Mirek is home!

[hveusnthbrige]

This morning he had his first bath. That was not very enjoyable for him lol. But that's too bad! He didn't put up much of a fuss and went through with it but it was obvious he wasn't having fun. The tiels have had a bath once a week for the entire time they have lived with me and now they have a 3rd bath buddy.

 

Silly Pinkie who seriously dislikes the company of Mirek sure warmed up to him when soaked in the tub. Tucked his head under Mirek's tail to shield himself from the misting.

 

And I forgot to mention, my hen teil, April likes Mirek now too. She would help clean his beak off while he was eating the oatmeal slop. Why I have no clue but that little white cockatiel willingly ate lots of that messy stuff; she would plow her face right into it and take a nice big gulp all on her own. So at least one of them enjoys it!

[danmcq]

Hi Geoff -

 

Your description gives a very good mental picture of the bath and the Mothering by your Teil of Mirek ..

 

That's waaaayyy Cool :-)

[hveusnthbrige]

Seems he can fly now as of this morning. Took his first flight from his cage over to where I sit at my computer. I didn't come home last night so he was probably feeling alone.

 

He's also coming alone well with Step-Up training. He doesn't understand the phrase "Step up" yet, but he does understand a perch placed in front of him is where you put your feet. The breeder spent no time teaching him step ups, so he has learned this in about 1 week.

 

I trained him by rubbing his keel bone, legs or the tops of his toes with my fingers an saying 'Step up'. After a successful step up, I would say it a few times and reward him with lots of affection. We did about 2 step ups at most per session the first couple days. Then about 3-4 step ups per session. Now he will do about 8-9 before loosing interest. Just typical everyday step up training working like a charm.

 

The harness training is coming along slowly. Putting the harness on seems stressful for him, so I cover him up for a nap with it on. When he wakes after a few hours he will tolerate it. It's just difficult because he needs to have it on for several hours everyday. I can't always be around him while it's on and I won't let him out of my sight while he's up and walking around with it on. Only takes a foot caught in it and a panic attack while I'm away and he will despise it forever. I won't let him in the cage with it on either, too easy to get it snagged in a bar and get tangled up.

[danmcq]

Geoff ,

 

It is great to get these updates on Mireks progress, actions (flying!!) , stepping up like the Big Boys and one upping them by getting a harness on.

 

Keep these coming, It's like anticipating the morning news paper arriving!! :laugh:

 

Karma + for you Mister faithful!!!

 

{Feel-good-000200BB}

[hveusnthbrige]

Thanks Dan, you're too kind. Yes the harness thing is quite difficult even at this age. Sometimes I think it will just be easier to not use it. But I'm sure there will be a time when I wish I would have kept trying, so that's why I do.

 

Right now he's having one of those crazy time super energy bursts. These are the things that make me think he's possessed...:lol:

[danmcq]

Geoff - Possessed - LOL!

 

I am really initerested in seeing how the Harness break-in goes.

 

You know I am going to try the same thing as soon as Dayo comes home.

 

So, I am keeping notes :-)

[Tricky]

I wish I had tried the harness with Jack when he was younger... I didn't even know about them when I first got him. Now he can't STAND it.

 

Mirek is adorable. I have a question though- doesn't your bed get quickly covered in poop, and oatmeal concoctions? =P

[hveusnthbrige]

Yes Tricky, but I lay down his sleeping cage sheet whenever he's there. Same goes for the floor with a second bed sheet. I think it's especially good because it makes the room look different all the time. Change is important at this age.

 

We're also working on laying on his back in my hand and being toweled upside down. He still doesn't enjoy it much and I get bit pretty good sometimes when he tries to hold on using his beak and a mouthful of skin.. He must get used to these things though so grooming and vet visits go smoothly and panic free.

 

Also today, I was cleaning my room and brought the duster thing in and Mirek caught one glimpse of that and went crazy. Full attack stance, feathers on end over his whole body; it was difficult not to laugh.. beak open and growling so loud the neighbors made have heard.

 

So I did like I do with my other birds, I took the thing he was afraid of and tossed it in his cage. He attack growled at it, flapped his wings at it, climbed all over the cage and stared at it wide eyed for 3 hours sitting there on the grate. Finally he gave up and went down and gave it a sniff and a feel... and then decided it was nothing and took a nap beside it. lol.

 

Even now close to midnight, its still in the same place on the bottom of his cage and he's 6" from it fast asleep. Thank god he wasn't afraid of the vaccum.. that won't fit in the cage..:lol:

[Tricky]

Oh, I see. I didn't realize it was his sheet, I dunno, I just figured you must like floral sheets.

 

 

A duster? Weird. I think the strangest thing my CAG is afraid of is my sister's flute. heheh

[danmcq]

Geoff,

 

That is hilarious :woohoo:

 

That duster was probably the craziest and scariest Bird Mirek had ever seen!:side:

 

I like your idea of placing the object of fear in the cage.....Vacuum cleaner ...hahahahahahahaha

 

You are having too much fun :laugh:

[hveusnthbrige]

Ya Dan, all too often you hear about phobic Greys at parrot clubs. Desperate owners that don't know what they did wrong in that the bird is now afraid of everything, clothes, machines, sounds, other environments, new toys.. anything outside of the typical. Plus my routine is ridiculous and is only consistent when looking at it from a weekly basis. When he's less clumsy and is a bit older with a more mature immune system I will start taking him to things like the breeder's shop and parrot meetings. I may even leave him for a day at the breeders boarding room from time to time.

[danmcq]

Well Geoff, all I can say is you are certainly introducing him to a world of change. That seems like the best thing to do for a Grey.

 

I think being able to bring Dayo home this coming Saturday will be similar in exposing him to a travel cage, riding in the car, a new cage at our home, Dobermans and god knows who or what else may pass through during the 4 hours or so we will have him there :-)

 

Oh, BTW - We just got the DNA back and Dayo is a Boy, so now saying "He" is actually correct :-)

 

I sure appreciate all the information you just keep flowing. It's fantastic! :woohoo:

[hveusnthbrige]

I'm glad you're enjoying it Dan. Yes the changing environment has to keep going until sexual maturity for full effect. 4 to 6 years of this before I can sit down lol. That's awesome too about the sexing results. I still have to get that done but I'm in no real rush. Every experienced aviculturalist that sees him immediately says a boy based on the shape of his head. -Boys have square-ish larger heads and girls have smaller and rounder heads. But almost always its impossible to tell because the head feathers need to be fully flattened which of course only happens when deathly frightened. Mirek however literally has corners on his noggin so its a dead giveaway.

 

Dan, Greys and dogs cause laughter.. shocking laughter if anything. If you have never heard Dayo growl your in for a treat. I think it's hilarious when he growls. My Mom heard him growl today and she laughed so hard she was crying.

 

I bought a 2nd cage today for upstairs. A Small playtop Kaytee/Super Pet EZ-Care cage(http://www.kaytee.com/products/search/cage/?pid=00220). I love these cages, cheap, easy to use, strong, good looking. I'll get a picture of it the next time he's on it. It's far too small(18"x18"x18") for him to have as a permanent cage but its mostly for the playtop since the play stand I wanted was like $150 and this cage was $200. A no-brainer. Also a good boarding cage.

 

The 2nd cage should help to prevent territorialism aswell as include him in family events like watching tv, eating, whatever else since his big cage is in my bedroom in the basement.

[judygram]

That second cage does come in handy for a travel cage, I have one and use it to take her to work with me occasionally.

I'm glad, Geoff, that you are introducing your grey to a lot of different things, places, and people. They do need this to make them more socialable.

Dan I guess you are excited about bringing Dayo home for a visit, should be interesting, you will have to fill us in on the details of how it goes.

[danmcq]

Hi Geoff,

 

Thanks for all that information.

 

I am looking forward to hearing Dayo "Growl" for the first time. :woohoo:

 

The addition of the 2nd Cage sounds like it is going to work out well for keeping Mirek close and in the mix, no matter which Room you go to now. That's great!

 

Again, thanks for these consistent updates. It is very interest to hear the different antics of Mirek that are new each and every day :laugh:

[danmcq]

Hi Geoff!!

 

No update on Mirek lately, are you two having so much fun you don't have time for a little update? :ohmy:

 

You got us hooked and then took away the feed.:laugh:

 

Hope all is well...

[Toni]

Hi Geoff,

Mirek is so handsome. Have fun.Happy for you. I can't wait.Last night I went and put a deposit on mine.I'm going to have it DNA in 3 weeks.Mine is on 2 feedings a day.Geoff, what is the size of your cage? It looks like a good size.

[hveusnthbrige]

Ya I'm sorry I've not been around lately, work has picked up and I tend to spend my free time with you know who. I'll try to give a quick filler of whats been going on lately with him:

 

He's doing well. It's very obvious a personality is emerging quickly. His independent play is going well. He has chosen a surrogate toy to hate which is great.

 

He flies very well and hes got a full juvenile clip. He can easily maintain level flight and will not hesitate to fly where ever he thinks he wants to go.

 

His favourite food without compare is raspberries. Hands down he smells raspberries and he goes crazy. At first he would nibble them apart bit by bit. Now he just hoofs it down without even chewing. Blueberries he has a bad habit of biting all the way onto his beak then shaking his head violently getting juice spray everywhere.

 

He has bonded to me as #1 and my Mom as a very close #2 and my Dad a distant 3rd. Overall he is very kind and obedient. Everyone enjoys his company and he seems to enjoy ours.

 

Toni, he has 2 cages. The main cage he sleeps in and occupies while no one is home is 32x21x37 or something like that. His upstairs cage is 18" cube and he doesnt really go inside that one, just sits on the playtop usually.

 

I'll try and post some more pictures this week.

[danmcq]

Thanks for the update Geoff! :-)

 

It's great to hear all is well and Mirek is becoming quite the character.

 

I will try some Raspberries on Dayo tomorrow. :-)

[judygram]

Well hello, Geoff, long time no see, I know how work can be and sometimes it can't be helped. Glad to hear it is going well for you and Mirek. Good bonding in place and has a thing for raspberries, he can make a mess of them too. LOL

 

Don't let work keep you from coming here and keeping us informed, all work and no play makes Geoff a dull boy.

Pardon the crude humor, I am not in top form tonight.

 

Please try to post more pictures, cannot have too many of those.

[hveusnthbrige]

Ok so here's the long overdue pictures. First I have one of him wearing his harness which seems to only become a worse proposition everyday. He fights to get it off quite hard and flops around on the ground wildly doing his best to destroy it. And lots of angry flapping...

 

Next we have tonights mirror episode... :ohmy: He does NOT like his reflection! My guess of which I think I'm right is this other bird in the mirror is threatening his territory and he's trying rather violently to scare the other bird away. He just howls at his reflection almost as loud as I can yell. I know cause I was trying to get him to step up and to even hear myself say step up I had to pretty much scream.

 

This bird can howl and growl with the best of them.. lol We'll be spending some time in front of the mirror in the near future to get over this.

 

This is where he is now as I type this. His favourite spot is to sit on my speaker while I sit at the computer. He loves this spot so much he will launch himself off his center perch in his cage and fly across the room and climb his way there. Or he will sit on that evil attention stealing keyboard... and stare at me.

 

Another note on the flying; he flies extremely well. He flies willingly be it close or far and it's obvious he doesnt try very hard to maintain level flight.

 

Sometimes while I'm holding him he will pounce off my hand and jump to my shoulder by wrapping his wings around my head and clawing my face to get his way to my shoulder. That usually results in me tossing him off my back onto the bed... which then he jumps off the bed and flies back to my shoulder. I swear this bird has no fear, he will do anything to get where he wants.

 

If I'm not letting him get to that favoured place, he gets angry.:huh: So we usually burn off that steam by playing hard. Flip him around, hang from a foot, step ups, more flipping around... laying on his back in my hand, towel games, more hanging upside down and flipping. He can go for about 20 minutes before he starts to huff and puff. When he's finally tuckered out I'll let him sit on my shoulder as a reward for his effort.

 

This is the ONLY time he will be on my shoulder as any other time he will get bored fast and bite something like my ear. And, any other time he did nothing to deserve shoulder time.

 

These are the upstairs cage pictures.

 

Overall, the personality of this bird is emerging so quickly. It seems incorrect to use the word "personality" to describe it but he really is just like a person. You get to know the subtle body language and what to expect shortly after seeing it.

 

Really, even with the bad things he does and the getting bitten from playing hard... Greys are fabulous pets. Actually I don't even consider him a pet like I do with my Tiels, lately the last week I've found myself thinking of him as an equal. He's only 3 months old, but he's worth every cent and we have tremendous fun together. Grey's rock, wouldn't trade em for anything.

[judygram]

Those are some wonderful pictures, Geoff, thanks for sharing them with us. He sounds like a wonderful grey and you two have such fun together, it warms the heart to hear these things, I am so happy for you and keep up the good work.

[Talon]

Greoff! Thanks for the photo's and the update! I thoroughly enjoyed the pictures, and especially reading all about how things are going! Enjoy!!:cheer:

[danmcq]

Hi Geoff,

 

Mirek is really the character!

 

I like the way he will "rough house" with you and be a good sport about it.

 

Your description of the 20 minute "Mirek Workout" with hangs, flips, on the back etc. is a great mental visual that I can not wait to try with Dayo next week!

 

I think you used the term of personality correctly for Mirek. He has plenty of it! :woohoo:

 

The loooong wait between updates from you this week was well worth it!!

 

THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hveusnthbrige]

Glad you guys are enjoying it!

 

Yes Dan, he is full of energy. Such a massive amount of energy it's almost hard to believe. He wakes up in the morning and he intends to spend it all before nap time around lunch.

 

The flipping games we play can be a bit painful sometimes as he occasionally looses his grip and panics for a new hold using his beak and my skin. It's all in good fun though! Also sometimes a playtime may have been a bit too much for him, so I always make sure to spend quality cuddle time with him after each.

 

Lately I've found the best time to try the harness is in the morning. The afternoon brings on a tired and miserable Mirek!

 

Dan, I think Dayo will have a tremendous time with your family Dan. You have really put in so much effort to learn and to socialize with him.