GoDiego

Good news, since putting into practice my ideas Diego now hardly ever flies into the doors. He does sometimes but now he seems to be able to slow down and land before he hits the glass, and only seems to do it if he overshoots where he wants to go. I've also ordered an Aviator harness and waiting for delivery, in the meantime he seems quite happy for me to put a looped shoelace over his head so am hoping he will accept the harness without any problems. Working with Diego's natural abilities rather than curbing them has definitely worked!

After I made it, I thought it would have been better using wooden popsicle sticks so he could chew them as well! With the ones I made I had to remove the plastic stick as I use them for my children and did not want them all mangled.

Diego has always been pretty good around my 2 young boys and my boys are very good around him. They never approach him to pet him unless I am supervising and they always respect Diego's space. Over the last few days I have noticed Diego showing more aggressive body language around the children and often growls when they approach to talk to him. The other day my eldest and I was doing some touch training with him, Diego went to step up on my sons hand and put his beak around my sons finger which is normal for him when he steps up. This time he started with soft mouthing his finger but them bit down harder which made my son yelp and cry (understandable). A couple of days have passed and Diego's behaviour is definately getting more aggressive towards both of the boys. Today Diego flew over to me on the sofa and my youngest was sat next to me. Diego was fine and sat on my lap, next minute his feathers were all puffed up, then all slicked down and he started stalking my son from my lap. When he got close to my son I had to tell him to move quickly as Diego started growling and then lunged for him. I know the re-enforcement for this aggression on both cases First Case - my son pulls his hand away quickly, screams then walks away quickly making lots of noise and sobbing (Diego sees this as lots of verbal attention for his actions plus re-enforces bites makes the little ones run) Second Case - My son quickly vacates the area of an Amazon showing aggressive behaviour (Again, Diego sees that this behaviour gets the little ones out of the way quickly) The problem with both of these cases is, I cannot expect my sons not to show any emotion when getting bit or to not cry. This would never happen, when small children get hurt they cry this is natural. I also cannot expect my sons to hold their ground with an Amazon clearly wanting to get a bit of loose skin, as the dangers of damage done to fingers or faces is too great. In both cases however, I did walk away from Diego without saying a word to him and went straight to my sons and made sure I spent time with each giving cuddles etc. So how do I nip this in the bud:confused:, I know Diego is trying his luck on this and seeing what he can get away with. I just don't want this to esculate into a serious behaviour problem. After all the boys and Diego have to stay good friends as one of them will end up inheriting him when he is old and grey/green Oh and Diego only does this with the boys, If ever an adult approaches him he is whiter than white and is a huge flirt!!

What a good girl she is cleaning her beak, no false beak for her when she's an old girl! LOL

Hehe, you could almost read the penguins mind " Boat with humans = predators, whales = much, much bigger predators, I'll take my chances with the humans!"

Here in the South of Spain the temperature is still hot, hot, hot! Diego everyday spends some time outside and often watches the kids tuck into an Ice Lolly. So today I made Diego one so he could join in the fun. I made them from: Grated Carrot Small pieces of grapes A small amount of Brasil Nuts broken into small bits Some seeds Freshly squeezed orange and carrot juice Here is the final product I was so excited about giving him this treat that I have to be honest, I felt most put out when he literally turned his beak up at it and turned his back on me! Oh well he did eat some up when it had all melted into a blob in his dish. LOL

I'm really sorry to hear your story, I personally cannot offer any advice as this is far to over my head. However, there are some very knowledgeable people here on the forum that I am sure will be able to advise you. I sincerely hope everything works out OK for you both.

Ooooh I don't know now! The lutino ringneck could also be in the running. The one in the shop looked just a little smaller than Diego and he measures at just under 16" so this could be around 14". Looking on the web, both the conure and the ringneck measure in length around the same size. Looking at your photo Rrrma, the conure looks around the same weight and build as an Amazon and the one in the shop was definitely much more slender then Diego, so it could be a Ringneck. Hopefully my friend will have time to pop in this evening and my curiosity can be curbed.

Thanks lovely looking bird! The more I am looking at the pictures of the Golden Conure, the more I think this is one. Another thing I forgot to mention earlier is that the bird in the pet shop had a long tail which the conure has and the eclectus does not. I will keep you all posted when my friend pops in and enquires. I keep talking about it to my husband and he just keeps rolling his eyes, he knows me too well and he is just waiting for me to ask him about having another member to our family. I'm going to be strong though as although I would love another bird in the house, I just don't have the time. Plus our house can be noisy anyway and conures can be quite loud so an addition may start tipping the neighbours over the edge LOL.

Money ain't everything, some of the most contented people are the ones without anything! Enjoying life and what you do is far more important!

DOH!!! Sorry my brains were obviously leaking at that point LOL. A friend of mine is popping in after work to ask the owner what it is as she works in the same street. After looking on the internet these particular parrots can reach up to $2000.000, and here in Spain they are even more expensive and very rare to find. I'm wondering if the owner knows what he has in his shop, if it is a Golden Conure and what he is selling it for?

OK, the only parrot that I can find that looks like the one in the shop is the Golden Conure also known as a Queen of Bavaria Conure. From what I have read on this site http://animal-world.com/encyclo/birds/conures/queenbavaria.php they say "A very rare and highly endangered species, the Queen of Bavaria Conure also known as the Golden Conure is protected against collection and importation, as well as being closely regulated in the United States. It is also very expensive" The only thing that this conure has which I am sure the one in the shop does not is the green tips on the wing.

It could have been a conure, but I always thought they had green on the tips of their wings. This one had no other colours other than the bright yellow. Plus I think it was bigger than a Conure. LOL, curiosity is getting the better of me! I think I might pop out in a bit and do some detective work, problem is I don't want to be walking away thinking about adding another member to our family. I know I'm going to to feel bad for it, after the size cage it was in. Also I can't stop thinking about how beautiful it was, it was like a ray of sunshine sitting in the window!

Today I drove past a local pet shop and they had a parrot in the window. It was one of the most vibrant parrots I have ever seen. It was yellow all over but not just a normal yellow but an almost illuminous yellow! It was so bright, that this was the reason for it catching my eye. On first look and because of the size I thought it could be an Eclectus, however after searching the net I'm not finding any parrots with this kind of colouring? It's eyes were very light in colour and it's beak was also light if I can remember correctly. It was one stunning bird and my curiosity on it is getting the better of me, I may just have to pop in and have a closer look. I might try and get a photo of it as well as it is in the shop window and in a very small cage for his size.

I am very envious of the work you do, you are one lucky person to have such a wonderful job to go to. Not only have you a great job, but it also led you down the life path of having Pippa, who's outcome may not have been so wonderful if she had not found you! I second that!!

Fab! I can just imagine the police accident report or headlines in the paper "PARROT ROAD RAGE INCIDENT!" lol

deef, I am sure nobody was doubting how well you treat him or how much you love him, I for one. Just that as you have now found out that moment of panic or anger to hit out has taken you back a lot of steps. This worries me slightly about having a parrot on your shoulder when driving especially as he is now showing a tendency to bite unexpectedly, this could put you in a very dangerous situation. It may be worth not allowing him on your shoulder whilst in the car to prevent any accidents.

Love the photo What species is Sachi? She looks just like the Amazon parrot I have just posted under Amazon of the week but with more colouring, here's the link to the Hispaniolan Amazon of the week http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190847-NEW-Amazon-of-the-Week-09-01-10-Hispaniolan-Amazon

Hi Louis, great news for you that you have found a wonderful loving home! I'm loving the photo of him and Cormac, it looks like Louis is whispering into his ear. Is he still as besotted with Cormac as much as he was or has he started to share his affection with you now?

Happy Anniversary, May there be many, many more years together. Cocoa, make sure you listen to your Parronts, they are keeping you in tip top shape with all your flying and your looking mighty fine in your photos!

I just love the story as it proves that animals do not need to be disposed of just because they have something wrong with them and that there are alternatives. Molly proves that animals can adjust, I've always had horses and it has always been thought that if a horse breaks their leg then there is nothing that can be done for them. This just proves that there is always a way! Not only has Molly proved how tough and intelligent horses can be but because of her fighting spirit she has inspired so many people and children with disabilities. "Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.” Molly did not need to be told this, she just did it instinctively, us humans should take a leaf out of her book.

Don't you just love those messy beak photos! He's a real beauty, I can't wait until Diego's eyes start turning orange around the pupils. At the moment because he is still young they are still brown, does anyone know what age they start turning?

I think Judygram has given you some great advice here about having to start again with him. Just the same as when a human hits another person, the other person will take a long time to put the incident behind them to trust again, just the same with your grey. It does worry me that it was not a one off incident but it happened twice and the second time it was hard enough to make him fall. I'm sorry, but I do not agree with hitting our feathered friends under any circumstances. When somebody hits out it is a sign of loss of control on their part. I think that not only are you going to have to work on your grey with rebuilding trust, but it's also important to train yourself to stay calm.

I recognised the language as Portugese, thanks for the links I will check them out Amazon parrots are one of the more difficult to train for free flight due to the fact that they like to fly in straight lines and will normally perch in the first tree they find and refuse to move. LOL. I would love to Free Fly Diego one day, but I think that this will only remain a dream rather than a reality.

I have finally found it!! After spending months searching on the internet for the wild sounds of Amazons to see if Diego's noises in the video of my first post are natural or developed within a captive environment, I have come across the video below. It is from a conservation site for Blue Fronted Amazons and is of wild Amazons in the nest ready to be fed. The website it was taken from is http://blueparrot.wildlifedirect.org/2009/11/24/parrot-parental-care-watch-this-amazing-video/ As you can hear from the video, they are the exact same noises Diego makes when he is hungry or is feeding. And to think that the breeder told me it was because he was reared near to a goat farm! I had a feeling they were a more natural sound.