murfchck

Oh, you are soooo lucky! My mom keeps handing me a straw telling me to hang in there, bird fair is only two months away.

A good friend came by yesterday, last time he was here we didn't have Gus. They fell in love with each other. Gus was in his harness, we were outside and he wouldn't leave his lap. Most of the time when someone stops in, he throws up that crown and puts on a show, this time he just got in his lap and relaxed. It was so nice to see that, and to know we have found our bird sitter! Lol Thank you for that reassurance! I hope i don't let Gus down!

Sitting outside last night we realized that Gus really is doing much better, its just us. Lol Thinking back, we couldn't even get out of eye shot of him before he would scream until he would run out of breath. His screams still happen but do not last near as long and not near as loud. It is hard to really see the progress being around him everyday but we took a step back and can really see it. Pat also noted that he has the most issues with Gus when he brings the stress of his work day home with him. Poor Gus has been dealing with big changes in his life, the move into our home, the much bigger cage and mostly the freedom. He has no clue how to deal with it. We think we just expected him to think, " oh thank heavens, someone noticed what has been happening to me and is loving me again.", when in reality he was/ is thinking, " what the hell is going on?" We are recharged again and ready to face this head on!

Lol, being my last name is Murphy and he is a cockatoo, i am doomed to be screwed either way!! Oh are all the birds a mess this morning, except Gus. They got a peanut butter bannana sandwhich for breakfast, Gus is a nibbler and doesn't hold his food with his foot so he is clean, the others are covered in it!

This is just a new thing he has started to do. Nothing in the room has changed at all. If he screamed last night though, i didn't hear it. He was screaming all during dinner and we were worn out so they went to bed and so did we. On the flip side, not one jump on us.

I fear we are going to have to do a slight wing trim. He keeps flying off his stand to Pat, which in itself is okay but to get his balance when he lands, he grabs ahold of what ever is closest. Pat got 13 nips yesterday, a few drawing blood. I am starting to feel beaten. He is still screaming some and now he is being vocal in the middle of the night. Like last night around 1 am, he starts squaking, lasted about 20 minutes. I checked and all the 4 legged animals were with us in bed so none where out to have scared him. Again about 4 am. Covering the cage scares him really badly, we tried. I just really feel he may never change these habits he has. Food tossing, screaming, biting and attacking on a whim!

A funny moment. My hubby getting frustrated with Bubba, but he is the one who taught him the word what! Pat gave me the evening off. He cleaned cages, bowls, cooked dinner and even got me a present! What i enjoyed most though was the banter between Pat and Bubba. If Pat went out of eye shot, Bubba would yell his name. If Pat didn't answer, Bubba would say Pats name more sing songish. Pat would say Bubbas name back at him and Bubba replied with "what?" as if Pat was calling for him. He would walk over to him and explain what he was doing and Bubba was really paying attention to him. Pat would walk away and right away Bubba is calling for Pat again. Pat goes back to him and explains again, Bubba cocks his head to the side and says "what?" He had to have said what 20 times before Pat turns to me and asked, "who taught him that damn word?" My reply to him was, at least he isn't asking why, you would be there all night if he did!

Lol. On Gus's first month with us, we found out the hard way that no hats can be worn around him! That brought on a full flight neck biting attack. A neck brace on the other hand could work for us! Painting With a Twist, sooo much fun. If there is one near you, grab a bottle or two of wine, some friends who love to laugh and go! It was a fund raiser that my local resue put on, we painted a vintage macaw. What a blast it was. I am a wee it scared though. Next saturday we are going to the shelter to help out and she still has a goffin named Elvis that i fell madly in love with over a year ago. My saving grace is that they have a rule that they will not adopt out to smokers, we do not smoke in our home and do wash our hands before we handle them but thats their rule so we are out. Now i just need to be sure she sees us smoking so she doesn't try tempting us! Lol I put a bowl on the botton of the cage, also filled his other bowls higher up. He went right to the upper bowls and flung out the food. The one on the bottom still had some food in it but nothing around it so i guess he ate some!

Ewww, bad birdies day! I bent over to pick up Gus's toys that were all on the floor, lil bugger bit me on the back of my neck. Went to do something on my tablet, Gabby flew over and bit tru the side of my finger right on the edge of my finger nail. Then i got the hiccups, which put them all on edge. I couldn't catch a break! We are going to a pretty cool thing today, "Painting With a Twist" . All the money goes to Bird Haven, a rescue group in my area. The picture we will be trying to paint is of a scarlet macaw, lol. I wonder if they would let me paint Oliver. I also wonder if it would be cheaper since if i do get to paint his picture, i wouldn't be using a whole lotta paint, lol.

Mine eat both. The uncooked mixed in with the seed and cooked is sometimes dinner. Wacky-mac is Bongos fav pasta.

Lil backslide... We had suprise company stop over last night. Gus does not like getting visitors he has never met before. It got so bad we had to put him in his cage where he screamed for a long time. I felt bad but he was aggressive towards us and talking to him was not working. They were only here an hour or so but his screams continued until lights out. I got a quick video of Gus doing his "fling". It is uploading to photobucket, i will post it soon.

I did that with box, he avoided it like it was going to bite him! Yet out of the cage, he loves boxes. We are going to move his bolws down near the bottom tomorrow to see if that helps him. Made oatmeal this morning, he loved it! He does play ball with us, just we have to be so careful as he gets too excited when he plays and he jumps on us and bites. If we avoid the jump, he gets on the floor and then attacks our feet. He is such a stinker! Funny as crap, but such a challange.

Them babies sure can fly when a beak grabs that tail! Lol

Lol. My first thought was " Well, that manicure didn't last long. I think i will go with red this time." That is a great picture!

I have 2 greys, 2 macaws and one Gus ( umbrella too). They are all out at the same time, the greys share a stand and the others all have their own. We don't let them out in the birds rooms because for some reason they all gather on Bongos cage and clean him out of house and home, its bedlam lol. They tolerate each other but each have their own areas, no one crosses into them, including the dogs. 3 out of the 5 are flighted.

Well he just couldn't decide yesterday which was working better so he did both! Lol still nothing like it was a few weeks ago. Now its time to start working on this food and toy flinging thing. I am trying to get it on video for you. It is up there with one of the funniest things i have seen. One piece at a time with a fling and a stare, then right back in for another piece to fling. He will do that until there is only one thing left then lay his head down in it. I do not understand it but everytime i put food in his bowls or his toys back in the bucket, he does it. The food thing is getting expensive. And with fresh food, unless i hold it for him he doesn't eat it. I had orange slices so i gave him one and he picked at it but the second i got him to hold it in his mouth he ran to his food bowl and put it in there and came back to me. I tried again and the same outcome. I really can't see what he is eating!

He did great yesterday, once again, with the screaming. HOWEVER, he has a new approach to getting our attention. Crying. He started this a few days ago but we really didn't give it much thought. I must say even though it is a softer noise, it is so much worse than the screams. His crying sounds so heartbreaking. He was doing it at bedtime last night and we ignored it as long as we could, then Pat went in and got him out. He sat in my lap then, i swear to you, smiled. Then just started running around the couch, flipping his crown up and jumping from the couch to the coffee table. When Pat put him back to bed, he started screaming. It only lasted 10 minutes but still... Lol He is pulling out all the tricks and sad to say, last night he won!

More daddy, more! How sweet!

First time since November (i think) the macaws were louder than Gus! In fact Gus would start jabbering when one of the boys let out a noise and then just watch them. They wanted their box time on the table but since Oliver is plucking Bubba, we are limiting that to twice a week and they are not happy with that! Ah, the joys of having many parrots. I had pulled the bowls from their cages for breakfast the other day then i got shiny syndrome and forgot what i was doing. 15 minutes later i was letting out the dogs and heard this "hello", i looked around bc it sounded close but didn't see anyone, but as i walked through the living room again, there was Gabby walking to our bedroom without a care in the world. i mean who cares we have 4 dogs and a cat, its time for them to wake up and play with me! She pushed her food door open and got out! And now Bongos low toned whistles have become a higher, head splitting tone. Don't know where it came from but now Gabby has that pitch also. I can't even match it, it is so high, still the same songs just higher. Good times!! Lol

So the vacation is over and all my fears of Gus screaming nonstop with Pat home were un needed! Gus has been doing great! He even spent alot of time outside yesterday while we worked in the yard. Even let Pat put on his harness for a walk. Its like all of a sudden, he decided to start understanding that the screams didn't get him anywhere. I am sure he will have his moments still but i sure will enjoy this while it lasts!

Macaws are great. Playful little buggers and when they love, you know you are being loved! Although mine still won't say my name, i am getting use to being called thwwwww ( raspberry sound ) too bad though Gabby, my grey, now calls me that too! The screams are mostly in the morning and evening as a flock round up call. They are loud but short and then over with.

Good job! As much as we hate it, bedtime starts around 6-7 depending on what time dinner will be ready. We feed them dinner in their cage now mostly because it is so much easier to get them in there with food, lol. Lights are on for eating along with their tvs, after eating its lights off and tv still on, little more play time then tvs off and its nite nite time. Both bird rooms have night lights for them also. After a few months doing this, when i reach for a pan or pot now, both Bongo and Gabby fly to my shoulder to see "whats cooking" and try hard to help me get it done faster! When it goes into their bowls, its a contest to see who can get to me the quickest to go back to their cage for dinner!

He was just so good yesterday, even got to go outside because he let Pat put his harness on him. Very little screaming, no time outs! The screaming he did do was understandable and just a few. It was as if he were saying to us, okay now i am scared of that. Doorbell ran setting off the dogs barking, Gabby and Bongo flew at the same time causing enough wind to knock things off the table, we bought the macaws a pop up tent with a long tunnel which we had to assemble. Those things are what triggered his screams yesterday and didn't warrent a time out to us. My fingers are crossed that today will be another day of progress. Upper 70's today so we all get to go outside to play!

Okay, heartstring pull. Pat was holding Gus after a small fit ended.( Very small, yeah! )He told Pat " I'm sorry, was i bad? Pat did all he could to assure Gus all was good, he isn't bad. Still brings tears to my eyes thinking how many times he had to have heard that to learn it and it be so clear.

So, we moved his stand from living room area right by the kitchen, to the kitchen. Thinking he just didn't like where he was at. All that gained was the loss of a beautiful mirror (frame) that he decided made a much better chew toy. We have only had one fly by which resulted in a quick duck from hubby and a somewhat ungraceful landing by Gus. He did have to go into time out for that, he was attacking us afterward. We just keep plugging along...