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Ask an Avian vet. Sophie eats a piece of chicken daily, since my dogs eat boiled chicken daily. Its to keep her busy, so they can eat in peace. Ask Dave, Judy or Jayd. I bet they would know! Nancy

So important to practice stepup with the rest of the family. Whether it be the primary care giver getting them out of the cage, then handing off, etc. All family members should be involved in feeding and cage cleaning. Sophie and Ryan have a habit of disappearing, while Sean and I do all the work! LOL! We catch them and march them right back! Eventually, your bird learns and understands, we all " serve" a purpose for them. IE: Ryan is fun for singing and dancing when he plays the guitar: Sean is fun for playing Hide n seek: I'm good for feeding, snuggling and caring for you when you are scared. Mom duties! Sophie and gang, learned early, we all served a purpose, lets give everyone a chance. Nancy

Awesome story Penny. Rikki found his forever home.Its funny how all our birds do different things too. Sophie is not loud... just talks too much! LOL! I always think that would have been like if I had girls. LOL! She is not my chewer either. Kiki my Amazon covers both those categories hands down! Nancy

It sounds as Ivan only understands biting. It made him the king in the past. I know most won't like it, but I suggest " timeout", for biting. Five minutes, in a timeout cage. ( not their home!) You understand reconditioning. Its the same with a bird. The behavior is NOT appreciated and is wrong. Let Ivan know that.He wants to please and trust you, but he knows what works for him. Nancy

Sometimes, its a matter of trust. At this stage of trust, Sophie knows she can always count on me. When she finds herself in a predicament, she knows she can " let go", I'll catch you!" She lets go. I catch her. Life is good! I catch her, upright her immediately. Nancy

Why would you return Whitney? Whether she can fly or not, she has bonded to you! Sophie can fly... a little. I don't care! She is my best friend and rules the animal world. Kiki flies everywhere. We all admire her ability, but Sophie will always rule the animal kingdom. I don't care if she can fly great or not! ( nor do the other animals!) If you wanted a bird that could fly 100&, you wouldn't want a bird! No bird can fly 100&, since most, close and lock their cages! Nancy

I also will be learning to work with your group. I don't have feather pluckers. I think it is important to have members of pluckers, as well as members that don't pluck. To find the answer, I think it is important, to have both groups. Nancy

Welcome back Jayd! Happy to see you again.I never had a problem putting Bacitracin on my birds, when I was concerned for infection. I;ve done it for a decade, so if they ever ate it, they seem to be just fine. Nancy

OtheG.. I apologize. I didn't know your experience. What worked for us.... when we all got home, we opened the door, played games in front of Sophie. She couldn't resist. She finally walked out of her cage, wanting to play with us. We ignored her, she stepped right up. Whose ever turn it was, we sent her off to stepup. She did. She wasn't the major focus... she was " allowed" to play with us.( of coarse, it was all about her!) It worked! Nancy

TeriG... thats great that you will build him a room! Its important in my opinion. BUT....Virgil is still gonna get in trouble! LOL! Nancy

The " terrible two's" is real. It can actually start before eighteen months, and start after three.Its an important time. Most birds start chewing their feathers during this time, mostly, I think out of frustration. It is a time to be consistent, training and developing trust. For our family, it was a time to set expectations and rules. Many won't agree with that, but it doesn't matter, since it worked for us. I'm just offering what worked for us. I'm not right, or wrong. Nancy

I believe, bacitracin ointment, will be fine. NOT just meant for eye infections. Jayd... are you back? Nancy

LOL! Practicing flying is awesome! When kids get back from college, I will ask them to take videos. Of course, all birds should be treated differently. They all have unique abilities, and are encouraged to be, the best they can be Nancy

Sarasota, I respect your experience, but Sophie, is NEVER going to do it. she has been in a position that she didn't like, had decided to let go with trust. Nancy

Timbersmom.. Kudos to you! You are recognizing it is time to educate. Nancy

I believe in conditioning. Birds learned to love the dogs, but they were " pups!" My pups were trained to love the birds, by an 18 year old Lhasa Apso. Ollie and zoey, LOVE our birds, especially Sophie. They are kept apart, but when they are together, they support each other. When I came home one night, Ollie and Zoey were going crazy. Normally, I would have taken them out, but they were insistent I open the bird room. Opened the door, Kiki was stuck under gate, on her last breath. Did CPR, brought her back. Dogs and other birds were standing by. They knew, Kiki was in trouble. We saved her together, as a team. Kiki slept in bed with me that nite, dogs made room. Since then, there is no problems with the dogs, they all get along. Nancy

You guys are going to drive me crazy with your webcams! Gave me a heart attack! Nancy

bacitracin ointment, will be fine! Nancy

Sarasota... what do you mean, " don't buy into it" We all start from A... we either have birds that were abused, or clipped. We want them to fly. I practice flying like crazy! Nancy

JeffNOK I have warned you, that your baby is going to " just take off!" LOL! I was right, and I'm happy to learn so.You have to keep up now. She has always been a favorite of mine, and I always knew, what she was capable of. Now, it is important for you, to keep up. Nancy

I also send my birds " flying", when I am busy. They will land on my shoulder, I'm cleaning, I put them on my fingers and say... " fly!" Mostly Kiki as she flies so well. When Sophie lands, I can only send her off for a short distance, as she doesn't fly the greatest. Nancy

Sophie can escape from all cages, unless a twist tie or combination lock is applied! LOL! She can break thru the twist tie, just give her time. As far as combination lock? Haven't gone there, but she would watch and learn, I'm sure. Nancy

Time to learn more about " stepup" training. Research it, decide what method you would like to pursue. Ten months is old for learning how to stepup. I'm not being mean, just don't want you to wait around anymore. Your bird is waiting too!He has no clue. It's up to you! Get going. Of course, always here to help. Nancy

Its important to work together as a family for bird to become comfortable with everyone. Of coarse Sophie preferred me, Kiki the Amazon preferred Sean, Sunny, the sunconure preferred Ryan. We worked together as a family to help them to understand, " can't pick one without the others!" We have done it, but it took several months. I would be glad to help anyone that needs this help. Nancy

CLB LOL! You deserved it, in Shadow's opinion. He gave you your chance, you failed. Stepup to the stick, deserves your 100% attention in Shadow's mind. You gave 50%. Shadow felt dissed! What's more important.... insurance company or ME? LOL Totally normal behavior! Nancy