Steve 2

Hi there Asharion. I feed my Toulouse (timneh grey) harrison's pellets, veggies, Lafeber's seed cakes "foraging-weight maintenance" daily. I put palm oil on the pellets. My wife makes biscuits which have veggies that I haven't been able to get Toulouse to eat consistently such as kale and broccoli or fresh carrots. I also give brown rice, couscous, and other whole grains when we cook them. He does enjoy some fruits like tangerines, strawberries, and blueberries, but his stools can get watery. And yes....I give bad stuff like pizza, chips, and cheese once in a while. Looking forward to see what others do. Good post. Thanks Asharion

Hi there. Yes I heard a lot of advice about toxic materials for parrot/aviaries. I finally settled on rot iron with a powder coating. I've been using it for my tag for about 2 years he seems to be happy I try to get him out daily. I set mine up in our patio so it is protected from the rain. So far no rust. Good luck.

Hello all. I am experimenting with birdie bread (actually I'm bribing my wife). I want to incorporate those veggies which Toulouse does not realize are so good for him. Looking for suggestions for items to make the bread more palatable and nutritious. Thanks all.

Well the closest I got to conversation in context with Toulouse (tag) was while I was talking with my son. Jay was telling me about a horror movie he had seen on TV. "Dad" he said, "when the emergency crew boarded the plane everyone, even the pilot on the plane was dead!" Right on cue from the other room Toulouse pips in with "AHHHHHHHHH!!!" Oh well, guess Toulouse just loves drama. =)

Hi Santaeid. My Toulouse is a timneh, he's been with me for 3 years now. He definitely shows preferences for different toys and these preferences change over time. He has a good size play stand that I can wheel around from room to room. For quite a while he was happy to stay put on the play stand but lately as his wings grow in he likes to fly to a certain living room chair (tries to chew it up--not good) and to the top of his cage. He loves to throw his toys down when he's on the cage top and have me toss them back up to him. Lately his favs are empty plastic bottles and throwing down pellets to the dogs. I've been thinking of capping the bottles and putting marbles or pebbles in them for more noise. More noise is best in timneh land as long as he's the one making it. Love the name Batman! These guys are a hoot! Steve

"growing into her feet" lol! Toulouse (tag) "the goose" is 3 yrs old and has not caught up with his feet yet!! Toulouse does not do well with my son and wife when he is out of the cage. He likes them best when he is in the cage and they are not. We could probably do better on this but both son and wife would need to be willing to put in a lot of work and who likes to get bit. They are both animal lovers and do interact with Toulouse when he in his cage. Actually Toulouse will only learn words from my wife and son, doesn't seem interested in what I have to say. Not sure when this developed to this point, he was sweet to everyone as a baby and then not. Best wishes for your efforts with Maggie to socialize her to others. Many here on this site have been very successful. Steve.

Toulouse will let me handle him but is only cordial to my wife and son when he is in his cage. He will only pick up words/sentences from my wife and son. Good thing he makes some attempt to endear (as his bites are nasty) or there might have been a murrrder in the night. Steve

Toulouse gets Lafeber's nutri-an seed cakes (foraging/weight maintenance) every other day. I cut the squares into smaller cubes and put these in his foraging toy. While he has to work for them, he's pretty clever and usually gets to them quickly. Steve

Wow! Nicely done by all involved!

Good questions Tyler_111 and good answers from the members here. As a teacher I work 40+ hr/wk. Like it was mentioned above with other grey situations, Toulouse seems OK as long as when I get home I give him his due. He has gotten use to staying up till 9pm or later and getting up with me in the morning work routine. It probably helps that I am his first owner and I tried to establish a work routine with him from the get go as a baby. Sounds like your heart and mind are in the right place. I'm sure you'll make a good decision.

Thanks for putting the survey together JeffNOK. Very interested to hear the results! Steve

Great job Inara's Human and husband Joe!

That's great. My Toulouse has usually tolerated his daily baths. But now I do notice that if I miss his daily bath he will often bath himself in the water dish. Boys will be boys and hygiene in not often a priority!!

Spot on Inara. Unfortunately my learning curve with birds of cognitive abilities has been flat with a slight angle up. Yes you want them to fit your needs and worse yet I thought I could do the dog dominance thing.....big mistake! Lucky for my Toulouse my learning curve has finally met a level where his needs are met, mostly. There is still room for me to grow. Toulouse is perfect as is, a perfect creation that I have the privilege to have as part of my family. Steve

Finally got the out door aviary up. My son was laughing when he saw me sitting in the aviary with Toulouse! I sat in there a good 45 minutes and for 15 of those minutes Toulouse would not come out of his travel cage. Finally he came to perch on me. When I did exit, he would only perch on the chair. So I took that out and hung out on the patio with him. Then he actually warmed up pretty fast. Now he seems to really enjoy himself out there now. I'm sooo glad not to be lugging his cage outside! Apologies for no pics, this system is not very user friendly.

Great post Ray. These guys/gals (parrots) may take a lot of work but they give so much back. I can still remember (before having my own fid) walking across the parking lot of a pet store where a breeder had their cages set up. I had the feeling of being watched so I stopped and looked around. It was a sun conure that for some reason found me to be very interesting. We met eye to eye and I knew that there was a lot going on behind those birdie eyes.

Definitely a favorite both for Toulouse my TAG and Kiwi my old man lovebird. I'm also trying to find fresh edamame still in the shell. I know they like the frozen but my vet was very clear to steer clear of frozen stuff.....sigh she is so demanding. Steve

Hi Grey2day. My Toulouse is a tag almost 2 yrs old. Yes he is not a neat eater, lots of stuff ends up on the floor. And it's not that he doesn't like the stuff, I've seen him eating the items that he tosses. For the veggies I chop them up into smaller pieces so when he tosses them it's not the entire item. I try to give him large quantities of the veggies I'm not so concerned about the loss. Honestly I really believe Toulouse thinks it's necessary to make sure that the Universe constant of gravity is still OK. When he flings stuff out he has to watch it hit the floor. He gets pellets (harrisons) daily, a regulated amount. I give him Lafebers weight maintenance seed cakes every other day. Just to be mean I put the seed cakes in a foraging toy.....unfortunately he has that dialed in. That's what I get for being mean. I used to do a mix of frozen/fresh veggies, more convenient. My vet strongly advised against the frozen veggies so now it's just fresh stuff. Hate being scolded by vets! My vet also said that Toulouse is a happy "round" boy so I guess all is relatively OK. Hope this helps.

Hi there. Just want to chime in with my personal experience. My Toulouse is a TAG at 1 1/2 years old now. Got him as a baby and did the typical parent/owner approach for encouraging a bond with him.. They are very trusting souls so it was not hard to establish a relationship. My work routine requires me to be absent 7:30 to 3:30 but on some occasions as a teacher I have to keep longer hours. Toulouse seems to tolerate my absences. I try to keep his cage full of toys, recently I added a foraging toy. Of course I would love to do more but I need to work for the family which includes keeping Toulouse well fed and healthy. Best of luck with your choice...greys rock!

Wish I had something more constructive to give you. I have a single timneh and love bird. I do not allow physical contact between the two. Both are very fun in their own unique ways. You are a very good soul and they are two lucky birds. Hang in there, best wishes. Steve

LOL. Great pics!

Hi Kelsey. Hang in there. I may be a bit biased, my Toulouse is a TAG. The effort is well worth it, they are awesome souls!

Great post Inara's human. My wife does a "Hey, Hey, Hey!" loudly, then softly "bird". Toulouse repeats this with change in volumes.

Good information. I'm trying to redo my outside aviary, but I've used galvanized mesh the first go round which I read has zinc. Been looking for healthy alternatives for fencing materials. Steve 2