murfchck

Harness or not, if a hawk grabbed him and the end of a harness was reached, i picture talons ripping and things snapping. No we do not chance it, even to the aviary they are in a travel cage. The hawks are smart and watch and wait for that one moment when your distracted.

I had one swoop within a foot, i could feel his wind, when Bongo was out with us. We were lucky cuz my neice had Bongo and i was in front of her and my neighbor was behind. If he had been in his normal position on my arm, he would have been gone.

I guess we will just wing it, so to speak. No presents under it for sure though. Today was Pats birthday and he barely got to open his cards, only one got damaged before he got to open them and two of the boxes got chewed up right after they came into the room (Gabby). Bongo has really started flying now also, his direction isn't really good yet and i can really see him landing in it and knocking it over. Tonight he took a sharp turn and landed in the sink, glad he missed the pot that was soaking!

Am i asking for trouble? I don't know how many of you all have fids that get into everything but 2 out of 4 do here. I am really worried about putting a tree up and having all the lights with wires and all the glass hanging. What do you guys do? Last year i actually did a charlie brown tree but didn't have the kiddos then. If i did that this year i could see Gabby eating my table it sits on and also see Bubba trying to perch on it. I can't do real trees, we have two 12' ers one skinny and one fat and i can see it now having to decorate a step ladder in Christmas glory to leave by the tree to be fetching them out of it every 30 minutes. I really gave thought to just decorating their stands, since they are trees anyway, and just telling everyone the white stuff (poop) all over the decorations was snow. But then thought, ewww. So what do you all do?

Welcome! Sounds like you are off to a great start! Can't wait to hear more stories of your growing and bonding.

Got a great picture of Pat and Bubba playing " baby time". In the picture Bubba is saying "la la la la". It is our towel practice time with him, he loves it. Bongo has flown to me now 3 nights in a row, landed the first time and tonight with perfection, yesterday not so good. I have a scratch under my chin when he hit my face, guess he thought my nose was a perch or something, lol. Going to keep trying!

I am so sorry to hear this. My thoughts are with you.

Lol, i love it. Every time Pat said Lisa tonight, Bubba made a raspberry noise. I am never going to hear him say my name.

We have that issue with Gabby, except it is our couch. With me, she is good about it, i did time out once and she caught on, with Pat however she pushes and pushes and time out means nothing. I make him be consistant now because he wasn't at first and now he is dealing with that inconsistancy. He asked me how i do it all day with her and the others, its simple, i mean what i say and follow through. Timeouts can't be used for every little thing or it will lose its effectiveness, pick your training. I wanted to add, this is what works with us as far as one thing at a time. Gabby is just too busy to understand more than one or two things at a time. We use other things such as distraction to get her to stop other unwelcome behaviours. Once the chewing was mastered with her and me, we moved on to not eating my end tables!

Welcome to you both! You have come to the right place to learn and also to share stories. Felix looks like a lot of fun!

Now thats a visual, hanging from your nose! I almost didn't want to wake up this morning in fear that yesterday was a fluke and today he would be standoffish again. Bubba is really bonding with Pat, it is nice to see. They had their one on one time and Pat had him on his back again just getting belly rubs and playing. I love that they are close but it also scares me that he gets ruff play with Pat and him thinking he can ruff play with me. My skin is thinner, lol. Oliver is still Oliver, he seems to be having an independant few days, wants no one, just wants to chew his wood and be left alone. I was thinking about selling Bubbas old cage ( cuz and empty one is dangerous around me ) but we went ahead and brought it to the living room to act as their safe place for Gabby and Bongo. A place i can put them when i cook or am going in and out the back door. Since they both fly it gives me a place to put them where they are still with us and not in their bedroom, but 100% safe. This cage is big and doesn't break down. It fits thru the front door and thats it, not the back door. We had to remove the door and frame just to get it into the macaws room for Bubba. I had thought about putting it out back for them to play in while Pat builds yet another aviary for them but it wouldn't fit thru either gates we have!

Bongo update! He showed his first real affection with me today! He was on a tv tray after lunch and i just started giving him kisses all over, my mind was set to not let him say no. I started on his back, the forbidden zone, and worked my way up. After the kisses on the top of his head, i leaned back a bit to see his reaction and he just turned his head to me and looked. I told him, " ok, i will keep going then." and to my suprise he cocked his head toward me for more neck kissing. I got so excited i think i scared him a bit. THEN, as i was in the kitchen and he was on his stand acting like he wanted to fly, my hubby went to pick him up and bring him to me and he had another idea! He took off flying! He went 15', i measured, and i had put my arm out for him and he hit the mark! Landed smoothly on my arm! Now grated if my arm hadn't been out, he would have hit the cabinet, but it was and he didn't! I tried to reward him but again, i had gotten so excited i scared him and he wouldn't take it. I ask him for a kiss now and he will come to me and swipe my lips with the top of his beak and make a big kiss noise. Pat said he has noticed that Bongo is starting to communicate with us now, i laughed and said, no, we are just starting to understand what he's been asking for! I am on the moon tonight with them all! Okay, Gabby bit me to where i had to leave her attached to my finger and walk like that to Pat for help, but i still love her! Lol The moon i tell ya, i am walking on the moon!

I have an oven ready one too! We call him our nudist! We don't even notice it anymore. At first we focused on it, trying anything and everything short of the collar, only to find the more we focused the more he did too. It's just him and we accept it. Congrats on your new addition, your in for a great time!

I am still getting Gabby kisses, i just wish i wasn't afraid when she tries though. She bit my lip pretty hard right after i started healing from the bubba bite. She is such a hoot. I now have 4 blankets covering our love seat because she will not stop chewing it. She pulls and climbs and crawls to find exposed couch, when she does we distract her with her toys but that doesn't last long. Lost another baseboard to her also. We had walked outside only to find her in the entryway by the door just chewing away when we came back in. She loves being on the floor in front of the glass door, just looking out. Really need to break that habit!

Woo-hoo! Bubba laid on his back tonight! Pat was calling me to come look and i came into the room and there they were, Pat was on the bed and Bubba was right beside him, on his back just laying there getting love and pets on his belly! It was so cute! Goodness being in a home with a parrot it great! We were sitting outside tonight and Gabby flew off her stand, onto the couch and my hubby just looked at me and said " we just had an awsome African Grey bird fly threw our home". We were in awe!

We will be watching him. Now that all the kiddos are healthy and we can start their "well check" vet visits, him getting sick from that is all we need, yikes! I did talk to a neighbor about this and she said the house a few doors down has a pecan tree in their back yard. I know they have not treated anything but am still going to keep an eye out.

I hung a new toy in Bongos cage Sunday, now every night since when i put him in there for his dinner he rings the bell on it then eats. Like he is ringing his dinner bell.

Oh boy, he scared the poop out of the trick or treaters tonight! He would scream like a little girl, then Bongo would scream. Some of the poor kids wouldn't even come on the porch. Heehee! Heres a question... I had Oliver out front today, he was walking around and found a pecan buried in the grass and opened it up and started eating it. I have no pecan trees so i guess a squirrel buried it, how safe is that? I couldn't get it from him without loss of fingers. He took one bite then dropped it so he didn't get much but then later i found a hazelnut in the yard also. Where are they coming from? My garbage? Gesh, is nothing safe??

We had to stand in the driveway, Bubba and Bongo were doing their little girl scream everytime a kid in a costume walked up! We sounded like a haunted house, kids ran from our porch and some wouldn't even walk up.

That's wonderful! Welcome to another great community!

Had to google for translation, even more confused.. Whether harmful creams bad for shrimp for the stomach, liver? if not often used ... Gabby gave me real kisses yesterday! I think she may be accepting me a little more now. Still limited on the touch but a kiss is a breakthrough with her and me!

I hope everyone is safe and well. My prayers are with you all!

And today i get another excited bite. :-( He didn't mean it but ouchie wa wa! Lol Yesterday he shocked me. They were on their stands and i was cleaning cages, i heard Bubba saying "Pat". I replied with "He is at work honey". Next thing i hear is Pat walking in the door. Darn booger knows his car i guess cuz he can't see him walking up! IF he ever says my name, i am sure it will be followed by darn it, i am always saying to him, "Lisa, darn it".

Oh yeah, agreed! Time out really works in our home, i can count on both hands with both greys how many times we have had to use it. Very effective with them. A few minutes is all it takes!

I did move his dinner bowl to the top today and when i had their dinner in the cages and put him in there he went right into it, like an oinker! I keep hiding his favorite nuts around for him so maybe he will come around soon. Fingers crossed!