neoow

Oh wow, glad it all worked out ok. I can only imagine how horrifying that must have been for you. It can happen to anyone, at any time.

Alfie is a definite no shoulder bird. I've tried it with him several times but after a while he just seeks out my ears to chew on (lucky for me I have thick hair so he normally gets removed before he finds them!). With this in mind, I'm VERY conscious that my eyes are not too far away- and I only have one good eye. (I can see out of the other one but its a lazy eye so it doesn't get much use and I struggle to focus with it). Therefore, Alfie is allowed on my hand and on my forearm, but no higher than the elbow. If he starts making his way up there, I redirect him by putting my other arm in the way. Doesn't stop him from trying- but if he persists, then I move him to the back of my chair, my leg if I'm sitting down or his play stand. I continue to talk to him and interact with him so it's not interpreted as a punishment... and he always get a 'good boy' for moving to the new location. If there is any doubt or any amount of fear about him being on your shoulder/close to your face- then it's not worth the risk. Redirect him to an alternate location or find something else more interesting (like a toy) to take his mind off it if you can.

Hahaha I had to look twice!

Massive credit to you for being so honest and open about your life with Charlie. Honestly, I think you're being a little hard on yourself at times. You're doing the right things. You're learning, you're researching, you're asking questions and you're adapting to the needs of your parrot. I'm afraid I don't feel I can offer much advice at this point but I'm sure someone else will come along soon with lots of helpful information. Keep doing what you're doing. IT could have easily ended so badly for Charlie- but he ended up with you and is being suitably spoiled rotten. On a totally separate note- love the look of his play stand. Wish I could get something like that over here.

Oh man. So sorry to hear that. Do keep us posted!

Hmm not sure what's going on there- but try creating a new thread and see if that works. I'm sure an admin will be able to help if you're still having troubles!

Hello Isaac! Looking good there!

Brilliant! I work on this one with Alfie a lot- but he's never done it consistently. I can bribe him with treats and toys as much as I want- if he doesn't want to be on my arm, he won't come! Mind you, he's like that with any kind of "command" (for want of a better word). Everything is on his terms! I am also really jealous whenever I see videos of parrots who recall perfectly every time!

Hello and welcome to the forums! Glad you've already met the rule of joining.... which is i to post a photo!

Oh my goodness, so glad he is ok! I had a big scare with Alfie when he was younger and still learning to fly. He was living upstairs in my room at the time and I had him out of the cage. I can't remember exactly what happened but it ended with him getting spooked and launching himself out into the upstairs hallway, along to the stairs, turning 180 degrees then flying straight down the stairs and into the wall at the bottom. I couldn't do anything but watch as it happened. I didn't see him hit the wall as I couldn't keep up with him but I heard it. (He was still young so wasn't so good at turning or landing yet) I rushed down the stairs expecting the worse but thankfully he was sitting on the floor unharmed. There was a big dust mark on the wall in the shape of him (almost cartoon like!) where he had hit it- but it looked like he'd managed to pull up and hit it chest on rather than head on and must have managed to slow himself enough not to do any damage. He was absolutely fine and climbed straight back up on me. I can laugh about it now but at the time I was convinced he'd flown head first at full speed into the wall and had killed himself!

Aw she sounds amazing. I sometimes think that I would like Alfie to talk some more. His vocabulary mostly consists of squeaks, whistles and various other noises with the odd word or phrase thrown in. He's just not interested in learning words and picks and chooses what he wants to learn! But we have lots of fun with our whistling battles and flock calls as it is. Alfie loves those kind of games and often challenges my housemate with his whistling too!

He is regurgitating. He loves you! It's a mating behaviour I believe.

I'm not sure how much you can do to prevent teeth problems in older dogs. Our family dog Ben had his teeth brushed regularly and had a daily "dentastix" to chew on and he still had teeth problems in his later years which required surgery. Glad to hear Ollie is enjoying his visits with you. Sounds like he's had a new lease of life!

Glad to hear Ollie is well. We had a similar issue with our family dog, a german shepherd. He was about 10 when he had to have surgery for his teeth and had to have most of them removed. It was a worrying time for us, as I know it was for you an Ollie. But he pulled through and once he got over the surgery and meds he was back to his old self again. So I was very pleased to hear Ollie is doing so well as I know how stressful it is to be in that situation!

Welcome to the forums! thank you for all the photos! You'll find all sorts of useful information here. Feel free to post any questions/stories you might have too!

I have heard of some parrots who don't like it when their owners change their appearance. Sometimes it's colour based, sometimes its hairstyle based and sometimes its because they're wearing an accessory such as glasses or hats. Do you wear contacts more often than your glasses? It may be that Congo is afraid of the change to glasses because he's not used to you wearing them?

It may be best for you to start some new forum threads if you have questions- as they might be missed in this thread

Yeah, definitely take it slow and steady. She'll let you know when she wants to try something new. You're doing a great job already by taking an interest, asking questions and listening to the responses.

Yes Alfie makes similar noises and grunts and will lift his wings slightly. Charlie Parker loves you

Oooh I'll watch this thread with interest! I'm thinking of doing similar if I end up living alone in the future (I currently have a housemate in the spare room). I was actually half planning this in my head the other day- what flooring to use (easy to clean, can be swept and scrubbed etc) and how to decorate the room (in terms of walls and toys). I was thinking of getting one of those parrot cargo nets and hanging that between a wall/ceiling, maybe having a large java tree in the middle- a playstand. I have a hanging basket wall mount in my living room at the moment which I hang an orbit toy from (Alfie loves swinging about on it) so I'd probably use some of those (and wrap the tops in vet wrap so they can double up as perches too). My poor housemate- I don't actually want to get rid of him as I like having him around... if he knew I was thinking about this he'd probably be most upset! haha! What an awesome project! Yes please to lots of photos please!!

Well done you for stepping up and having the courage to work with Nonsense! I wish I had someone available who would be willing to work with Alfie. He's absolutely fine with me and I have no major issues with him or anything- but it would be nice if I could find someone willing to get to know him and put some time in with him so he has another playmate. I'm sure he gets bored of it just being me sometimes! As others have mentioned- wing clipping is a little bit of a controversial subject and you'll probably see many different opinions about it. Alfie's wings were clipped (lightly and on one side) when he was younger. It was done twice... and to be honest- it didn't make much difference. As soon as he worked out his balance, he could fly just as well as before. So I decided the stress of having it done just wasn't worth it- plus I always feel like asking a bird not to fly is like asking a dog not to wag its tail. I'm very mindful about doors and windows before letting Alfie out of his cage and he's allowed to fly as he pleases whilst out (though I obviously keep an eye on him to make sure he's not getting into any mischief!). It can be a job to get them back in their cage- I have this problem with Alfie. He will fly out of my reach knowing full well I can't get him. So I have a long wooden perch (which came with his cage) that I use. When this appears he will often fly to another point... but eventually he knows that it's time for bed and will either step on the perch, fly to me or just climb down the cage and back inside. Occasionally he will give me the run around and it can take half an hour or so of gentle persuasion and bribery- but he is getting a lot better as time goes on. Yesterday he was sitting on his cage door so I put the perch between him and the cage, so he just climbed down the inside of the door and into the cage. I was amazed... he went straight in with no hassle at all! Do you know if Nonsense can actually fly? If she's been in the cage for a long time it might be that she doesn't really know how to fly properly. It might be a case of letting her 'find her wings' so to speak, before assessing whether or not to have her wings trimmed. I'll echo other comments about getting a professional to do it though. A light trim would probably be enough if you were going to get them trimmed. But do some research beforehand and make sure they know what they're doing. Otherwise it could end up being a traumatic experience for both yourself and nonsense.

Sorry to hear Ollie is not doing well. I hope the dental surgery goes ok! Does Sophie have to go with Ryan? I saw in another post somewhere that you were thinking of letting Ryan have Sophie (unless I read it wrong). Is there a reason why you think this would be a better option than Sophie staying with you? Sorry if I'm prying- was just curious!

Aw I love Sully videos! Always puts a smile on my face! Such a good talker and not camera shy at all!

hello! Welcome to the forums!

Haha somebody needs a step stool! I can see Alfie doing the exact same thing. He does similar when it's bed time in the house. He'll fly to the highest points in the room knowing full well I can't reach him there! I'd be doomed if this was me and Alfie in your enclosure!