I'm new

[skmunson]

Introducing myself here. I just brought my four month old TAG, Benji, home a couple of days ago.

 

Everything is going well so far. He steps up for me and my four year old daughter. He is eating well. He slept in his sleep cage last night. He flies to me upon request.

 

He is adorable.

 

I have a few questions:

 

1. I think he is preening. He runs his beak along his feathers and nibbles at his down feathers. One little down feather came off in his mouth and he spit it out. Is this normal preening? I'm worried about the plucking I've heard about.

 

2. I put him in his sleep cage last night and after exploring a little, he settled in on a perch. This a.m. he was in the same spot but was awake. Do I assume he slept all night? He stepped right up this a.m. and went to his big cage and ate. But, I'm worried about how I will know if he is sleeping and getting enough sleep.

 

3. Is anodized aluminum cookware safe to cook with? Maybe I should put him upstairs in sleep cage while I cook to be safe. His living cage is about ten feet from kitchen in another room but with no door seperating.

 

I have his well check tomorrow a.m. and can ask the vet; but, I'd love to hear your opinions.

 

Thanks. I'm so excited about my new baby boy!

[judygram]

Hello Skmunson and welcome to our family, we are so glad you could join us and we look forward to hearing more about you and Benji.

 

It seems like he is adjusting well to his new home but then the babies usually do better at it versus the older bird.

 

Yes I think you can safely assume he slept all night, you didn't hear anything out of him did you, if all was quiet then he was sleeping. He should get about 10 hours of sleep and he will more than likely nap during the day also, that is all normal.

 

That is perfectly normal for them to spend a part of their day preening, they have to look good you know, he will take his feathers and go over them and maybe rub his behind where the preen gland is to get a little oil on his beak and then he distributes it over his feathers, that is why the water will run off of their backs.

 

I am not really sure about the cookware, it is probably safe, it is the teflon or nonstick coating that makes pans unsafe for birds.

 

Be sure to ask any questions to your vet when you take him in for his well check and I hope he gets a clean bill of health.

 

Please read thru the many threads for lots of useful information and do not hesitate to ask questions you may have and we will help you in any way we can.

 

Thats a nice pic of him in your avatar but if you have others you would share with us we would love to see them, we love pictures here.

[Eckobird]

Hello, welcome to the forum and congrats on your new baby! He is a cutie. Judy has answered all your questions so there is nothing more for me to add except welcome to the forum. I hope to hear more from you and Benji.

[skmunson]

Okay so now I'm freaking out. I've been reading around the forum and I've seen a lot of talk about putting blankets or towels on the floor of the cage for safety.

 

He is in his big cage and there are no towels or blankets on the bottom. He is 3.5 mos old. He can fly. He has perches very near the bottom, in the middle, and at the top.

 

He climbs all over and likes to perch on his food or water bowls mostly. I put him on the lowest perch this a.m. just so he would know it was available and he immediately climbed higher.

 

What if he falls though? I've seen him slide down the bars of the cage once with his feet wrapped around them like a firehouse pole; but, it almost seemed intentional.

 

He flies outside of the cage just fine.

 

Maybe I should leave work early and go put towels down.

 

He doesn't seem completely sure footed but he is not discouraged. He climbs like crazy.

[danmcq]

Welcome skmunson!!

 

It's GreYt having you here. I see your questions have been answered.

 

Looking forward to hearing more from you. :-)

[judygram]

Don't panic, he is probably just fine, but if he seems like he may fall then you can put some towels down to soften a fall until he gets sure footed but if he is flying and climbing a lot then he is probably more confident than some are.

[Eckobird]

I don't think you need to leave work early to go put towels down, I think he should be fine until then. Just put the towels down when you get home if you don't think he is a good climber. When Ecko was a little baby I put the towels down because he was learning to climb and he would fall a couple times, but he got good at it and so I removed the towels once he mastered his climbing. He is 5 months old now and climbs pretty good. Sometimes he does fall now but he gets right back up and climbs again.

[skmunson]

Thank you all so much. I've owned dogs and cats and fish my whole life. I have a dog and two kittens now.

 

But this is my first bird and I sort of feel like I did when I brought my first daughter home from the hospital.

 

Benji is just so dependent upon me and I don't want to let him down. He left the breeder where he lived with his brother and sisters (they were leaving too, of course) and the flock that the breeders keep for themselves (all resuced parrots of various kinds) and now he's on his own. He has no choice but to trust and depend upon me.

 

I just look at his sweet little face and you can see how trusting he is of me and I don't want to screw it up.

 

Thanks for all of your help.

[Luvparrots]

Hi Skmunson, congratulations on your new baby Benji! From your Avatar I can see what a cutie he is. Welcome to the grey family!