shanlung

Make your own. Make them to entice the birdie to love to go there. And poop there Newspapers underneath that will clean the mess up. I happily confess to never ever cleaning the birdie cage at all. Shanlung foraging for birdies

danmcq, I wrote hell of a lot. Not expected that you read all of them. And even then, not all were written. I brought Tink and Riam out almost on daily basis. Even as much as I like to report, I am laid back and plain lazy. murfchck, Predators are real. Only those who are companions can take their birdies out. They treat their birdies as equal and therefore watch them carefully as to their emotions and can rely on their better sight and senses to tell of raptors Guarding against raptors -Dangers of Flying outside on a Harness? Risk? http://shanlung.livejournal.com/68409.html Something I wrote many years ago stood the test of time I think. You read and decide. The sight of crashing of birdies trying to fledge in the home/apartment can be very frightening. Likely to the the cause of much of the clipping of wings. Let me explain this process via a posting of an old posting. Even if thats done 8 years or so ago, you decide if that is valid or not still 888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888 Written in about end March 2007 More thoughts on wing clipping shanlung: More thoughts on wing clipping The extract aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Dave wrote: Proper wing clipping will allow a bird horizontal movement and the ability to glide downward to a floor. The ideal wing clip is one that allows a bird to fly about 8 ft before gliding down. Hi Dave, In an ideal world, what you say above may be right. The other extreme will be extremely severe clipping of wings. When I was in Riyadh and in a parrot shop, this grey jumped off the top of cage about 5 feet from ground. The sound of him hitting down, the spray of blood around him, and the screaming of that poor guy hurt me crazy. I do not wish ever to have another keel bone broken even if not in front of me. People clipped for a few key reasons. 1. They had been conditioned to that because of what they read or were told. This seemed to be peculiarly American. Tinkerbell wings were so nearly clipped by me at the beginning as the books I read all recommended that (all American books) as well as forums in 2002 when I first had Tinkerbell. I was lucky enough to bought a British parrot mag to give me second thoughts. 2. The sight of initial flights, the crashing into walls was extremely frightening and I thought my precious Tink was crazy in trying to fly through walls while I stumbled about chasing her with a pillow to cushion her falls after hitting the wall. Once again, I so nearly reached for that scissors and Tink the flyig grey of Taiwan so nearly did not exist. But that british mag persuaded me to let that continue for a few more days. She then found her flying skills to turn, slow, hover and stopped banging into walls. Folks, this episode is inevitable. Your birds may be natural fliers, but even so, they MUST develop their muscles , flying skills and sense of balance. But at this early stage, their speed will be very slow(even if it appeared fast to you) and chances of harm to them will be there but not that much. You can minimise this by letting them fledge in a small room, with curtains or rope nets around the walls for them to fly to and cling too. Or you can run around like me with a cushion. If you see a human toddler trying to walk and falling down, will you have fear for his/her safety and not ever let him discover balance and walk? Will you have him/her crawl for the rest of their life because you are afraid to see them fall? This is same as your choice for your bird. 3 By clipping wings and thinking thus the clipped bird will never fly away. I need not repeat my earlier postings of clipped birds that flown away. In what Dave said , that is true in an ideal world. Unfortunately, we live in the real world. But most people then went on to extrapolate that then, their bird will never be able to fly away. That is where I draw that line. So after you got that 'perfect clip' and your parrot then fly about 8 feet and not gaining height. But again, have that clip been tested under worse case condition? Such as a sudden blast of air horn , or a strange hat thrust in front to see if that parrot cannot gain height in a spook situation? Can you bear to do a sudden spook, or allow others to do that to your parrot? To see if that clipped wings hold good in spook conditions? And with Murphy at your elbows, how about throwing in that gust of wind at the same time? Can you ever guarantee such conditions will never ever occur to you? People had thought so. Their parrot paid heavier price than they did. Your choice again to see if you can beat those odds. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Muse, If you have gone into my URL I left behind, you would have seen the strongest arguments against free flight. None who have not done free flights really know of the dangers, which often are worse than what they can conjure up in their imaginations.

Not correct. I have done free flights with Tinkerbell and Riamfada. Free flights with Tinkerbell were near the end of my first period with her and I had too much stuff to write with goodbyes to her and my beasties. The documentation was better with Riamfada. Read and decide if this is for you. To Shanlung - How to do Free Flight Outside

Consider giving your birdie the best of food to be given a birdie, See how it is made with love and care. Do your birdie deserved that too? Tinkerbell Mash http://shanlung.livejournal.com/109957.html

I do not believe in trick training , or treat training either. I found birdies are not terribly excited at food as if they are stomach on wings. Attempts by my wife to bribe birdies by holding out treat containers were regularly snubbed by birdies who flew to me despite clearly the treats were not on me but inside treat containers hold by wife. BUT, trick training or treat training as a means of interacting with birdie will be completely different. In the sense you interact with birdie as form of bonding. Try to find the time to read this "Understanding the mentality of your grey (or any birdie or beastie for that matter) http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190599-Understanding-the-mentality-of-your-grey Surely the more you understand them, and take the time to understand them, the better that you can gain the trust of them

Tinkerbell2013 http://shanlung.livejournal.com/142489.html

Hi folks, I am now in Taiwan. Already 4 days with Tinkerbell here, and on Sunday, will be leaving her to be with other Taiwanese friends in other parts of this beautiful island. I wrote a precursor to this trip. And if you like hornbills, you might like this as well http://shanlung.livejournal.com/142279.html I just read above and have to add my warning that you all should not take your bird outside unless your bird in a carrier or in a harness. I hope you all do not hold a flame to my toes for doing what I ask you all not to do. There are some things in life with no rational explanations as you will read in below. I can only say what you all know, free flight in the open is extremely dangerous. It is even more dangerous than what you all might think with the best of imaginations. If you are even thinking of free flight, try to read my so-called guide to free flight. The true nature and dangers of free flight will be starkly clear to you. If you drop that from your mind after that, I think I done my part for you and most important, for your birdie. To Shanlung - How to do Free Flight Outside http://shanlung.livejournal.com/129976.html

Protect yourself from serious bite by this Tinkerbell Legacy - Rant 08 How to avoid getting badly bitten by your bird http://shanlung.livejournal.com/7051.html And for long term bonding and hence not being bitten Tinkerbell Legacy - - Rant 03 (a flighted parrot mentality) & Understanding the mind of your grey http://shanlung.livejournal.com/2187.html

Joe, It is possible to bond tightly even with a wild caught. Try to find the time to see how I have done that. Below extracted from http://shanlung.livejournal.com/132671.html aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Riamfada was a wild caught CAG as seen in her open leg ring. She was a rescue and given to my charge when she was about 5-6 years old. She came to me bitey and fearful. In about a year, she was doing free flights to me. Yingshiong above is a white rumped shama. A shama is a songbird. He was caught from the wild at about 3 years old. He was given into my charge at about 5 years old. He flew to me on cue within a month of coming to me. Breeders of shamas told me even their breed shamas , some they hand raised, never ever landed on them. They told me above was the first ever they seen of a male shama landing on a human. Libai is a Greater Greenleaf song bird. Caught from the wild and probably about 3 years old or so when he came to me. Even wild caught and old birds can be so easily trained and bonded if you know how. Understanding them is the first and most important step that can be taken. That is the most fundamental truth in looking after birds. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa To understanding them, try to read Understanding the mind of your grey http://shanlung.livejournal.com/2187.html You might like to see the food that you can make for your grey, and so much better than any of the food commercially sold for greys either. Morning with Harry & the decision// Sultan of Oman Palace// Tinkerbell Mash Batch 7 http://shanlung.livejournal.com/109957.html

I hardly spend any $$$ on foraging equipment and setups for my birdies. I created most of that myself from branches and cheap inexpensive stuff. Foraging for birdies add so much more to their richness of life. This will make them more content and much happier. And a happy birdie will be that much friendlier and bond that much better with you. Have a look at the foraging points I did for Riamfada. Also for all other birdies including Oberon, but it was better documented and photoed with Riamfada. It is too complicated to write here, as without the backing photos, words are not easily understood. Photos speak better than words. And you will realised it is a lot easier to do then to talk about. All these done even for my softbills as well if you have followed accounts of Libai and others. Shanlung foraging for birdies //Jackie and clicker training // climate change http://shanlung.livejournal.com/134514.html

Why the myth of Domination kept going on repeating and repeating and repeating again and again and again. As if to give the lie that if humans do not dominate the parrot, the parrot will therefore dominate the humans? That we should feel so hapless and insecure that we even need to be worried about being dominated? That if that lie is not enshrined in stone, that lie must be innuendoed to be the truth? Is it a crime and a sin to accept each other as the equal that we are? Or is it a peculiar streak that the bigger is the mightier and therefore the mightier have the right and obligation to dominate everything smaller and weaker? And if not on my shoulder How about flying high above over my head? Would that meant Riam would then dominate me like crazy as she was so high and I so low below and chomping my head off the moment she landed, and landed on my shoulder (where else) ? Try to find the time to read this. And perhaps you might have a far more magical time with your birdie. And perhaps you might be bitten a lot less than whats happening to you. And perhaps your desire to think of domination of one kind or the other might even go away entirely. Understanding the mind of your grey and any other birdie http://shanlung.livejournal.com/2187.html And perhaps on top of all that, your birdie might even allow you to put him/her on the shoulder.

I could not say better than that. And bear in mind, whatever that we give, the grey will return that back to us with interest and the magic only they can bring to life.

Dave, "quality time" appears to be an Americanism I guess I have to accept. Come to think of it, that is not even an Americanism as I never came across that term used by authors like Mark Twain , FS Fitzgerald, TS Eliot, John Steinbeck, E Hemingway, unless those authors are not Americans. Q time appeared only about 10 years ago. A term I never quite got to grips with. But thank you for doing your best to educate perhaps the uneducatable. And for telling me Q time has nothing to do with the heart at all. To each their style with birds, or with words.

What is quality time? I wondered about this some time ago. And as said in there, maybe time just cannot be counted. How can one measure what is in the heart. Riamfada freeflight hide&seek // When I am with her, am I with her? http://shanlung.livejournal.com/121091.html

I am psychologically incapable of clipping parrot toe nail. After one unforgettable bout where I over clipped Tinkerbell that first time I clipped her. Seeing the blood dripping out, with her looking on at me with wide staring eyes was more than I could take. No medication at home and no vet to call on and frantic calls for help on Internet in 2002 went unanswered. I had to sit with her in a darkened room to minimise movement for a couple of hours before the bleeding stopped. It is filing of claws after that. After I treated that as a game to be played. No towelling required at all. That process of training for toe filing was much better documented with Riamfada. Perhaps that might help you too. http://shanlung.livejournal.com/2008/11/ Read any entries on nail filer or claw filing. Took us about 4-5 days. During which time I continued to let my blood and marrow flowed from her needle sharp claws. I rather my blood flowed than hers until I could 'toe toe toe' her to cue her it was time for that wonderful game of nail filing. She then presented her foot to be filed. That was within the month of her coming to me. A wild caught CAG and bitey in the first couple of days when she first came. As for Jackie, I am using a different technique now. Jackie as a Greater Indian Hill Mynah was too wild then to be trained for claw filing as that first required clicker training first, and the clicker training of him will require him to fly to me and the puncturing of my arm and hand from his needle sharp claws. I decided to pre-emptively get his claws blunt first. What I did is best seen in Woes of a hill mynah food formulator // Jackie getting to know me http://shanlung.livejournal.com/133495.html and in Shanlung foraging for birdies // Jackie and clicker training // climate change http://shanlung.livejournal.com/134514.html

Why are you specifically looking for a grey baby? You hope that you have an easier time with a baby? Be aware as with everything, there are good and bad points. Read this, and then think again if you want to get a baby grey, at any price. What prompted me to write mentality of grey // Imprinting of birds// A fairy in my life http://shanlung.livejournal.com/130187.html And hopefully you find the time to read the first part too, together with the URL that pointed to. With which you can find greys of any age and size to become loving companions. With just that little bit more effort and commonsense. Without the risks of getting & imprinting yourself on the baby bird

Do not let that go on. Do a jiu jitsu and redirect that kind of activities. I extract a section below On affectionate gestures from Tink/Riam such as regurgitating for me, I did not regurgitate back for her. I cannot scold her for an affectionate gesture as that will be incredibly mean to do so. I quietly clean up and ignore that. Riam showed from time to time, she wanted to be mated by me. No relation to clicker training at all. I cannot scold her for that. I tossed her towards one of her perches that she flew to hang there a while to reflect on her own mysteries. She flew back sweet as before but with her ardour cooled. And if not cooled, another toss to the perches for her. Nothing special about being tossed to the perches. When I had no time, or no inclination, or when I decided to, and/or for the fun of it all, she got tossed to the perches. Tossed to the perch is neither good or bad or evil. Its just getting tossed to the perch. You might like to read that in its context. Which came from here. To Shanlung-Charlie and clicker training Charlie and clicker training - beyond touch target //LiBai on finger and in slow motion videos

Ha ha ha ha! Worse when she got chomped on by both Tink and Riam and not me being the whipping girl for any of my misdeeds

You will be surprised how true the path urged by your heart will be better then the path urged on you by experts and gurus, normally with no heart in the first place, and more often than not, became experts and gurus by mindlessly mouthing what other experts and gurus mouthing psuedo science rubbish and facts that they alone determined are facts.

Please note. When I said act honestly, I do mean act honestly. No one should be a drama queen whether at a chomp or in forums. Empaths know drama queens too and will not be fooled by drama queens, and drama queens will receive a lot more chomping, together with stoic actors.

MarcusCAG, Gwen, Thank you. Much of all I wrote I like to think of that as common sense. Not a psuedo science laden load of pearls to impress followers of experts and gurus. Everything I wrote is anecdotal. And not a shred of science behind them all but what I seen and my thoughts behind them. I rather have things that worked, however that worked, then stuff that never worked despite all the scientific reasonings behind them. Bumble bees are still flying about despite all the scientific gurus that assured the world with complex science bumble bees cannot fly. We fall in love and know what love is even though the boffins do not know what love is all about even if they can tell you where time and space all began. Unless you have a truly neurotic bird, I cannot see any birdie biting you just to hurt you maliciously with a evil heart. Do remember that they are birds and not humans who will be more likely to hurt you because they want and love to hurt you. If your bird came from rescue and with a long unknown history of hurting, you might be chomped on. Do not blame the bird. That bird remembered the long history of hurting he/she underwent. Blame the history and the humans behind that. But birds are so intelligent that in time, time that must be decided by the bird, the birdie will get to know you are different from that #$%^&%#@ and not hurt you. Never focus on the bite as many people did. A bite is the final bullet. Which finger pressed the trigger that caused the hammer to hit the primer, to ignite the charge, and propel that bullet? Think back the chain of events behind the bite and probably caused the bite. Sadly, it might be yourself, or something else. Remove that, and presto! No future biting, at least from that particular course. That will be a lot lot more productive and removal of more chompings than blaming on mythical evil hormones and terrible 2s or 3s or 4s. I wrote on that in great detail in above URL. And do not ever look for eye pinning to determine if bite is coming. Eye pinning indicate the bird is emotionally charged. Riamfada and Tinkerbell did eye pinning whenever we played. If you look for eye pinning , you then focused on eye pinning and fail to look at all the other nuances which are so much more important to look for then eye pinning which might be meaningless. When Riam was furious at my wife and going to attack her, I saw that and Riam hold her in cold steady focus and no eye pinning. Same for that attack on Harry. Riam gaze was so cold and steady and then she lunged.

Play segments of music, excerpts of whistling , intersperse with your voice. Include segments of 10-15 seconds of silence in between all the sound or music part. Let you bird enjoy the variety and that should be the foremost thought you should have. If your bird pick up those sounds and whistling, take that as a very lucky bonus. I prepared CD of all that. None of which my birdies picked up. I knocked my finger and shouted a mighty F**K just once. And immediately Tinkerbell repeated and repeated that. Took a long time before she stopped saying that. Microwave peeping, cars reversing, my kitties meowings handphone calling, all those useless and worse than useless sounds she picked up at first hearing. That CD? Nyet. When I talked with her, she picked that up, and used that in context with me. But not all birdies are alike, especially greys. So go ahead. What that did not work for me might well work for you. And yes! good luck!

I hoped you all enjoy reading that Understanding the mind of the grey (and any other birdies as well) . Feel free to laugh at it too if you felt what I wrote to be too corny. Gwen, shouting Hey! or Stop might not work as well as asking Roscoe to be gentle gentle. This was written maybe a decade ago. Perhaps if you do not mind my digging out such old stuff, you might like to read how the concept of being gentle was conveyed to Tinkerbell. That might work for you too. As well as whether your birdie be allowed on shoulder or not. Shoulder is not a good place if your birdie decided to go chomping about as you agree, or when birdie had no idea about being gentle. Parrot on shoulder - being gentle

I never thought the bite of a grey can be powerful as Tinkerbell never bite me. Ok, she nipped me from time to time when she knew I was not paying attention to her signals and needs. Until the day when a man was watching me with deep fascination as I brought Tink through all her recalls at a park over twenty minutes or so. I offered Tink to him since he was watching me so intently. To my surprise, he startled and backed off violently instead of the pleasure shown by others when I offered to so many others. He was the whitest Chinese I ever seen. My assurances to him Tink would never bite him and offered to let Tinkerbell on his hand to no avail. He lifted a hand showing me 3 and 1/2 fingers. He apologised for that violent withdrawal from me. He told me his grey that he loved, and still loved, took off half the finger. Then and only then I knew of the power of a grey bite. He told me he almost fainted when Tink flew to my shoulder and mouthed my ear and cheek. He mentally could not handled that. Very sad. His finger healed, but his fear never did. If no blood is drawn and it did not hurt, it is a nip. Treat that as a friendly nip maybe to call your attention. Because when they want to hurt, that can really hurt. I knew how that can really hurt even though Riamfada thought that was not my finger but my wife's finger. Yelling owch! or begging them not to bite is a lot better than pretending the bite did not happen with a calm face and your heart/mind a blazing nova of pain and hurt. Do you think you can fool empaths with a stoic face when your emotions radiate out? The biting birdie think it is such a marvellous game at best, or you are nothing but a hypocrite at worse. If so, go on fooling them that it did not hurt and you do not mind at all and I am sure they will continue to oblige by chomping and grinding chunks of your flesh out. The experts telling you to remain stoic and calm also know it is not their flesh and their advice to you cost them nothing. I just cannot figure out how the belief that not to react at all to biting so ingrained into people. Almost like a badge of honor that you be stoic while your birdie chomp away at you. Do others who urge you not to show you are hurting have such insights into how parrot behaved that their teaching you remain stoic must be adhered to or you be branded a heretic and be burned at the stake? I am a true heretic. And from time to time, people want to burn me at the stake, or tar and feather me at the least. That perhaps what I talked about here to be utterly wrong! On the other hand, what I wrote might help you to enjoy your parrot a lot more and be chomped by them a lot less. http://shanlung.livejournal.com/2187.html To those that will remain stoic regardless, then do so by all means. This is a free world. Your birdie will continue to give you ample chances to remain stoic while pieces of you are being chomped off.