Wingy

If you have carpet as Jayd said vacuuming and changing the bag/container outside can be helpful. Using a carpet cleaner ** with a rotating scrubber and just pain hot water in the tank can help dislodge and pick up eggs that have attached to the carpet fibers. If your going to use diatomaceous earth it should be food grade only and your pets/small children should be removed during application so they don't breathe the dust. http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww35eii.htm Breaking the flea cycle is no fun and a lot of hard work but it can be done. **Edited to mention this should read carpet cleaner machine instead of carpet cleaner.

Today was bath day. We tell Jake he is going for a swim. I fill a 9 x 13 clear glass baking pan with water and put it on the top of his palace. He normally loves to splash around and today he managed to soak himself from the neck down. I wish I would have had the camera handy to take video of how he not only used his wings to scoop the water and direct it down his back but also push down and force the water up to get under his wings. He was one soggy birdie.

My vet recommended using an oil filled electric radiator. This is what they look like http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/shizenkan/item/5743/ If you do get one be sure to wash it thoroughly and run it for a day or so outside and then wash it again to get off any coating that might have been used after it was painted. A word of caution though. These get hot.

This is off topic but not. It is super easy to make your own peanut butter. All you need is roasted unsalted peanuts and a grinding source. A new coffee bean grinder works great for making peanut butter.

I used a suggestion from Jayd and Maggie, they offer an uncooked piece of pasta called Wacky Mac. Wacky Mac isn't available in my stores but a good organic 4 flavor rotini mix is. Jake gets 1 every night at bed time. I think Jake would walk through hot coals to get a "roni" but it is saved as a special bed time treat.

When you get a free moment would you take some pictures and show us the whole thing. I'm thinking of building something but am torn on how I want to do the base.

You might try using the private message feature. Some people have set their controls to receive e-mails notifying them that they have a PM.

Oh you two. I think this is a more appropriate theme song.

Yes Nancy I would trust my birds instincts. Many people with autism have an almost mystical way with animals.

I so hope you can capture his version of peek a boo on video. That will be something to make you smile when ever your having a rotten day.

I must admit the one really cool thing about heavy lake effect snow storms is thunder snow. It only happens during a warm wet lake effect event when the snow is really coming down. The lightening will make the sky glow in colors from pinks to yellows to oranges or blueish white and everything lights up as the light bounces off the snow flakes. The thunder is crackly or rumbles as the sound bounces off the snow clouds amplifying it.

Bubba is just determined to be louder than the vacuum. Jake loves to try and out shout the vacuum. Some critters love the sound and others don't.

Jake is a picky little bugger so he gets a combination of pellets. He gets a few each of Pretty Bird, Pretty Bird Natural Gold, Zupreem Garden Goodness, Zupreem Wild & Spicy, Harrisons and 2 pieces of Zupreem Nut Blend. He only eats a few pellets, if any, but they are available both in and out of his palace at all times. Every morning he gets a measure of seed mix and 2 different raw vegies that are slow to spoil like brussel sprouts, leafy greens, whole carrots, cauliflower or broccoli.

Ray I agree with you on Christmas in shorts being just weird. Its kind of fun when it happens here just because it is such a fluke. I've had enough large snow storms to last me a life time. I like the snow and melt right away kind. I'm getting to old to shovel 100 feet of drive way nestled between 2 buildings (no place to pile it so you have to carry it to the center of the front yard or behind the garage).

I have seen new Chinese take out paper containers and new plain pizza boxes for sale on some of the bird sites. Cone style coffee filters work too. Its very easy and cheap to make paper mache destroyables. I'll try and do a how to post on that this weekend.

That isn't always true. I was looking to purchase a pure breed collie puppy that was not show quality and every breeder I spoke with either had the spay/neuter done before the puppy went home or required it be done shortly after. Rescues/shelters throw all kinds of stuff into the contract. I have seen some bizarre ones for adopting dogs and birds. Monthly home visits, married couples only, requiring one of the new owners be home 24/7, requiring the use of a certain brand of food, minimum square footage of a home, references from neighbors/vet/employer, no children requirement, and the most bizarre one requiring a life insurance policy on the adoptor (s) with the rescue as the beneficiary.

Now comes the fun part where you have to decide just how much sass your willing to take while still building confidence in Gilbert so that he will be sassy. If bed time becomes an issue perhaps using audible cues such as alarms that sound like different chimes to signify almost bed time, its now bed time and its past bed time so here I come (remember the warnings we gave the kids followed by the count to 3).

I made Jakes base mix which is bland but added the fresh bits to the serving dish. I have been wanting to do this since I brought Jake home but he has just been to particular to accept it. When he ate the beans out of my chili I figured he might accept a bean/grain mix. He did eat a few beans out of it.

Jake hatched on April 3. He is not quite 6 months old. I can't find anything to back it up by my vet said that the critical times are within the first year, year 3, 5 year increments beginning at age 5, and 3 year increments beginning at age 20. What she calls critical years are when she likes to see her patients twice a year instead of once. She probably told me why that is but I cannot remember now.

Well Freddie your beautiful but chances are you wouldn't be on my shoulder for a long long while, if ever. My partner and I don't let Jake on shoulders for many reasons but mostly it is because we haven't learned enough about each other yet. The secondary reason being we are working step up and down to a forearm instead of a hand. (I have nerve damage in my hands that is progressively worsening) Once we have the arm established for up and down and if he learns to move to the forearm when asked we can see about shoulder sitting. As everyone has said this is personal preference. Ours is just based on my current and future physical issues.

I was lucky that today he choose something that made me smile. I was home all day and loved hearing the Oh Boy's. He isn't a silent one by any means. He'll chatter away no matter where he is or who is in the room. The other day I put him in his pac-o-bird and we took a walk to the corner store. He was telling the ladies at the counter and everyone in line quite a story.

Jake likes ice in his water bowl. He watches it float around and sometimes licks at it.

Jake is very similar except he won't eat toast or bread at all. I thread a kale leaf through the bars of his palace every morning. Sometimes he eats and sometimes not. To his beans/cooked grains mix I added some frozen diced fresh cranberries. diced carrot, chopped kale and a bit of diced jalapeno. I know I shouldn't have added the jalapeno but he loves them so and I wanted to add a flavor that was a favorite so he would be more willing to take a few bites. I also sprinkled a few of his beloved safflower seeds on top.

LOL yeah thats how he undid it the first time. Thankfully he can't reach it from inside his palace and we maintain line of sight when his palace door is open.

I am making Jake a mix today to use as a base. Hopefully he likes it. I've got a 16 bean mix simmering on the stove in one pot and an 8 grain mix simmering in another. If he goes for it I can freeze portions and use that as a base and chop some vegies while I'm making dinner. I have struggled finding good things that he likes but I think I finally have an acceptable group of vegies to work with.