TIMS

Hi all. Is there anyone else here from Mumbai (India)? Anyone from India who's into parrots an parrot supplies.

Hi Folks, There has been a good amount of improvement in Kikki's interaction. He has started following me around the house (will not step up though). He will walk around the house and come and sit near me if he doesn't see me for sometime. At least he has become bold enough to get down from his perch and on to the floor. He's been doing this for the last 3 days. Thanks for all your inputs

I guess you are right Birdhouse...Maybe I am going too fast for him to digest. Will ease off and let him take his own sweet time. However, I'm sure he is quite comfortable with the head scratching because he calls out to me for it. The moment I'm near his perch, he gives his head forward and enjoys a nice long scratch on his head and neck. Will cut down his bathing to twice/thrice a week. The toys are going out for now till he's comfortable. And yess!! The Mantra too goes on the fridge. Thank you!

Awesome links. Thanks a Ton.

Thanks ZulusMom.... the loofah goes out of the window...Will find some other use for it.

The two very scary monster like toys.... Looks my poor fellow never got to see anything colourful, that's why he is so scared of these two. Any advice here guys????

Look what he's done to himself. Right now he is still a little fluffed. You should have seen him after his daily bath. :eek:

Hi folks, Here are some pictures of the seeds, lentils, beans that I got today to make Kikki's food mix. I can name some of them.... Soybeans, Red kidney beans, black eye beans, green gram, melon seeds, hulled mustard seeds, wheat, maize, linseed, barley, Jowar (Indian name), Bajra (Indian name)plus two other bird seeds.

Thank you Jayd and Birdhouse. Really appreciate all your help. I have just bought a lot of lentils and seeds. Have soaked all of them for sprouting. Will mix them once sprouted and pack them in daily pouches and into the freezer. Will post pictures in sometime. Wont be able to name all of them as they have different names in the local language. Hopefully the pictures would help in recognizing them. And Birdhouse, you were absolutely right about the plucking. Its getting worse. He has almost cleaned up his chest overnight. I wonder when he's gonna stop that. I am not even leaving him alone. Somebody is always there trying to entertain him. I tried my hand at some DIY toys. He is just too scared of them. He shrieks just at the sight of them. If I get them close to him, he runs/flies away....Yes!! Thats right. He flew a bit today and had a smooth landing too. So I have just left the two toys around his perch/cage so he gets used to seeing them and doesn't feel threatened.

Jayd, thanks a ton. This is really useful information for first timers like me. I am going to take a print out and stick it on my fridge. I had a few questions though:- 1) Is it necessary to cook the lentils. Is sprouting not enough? I sprout a mix of chick peas, black peas, green mung beans, black eye beans etc and give him. 2) Same for veggies. I it necessary to cook them. So far I have been giving him raw veggies (carrot, beet, pumpkin); the way they would find them in nature. (I wash and scrub them though) 3) What varieties of nuts can I give him? 4) What about the dark green leafy vegetables? Do they also need to be cooked? 5) Is it ok if I give him whole wheat or cereal biscuits? What about corn flakes, rice crispies, muesli (and other unsweetened breakfast cereals)??

I too love my Microfibers....but they are totally dedicated for detailing my car. I disinfect his area with a disinfectant when he is in the bathroom having a shower (which is in another room). And then I give the entire area a good wipe down and air it well before I bring him back. Steam sounds great but I do not have a steam cleaner so I guess I'll go with vinegar. Thanks again mate.

Wow!! Thanks Birdhouse for the string of compliments.....I already feel like an expert... And thank you for so many valuable inputs. Just doing my best to give Kikki a good life and trying to learn as fast as possible. I admit that tiles ARE really easy to clean. The poop doesn't stick. Just wipe and it's gone. I use dettol solution to clean up. Off late Kikki's been scratching a lot and plucking in the bargain. He's moulting I guess. So i got some Aloe Vera juice and soaked him with it using a spray bottle. Since then he's been upset with me. (he doesn't like misting. Whenever I use the spray on him, he gets upset and doesn't let me touch him. Takes a couple of hours to be normal again., But doesn't mind the cage being put under the shower. He enjoys that)

Dear ZulusMom, I am still struggling. Tried getting Harrison's Adult Lifetime pellets but it's working out to be a bit too expensive. Imagine, a $40 bag working up to $160 if I try to import it. So till now, no pellets. But I'll definitely get some.....somehow.

Yes. That's exactly what I give him..... Veggies every day. Fruits twice/thrice a week (that too only after he eats his veggies). Once in a while I give him half an Arrowroot biscuit (its fat free). Do you think I need to include anything else in his diet. Plus I add a few drops of BAVN to his drinking water (which is changed twice a day). BAVN is an avian feed supplement that we get here in india.

Yes! I'm completely with you on this. He doesn't get fruit if he doesn't eat his veggies. That too is only twice or thrice a week. I hope that's ok !? Plus he loves to eat the seeds of chilli peppers. I give him one a day (about 4" long green chilli)., Poop has been good so far. (as per "Grey" poop standards)

Thanks a lot Jayd. The peanuts and black sunflower seeds were given to me by Kikki's previous owners. Poor Kikki has been eating those for the last 25 years. But from the day I got him, I started feeding him vegetables and fruits. He gets carrots and beetroot without fail. Plus I mix and match with fruits like plums, mango, banana, peach. I also give him sprouted lentils. Peanuts and sunflower seeds are an occasional treat but going by what you said, I will stop immediately. The last thing I would want is Kikki falling sick. Thanks a ton.

Point noted...thanks for the input. Will do that. I'm also planning to hang a lot of knotted rope from the ceiling for him to go up and down and play Tarzan. As far as toys are concerned, I will have to make all of them at home. You see, it's next to impossible to get good toys here in India. I'm struggling to get good quality pellets but no luck so far. I guess I will have to resort to importing them. The problem with importing is that the shipping charges are twice as much as the original cost of the product. So i'll end up paying triple the cost. Plus if he gets all fussy with it then I'm gonna have a tough time.

Here are some pics of the tree branches that I have picked up for Kikki's balcony. These are branches from a Gulmohur Tree (Royal Poinciana) which fell during a storm, 3 weeks ago. I have picked up branches of varying shape & thickness. Do I need to pre-process them in any way? I have scrubbed and washed them already and left them out to dry a bit. The rest of the balcony work will start soon. I will start a new thread and will keep updating the progress via pictures. In the meantime, any kind of advice on how to set it up would greatly help Kikki and me. I have visited the cages section and got some really nice ideas there.

Hi folks.... Yesterday, being a Sunday, I got to spend a lot of time with Kikki. One great achievement was that Kikki came to me on call....though I had to lure him in with some seeds. but he actually took the trouble of getting down from his perch and walking up to me. Here are some pics. But he really doesn't want to step up....even if I tempt him with a peanut (his favourite). Need help here.... or should I let him take his own sweet time??

Don't have one with Kikki. Will click one once he starts stepping up

Sure thing. I wanna give him my best. All that I can. He is getting more and more fond of me. But there is one problem. If anyone besides me goes close to his cage, he fluffs up and gets all aggressive. How can I stop that. I have a little 6 yr old daughter who keeps trying to make friends with him but each time she goes close to him, he gets aggressive. He has bitten my mother-in-law twice He shrieks when she is on the phone.

I have my fingers crossed. I am sincerely hoping that his new habitat will bring him back to being a real parrot. I have seen a lot of improvement in him since I got him home. He is getting bolder and braver. Hopefully I will be able to gain his unconditional trust. His wings are not clipped and I have no intentions of clipping them. Smokey is gorgeous and picture perfect. Well captured on the camera. Its awesome that he was born in front of you. I have a friend who has a 20 yr old female. Was actually thinking of getting Kikki introduced to her. Any tips here???

Ooooooops... No way. I do NOT want that. Had no idea that it could have that effect. Thanks again. Will stick to stroking his head. Any ideas on how I can get him to step up?

Sorry Dave, no intentions of offending you. Guess it was my slow internet connection. Thanks for the info. Thats a lovely picture of your Grey flying. Any advise on how I can build Kikki's confidence and get him to fly around the house? I guess his muscles must be quite weak as he hasn't taken flight in 30 years. He is very scared to flap his wings. He tried to step up twice but with a lot of fear. He would step on my hand with one foot but then he would withdraw. He did that thrice. Did not do it thereafter.

Here's a video of Kikki coming for a scratch. This video was taken a couple of days before I fixed the perch on top of his cage. He likes a scratch. Sometimes he even begs me for it....but he is still quite unpredictable...can bite anytime. I understand it's gonna take quite some time to change his 25 year old habits. Luckily I have all the patience in the world when it comes to him.