scoutndizzy

For some reason, mine learned the first few bits of the "Sanford & Son" theme song. I think she just started trying to speak and we (and by we, I mean by husband... and me... I guess) thought it would be fun to teach her the rest of it. Terrific idea. And she has the cajones to call me weird ("You're weird!")

I got my Scout when she was 10 weeks old. She looked just like these pics with one exception-from about 10 weeks until she was weaned (at 5 1/2 months old) she always had hand feeding formula on her SOMEWHERE. Messy, messy girl!

Now, I don't have human children. I have 3 cats--a 12 year old, an 8 year old, and a kitten. My 12 year old likes to walk around the house and howl after he's used the catbox or after he's eaten and Scout, my CAG, learned how to mimic his howl. *Sigh* I was happy when Scout could just bark (our breeder had many dogs) but now she barks AND meows.

The first one is a pic of my CAG Scout and me. The second one is a pic of my GCC Dizzy and my husband.

I've never gotten seriously bit by my CAG, but my green cheek conure Dizzy has given me some very memorable bites. -She bit me once on my finger and I did as the books suggest and pushed into the bite. The tip of my finger still looks weird from it as she lacerated it. -I walked around for about 3 days looking like I had gone 10 rounds in the ring when she'd gotten hold of my lip and bit it pretty hard. -If I approach Dizzy while she's in her cage, and I let her come out and put out my finger and say, "Step up" if she hesitates even for a split second, I know in the next second she will bite. If she also repeats the phrase, "Step up" I know a biting is imminent too. She says it, but she really doesn't mean it... My CAG did give my husband a pretty nasty bite once. He had Scout out and one of our cats came up to the bird to check her out. My husband caught the bird just as she was going for my cat's eye. Broke skin. Cat and Scout are both okay. All 3 of my cats are now terrified of Scout. :-)

Dan, this is a great post (as usual!) Keep up the good work! On a similar note, if I find that my green cheek conure starts acting nippy and there's nothing that I can do calm her down, I offer her a bath. I don't throw her in the water or make the bath any different than when she is in a good mood. If I offer her a bath, she'll usually take me up on the offer and we both have a good time as she fluffs her stuff in the water. The bad mood is quickly dispelled. Then she takes about the next 1-2 hours to groom herself and that helps. Just hope this idea helps anyone else who seems to be getting to the end of their rope.

This is AWESOME! I laughed so loudly that I woke my husband up--oops. And so many things are true! I *do* spend time analyzing my bird's poop. You won't find me at the catbox saying, "Hmmm Squeak's (one of our cats') poop is more runny/dry/green/red/tye dyed than usual" but when I see my girl shaking her booty like she's doing the chicken dance, I am watching that drama. And on nights when I should be out partying and living it up like any 25 year old does, I am at home, diligently fighting with a kitten over my newest foot toy for my bird. Life is good.

That's so great to hear! My CAG also got a beak injury when she was young. She contracted constricted toe syndrome and lost 1 full toe and most of another one, so she had balance problems. She fell several times while she was learning how to perch, and I worried so much about her. The vet saw it, and he said there was nothing to worry about as it's a common injury in younger birds, and now most of the injured area has grown out. Good luck with Tui!

Scout's first clear words were "You're weird!" It wasn't something that I thought we said to her all that often, just when she was acting silly. The first noise she learned to make was the wolf whistle (isn't it always?). That one we started using when we were still hand feeding her, and we would wolf whistle to call her to her food and she would come flying in to her eating spot on the counter. I didn't really drill words into her. I have tried repetition training with her, and it sometimes works. Right now, her favorite thing to say is "Tee hee!", which is something both my husband and I say when we lightly tickle her feet and/or lower haunches. She is also fond of saying "Uh-oh!" when she drops something. And isn't that a favorite game with most fids anyway? The noises-both real and made up-are definitely her favorites in the world. I think it comes down to the mood your fid is in. If he's not in the mood to talk, then he won't. Sometimes people are like that too. But if he is in a training mood, be sure to have a favorite treat and keep the tone light and happy.

Scout likes to do that too. Or she'll grab a Harrison's pellet, hold it and eat part of it, then throw it at the cat. And we wonder why our cats are afraid of the birds.

Hehe it sounds like my green cheek conure. Because I do take her out to the local PetCoSmart (they all kinda run together in my mind after a while), my green cheek was clipped. I say was because within 2-3 months, she had plucked out ALL of her clipped flight feathers and let regular flight feathers grow back so that she could fly. So clipping doesn't always work if your fid can find a way around it... ;-)

You know, I'm kinda glad that I'm not the only one with a bird who would still accept formula. When Scout was almost 6 months old, she finally weaned. However, the other day I was cleaning out her old baby stuff and I found her hand feeding syringe, and she got really super excited and started shaking her head waiting for the food. I'm so glad that she finally weaned, but it took FOREVER! Now that she is, and she likes Harrison's, I am happy. I am going to check out that website now. If it's more inexpensive than local (which is roughly $10-$15 per 1 lb bag) then I will order from them. Otherwise, I will head over to our local vet office and get some--after making sure they have it in stock this time! :-)

Hey, I was wondering if anyone else has had the same experience with pellets and greys as I have. Here's the scoop (I'm sorry about the length): Scout hated pellets. I tried Pretty Bird, Harrison's High Potency Course and Fine, Zupreem Natural, and Zupreem fruity. I had to grind them up and mix them into her warm rice, and then I worried she wasn't getting enough! I kept offering her pellets, making them fun, making them into forage toys. She gave me the proverbial finger and went back to her multi-grain Cheerios. Two days ago, Scout ate a Harrison's High Potency Course Pellet. And then another. And then another. Pretty soon, she had eaten all of her 2 tablespoons of it and wanted more. So I gave a few more to her and she had been eating them pretty well. It transpired that I had a birthday party to go to today and left Scout with my husband at home. When I got back, he said, "Watch this" and held my green cheek conure's cockatiel sized fruity Zupreem dish to Scout, and Scout ate a few pellets from there. I had a bag of medium sized fruity Zupreem in the fridge and gave her some, and for the first time since I got Scout (almost 7 months ago), she ate the Zupreem. Has anyone else ever had an African grey who hated pellets, wouldn't touch them, and begged for other food and then overnight developed a taste for pellets? Also, does anyone know where I can get Harrison's (my first choice for my bird, ALWAYS) at a lower cost than $10 for a 1 lb bag? By the way I do want to mention here that Scout gets one warmed serving of "Sund chop" (check out parrotnation.com) and then later in the day, warmed up frozen unseasoned stir-fry veggies; she also gets about 5 sunflower seeds per day and a few nuts of her choosing--lately, she seems to favor almonds. Thank you for any and all feedback!!