neoow

All being well I should get it later this week. Once it's up and running I'll let everyone know how I get on with it on this thread.

Amazing. Well done you!

Forscam replied to an email I sent earlier today about their IP cameras and apparently their models starting with FI8 feature sound activated recording -so I believe yours should do it, Timbersmom. However, it's not mentioned on their product descriptions on amazon.co.uk and I didn't see anyone mention that feature so I think I'll stick with the D-Link one I ordered for now. If it's no good, then I'll replace it with a forscam one.

Yeah it seems fairly hard to find an IP camera that does sound activation as well as or instead of motion. I know a lot of them you can sit and watch and choose what to record- but I wouldn't be able to do this whilst at work. Well I could... but I doubt it would go down too well. I did A LOT of searching tonight and found this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CAT0QMQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 which is a D-Link DCS-933L Day/Night Network Cloud Camera. It was the only one I found that had sound activation mentioned. However, I'm not sure if it will just alert me with a photo or actually record. So I'm not sure yet if it will do what I want it to do. I figured seeing as it was the only one I found, I'd give it a go and could always return it or sell it on if it doesn't do what I want. Otherwise, I think SterlingSL's suggestion of a voice recorder is probably my next option.

Blimey! So glad you managed to get him back so quickly without incident! Fortunately I've never been in this situation myself, as Alfie is always in his cage when the doors and windows are opened. However, it would only take me not shutting the door properly or leaving a food bowl hatch open etc. I managed to do that once actually- I didn't shut a food bowl hatch properly and he got out into the house whilst I was at work. I was at work and got a call from my sister to say he'd gotten out and was in the kitchen. Worryingly enough, she had opened the back door for the dog before she realised Alfie had escaped!! Fortunately nothing came of it and he stayed put. I know she wouldn't have forgiven herself if he had decided to fly and had gotten out - even though it wasn't her fault at all!! Needless to say, that was a warning enough. I double check all food bowl hatches and doors nowadays!!!

Hello all, I'm really tempted to get an IP camera set up in my house so I can try and capture some of Alfie's sounds and mumblings throughout the day whilst I'm at work. I've had a quick search but can't easily find sound activated IP cameras - most are motion activated but mention nothing about sound activation. I don't think it would be sensitive to pick up Alfie's beak moving! Do any of you have anything like this set up and if so, what do you use? Thanks!

Aaand another quick one

I managed to get a video of Alfie's quack today. He kept quacking so I encouraged him and managed to get him to do it for the camera.

I love that you let the groomer be the "bad guy" and you were able to go in and "rescue" him from it all haha. I took Alfie to the vet last month to have his beak and talons sorted. His beak seems to grow wonky somehow and it was getting quite bad. He didn't seem bothered by it (could still eat drink and play just fine) but I wanted to get it sorted before it got out of hand and caused any problems. I worried the whole way to the vets (I take him to a vet who is in a different town- about 30 mins drive away because the "avian specialist" in my town is hopeless) about how he would react and whether he would be frightened etc. Turns out, he was a little superstar. The vet was really pleased with him and said he was as good as gold. Just sat there and put up with it all, no screams or anything! The only thing he did do was fly away from the vet at the first opportunity and landed on two different nurses- the vet assumed he just wanted to get away from him as soon as he could so he couldn't do anything else! Hehe.

Great advice, thank you. I never stop talking to him. Since I moved into my house, I have a great set up as I was able to have my PC downstairs, so we're together all the time when I'm home except for when I go to sleep. I'll quite often chat to him, ask him what/how he's doing etc. I know he picks up more than he lets on. He just chooses to voice sounds rather than words most of the time. Which is fine, as that's obviously what he prefers! He does have sessions where he mumbles to himself in different voices- I always think he might be practicing new words or phrases- or just trying to come up with his own! He's 11 years old now and still comes out with new things all the time.... like the dog bark, for instance.

Awesome stuff, thanks all! Great to hear how clever all your parrots are! Thanks for the video, Jeff! That's amazing! Alfie isn't a big talker, so I doubt he'll learn the questions along with the sounds. But I'll be super pleased if he learns to associate the sounds to the words and replies!

I've had to leave Alfie behind on several occasions throughout his life (holidays, training courses etc). Fortunately these days, I have a housemate who will look after Alfie (and the cats) for me whilst I'm away. He wouldn't ever let Alfie out of the cage for me (and I wouldn't want him too, as Alfie can be a handful for those that aren't used to parrots... or Alfie!!), but is happy to change food and water etc. Previously, when I lived with my parents (and usually went away with them) I had nobody who could come and look after Alfie for me at the house. So he had to go away on his own little birdy holiday. I used to take him back to the pet shop where I got him from. It was a family run place and the woman who originally owned/ran it was lovely. He would have to stay in a smaller cage (until they allowed me to bring his cage with him) and he used to recognise her and the shop. Unfortunately one year, I turned up and she was nowhere to be found. Instead, there was a youngish man in charge (probably late teens, thinking about it). I was a bit skeptical but had no choice at that point but to leave him there. However, when I came back, Alfie had food and water in his bowls, but they had put nothing in the bottom of his cage for the duration I was away, so all his food and droppings had fallen to the bottom and been left there. The boy was very rude and obviously didn't care about anything- let alone how to run the business, so I shoved the money in his hand, took Alfie home and never went back. My mum looked after him once (when I didn't have a housemate). He stayed at my parents house for two weeks (so was still in a familiar environment) and seemed to have a good time. Again, he wasn't let out for the duration but he was in his own cage in a familiar environment so was fine. I'd always recommend getting someone to "parrot sit" for you if you can- instead of sending them to a different environment. At least that way, everything is familiar to them. It's also less stress for you, in my opinion. I always worried when I had to drop him off somewhere. I now don't have to worry about it because I know my housemate is looking after him in his own cage and home and Alfie will be ok with that. However, if you can take your parrot with you- that's probably even better, as they get to experience the trip away too!

Hello all! Alfie amused me greatly today, so I thought I would share it with everyone and ask about similar stories. I've been trying to teach Alfie to respond to a question- what noise does a [insert animal here] make? He can make a quack quack quack sound, he can meow and he recently started learning to bark like the little dogs from over the road. So I'm thinking my first three should be duck, cat and then dog (once he's mastered his bark). This can then be a fun little game that we play... particularly as Alfie likes to learn new noises (rather than words). So if this works, I can try and teach him new sounds like chickens etc. So today he was practicing his quack noise (as well as saying 'good day' and some whistles). So I quacked back at him a few times. I then said: "Alfie- what noise does a DUCK make?" and waited a few moments. I then quacked a few times, to show him. I repeated myself, always giving him a few seconds to respond before quacking myself. (I must sound like a right nut haha!) I repeated myself a couple more times... before finally: "quack quack quack"!! I praised him highly for this. Then I asked again... QUACK QUACK QUACK!! Awesome! More praise... and then he did a dance for me haha. A victory dance, I'm sure. I tried again a few minutes later, but he wasn't interested anymore. That's fine, he's not a performing monkey. I quacked to myself instead and then went back to whistling to him, which he joined in with wholeheartedly. (He loves whistling) I'll keep at it. He'll only respond when he feels like it, I'm sure. But I was very pleased that I got the right response from him twice in a row. He looked very pleased with the praise he got for it too. I'm sure it will take him a while to learn the associations between the words and the sounds. But it gives me another way to interact with him and gives him something to think about. So- what questions do your parrots respond to?

I would love to take Alfie to work with me. I work in a school in the ICT dept and so I'd only ever want to take him in during the holidays (as otherwise it would be too busy and too noisy). I don't think my work colleagues would like it though and I'm not sure if there are any rules against bringing pets in. I'm assuming there are in case of allergies etc. Someone else who used to work there used to bring her dog in all the time- but got asked not to when the headteacher changed over. So I'm not sure Alfie would be too welcome. Plus, I doubt I'd get too much work done!!

Hah, I read that comic yesterday. I'm pretty sure that's how my housemate (and possibly some family members... such as my sister) feels about Alfie.

Oh man. Your post brought me to tears. I can only imagine the pain and hurt you are going through right now. I'm so very sorry for your loss.

Alfie occassionally regurgitates for me... but he eats it straight away. Not sure what to take away from that... perhaps he thinks he loves me then changes his mind?

So happy that Brutus is home!

Oh no! I can't even begin to imagine what you're going through. I hope you find him very soon.

Thanks Nancy. I'll have to have a look out when I next go to a hardware shop. Food isn't too much of an issue as it's easy to sweep/clean up. It's just that the water sits there for so long. Alfie has been busy exploring the whole bath. He's been throwing water around in it but I don't think he's gotten his feet wet yet. He mostly leans in and throws some water around. But he's very interested in it- which is good. Hopefully he'll get the idea soon and maybe he'll even dip a toe in!

Alfie is a funny one. He sometimes lets me mist him with water, other times he gets in a right grump about it and tries to get away. So if he's in one of those moods, I don't force the issue and try again later. Most of the time though, he tries to bath in his water bowl. Which is all very well and good, except he doesn't fit in it and ends up throwing more on the floor than he does himself. I also noticed that the wooden floor underneath his cage is starting to warp a bit because of the amount of water he tips on it. Generally he does this whilst I'm out at work too, so it's left sitting there all day. I was browsing round the Northern Parrots website and saw this: http://www.northernparrots.com/savic-splash-extra-large-parrot-bath-prod476055/ It's a big bird bath which fits inside or outside the cage and is plenty big enough for African Greys! Fantastic! So I waited until I had some spare money and ordered on earlier this month. I wasn't sure what Alfie would make of it. Thankfully, he's not normally too change adverse, so long as I give him plenty of time to check the new object(s) out. So I got it home, unpacked it in front of him and made a big fuss about it whilst I put it together, telling him it was a bath and that it would be great fun once he got used to it. I left it on the table next to his cage and I tried hanging it on the outside of his cage a few times. No freak outs or awful reactions... great start! I was then able to put it in his cage, with some water in it. He kept his distance but was not showing signs of fear or agression to it. Great! I did this a few times- leaving it in there for half an hour and building it up. I then left it in his cage all day whilst I was at home. It took about a week before he actually touched it. The rest of the time was spent watching it and moving around it- but not touching it. On Tuesday this week I came home and found water all over the floor from his water bowl... even though the bath was in there too. I had to laugh, as obviously he hadn't figured it out yet. I came home Wednesday, and I saw that there were splash marks inside the bath- he'd actually thrown some water about inside it! I have no idea if he actually stood in it (though there was some dander in there) but he had at least thrown the water about. Great stuff! Since then he's been very interested in it, checking it out all over (and standing on top of it). Testing all the screws (which I have to keep tightening) and flicking some more water about. I'm really happy I decided to purchase the bird bath. I'm sure once he gets brave enough he'll step right into it (if he hasn't done already) and have a proper bath. But it's a fantastic start already... and just in time for the little heatwave we're having at the moment!

I used to have a cat carrier for Alfie and I had to do the bathroom trick to get him in it. Put the cage in the bathroom with a cloth or towel over it to try and hide it then take him in the bathroom and shut the door. As soon as he realised what was going on he would try and get away from the carrier. But with the bathroom being such a small space, he had nowhere to go except to try and sit on my arms/hands/shoulders/head. It didn't take me too long to get him in there, as once he realised he didn't have an escape route, he'd give up and let me put him in. (though I did have to close the door as quickly as possible so he didn't dart out). Now, I've got a Kings travel cage. I love it. Makes it so much easier. I set it down on the table and get Alfie out of his cage. I let them spy the cage from a distance and leave the door open. Then I get him to either step up or fly to me and we go over to the cage. He goes in straight away. Sometimes he does try to dart out again, but generally he's pretty good these days. So much easier than the cat carrier and bathroom trick! Today he got to go to my parents house. He hates the travelling part though and constantly climbs round the cage in circles. I have to remind him to hold on tight when I go round corners etc because he's always climbing and I'm worried about him slipping off. But once he gets to where we're going (generally my parents house or the vet) he's ok and settles down nicely. It's just being in the car that's the problem.

Ah well. 1 outta 3 ain't bad?

I tried these on Alfie previously and he wasn't impressed. When I left the jelly in the plastic cups he threw them around the cage. I had better luck by taking the jelly out, breaking it up and putting it over food but he still wasn't overly impressed and most of them got wasted. Hopefully you will have better luck than I did!

Thanks Birdhouse. I always have a spare towell or sheet with me when I take him out and about in case it's needed. He's generally ok though. When I start taking him in the garden I'll make sure he has a cover over half of the cage so he can retreat away from the elements. It is a Kings Cage- might have helped if I'd included that in the post. I'm not sure if I'll actually be allowed to take him to work or not. I haven't asked the question just yet. But I'd like to, if I can... only ever in school holidays though, else it would be way too intimidating. I also don't want him to learn to swear if I can help it and I'm sure he'd learn a few new words from students that I wouldn't like him to!