reggieroo

I haven't read the book but have wanted too, so I have asked for a copy for my Birthday

Just click go advanced when replying & select insert image you then get the option to upload from computer or URL. I upload from computer & that's how I made the little slide show thingamajig

Dan is right, it isn't always easy putting on the harness so don't despair. Murphy was harness trained when I picked him up as the breeder had been introducing it to him & putting it one as part of the training but it can still be a pain to get on him. I don't think he has even accepted it like the Macaw in the training video you get with the aviator. When I put it on him the other day for his Village stroll he kept ducking & diving trying his best to avoid it going over his head. Eventually he put his head down for a tickle & I slipped it over & away we went.

Well nobody's perfect, like I said I didn't even know a harness existed 10 years ago. I was a novice parrot owner & all I had was books to read, no Internet forums for knowledge & advise, no friends who knew anything about parrots. It was just me & some books, that at that time advocated wing clipping as the right & safe thing to do. No mention of any of the things we know now like don't feed them this or that, Teflon kills or don't let them in your mouth etc. I think the only thing I can remember the books saying is don't give avocado or alcohol, one book I've read recently actually says you can give avocado :eek: which was a bit of a shock. It's only been very recently that I discovered forums & found so much useful advise & I'm grateful for that. Much more useful hands on advise & knowledge than some books.

One lucky birdie

What's sad? You seem to be getting a little funny with me.......about what? Can I not come on here & tell some stories or even say what I think?

Nice pic, is that using photobucket?

He did fly off on a number of occasions when his wings grew back, at two different address. The first time I thought he was gone & he woke me at 6am screaming for me, so I shouted him & in the distance I could see this little green spec getting closer screaming his head off flying towards me. The second time he went for an adventure he just flew from tree to tree laughing his head off at me, then when I would walk off he would shout me to come back:) In the end I went back in my house & he came back about an hour later. Both times I hadn't clipped his wings for ages so my own fault. He had the time of his life & thought it was funny too

No, I didn't even know harness's existed back then.

The only thing about photobucket that I don't like is you have to first upload all your pics to photobucket first & I have loads, its far easier for me to do it straight from my PC. The only thing is with that is you can only have 5 pics & they aren't as big as photobucket.

I can see them trying to escape, Murphy does the same........lol They definitely need a bigger cage I think

Something I've been wondering about myself is the seed catchers. I've been looking for a new cage for Murphy & we said that we wanted one with a seed catcher so I don't have to run round with the hand held so much, also to catch the poops off the side of the cage. I was looking at an ebay listing a few weeks ago & the chap said no seed catcher with it as they are useless!

We do have to respect everybody is different & each situation is different when it comes to wing clipping. I personally have decided not to clip Murphy's wings now or for the foreseeable future. My Amazon was clipped & had freedom in a different way, he was able to room around the garden, sit & climb in trees & on the fence, he even used to play in bushes scooting accross the top of them screaming with delight.

Am I right in thinking that there are only two ways to upload photos? One way using photobucket, just copy & paste the code? The other way using the insert image while in advanced mode when replying to a post?

Good idea, us guys don't mind people knowing how old we are.......except when I was thirty kept that one all to myself.

I guessed he was nipping because he felt a little insecure & was saying "enough's enough now Dad, I want to go home to the safety of the house" I also wasn't sure how it well it would go & if I would even make it outside the gate, so I did a little test run up & down the path before I went any distance & it was cool.

I didn't let him in my mouth after the first time he attempted it, just thought I'd share the fact that it was cute that he tried the once!

Murphy has been showing lots of loving behaviour towards me today & has hopped on my shoulder a few times. As a rule I've not been letting him on shoulders, we decided against it. But I couldn't resist & gave in this evening just before I put him to bed. So Murphy is sat on my shoulder & started to inspect my face, eyes, nose, lips...............& when he found the lips he wanted in. "I want those teeth Dad" the little monkey grabbed my teeth & started trying to clean them. Now I know you shouldn't let them in your mouth etc but you try keeping Murphy out! You know the old saying "my lips are sealed" ? Well Murphy wasn't listening & he kept trying to pry my lips open, it was so cute. He finally gave up when he realised he wasn't getting in, then decided to find something else to do. "I'll preen Dads hair for a while" then proceeded to clean my ear........lol

You can actually get thread lock that is permanent, don't know what make it is, maybe not loctite. Anyway it's that strong that you have to be careful what you use it on as you will have a hell of a time getting the bolt undone. Any good automotive store should have a good range of different strengths.

Thats great:)

You must have been so happy to hear that first sentence

Thank you, I landscaped it last year with a tropical planting so once it all grows back this year I'll get some nice shots of Murphy in his jungle.

Thanks for all the nice comments. It was the first time I took out all three of them & it was fine, they all behaved extremely well. Ella-Rose just loves Zeus, he plays with his toys in front of her to show off in the garden & she laughs her little head off, it's so cute. Murphy was oblivious to any of us while we rested, he was just enjoying the scenery. I'm very lucky I have it on my doorstep, my whole village is surrounded by countryside & miles of walks, it's wonderful

Well this week is a new week so I started with a fresh head this morning & things have been a little better. Last week I was extremely stressed, even though I didn't actually think I was at the time but I most definitely was The screaming/shrieking has improved a little. Over the weekend I had Kate here so we were able to keep each other sane while it was going on & we just ignored it. I don't want to count my chickens but there seems to be an improvement. It can be difficult to completely ignore at times as he has started to mix it up with acceptable noises that I have been teaching him. He seems to use the same shriek as a contact call & to scream at me even when in view so what I have been doing is while out of view in another room I ignore the scream but answer the acceptable noises with the same. What I have noticed is a few more acceptable noises & a few less obnoxious shrieks. The flying issue is another thing we have been struggling with, I try not to think of it as a problem but more of a training issue. Yes I think Kate may well be his favorite as he always tries to land on her no matter what. She has tried the moving erratically & that works when she is stood or walking past his cage but more difficult when sitting with Ella-Rose on her lap. She has been using the "stay" command using her palm to deflect him, doesn't stop him trying though but 99% of the time he doesn't get a successful landing & just flys back to his stand. I have had success in other areas of flight training like teaching him where he can & can't perch, he knows too. Earlier I was out of the room & I heard wings, I went to investigate & he was on top of the door (I don't allow tops of doors) I had only just came round the corner & he flew straight off the top of the door & back on his stand before I had chance to say "off there", I thought clever boy. He has got to know his flight paths round the house & his confidence is growing by the day when it comes to making a flight somewhere. Today he has flew in & out of the living room from his cage to his stand on a number of occasions to follow me & be with me I agree with what you say about not using his cage as a place of punishment, I was thinking the exact thing last night that I don't want to return him to his cage when he is naughty as he will hate his cage more than he does now. Ever since we got him, he has never really liked his cage ( I don't even like it, that's why we will be getting him a new one soon). He's ok at night when sleeping but as soon as the sheet comes off him in the morning he just wants out of it, he just goes all round his cage looking to break out. He does play with his toys though & that's the only time he relaxes a little that & when eating.

Well it was a nice walk & all went well, I did get a few nasty nips from Murphy towards the end as he was getting impatient about coming home. I also got some pics of the three of them together