SRSeedBurners

Yeah well, I had a nice warm load run down the side of my face tonight. GreycieMae has decided she likes sitting on my head and has started pooping up there. I found it in my hat a couple nights ago and tonight running down my face. I told everyone in the house that would listen that if it happens a third time I'm banning her from even being on me. The minute I get lazy with her she takes full advantage and she's found that I wont swat her off my head consistently. Time to up my game.

Looks like there will be plenty of tabulatings and calculatings goings on at your place now.

Hrrrmmmm....as you know we lost Raven to PDD. Also before we knew what we were up against Greycie was exposed. I quickly found out the vets don't know **** about PDD and we ended up consulting with the head of the program down at Texas A&M where they are researching it. We ended up coming back to our vet here and basically telling her what we wanted done next, scripts, etc... That went on for 7 months before we finally lost her. For a while we were just waiting for Greycie to go downhill after all we had 'heard' about transmission etc. I finally came to the conclusion through my consulting with A&M that it really is just a disease of opportunity. If something causes a high long-term stress event, then the virus may get a hold and spiral out of control. Otherwise, with good diet and care it's highly unlikely. As we were told nearly every bird is *probably* a carrier. Some species of parrots are more susceptible. We may be wrong on that but no one knows for sure right now. I decided not to live in a box and just went ahead got two more birds. Good luck with them.

They come in the mixed nuts we buy at Wally World and Sprouts. They are one of the least liked nuts but they do eat them.

That's hilarious. You have to love them Greys and their ability to drop the bomb at the most in-appropriate time. They don't seem to be too concerned with proper conversational etiquette.

GreycieMae and Toby have a new toy! [video=youtube_share;NTaxeO1r5B4]

GreycieMae has this thing she loves to do sitting on my laptop screen: she will slip down the back side so all you see are her talons and her head. Then she will fling her head back and all you see are her two talons. She waits until I reach over and grab her and she play wrestles, popping back to the upright position where I'll let go and she flip backwards again. That progressed into her doing it the other way - on the front of the screen. She will slip down onto the screen holding on to the top with only her talons, however she does not flip this time. Instead she looks at me and expects me to grab her around the torso. Then she'll let go of the laptop completely and expects to be bouncy-bounced around in the air - back and forth. She absolutely loves this type of playing and will many times try and coerce me into doing this with her. Another things she loves is a plastic chain with two bells I have hanging from the roof. She loves it when I will push her while she swings. One of her favorites - she is just like a little kid.

What a cutie.

We shot some video last night and today of some new arrivals at Old McGreycieMae's farm. While looking at my raw video footage I came across a good one I never put together. So then I decide I'll just make a GreycieMae video thread so they're not scattered all over GF. The new arrivals will have to wait but for now...this one made me laugh since I had forgotten about it - shot a week or so ago. GreycieMae Quail TV [video=youtube_share;D0rESlbm_sY]

I'd only go through the process described if the bird was coming from a rescue or some place where there is a lot of unknown exposure. Private residence - only bird, I would and have intro'd them on day one. Our Jardines came from a closed breeder and our Caique was an only baby who was being fed and raised where the lady worked. They were all thrown in on day one to have a good long stare at each other.

That does not look like feather picking to me as there are feathers missing above the neck unless another bird is doing it to that bird. My first thoughts were Beak and Feather Disease but the feathers growing in look healthy. What happens when those feathers start to come out from the sheath?

Happy Corky Day! Time to tear it up (more than normal)

We no longer take chances after my idiot SIL let my bird out the door. This last go around with SIL and BIL in town and their kids we put a locking door on the bedroom and a lock on the aviary. Kids especially don't see the gravity of the situation until after it happens and maybe not even then. I know with my daughter she would accidentally let something happen and after that it's my problem. I saw a picture on FB the other day of a wingless, featherless CAG that is recovering from a dog attack - pit bull of course. I would be very nervous and careful if I were you.

Kids make good chew toys, and they're self-healing. HAAAAAhaaaa j/k

Hrrmmmm...must be a family trait. Head strong being the key trait. GreycieMae slips in and out of the mean bit. One day sweet and loving and then, I'm guessing just the sight of Toby will set her off, she will all of a sudden get nippy and growly and just plain cantankerous. We've learned to adjust, after all, I am Certified Felix Trained now.

I banned her from posting pics when she wouldn't quit it with GreycieMae's sibling. Too much risk that I would make a 3 hr drive and commit a breaking and entering.

If you have the opportunity to introduce them and have a trial period, that would be best. However I don't think a short trial period will divulge all the long term problems that may arise. If you have the opportunity to give the bird back sometime down the road that would work best. I'm only talking around a month or so. Bringing the bird over in a cage for an afternoon won't tell you anything. Both birds will behave differently down the road over time. When I mentioned Toby's flying being reckless, I meant in a more daredevil type of way. He's in no way clumsy. He will cut corners and go around and through things that would kill him if he made a mistake and misjudged. I'm just waiting to see him do a barrel-roll as he comes out of the bird room and down the hallway. Like I mentioned we trimmed him to slow him down because he has made a couple mistakes and one time I thought he was dead for sure. That was the day the scissors came out. I have the feeling that's how they expire in the wild - too many close calls and their number was up. Our Caique prefers to fly but I know most prefer to walk/hop. Ours has never hopped. You mentioned chasing the cat. I forgot to mention that our Caique is the only bird in our home that picks strangers to hate on. He does not like children or short people. He will go after cats/dogs/bunny you name it. They are fearless. Toby has attacked a painter we had in our house, my niece, my nephew but he likes everyone that passes his height requirement, or if you have lovely long hair. They are funny little creatures. Here's Toby trying to stall me as I'm headed to work this morning. I heard him knocking on the door so I had a peek and this is what I got: [video=youtube_share;aJgSITv2VM0]

I have a Grey and a Caique. Caique personalities are very peculiar and I describe them as Amazon's that won't take their ADHD meds. They have more energy than you will know what to do with. If I had it to do over again, I would have 2-4 Caiques or just my Grey. I've found Caiques are the only bird that can safely play with Caiques. They are just too rough and tumble. Their mood can be extremely sweet and playful one minute and then Satan's Spawn the next - each bird has their peculiar triggers. They just have a lightning-quick nasty temper, some are worse than others. Our Toby seems to have a mild temper compared to what I've seen in others. What you've read about trying to kill is correct - if that's what they get in their little heads. Once that sets in, I know of no way to get it out. They are persistent little ******s. Our Grey is always plotting against the Caique. And once he gets wind of her intentions, his feelings get hurt and he's hell-bent on finding his way to her and making sure he's in her spot. He will relentlessly persue her but she brings it on herself. I personally believe adding a Caique has a huge potential for being a 'recipe for disaster'. I 100% guarantee the birdy dynamics in your house will change and the Grey will have to adjust. It could lead to plucking, jealousy (our case), anger etc. I highly doubt they'll be best buds. Also, if you plan to have a Caique that can fly - they can fly circles around a Grey in tight quarters. Caiques are zippy little flyers and make tight fast, almost reckless, maneuvers. We've had to slightly trim our Caiques flights to just take the edge off his speed for his own safety. However, the air is the only place our Grey has an advantage mainly due to her weight. That's the bad news. The good news is we've managed to find a way to deal with it. - I'm not allowed to play with the Caique. Those are GreycieMae's rules. So I play with him in secret but that's not much. Fortunately my wife is Toby's favorite so she plays with him some. - Our Jardines has fallen in love with our Caique. They like each other but again, the Caique is constantly making the Jardines squeal and pulling feathers out of his forehead. So they get supervised playtime and my wife will absorb some of the rough behaviors from the Caique. - They all seem to get along in our outdoor aviary. There are just too many distractions and they have far different interests out there. Caiques like being on the ground whereas our Grey likes being in the rafters. I have never witnessed them fighting out there. - Over time we've managed to find some peace in the house and they can actually sit on a bowl and eat together - as long as I'm not involved. GreycieMae does not like sharing me. That's my experience. I'm sure others with better bird whispering abilities have made it work but I feel it has more potential for disaster due to personality traits of both birds: Greys and their jealousy and Caiques with their hyper-activity disorder.

Good to hear. I never knew about your illness in the first place. I always love seeing your avatar - such a cutie-pie she is.

Great to see she has a good home now and that the collar is gone too. Did you ever check into trying out a sock buddy or just leave her as is?

Steel wool - thanks for the tip.

The thought going through my head before I even read your 2nd paragraph was the bird is bored. I would agree they are hard to train because they are so intelligent. It probably takes a higher level of expertise to train them successfully similar to training dolphins etc. I've noticed with our three birds our Grey is an order of magnitude smarter than our Caique who I would compare to a dog that will repeat the same command many times. You may be very surprised that you have an ultra-smarty bird and you need to move forward faster with advanced recalls etc.

That's the way I felt about losing Raven. Caring for her around the clock and watching her cling to life was extremely heart wrenching and still hurts. It's been 1yr 2mo and we still miss her. I sill don't like looking at pics of the stuff we buried with her. Before the internets I thought there was something seriously wrong with me as I get overly attached to my feathered friends. I had a hell of time when I lost a pigeon I used to fly in 1990. Now at least I know there are others out there that get severely attached.

I'm good with my Foscam. To adapt it to a parrot, it would need a flipper that splattered the treat on the wall. Just bypass the middle-parrot.

Man I would love to have that in my aviary.