Birdnut

Hi iEgg, Dan has given some very good advice. I have conures, and I can tell you that they can be very noisy (especially if there are two of them). That may or may not bother you. They can also be very nippy, depending on the bird. Conures are very active birds...downright rowdy. It appears that the conure in the picture that I can see well has its flight feathers and is able to fly. To me, that suggests that these conures either hardly ever come out of the cage ... or ... they are very tame and allowed the freedom of the house. I would want to know which it is. I have a (M/F) pair of blue crown conures who are caged together. They are not breeders, but they are bonded. They are still very friendly towards me, but they are not the cuddly pets they would be if they were kept as single birds. Conures can be terrific companion birds. They're very playful and comical. I don't have a green cheek, but I understand they are great pets. But I would ask a lot of questions before taking these birds on, especially if you don't have experience with parrots. And, as Dan said, it's much, much advised to be able to meet and interact with birds before deciding if they are a good match for you.

Great pics! That last one cracked me up. Yoshi looks like quite the character.

This is terrible news. So sorry to hear it. My heart goes out to the poor dear.

Awesome progress!!! Hats off to you!

Beautifully put, Elvenking. Brought a tear to my eye.

LOL!! Always good to hear from you, Spock. I'm glad to learn that my big disrespectful white bird is not the only one who insists on riding around on heads. I hope your nails are not as sharp.

I think Pippa is thinking you are finally getting the idea of the lifestyle to which she would like to be accustomed: hanging out in the pub and eating chips! LOL! (Sounds like fun to me :-)

I had the closed bands removed from my two blue crown conures, because one of them got caught in the grating in the bottom of the cage. Fortunately, this happened while they were still at the bird store being weaned, and there was someone right there to help him. The biggest danger, as far as cages go, is any place in the cage where two bars are not parallel, but taper towards a point (like this /\). The cage my conure got caught in was a corner cage, and while it is clear they tried to construct it so that this wouldn't happen, he did manage to have a freak accident when he reached through the bars at one point, and then moved his foot down to where the bars were slightly closer together. My grey, Moussa, does have a leg band. At the present time, I am leaving the band on. If I notice him worrying at it, I will have it taken off. I was thinking it might be especially helpful for a long-lived bird that is likely to go through more than one owner to have a leg band. But I'm open to changing my mind.

Yeah, these birds are little empathic sponges, and they sure soak up our moods and reflect them back to us. Really helps to keep your energy quiet and mellow around them.

Most of our birds are in a separate bird room, and I only bring them out around other people if I feel comfortable about it (about the birds' safety, mainly). Moussa's cage is in the dining room. We're not big socialites, but when people have been over, he mainly just sits on his stand and watches. He does fly. We'll see how things go in the future. But, within reason, I tend to think, Hey, we have birds; if you don't like being around birds, then don't come. I've sure been jumped on and sniffed in the crotch by other people's unruly dogs enough times! LOL!

I'm trying TOPS, but not much interest yet from any of the birds. BTW: If you want to talk about tossing out 99 pellets for every one consumed, get yourself a cockatoo! LOL! They do the tossing for you!

Moussa doesn't talk yet, but I have some other birds that are great talkers. They pick up what they want to pick up, and ignore the rest. They're especially apt to pick up phrases that are said with excitement, or in conjunction with some interaction they enjoy, like giving kisses or being swung on their boing. Then they learn from each other. Now, when one of them says, "Can I have a kiss?", other birds all over the bird room make kissy noises! I'll be interested in how the process goes with Moussa, as compared to the others.

Why, Cheshire Cat, enough about the bird, already! Just kidding!!! I don't know if you'll ever get over the fascination and excitement. I haven't, and it's been years (with parrots, not with Moussa yet). It's all I talk about when my husband came home: This bird did this, and this bird said that. When I go to a social gathering, I have to tell myself, "Don't talk about birds. Don't talk about birds." When I go to the bird store, I fawn over the babies. People think I work there 'cause I'll accost them to talk about the birds. I figure, if they're at a bird store, they're fair game. As Lyric said, that's one reason we're on this forum: to gush about our birds. All I can say is, "Welcome to the club!"

I am so sad for your loss. I don't know what to say.

Huzzah!!! So glad to hear that things worked out. I'm sure it will be a long road with Jakob, but I feel that he has a real chance now in your care. Looking forward to your story about how things went at the handoff.

Wow. Thanks all. I guess I'll quit worrying about it. I'll try the grapes with seeds. Sounds like we should all be munching grapes with seeds!

Okay, this is probably a dumb question. But do you pit your (seedless) grapes before feeding? :confused: I have been so paranoid about the seeds, that I have been pitting even the seedless grapes, since there may be a tiny little seed there. Is this really necessary?

YES!!!!! I've been wondering where you've been, and hoping all was okay. I kind of suspected there was a new job involved. Congratulations on the new job! Glad to have you back.

This made me laugh until I was in tears. Like a couple of wind-up toys!!

Our grey, Moussa, came home to us eating Pretty Bird African Special. I've been trying to get him to accept some different pellets; no luck yet. I did have a similar experience with our pionus. She wouldn't touch pellets, and I had given up on her as just being a no-pellet bird. Then I caught her eating pellets out of one of the other birds' cages. Now she eats various types of pellets very well, as long as they're not in her cage, where she doesn't touch them. Go figure! I don't know of any less expensive source for Harrisons ... they're just really proud of their pellets! LOL! @Tweedle: It's not your fault, Tweedle. It's Harrison's fault, as that's the line of bull they put out in their literature! I'm sure that's what you went by in good faith.

Great! Sounds like Tui is already starting to perk up a bit. I'll be anxious to hear what the vet says Monday. @Lambert: Thanks for posting that recipe. I think I'm going to try that.

Speech! Speech! (applauds)

Our grey is named Moussa. We named him after an African drum and dance master who led a drumming workshop we attended. We were so impressed with Moussa Diabate's stories and personality that we resolved to name our African Grey after him if was a male. We named three of our birds, Izze, Tazo and Jamba, after products in the Whole Foods store. Our parrotlet is named Pixel, after the smallest thing we could think of!

OMG! Cute overload! That is so precious! I absolutely love the little baby noises.

Congratulations! Jayd has some good advice. You don't want to bring any ickies home to your precious birdies. I did a similar thing when I was a vet assistant. I would come in from work, stop at the washing machine and undress into the machine, then I would take a shower and put on clean clothes. This should be a fun and educational gig for you. I'll bet you'll have some good stories to share. (hint. hint.) Not bringing any birds home will probably be the hard part, if you're like me.