SRSeedBurners

She can't be naughty with a sweet face like that.

And another video since it wouldn't let me include two in one post: [video=youtube_share;2jsOJShuD4c]

The long search is finally over. After losing our beloved Raven to PPD we both had a huge hole in our hearts but I decided at that point I would have to find another Jardines. There is something so special about this breed and their mannerisms. African Greys will always be my favorite but Jardines are a hidden little gem of the bird world. These birds are incredibly hard to find. African Greys, Caiques, Macaws, Toos - you can find them in a day easily. It took me 7 months to find a Jardines that wasn't already spoken for. We were even looking at rescue Jardines but found none. I finally located this little guy in Houston at a private breeder. We drove down and picked him up on Memorial Day weekend, so he's only been with us less than a week. He's still learning the ropes at Sterling-Ranch. Tears started flowing when we both were driving home with him. He has so many of the mannerisms that our Raven had and is peculiar to this breed. He even makes some of the same sounds Raven made. He rides on the seat back and looks out the window the same way she did (horizontally rather than vertical - you'd have to see it). My wife wasn't too sure about adding a third bird to the mix as she kind of led the charge on the impulse buy with Toby our Caique. She kind of gave up on the search for a Jardines and was resigned to just getting along with our two current birds. That has all changed now that 'Baby Rio' has entered the home. She can't believe how much she missed her Jardines. Fortunately he's tied to the female voice and I'm having a hard time convincing him I'm his friend - just like Raven Another peculiarity about these birds: their beaks. They have enormous beaks/jaw bones for their size and also the power to match it. Up to this point, Raven held the record for the worst bite I've ever had from a parrot. She clamped onto my finger once and had me dancing with pain. I like to tell people Jardines have a 'hydraulic' bite. Most parrots will bite and done. A jardines will bite and then apply the hydraulics and continue to apply increasing pressure - it can be extremely painful even if the skin isn't broken. Well, this little guy broke the record on his second day here for my worst ever bite. I foolishly went in for a pet and he took my finger and bite the ever-living-hell out of me. He didn't do it maliciously - he just doesn't know the power of his bite when he wants to warn you. Rio's parents are known for throwing babies with extremely large and powerful beaks - double whammy! However my wife and the lady who raised him can pet him, give him kisses and anything they want without repercussions. He just loves women. Greycie has done amazingly well with him. I figured she would be the big problem as she still doesn't much care for Toby. She barely reacted to Rio. The only time he gets a rise out of her is when he takes off flying. Greycie has to fly into the same general area and either show off or give him a good buzz. He's not a very good flier yet so Greycie could fly circles around him if I didn't intervene. However Toby our Caique has made it his life mission to beat the feathers out of Rio. Didn't expect that. We'll see if things settle down - hopefully so. A short crappy cell phone video: [video=youtube_share;VhCcbxya2wk]

Haahaa...I missed the dog the first time I saw this. Such a cute picture. IBS/Colitis here - yay!!!

I'm going with the start of the 'terrible twos' which we're also dealing with at 19 mos here (it started a couple months ago). I get the aloof looks and the evil cackles before an attempted nailing of my face. For us it really takes monitoring her moods and knowing when she's being naughty and when she's being nice. She's also more ornery mid-day vs morning and evening. Our timeout cage is getting plenty of use right now. We don't have the plucking issue though and I'm adamant it's because I fly her in the house, she's out most of the time and she has other birds around. She also gets paranoid when something new is brought in but we have a Caique who is fearless and it helps her to see him exploring the new object.

I'm going to side with HRH Inara on this one. The evidence appears lacking. And the photo of the culprit is very unclear who that might be. There's no facial shot to clearly match that up with any of the occupants in the household.

I clicked on the June package and it listed a bunch of toys - more than what I think you are putting in the June package. Are you going to list what's in the package, or do we select any six from the list on the right? Not sure how it works. Thx! Jeez...I just saw you are in Sugar Land. We were just in Richmond on Saturday. I could have made a shopping stop

Thanks for the info and pics Muse. I'm guessing that's 1/2" x 2" ? I never considered the rectangular holed wire but if it works for GCCs, it'll work for my Caique. We plan to use the playground wood chips. We might lay down an exterior wire to keep something from digging in but with our dogs in the yard, nothing gets past them and lives to tell about it.

I haven't made a post about the new baby yet. I'll put something in the other birds section when I get some good pics. We just settled on a name for the little guy last night. He's still in the phase where he's not too sure why his whole world has just been uprooted.

And I always thought Greys were the smarter bird

Would love to see the videos. Flying is one of the best things for these birds. I'm convinced that good exercise is one of the keys to keeping these birds happy and healthy. I've posted this elsewhere here but we have a routine with Greycie: 10-20 flights around our living room (and into the kitchen) in the mornings and then several rounds at night. Greycie actually thrives on this as it helps her burn excess energy and we all clap and make a huge deal of it when she's zooming around. She's an excellent flier as she's never been clipped and can square off the corners in our living room when she's fresh. After a few flights she'll start rounding off the corners. If I don't start flying her soon enough she'll start flying herself and 'acting out'. I went through a lazy phase where I wasn't flying her and she started to gain weight. When she did fly I was calling her a flying pig because she lost her zip and just seemed to beat her way through the air. My wife and I both noticed she seemed like she was a flying UPS truck instead of the zippy little sports cars. It's good for them - Greycie gets really excited when I'm carrying her over to her launch pad.

Well, he's a lover and a fighter. He stands 10 feet tall and is bullet proof and has a boogey-woogey move that will knock the ladies off their feet. He uses it on me too but I'm oblivious to his advances. He saves the good stuff for my wife - his sweet puddin tops. He's a bit of a Jeckyll & Hyde which Caiques are famous for. When he's in the right mood he's an absolute doll. He loves to lay in my hand and play wrestle and he does this little gurgle that is so cute. Flip side, when he's grouchy he's a testy lil fella. Our biggest problem right now is we have a new baby in the house and he's turned into a demon-shit hell bent on beating the feathers out of the new baby until he's stamped his authorita on him. We're trying to figure that one out right now! I can get some video of his cute side if you need a push

What gauge did you use and what was your best biting bird? I have a Grey a Caique and a soon to be Jardines. Greycie doesn't really chew on wire so I'm not too worried about having a destroy proof gauge. I priced SS from another source and it was crazy outrageous. Around $1500 for two 6'x???' rolls. We can afford it but I really don't see the point when aviaries all over the place have been using GAW forever and no issues. As you say, my biggest concern is West Nile, not zinc heavy metal poisoning. We've had really good luck with some anti-mosquito plants along with the citronella. I notice they have a military discount

Thanks for looking Muse. We're now arguing about where to put the aviary now that we've decided where we're going to put it (yes, cart before the horse sort of thing here). This thing may never get built!

If you can find some vegetable tanned leather strips, those work very good for string things together AND birds love to chew on leather which is very tough for them to tear up. leather strips that I use

Do you still have other birds? I have found that Greys like being in the company of other birds even if they don't like those other birds. They do keep each other engaged during the day (caged separately of course).

All I know is 454 grams == 1 lb of Grey which is what my recipe calls for. If you're wondering what size to get for a CAG - Medium. The deciding factor is the head loop. Too small and you won't get the harness on them, there is always enough harness for the body.

I took a Grey a BFA and a GCC from San Diego to San Antonio non-stop once. They all rode on the bench seat right beside me and my wife - around a 24hr trip. Greycie has gone on 6 hr drives with us no problems. Just drive safe!

Nancy - if you can get your order over $35, the harness is $28 on Ebay directly from the maker. Cheapest I've ever seen was $25 drop shipped from my breeder who sold me one a little above her cost.

He knows what the harness is obviously but you might have better luck re-exposing it to him before trying to put it on again. I do love taking my birdy outside with me, not so sure she likes it that much. She gets stressed. My Greycie will also do the flying to my hand thing. I have my laptop sitting beside my chair in the living room. She will literally sit on the arm of my chair and work her way into position where I have to go over the top of her if Im' going to use the laptop. She even gets onto the top of the screen and will hang down into the viewing area as if I have nothing better to do but pay her some attention. She's cute when she does that but I have to keep myself in check because she does it almost immediately if she sees me using the laptop.

She sounds like a sweety.

Possible you can put some plastic toys inside the shelf to let him play with? I'll bet he starts tossing the toys - they love hearing stuff crashing to the floor. I'm not sure males go through the nesting routine, I'm betting he's just looking to get into stuff.

My Greycie doesn't listen and also doesn't like the harness or being outside much (except in her play cage). She loves hanging out in the kitchen with the cooks! That's a cute pic!

I don't know how to get them back into 'training' mode but if you have problem areas that you don't want the Grey, we use little scary looking stuffed animals: frogs, trolls, etc. Greycie hates those and will not go near anywhere we place one. We use them on fans and where my wife has her decorative candles that Greycie likes to destroy. Otherwise, she's free to fly whereever she wants and that's generally sitting on me or my laptop screen next to me. They do want to be close and I imagine if you lay off the training at times and just allow him/her to be a birdy, they'll end up wanting to be wherever you are. Lots of love and attention is the key around here.

Fortunately I'm immune to macaws and toos. We saw some macaws at Kookaburra this last weekend and one started that macaw scream. I looked at my wife and assured her not to worry, I could never get used to that.