kitt4kaz

Yep, sounds like he wants a hand feed. My grey is 7 months old and I still hand feed him some of his birdie mash on some evenings. He sounds just like a crow when he eats from a hand feed. I remember when he was 4 months old and he did exactly as your bird is doing when he wanted a hand feed.

Yes, a new post is overdue! I love reading this!

I have a husband (consider him a kid too, , two children (3 years and 9 years), two dogs and two hermit crabs. We both work full time and we make it work! We got our grey when he was 10 weeks old in August of 2012. He is now 8 months old and so far he seems very well adjusted. It can be challenging though. My husband works in town so he comes home at lunch for an hour and lets Felix out for interaction time. Then he is out with us in the evenings for a few hours. I spend about 30 to 45 minutes each evening changing cage papers, washing food/water dishes, refilling food bowls, sweeping, and cleaning poop under his play stand. Felix will go to the kids if there is no other option (when he flies to the back of the house looking for myself or my husband and can't find us and the kids rescue him) but he does prefer me or my husband. I think a cockatiel is an excellent option for you. We actually got a cockatiel Christmas 2011 but lost him when he flew away from us outside. He was a great bird. He could whistle, turkey call, and said a few phrases. He wasn't nearly as time-consuming as our grey in that he was perfectly happy to hang out in his cage or he would just sit on top of his cage and talk/whistle to himself for hours. Felix is wherever we are at all times and he is a lot like a toddler in that he is into everything (chewing on everything, investigating everything). You can't go wrong with either option but a tiel is a great first bird!

This happened to us when our 8 month old cockatiel flew away from us. She flew into a tree behind our house. It got dark and we never saw or heard from her again:( Some say not to do this but I have wished a million times that I had showered her with our water hose. She would have fallen when she tried to fly again. At the time I didn't want to hinder her defenses in case we didn't get her down by nightfall. Hindsight is always 20/20 right? I don't know if this is an option for you and it is of course a danger in cold temperatures. I hope she gets her baby back. It is a horrible experience. Please keep us posted!

Felix has always been a digger. Freaked me out the first time I saw him do it. He only does it when we are home and he is in his cage and wants out. I've videoed him numerous times when we are away and he doesn't do it. It's only if he is in his cage and he knows we are nearby.

I was thinking the exact SAME thing! That is amazing!

Felix is 7 months old and so far he is a huge cuddler and loves his scratches. However, he can be picky as to who he wants to scratch him. He will let my husband and 3 year old daughter pet him anytime at all. He is a bit more picky with me but I can usually coax him into it. However, he will sit on my chest and loves for me to place one hand over his back and scratch his head with the other hand. He will sit like this for hours if I will. I hope he is always like this!

I found one in Macon. That's only a little over an hour from me so not too bad. Thanks!

I live near Ashburn so very close to Fitzgerald. My son actually wrestles in Fitzgerald. Small world.

My Timneh doesn't care for veggies at all either. I still chop him veggies on a weekly basis. Some I leave large enough to stuff into a pine cone or foraging toy. He will at least pick at them there. Then I grind the rest into my Ninja to almost a mash and place a cup of it in his cage daily. It doesn't look like he touches it most days though. I bought the sample pack of birdie mash from Bird Street Bistro almost 5 months ago when I first got him. He loves that stuff. It's really easy to cook and lasts forever. He gets about a tablespoonful of that every morning and evening in a spoon feed. I know I am probably spoiling him by still hand feeding him twice a day at 7 months old but it's great bonding time for us and I know he is getting some veggies, grains, and fruits this way. I think I spent $35 for that sampler pack and I will probably need to reorder in about a month. So it will have lasted me 6 months for $35 and he loves it. Good luck. I feel your pain:)

Hi. I was wondering if there was a website that I could go to with a list of avian veterinarians. I live in a very rural area and would like to locate one for a check-up and for emergency purposes. My vet in my town that sees my dogs has a lot of experience with birds. He even did surgery on a grey for an intestinal issue. However, he isn't avian certified. Thanks!

This is the company the breeder recommended. So please walk me through exactly how to pluck them. I don't want to hurt him. He won't bleed from plucking chest feathers, will he? Just use a set of tweezers and do a quick pull? I am nervous. Can't you tell? He is my baby! Thanks for the reply!

I have a 6 month old Timneh that we have had since he was 10 weeks old. We do not know his sex but I think I would like to know. My question is how is the best way to go about getting it done? We live in a very rural area with no avian vet within 2 hours of us. My breeder referred me to an online testing kit that I can order. But how I am supposed to get blood from him or feathers. I am afraid to do anything on my own in fear of harming him. Any advice? Thanks

Ok, I will keep offering fruit and veggies. Maybe one day he will eat it. Thanks.

Felix is my 6 month old Timneh. He gets Zupreem Fruity pellets everyday all day. He was weaned onto these. I have tried to switch him to Harrison's, Roudybush, and even Intune (hoping that the colors would trick him) but to no avail. He won't touch them. I also ordered birdie mash from Bird Street Bistro. He gets a cube of it every morning and evening. He seems to love it. I also mix him a batch of fresh veggies for the week and put them out for him daily. He used to at least peck at them. But now he doesn't touch them. I recently made him some birdie bread with some of his RoudIybush ground up into it. He hasn't tried it yet so I'm not sure if he will like it. We will see tomorrow. My questions are is it OK to give him birdie mash twice a day and some birdie bread during the day and stop giving him the fresh fruits and vegetables? He literally won't touch them and it's a chore to get them prepared and then him not even look at them. I will definitely continue to offer it if it's in his best interests. But do you think he gets enough of what he needs in the bread and mash? I also offer a little seed everyday but I've learned that he wants to eat that over anything so I've started to limit it. He also gets almonds, peanuts, pecans, and other various nuts for snacks. Thanks for your time and advice!

Austin, I want to commend you for rescuing this bird from the conditions he was living in. There really should be more people like you in the world. I don't really have any advice for you. I've only had my Grey for 4 months and I have had him since he was 9 weeks old so I really haven't had to deal with the baggage that these creatures seem to carry with them (so I've read). They really are amazing, smart birds and I learn something new from him every single day. It sounds like Fraisure stepping up is a great step forward. I hope you continue to make progress with him and please come here anytime. It's a great forum for information and support.

I have this cage also for my Timneh. I do like the cage but it did arrive damaged. Some of the pieces were so bent that my husband had to re-bend them to make them fit together. A lot of the paint was scraped off too. But we put it together and decided to keep it and just tried to turn the worst sides to the back. I did send Petco an email about it. They called me the next day apologizing and offered to send me a new one if I would send the damaged one back. I explained that I had no other cage to put my bird in (I did have his night cage but just didn't want to go through all of the trouble of taking it down, etc) so they insisted that they would send me a new one and I could use the damaged one until I got the new one in and assembled. They new one was in much better shape. There were no bent pieces at all and only one small spot where the paint was a little scraped off. I can't complain about their customer service at all! I hope you don't have to go through all that. Otherwise, I do like the cage. It is pretty easy to clean except for the cracks and crevices around the skirt attachment. I can roll it outside but I have to go down steps. I am thinking of getting a steam cleaner to clean it inside. It was pretty easy to assemble. My husband was able to put it together completely in about 30 minutes or less.

I finally figured out that it is the cabinet closing. But it's the cabinet that has our coffee cups in it which we only open during the winter. So it makes sense that he is hearing the squeak quite often and repeating it now. And you are right......I often question whether it is him or someone in the cabinet. I can't imagine when he starts repeating everything. So much fun.

So I guess this is our virgin voyage of intro to mysterious sounds......I can't wait to see or hear what's next! Thanks for sharing!

Felix is only 6 months old but is starting to pick up on sounds around our house. He has started this beeping sound that we can't figure out the origin of. It sounds like when a smoke detector is loosing it's battery strength and lets you know it with an annoying beep every so often. Then again, some of our cabinets make this sound when we close them. Only Felix knows I guess:) Anyone else have trouble finding out the origin of a sound that your grey picks up?

I will try that. Thanks!

I would love to see a video of him talking. Sounds like Radar is quite a character. I know you are enjoying him.

Felix eats Zupreem fruity blend also and won't eat the yellow ones. I've tried to convert him to Roudybush or Harrison's with ZERO luck. I even mixed Zupreem fruity with Higgins Intune. They look almost the same to me. Not to Felix. He won't touch the Higgins. Picky! Picky! Picky!

Yes, we want to see!

I'm sorry you are going through this. I have no advice but I can imagine how this must pain you for her to reject you all of a sudden. I have a 6-month-old TAG and I would be upset too if he were acting this way. I am the sole caretaker of our Felix also so I know it is hard when you do everything for them. Like a pp said, maybe your husband would be willing to help you until she comes around. I would leave the cage door open and let her do her own thing. Keep talking to her but try to relax and just give her time. I know it must be easier said than done. I hope things get better and I am sure they will in time. Please keep us posted.