KevinD

Well, I just wanted to say, Thank you to everyone here, and I go NO WHERE else but to this forum when I have time. I wish I had the time to be an everyday dedicated member, but it just is not possible because of my circumstances.

I wanted to give you a little positive news.

While I know this is an "End justifies the means" I think we will have Sukei's CITES paperwork in a few weeks.

Again, I understand why it is in place, and some might disagree with me, on how I am going to bypass it, but it is just for just Sukei.

Some may say if people were not able to circumvent the system then the black market may go away.

To those of you I say your are correct, however, because of ignorance on my part, I am in the situation I am.

But if I follow the LETTER of the law then this one beautiful creature will either be condemned to suffering till its end, or he gets rescued.

This is through no fault of his own.......

So I am going to make the judgment call, and say the end justifies the means..... forgive me for those that do not agree.

On another subject, when I got Sukei, he was in really bad shape, and he has progressed soo far......

He is So intelligent, he is now a full flighted grey, he can fly where ever he wants to in the house, but still seems to have problems with windows......

I put his purch by the windows so he can see it is solid, (He taps on it with his beak), yet sometimes, he just decides he is going to fly full speed into the windows, I thought about placing some colored tape on the windows, anyone have any ideas....

Again I apologize for not interacting every day or so, and only posting when I have time, and thanks for any input.

Thanks for the words of encouragement, sometimes, these things wear you down. Sukei seems to have taken no notice at all...LOL, every day there is a new word or phrase. So smart these guys are....

Thanks again.

One last note, I found a huge resource here, I suggest anyone needing info on African greys come here , they are helpful, dedicated and their only concern is for the greys.....and other parrots

Thanks again.

Kevin

My fight with the export papers continue, but I think I can get him to the Bahamas, I have a friend there.

I know the CITIES were put in place for a reason, but were talking about a rescued parrot, not a dozen, not 6 or 5 or 2......

Just one rescued parrot.

I will get him out... He is so smart now.

I ask him ...Sukei who are you, he answers "I am Sukei, what do you want LOL.

I finally got my software and server issues ironed out.

This is not a plug for the web site... so no embed. but I wanted to show you his two year old birthday

http://parrotfiles.com/picture/Sukei039s-2nd-Birthday/be8636eadbaa9bcebc792990e80b1b2e

I love this little guy, the picture is with my wife.

My Gov Job does not allow me to put my face up....

Thanks guys for all your support and advice since I got him.

WOW, Ill keep him out of the tree....Although I noticed this particular plant he will not chew the leaves, but in a few other plants he does. That might explain it. Maybe he knows the leaves are toxic.

Thanks for the research!

I always like when folks are just starting the journey, they will amaze you each day with new things you never even thought of.

Good luck to you and all the new stange adventures you are about to have !

Finally had some time to catch him talking..... And now without great fanfare..... "You Know What?"

Watch "You Know What"

Caught Sukei in the tree again..... Guess it comes natural

I guess now you know.

I knew someone was going to go there LOL

Same thing happened to us, making all kinds of strange noises for a few days, and BAM, out it comes, lol

I know you are happy congrats!

I know we have not posted in a while, I was sent on a field trip lol.

Anyways, thought I would give a Sukei update.

He has started talking

And the first words are........ "You know what?"

It was funny because I was sitting on the sofa, and typing away on the lap top, and I hear "You know what?" clear as the day is long lol.

And I without looking up say "What?" not realizing it was Sukie LOL

Anywyas, just thought someone might get a kick out of it...

He plays games on the Ipad now too, have to post some pictures do not have them here with me.

I thought it would be a fun subject LOL, but did not mean to disrupt anyone's dinner time.

This has enlightened me on the eating thing, LOL but let me change course, maybe what what makes you a Parrot person more so then a dog or cat person..... I dunno, I think you can be both, I think all you need is a caring compassionate love for these intelligent compassionate creatures.

I think there is a mind set that you are a "Dog" person or "Cat" person or a "Bird" person. I just think it depends on your ability to provide for them and the environment you can responsibly give to each.

Through this I figured out you cant be labeled any kind of person, just a kind and responsible person that takes on a responsibility that you can fulfill to the best of your ability...

Have not been bit yet, guess Ive been lucky, Ive been beaked, just a checking of the surface.

But I also read all the advice here about body language and eye pinning so I don't even make an attempt to mess with him if I notice anything out of the ordinary.

When I join the club, Ill post the blood LOL

but some people might be repulsed by some of the things I eat like rabbits, squirrels, doves, ducks, geese, wild turkey and deer but then I live in the country and was brought up that way, I know some people have never seen what they eat when alive on 4 legs or 2 in some cases.

I'm from Texas, so I have eaten all of the above, but I draw the line on some things LOL

If you knew me, you would know this was posted in fun. As for your Filipina princess, perhaps she and I are related. As you know..... all Filipinos are related one way or another (smile)!

I know, i am very hard to offend, Potato Patato, Filipino Philippino, its all good.

As a polynesian lady I will say: As for balut and dinuguan, don't knock it until you try it!

I am married to a Philippine princess, and they try to get me to eat a bunch of stuff...

Please take what I say in the manner it is intended, I will leave each to his own LOL

I'm a "cat person" also.

Timber really makes me happy though, so it's all good! His neediness meets a desire I have to feel needed I suppose.

I'm allergic to cats, so I will have to defer to your judgment on that one.

As far ad being needed, we are all needed, every live touches another, in ways you will never know (Usually) Your life have changed others in ways you will not know, 1 single event can put a person on a course that changes their whole life...so never feel you are not needed.

It is a fact that us parrot powers are a much smaller group and most family and friends do not understand all the muss and fuss we must do to take care of their every need.

I think you hit the heart of the situation, but I think they miss the extra rewards, and as they learn, they start to understand.

Just a quick note that is off topic, I hope this understanding leads to more awareness of the plight of these wild caught ones.... I know it is probably a pipe dream, but all things evolve slowly.

But back to the original post.

 

By the way, eating those dogs??? That's gross.

Yes it is, but i is true, you have at least 20 different cultures in each Middle East country, and they WILL eat Dogs, Cats, Birds and any other thing they can get their hands on.

I have seen it first hand so it isn't a old wives tale.

I do not know your back ground, so I can not presume to say, but assuming you have not been out the civilized world you will find things to make your hair turn grey or fall out.....it is sad.

I thought this might be a fun thing to discuss.

Ever since I got Sukei my family is has been giving me the business, saying stuff like, you were always a dog person.

I have had two Golden retrievers and loved them to death, but my situation in the middle east made me consider NOT getting another one, because Goldens love to run, and there is no where for one to run in this environment, and if they get out, they can be eaten by the local population(No Joke)

So I resigned myself to being friendless/petless, untill the day I saw Sukei in the terrible place, and it was just an impulse to save this poor soul.

I had done ZERO research, (Not a good idea I know now) but my heart just went out.

I thought in my current environment I could care for a parrot, and just scooped him up and ran LOL, literally.

So back to the title of the post.... This is just an observation, but it seems to me, that parrot people are much more involved in every aspect of their parrots life, then dog owners.

Maybe that is because Dogs are pretty self sufficient and only require love, where parrots require not only love but specialized attention.

I dunno, just rambling, thought maybe someone might have some thoughts.

I fully plan on getting another Golden when I get home and can properly take care of one.

I guess I am just surprised my family is so surprised I got a Grey, as I send more pictures they are starting to understand the bond developing.

Anyone have any similar stories or thoughts?

I do not know if it was mentioned but I found the humidifier setup I put underneath Sukei's cage has helped a bunch. Hope I do not have to go through what you did, and I'm glad Talon is doing better.

You just need something more interesting then the perch to chew on... I know I posted this before, but here is the vid again.... Suk used to chew on the perch, but no more......the wood blocks are the ticket, he can destroy these inside of a week.now, its like a few days...

Even after the block is destroyed, it seems he is satisfied for a while and leaves the perch alone.

Watch "Sukei Destroying A Block Of Wood"

Just my two cents, and the Avian vet I have talked to. I know there is ALOT of feather plucking info here on this board, and different publications by notable folks that deal with this kind of thing.

In my opinion, as stated here before , parrots do not pluck in the wild unless it is a damaged feather.

So you have to figure out what is different from the domestic situation then the wild in your particular environment.

For us a humidifier, Avian light and spending more quality time fixed the problem.

The Vet said he could prescribe a drug to relax him and make it stop, however, it would start again when the drug was stopped.

In my previous career, I hold a degree in Emergency medical sciences, besides chronic illnesses, drugs are only good when, if not used in the situation of issues dealing with incompatibility with the life function are not going to do any good.

You have to find the cause.... in humans you have nail biting, and hair twisting and all sorts of nervous habits.....when under stress.

I cant imagine Parrots are that much different.

Hope I did not offend.

K

After I found out Sukei was a he and not a she, I thought about trying to change his name, and after much thought, I figured parrots do not know if a name is male or female, so just decided to go with it.

However in your case the name might be offensive to you, or for other reasons, I can understand that.

In our case though, Sukei was so screwed up emotionally when we got him, I just couldn't see adding to the confusion.

Im sure how ever you work it out it will be just fine, : )