan without a PTFE coating.

Actually, I DID tell him I was gonna be gone! Lol. Didn't help. I still got in trouble.:rolleyes: But he's getting lots of loving today. It's all better.