Wingy

I have this model and really like it. http://www.honeywellstore.com/store/products/honeywell-17000-s-quietcare-permanent-true-hepa-air-purifier-germ-reduction.htm It sits on the floor near Jakes cage and does a fairly good job of pulling in the dust/dander and keeping the room air fresh. I know its pulling tremendous amounts of stuff because I have to hoover it every few days and with the prefilter being black I can see all the yuck stuck to it. The problem I am having is that none of my local stores are selling the "permanent filter" which isn't really permanent it just needs to be replaced less often. Use caution with the velcro. Both Jake and our cat have learned to peel it back. You will be safer making a frame or covering the velcro in something that will at least slow them down some and provide some strength. Cats love to climb window screening.

What I couldn't find was the type of bird. In another article it was described as a bird of prey.

http://news.yahoo.com/turkey-frees-bird-accused-spying-israel-161624067.html ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish authorities detained a bird on suspicion it was spying for Israel, but freed it after X-rays showed it was not embedded with surveillance equipment, newspapers said on Friday. The kestrel aroused suspicion because of a metal ring on its foot carrying the words "24311 Tel Avivunia Israel", prompting residents in the village of Altinayva to hand it over to the local governor. The bird was put in an X-ray machine at a university hospital to check for microchips or bugging devices, according to the Milliyet newspaper, which carried a front-page image of the radiogram with the title "Israeli agent". Ties between Turkey and Israel, long military allies, have been tense since May 2010 when Israeli commandoes killed nine Turkish activists aboard the Mavi Marmara, a ship in a Turkish-led convoy seeking to break a naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. (Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

I tried again after about an hour and we went for a walk and sat outside. He was very quiet. When we came back in he gave me a firm pinch when I asked for a step up out of the pack. He is sitting on his cage top napping right now which is very early for him. I wonder if he didn't get a good sleep last night or today and is just a grump.

One step forward and one step back. I was in the kitchen cooking Jakes dinner and I guess he nailed my partner, then flew off into the kitchen where he landed on my head, and went after my face. I managed to grab a bag of frozen vegies to cover my eyes while he pecked at my forehead. I had to yell for help since I didn't dare uncover my eyes. Jake is back in his cage and being very quiet. I don't know if he is grumpy or if he feels how not happy I am.

I am the dishwasher and do not use rubber gloves any more. Things like soft scrub and comet will make the rubber get sticky and soft. Rubber gloves sticking to your fingers feels disgusting. I doubt if I could use them now anyway. Jake "helps" me do dishes by standing on my arm while I wash and throwing the silverware back in the dish pan if he feels I have missed a spot. Sometimes he doesn't let me finish rinsing and grabs the silverware out of my hand and throws it back.

Jake spent over an hour out when we came home tonight. He helped me cook his dinner, did some flying and screaming and best of all did not bite. We put him in the cage on a good note and I took him out to sit on the porch about a half hour later. We were outside for about an hour. He talked to the neighbor, whistled to the kids out for a stroll with their parents, played with his toys and about flipped when the fire trucks left the fire station. When Jake and I came back inside he went into sleepy mode on the top of his cage. I figured I would have a heck of a time getting him into his cage and really dreaded ending a good day with a bite but after a few minutes of being out he climbed into his cage all on his own to get something to eat. He was so busy chowing down he didn't even care that I got up and closed the door. I can't remember the last time we had a day this good. I got the paperwork today that I have to fill out for the behavior consult with his vet. This will be combined with his yearly check up and will be a double appointment. The behavior part is being booked after hours so if the biting is resolved I can cancel that portion and the vet won't have an empty spot.

I know that giving him a clip would solve part of the problem but I really want to leave that for last. His biting isn't just when he flies at us, it is also when he is already on us so we would still have to tackle that part of the problem.

You need to attach some travel cages to a farm cart and take the whole gang for a walk.

Today Jake lasted only a few minutes. We tried 4 different times. The first 2 didn't even last 1 step away from the cage, the 3rd he lasted 5 minutes. After the 3rd time back in his cage he became very agitated and upset. He wouldn't settle down and was frantic. We let him out again, coaxed him into the Pac-o-bird and I took him for a walk to the Dairy Queen. He seemed to like the outing. He whistled to all the teenagers he saw, the ladies in line before us and charmed the counter girl by asking "Whats goin on?" when she popped her head out the window to call for the next in line. We walked home and sat on the front steps for a bit where he saw seagulls and black birds flying over head. He tried whistling to them and gave me a "what the heck" look when they didn't answer him. He was calm when we came back in and he had some of his ice cream (100% carrot juice frozen in ice cube trays and run through a food chopper to make a slush) while sitting on my knee. Then back into the cage for bed time where he finally ate some of his dinner. I have to say, something he is very good about is letting me put my hands in his cage. He is emptying his toy containers fairly quickly and I am able to use the food doors to get the foot toys he drops. He doesn't seem to mind a bit that I am invading his space.

He haven't done any training on tricks. We were working on him flying to us and next I wanted to have him fly home (to the cage) on command. After this I wonder if clicker training might be beneficial. I don't cover Jake, I tried it once and he freaked out, but he does have plenty of opportunity to sleep. We all usually go to bed between 8 and 9pm. My partner and I are up for work between 3 and 5 am but we keep the lights off and are quiet (mornings are get dressed, give Jake new food/water, turn on the radio and go out the door) and the room Jake is in stays very dim until 11am. My neighbor tells me that Jake chatters away from about 9am until 11ish and then is quiet until we get home. Tonight he made it 30 minutes before he bit and went back into the cage. Every additional minute between bites is progress. He is working on digging an almond out of a Kong now and could care less that he is in the cage.

Jake was never a biter until this started. He was always a run or fly off kind of guy unless I was trying to get him to do something he didn't want to do, then he would just hold on and refuse to budge. When I was a kid and had gotten into big trouble my father would always preface my punishment by saying "this hurts me a lot more than it will hurt you". He was right. This is hard. I know Jake wants out so bad. He is begging, making the let me out please pathetic chirp and running his beak across the bars of his cage. We let him out once for poops when we got home which he did and then flew to my partner and bit an ear. Back into the cage he went. We let him out again for dinner about an hour later and after that I took him into my room, a place he rarely goes, and we had some play time with foot toys and he did a few laps around the room. Then we worked on step ups with treats and lots of praise. I got a nip but neither of us were bit. He isn't just begging for out though. In between begging episodes he is playing with his toys, playing bat bird, rooting around for treats and interacting with us. He does have my number though. I have been trying to teach this stinker animal noises since he came home almost a year ago and today he decided to not only moo for the cow but quack for the duck.

Jake is 15 months old now and was clipped after he moved from the baby tank to the big bird cage. He has been here about a year and has almost finished his first molt of flights (one pair of clipped flights left). So he had limited flight for less than a year.

Dave this is not something that just started and I have no illusions on a quick fix. I searched the threads and the internet on biting to try and curb it and didn't say anything until it escalated into something I knew just wasn't getting better and he was going for heads and faces Honestly I figured we were entering the "terrible two's" early. What your saying makes sense. In human terms he crossed the line and we are past the point of time out and its now time for some serious grounding and earning back privileges. We need to show him that by not biting, playing with us gently and stepping up is how he earns out of cage time and time with us. He is in his cage now and alternates between being pretty pissed of (screaming, pathetic chirping, chewing up his rope perches and trying to chew his way out), beating the snot out of everything hanging and tossing his foot toys around. He is holding his wings out, feathers tight to the body and shooting me dagger eyes. In his anger he even bit his toe a few times. He did eat a few bites of dinner so it doesn't look like he will stop eating out of anger. Other than stress plucking and not eating is there anything else we should watch for that would indicate that he is just to stressed out over being confined? We want him to be a good bird but not break his spirit. Birdhouse we do praise him when ever he does something right. We talk and interact when he would play independently (oh boy, get the bells, whatcha got?) and anytime he would step up or do anything we asked to try and reinforce good behavior. We have always tried to ignore the bad behavior and praise the good. Up until the biting became constant it had worked. Dave we don't want to give up and are willing to work to make this better. Rehoming is not an option I am willing to consider.

I did not want to take over the other thread. Here is the link back to the beginning of the discussion. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?199861-Is-your-grey-manipulative-and-a-liar Birdhouse thank you. I wanted to sit down and really think about what you said before I responded which is why I was silent last night. I am going to pick apart your post and respond to the sections. This isn't to pick you apart because you have provided some excellent information. Perhaps you or someone else might see something that I am missing and as reference for the next vet visit. I am lucky that Jakes vet not only is a certified avian vet but that she also is a behaviorist and that the office is avian and exotic animals only. There has been no change with products or our appearance. Neither of us color our hair, we haven't had hair cuts in well over a year and I can't remember the last time we bought new clothes. I know it has been since before Jakes hatch day. I buy our household products in bulk once a year every fall so I know there are no new scents. The only thing I have moved is the air filter and that was moved away which might be drawing dust in different patterns. I put it back near his cage this morning. I also looked at photographs to place toys/perches back exactly where they were. When this first started we did initially think that something outside could be the problem but there is nothing and no outside critters. (the only windows are near the ceiling). This is a problem. We are both wary and though we try and approach each interaction relaxed and without prejudice we aren't always successful especially when he is in the process of tearing one of us up. We don't yell and have never used any type of physical punishment but we do tense up when we are being turned into chopped meat. We also both pull back when we can see the strike coming. It is a natural instinct but our body language may be making a bad situation worse. This is something we have trouble with. He wants to be on one of us much of the time. Since all but one pair of his clipped flights have molted out he can fly to us instead of begging for a taxi ride. I think instead of playing attack bird with his toys on his cage top or one of his play gyms like he used to do he has turned to us as his chew toy of choice. He has always had play gyms that are at our eye level. There is one in front of the couch, one on either side of the couch and another adjacent to his cage which is the play top model and is about 5 1/2 feet from the couch. It doesn't have anything to do with deserving or control but I am frustrated. I really dread hearing the vet suggest that we have his wings clipped. He likes flying and we enjoy seeing him fly. Is this biting the result of his new found flight? A normal part of his growth as he transitions into an adult? Hormonal? That is a maybe but we don't touch any "hot spots" only head and feet, he isn't regurging, or displaying. He doesn't appear to be protecting a chosen person or beating on a chosen person because it happens the same to each of us whether we are all together or alone with him and happens in every room. I joke that I need to have someone make us onsies complete with hood and finger gloves made out of bite proof material. So thanks for listening to me complain and whine. Feel free to offer ideas or point out something that we are doing wrong.

Birdhouse thank you. I am starting a new thread and will cross link the two. Edited to add the link. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?199872-The-biting-has-become-a-problem.&p=288750#post288750

Nancy Jake will bite a forearm or a hand after flying to it, he won't step up for anything but a pillow without a bite now, he attacks legs if he is sitting on your knee, he will fly at your face/neck/shoulder/back/rear end/legs and tear either of us up and it doesn't matter if we are sitting on the couch, standing up, or walking. He can be sitting nice on a knee one moment and the next taking chunks out of it. When ever one of us gets a bite we say not nice, no bite while the other now has to grab a pillow and have him step up onto that (which he hops up onto willingly) for a trip back to the cage. Wrist status isn't going to do diddly because he isn't on a shoulder. It is about time for his yearly check up at the vet and I will be bringing this to her attention because this is either there is something medically wrong or this is a behavior issue that we need help with. We are trying to remain positive but the rate with which this is escalating is frightening.

Jake doesn't like grapes either Jeff. He doesn't like fruit or most vegies at all unless they are juiced. He will drink his vegies most of the time but won't eat one. Thankfully I have a co-worker with a juicer. Now I need to buy my own.

Dan this topic couldn't have come at a better time. Again this afternoon out of nowhere Jake went into full attack on both of us. I kept getting up to put him back on his cage top and the little snot would beat me back to the couch. Finally to de-escelate the situation I placed him on his door perch and whipped that door shut. Now he is happily attacking his toys inside the cage. Am I doing the right thing? We have so few hours that Jake can have out of cage time but I am not sure what else I can do. Its like he refuses to be redirected. He new attitude has coincided with the molting out and subsequent growth of his flight and his new found flight. I miss my buddy. I can't say I am very thrilled with this evil biting machine that has invaded his body. Does it get better?

I had to leave Jake out one night. I just couldn't get him into his cage for bed. I worked at it from 8pm until 12:30am. I had to be up for work at 3 am so finally I begged the kitty to be a good girl and layed down for a nap. I was still up every half hour trying to coax him in. Finally my partner got him in at 4am right before we had to leave. I don't let Jake out in the mornings. I am up way to early and he is just to hard to get back in. We don't like to leave him out and unattended. He is a bully and since he can fly now he tries to attack the cat when she sleeps on her window perch.

I can't wait to see the video.

Try teaching him the telephone number using the song 867-5309/Jenny by Tommy Tutone. Just replace your telephone number with the one in the song.

Nancy, this friend is going to tell you not to give up. I have made posts on all the forums I belong to asking everyone to please be on the look out for and notify the authorities if they see any seagull sized green parrot without a human. Many are OTR truckers and travel through this state. Please take the time to e-mail all of the animal shelters not only across the state but in all the surrounding states with a description of Kiki and your contact information.

How about making a neck and shoulder shield out of a sturdy canvas material and wearing it under your shirt? Something like a dickie but with a velcro closure or snaps. It won't prevent a pinch bruise but should help lessen a hard nip that would puncture skin.

I found a fabulous resource for toy making ideas. http://www.cheepparrottoysntips.com/toyindex.html