Barbara2

psittacus erithacus

I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to jinx myself but my little 4 month old boy has been pretty quiet. Apparently just thinking it was the jinx. Right about that moment he started chattering away. It was like he was trying to practice all sorts of different sounds and at least one whistle. It was hilarious! (I'm just kidding about the jinx part. I definitely want to hear his voice...just not before I'm ready to get up in the morning.) :cool:

If you don't have a T.V. near the cage but do have a computer, you can go to the nick jr. website and turn on the videos. When one episode ends, the next automatically begins. (If you put it on Dora or Diego, he may even learn some Spanish!)

Congratulations! I'm glad the news was all good.

I tried something new today. It didn't work the way I planned but it worked pretty good. I have some small, wooden chopsticks. I took one and put peanut butter on the end of it and used it to lure Neo's head through. It turns out he doesn't like peanut butter. So I put a hunk of peach on the end. That intrigued him enough but it turned out he just wanted to chew on the stick. So I was able to put the loop (I'm still using a slightly expanded wing loop for his head) over his head and leave it there touching his neck and one side while he chewed on the stick. (Otherwise he tries to chew on the harness.) I feel like I am making progress!!

For now, the first thing to try is to make no food available outside of his cage so he has to go in to eat. Then let him see you putting a special treat in his food bowl and he may go in on his own. Then you can praise him and tell him what a good boy he is! The more positive you can make all of the experiences right now, the better.

He will be happier when he is out. As long as there is someone in the house who can put him back in the cage in case you have to leave the house. It isn't safe for him to stay out of the cage without someone to watch him because he might fly down and get into things like chewing on electrical wires.

My heart is breaking with yours. I'm so sorry it ended up this way. God bless you all.

I found this site: http://www.birdyboredombusters.com/rope.html

LOL! Great picture!

I have had birds for 16 years with myself, my husband, children and now grandchildren in their air space and no one has experienced ill effects. Go figure! I'll try to do some more scientific testing but I think we're safe. Phew!

The cages that I have have the stainless steel dishes but there is a bar above them that keep them from being pulled out. My Senegal has great fun banging the dish against the bar but it can't be tossed. The playtop dishes are another matter but they never seem to want to toss them. So far, so good!

That's interesting. Up until today, Neo has been outstanding with me (his primary caretaker) and accepting of my husband. Today we got all three birds out at the same time. The Hahn's macaw is molting and has the head pin feathers that need picking. So hubby was grooming the Hahn's and the baby grey took acception. When hubby tried to pet his head, Neo lunged! That is the first time I've seen him do that. When we came back from dinner and I had Neo in my lap, he was fine with hubby's pets. It is important to take cues from the bird and adjust the human behavior.

(Good one!) Sensitivity

Dayo (one of our favorite resident greys.)

When Neo had his first vet check I asked to have his nails trimmed because they were KILLING me! The vet used a dremel and STILL got to the blood. He didn't react and she just applied pressure until it stopped. It was no biggie. I have since placed nail trimming perches in his cage and have another that I will add tomorrow. I am not willing to do the nails myself. At least not right now.

I had one that was similar but scarier. I was at work and my adult daughter called and told me that she had come to the house to work-out. She came in and found the Senegal cage tipped over, Senegal was no where to be seen and feathers everywhere! I sped home (10 minutes from work) and searched and could not find the Senegal. I looked (almost) everywhere! I called hubby to tell him that the Senegal had been killed by the dog. At that point in his mind, the dog was going to be rehomed (or killed...he was SO mad...this bird LOVES him!) While I was on the phone, I saw our little Sennie behind a cabinet in our family room shaking like a leaf! I rescued him and put him back in his cage and moved his cage and the Hahn's cage to the living room away from the dogs. That day I ordered a "can't be knocked over by the dogs" duplex cage for the two birds to live in. It was scary, scary! Just typing it now brings back bad memories!

I don't want to bore/aggravate anyone, but I LOVE this bird!

Today I went with a bigger loop so that I could leave it on and actually have it touching his back. He allowed me to do this four times but he did not like it! So we will be repeating this one for a few days.

That is definitely true about the bird choosing who they prefer. Our Senegal was owned by a woman that had to give him up when her new husband said he didn't want the bird there. This woman had raised Rocky from infancy. She brought her baby home still hand feeding. She told us that Rocky did not like men (her husband) and would only relate to women. WRONG! From the moment we brought Rocky home, he (which we have now come to believe is a "she") preferred my husband and son. I do most of the day-to-day care but my husband gets all the love. There really are no guarantees no matter how well you try to plan it.

I've gone back to the beginning and read the posts regarding how excited you and your husband were to be getting your baby, choosing a name, bringing her home, passing her back and forth between you. It actually brought tears to my eyes just reading it. I really, really hope you can get past this phase and keep her. I know how much you love her and I could tell that your husband loved her too. Love and patience are the primary keys. If he can do that, he will be so happy later on when he again sees the bird he fell in love with.

Thank you. I was strongly considering asking to have an assistant there to do the handling next time. Thanks for reinforcing that thought.

I'm waiting for some advice on this point as well. My first vet visit was with my 4 mo. old baby TAG. I handled him and helped restrain him for the examination and everything was fine. I'm curious if I might have to change that process once he is older. I definitely do not want to lose his trust!

Speaking of Neo, he has been home with us now 3 weeks today. In that time he is getting much better about taking his bath and his harness training is coming along....slowly but it is coming along. So far he will step up whenever I ask and go back to his cage even when I can tell he really doesn't want to. But he is not fully flighted yet so I'm sure that will change.