Nitzey

So today was another mistake, as my wife Brenda says, when she took Caesar to his play area ( garden size tub) which already held the remains of many brown paper bags. Instead of allowing Caesar to step down on the side of the tub or allowing him to directly step into the tub, Brenda was first going to move to the side some of the paper rubble so Caesar could have his new paper bag on the bottom of the tub. As Brenda says it was her mistake to touch his paper rubble (his nest). Caesar immediately bit Brenda on the base of the thumb bringing blood. She immediately shouted "NO, bite, NO, hurt Brenda" several times and took him to his sleeping cage in his private room and covered him up repeating again"NO, bite, NO, hurt Brenda"several times. Caesar is very social and wants to be with people. After about 10 minutes, Brenda went to Caesar, uncovered his cage and showed him her thumb saying Caesar hurt Brenda, NO, bite Brenda. Current plan is to clean up the garden tub playground and not return Caesar to it for a period of time. Your thoughts, experiences and suggestions are welcome.

This morning we prepared his breakfast (corn, peas, carrots) ahead of time. So, after his walnut treat, he had his breakfast. Seemed to work. Yes, Caesar will be entertained by a paper bag for a couple of hours. Paper bags seem to bring out his aggressive nature though; he will attack it when he first sees it.

Wow. So many stories. Here is my latest. This morning I got Caesar up at his usual time, and gave him his morning treat, walnut pieces. Then, before I started his breakfast, I began to unload the dishwasher and he flew on my arm and bit me terribly in three places. What for? How do I recognize when these events will occur? Better yet, how to avoid them? Sometimes he is aggressive in the kitchen. He loves to attack the sponge I keep by the sink and dish towels; he will destroy the towels given a chance. My wife thinks I should give him my full attention for a while. Perhaps that would work.

I am not the one who got him to step up for the vet trip. Also, I do not think Caesar is molting. A lot of time he is reluctant to leave his home cage to go to his tree. I often bribe him with a treat, peanuts hidden in waxed paper, and he always goes for that. At bedtime he has always stepped up to return from his tree to his cage, but last night was the first time he bit me then. I would certainly hate for him to demand a bribe every time he is moved. He had a fungus infection a few weeks ago, but seemed to be just fine recently. We noticed something wrong with his poop, which caused us to get him examined at the vet.

Caesar is 7. He had bitten me twice and both times when he was scared; he is actually pretty much a coward, but we love him anyway. However, in the past few days he has bitten my three times, twice last night. For example I asked him to step up to go from his "tree" to his home for bedtime. He stepped up fine, but quickly clamped down hard on my thumb, released, and clamped down hard again. My thumb is a mess. The only thing different is last weekend we boarded him at the vet while we went to New Orleans to listen to jazz. He has been boarded several times and we trust them there. It will be long time before I trust Caesar to step up for me. My wife, however, has not had this problem. What is going on?

The past couple of nights have been good, but we had panicked and had given him a tranquilizer. This tranquilizer had been suggested by the vet as a back-up. So, we do not know if the progress has been due to more attention, more toys, etc. or the tranquilizer. Clearly, we cannot keep him on the tranquilizer for long and so we will see what happens when we wean him of it.

Thanks for the useful replies. Will definitely follow up. But bad news. Two nights ago Caesar not only plucked feathers but drew blood. This was very scary. Last night just a few feathers but still a few feathers too many. So, in the past five days there was only one good night. On that day he visited the vet and went fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Maybe this guy needs a very active life; at least at this time.

For two nights in a row, Caesar plucked out feathers from his legs, first one leg, then the other. The vet ruled out illness and pronounced the problem psychological. I am leaving out details, but Caesar needs more toys, things to shred and he needs the challenge of foraging. By the way, we also moved his home into a quiet room when he goes to bed instead of the living area where humans continue to watch TV. Yesterday we made some crude toys with braided fabrics. Last night was good; no new feather plucking. Today I bought $50 worth of toys; they were actually dog toys made out of rope. These were only three toys and so expensive. I hope these toys work although the first, a Halloween like rope figure, frightened him. I also hid a peanut in a wrap of waxed paper, which eventually he solved. So, we are trying hard to come up with new ideas to solve this psychological problem.

Our bird, Caesar, starts his day with a walnut. Then he has breakfast which is veggies, partially cooked and warm. He prefers corn; sometimes carrots are his favorite. He eats peas some times, especially if hand fed. He dislikes lima beans but will eat other vegetables such as green beans. He loves corn on the cob. Often he will wait until I eat my breakfast before he eats his. Caesar likes his toys, but often a toilet paper roll hub will get a lot of attention. I bought him a wooden spoon which he chewed on for a while.

We used to keep our house warm during the winter since we figured Caesar was a tropical bird and needed warmth. However, we visited a "parrot park" here in Pensacola, Florida and the keeper has all his birds (a hundred or so) outside. Most are macaws but he has several African Greys. In the NW corner of Florida we often have freezing days during the winter. I talked to the keeper and he states his parrots have no problem with the cold weather. I like the temperature in the house cool at night and might revert to that because of what he said.

Oh, I missed the last point. Pinesol does not contain phenol which is toxic. Yes, terpenes are related to phenol, but they are not the same.

A couple of more things. I asked the Pinesol company and all they would say is the dried product is safe for all pets. One thing I have noticed is if a dilute solution of Pinesol is used and it sits for a day or two, there is almost no odor. I have checked the formulation (MSDS) and it is okay in my opinion. So, we will continue to use it, but very carefully.

We use bottled water, from spring water and an internationally known brand, or tap water which has set out for a while. All water will absorb some carbon dioxide from the air to make carbonic acid which is what you must be referring to. However, it is no problem. Water varies a great deal throughout the country and of course the world. Know what the analysis of your water is if you plan to use tap water. One problem which can occur with distilled water is bacteria. That may surprise people, but it has not been treated with chlorine and bacteria can live in distilled water if it sits around long enough. I was told this and tested it myself with dip slides which showed bacteria present in worrisome concentrations.

Many thanks for the helpful replies. We will henceforth use water, at least until I can research this further. Vinegar is essentially a dilute solution of acetic acid (white vinegar is 5% acetic acid). Acetic acid is volatile and irritating. Pinesol is, I think, a derivative of pine chemicals, such as exuded by pine trees, and airborne in pine forests. It also contains surfactants which are essentially nonvolatile. i.e. no odor. I will research this further, and report back here if I find anything useful. Again thanks for replies.

I mop the floor around Caesar frequently (guess why?). The floor is ceramic tile and I use Pinesol, which is sort of organic but contains some mild mannered surfactants (alkyl alcohol ethoxylates for those of you chemically inclined). It has a lemon scent too. The question is: might the fumes be harmful in any way? I like the smell, but it is somewhat strong.