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Gus, our lil baby.


murfchck

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Whoa buddy, bad mood day. He bit hubby a few times tonight and there was no way he could even try for a time out. He even flew to me two times right after he bit Pat. Oh and the screams, and i lost the stuffing from a corner of my dining room chair. Tomorrow can only get better. (right? )

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This is why Umbie Too's as so hard to place in the right homes, not many folks have the energy required to keep up with a Too on the loose. They can put the other Parrots to the test on both sound and destructiveness and beat them all on loving. Looks like a possibility for a "real life with birds" TV show to me.

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Much better yesterday. Thicker towel on his chair and he took Gabbys remote control away from her and played with it for hours! He had it in his mouth, layed the edge on the table and ran back and forth across the table like a bulldozer! Pat got a great video but its on his phone still. He is now flying with direction too, he can hoover until he decides where to go. Gabby flew toward the macaws who were playing on the couch, pat was by Gus and jumped up to make sure she didn't land near them. It scared Gus who took flight, straight up. I turned in time to see a white blur in my face, he was aiming for my shoulder but my turn messed him up.lol

We got a call last night about another cockatoo in need of a new home from the same people we got our guys from. Seems his owner tried to kill herself. We said no, i can not save them all and this one, so i was told, is healthy and i assume can be rehomed without issue. She said that the girl only wants 350.00 for popeye and his cage, Pat said that she would need to pay us that money to take him considering the money we have had to put in to save our fids lives when we got them from them! That wasn't meant to sound heartless, we are just at our limit both with our time spent with what we have and our funds to care for them properly. Bongo and Oliver go to the vet Monday for their yearly check up, thats going to be about 200.00 right there! Plus add in the beak trim for Bongo and nail trim for Olliver. Those two have nominated me for bad mommie of the year, letting the length of those things get out of hand!

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Yesterday i got a message from the girl who is trying to get us to take Popeye in. I think she sent it to the wrong person. It was a picture of me and Bubba saying "this is Lisa, she takes wonderful care of Bubba". Okay, um, we told her no. Then last night i got a message that said "talking to my family, i will call you Saturday night". What part of no does she not get?

Gus is a running, playing fool! We just have to watch and be careful when he is playing that he doesn't make contact with us, he bites! He will have a toy in his mouth and try to get what ever part of you that is nearest him into his mouth also! He jumped on me from the table and started smacking his toy on me, then wanted a better grip on his toy which involved him setting it down on my shoulder and trying to remove some of my skin while picking it back up! Lil stinker!

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I got the call Saturday as she said she would. It was her hubby though that called and he just asked what questions i had about the bird before i picked him up. I very nicely said, I don't think your wife understood me, i have 5 already and can not take in another! He actually understood that! Since my guys all came from them and his wife told me Bongo use to talk all the time (he hasn't said a word since the day he came home with me. That day he said step up. ) i thought i would ask him if i am missing something with him. He told me no, Bongo never talked with them and was suprised he said what he did. Bubba was his baby so i told him about the use of the f word when Gabby did her fly by. Keep in mind we were told by his wife that he learned that from HBO. He said he was sorry about Bubbas use of that word, it was his fault, he says it all the time. I should know not to trust anything they tell me but why lie about that stuff? Their health was/is my concern and they even lied about that! Ah well.

This weekend the weather was beautiful so the kiddos got to go outside. This was Gus's first time in the aviary. The first day was screams, i was waiting for someone to call the police about the noise level. Day two was a little better, only spent half the time screaming. My poor neighbors. The guy that lives behind us came out with his two kids and Bubba just talked away to them. Telling them hello and goodbye and pretty bird. What a flirt he is!

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Gus was a stinker yesterday! He just gets so excited when he is playing. We were on the couch watching a movie, he was just in my lap. Out of no where he started hopping around, he got near my hand then just bit down on it. One hole on the top of my hand another on my palm. If that wasn't enough, he flew to Bongo and Gabbys stand and grabbed the cord of the blinds and started swinging his head around in circles. The greys can't reach the blinds so it was never an issue. I didn't want him getting tangled in it so i tried the old switch a roo with a step up. Got the step up but he opted for the skin and blood in my arm, not the toy i offered. Not sure how to change the excited behaviour when he plays because i don't want to discourage him playing. If i do the no bite time out, will he think he shouldn't be playing?

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When he starts getting ramped up has a soft toy around big enough to cover your hand and give him that to bite rather than a hand. Or you can learn to predict his excitement levels and distract him like a two year old kid. Depends how fast you are with correction as to how he interprets his time out. You might be interested in joining the Yahoo clicker training group it will help you to work with all your problem children. Too's are a very excitable bird but they can be distracted or learn to form that behavior into another channel. Another option is to walk away when he gets going, they love attention so with holding attention can be effective.

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After a ruff afternoon with ALL the birds except Bongo, we had our first quiet dinner and it was warm to boot! Plus i had no heartburn after eating! Lets see, i got home, brought out the fiddos and went to do the cage cleaning. 5 cages, 30 minutes plus the check ins on the birds. Got all done, went back in the kitchen and there was Gabby, in my purse, chewing my stuff up! Got that settled and Bubba and Oliver started beaking and screaming at each other. Okay move past that, Gus starts screaming, won't stop. Sister in law stops in. First time seeing Gus, who is still being vocal. I bring out my tablet, show her a video then she wants to see the bird rooms. Come back in and Gabby is now chewing up my tablet, entire corner of the cover, gone. Take that away get her settled, Gus starts screming. I pick him up, all is good. Sister in law runs to her car for a minute, hell breaks loose when she returns. Gus starts biting me as i try to put him down so i can get Gabby who is now pulling the seams out of my dining room chair, my ouch i let out from the bite triggers the macaws to start screaming so Gus joins in. I get Gabby off my chair. All gets quiet, Bongo starts coughing and then laughs. Sister in law leaves, hubby gets home. I grab my box of wine, get a glass and walk outside just daring anyone to try and take my wine away!

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Things are begining to settle down here. Gus has begun to go to bed with less screaming, his eating in the cage is getting a little better too. We had to get a fifth tree stand on Sunday. We tried again to let Oliver and Bubba share a stand but Mr Ollie is a meanie! Took a week but Bubba has a balding chest again, so we decided once and for all to keep them apart except for their hour of together time before bed, lol. So we found a stand, had lots of extra perches and added to it for Gus. It is pretty cool and what caught my eye was that it had a "table" on it which Gus used right away. I had to laugh though, we all want the best for our fids so for us they need good fun stands. Got it assembled and set up with the others, he got on it as well as all the others on theirs. 5 minutes later, macaws are on the floor playing, Gus is on the chair in the kitchen, Bongo is on his perch over the sink and Gabby on on Pats shoulder. All that time stressing about stands and they aren't even on them!

Ahh, also found out the hard way that Gus hates ballcaps. Pat had one on when he came in on Sunday and Gus flew as soon as he saw him. He did a few circles landing on his shoulder and promptly bit his ear. Hat came off and Gus was calm again. Boy do ears bleed! Lol

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ha, never thought about the hat being a big beak, makes sense. Gus has been doing great, screaming is still happening but not nearly as often. Found out a food fav last night, corn on the cob. I got an ear, divided it into 5 sections and steamed it, also they got a section of a twice backed potatoe. That boy really dove into it for the first time since he has been with us. I have seen an ant carry stuff larger than the bites he takes when he eats, and hold food with his foot, no way. All that changed last night with that meal.

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