Kaleah

Just this morning I rearranged my living room, and then moved my desk and computer in there, so that I am now always where Kaleah can see me. And the noise continues. Yes, I realize parrots make noise, and I want her to be vocal, but this screaming for attention is almost more than I can take. It honestly is to the point where I am (sadly) considering rehoming her if she does not stop soon. I will not raise my voice to her, as she is a rescue and her former owners had been abusive...at least from what I was told. Because of whatever she experienced before me, Kaleah is a plucker and feather chewer. Aside from that, she's also very bonded to me. Any time spent perched on my shoulder she just regurgitates on me...almost non stop. Her wings droop and she whimpers. Because of this, I limit the time she spends on my shoulder. I do spend a lot of time with her, playing with toys with her (out of the cage of course), and even when I'm not in the same room I sing and talk to her, and mimic the songs she makes up. It doesn't seem like it's enough for her, though.

My CAG, Kaleah, has just started doing this. She's always been a quieter bird. She makes happy sounds, whistles her made-up songs, and uses the few words she knows...but recently she started making this chirping sound that is so loud and shrill it goes right through me. She mostly does it when I'm out of view, but will occasionally make this shrill chirp when I'm in the same room as her. It has a very demanding or urgent edge to it, but the second I move to where she can see me, or I tell her that's enough, she tells me 'hello' and the noise stops -at least until she loses sight of me again. I don't want to encourage this kind of behavior, but seeing as I live in an apartment I find myself doing as she pleases just to keep her quiet.

Kaleah has a thing for coffee. It's not good for her so I only allow her to have a sip once in awhile. She also like root beer, apple cider, milk, and has become skilled at drinking out of my bottle of water. And yes, they do have such a sense of entitlement. It's like "what's mine is mine and what's yours is mine and if you try to keep me from it I'll bite you!" Well, at least that's how it is in my house.

Yay for Timmy! It's great that he's talking. And you were so impatient about nothing at all. Can't wait to hear what else comes out of his mouth

She doesn't fly yet, so she's safe from those damn bottle for now . When she does learn to fly, then lots of things are going to have to be moved.

That was sooo cute! I'm always trying to get Kaleah to dance with me. Sometimes she does, sometimes she'll just ignore me. I'm not much for hip-hop, I prefer rock and metal, but Kaleah loves the hip-hop so she has her own little playlist that she likes to jam out to.

I was just doing dishes and decided to let Kaleah wonder the counter. Whenever I clean i always put her in her cage (as I don't have a play stand yet) so that whatever I'm doing doesn't freak her out, so this is a first for us both. She was enjoying herself a lot. Trying to break my coffee maker, trying to push clean dishes on the floor, knocking glasses over...just having a blast and being mischievous. A few feet down from my sink is a little shelf that holds wine. She started playing over there, trying to push bottles around with her beak. The more I heard the bottles knock together the more nervous I got. I looked over and saw her messing with the one nearly empty bottle. All of a sudden the bottle began to teeter with Kaleah right below it. I lunged for the bottle. She moved when she saw me coming, I must have looked like a mad woman, but the bottle fell. I grabbed the neck in time but the bottom pinned her tail feathers down for a second. She screamed and I had a mild stroke. After a thorough look over, Kaleah went back in her cage and I finished the dishes alone. I really need a play stand... Also, the wine has been moved to the top of the fridge.

I know most people are going to say that fresh is always best. But, I don't see why the frozen can't be just as good, right? Economically the frozen are a great way to go. They are cheaper than fresh and keep a lot longer. Fresh on the other hand is obviously great because it hasn't been cooked so it has more nutrients in it than it's frozen counterpart. Which do you buy? And is there really any difference between the two?

I love your posts! Always so much humor and love for your bird. But I agree with everyone. Timmy was too worked up from his move and his new neighbors. With the best intentions you tried giving Timmy a kiss, but Timmy had other intentions in mind. He was probably a bit overwhelmed and wanted to show your nose his displeasure with the situation. Almost like a little tantrum. Usually my Grey is very affectionate and a bit of a snuggler, but if I do something to piss her off big time she lets me know. I've had lots of bites and nips, but so far nothing major. I had a nice mark on my arm once. I bright red little indent with a crescent indent about an inch below it. I'm lucky she didn't put more pressure behind it because that would have probably required stitches.

I also have plastic baby toys. So far none are shredded but they are pretty banged up. My Grey loves playing with plastic bottles too. the only ones I ever give her though are water bottles. She likes taking the cap off and then the little plastic ring. When she gets one it's supervised play only. I'm worried about the possibility of choking so if I see that she's going a little overboard with the shredding, it goes in the trash.

I started off with Harrison's Adult Lifetime Course. I got it from the vet but Kaleah hated it. So I got some Zupreem fruit flavored pellets. I started mixing them in with her seeds last week. She always pushed them aside or put them in her water dish and went for the seeds. Over the last few days she has started eating them more than the seeds. I'm happy about that but now I wonder just how beneficial the fruit flavored ones are versus the regular or natural. It's got to be better than the all seed diet, which she was on when I got her.

Over the last few weeks I have been trying to transition Kaleah from her all seed diet to an all pellet diet with seeds, eventually, taking the place of treats. I started with the bag of Harrisons I got from the vet. She hated it. So I tried going another route. I bought a bag of Zupreem fruit flavored pellets. Thinking she would like them I've been giving her some mixed in with her seeds everyday. Usually they end up in the water dish or on the bottom of the cage. Over the last two days though I've noticed that her pellets are disappearing faster and the seeds seem to be eaten last. Yesterday's poops confirmed my thoughts. In stead of the usual greenish poops she gets from the seeds, her poops are now taking on a reddish brown tinge. Now I have to ask, how healthy is the fruit flavored pellets in comparison to regular pellets. The bag claims it's for daily feeding, but I'm not sure. Should I continue to get her accustomed to her current pellets until I can take out the seeds all together, wait a few months, and then begin transitioning her to regular pellets?

I never thought I could have this kind of love for anything. Sure, I love all of my animals, but it's a different kind of love I have for Kaleah. I can only imagine this is how parents feel when they bring a new baby home. I've worried so much about the simplest things, and I haven't cried this much in awhile. Yes, cry. Like when I took Kaleah to the vet a few weeks ago, I had her all ready to go in her carrier sitting in the kitchen. I was in the living room and walked passed her cage and just stopped. Seeing her cage empty made me feel uneasy. It made me think back to before I had her and I wondered what life would be like for me now without her. I burst into tears. In the short time I have had her she has already become such apart of who I am that I can't imagine a day without her. I love her so much and I tell her constantly throughout the day. I'm laughing right now because were I to say this to any of my friends, who aren't really "bird people", I would get lots of eye rolls and be told I need to get out more. But i know there's some people who understand me when I say that I feel guilty about leaving to go ANYWHERE, especially when it's for anything but work. Kaleah will scream for me as I walk out the door and it makes me feel awful. To rap this up, yes I am utterly and completely head over heels in love with my Grey. She adds a brightness to my day I didn't know was missing until I got her.

Thanks Dave. She has never pulled out feathers while being sprayed with water but she did while being sprayed with the aloe juice. I wonder if it was because of the smell. The action and feeling she knows but it didnt smell the same. I read somewhere that for misting Greys it's best to be close to them so that they can see what is spraying them. So that's how I've been doing it. She doesn't seem to mind getting wet, but I think the feeling of the water hitting her is what freaks her out.

It sounds like Timmy is doing great! If he was at all stressed out by what is going on around him, I doubt he would be as vocal as he is now. Keep up with the good work. I love Timmy updates and getting the sense of your enthusiasm with him. ALL people should be that stoked about their birds. I know my friends are to the point where they would rather choke me than hear another story about Kaleah. LOL