RedDragon1288

Hey everyone, sorry for not posting in a really long time. A lot changes have happen since I last posted in 2012. Now Malachite has also pyshcially changed along with his attitude. Since July 15 Malachite is now 3 years old and on July 14 he decided that Brennen and him can not share me. He has become activitly aggressive towards Brennen and such a loving fellow to me. Ruby and Malachite no longer try to attack one another just tolerate at a safe distance.

Ruby and Malachite are both males but Malachite has a limited vocabulary and most words sound horrible. I've heard female Hawk heads speak better than Malachite. Ruby is a CAG so it's good.

Just to add to the whole sending a bad message about not catering to higher end market... When I open my Bird and Fish Pet store, I plan on making it more possible to everyone to buy stainless steel cages that are US made. Hey I think I will advertise "Buy or reserve your baby plus stainless steel cage together and get either 15% off cage or a first time bird owner starter kit and includes a 1 lb bag of food, 1 toys and owners guide to good parrot keeping", or 8% off cage and something else that I don't know what else would appeals to parrot owners. Now, What would appeal to parrot owner in forking over a large sum of money for a stainless steel cage?

I agree Spinner

I found funny is when I got my HHP he didn't like pellets but I did the switch to first Zupreen Fruit blend which btw does not taste like fruit and made Malachite's poop smell really bad. Than I switched him to Kaytee Exact Natural and he liked it but than he finally notice Harrison's as Ruby ate it. Malachite is on Harrison's High Potency Fine but he like Coarse better but most of it goes wasted because he hasn't mastered holding his food with his foot. I believe size also makes a difference because Ruby loves to hold his food and is a master at it, but Malachite sucks at hold his food and eating at the same time and fine is too small for him; He needs something in-between Fine and Coarse.

I've tired with RoudyBush but it cause Ruby to pluck his feathers. With Zupreen he mostly played with it and stick it into his feahters, and with Harrison's he loves it.

I have also talked to him and he told me that they came from China. Also cages coming from China, Pakistan, and India are equivalent to each other and the stainless steel cages coming from those companies have been found to have a black residue that is toxic to birds. They mix more elements like chrome and then are run through a process called Elector Polish which creates that shiny look like a minor reflecting light. In all, BUYER BEWARE!

Yeah I got an Avian Advanture powder coated thinking I got a quality cage for Ruby but with-in the first 5 months I started to noticed a lot of paint chipping and rust, but I was able to deal with it because I found that Kirkland Eco-friendly dish soap does a really good job at cleaning off rust. Than 3 more months later the Avian Advanture emblem fell off along with some bars more out of place. Lucky, during that time I got a raised and started saving my money to buy a stainless steel cage and the market was open to me. Good luck! Keep us updated when the time comes for both the fid and cage.

Are you getting a Large Parrot? Custom cages are more expensive than standard models from any company you go to.

I understand FirstPenguin. I too got scammed by Jeff from JWR when I purchased their humidifier. 258.00 dollars for the same humidifier you can get from Amazon for 79.00 dollars. Well, I learned my lesson. It's one of those things where some companies don't update their websites for one reason or another and wish they did update their site but Animal Environments is no scam. The company and manufacturing facility is in Carlsbad, San Diego County, California. The prices on the site are still the set prices but I did order customs to both my cages so their are add-on cost and I'm a CA resident so there were sales-tax and shipping on the first cage was also another add-on cost. So if you are not CA resident and buy a standard plus shipping, I believe you will get a better deal. I believe with any company you have to be firm with what you want. Yes their prices are lower than other American Made cages. Hey it's your choice; I personally suggest buying an American Made Stainless Steel Cage whichever your choice of company. I did found recently that Freedom Cages are being made/manufacture in china since switching owners. Also, take your time and save your pennies in make a big decision like this one.

Carmen Daily is a women and she is from Spain. Yes they don't make powder coated cages and there is a little language barrier but that's easy to over come. I overall have had a good experience with buying cages from Animal Environment. I have recently purchased two cages from her. The first one I bought last year was a custom Cockatoo Cage for Ruby but since we got Malachite we notice that Ruby only uses the top half of the cage. So I ordered another cage but the Amazon size instead because it's about the right size for Ruby, and Malachite is using the Cockatoo cage because he is very active in his cage and uses the whole cage. It does cost extra to order custom cages but all cages come with a lifetime warranty from defects and overall quality. I had my first cage shipped to me and it arrived all together and no damages. It is a semi-welded and sturdy as hell. lol. The Amazon I requested to be collapsible because I drove to pick it up which gave me an excuse to take some vacation time from work and spent some time in San Diego. At the time I had the pleasure of meeting Carmen when I picked up my cage. I saved my pennies to buys these for my fids. Here are some picture of the cages. this is the Cockatoo cage for Malachite This is the Amazon Cage for Ruby

King's cages are made in China and don't have a lifetime warranty, or a year warranty the last time I checked. I own two Animal Environments cages and both are high quality.

I sorry that my post was completely misunderstood. I do not ever want to get rid of Ruby, I've made a commit to do right by him. I don't care that I'm not his favorite person. I do have a great relationship with him as I'm the only that he allow to preen his pin feathers. I know and understand that I can't throw another grey with Ruby in the same cage. I do own multiple cages and I know Ruby doesn't really like other parrot species. Just to clarify a little I really don't want to breed Ruby, and there is a back story to the issue of his obsession with Brad that I've had post about. "Training People" I believe was the title. His desire for Brad is what causes him to pluck his neck down feathers and nest building mode. I've heard that sometimes pairing pluckers helps with this problem as they direct their affection to their partner. I don't know whether if this holds any merit. Honesty to the untrained eye wouldn't be able to tell that he has some bald spots about his neck. Sorry for the confusion. I guess I wrote like I spoke. It sounded right in my head. lol

Should I get another African Grey but a female? I'm not sure if it will help Ruby's love struck desire of Brad. I'm entertaining the idea right now and have no plans of getting another parrot. We have no room for another parrot. Should I continue to consider this or just give it up. Not looking to breed African Greys since there is a lot of them being bred these days. I do have friends who want one but they are few. I'm going to wait 5 more years or until Brennen gets his PhD to make a final decision. Boy Ruby will 8 years old by than. Maybe his behavior will change by than. What do you greys think? I can only hope that him and Malachite will be buddies but how things are not I don't see that happening.

You know I've read that HH hiss as a warning instead of erecting their crest as some have said. I'm starting to think that HHs are a hybrid parrot. Part parrot and part snake, compare to other parrots like AGs that are also known to hiss... I've never heard Ruby hiss as much a Malachite has. Malachite hisses every time he is ready to bit. I could be giving him a head scratch which he seems to love a lot, he can quickly begin hissing like a pregnant women during her quick breathing during labor, followed by intense hard biting. One thing to note is that he also growls, but when he growls, he doesn't follow it with a nasty bite. I've never seen Malachite erect his crest out of fear or a warning of danger around. He has only raised his crest when he trying to challenge someone of something and he is not afraid to attack. Other wise he would run away. He used to be afraid of Ruby because Ruby used to try to attack him, but now that Ruby doesn't dare to try to get near Malachite because he knows we will put him in time out. Ruby does his best to ignore Malachite but Malachite is now trying to attack Ruby. Malachite is now 6 months, so this is him so far.