neoow

Oh how exciting! I still remember meeting Alfie for the first time and then bringing him home. That was 17 years ago! Would love to hear more about your baby bird!

Flight would be my normal go to but as a backup option I think I'd like to be able to breathe underwater and swim well, just so I can see what's hidden beneath the depths!

Poor Huey, it must be tough for him (and you as well of course!) Alfie always eats whatever he regurgitates. He hasn't done it for the last couple of years though as I'm out of favour. He never regurgitated for my housemate either, just me.

Interesting! Probably wondering what the heck we're doing half the time... and where their next meal is!

Now there's an answer I haven't heard before- I like that one!

If your cats are anything like mine, they'd be pretty useless!! 😂

As it's only one zombie I think you'll be just fine! 😂

If you could have any superpower for 24 hours, what would you choose and how would you use it?

If you could be any animal for 24 hours what would you be and why?

Imagine this- there's a zombie invasion and one of the zombies is currently breaking through the door/window of the room you're currently in. You have no time to get to another room. Quick! What object do you grab to defend yourself and how do you use it? Rule- it must be an item/object that's located in the room you are in as you are reading this. My answer: I'm sitting in my office and so there's not a lot to hand in here... however I do have quite a large glass paperweight. I reckon I could do some damage with that if I hit the zombie hard enough!

Alfie had it BAD a couple of years ago. As soon as I walked into the room he would start fussing and trying to regurgitate. I had to be really careful and had to walk away and stop talking to him so many times. I also had to be careful what foot toys I gave him and had to remove some jingle balls because he kept treating them like eggs. Last year he went the other way and decided I was no longer his favourite human and would fly to the back of my head to bite it. He also stopped taking treats from me and stopped allowing me to scratch his head. He tolerates me and that's about it. We still haven't fully recovered from that episode. In his defense, I did cut my hair off and have a load of redecorating/refurbishment done to the upstairs of the house (not where he lives) so there was a lot of change and upheaval during that time. On Saturday evening he flew to me and sat on my leg for a nap- that's the first time he's done that in a long time. I was so happy I didn't dare move in case I ruined it! 😂

I imagine you probably seen to PM KevinD regarding access to the Plex server. Doubt the access details would be published publicly on the the forums for anyone to find? I can't remember where the thread about it was posted though.

I had a go at posting a video last night but got an error message pop up that just said -200 Not sure if the video was too large or an incorrect format. Will try and find time to have another play today!

@LNCAG I think it's the button in the grey menu bar at the top (see attached screenshot) I am in the middle of rearranging my computer/desk space but I'll have a play once I get everything set up.

Blimey, that is worrying. I have removed the lamp for now and it does look like it is healing. I might take it up with the manufacturer. Northern Parrots is only one of many retailers who sell it. I think I actually might have bought it from Scarlett's Parrot Essentials anyway, now that I think about it. But I've seen it sold elsewhere too. I think I'll contact the company I bought it from as well as the manufacturer to highlight my concerns.

Alfie turned 17 years old today! I bought him some of his favourite treats, which turned up yesterday. And as everyone likes photos- here are some from the last week or so.

That's the only thing I can think of so I'll rule it out by leaving it off for a couple of days or so and see if things start to clear up. I can't put it any further away from his cage as it's already on a table and touching the ceiling! I deliberately put it higher than the recommendations as he's never had one before. So it's currently sitting higher than the suggested height for the initial two week 'burn in' period and has been there for over a month. Alfie's skin has only started changing (from what I could see) in the last few days to a week. He loves sitting under it as well, so it's not like he's only just started using it in the last few days. He took to it straight away. I only mentioned the outside aviary as it was a warm sunny day and that's the only other thing outside of his usual routine that's happened - but it was only about 19 degrees centigrade. He was out there for about 4 or 5 hours and it's only been the once. He also went out in his backpack carrier for a walk with me- but that was only for an hour and the carrier is quite sheltered. Alfie has managed to ding and dent himself several times from toys (he plays rough!! 😂) but this is different, this isn't a cut or usual marking. It does look more like a sun burn.. if that's possible for parrots. If it doesn't start to improve in the couple of days or starts getting worse then I'll get him to the vet to be on the safe side. If it does clear up then maybe I'll rethink the lamp positioning and put it over a lower perch in his cage. Maybe start on a reduced schedule as well and see how he gets on. But I'll wait to see what happens and make sure it does properly heal first before I turn it back on. I feel so guilty!

Its a zoo med avian sun lamp. https://www.northernparrots.com/mobile/avian-sun-uv-floor-lamp-kit-prod828030/?refSrc=828011&nosto=mobile-productpage-nosto-1&sessionid=undefined I followed the instructions and it says to keep it higher for the first two weeks to allow the bulb to burn in. I have left it higher than it said and haven't moved it down yet. It has been there over a month . It is on for 8 hours a day split into two four hour chunks as it was recommended to give him a break from it during the day. So its on for 4 hours, off for two, on for four. He also went outside in the aviary at the weekend, but only on one day and for half a day. He has a cover over the aviary that partially blocks some of the sun so he doesn't roast out there. He was under that all day so wasn't sat in full sun. I might leave the lamp off for a day or two and see if it starts to heal. I'm a bit worried I've done some damage. 😔

Hi all, I've noticed that Alfie has developed some pinkness on his skin above his eyes. It seems to be on both sides but one side looks slightly worse than than the other. The eyes themselves are bright and there is no discharge or anything abnormal. He's eating, drinking, flying, playing, making noises and acting normally. No change in poops either. The only change recently is that I bought an avian UVB lamp a few weeks back and he has that on for 8 hours every day above his cage. I put it at the right height according to the instructions and its directly above his perch. Do you think this could be the cause? I've seen smaller patches of pink on his skin before where he's managed to ding himself in the face with a toy but this has lasted a few days now and doesn't seem to be letting up. Do you think I should be worried? I've attached a photo but not sure how well you can see it. It's above and slightly to the right of his eye.

Alfie does similar when he's feeling particularly hormonal. He went through a stage last year where whenever I walked into the room he would start making similar noises, wings would be drooped and if I stood near his cage for long enough he would regurgitate food for me. So I'm guessing it's a hormonal/mating type of behavour? I'm no expert but if he started drooping his wings and making the noises I would back off from his cage (or wherever he was located) and give him some time and space to calm down. I also had to be careful what toys I gave him - anything small enough to be mistaken for an egg would set him off and he would get over excited and try and guard it/sit on it. Those kinds of foot toys were removed to discourage the behaviours.

I think for me it was the first parrot that I'd had hands on experience with. I was working in a pet store at the time and we had an African Grey in. I was fascinated. I'd already been working with smaller birds such as budges, finches, canaries, rosellas and kakarikis but the grey that was in really caught my eye. Whilst he was there we taught him to dance and say "hi". We would take him out of his cage on our lunch breaks to help socialise him before a family came along who wanted to buy him. It was sad to see him go. That set in motion a lot of reading and research to see if a grey was the right fit for me... and whether I was the right fit for a grey.... and of course I ended up with Alfie. Weirdly, the talking was never really a massive selling point for me. I do love hearing Alfie talk but he's not a big talker... not compared to some. The other parrot that caught my eye was an Eclectus called Reggie. We had him in from another store because they hadn't looked after him properly. We sorted his diet out, had him out on breaks and socialised him and he was such an awesome bird. If I were to ever get another bird I would seriously consider an eclectus if I decided against a second grey. His condition improved drastically in our care and he soon went home with a family after that. I missed him loads because I'd spent a lot of time with him on my breaks... he did like to try and steal my lunch instead of eating the healthy food I was offering him! 😂 Whilst I admire larger birds such as macaws, I know they wouldn't be a good fit for my home and lifestyle. I don't think I have enough space to fit a macaw as there wouldn't be enough space for them to fly/exercise enough. And then there's the noise and destruction too, which I imagine is much higher on the scale than with Alfie. So I think for me it was the fact I was able to get some hands on experience with the smaller birds as well as the African Grey and Eclectus that came through the doors. I think I mostly admired their intelligence and how much information they took in from the humans around them. Whilst I do like watching smaller birds I don't think I'd ever keep them myself. Not saying they're not intelligent or interesting... the budgies in particular were escape artists. There's just something I admire about parrots and something that hooked me in all those years ago.

I love the relationship that you have with your birds. If I tried that with Alfie I doubt I'd have much of a face left. He lost shoulder privileges many years ago!

I did ask my housemate if we could do video calls so Alfie could see and hear him whilst we're on lockdown. After that my housemate will likely visit every so often as we're close friends.

My housemate is moving out this month and I'm not sure how Alfie is going to take it. My housemate has been living here since I first bought the house nearly 7 years ago. He previously lived with us whilst I was renting for about a year as well, but had very little to do with Alfie during that time. Over the 7 years Alfie and my housemate have bonded. It took a long time but Alfie shows a lot of interest in him and will let him give him scritches through his cage and out of it. I think Alfie actually prefers my housemate over me at the moment. So I'm worried that he's going to take the move pretty hard. Similarly, I think the cats will find it hard too. They don't spend a massive amount of time together but Alfie does show a lot of interest in my housemate when he's in the room. It's not that we'll never see him again - he'll probably visit when the lockdown rules start being relaxed (whenever that may be) but obviously that's different to being here all the time. I always knew this day would come round eventually. It's going to take a while for us all to adjust. I only spent a year or so living on my own previously. I've always had housemates or was living with family prior to that. So it's going to be a bit weird to not have him around any more. Might take us all a little while to adjust!

It's a great feeling when you finally have some kind of breakthrough like that. Alfie has started flying to me again recently after mostly ignoring me for weeks and weeks. He's still not accepting head scritches from me when he's in his cage. But I'll take whatever I can get.