murfchck

I am so glad it was a happy ending!

Woo hoo! Stewart took his first bath in there yesterday! And my floors stayed dry! I used one of the bowl holders to support it and allow him to feel secure if he did go in it and i have just left it in there, changing the water out of course, and he got in and splashed around! It works so good i got a larger on for my macaw, that one i have on top for him, fingers crossed he gives it a shot!

So much for the pin feathers... :'( I think i am going to look into the vest and see what that is about. He must be feeling much better, he is starting to wander. I was cleaning today, had 2 of the dogs outside and one in the bedroom, and the one who is scared to death of Oliver, was in the room i was in. I walked toward the kitchen and there he was walking into the living room. I never even heard him climbing off his stand. Lol Then this evening we heard strange noises coming from their room so went to check it out, there he was on the side of Stewarts cage chewing the wood frame on the wall. He has the same wood by his cage but i guess he wanted Stewart to get in trouble for the chewing and not himself! He is a smart cookie!

Heartbreaking

I do not mean any disrespect but how old are you? I only ask because maybe you could find a temp home for your bird until you have a place of your own where you can properly take care of him. Moving him to the family room is a good start but will he ever get to be out of the cage? Stretch his wings? Be a part of the family? They need these things and so much more to be happy in their life. They could out live us and the early years of their life is setting the stage for their later years. You could mentally harm this guy making rehoming later on very hard. On this forum is a Bill of Rights for Birds. Please read this. I will try and find it for you and put it here, i have 2 rescued birds and this touched me deeper than anything else i have ever read before. Please think about your birds well being, sometimes it hurts to do the right thing but it feels better knowing they are being cared for in the right way! 20 years ago i gave up a wonderful umbrella cockatoo because i couldn't care for him correctly, it was 18 years later before i knew for sure i was completly ready to invest the time and love they need!

Found 2 pin feathers starting on his belly and one bigger one on his back! Hope they are still there tomorrow, this is the third time for the one on his back. Dr says when he pulls it till there is blood it gives him a rush so i have been spaying the aloe in my hand and dabbing it on the pin to maybe keep him away from it. I saw a touch of blood this afternoon but the feather is still there right now. I have another rescue family i will be meeting with tomorrow. The cage i had to sell i had put on craigs list this morning and the husband called about it. His wife works for a vet and the city called them about a bird they had removed from a home because the owner, who was older, had passed away TWO weeks earlier and they had just found him. This bird has been thru hell and she is hoping to regain his trust in humans. So sad, the bird is a military macaw and they are unable right now to handle him.

It sounds like you want him to live in a bubble. That is no life for a grey or any other bird. No matter how hard you try to defend this, it isn't right. I know you are trying to do right by him by trying to get him out of the laundry room, which also doesn't sound good, but really think this thru please. Put yourself in your birds place and ask if this is how you would want to live your life, in a see thru coffin? Time to start thinking about your bird and not yourself.

He does and found out today he is polite! He started trying to bath in his water so i thought i would help him out with the spray bottle. I went to mist him and he tried to (acted like he was anyway) bite the bottle so i just said ok and put the bottle down.... He said thank you. I waited a bit and tried again bc i didn't believe what i had heard, again he said thank you! The gagging thing he does has now been confirmed. He was doing it again today but this time holding his foot in his mouth while he did it so i got close and watched carefully, then it happened. A bunch of food came up from under his tongue! Ewww! He looked like he was sticking a finger down his throat to help keep his weight down! (can't think of the word right now of what its called, lol)

Wow, busy day with the boys! I found a matching stand for Stewart today so went and got it. Oliver took it instead, he decided he liked it better. I have been saying that Oliver talks and it is getting clearer by the day, well my husband hadn't heard it yet and i didn't realize that. When he got on his new stand, he started dancing and saying hello over and over. My husbands jaw hit the floor, he was shocked. Stewart is scared of the stand and now won't even sit on his old one, this will take some time i think. When we got the stand, the woman asked if we needed a cage too. We didn't, but you know you always have to look. We left with a new cage too, gesh she was good at selling! It is bigger than Stewarts cage but smaller than Olivers. When we got Oliver she gave us a huge cage for him, she said it was damaged so we could just keep it. It had no bowl holders, some missing doors for the food and water but we made it work. It was also missing the play area on the top. (This cage is big enough for 2 or 3 macaws.)I am really debating if i want to put Oliver in the new one even though it is smaller, but still plenty big enough for a macaw, and it has much better usage for him or put Stewart in a bigger one and go thru the whole "new" phase... Either way, the only time either are in their cage is to sleep. 3 cages and 2 birds, maybe i should just get another bird! Lol, ha ha ha. I wouldn't do that right now!

I am beside myself with joy! I think it may be passing on to the boys too! Oliver has been chatting up a storm. We know he says hello, out and nut, his newer mumblings are long and getting clearer today! I feel like i have fallen in love for the first time again! Watching him play and knowing he isn't living on borrowed time now brings tears to my eyes for his courage to fight and his strength to reach this point! I know i sound sappy but i just can't help it! My cup runnith over!!! :-)

Wonderful to hear about Dj! He is so cute and i can't wait to hear all the great stories you will have on ya'lls new adventures!

I couldn't wait till the morning to share this! He did great, gained weight and had lots more feathers! His weight was 885 and is now 893 and he said that he could just be a smaller weight bird and for him thats good. If he gains much more it could hurt him because of his frozen wing and hip issue, as he would not be able to balance himself. He stated that on a scale of 1-5, his last visit was a 2.5 and he was very happy with his progress. Unless we are unable to saline his nose, he may need to see him to clean it out, otherwise he is good until we retest him and test Stewart in 6 months for the pdd. He also said for me not to panic and worry.... 30% of birds test positive and only 3-5 % contract this disease. It is like birdie aids, right now lets say he is hiv positive, that doesn't mean he will die of aids, he is just suseptable to it and can still spread it to others who may not be able to fight it. ( that is my description of it, not the drs, but it is easier for me to understand it that way ) He spent so much time with us answering stupid questions and looking at our pictures. Lol I showed him the air sac pictures and he said what Greywings said, he is gulping air. Its okay as long as it goes down. If it doesn't after a day or two, he needs to be seen because thats when its a problem. I even asked about him licking wounds... He laughed and said its red, he likes red and thinks it food and the salty taste is tempting, but if we want to think he is "kissing it to make it better" then go ahead but not to tell anyone he said that! I feel like 100 lbs has dropped off my shoulders. Thank you everyone who stuck with me and gave suggestions and support! I know it isn't over but his improvement is hopeful!!!

I predict his warm fuzzies with me will end today for a bit... Vet day, just a recheck but he still won't be happy with me! I have a snap pea on my vine already! ( sorry for my excitement but at $3 a bag, a bag a day, growing my own allows for more toy dollars!) And he doesn't eat just peas alone anymore so it sure is adding up. It is funny with him, he will not eat anything that he shouldn't. Like, he doesn't eat white bread, just whole grain. He hates salted anything. Actually doesn't care much for any seeds either, will hardly touch sunflower seeds. I have a health nut, pretty lucky in that aspect! Now Stewart on the other hand, the more he shouldn't have something, the more he screams for it and i get punished by his turning his back on me when i won't give it to him. Or he will lower his head for skritches and just when i get under his feathers, he turns and bites! Ahhh, i feel his love for me and sometimes its darn outright painful! Lol Oliver is starting to test us now also, he bit my husband yesterday and he did the right thing but not pulling away or showing the pain but after when Oliver saw the blood he caused, he started kissing the wound. Sweet but icky too. Maybe he is part vampire, thats the second time he has kissed Pat's boo boo when he was bleeding. Lol Welp, here is hoping for a weight gain today! Keep your fingers crossed for him!

Talon, i am totally with you. My fids have breakfast in their cage because that time allows me to clean the cages and the room. They are out, for the most part, the rest of the day. My husband is up at 3 am and sometimes not home until 6 pm so dinner with the boys is "his" time with them. There are times when they eat on their stands or in their cage and they don't complain, but they are few and far between. We love this time with them and would never trade it for anything. They are truley my babies.

Lol, the tray is a cake pan lid, fits perfect, but you see how well it really works since he is on our salad bowl eating!

The redhead is Maryanne, the girl who picked my boy bald! We thought they could get together on a play date. WRONG! This calm picture was the last, lol. Oliver has a little bump on his noggin and is missing half a tail feather darn it! How those two lived together for a year plus is beyond me! She is a bully! Bright side, Oliver and Stewart love their new perch outside and i planted 3 snap pea plants to grow up it. By the time they sprout something, he'll probably be over this phase! I am really starting to bond more and more with him. This morning after their breakfast, i figured i would try for the shower with him. He was on top of his cage and all i had to do was ask him if he wanted one and he came running over to me, stepped right up without his usual game of heres my foot, now bring your arm up here so i can beak you! We sat outside and he wanted to sit with me, so while he was in my lap, i groomed his feathers. When i put him on the back of my rocker, he started grooming my hair!

Oliver did it again... We were outside for maybe 20 minutes, came back in to get the boys and there he was inside Stewarts cage. I have never seen his eyes pinned like they were. Almost no black at all, it was eerie looking but man oh man was he excited. Poor Stewart was just sitting across from him, i think afraid to move. Lol I always think about getting pictures too late. It was a site to see. Stewart needs to start talking again so he can tell Oliver " don't do it buddy!" Oh, Oliver was chatting away to my niece yesterday. Have no clue what he was trying to say, i was told he only says hello and i have heard that and heard his say out, but this was a good minute of mumbling. Olivia tried to record it for us but as soon as the phone came out, he stopped. It still amazes me how much joy these guys have brought into our lives! We have the outside playstand finished but i wanted to see what you all think about planting some of Olivers snap peas at the bottom so it would creep up the stand. Would it be safe for them? I got 10 plants for their garden and they are pretty big already, the farmers market had thrown them away because they had grown together and were in a big knot. I spent over a week searching for snap peas and find them in a dumpster, they were so nice, the guy climbed into it and pulled them all out for me!

Hmmm, funny but mine do the same thing. Could it be something we did (or didn't) do? Lol

Another good day! He is starting to relax with me and is now demanding for me to pick him up! In fact yesterday i was stuck with him on my back for about 45 minutes until daddy got home to help me out. It was my fault he got there as i was trying to get him back on his stand and he didn't want to go so i rested my arm on it and looked away, he wandered to my shoulder and when i tried to get him back on my arm, he went the wrong way! He even let me groom his new feathers on his neck and he kissed me, not just a beak but tongue out the side on my cheek! He is opening up just in time for his recheck on Monday when he will hate me again! Lol I am getting excited to go to the vet to show off his improvement and get a new weight! Gotta throw in here that Stewart did something cool yesterday too. He has just started letting me tickle his head and he was hanging from the top of his cage upside down. I reached in because he was giving me his head to scratch and i didn't want to turn that down. While i did that i set my hand on his back and he totally relaxed his body into it, letting me support his weight. Now he never took his feet from the cage but i was so proud of this step he took! I think him watching me with Oliver is helping him to see we won't hurt him and love is good!

I am on my second month with my guy and like you have many toys in and around the cage. His first toy of choice was a straw he took from a drink, second was a sprite bottle. The bottle he really loved so i put some cereal in it and now he rolls it on top of his cage so it makes noise and attacks it. Also try some adding paper, the one free of carbon, as they do love to shred things. Both of my fids use the paper as a napkin after meals.

Hello and welcome! You will learn much from everyone in here! Can't wait to hear about you little ones!

It seems fine. Maybe he was just flirting with me by winking for 5 hours, once daddy got home, his eye opened and hasn't bothered him since.

We had another first with Oliver last night. He was playing WITH me! It was so cute and to be honest, i wasn't sure if he was playing at first. I had gone in their room to get them started for bed and his roll of paper was about empty and all over the floor so i was gathering it up, he ran to the edge of his cage and squatted down trying to reach me with his beak so i held up the paper i had wadded up and he went after it. It scared me at first and i just sort of tossed it to him, he caught it ran off and then threw it back to me. We did this for a bit then it was like something snapped and just started running, and i mean running, around the top of his cage throwing everything off. He was either throwing things to me or at me, still not to sure which! Lol It was really a lot of fun and after this he was in no way ready for bed so both the boys got to stay up a little later than usual and watch tv with us! I am starting to thing they are spoiled!

How adorable!

That wind was awful yesterday, glad it is over. Hope yours ends soon. I spoke too soon, Oliver has an eye shut this morning. I can't see anything in it, hopefully he didn't scratch it. Man, if it isn't one thing, its another!