FirstPenguin

Thanks for all the support. the investigation continues and I'll update this thread when I can share more. Here a link from the news story. https://abc7.com/parrots-stolen-calabasas-all-animals-veterinary-hospital-burglars-captured-on-video/12875192/

Hello, Haven't been on this site in ages, hope you're all doing well. I'm desperate. My congo was stolen while boarding at my vets office. 3 Congos and an Amazon were stolen from All Animals Vet in Calabasas, CA near Los Angeles, CA during a late night smash and grab. My bird is named Elwood and has a band, he's on the larger side, 512 grams. If you see any suspicious for sale adds please contact me. Thanks. Cash reward for anyone who can help secure a safe recovery. To the admins. I would greatly appreciate if this or something similar could be bumped to a more visible part of the forum. Thanks.

To circle back to the travel aspect of this thread. We have to fly with the two birds to Austin TX first, where I'm buying a car from a family member. Then driving two days all the way to LA. It takes most of the first day just to get out of Texas. Add to that finding decent hotels that will let you bring birds. I found a hotel that never asked about what kind of pet when I made the reservation and let that slide.

For sure. We're headed to the LA area. Where are you located?

We used to shoulder our Senegal but she's since been trained to stay on our knee when we're sitting on the couch since she can be a nipper. My Congo, was shouldered probably starting at the breeder. He's never been clipped so he has an almost perfect fight or flight response, meaning, if he gets spooked on my shoulder he flies up, boomerangs around and then lands exactly where he was on my shoulder. In fact, he literally flew out of his carrier for the first time and landed on my shoulder. Elwood came from Texas to New York via Delta pet cargo, and then had to be transported on public transit, in a cab through holiday weekend traffic. It was a long trip. Finally we get him home and place the carrier down. You always read, open the carrier and let them come out on their own. Don't rush. Well Elwood bolted from the carrier the second the door swung open did a quick circle, landed on my shoulder, and he's been there ever since. Also over the years he's learned to use the blunt front of his beak to get my attention. I'm fairly confident with him on my shoulder.

No worries Sterling, I'm in the middle of packing to move as the original post suggests so I've been busy. Greycie Mae and Elwood are in fact siblings from two different clutches from the same year. My girlfriend found the original paperwork from Wendy and confirmed that the name of the breeding pair was the same. I too wonder why he doesn't talk because he clearly is capable of it.

That's crazy close to Elwood. He was hatched April 2012, he just turned 5. What did Wendy name her initially? Could it be from the same clutch? I wonder if they're from the same breeding pair. Elwood kinda talks, 2-3 words, but mostly imitates sounds and whistles, loves to whistle. He says hello, used to say how are you, that went away. He said peekaboo for a bit, also went away. I call him a flying puppy, because I play with him like i would a puppy. I can handle him however I like and never get bit, beaked, squeezed a little, never bites. He's used to being carried around like a chicken or baby, where you lean part of their weight against your chest. I always theorized that fully flighted congos have less motivation to talk. Elwood communicates in a very physical way, he pushes the blunt part of his beak agains my cheek to get my attention, and other subtle things. He really doesn't need to be picked up since he flys to me whenever he wants.

My Congo has been flighted since the day he's fledged, and we wouldn't change that for anything. Our Senegal was clipped once, been hell on wings ever since.

Wendy is the best. She was one of the only people who truly had a positive reaction to my interest in getting a truly unclipped grey. I give her methods a lot of credit for the bird that elwood is today. When was your bird hatched?

Thanks, seen those, most of them are 8-9 inches tall for interior height. Which appears to be the lowest common denominator for airplanes. Feels far too low for a CAG. Perfect of our senegal. We're going to go with the 11 inch one we have. I think with a little customization and reinforcement it will do the trick.

Honestly if I knew then what I know now. I would seriously consider it because they charge you 100 bucks no matter how long or short the flight to have them under the seat. No one said anything about leaving them behind. That's why I'm obsessing over how to get them there without having to take a ride in the cargo hold. This might be the winner. Just arrived today. It's exactly 11 inches tall and doesn't waste any vertical height on recessed handles or stupid accessory pockets. We just did a dry run at home and despite having some structural weaknesses in the clear lid, the fact that those are above him seem to make them harder to get leverage on. Going to take him for a walk in it tomorrow and see what happens. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019SKF8OU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

THanks for the suggestion, both of these are too tall. I have the same acrylic one and as I mentioned above turning it on it's side is probably a bad idea.

That probably won't work. Someone on a Facebook group said they tried that and they wouldn't let them on the flight. It needs to fit under the seat in the intended way and possibly has to stay there. I have a pakobird for our other bird and I'm sure he'd try and chew his way out.

Hello, haven't been on here in a while, but I'm in a bit of a pickle. I'm moving cross-country in 2 weeks and I have reservations booked to take our birds as under seat carry-on with Delta. The only issue is my CAGs usual carrier is more vertical, and the carrier according to Delta can't be any taller than 11 inches. I've bought 4 different carrier and all of them have had major issues on the inside that I can't see online, luckily I was able to return all but one before he could do any real damage to it. Any thoughts on what to use? Started to remove the bits that hold in the white bars. Would have escaped before the damn plane took off in this one. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QJEU0Q/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Better but too flimsy and stuff on the inside exposed for him to chew on. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002VAZUM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 seat belt hook leaves a hole in the top that definitely would been a focus for chewing. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DJR9X2C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Metal door was coated with something that he could chew off wasn't real stainless. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FS2X3T4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I use this clear2o pitcher since I rent and cant install something fancier. According to my mom it was endorsed or mentioned on Dr. Oz. Whatever that means. I like it because it never slows down like the brita type that are gravity fed. http://www.amazon.com/Clear2o-CWS100AW-Water-Filtration-Pitcher/dp/B004918OPO/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1361775109&sr=1-2

I agree. It's not worth the risk. To be honest, I wouldn't go back to teflon. The ceramic coated alternatives are great and I'm a snob when it comes to the hardware I use whether it's in the kitchen or elsewhere. Also, don't compromise on a breeder just because it's what's available in the short term. I drove breeders NUTS with my questions all up and down the eastern seaboard. Long story short, my CAG came from Texas because I wasn't happy with any of the breeders in the northeast. Some people discount it but I believe getting your bird from a good home helps set you on the right path.

It always amazes me, what they're able to take off with and why. Elwood recently flew half the length of the room with a pair of scissors. I put those in a safe place after that.

I'm sure he's fine. My CAG, who is only about 5 months older than yours, likes to spend lots of time on the bottom of his cage playing, he was reared in a play pen type area at the breeder. I'm sure he'd sleep low in the cage if it we didn't put him in a smaller sleep cage. Congo's in the wild spend plenty of time on the ground, hence the shorter tails. Fun fact, your birds hatch day is the same as my birthday.

That's so funny. Something similar happened to us just this weekend. We only let our two birds out one at a time right now since there still getting to know each other and their boundaries and the little senegal is a bit aggressive. Anyway, my girlfriend was in the kitchen with the senegal and I was at my desk with my back to our Congo's cage. Our Congo fly's by into the kitchen and I hear my girlfriend say, "Hi, Elwood." Like nothings the matter. The tone of her voice quickly changed when she realized they were both out. He too had come through the feeder door where his wet food lived. Hasn't been repeated so hopefully I didn't close the door all the way. Considering the manufacturing quality of 90% of cages out there I wouldn't doubt if the door latch isn't up to par.

I personally would get Kings cage and just be done with it. The 306 or the 406. http://www.kingscages.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=306

I understand why people record video with their phones this way, it feels natural in the hand. It's ridiculous that phone manufacturers made them that way. So if you're not going to turn the phone on it's side when you record you can crop your shot in many editing programs which will reduce your effective resolution but if it's only going to viewed on the web you can easily get away with little noticeable loss in quality.

Great effort on these videos. Is it just me or does vertically captured 16:9 video make anyone else go cross-eyed? I personally have trouble getting through longer clips recorded this way. Maybe consider pushing in a little to fill the frame when you edit.

Yup. Just put in my order yesterday. I get most of my stuff from MySafe. It's worth mentioning the sale ends today.

Great pic. Speaking of booze related chew toys, we got untreated, unused wine corks and other cork related toys at a bird expo. They're great foot toys. It's a shame we can't use all the actual wine corks we rack up.

People seem to go to great lengths to baby proof their home. I've heard the term puppy proof many times. People even modify their homes with cat and dog friendly features like dog doors and kennels. So why not birds? I think we need to start using fledgling proof when talking about bringing home a new bird. I would change my home long before I change my bird. Decals on mirrors and windows has worked for me.