Gus, our lil baby.

[Wingy]

For a nice easy outing try going a park or an ice cream shop with an outside service window. If you do the ice cream shop route bring your own cone for Gus so he isn't trying to steal yours.

[murfchck]

Ah, to have the time to sit and eat ice cream. It was a beautiful day yesterday, all the fiddos spent the day outside. Thought we were going to have a struggle getting the macaws in, they found a place behind a plant and tried to hide! But all it took was asking if they were ready for some yum yum and all 5 came a running!

I did have to run to Lowes and while there i found Bongo and Gus's favorite treat on sale! A mandrine orange tree, so i bought 6 trees, one for each of them and one just in case, lol.

[Greywings]

very cool, they like Loquats too so you may have to go back again. I can just visualize Macaws hiding behind a plant-funny thought.

[murfchck]

Oh boy, we had a scare yesterday and Gus was only involved by screaming in a paniced tone. Had the boys on the table with their box, Bongo and Gabby eating on their stand and Gus pacing on his stand. As i have mentioned before G abby has claimed the loveseat as hers and Pats alone. The macaws pushed their box off the table making a bridge to love seat and on it they went. We were out back watering the plants and heard Gus screaming in a tone we have never heard. I took off running and opened the door in time to see Gabby dive bombing the macaws. Right into Olivers face where he flung his head at her and knocked her to the floor, she wasn't giving up either. How dare they be on her couch! Pat got Gabby and i coaxed the boys back to the table. Did it end there? Nope, the macaws were spreading their wings just out of Gabbys reach, luring her to them. Thankfully they all moved on after a bit but now Gabby hates them and would not leave her couch until they were in their cage. Yeah for Gus screaming at the commotion or who knows how that would have ended!

[Greywings]

Who knew Gus would be the game official calling for security when needed to avoid injury.

[murfchck]

No kidding! I am just glad we were paying attention to the scream tone, otherwise we could have ignored it as we do with his normal screams.

[birdhouse]

It could actually be really helpful if this was more than a one time thing for Gus. One of my dogs used to police the birds for me. He was super protective & would come "tell" me immediately if they were doing anything that worried him. He managed to derail more than a few disasters. Especially w/the teil chicks.

 

That's one thing that's a no no here, though. The house is too small for anyone to stake more than a temporary claim to any acreage o/t their cage. I've always felt lucky that I haven't had to do more than ref some dust ups after all this time. Everyone has managed to work out their their disputes surprisingly well ...eventually.

 

When the birds bicker w/each other (vs my other critters) the physical aggression is almost always bluffing & posturing. It's never really taken m/t a couple of weeks for any particular battle ground to return to neutral territory & I think I'm usually more traumatized afterwards than they are. For the fids it seems done is done & they just move on (lucky them).

 

It is so hard to know when to actually step in & rescue someone from their own bad behavior. I usually grit my teeth & let them work it out unless I really am afraid anyone is going to get hurt. And I wouldn't have any idea how to suggest how to tell the difference, especailly because it could be bad if anything goes really wrong. But I've learned & gotten better at it over time because I finally realized as often as not I may have actually made bad matters worse by "taking sides".

 

You have the macaws, though. I'm often in awe when I read your posts because I keep thinking how their sheer size must complicate so many things. I can just imagine what it would be like to try to run interference between 2 macaws & a grey in brat mode! Also, there are 2 of them against 1 of her. I'm very glad I only have to sit back & watch. But I'm very interested to hear how this eventually plays out. Good luck

[murfchck]

It is now a game to the macaws, they plan and scheme how to get the box off the table to give them a bridge to Gabbys love seat. Twice yesterday, we were there this time and Gus did tell on them. They also used a box to make a slide on the other side of the table to get on the floor. Man they are smart!

Gus progressed to standing on his skates too! My pictures were too slow though, only got him over them, not on them. I'll keep trying!

[Greywings]

We will just have to wait for those pictures then, hurry up girl. Now you are getting material for a children's book with those Macaws showing that being different will not stop you from being smart, clever and fun even if you are bald. The illustrations should be a treat.

[murfchck]

Oh, that would be an awsome book. Tonight those boys took over the house. They made their ramp to the floor, chased the dogs up on the couch and ran around like goof balls. Climbed the gate into the bathroom, tore the garbage apart with Bubba on the toilet making sure Oliver got all the tissue out. Then headed to the bird room where the got on the greys cage and huddled over Bongos side. I am a little worried though, Gus was paying way to much attention to them.

Edited June 6, 2013 by murfchck

[murfchck]

Gus has been just wonderful and we decided last night that he is too smart for his own good and bored! I have lots of foraging toys but they are no challange for him. Pat had a baby toy that makes noises when you spin the pictures, he watched Pat one time spin it and was doing it with ease on his second try. Problem is it has batteries so we can't leave it with him in the cage. He also was tapping keys on a keyboard. What can we do to stimulate him when he is in his cage? We hide toys and treats where he has to work to get to them but it only takes him minutes to figure it out.

[Greywings]

My bit Umbie Too loves cardboard boxes, the bigger the better. When he gets a box he finds a way in and gathers his foot toys inside, some times I wrap nuts in side paper, sometimes I add pine cones and whiffle balls. He contructivley chews windows and loves rearranging his new digs and hiding to play peek a boo. A new box is his happy time and worth its weight in entertainment. Make sure there is no sticky tape or sticky labels left on the boxes, brown paper tape is fine.

[birdhouse]

Nothing in the activity books?

http://www.parrotenrichment.com/books.html

 

Have been thinking about trying these. I haven't actually done anything about it yet thanks to the silly car. :mad: But depending on the size, Phenix to some degree but especially Charm love to dismantle things. Thought it might be fun to see if this type of toy might play into that & wondered if it might not hold Gus' interest for a few minutes.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Think-Fun-6820-ThinkFun-Gordians/dp/B000EGI4OO

 

http://www.amazon.com/Think-Fun-6920-ThinkFun-Knot/dp/B0033UWE2Q/ref=pd_sim_t_1/187-1304270-9764662

 

http://www.amazon.com/OBLO-Puzzle-Spheres-OBLO-002-Multi/dp/B004CKA5O0/ref=pd_sim_t_27

[murfchck]

Those are pretty interesting, 40 page instruction book for us? Lol, that should keep him busy for what? 10 minutes?!! Lol

We luckely have a neighbor who works for a company that makes boxes and when they miss print or make too many he brings them to us! I never thought of Gus and a box, doh! I video taped Pat teaching Gus the key board yesterday, it would have been so cute, if only i had hit the record button!

[Wingy]

He might like one of these. http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753368&lmdn=Product+Type&f=PAD%2FpsNotAvailInUS%2FNo I think I paid $4.00 for the one Jake has. The nut in the center clatters when you shake it so he will know there is something inside. He can either work at the wooden pins which are really wedged in there tight or chew through it to get to the nut inside. If you go into Petsmart it is in the small animal section with the hamster and rabbit stuff.

 

[murfchck]

Ahh, that is right up his ally, I am going to go this weekend and get a few! I put a box in his cage last night and put some of his toys inside it. I hope he enjoys it today. Noticing he wasn't challanged made us look at all the others cages, Bongo's looked barron. When did that boy destroy his toys? He had a straw hat with 4 strings hanging from it, a coconut hanging cockeyed and his play phone and 1/4 of a phonebook and only 1 bell left that still makes noise. Everything else was gone, I can't believe i missed it! Gesh, the next bird show is October. I guess i need to get creative this weekend and start making some toys!

[Acappella]

So how goes the Guster enrichment program?

[murfchck]

Guster is doing pretty good, learning the keyboard and still bored. Lol i put a box in his cage, not sure but think he hates it, hasn't been on the floor of his cage since. That is good for me, means he isn't shredding his paper and throwing it out, but bad for him cuz he loved making mommy bend and clean! He now has a time out cage for his screaming and nipping. He got Pats ear last night, not bad but enough for him to know how i felt! It is in a dark room away from all the others. It isn't working but atleast we are trying something and not just whining about him! :-) I think we have had it a few weeks now. I hate how habits form so quickly but take forever to break!

I found out something interesting last night when we ran into a girl from our vets office. ( she is the one who always worked with Bubba ) She pet sits as most of them do up there on the side. She doesn't spend the night but atleast can play with them and not just put food out for them and leave, and they all know her so thats a plus. She also lives nearby!

[murfchck]

Gus woke up in a bad mood Saturday. I guess it happens to everyone! Everyone was outside and he was running after Gabby with his mouth open so he didn't get to stay out. We put him on his stand and all was good, he was quiet. That led us to assume he was into something, Pat checked on him and before he shut the door i heard, "Nooooo" from Pat. I looked in and he was in the kitchen, over the cabinets with my mom's measuring cups she had made over 60 years ago in his mouth! I closed my eyes and prayed. Pat got them from him without incident, put his harness on and the back yard clean up came to a halt. Lol Same thing Sunday, front yard cleaning and Gus in his harness, a few leashes tied to a tree and boy did he have fun climbing and picking limbs off the tree and throwing them at me. He is really talking up a storm too. Not just words here and there but conversations that actually make sense. In his cage yesterday before i woke them up, i am in the kitchen getting coffee and i hear, "Is anyone out there?" i thought it was a fluke, but Pat said he hears it in the mornings when he is getting ready for work, he said it breaks his heart to hear it, wondering how he heard those words to repeat them.

[Greywings]

Oh, my Mom used to say that when her Dementia allows her to forget I had just stepped into the kitchen or bathroom. It does break your heart to hear that anguish in the tone. Smokey Joe repeats the "help me" she would say when there was something she could not deal with herself. Yes it did sound like the commercial with that same immediacy to it. Gus and Harry Too are cut from the same cloth.

Harry's artistic tea cup carving.

[Wingy]

I found a fabulous resource for toy making ideas. http://www.cheepparrottoysntips.com/toyindex.html

[murfchck]

Wow, the first thing i pulled up on there was awsome and so easy to do, I can not believe i hadn't thought of it. That is really a great site, thank you. Now if we could teach Gus to read so he could make his own toys that would be great!

He is really starting to wear us down. This flying and grabbing my neck, right now i have 8 beak holes in the back of my neck and Pat has joined my club with 4 of his own now. I had to laugh at Pat though, everytime i got bit he would try and tell me what I was doing wrong, dropping my shoulders or squishing up my shoulders to protect my neck and ears. Out of no where Gus started biting Pat when he landed and boy was Pat getting mad, screaming ow, no bite them coming to me for sympathy. All i could could say between my inside laughter was see Pat, no reason, and stop whining cuz you have a long way to go to catch up to me in the bite count area! Then he said, Well that hurts, the neck is tender.... LOL, Ya think, really, hmmm?

[Greywings]

Ok now I understand more about the intereaction, it sounds as if his inner Drama Queen is getting all the feedback his big Too ego is wanting. You have to find a way to avoid the bite -sounds easy but I know he is a silent flier, so perhaps a partial wing trim just to slow him down. You can hear Harry U2 coming as his wings do make a swishing sort of sound and we can get a forearm up in time. I can just picture that scene with those painful landings.

[Wingy]

How about making a neck and shoulder shield out of a sturdy canvas material and wearing it under your shirt? Something like a dickie but with a velcro closure or snaps. It won't prevent a pinch bruise but should help lessen a hard nip that would puncture skin.

[Timbersmom]

That sounds like a good idea. I have to say my first thought was "hunchback of notre dame" though!