murfchck

A dog travel cage works great for that sunshine, the lighting is a good thing but nothing beats the real thing! The cage i am talking about isn't the plastic one, it is an open one made with metal, you can put a perch in it, hang a water and food food bowl and there ya go, a safe outside playpen! Aloe from wallyworld aka WalMart is a staple. I have 6 parrots, only two are fully feathered, ease up on yourself. Sorry to say it happens with more birds than you realize, but you fretting over it will only cause stress in Smokey and keep him doing it. There are grass mats for sale, (Carol sells them online from this site) it has helped our newest with her plucking. I got a huge one for my macaw but ended up giving it to Cotay, in less than two weeks she has hit the center of it and i have gone from having a snow covered cage bottom to being able to count how many were plucked out during the day now, if any were at all. It is like i have told many people who ask about what they can do to stop this habit, if there were an easy way or a cure for this, we would all have feathered birds but there really isn't. What has worked for one may not work for another. We can only offer lots of toys and shredders, a good diet, good hygiene, sunshine and lots of love! Then the rest is up to them! :-)

We do practice that, when Pat has her, we have her step up form then i will walk a little way away from Pat then return her to him so she knows i will bring her back to her safe place. She sat on my shoulder yesterday then after a minute, she started smaking my head and pulling my hair so she didn't get returned to Pat, rather to a time out.lol Stubborn one! That girl keeps us laughing. Yesterdays new phrase was a simple fart followed by a lower sounding fart as she leaned to the side with a grand finish of "ahhhhhh".

Aww, she is so pretty. Also has more feathers than my 2 b&g's put together! It is opposite here, they give hubby the tude. They tried to with me but i just laughed at them and then scooped em up anyway. Took a few bites but they ended up knowing i wasn't going to give up. Vet days are still intimidating for me when i try to get them in a carrier though.

We had egg number 2 today. I think she is done from the way she is acting. She came into the kitchen, was chewing my coffee pot until i spotted her and the she flew to my shoulder to help with dinner. She then spent the evening flying from Pat to the couch to look in then back to Pat, but never into the box.

She is so darn cute. Sad she hates me so much.

Personally, if it is fertile, i am moving closer to Dan and Dave!!! So here is a weid thing going on now. Gabby, who normally takes the tail feathers off of any birds who get to close, is now buddy buddy with Gus (U2). They are grooming each other now. Gus even climbed in her cage while I was bringing the birds out after work and was just looking at the egg.

Cotay go roooaarrrrr!! So, i don't know if i can paint this picture but during a normal evening of cooking dinner and hubby feeding dogs we hear Cotay say " Cotay go roooaarrr!" Not in a lion roar voice, not in an older child voice but a childs voice who is just learning to talk. We have been trying to get her to do it again to record it but haven't heard it since. It is at the top of my chart now on what birds do or say that crack me up! ( other than "RESPECT" song, heehee)

Hello fellow orange blood. lol. I retired from Depot almost 3 years ago ( hubby still works there (14 yrs)) and thought in my retirement, that would be a great time to get the grey i always dreamed about. HA, i am now working again just to keep them all fed and to have the ability to get them to vet when needed. I know you will read alot about the amount of time spent with them but i think the quality of time is just as important!

She looks tired but ate her breakfast. Have not seen her in the box with her egg since last night on the couch other then when we put her in there for the night, she went in and pushed it around but went straight back out to be with daddy. We put her food in and she ate dinner, went to her sleep perch and thats where she was this morning. So i am guessing she is over it already. I am going to leave in a while longer until i am sure but she is acting like she has another egg ready to come out. All hunched and fluffed up and poop is huge, even more so than the normal bombs dropped in the mornings!

My very first thought when reading this was this. So it is time for you and your spouse to move move out of your daughters home and to an assisted living facility but there isn't room for you both. Although your daughter is fine with the two of you there, should you move into one home while your other half moves to a home in a different town? You don't drive anymore so you know you will never see each other again. Uh, no, you stay with your daughter until a room becomes available. I am sorry but thoughts like that are why there are so many unhappy birds. To even think of seperating them would be cruel, unless it is for their own safety.

So the box was put in and while she was was not paying attention the egg went into her cage and Pat took her in to show her. She moved it around and then came out and wanted her daddy. We put dinner in as normal and left her alone, when we went to put them down for the night, she was sitting on her normal sleep perch. I guess she is either over it or it was moved too much for her to deal with. Welp, guys we'll see how it is in the morning. Thank you all for the help and support!

I have a naked blue and gold, a half naked blue and gold and a naked CAG. Oliver, B&G, has a frozen wing so doesn't fly but can pump his shoulders like he is soaring. Bubba, B&G, has started plucking his chest due to some health issues but now is nothing more than a habit and Oliver helping to stay bald! Cotay is new to our home but maybe 6 months or so ago when i first saw her she was pretty chewed up and chest was bald. Her chest is still bald and now the tops of her wings but we are misting a few times a day with aloe and she seems to be easing up on the plucking. Its only been 2 weeks with us so i can not say this will work, she is fully flighted, not a good flyer but she sure tries hard! As for what we do about the plucking, we offer lots of chewing/ shredding toys and keep this misting up with the aloe to ease the itchy feel when the feathers are coming in and the number one rule... Don't make it a big deal where they see how stressed you are about it cuz they will pick up on it! lol I completly love my nudist colony! My two feathered ones must feel like odd balls! Even our U2 has a bald chest and is a stress barber.

Thank you. I put a small box in there and shredded some paper and also left some around for her to make "her" nest with. She will be better once in the cage I think as the couch is in the center of everything. I faced the box away from Bongo so she is unseen unless she wants to come out. I guess the rest is up to her. Thank you for the food tip also, she almost got scrambled eggs tonight. Lol I am so nervous, she knows what she's doing, its me who is Freaking out! Lol

The cage has a divider, one on one side, one on the other. Very slim chance its fertile, but you just never know, lol. Dave, that's one of the threads I kept up with but do I move the box into her cage tonight? She is still on the egg and now charges at me if I go near the couch. But is pulling my husbands hand into the box with her. Bongo, the male, could care less that she has an egg, so I am sure he ain't a proud papa. But I do want to keep Gabby content. So confused! This is what happens I guess when they are only in their cage to sleep, eggs will drop in odd places. Lol

So Gabby just laid her first egg. We have done a search on this and am at a loss since this wasn't really as easy as just leave her alone with the egg, and also that we do have a 7 yr old male in the house. They share a double macaw cage with a divider but stranger things have happened. So here is the story. I noticed a few days ago that Gabby's eating habits have changed, not eating as much as she normally would. Then a few days ago i noticed plucking around her woo-woo. ( my technical word ) I finally got the nerve to tell my hubby today that we really needed to watch her, and that we may be heading to the vet in the morning. After grocery shopping and getting home, Pat took her into the bedroom for some one on one time. According to Pat, she started breathing very heavy and groaning, he stroked her head and belly noticing the egg tip trying to come out. He started to gently massage her belly and getting her to relax ( what a dad! ) then the next thing he knew, there was an egg in his hand. She has a box she plays in on the couch in the living room so not knowing what to do Pat put her and the egg in the box on the couch. Now we are reading to leave her alone with the egg and let her do her thing but what do we do when its bedtime? Move the whole box into her cage or remove it from the box and just put her and the egg in the cage? She looks wiped out. She pushed the egg around getting it where she wanted it and then plopped herself onto it. Now, an hour later, she is out of the box on the arm of the chair. Gesh, this grand-parroting is for the birds! I am completly lost what to do for her!! Also, i read about feeding her higher calcium rich foods, what are some examples of this? Calcium i think milk but that not right! (scrambled egg with the shells??)

My thoughts and well wishes with you all!

I bet he wasn't told that the name was being used and he would need to pick another one!

So we have found ours at a great store called Sprouts. I was looking online to be sure it is okay for the other parrots as well. All said it was but one artical i found said it is like prozac for birds, has a nice calming effect. So far, i have not noticed that, lol. They all have been eating it, i mix it with their dinner once a week, said to help with feather pickers too, ha, wouldn't that be nice and easy. lol

There is no bad CAG! And you would know without doubt if he or she likes you. If you still have all your flesh and fingers, he or she is okay with you! LOL

Cotay has been saying this one word over and over since she has been here, we thought it was spanish or something. Finally able to get the meaning of the word. It's Laqueta (sounds like lakweta), a few of our spanish speaking friends have said it could mean water but they would need to hear it because it is very much like other words. I put it in a google search and low and behold it means, African girl. I am starting to wonder if this was her name at one point. She has a few voices and when she says that it is clear as a bell along with all her other fun words but when she says Cotay, it is very soft and almost a wisper as if it is a new word for her. We don't know which to call her. As confused as we are she must be baffeled! We are starting her flying lessons this weekend, lol. She has zero control, she will take off and just fly upward and her landings consist of hitting the wall and dropping to the floor. So we are not encouraging this right now of course. We tried a few short flights but the poor girl just couldn't master it and was so winded it sounded like she was weezing.

Wonderfully put Judygram! Gotta accept a little crap now and then! lol. As a home provider and servent to now 2 rehomed parrots and 4 rescues, i too am happy that you are asking these questions. Getting a parrot is a wonderful thing and so heart warming but it is also just like having a little child that will never reach the age of 18 and move out! They require so much more than a cage and food. They need lots of exercise for both their bodies and their minds, when they get bored, baseboards and walls and, well, just about anything they can reach will begin to get smaller, lol. Of my six, only two are potty trained and that took alot of time and consistancy, knowing their body language and the tell tale signs which can only come about by spending much time with them. As far as how much time to devote to them, alot and for the rest of your life. These guys are social buggers and need to be with you. You will find that when you start on your search for a grey, there will be one that when you see and interact with him, you will know thats the one for you. They choose us, 2 of ours hate me, lol, they choose my hubby. Gabby has just started letting me touch her and shes been with us over a year. I really have no baby experience so i can not say if just picking one out would truely bond. Someone else would need to chime in on that part. I can say that even having older ones, we have to think about there future because they will still outlive us. I have one that is 21 and that is like a teenager to us, so knowing who can and will care for them is a must. Money is also something people need to think about. You can go to a bird show and drop an easy couple hundered dollars on toys and within a month be toyless. Vet bills from check ups and nail trims and in our house, beak trims. And by vet, i mean avian vet which in most cities is atleast double the cost of a regular dog vet. Then we move into the food, good seed mixture and pellets and then the fresh food, red palm oil and nuts of all shapes and sizes. lol Now, with all this being said, i would never trade one day of scraping up poop, dodging fly bys, replacing dishes and arranging my life to keep them happy for one day of being without any of them! The joy they bring and the love they give is something else! I know i rambled but these are things to really think about for both you and your birds mental well being! Best of luck to you!

Didn't think of it that way, too funny!

I forgot to mention that Cotay and Bubba talked to each other yesterday. Bubba told us bye and cotay replied with its ok they'll be right back.

I remember Gabby and how much that girl hated me when she moved in. Cotay hates me more, I can't even go near her cage or get her to step up. She does lure me to her with the sweetest hello and come here, then when i am close to her she strikes out at me. I am giving her her space and the time she needs, after all, Pat is her chosen one so she does get handled everyday and lots of play time so its okay with me. It has been a little over a year and Gabby has just started letting me touch her, when she wants anyway, and mostly her beak or the ever special back stroke. You guys won't believe what she said also... Howard. Both of us were shocked. Gabby use to call Pat Howard when she first got here so to hear Cotay say it had me rolling. Pat said he was going to find this Howard and ask him to stop getting birds and teaching them his name! Me, i have decided to teach Bubba to say Howard also. I got a How outta him last night. Pat just shook his head. lol Can't beat em, join em!

So last night the neighbor came over and Cotay was on Pats shoulder. As soon as she saw her, Cotay promptly plucked out a feather. We politly rushed her outside so Cotay would relax again. How sad. Cotay is just a cutie pie. She yaks and yaks. We got a "Listen, "insert fart sound here", hahahaha" It was so funny! Now its "Are you ready?" "Go to work!"