murfchck

It is an odd grey color and very light, lol. The bone seems more bruised than the skin but I can now face the water again in the shower. But on that note, Miss Cotay, who would never step up for me unless my arm was covered, stepped on and off my arm like a champ all day yesterday. We practiced by me having her step up every time I walked by and I would move her to another stand, come back by and pick her up and put her back on her stand. I set her on the kitchen table once that is the cardboard box heaven and she still stepped up for me from there! I guess after taking a hit for her, she now knows that I love her and wouldn't let anything bad happen to her. One small step forward, I just hope it keeps moving forward. Next one to work on is Ixta, lol. Marley is now a pain in the batootie. She thinks it is a fun game to step up, run up my arm and nip my head and shoulders. She is not biting to hurt me, just playing but macaw play and my type of play are SO different! lol

Woo-hoo! Happy hugs all around! Way to go!

I am sorry this is happening. I have several pluckers but not any that have taken it further. I really do not have any advice other than to follow your heart, if the meds worry you then don't use them. Try the other suggestions first and use the meds as a very last resort. I have the aloe that Dave suggested and it has done wonders for my flock. It sooths the skins a lot and doesn't draw their attention to the area but you do have to be consistent, as I am sure you will be since you are here asking for advice. :-) I like the touring of the new home and making it fun idea, that goes a long way with these guys! Best of luck!

I love the excitement in your words! They are truly a joy and will take more than just a piece of your heart. Congrats and we are always here when you need us. Can not wait to watch your baby grow up, your pictures are a delight!

Oh my gosh, that is a big tug on the heartstrings. Mine could care less if I go outside without them, all I get is "Lets go outside, gotta make a pee pee. Come on!" Then I get the "I'll be right back, i'm gone". I don't know what I would do if mine did that, probably let the dogs pee in the house, they are Chihuahua's how bad could it be? lol. (not really)

I didn't take it bad at all. I know for a fact my flock is "challanged! " and that is being nice. Lol. I tried yesterday to clean Koko's cage, she was much quicker than me pulling the paper out before i could put the next one in. So only one side got cleaned. Cotay also decided last night she didn't want to go the way i was going and on one of the few times she let me carry her she took off and flew to the very top of my cabinet on a artificial plant that she was much heavier than and proceeded to fall over like a dead tree in the forest taking down everything with it including a very heavy vase that i ended up taking the hit with. To top it all off, Bubba, Bongo, Ixta and Chacho laughed at me after things settled down. Cotay didn't laugh, she was still a little freaked out. But daddy came in and did the inspection on her which she loved because it is daddys undivided attention and she settled right down. Me, my chest is bruised and sore but i dare not say anything else the birds will laugh at me again! Point of that story is... the flock stuck together and ganged up on me!

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-wUeIqJ79mlI/VRvKNWl31EI/AAAAAAAABxY/QmyRIfc4dws/w326-h579-no/20150329_163709.jpg Here they are, (I hope I did it right) Sunny and Honey. I know my guys are misfits and they do need each other, each in different ways. I had mentioned that Bongo has picked up this deep burp sound, turns out it is me saying "ohhhhhh" When he gets to playing to hard with me I say that. Took me weeks to figure it out. His first word in three years that I hear and it is that, lol. He has been wanting to play on the counter with Gabby but she runs after him and stops just short of reaching him and he says it to her. "Ohhhhh"

I have a nudist colony in my home. More naked birds than not. I know the frustration, the sadness, and yes sometimes anger you feel because you just can't "fix" it. Keep thinking back to anything that has changed. For one of my boys it was something as meaningless to us as a type of rope on a toy. He likes sisal by God, not cotton. Who would have guessed that, but i changed his toys to sisal rope and all better. Knock on wood.

I completely agree. Luckily we have just 1 more to move in. A retired breeder, red front in his 60's best they can figure. He isn't one that will come out and play, that being said out loud now will jinx us. He will probably be very active and into everything. Lol.

Been very hectic and busy around here, sorry for the delay in updating things. Honey and Sunny moved in. They are the twin blue and golds, one has a blue band, one a silver. Too bad we forgot who had which, Pat thinks he knows and he says he can tell the difference because Sunny is a bit bigger and has a more greenish hue on her back. For me it is going to take some time. The are both just the sweetest birds, Sunny lets me pick her up but only after Honey gets picked up, she does what Honey does but will not do it first. lol It is very strange and stressful with these 2, they are flighted and full of feathers, having a bird fully feathered is strange enough for us, but add in flying and wow have the dynamics changed. Having 9 parrots out before was okay because only 2 greys flew but now add in the 2 macaws and it is really a zoo. We tore our pool down to make more flights out back for them so they can enjoy the weather. I have also gone back to work full time now, just too many changes at once. Gotta get a new system down.

Welcome to the grey family. Toby is very handsome and the red feathers are just fine. As mentioned, it could be that Toby has red factor or he may have been plucking longer that you think. Sometimes excessive plucking will cause damage and red feathers come in place of the grey, either way they are pretty. lol There are toys that could help him with the plucking our over grooming but it is a hard habit to break once they start. Most of the ones we have here are naked, only one has recovered from the plucking and it was just luck that we figured out he likes sisal rope only and he grooms that instead of himself. If the sisal gets destroyed, he starts pulling his neck and chest feathers out. I loved the favorites list you were given and had to giggle at the cheese-its and salt comment, because the salt is "only" in those! He will also move around when he is ready, I have one we dubbed our statue, it took him a few years but now that little booger goes everywhere and gets into everything. Their time is pretty slow compared to ours so don't expect any changes over night or even in a month or in some cases years.

Well I have no eggs! So old enough to let her have fun I guess. She cracked me up yesterday when I was putting them to bed. I was late getting home so they winged it with dad. He just opens the doors and lets them out to roam around so free for all. I found if I hid some nuts in her buckets, she will go back into her cage with no problems but the nuts were in my hand when Gus decided he wanted on me and flew at me, Koko did not like this and started charging me. After 3 full circles around the room backwards with Gus hanging on and bowls and nuts in my hand I managed to get out the door to hand Gus to Pat. I went back in expecting a little trouble from her but no, I put her bowl in the cage and she went right in for dinner but I still had her coaxing nuts in my hand so I put them in the bucket anyway, she stopped what she was doing and said loudly, "Where are they?" and ran to her bucket. Pat was still outside the door with Gus and he came in thinking I had said that and that I couldn't find the birds so he was ready to sacrifice himself to lure them out of hiding. lol Poor guy, didn't even put together that Lily was in the cage and he was holding Gus, he just knew I couldn't find the cockatoos and was ready to help. There is never a dull moment here that is for sure. I was at my friends house yesterday after work, the baby scarlets are well on their way to being full grown and I missed it all. She has 2 baby blue throats though so I still had some to play with and admire. We got the blood for the dna tests and now they hate me but hopefully that will pass soon. haha. I didn't have my phone so no new pictures of them. :-(

Bongo doesn't even talk and is still smarter than me! lol He is however making what could be the start of a word (or a very deep belch, not sure yet)

He is, but just by the skin of his teeth! Last week when we were putting the guys up in their cages for dinner Lily was in her cage, Gus was on top of her cage and Koko was on top of Gus's cage. Pat was trying to get Gus and I had the food bowls when Koko decided to charge Pat. He had just gotten Gus's foot on his arm when he had to run with him to his cage, he did manage to get Gus inside of it then I was hit with a gust of wind from his running by and him yelling for me to shut the cage doors and get Koko. Gus is the only one he can handle right now and even Gus has been nippy. lol I love my Lily pod but have come to the decision that if the right person wanted her we would rehome her. She doesn't get to come out of her cage much because of her aggression toward the other birds, I get her out after everyone has been put up but that just isn't enough for her and it isn't fair. So far though she has only let one other person hold her and that is our neighbor Rob. He wants her so badly but his wife says no way. We thought that she would calm down with the others but she hasn't at all. She flies into mirrors trying to kill the birds she sees and even flies after reflections to kill that bird. I am not using the word kill lightly either. How such a sweet bird like her can turn like that is beyond me, she just needs to be an only bird. :-( Koko and Gus are an item now and must never get out of sight of each other. lol I told Koko's owner that I hope Koko is to old to have babies otherwise we would be grandparents very soon. She laughed and said she hoped so too!

We got her after dinner one night from our waiter. We overheard him talking about his min pin who was being used as a play toy for some pit bulls. We picked her up the next morning. She had a broken leg that had just healed and her hip and knee when out of socket weekly after that her entire life. A few years later we noticed her eyes were very cloudy so we went to the vet who found out she was diabetic, since then she has gotten 2 shots a day and never once complained. Within months of her diagnosis, she went blind except for shadows. A year ago she developed an ulcer in her eye. Despite treatment she would be loosing her eye, vision was completely gone. Despite all of this, she loved her other doggies and would play and run with them the best she could. Very big hole left in my heart without her with me.

Daisy is our diabetic min pin who was approximately 10 years old. She fought hard but passed away in her sleep last night. We spent the entire evening with her at the vet and chose to take her home to be with us. The filled her with fluids ( there is a name for this but I have no idea what) to keep her hydrated until morning. Gave her nausea shot and also meds for her diarrhea as her stools were solid blood. Her calcium levels and phosphate levels were sky high and they explained she was basically turning into a stone. She was our sweet baby and will be very missed, but as I told her she is free to run now without hip and leg pains and can see again. So run fast, look around and enjoy everything you see baby! I love you! https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YAqZjI4DYbg/VQomXbd0ejI/AAAAAAAABqc/cR12mp_0Gvs/w326-h579-no/20150318_202850.jpg

Nancy, I am so sorry for your loss. Big hugs!

100% agreed. This is starting to get old even for me who has been here for years and have been on the receiving end of rudeness on occasion. Being disrespectful is also considered a choice.

We have one that came to as Harley, was not sure of the sex but changed it to Marley. This way if it turns out she is a he we can say we named him after Bob Marley. Lol

What a cutie pie! You guys will be buds in no time i bet! Congrats again.

Happy outcome! Glad you two made it back to each other

Welcome back! Glad all is going so well with HRH, the update was great to read!

Well the perch thing sounds about right, never even crossed my mind, DOH! I found out yesterday that "he" is going to be 2 years old August 28th. Poor little fella, had been sexed but the lady thinks the guy switched birds on her and she "thinks" she got the boy not the girl she was supposed to and now I am confused what he was tested as, boy or girl. We need the nails trimmed up so maybe I will see if we can do another test just so we know which to call Marley. lol

Happy hatch-day! Make sure you are spoiled appropriately!

We have been working on the wrist only step up and by gosh, she's got it already. But I have created a monster now and every time she see's me her little foot goes up for her step up, sorry, her big foot. We went on a new adventure yesterday too, I can't believe it did this but I did, we went outside to the front porch to look around. I took a skittish bird, who's wings are clipped (but still) outside without a harness. I advise people all the time not to do this but I did. She did good, but she was so nervous she could have done a fright flight, but luckily she wanted my protection more. After we got outside, I thought to myself how dumb I was so we just stood at the door and she looked around for a minute and a car drove by making her duck down so then I took her back in. I am proud of her for her courage but mad at myself for doing that. lol Since I have not had a young bird like this in over 25 years, is it normal for them to not have such great balance? I keep telling my hubs it is probably because she wasn't carried around much and doesn't know to grip but she really is a klutzy bird. I am starting to wonder if she may have been dropped on her head, lol. (she still hangs upside down like a bat)