iEgg

It really does give me a good feeling seeing him fly to me. Skip & I aren't making much (if any) progress on the step up command, however he seems to have associated me holding and open palm at his cage door as the symbol for "Hop on." He did that 4 times today and surprisingly climbed on nicely (no bites or anything) right away. Comparing Skip now to when I got him on Friday, he is entirely a new bird. He's so much more active, he's goofing around in his cage and I really love seeing that in him. Speaking of flying.... Skips wings are clipped. I'm thinking that after his first molt I'm going to let him keep his flight feathers. One again as I type this... I hear flapping. Skip hopped on his perch. He was on the natural grapevine one and now he's on his sand perch :D

Things seem to be progressing just fine with Skip!! This morning I lured him out of his cage by holding a banana chip and having him fly to me... Worked perfectly When it comes to handling him his biting has become less frequent, less pressure and less damage. Skip seems to think that my glasses be another one of his toys, what do you recommend for shiny plastic toys? Are there random household items I can use to make him a toy like that? When do you think he'll start to use his perches? He still only hangs onto the sides of the cage with his claws and beak.

Here are some pictures of Skip Front picture Action shot on his toy And here's his whole cage... It's tall and he seems to like it and is getting used to it Hahaha I swear to you, as I write this post... I left skips upper door open if he wanted to climb on top of his cage, and I looked over, and he's sitting there on the lip of the door. The next thing I knew I heard flapping and he flew from his cage to my bed! That's about a good 6-7' of gliding!! Then after that I had to congratulate him and pet him for a while because I was so amazed. Anyway, hope you love Skip as much as I do

Today I stopped in at work, there was a large bag of papaya bits and banana chips on clearance so I bought them. Skip definitely loves the banana chips. I used those to lure him out of his cage and climbing on to my open palm... When I was letting him eat his treat on my bed, every time he'd take a bite, I pulled forward and said "step up" as he attempts to climb on/across my finger. Am I doing that right? Today more progress has shown with him, he started shredding and pulling apart 3 different toys for a good hour or so... Seeing all this activity from him is getting me excited

Thanks everyone for the encouragement I do appreciate it I just want to do the best I can for this bird and hopefully do everything right the first time... When I'm handling him, is there anything specific I should do or try to do? How much time should I spend with him each day? I think I still have a lot to learn about and from this little guy

*sigh* I made an oops... Tonight after I got home from work, I went to take Skip out of his cage and he lunged towards my hand and I instinctively pulled away... and now he does that every time my hand or fingers go near him

He's proven himself to be a very "beaky" bird... and by that I mean he bites a lot... I'm trying to cope with the pain but once in a while he bites a tender area on my finger and I end up reacting... Do I have to worry about the eye-level thing with this bird?

what if I can't stretch for a rope perch? Can I buy a dog rope bone and stick a wire hanger through it?

Skip is doing fine... He's chowing down on millet and his regular food... However I notice he doesn't really stand on his perches... He has 3 different kinds in there. One is natural grapevine, another is a plastic sand perch and the last one is natural wood with have a coconut shell bolted on the end serving as a bowl. All the perches are placed a few inches above the floor of his cage including his "Happy Hut" which actually rests on the floor of the cage and he won't use any of it. He started to chew/shred one of his toys I bought, although 90% of the time I see him, he climbs up as high as he can and just hangs onto the bars... I'm pretty sure he even sleeps this way (or at least it seemed that way) I'll need all the help and advice I can get to accommodate things for Skip Thanks again *Edit* I should also mention that after looking closer, it seems both his feet are deformed... however I'm guessing that his "good" leg ended up going crooked from adapting to having his bad leg

Hey everyone, It's been a while... once again life has thrown me a curveball. Yesterday while I was at work, my manager came up to me and asked me if I was still looking for a bird, and of course I said yes. My manager put me in contact with the veterinarian that comes to our store weekly. So I call the vet on my lunch break and she tells me about this Green Cheek Conure that has a color mutation so it's a cinnamon colored one... Anywho, the little guy(not sexed, just assumed) is 3 months old and someone brought him in to her to euthanize him due to a birth defect... The defect isn't even severe, one of the birds legs doesn't work and can't be used properly. I may end up having it amputated in the future. And so the vet asked me if I wanted the little guy... and so I told her I would love to take him. I got him home last night and in his cage all set up by about 10:30... I threw a couple of pieces of millet in there and he seems to be doing just fine! I ended up naming him Skip because he kind of hops around on one foot due to the birth defect I'll do my best to get pictures up asap

It was a long shot anyway, she rehomed the bird yesterday. Yesterday my manager told me that I should google Bird Fairs and next time there is one, to go to it and find a breeder and talk to them. The earliest one I found was October I think...

The woman who has the bird now adopted it from a shelter. Here's the ad "I have a Red-Lored Amazon in need of a new home due to a move. She (or I associate her as a girl). She is not sexed and I am not sure of her age as I adopted her from a rescue. She is very tame and loves to whistle. She would love nothing more than to sit on your shoulder and be scritched. Much is not known of her history, she has plucked her feathers before I adopted her, but they are growing back. She loves attention, but will let you know when she wants to be left alone. I believe that she would be good for someone who has never had birds before, but she can smell fear a mile away If your scared of her she will be scared of you. She has just started to say Pretty Bird, but I know she says more words than that. Give her time and she will talk away. She is fed fresh fruits and vegetables along with oil seeds to promote feather growth, and is given a supplement to help with feather growth. She loves to sit on her perch on the end table and watch T.V. When she is in the mood she loves to bob to music, she loves to be louder then you if you are in the middle of a conversation and she wants attention." Based on how she described the bird, it doesn't seem like it should be overwhelming or is that just me being naive?

I just came across someone who is looking to rehome their Red Lored Amazon. She's unsure of her age, and the bird plucked most of it's feathers, but they're growing back... I'm going to ask her about the bird.

Thanks Jayd!! You're very helpful!!! I was talking to my manager at work tonight and told him I was interested in possibly getting a blue front amazon and he had nothing but good things to say about 'zons. I'm pretty excited for getting my bird! Right now I'm surfing through craigslist for some deals on a nice sized cage for the bird. Can I put the cage next to a window? Is direct sunlight bad for the bird?

I've decided that if I am getting a parrot, I want it to be an Amazon. Now the question is, which 'Zon is right for me? I want a 'zon that will want to hang around me with whatever it is I'm doing at home. I would like a talker, but one that I can hopefully train to not scream if it does. I'm looking for an affectionate bird, one that knows me and that I'm his/hers. Size... I guess a medium sized bird is good for the space I have available. Any suggestions?

In the reviews people said they placed that perch in front of the birds normal perch in the cage and they'll climb on when they're ready

I guess more so a medium sized parrot would be ideal for me. The places I've read said that Yellow Napes grow 12-15" and I just kinda figured it wasn't THAT big... but I trust you people here on the forum and know you wouldn't steer me the wrong way I do have experience handling a variety of sizes of parrots... I've handled this bitey/mean little Meyer's Parrot at work to my managers B&G Macaw

Hi I came across this on Petco's website... http://www.petco.com/product/101968/Lectro-Thermo-Perch.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch It's a heated perch... What do you guys think of it? I'd be worried about it overheating and burning my bird... not to mention it doesn't look like there's a dial on there to control the temperature or anything

Well, when considering a parrot... I definitely want one that's going to love me and want to be around me everywhere in the house, talking ability is definitely a perk, although not a necessary... I do realize that a lot of time and dedication went with making Moby the spectacle that he is... Makes me want to become the kind of dedicated "parront" to train my bird to do that

So since I've gotten cold feet about the conures, I've just been looking around this forum and seeing what other birds I might like. I came across the Yellow Naped Amazon under the "Amazon of the week" thread and I thought they were pretty. I stumbled over this video I found on youtube of a Yellow Naped 'Zon named Moby. Cute video, kinda made my heart melt and definitely makes me want one of these beautiful birds!!

Update.... I'm getting cold feet about getting these 2 Conures. I re-read the emails between the owner and I, and she said "They do not like to be handled." After reading that, I just started thinking that maybe I should continue my search and find a different bird.

I may be resurrecting an old thread, but I just thought at least a few people on this forum would be interested in this post I have to make... I emailed a guy about the blue amazons, he seemed legitimate and whatnot so I guess I believe this email I got from him. "Andy, They are still quite rare. The cost is $12,000 per bird. That includes shipping expenses, a veterinary health certificate and genetic sex determination. They all have turned out to be incredible talkers with extensive vocabularies. Much better than normal napes The age they are shipped depends on the buyers expertise and desire. If you can convincingly show that you are proficient at hand-feeding we are open to shipping them before they are weaned, otherwise you must wait until they're fully weaned. The price is the same. They are all large in size and very hardy birds. Some buyers have paid for their bird by sending in payments and when it is paid in full I ship. Of course those are people that know me by my reputation and have the confidence to do that. They breed once a year and the babies usually hatch in March. We currently have 1 female available Feel free to ask more questions Thanks for the interest, Regards, Howard Voren" $12,000 for a bird....

I'm convinced that I'll be able to handle them. The noise shouldn't be a problem either. If the birds are climbers, wouldn't I want to get a cage that's tall instead of long??

I was pretty dedicated to getting this Nanday Conure that we have at my work. She's a beautiful bird, but I was changing her water at closing, and I had to weigh her, she bit my finger pretty hard... Might have drawn a little blood or it was a blood blister, I'm not sure. That bite was the only thing that made me curious. I took the bite like a man I swear! Anywho... I talked to the person more about the conures. She said she's never really handled them, they just play around in or on their cage and sleep in the nesting box. She said they've never mated and she's never found eggs or anything. The birds ages are 1 year and 1.5 years old. I'm still thinking I want to get them... Either that or get both of them and surrender one to the humane society or something?

It kinda makes me think... "that's what a bird would look like if an Amazon and a Grey mated..."