Mama CJ

I have 11 different cages for all of my parrots, 3 are just extras I've kept after upgrades. My favorite ones are the ones that are just small enough to get thru a door way. I have two 40 x 30 cages and I can't take them out of the room they are in. One cage was put together already and we had to take the window sashes out to get the cage in the room thru the window. The other cage was assembled in the the sun room where it stays. If we take the birds outside for the afternoon, we have to put them in a smaller cage then wheel it out. Our doors are 30 inches I believe, but with a 1" jamb on each side so the door way is 28". Just something to think about if you like to move cages around like me.

Thank you for the links, Wingy. http://www.sproutpeople.org is who I'd like to order from. That was the list of mix I posted from above. It sounds great for most of my parrots, I just wanted to make sure I'm not adding any fat to my amazon that has fatty liver disease and was concerned about he sunflower seeds. I did notice that the sunflower seeds in that mix have the shell. I wonder if I can take the seeds from the dry pellet, fruit, nut and seed mix I have. That would be worth picking out the sunflower seeds and sprouting them instead of feeding them dry!

We have an amazon named Kiwi too! We just found out about 2 weeks ago that she is a he thanks to DNA testing. Now we call him Ki-wennie. (just kidding) He's a mess right now with all the honking, wing fluttering and tail fanning. He let me pet his head this morning then lunging at me by lunch.

I just worry about exactly WHAT beans to use. I've read that you shouldn't sprout some things like pinto or black eyed beans, those should be cooked. Can I sprout something like what's in a 15 bean soup mix? That has lima beans and I didn't think you could safely sprout those. I live in the country and some items are hard to find. I need to find a health food store and stock up. I just want to make sure what I"m sprouting is going to be safe for my flock.

Our CAG's haven't been too bad, just going heavy on the shredding. But my amazons...OMG....the honking is insane!

Thanks for the replies! I might just start out with a few basic things that I can find in my area then if that goes well I can check out other options.

Thanks for the reply, Wingy. I want to order a sprouting kit and these are the seeds/beans that are premixed that are made for mid sized birds.... Peanuts (shelled), Sunflower (in shell), Wheat, Spelt (hulled), Kamut, Triticale, Barley (hulless), Oats (hulless), Millet, Buckwheat (in hull), Brown Rice, Green Lentils, Crimson Lentils, French Blue Lentils and Red Lentils, Adzuki Beans, Mung Beans, Black Garbanzos, Brown Garbanzos and Small Beige Garbanzos, Green Peas, Speckled Peas and Yellow Peas, Fenugreek, Brown and Golden Flax, Alfalfa, Red Clover, Oriental Mustard, Daikon and China Rose Radish, Quinoa, Sesame The kit includes the easy sprouter and 2 lbs. of pre mixed seeds and beans. I could just order the sprouter and beans separately but with so many parrots I thought a bigger mix should make everyone happy. They all have their likes/dislikes on everything!

Hello. I have a question for anyone that knows much about sprouting. I have an amazon that has only been with us for a short time. He has just been diagnosed with fatty liver disease. The vet thinks he had spent many years on a bad diet and it is starting to catch up to him. He has been taken off of all seed and nuts. He has been eating pellets, chop, veggies, beans and rice. He doesn't get much fruits except apple or a grape here and there. Can a parrot that has a strict no seed no nut diet still have sprouted seeds and/or nuts? I put in a call to the vet today to ask that but she is out for the weekend and the E.R. vets did not know the answer. I'm just trying to research it before I start sprouting. Some of the sprout mixes contain sunflower, safflower, sesame seeds and I've seen peanuts for sprouting too. I'm just trying to get him as healthy as I can. We don't have any idea of his age, just that he had been a pet once and a breeder for many years. Oh, and we call him Mr. Bean

That was funny! Thanks for sharing.

Hi, we have 2 YN amazons, Bean and Kiwi, both males. We also have 2 DYH amazons, Bongo and Rio. It's a good think we live out in the country, there's been a lot of honking going on here! I need that bumper sticker that says, "You'll have to honk louder than that, I have an Amazon"...........

We use untreated pine 2 x 4's to make blocks for toys and perches from lumber companies....

I picked up an A&E dome top and an HQ play top for $279 each from a vender at a local bird show. They are both 36 X 28. Both were new and still in the box with bowls, perches and seed guards. When my CAG, Rocky, is out of his cage, he wants nothing to do with it because he's too busy flying around so we got him the dome top as it had more inside room. Paco is one of my other CAGs, he doesn't fly and prefers to play on his cage so we got him the play top. All of my parrots were rehomed (to us) and only one came with an appropriate sized cage, and that was pushing it. Good luck in your search. Buy what you want the first time and don't settle for something too small or too flimsy. Oh, I have bigger cages for the Amazons, but I can't fit them thru the doorways to move them from room to room. We move ours from the family room into the sunroom for a change and sometimes on the back porch on a nice day. Those cages are 40 X 30. That's why we chose to get the 36 X 28, so we can fit them in the doorways!

I have visited their website several times but only to get ideas when making my own toys. I haven't purchased from them yet. I have been thinking of getting toy parts, but maybe I'll wait to see how it goes for you....

Rocky was originally Rafiki. He was 4 years old when we adopted him. My husband just could not remember the name Rafiki so he started calling him Rocky. I called him Rocky Rafiki then just dropped Rafiki. He never said Rafiki or responded to it, but he says Rocky all the time. He used to say "monkey butt" (his former family had a pet monkey) and now he's changed it to Rocky Butt. He also says Rocky Roll. He's a goof ball. We have other parrots that we kept their name because they said it and responded to it. If Rocky would have been that way, I would have put his name on his cage so the hubby would learn it.

I've been reading a bit that hemp seeds added to their diet helps some birds that pluck or over preen. I have not tired it yet but will be getting some hemp seeds in about 2 weeks to try. If they don't eat it, then it will get added to the chop and bird bread like everything else they won't eat, haha

Funny story....We let our parrots tear up phone books. Millie had shredded one on a rug in the spring and I had taken it outside and shook it off. Later in the fall a bird nest had fallen out of a pine tree and it had been made with the shreds of that phone book. I had a hard time not calling some of the people to tell them I had found their names and numbers after they had fallen out of our pine tree!

I took my cockatoo into the vet on Christmas eve. She started sneezing and just a bit of discharge. The regular avian vet was not in that day but one of the others felt very comfortable examining her. She even called the avian vet to let her know what was up and get her advice on what else to do. I was only charged $61 which included extended exam, walk in fee, sub -Q fluids, Baytril injectable and nail trim. Took her back on Christmas day for recheck and another Baytril injection, $6.54. Then once again for recheck with regular avian and ordered Baytril liquid.....$10. I love that place!

Wow! You stole my story! We "inherited" our CAG, Millie, that had been cage bound for 8-9 years. It took her a few months before she would come out of her cage. We opened her door everyday then one day she was ready and came out. We put a treat on her perch and tell her it's time to "kennel up". (that's what we tell the dogs when we put them outside in the kennel). We've had her about 17 months now and gets out everyday for hours. Some days she won't come out until my son comes home from school as he is her chosen one, haha Now we've added a few more parrots to the flock and are amazed by them everyday! We never knew what we had been missing all those years without a parrot in the house.

I have ordered from http://www.petsolutions.com and received my order the next day.

When I picked up the ingredients for my batch of chop, I spent about $30 and didn't use everything. I still had some barley and rice left over. I used some veggies out of my garden, the neighbors garden and dandelion greens. I didn't use all the ingredients that was used in the video because I wasn't able to find them in my area. That's the great thing about chop, just use what you can or what's in season and make each batch a little different. I used a lot of squash, pumpkin, bell peppers, zucchini, turnips with greens and sweet potatoes. That's what I had left in the garden when I made it. I made the batch back around the 1st of October and I still have at least half left. I feed 8 parrots and 9 parakeets with it. I don't feed it everyday, but several times a week.

This is how Paco, our 15 year old CAG, came to live with us. His family was moving to the Middle East and he couldn't go.

Here is a link with a video I watched to make chop. I use most of the ingredients when I can find them. I live in a small town and some things are hard to find but that's what's so great about it, make it your own. After you make the chop, you can put it over beans, rice or maybe add eggs to change it up a bit. It took me a few hours to wash, chop, boil some grains, mix and bag. Sometimes I put it over mashed sweet potatoes. This one recipe works for my parakeets, greys, amazons and cockatoo (as soon as she learns that veggies won't bite back). http://parrotnation.com/2010/08/08/chop-shot-by-shot/

Something else someone may have suggested but I missed is give the bath in the morning or early afternoon so he is dry before he goes to bed. I usually give mine a shower just before I clean the cage in the morning so they can drip a bit before I change the paper. Good luck! By the way, I get the cold shoulder or death stare after I shower them too!

I have a 15 year old grey that does that to his bell. He actually feeds his bell. I have to clean it off when I clean his cage because of food he gets on it.

Thanks for the link, Dave. I know what I'll be doing tomorrow!