DalyTek

You need to be really careful. A house we lived in many years ago became infested with those German cockroaches, and they can take over your whole house in no time. Some smuggled in inside a used printer I bought, and that was all it took. One little egg sac can produce THOUSANDS of the buggers! And they are near impossible to get rid of, because they develop immunity to almost all poisons. Those egg sac would likely be hidden deep inside in the hollow tubes of the cage where you won't be able to get them, so I would personally never bring that thing inside! I wouldn't wish an infestation with those buggers on my worst enemy, they got so bad we literally had to move and abandon almost all of our belongings. Just get a different cage, and be safe.

OK, I just checked in with my father-in-law and he said that Axl is about 11 years old. I have been reading a lot about this pinning the eyes thing, but I have a question about it. Does pinning the eyes mean when his pupils shrink or does pinning mean when the pupils open and close repeatedly? I will have to watch his eyes more carefuly when I am around. The only body language I see is that when we come close to cage to talk to him or what have you, sometimes his whole body is shaking. Almost looks like he's freezing, but I know he's not. His feathers ruffle up when he does this usually too. Other times, however, he just stands there, real still--just watching us..Not sure what that means though.

I usually am answering him back--just 'cause it's fun. But whether I answer back or not, he just keeps on making his sounds. He's quieting down a bit now, because it's dark and he's tired.

Not sure if he will or not. He was the same way (won't do any sounds or anything when someone's looking at him) when he was at my father-in-law's house too. I think he just has stage fright or something. He's making tons of noises one right after another right now. 'Course no one's out there looking at him right now lol. He sure is a lot of fun to listen to!

Well, day 2 has been going ok so far. He seems to be in very good spirits. He doesn't really talk much at all, about all he ever says is "Hey, what're ya doing?" and "Axl Roooooooooooose!" but he chirps like just about every other bird on the planet and makes lots of beeps and boops and whistles. What's strange is he will NOT make any noises if anyone is looking at him. If everyone is in another room (or even has there backs to him) he will start his chattering. Not sure why that is? I guess he's shy. But it seems like a good sign to me that he's opening up like that at least.

Finally got a picture of him. Axl is a little unique. He has a red spot on his chest, and also a slightly larger red spot on his back, between his shoulders. <br><br>Post edited by: DalyTek, at: 2009/12/17 16:51

Hi JillyBeans. Thanks for the warm welcome and reply. I will definitely be taking pictures, and will post them when I do. He's an awesome bird. I figured it would be best to let him adjust to the new atmosphere and people and noises before I start trying to work with him, but him already opening up with his dance has me confused. He's a really hard nut to crack, because it seems like his bites come from nowhere. I'm going to try to keep an eye on his body language to look for those subtle (and not-so-subtle) clues that I have read on here that they usually give. The rest of my family (my wife and kids) are scared of him because they know he bites, but I can see a really good bird in him, and really want to bring out the best in him so everyone can enjoy him. I just don't know where to start, outside of talking to him (which we all do a lot already.)

Hi. I am new here and have a little story behind my CAG. Axl belonged to my father-in-law. He got him from someone he worked with and I am unsure of his history beyond that, and am not sure of his age yet either. My father-in-law would have me go feed the dogs and Axl when he would be gone for a day or two (or more sometimes) and I absolutely fell in love with Axl. He is very shy, and has a tendency to bite--hard. I would take him out of his cage when I was there for some one-on-one time. He would do this "pick-me-up" dance when I would go over there. He was always really good, letting me scratch him on the head, and would step right up, and never showed me any aggression, although one time he did bite me (just hard enough to break the skin) when I went to put him back in his cage. Anyway, he made me decide that I wanted a parrot of my own, and I got a very sweet Umbrella Cockatoo. Well, long story short, the Cockatoo's screaming started causing alot of anger in our household, and since my father-in-law loved my Cockatoo (because he could hold him without fear of being bitten) we swapped birds. I am now the proud owner of Axl, the bird that made me start loving birds, my father-in-law is now the proud owner of the Cockatoo that he loves. Axl didn't get held much (if at all) while at my father-in-law's house, and he still has the biting problem. I just brought him home today and he's settling in pretty well (doing the "pick-me-up" dance right now as I type this.) I want to begin working on the biting situation with him, but don't know how (or when) to begin. I don't know if I should give him time to adjust to the new surroundings or if I should dive right in. I definitely love this bird and I am pretty sure that he likes me too, judging by how much better he responded to my contact than everyone else's. He does not seem to act the same when there are other people around with me though. He kind of shivers, and stands in one place. Anyway, sorry for the novel on my first post, but really want to start on the right foot, so I thought I would ask the experts first. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!!<br><br>Post edited by: DalyTek, at: 2009/12/17 06:49