MarcusCAG

That was a very interesting article, thanks for sharing it here.

Personally, I do not generally try to encourage the regurgitation. I don't think it would be a beneficial thing for Marcus to experience, if it is a more intimate way of him showing affection that could potentially lead to him feeling frustrated and angry down the line. Tybalt, our Ringneck, is quick to regurgitate for Beaker and for other objects (even Marcus, once!!), and it doesn't seem to slow him down any, but I don't trust Marcus to be that impartial. They say that the sexually dimorphic parrots such as the Indian Ringnecks can be less monogamous, so they are more 'wired' to be flirts with various other good-looking parrots (and toys! haha) but a Grey such as Marcus, I think, who has the potential to bond very deeply with usually a single, preferred parrot/person (and I'm talking "favorites", because obviously well-rounded Greys will get along with a lot of people)--well, I just think it might prove to be a detriment down the road, if I encourage his regurgitation attempts. But I understand that everyone has different relationships with their parrots, and I appreciate everyone's constructive input.

Morana, I really hope that this weirdness with Zak gets figured out soon, and that some of these lovely suggestions ^^ are helpful to you both. Please give Zak a kiss for me, I know he's not trying to be a difficult boy, but you are being such a good mommy to him and even if he's put-out by being limited from some of his favorite toys right now, I'm sure he still realizes you love him and are just trying to help him. And the dehydrated veggie strips sound wonderful! Hopefully he'll fall for something like that very quickly. It makes me think that he might possibly like sheet Nori (a seaweed) for that purpose, too, since it's rather like paper when you take it out of the box. Winged Wisdom bird magazine has a little snippet online about how the seaweeds "protect parrots as well as humans against several gram positive and gram negative bacteria known to potentiate carcinogens in the system. They posses anti-fungal, anti-viral, and anti-tumor properties. They are powerful immunostimulants." You might want to look into it all a little more to verify it at another source (I generally like to), but if it's okay, that might be another option for Zak if he likes eating 'paper' so much.

Hello Dan and everyone, I've been carrying around in my head a couple of things Marcus said recently, and since I have the time and everything now I just want to share them here before I forget them. 1. My husband had our Quaker parrot, Beaker, with him on the couch. Beaker can be aggressive at times with me, but he just loves his daddy, so he's a bit of a velcro bird whenever he gets shoulder-time with him (which is not as often as he'd like!). My hubby wanted Beaker to step-up off his shoulder, though, and Beaker was absolutely refusing. After a moment, he turned to me and said, "Mommy, can you make Beaker step-up off of my shoulder, please?" Something to that effect. But as I stood up to comply, Marcus--who was hanging out down on the cushions of the couch--suddenly bowed his head and said, "OooOOoooh! Don't do that!" It was kind of cute, like he was remembering Beaker's reactions to me at other times, and was warning me so I wouldn't get bitten! (As it was, Beaker lunged and my hubby decided to just get him off his shoulder, himself.) 2. This happened yesterday, actually. I thought it was very sweet... Our neighbors have a new baby girl in their household. She was crying loudly yesterday and could be heard from inside our house, so I turned at one point to Marcus, who was up on his Boing, and asked, "Do you hear the baby crying outside?" To my surprise, Marcus asked, "Where is it?" I said, "It's next door in the house." Marcus asked, "It okay?" And I laughed then and said yes, she was probably just hungry. And that was the end of it, but it made me wonder. Unless in one of his former homes he encountered a baby, I think the closest thing to a 'baby' that Marcus has ever met while living with us has been my young nephew, who's almost two (and whom we unfortunately don't see very often, Marcus only met him once). Anyway, it just tickled me that Marcus showed this apparent concern for an infant crying next door. Dan, it made me think of your Dayo and his interest in Dakota (if I remember her name correctly, I'm sorry if I haven't). It's just neat to get these little glimpses into these Grey brains.

^^ Hehe, Marcus gets bossy with the smaller parrots sometimes, too! And hopefully Miss Gabriella will calm down soon for you both and go back to her demure, quiet self.

Thank you so much for sharing your video! Now I have a much better idea of the size of the Adventure Pack and everything, it definitely looks like it would be perfect for short jaunts and things, which is what I'd like for Marcus... just the other day I told my husband that I think it's about time to order one for him, after sitting on the fence for so long, and he finally agreed and said that I could once he gets paid again (yay!). So may I ask you if you bought yours directly through Parrot and Conure World, or some other vendor? They seem to be the ones that produce them, at least. Anyway, thank you again so much for commenting in this thread, I really appreciate it. P.S.--I just watched the vid again and your Emma is so cute when she starts 'dancing' when you can hear the plane going overhead!

Those are some lovely-looking goodies you bought for your babies.

I wouldn't have thought your birds would have had such strong reactions to your puppy dog being dyed, but Nilah was obviously upset! I showed the video to my hubby last night, and after he saw the pics of your bijon (sp?) in the other thread he suggested that, if parrots can see colors differently than we do, perhaps the pink fur appeared to be more a deep red, like blood? Maybe that could explain part of their fearful reactions, maybe they thought your dog was really hurt or something--if in fact their eyes do see the spectrum a bit differently than we do (in that way).

You're certainly giving him the love that he needs and deserves, Gwen, and your dear Roscoe knows it and loves you back for it!

I don't know if this will help any, but our little Beaker was a plucker when the woman who owned a dog rescue took him in (she went to the house to take possession of two big dogs that I guess were being abused/neglected, and the guy had a big aviary in his house with all sorts of parrots, and he said she could take one of them too). She said Beaker was just sitting in a corner, shivering as all the bigger parrots flew around him, there was four inches of poop all over the floor, and as she watched he was just ripping his little chest feathers out. So she took him; and in the end she put him up on CL because she's "not a bird person" but a dog person, and wanted him to find a good home. So we got him, and in that time that she had him, Beaker's chest feathers grew back in, she said. But he still has a noticeable, half-moon shape of naked skin on the front of his neck. Occasionally some down will grow in, but we've had him almost two years now and it's still naked. We don't think he plucks anymore, but I guess his little follicles there are all dead. But maybe if Gil's feather's are more like Beaker's chest feathers were, at least, they'll grow back in given enough time, too.

^^ That is awesome!

Thank you so much for compiling all of that, it looks more than useful... and I hope you find your dear Lola soon. That must be so hard on the both of you right now.

Oh, I think you all must be right... 'something' must be in the air and everyone must be rather hormonal, because our fids have just been crazy this past week. If I give him more than two kisses in a row, Marcus starts bobbing his head to try and regurgitate for me; Tybalt isn't eating my skin much anymore (thankfully!!) but he's a velcro bird on my shoulder if I'm in the same room with him; and Beaker got so jealous the other day that he flew across the room and shoved Tybalt off my shoulder so that he could have that spot! And I'm not even his Favorite Person! Yikes! So things are definitely a little bit more interesting around here right now. Thank you everyone for all of your input!! And Gwen, I'm sorry Gabby is in such a mood right now, I know it was difficult for me to see Bunsen like that a few months ago... She's actually not quite like that again right now (which is surprising to me, considering everything) but she's certainly displaying a lot with her wings and she's very active, going into Rocket Mode whenever she decides she wants to fly around the room. Zoom! Gotta keep an eye on these crazy fids. <3

I think I would be completely overcome in a place like that. It looks so fantastic--thanks for sharing the pics, but I wanna go now!!

^^ Dayo sounds like a ball of fire, Dan, it must be so much fun to watch him enjoying himself like that. But I thought that that particular rack fell down a little while ago--did you guys put it back up again?

Missy is really a beautiful Grey, Paul, and I agree: Ella-Rose was adorable with her reaction to the 'raspberries'.

They are certainly very good-looking boys!! Thanks for the update and sharing your pictures.

I hope this thread isn't straying too far from its original purpose, but I've found people often feel like they are doing the best for an animal (or even their children!) when they obviously aren't. People come from so many backgrounds, cultures even, and ideas across the spectrum about 'proper care' can differ greatly from one another. Ignorance is one thing, not caring is another. And sometimes a scenario finds people just in the middle--they mean well, but they don't quite realize that "more" or "better" is needed, and they have so many other things going on in their life that they don't have the energy to care and act like they need to for this particular animal, or human, or whatever. I'll admit, I've been there. I don't like it and I look back on myself and feel very sad about certain things. Hindsight is always better, and sometimes people don't figure things out until it's too late. That being said, I don't think it would do any good to twist the knife any deeper into that elderly couple's hearts. She said they cried when Barnaby left. And they don't sound like they have the energy to try and take on such a responsibility again.

My goodness, the poor baby!! I know that Marcus was emotionally neglected in his former home, and possibly traumatized in his first, but it sounds like Roscoe was downright abused!! :( I'm so happy he's found his loving forever home with you, Gwen!

Personally, my hubby and I feel the same way... it's so wonderful you have been able to help so many animals that otherwise would not have had that second chance. ^^

Our flock has, until recently, thoroughly enjoyed their TOPs brand of organic pellets. The last bag I purchased, however, seemed a bit 'off'--it took me a little while to realize that Marcus really wasn't eating them; and the greenies, Beaker and Tybalt, held a similar disinterest. (For the record, Bunsen will eat just about anything in pelleted form.) Anyway, so I ordered another 10# bag after I tasted the pellets and realized they didn't taste exactly like other the TOPs pellets I've sampled in the past. (The ones I've eaten have been nice and spicy hot, with a sweet alfalfa-kind of flavor, and these just are dry and dull--overbaked? I dunno.) The new bag didn't taste quite like the old stuff, either, but it seemed better than the first and the birds were a little bit more forgiving of it. I had saved the other bag, thinking our dog might enjoy some of it with her food, but by then it just smelled bad and fermented, so I threw it out. Bunsen is very happily eating these new pellets, and Marcus nibbles at them occasionally, but it's not like he's enjoying them like he was before. Has anyone else who regularly feeds TOPs pellets to their fids had issues with them recently? Or have I just crazily ordered two 'off' bags in a row? My husband thinks Marcus is just being finicky, because of his other foods available to him, but I'm not sure... I'm thinking of maybe trying out Harrison's if my next bag is still a little 'off', but I really hope to not have to switch. Our flock has enjoyed TOPs organic pellets as a part of their diet for almost as long as we've had parrots.

Hi everyone, I have what might be an odd question to throw by all of you... Does anyone know if Greys engage in what could be considered 'amorous play' or something? Marcus has been "difficult" today and is very frisky. He keeps trying to squeeze under his cage and chew on his one cage-wheel :mad: and in general he has just been kind of feisty. Not that I'm complaining, really, it's just kind of unusual for him--he's generally pretty sedate unless he's attacking his bell or playing on his Boing or something. Anyway, so while I was trying to corral him out from under his cage, he got really 'crazy' and started picking up the forgotten down feathers and bits of bird food that have yet to be vacuumed, and he was throwing them everywhere. Anything he encountered, he would pick up and throw, instantly. All this time, I was attempting to have him step-up and stop trying to climb under his cage. (!!!) So finally I got him on my arm, and I told him how crazy he was, and I gave him some kisses on his folded wings (which we do all the time with no reaction other than some happy ruffling), and I suggested we go into the other room so he could stay out of trouble. On the way, we popped into the bathroom and looked at ourselves in the mirror, and he looked so happy to be with me, and so energized! When he finally stepped-up onto his Boing in the den, I started talking to him and he started the whole attempt-to-regurgitate-for-Mommy thing. Marcus generally does not do this, it's very rare behavior, maybe once every other month or something, and I just wonder if maybe this time he's doing it because I was playing with him and he was acting very 'assertive' while he was being naughty. Might it be a testosterone thing, like he was being a capable male birdie, or am I overthinking this and attributing more generally mammalian behavior to my feathered little boy??

All of our babies are rescues/rehomes. I typed up their stories and it said my post was too long! But I couldn't think how to shorten everything and keep it coherent, and I need to get to other things around here now... so, I'm sorry! But the parrots and mammals alike all were either found on the street or adopted through Craig's List or came from a shelter, and our one cat was given to us by neighbors who couldn't take him with them when they moved. So they've all had former homes, but I daresay they are all pretty happy now here with us too--some of them happier than I'm sure they ever were before.

Oh, but he knows they were happy tears, and I'm sure they were a great encouragement to him--that he could feel your love. I hope things go well for you and Barnaby at the vet tomorrow.

Yes, I was thinking that the issue wouldn't be Roscoe traveling with you per se (because he loves you and you are his solid 'refuge' and special person), but there might be some issue of getting Roscoe in the travel cage. I honestly can't remember how Marcus started agreeing to go in his little carrier, I think I maybe just had him step-up and then kind of plopped him in there the first time, and then we went on a fun trip into the backyard--and he realized that his whole world could be so much bigger than our house! After that first trip, he's been very accommodating in terms of getting in his carrier, he loves going outside, even just on short trips to the mailbox to keep him used to being in a small travel cage. But with Roscoe, since he is still working through so many issues on many levels, it might be more difficult for him to accept the suddenness of such a change as being just 'put' in his carrier. So if you are just going to bring him in his big cage laid on its side, the issue sounds like it will just be those few moments of him being in a little cage while you transport him from your home to his cage in your Jeep. So I would explain to him what you want to do ahead of time (did someone else say that already?) and maybe put Gabby in his cage, like a model. You never know, he may get jealous and want to be in that fun carrier, too! And then just make it a familiar thing, with treats and everything, and maybe by the time your trip rolls around he'll be okay with the idea.