Jump to content
NEW ADDRESS FOR MEMBERS GREYFORUMS.ORG ×
NEW ADDRESS FOR MEMBERS GREYFORUMS.ORG

I RUINED the playstand!


Muse

Recommended Posts

So... this past weekend, I finished moving all the birds into what was supposed to have been my office and made what was their room into their playroom. I was concerned it was getting too cold at night as it is a sunroom with windows lining two walls. As a playroom, they are in it during daytime hours, and it's warm then.

 

Part of clearing the cages out of the room left me with plenty of room to bring the MONSTER stand in. This stand was supposed to be a display stand for the pet store where we bought it, and as such the builder did not include the screws to mount bowls. After the Great Pumpkin event, I decided that having a stable flat surface on the stand might be a good thing. So to solve both problems, we took this wire "thing" that the person selling one of the cages we bought from Craigslist kind of threw in with the deal. She claimed she sat it on top and sat toys on it. I thought it was strange but tossed it in a tote with other bird toy parts anyway, and there it stayed until now. I showed this to the husband, who is an engineer by trade, and he immediately found a way to make it work. (See picture)

 

So I take the Greybies in to show them the new addition of food bowls to the stand, and before we were even close to it, Mar just absolutely FREAKS out. I am talking panicked, flying around the room, screaming like a banshee freaked out. He refused to come to me and flew so many laps around the room that he crash landed on the door. (He was okay, thankfully!)

 

Over THIS:

P1020236.JPG

 

I am not sure what it is that he doesn't like. He still avoids that stand and it has been since the weekend. Gah! Megan (shown in the picture perched on the "thing") was also scared but once she saw me filling the bowl with pistachios, she overcame her fear to indulge herself, especially since there was NO competition for them! Megan's weakness is food. She will do anything for a treat.

 

But on the OTHER hand - I figured he'd go crazy over the Christmas tree? He came in and wanted to shoulder ride while I put it up. It's one of those glorified toilet brushes that has three sections that fit together and all the rows of branches open out like upside down umbrellas. I told him "Okay, but you're not going to like this." I fully expected him to let out a shriek and head upstairs. He did not. He quietly and patiently watched the whole process from the vantage point of my shoulder. He did fly up to the top once I got it finished, and we had the "not yours!" discussion and no problems after that. So he's not scared of a giant, seven foot tall glowing green toilet brush, but he's scared of a tiny wire shelf. Go figure!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

LOL, i love the toilet brush description!

Was the stand in the same place before when he would use it? I had to move one of ours just about 6 inches so that they couldn't reach a painting and Gus who was always the one on that stand will not go near it now. He will lay as flat upside down as he can get as you walk him over to it. So Lilly now uses it. After watching her on it, we noticed there are shadows casted on the wall now, where they were not there before. And Gus IS afraid of his own shadow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Haaaa I also love the toilet bowl brush description! I always disliked artificial trees, but on hubby's insistance finally switched a few years back. Perfect description though! You just never know what they will fear and it always seems to be things you think they would accept. Timber is the same, scared of innocent things and totally calm about things I think will freak him out. Do you think they are playing mind games with us? Sometimes I do....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We try so hard to do every thing within our power to please them and make everything safe. As a result they can still find a way to get hurt, destroy or live in fear of our hard won gifts.

 

sigh! sad but true

 

But w/Mar & the big green toilet brush (love that, I think it should be a kids book) he (over)saw everything. It was obviously done to his satisfaction. So why would he have any complaints?

 

Seriously though, I think it really can help to mess w/their stuff & do other things right in front of them. Depending on the fid, & the type of thing, & the mood of the moment, possibly the phase of the moon, definitely the weather... :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You just never know how a grey may react to even the smallest of changes. The good news is they will get used to it and act like nothing happen after a few days. That stand looks glorious! :)

 

I fell in love with the stand at first sight. I texted my husband a picture from the store that said "WANT!" lol SOOO many levels for climbing, so many eye hooks for hanging toys! I sincerely hope he comes around. It's been almost a week and he's not panicked any more but he does lean to the other side when we go near. But he has been watching Megan cavort on it. I even put a paper plate with a dab of WHIPPED CREAM (he loves this so I give him little bits now and then). I knew it was bad when he wouldn't go for the whipped cream. All the favorite treats and he still won't go near it. Megan thinks she is in treat-heaven, though! She is probably secretly telling him bad things about the stand so she can continue to have the dishes to herself.

 

Oddly, the little birds all LOVE it. Not one of them were afraid.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Haaaa I also love the toilet bowl brush description! I always disliked artificial trees, but on hubby's insistance finally switched a few years back. Perfect description though! You just never know what they will fear and it always seems to be things you think they would accept. Timber is the same, scared of innocent things and totally calm about things I think will freak him out. Do you think they are playing mind games with us? Sometimes I do....

 

We switched to artificial after a real tree killed a vaccuum cleaner. I love the pine smell, but didn't like sweeping up the needles. We tried everything - special additive in the water, we made sure to give it a fresh cut before putting it in the water, the stand held over 2 gallons and was never let dry out, but still it dropped needles like the Greybies drop a bowl full of fresh filled seed mix! And yes, I am sure they play mind games. Definitely!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

sigh! sad but true

 

But w/Mar & the big green toilet brush (love that, I think it should be a kids book) he (over)saw everything. It was obviously done to his satisfaction. So why would he have any complaints?

 

Seriously though, I think it really can help to mess w/their stuff & do other things right in front of them. Depending on the fid, & the type of thing, & the mood of the moment, possibly the phase of the moon, definitely the weather... :rolleyes:

 

The only problem was the installation took noisy power tools, so we figured that would upset them. I never once thought he'd be scared of the shelf. You're right, weather, moon, whims... you can never predict these creatures!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

LOL, i love the toilet brush description!

Was the stand in the same place before when he would use it? I had to move one of ours just about 6 inches so that they couldn't reach a painting and Gus who was always the one on that stand will not go near it now. He will lay as flat upside down as he can get as you walk him over to it. So Lilly now uses it. After watching her on it, we noticed there are shadows casted on the wall now, where they were not there before. And Gus IS afraid of his own shadow.

 

My husband moved it, but he but it back basically where it was. And the stands roll and I am moving them all around the room as I clean. This one just came in last weekend, though, so it had only been in there a few days when the "addition" happened. He was totally cool with the stand no matter where it sat before that. I can understand a bird being freaked out by shadows. It's movement and it is a portent of something to happen. A hawk shadow, for example, alerts to danger long before the hawk is in range to strike. I know they all got understandably freaked when a hawk circled over the aviary. Who knows what they see (or imagine they see) in the shadows?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only problem was the installation took noisy power tools, so we figured that would upset them. I never once thought he'd be scared of the shelf. You're right, weather, moon, whims... you can never predict these creatures!

 

Phenix is afraid of conservatively 85% of new things. But once the whole big stand was ok I don't think I would have seen this coming either. So if I learned anything first of all thanks :)! But second, in future I'll do the noisy, scary part w/o him. But actually assemble any new additions in front of him.

 

Phenix would also have problems w/those dishes. He's got this weird thing about translucent plastic. Same totally freaked out reaction. Any possibility that Mar's afraid of anything that's attached to the rack?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Phenix is afraid of conservatively 85% of new things. But once the whole big stand was ok I don't think I would have seen this coming either. So if I learned anything first of all thanks :)! But second, in future I'll do the noisy, scary part w/o him. But actually assemble any new additions in front of him.

 

Phenix would also have problems w/those dishes. He's got this weird thing about translucent plastic. Same totally freaked out reaction. Any possibility that Mar's afraid of anything that's attached to the rack?

 

Those are the dishes that come filled with a Birdy Breakfast every morning, which is one of his favorite things. He's never been bothered by them before. I put the linky rings on because those are one of his favorite toys. I tried covering it with the same paper I paper his cage with also. I am not sure what he's afraid of. He is getting a bit less skittish. I hope at some point he gives in and tries it out. But I am not going to hold my breath. In the meantime, Megan is taking FULL advantage of having her own personal food dishes that he doesn't bother, lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guess it's just one of "those" things then. There is always a reason. We just can't always see things thru their eyes no matter how observant we are or how hard we try. Good to hear at least that he seems to be getting less nervous.

 

That stand is much to gorgeous to miss out on. Glad Megan, at least is a happy camper. That is one very nice thing about having m/t one fid to appreciate our efforts!

Edited by birdhouse
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a beautiful stand and sure to please once he has adjusted to it, you know, being that it wasn't his idea in the first place. It's kind of nice to see Megan being the queen of their domain for the time being. Soon his reluctance will give way to curiosity and he will act as though its no big deal and you will believe you made ip the whole thing about him being startled by a change. It's an awesome play stand and great idea to have a playroom.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...