Tweedle

Whoop Whoop! We went shopping and got Aloe Vera Juice and Pippa just let me spray her!! Thankyou Dave for the 'up close and personal' tip - she really did just let me spray her. On my previous attempts at misting her I went for the spray wide and let the rain fall on her approach, which left her run away and squawking angrily. This time she just gave me an 'eh? what's that? Oh.' sort of look. I only gave her four or five squirts, not enough to get her wet enough, but was going for the quit while you're ahead approach. May I ask, how frequently should I be trying to mist her with water (guessing daily?) and how often with the Aloe juice afterwards?

Seeing as I have 3 dogs as well as Pippa, it is cheaper for me to pay for a house sitter rather than put them in kennels. It also means that they are happier, in their own environement, and Pippa is still able to have time out of her cage while I'm away. I shall blow the trumpet for us veterinary nurses! Responsible individuals, at ease with animals, know what 'off colour' looks like, generally paid a very low wage so would be very happy to do a good job of looking after your critters for some extra pennies. You could give your local clinic a ring and see if there is anyone appropriate who would be prepared to do it. I've used three different nursing assistants from the hospital where I work, they've all been fab, and the beasties have been perfectly happy. And no change in Pippa's behaviour when I got back (agree - all different, this is just the solution that has worked for me xx)

Thankyou so much - I hadn't realised quite how much I had invested in Pippa emotionally, but reading kind words like that gets me completely choked... Tomorrow I'm off on a quest for Aloe Vera Juice and plant, more experiments with spray/misting, making a wooden perch for her Adventure Pack, and maybe a little Adventure too )

Heehee! What a fantastic bundle! I was clicking away on a website last night and had to do a virtual abandon-my-trolley-in-the-aisle manouevre, freaked myself out with how much I was about to spend! Yes, it will all get used eventually, and just think of how much you've saved in shipping by doing it all in one go

I wonder whether anyone can advise me on how to work on body handling with Pippa without 'leading her on!' I've been watching various videos, including aviator harness ones on youtube, and it looks as if working on Pippa letting me touch her and move her wings etc would be a good thing. However, I've also read that touching your bird in such a way that stimulates courting behaviour could result in one very frustrated parrot. (You bought me flowers, took me to dinner, and that's IT?!?!) At the moment, Pippa will step up, happily from the very top of her cage, grudgingly from other places, and not at all from within the cage, so I'm very aware that I've got to work on these basics and building trust there first, and not try and walk before I can run. Or fly before I can flap. Or whatever. I can move Pippa away from her cage/play area, but before long she will fly back to the security of her base. Although she likes peanuts and tickles, she would much rather have them in her safe place. Pippa LOVES having her head scratched, more than peanuts even. She will also let me stroke her back, when I have asked politely first. But head scratches soon result in head bobbing, mouthing and what I would call 'carressing' my fingers, though she hasn't (thankfully) actually regurgitated Harrison's onto me. If I let her continue doing this, it turns into a leaning forward squat with wings slightly raised, that looks like a 'mount me, mount me' plea with some very cute squeeks. Now it's all very flattering, and there is nothing about these natural behaviours that bothers ME, but I don't want to do anything detrimental to her overall happiness. I wonder what you would all advise in terms of which behaviours are permissable and which should be discouraged, in terms of her wellbeing. How can I factor this in to training for handling, so that I might eventually be able to consider introducing a harness? Is her keenness to be in her own 'area' a common grey trait, or a function of her life in her previous home, or her disabilities, or just my not having put enough work in? Should I just let her stick to the areas she is happy with, or would it really be worth aiming to expand her horizons? (though I know it would have to be done in a way, and at a rate, acceptable to her) Lots of rambling questions I know, please send me in the direction of existing threads if more appropriate, but I'm really looking forward to hearing all your thoughts.

I read it after having read 'The Alex Studies', and it was wonderful to hear about his character, rather than just his performance in carefully controlled experiments. It was the anecdotes, the stories that echoed many of the moments I've read about on here with people's own birds, that showed a different element to his intelligence and personality. Stories that don't meet the rigour and burden of proof that a scientific publication requires, but speak volumes beyond that. My favourites included the exasperated 'Want Nut. N - U - T !!', and being able to ask to go and look at a tree, just because he liked to look at it.

Ey up chaps, I am back off my holiday and have had a lovely day with Pippa. I was worried she might be a bit miffed at my absence, but was clearly pleased to see me, and immediately happy to have her head scratched. She has learnt three new sounds from my house sitter (wolf whistle in a different pitch, kissy kissy noise, and 'come on pippa' in her voice). I read somewhere that they more quickly pick up sounds that they like (any evidence, anyone?), so I hope it indicates they got on well. And today, our Adventure Pack arrived! We had some time in the sun in the garden with Pippa watching me do the weeding, and then went to visit some friends in the evening. I wasn't sure how she would take going away from home, but she seemed to rather enjoy it. There were lots of her happy peeps when we went outside in the field surrounded by trees. She watched the dog playing fetch, and was delighted to discover that when she whistled it made Charlie dog come over to her. Great game! And as we sat inside drinking tea, eating cake and knitting, she went through a good portion of her repertoire, whereas she normally goes very quiet if she is stressed. So it looks like it might be a success!

Yup, I'm here to learn, and sooooo glad to have found this place I should have phrased it as a question 'I wonder if......like with puppies......' , I am such a novice parrot owner, and generally aware of the huuuuge gaps in my knowledge. I am quietly composing a whole raft of questions for when I get back off holiday next week.....

Thankyou

Please can anyone suggest where I might be able to get this in the UK? Health food shop? Sounds like it could only do good for Pip's bare bits.

I stand corrected! Thankyou:)

Hullooo, I've been clicker training with dogs and have done a little work with Pippa. She's got the idea with the target stick, but doesn't follow it very far yet, what with poorly legs. (Excuse!) Aaaaaaand I've not been putting enough time in. My first problem was with the reinforcer - as soon as she thought you were trying to *make* her do something, she would refuse the treat. She loves peanuts, but would take it from me and spit it out! She used to like sunflower seeds too, but won't touch them now. Her preferred reward is now a headscratch, but I have to read her very carefully to make sure she's in the mood. I'll be moving house in the next couple of months, so she'll have a quite different set up. I may start with a much more systematic treat test, and try and extend the range of foods she'll touch at the same time.

Just a thought - when teaching animals, breaking a behaviour down into smalls steps and rewarding a gradual build up to the desired behaviour works really well. It also works really well on people! If the full 'step-up' behaviour is too much for you at the moment, try breaking it down - being near to Winter, talking, passing treats, asking if would like a tickle, holding hand in front, luring up onto hand with a treat......however it suits you to break it down. But reward YOURSELF for completing each step with confidence, and don't move on to the next step until you are REALLY happy with where you are. Your bird will see you being successful, and happy at what's happening, which must make interactions more positive.

Some stories I've picked up in the veterinary world...... Vet restrains parrot who starts shouting 'Help! Help! Help!' After being injected, as the vet turned away to dispose of the needle, parrot muttered under his breath 'Bastard.' And another, having been hospitalised for a week, started saying 'Well, I don't know what's wrong with it..' Owner playing with parrot, and passes him some keys to play with. After a while, the bird accidentally drops the keys on the floor. Looks at the keys. Looks at the owner. Then says 'Oh, Shit.' My Pippa's best one was when she flew into a window and said 'Cor, f***ing hell!' She has never repeated it, and only used it when the situation warranted. I'm suprised by how many people I know think their talking is purely mimicry. Obviously, that's the starting point. But Irene Pepperberg's work, and so, so many anecdotes show there is more going on. There is definately the contextualising of words, saying them at the appropriate time. You could argue that much of the time the word is just being triggered by an environmental cue, rather than their being an actual understanding of what is being said. But Irene's work clearly demonstrates that the capacity is there, and why evolve the capacity if you would never use it in the wild? That's an expensive bit of brain power to waste energy on if you don't need it to survive... Isn't this the same way human children develop language though - mimicry, then context, then cognition and combining words to express your meaning. Sorry I can't remember who posted it (might be danmcq) but there are some lovely posts on here about our response to their words and how to encourage this development of language. Words gain meaning and significance because we help GIVE them meaning and significance, either by a verbal response, or by altering something in the environment. If we ignored the jabberings of a human child, I wonder how much it would slow down the development of their language and cognitive abilities. Tweeds (loving having somewhere to talk about this stuff!)

Frequency of pooping is related to activity levels. The more active you are, the more muscles are working, the more waste products are produced, the more peeping/pooping required. Hence at night time they're less active, so less stuff gets pushed out. Whereas I'm sure if they're being very active, it might increase to every 10mins? (my bird is not very 'active' so will call on your experience to answer that one) I give puppy training classes, and often have to explain this. People get frustrated when a pup can hold it for hours, then suddenly needs to go every 10mins. 'But you're only just beeeeeen!!!!'

Pippa doesn't like being picked up, so I have to ask her to make her own way back to her cage. I started by luring her back on her platform/door with a peanut. Oh, she loves her peanuts. Once she had the nut, I would close the door and pop another treat in her food bowl. I then added the cue, 'back to bed', but still showing her the peanut upfront, so she knew it was coming. Once that was happening well, I gave the cue, but did not show the nut, turning it from a bribe into a reward. She gets one when she gets to the door, and randomly one in her pot. Due to her knackered legs, it takes a while to potter her way back, so I've started saying 'back to bed' a few minutes before I need to leave, and let her get on with it in her own time. I don't know about the stepping up, but clearly going back to the cage, for many birds, is the cue for the end of the fun. So having a prize for getting back in there would be the way to go. You could do lots of little practise ones where he gets let out again very soon, it's just a game with prizes! I think putting it on cue helps, so they know exactly what is happening. Oh, if getting him back to the cage is impossible, and he doesn't get the chance to win the prize, break it down further and reward the smaller steps. i.e. stepping up from any and every surface, staying on your hand rather than moving up, staying on you no matter where you wander, and eventually back to the cage. Make sure the rate of reinforcement is high to keep his interest and convince him that it really is worth his while to be doing this. Tweeds

Yes, the picture is of the Beatles on Plymouth Hoe (stop sniggering, Americans!), which is the seafront where I live. I even have the picture oriented so George is pointing in the correct direction I'm not sure whether Pippa is a fan, but I am - my father grew up in Liverpool and used to sneak in to the Cavern to watch them. Pippa's favourite is Nickel Creek, she sings along, often in key, with mandolin music, and listens quite attentively when I play the violin.

Hi Bezzina, I got a lot of ideas for making toys from http://www.cheepparrottoysntips.com Pippa didn't play with toys at all when I first got her. We sort of taught her to by hiding her beloved peanuts in progressively trickier places so she had to work for them by destroying a paper bag or something. She eventually discovered that if she whacks a dangly toy, she can get it to scratch her head for her! I bought the wooden clothes horse for about £10 from a local Ye Olde Hardware store and rotate the toys on it using cable ties and clips. I got all sorts of plastic beads, being careful for size, from haberdashery shops, or childrens jewellery kits. She likes stripping apple tree branches, and loved picking the seeds off the bottlebrush bush. I often use pet shop toys designed for small furries, the basket was a rat house or something. She likes paper bags stuffed with paper shreddings, peanuts, blocks of wood. She is such a contrary little bugger though. She will love one particular thing, then suddenly go off it, never to show interest again! She does consistantly like the acrylic toys though, so consider them a very good buy.

Thankyou everyone for the kind and welcoming words. I'm looking forward to hearing all about your chaps and learning as much as I can. @Judygram - I'm off work sick today, so perhaps I can blame it on feeling a little delicate, but your words have set me off blubbing! This is the first opportunity I've really had to talk about her with people who really know Greys. It's a funny little relationship, very different to that which I have with my dogs. From them, I can have instant cuddles, whenever I want. But Pippa is much more independant and knows what she wants, or doesn't want, at any time. So it's less about what *I* want, and more about giving her the opportunities, the time and space, to do the things that SHE likes doing, to be as 'free' as is possible for her, I suppose. I've have learned to be polite, to ask if she would like a tickle for example. She understands the word and the gesture, and makes it immediately clear if she would like, and to try and force yourself upon her otherwise would be very rude and quite deserving of a nip. She loves head tickles, but much prefers them on her platform. If I move her to the sofa with me, she will fly back to her cage. Sometimes I worry that I'm not giving her enough time, that I haven't done enough work with her. It's been reassuring to read that they are not necessarily the cuddliest of creatures, so I have not 'failed her' by not being in that following me round the house, or climbing under my duvet dynamic. But I guess, considering all her little issues, maybe this is just how we are meant to be together. Enjoying each others company, but letting each other be? Wow, there are some big life lessons in there..... There are some more things I'd like to try with her, and I think the set up at my new flat will bring us closer together - literally - it's a smaller living room and the cage will be closer to the sofa. But even as things are now, I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to live and watch and play with this extraordinary creature.

Indeed, it is a chinchilla tube threaded over a rope perch. She's destroyed it now! She didn't go in it, but used to sit on it a lot. I was trying to give her lots of variation in surface for her poorly feet, and she seemed to quite like the flatter curve of the surface. I used to fill it with small items and peanuts hidden in shredded paper, for her to unpack and munch at her leisure. And she enjoyed munching the tube too, one enoooooormous birdie bagel.

Pippa pics......I'd be very grateful for any comments/advice you might have re. her set up that I could incorporate into our imminent house move

Testing!