Birdnut

Go Emma! Emma sure is a beauty.

I'll also be very interested in any answers/comments on this question.

OMG, Jenn! How does your husband get away with those earrings around a conure? I have to completely de-jewelry myself before being around the conures. We have a sun conure, too, named Daisy, and two blue-crowned conures, Tazo and Jamba. Oh ... yeah ... WELCOME! Nice to meet you and your beautiful flock.

Welcome!!! What an exciting time for you! Sounds like you are well prepared for this adventure. I, too, had been keeping a number of other birds for a while before we got our grey, but we have found Moussa to be a whole 'nuther kind of bird. You will find lots of good information, friendly folks, and great advice on this forum. Ask away!

Yoga/exercise mats? Easy to wipe clean and move around. My heart goes out to you. I know this is a painful situation.

It seems there are always potential dangers, no matter what course you take. Just goes to show you can't afford to get careless and complacent, whether your bird is flighted or not. But it's important to allow them freedom of movement and opportunities to make choices as much as you can. It really is a balancing act!

Dave, Jayd: LOL! Here, it was the Armadillo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armadillo_World_Headquarters "The Armadillo caught on quickly with the hippie culture of Austin because admission was inexpensive and the hall tolerated marijuana use. Even though illicit drug use was flagrant, the Armadillo was never raided. Anecdotes suggest the police were worried about having to bust their fellow officers as well as local and state politicians."

Thanks, Dave. These discussions of flighted vs. non-flighted parrots are really thoughtful and informative posts. They have given me some ideas I hadn't thought of before.

All I can say is your household must be a riot!

Curtain ... beads ... what great ideas! I especially like the beads idea (since I'm an old hippy at heart).

Jayd: Apple cider vinegar smells kind of strong. Can you use it safely around the birds or does it need to be done in another area? Just wondering.

Cockatoos fly so effortlessly. I swear they're made of balsa wood and styrofoam!

@venom: Sure don't blame you for feeling that way. That experience would have given me a heart attack, and can't say that after that I might not be feeling the same way. Do try to let your emotions settle and make a calm, reasoned decision, whatever that turns out to be. I know you have your baby's best interest at heart and will do what you think best.

Oh yes, the beak grinding is a happy thing. I have been around the birds so much that now I get sleepy when I hear beak grinding!

Our birds are flighted, and we are fortunate that both our pet store operator and vet understand and accept our decision. Our vet does have some concern about the larger birds being flighted, as he worries about them maneuvering safely within the confines of a house, but we have found that they manage quite well. We have made our house as bird-safe as we know how. All the windows in the living area have blinds (which I keep set at a slight angle so that a collision with the blinds would buffer the force, rather than offer a hard edge. Small windows with no blinds have colored glass ornaments, stickers, etc. in them. In the bird room we have pvc shutters (the conures dismantled the blinds in there in short order!). We have no children to run in and out of doors, and my husband and I have a protocol for opening doors to the outside. If we have guests, we only bring birds out of the bird room after discussing these cautions with our guests. We do the best we can, but realize that accidents can happen, and would then take responsibility for our decisions. Some of our particular reasons for leaving the birds flighted: I just got to thinking about how much of a bird's physical and mental capacity is engineered for flight. It made sense to me that it was a important for normal neurological development. All of our birds have come to us with at least some clipping, so hopefully, they acquired flight soon enough to realize some of this benefit. All of them have adapted very well and are good fliers. We have a variety of parrots of different sizes, from a parrotlet to a cockatoo (and now the grey). We have made the bird room as bird-safe as we can, with lots of hanging toys like a big cargo net, boings, etc. We like to allow the birds the freedom of the room during the day, and sometimes out in the house at large, when there's no cooking or other hazard going on. We feel that being flighted allows the various birds to interact safely, with the capacity to fly away from another bird if they feel threatened. This has allowed them to work out their various relationships naturally, and they get along well. (I actually think the reason sometimes given to clip, that a bird may get on another bird's cage and be injured, is more of a reason not to clip.) Flighted birds may get into trouble more easily, but they can also get out of trouble more easily. For example, a small bird that starts to land on the suds in the kitchen sink will just feel the touch of something that "ain't right" on its feet and fly off, rather than possibly drowning. We have found that our most unruly fids, our pair of blue-crowned conures, are more inclined to fly to us than away from us. I have also not received a good bite from them since they have been flying. They're still a pain in the ass, but they're now happy pains in the ass. Our blue-headed pionus, Iris, came to us as a rehome and was overweight and overclipped. She was awkward and clumsy and very shy and afraid of the other birds. Since she has been flying, she has come down to a good, healthy weight, and she is confident and mischievous and will get in there and scrap with the other birds for a favorite treat. For a heavy-bodied bird, she is a very agile flier. I mean, come on, this is a canopy bird and evolved to fly among the branches, etc. of the rain forest; she can certainly handle the doorways, etc. of the house! Having flighted birds certainly means taking extra trouble, but we feel it's been worth it for us. It's certainly a personal decision, and I suppose it will always be a controversial topic, but this is what seems to work best for our household and our flock.

Hi tagurit! We just got through going through this recently with our Moussa. Our bird store also has new owners bring their babies back in 2-3 days to check their weight and be sure they're doing well. In our case, they know us and know we have a bird scale at home and would weigh daily, so we didn't have to do that this time. Moussa was 12 weeks old and had not had any hand feedings for about a week when we brought him home. But he kind of reverted to being a baby when we got him home in his new surroundings. He was eating a little, but also begging like a baby. So we gave him a "baby meal" in the evening of some creamed brown rice with a little dab of almond butter mixed in, which we gave him from a spoon. We also gave him a little pureed sweet potato and pureed butternut squash in a spoon. At first he eagerly took these evening feedings from a spoon, and then became less and less interested. We don't offer it any more. I also offered him a meal each day of some of his pellets moistened with a little unsweetened apple juice. He really went for that. I did this along with his regular food. Not saying you need to do this, but it's something to pull out of your arsenal if your baby seems to need a little extra support. It's been our experience with all our babies that it's normal for them to lose a little weight after weaning. Then they gradually pick weight back up over the following months. I don't blame you for feeling anxious about your baby's weight. We always worry about our new babies, too. And these responsible stores that carry the baby birds will stress watching their weight, because they've had experiences with baby birds that really cratered in their new surroundings and know that it's possible for them to really go down fast. They just want to be sure the baby is successfully adapting to its new home. But sometimes, they can make you feel nervous about it with the way they stress it so much. Gently feel of your baby's breast. You can feel the keel bone running down the middle of the breast. You should be able to feel that it's well muscled on either side of the keel bone. That is a good way to gauge if the bird is at a proper weight. A bird that is underweight will have a very prominent keel bone and feel almost concave on either side of the bone. I'm sure the folks at your bird store can also show you this. Well, that's the best I have to offer from my limited experience. Others can probably offer a lot, also. Good luck. Kodi is a real sweetie and worth a little parental fussing.

Rene is a real chatterbox! Likes to give kisses. Thanks. I always enjoy seeing other people's birds.

This is an issue I've thought about a lot. We have company very seldom. Our birds are shy of strangers, but tend to warm up to varying degrees once they've been present a while. I'm a little more concerned about this issue with Moussa, since as Dan points out, greys tend to be more shy and leery just naturally. I was wondering. How does socializing with strangers as guests in the home compare with meeting them out and about on a harness?

That is too funny! I have to show that to my police officer husband. Maybe he can try that approach on his next traffic stop! Lol!

That's great! I love the "Arf! Arf!"

Don't have any of their cages, but they look really nice. We would love to upgrade to stainless steel at some point. Keep us posted on what you learn from your research.

That's so cute. Cocoa seems to recognize a fellow grey, but not too sure what to do with it. I love when she reaches out with her foot.

Thank God! Hurray for recall training. I think I'm going to start right now! Sounds like you need a latch on your door.

Bonnie, didn't realize you'd been looking at macaws for so long. Sounds like that's what your heart wants. I like them, too. Just thought it would be too much for me, with already having so many birds and no room for another macaw cage (spoiled cockatoo has a huge macaw cage). One day I was in our local bird store looking at the babies (always got to see what new babies there are and love up on them!) and the guy working in there laughed and said, "Aw, just go ahead and get the macaw and get it over with!" LOL!

Oh, no! How frightening. Please keep us posted.