louie

Anyone use Odoban pet on their carpets around their birds????

Sierra refuses to say anything we try to teach her to say. She'll whistle lots of things we teach her, but she will only say things we say in regular communication. She didn't talk until close to two years, except for parrot babble. My husband and I would do this routine: Husband: You're so pretty! Me: and so smart! Husband: and so talkative! together: no, not talkative. We thought she would never talk, so we did that in a sing song voice just to amuse ourselves. One day Sierra said: Sierra: You're so pretty! So I said:and so smart! So my husband and I together said AND SO TALKATIVE! Yes! Talkative! And she picked that line right up and we do the routine all the time. She won't do it unless she initiates it, though. I've never heard her say "smart". Once when we were leaving on a two week long trip I had a heart to heart with Sierra explaining where we were going and that our friend Olivia was going to be staying with her to take care of her. I went into great detail about everything and Sierra listened carefully. I said good bye and started leaving. Sierra started pacing the cage and put together two phrases that I have never put together......She said "time to go bye bye" (which she hears all the time, every morning) followed by "no! no! no!" (which she hears when she's being naughty.) It broke my heart. Also, I have a potty mouth. Sierra has never uttered some of the profanity I use on a regular basis. One day I dropped something and said "sh**" with drama and flair. Sierra chimed right in, but she said "Gosh darn it!". I think she disapproves of my bad language. Anyway, the main point is that Sierra never says things we try to blatantly teach her. She really doesn't talk all that much. She will NEVER perform, especially for strangers. But she does use words and phrases in context. We talk to her like she understands it all, and I think she does. One more story. I was sitting on the couch and suddenly looked up at Sierra who was on her cage. She was staring at me. I swear I suddenly had an understanding that Sierra wanted her full spectrum light on....I can't explain the feeling. It wasn't words, it wasn't a vision, it was just a knowing. So I got up and turned it on. Sierra looked right at me and said "thank you."

One time, many years ago, I brought Sierra out on the deck. We had clipped her wings (which I know is a whole different conversation!) and I foolishly thought that would keep her from flying off. I was ignorant. Something startled her and at that moment the wind picked up and she rode the wind for quite a distance, landing out of our sight as there are many trees around. We live out in the country. I called all my neighbors and we formed a search line and for 3 hours walked from one end of our property to the other, making sweeps in a line, calling her. I called my husband who came home from work. He stood on the deck, observed the wind, and walked in a direction and for a distance that he figured she could have glided. He basically walked right up to her. She was sitting in the tall grass of the field, at least 100 yards from the deck. She must have sat there the whole time, and she never made any noise. I imagine she was completely freaked out. We were very bonded, and I'm sure her silence and stillness were due to fear. I'm ashamed of this story and rarely tell it, but want people to know what can happen. I learned to never bring her outside without her harness or in a cage.

We have had Sierra for 14 years. We both work full time, except during summer which we have off. Sierra gets out first thing in the morning and "helps" me get ready for the day, eats breakfast with us, etc. Then she is home alone during the week for 10 hours a day. When we get home, she gets out and eats with us, sits on the couch with us, or just hangs out by us. I was very worried that this was not enough, but she is a very well-adjusted bird. She has zero nervous habits. I still worry that she is alone too much, but she really is a happy bird.

We haven't tried a mineral block, but she does have a concrete perch. She refuses to use cuttle bone....I thought it might be okay because she has no trouble eating....Thanks!

We brought Sierra to two different vets two different times to have her wings clipped. Both times it was very stressful for her. So we started doing it ourselves, sans wrapping her up, sans holding her still....we just have her sit on the back of a chair, I hold her wing out, my husband clips. It takes very little time and although she doesn't like it, she isn't freaked out and stressed like she was with the vets. You have to be very careful and do your research, there are some pretty dire consequences if you don't do it correctly. We never would have even tried if it wasn't for the awful experiences at the vets.

The avatar pic of Sierra is very recent. Does anyone think her beak is too long?

My husband picks up Sierra and promptly gives her to me. He holds her a little longer each time. The idea is that she associates him picking her up with getting to go to me - her favorite. Also, I tell Sierra I'm going to take a shower and once I'm in there my husband picks her up and brings her to me in the shower (another favorite.) We're working hard to have her like as many people as possible since someday we may die of old age and she will have to be socialized enough to adapt to a new home!

My nickname is Louie (but I'm a girl...) and my grey's name is Sierra. She is 14 years old, I'm quite a bit older....hence I have just discovered forums! I'm a history teacher in a small town and love being out in the country. We've had Sierra since she was 8 months old. She's not a great talker, but uses words and phrases in context and mixes them to give them new and appropriate meanings. We also have a chihuahua/terrier mix and a German Shepherd. Right now I have to go get Sierra, as she has ambled into the bedroom where she insists her nest is - under the bed.

Hello everyone. I'm new to this site. I have a 14 year old Congo. She is healthy in every respect but does a strange thing sometimes. She will sit on the edge of her cage with one leg stretched up like she is stuck in the upside of waving her "hand." She'll hold this position for as long as 15 minutes. What is going on?