Wingy

Have you tried not saying nite nite and offering her a bribe to get her to her cage? Don't mention bed time and start with Nilah. Tell her "Lets go get a ***** "and put it in her food dish. Once she is in her cage close it up and get the greys to bed then go back to Nilah for nite nites, scritches and whispering I love you's. You have created a routine where she gets special attention, a game of chase and has you at a disadvantage. She knows it too. Its up to you to change that routine while still allowing her the special attention AND a treat. Training is not just saying no bite but showing her how to be good and that good things happen when she's a good girl. **When it was bed time I would tell the kids ok its time to get ready for story time. The kids would race to get ready and get into bed for the story. I didn't have to fight them on it like I did when I read the story on the couch and said ok bed time. The same things happened but the end result was very different. I had to make bed time a special time and not a chase the child time.

While that is a neat toy I was always warned never to allow parrots access to shiny objects, especially things where they can see their reflection. Is this old information? Any opinions?

I've never seen a hard earthquake used as initially described but have moved my arm from side to side as a distraction with birds that think the drop method is great fun. Moving your arm (or body if the attack happens while on your shoulder) back and forth about 2 inches from center will get most to focus on holding on instead of attacking. The motion should never be violent and instead it should be a distraction giving the human the needed moment to redirect or remove. To practice this place something on a table as center and an object 2 inches on each side of it then a toilet paper square sized piece of thin tissue paper on your bare arm and move it back and forth stopping at the outer objects. The tissue paper shouldn't fall off.

Boxes that hold food are held to a higher standard than those that hold cleaning products or auto parts. Everything must be made of food safe materials including the paper which cannot be made from certain types of recycled paper.

Why not use cardboard that held food or ask for a new pizza box or 2 from your local pizza joint. Then you know that the dye is safe and that it hasn't been treated with a coating. Not all inks are soy based and not all glue is food safe. Strangely enough the new packing peanuts are safe to eat. They are made from cornstarch.

Excellent point Ray. Something else I learned with the roll is if the bird is on your forearm to automatically bend your hand down at the wrist not only to keep the bird from lunging and grabbing onto sensitive fingers/knuckles and causing an involuntary jerk but to help you actually roll. The earthquake is uncomfortable with your wrist bend downward.

Thank you for sharing. I didn't realize that fids would tune into emotions/conditions like some dogs and cats can. I'm probably over thinking this whole thing but reading about how greys are so bothered by new objects has me worried.

How do you teach the step down?

Great idea and exactly what I'm looking for. If I can make adaptives normal from the start then I don't have to introduce new and scary later. I already planned on buying one of those claw type grabbers to use picking up stuff on the bottom of and around the cage. I am working now to strengthen my ring and pinkie fingers so they can help grab and twist. If I've had a hard day at work my pointer finger and thumb is beyond useless. Those are the nights we have sandwiches because holding a fork or spoon isn't going to happen.

If he does it again you should switch to wearing long sleeves or a sweater until you can persuade him that biting is not acceptable. As for the attack on or around the containers have you tried giving what ever your holding a good shake when Tybalt starts after it or your hands. Is there a sound you can make that he doesn't like to help make the action unattractive? If that doesn't work maybe fill cups you use with something he hates so he learns to associate your cups with yuck bad but designate a cup for him with his favorites so he associates that with yummy good. He should start to leave your cup alone and want only his.

I took Isabelle back to her Daddy. It sure is quiet in here. Charm has a hint of mischief in her eye. Very cute.

Silly girl. I got her some mini ears of corn and popped one in the microwave. She doesn't like the feel of it on her foot so the is chasing it around the cage top trying to eat the cob without touching the popped bits. Here is another bit of sillyess. The cat isn't interested in the bird since she got bit on Saturday but she is interested in protecting her food bowl in the kitchen. I go to use the bathroom, Isabelle calls out to me, I answer. Everything is good, right? Isabelle decides to come find me and flies about 8 ft before landing on the floor and running through the dining room toward the bathroom. The cat takes off running toward the dining room because thats where the kitchen is. The SO is right behind the cat who is behind the bird. The cat hauls furr into the kitchen toward her food bowl and slides into it like a bowling ball hitting pins and sends her crunchies flying. She's swimming trying to get her body on top of "her food" to protect it. I scoop up Isabelle and the SO warns me that I better take Isabelle with me the next time I have to use the bathroom. It certainly isn't boring around here. Now before someone gets freaked out about the cat and bird being together they aren't. Isabelle is locked in her cage when a human isn't there to supervise and the cats sleeping area is 20ft away The cat doesn't care that the bird flies or is on the floor (because to her Isabelle is EVIL for biting) all she cares about is someone/something is going toward her food. This cat is terrified of all birds including the ones outside but I don't trust her unsupervised.

Hopefully sometime between spring and fall. The route is 67 miles each way in the snow belt and I just don't know how often I can get to the shop over the winter. I want a good fit and will travel back and forth to play with any new babies until the right one and I match up.

I think Isabelle's hatch date is July 9th. We picked her up October 21. She was in no hurry to wean. She is now saying step up, love you, making kissie noises when you ask and has learned to speak angry blue jay. Your Kiwi looks so sweet.

I have the beginning stages of arthritis and nerve damage in both hands but more so in my dominant hand. I will be bringing a baby home sometime between the spring and fall and have the perfect opportunity to start from the beginning instead of trying to make adaptive changes later. How does step up work if I can't trust my hands or hold a stick? I googled arm perches but only saw arm coverings. Is there any cage door design that I should look for or avoid? Any tips or suggestions?

Isabelle is a sweet baby blue quaker that I bought for my grown son this past summer. She is my grandbirdie. I love having her over when ever possible because she is such a sweet thing. She has been here since Saturday morning and my SO is finally starting to warm up to her. This 3 day stretch has been wonderful because it gives me a hint of how I need to arrange my home to best accommodate a cage and how, when my fid comes home, to protect he/she and the cat from each other. For instance I was looking at a cage that had short legs but I now will look for one higher off the ground but wider. I will be making plexiglass panels for the floor to further cat proof the cage and help catch the crumbs (think of a bigger version of the seed catchers that are included in some cages). I must have a rolling stand because I spend more time in the kitchen than I realized. I will be sad when Isabelle goes home this afternoon but her daddy is missing her and she is missing her daddy. Here are a few of her baby pictures when she was still in a tank.

They are for sale at the laughing parrot in the treats section http://www.thelaughingparrot.com/treats.html

My DS came for a visit on Thanksgiving and brought his baby blue quaker. She is such a sweetie. The bird shop did an excellent job socializing her and the love they have for all the birds just shines through this little one. My SO wasn't impressed with the quakers smaller size and I caught him looking at pictures of greys. A grey is really where we are leaning though SO is being a typical man by leaving it up to me. There are still some pieces to put in place like asking DS if he'll take my fid when I can no longer care for him/her, figuring out how to cover the old woodwork, and coming up with an alternate heat source if we lose power in the winter. At least I feel like we are making some progress.

Circling the nearly dead? You obviously haven't been shopping on senior discount day. Some of those elderly folks should have their license to push a cart taken away. Seriously though I don't have my heart set on a baby and a much loved older bird, if he/she accepted me, is something to consider.

The SO and I, ok more I, decided that we will take this winter to clean and rearrange our home into a more bird friendly place. I'm going to do the carpets with just a hot water steam clean and check for non drafty areas for a cage. My first step tonight was to put light bulbs in the lamps and actually turn them on. The SO is laughing because he knows I see better in the dark. High on the "to do" list is to find a way to cover the 100 year old woodwork. My landlord would have a cow and a half if that was chewed to toothpicks not to mention 100 year old varnish can't be healthy if some bits flake off and are swallowed. Are greys poo shooters like quakers? When I had quakers I found poo on the ceiling. I never did figure that one out and they refused to tell me how that happened.

I went to ds's home today to play with his baby quaker. She is such a sweetie which doesn't make my decision any easier. I'm flip flopping more than a crooked politician. I really wish I knew of an elderly person near by that had a loved and cherished grey and would allow me to form a bond with and eventually adopt their bird when the time came that they could no longer take care of it.

There is a dedicated bird shop about 80 miles from my home. They are wonderful there and well worth the drive. Unfortunately its not a drive that I can make often especially with winter getting ready to rear its ugly head. An hour of personal time and 3 hours of out of cage time is more than doable. I'm home most days by 4:30ish and most of the time on weekends. There are, of course, exceptions to this like if I had an appointment, driving home in the snow or had to work a Saturday. Actually I might be able to bring bird with me to work on a Saturday. Sometimes people bring their kids... mine would just happen to have feathers.

I have been visiting your forum for the past few weeks and am really impressed with the amount of knowledge, helpfulness and friendliness of this group. A little about myself. I have been fidless for a little over 10 years. I used to be a slave to 2 quakers, 2 conures and the food buyer of a yellow nape amazon. It was decided that the fids would remain in their home when the ex and I separated. Not the best decision for me but a the time it was the best decision for them. I had an excellent relationship with all but the amazon. That bird hated me with all the hate in the world and that experience has left me a bit shy around birds with large beaks. Over the past few years I have been entertaining thoughts of having feathered companions again and with all the kids grown and out of the house I have been giving it quite a bit of serious thought. I am torn between the quaker and the grey, which is how I ended up here. So please excuse me if I ask a bunch of silly questions or ones you've been asked a million times before. Your knowledge will help me decide if a grey and I might be a good fit together, if I should stick to quakers which I love dearly or if now really isn't the right time. Wingy