Brand New To This Wonderful Place!

[MizNonny]

MizNonny here! Just wanting to say hello, and test my wings on this site! I'm not great with computers so this is going to be a learning experience for me. I hope you'll all be patient. As stated in my newly created "profile", I have a one year old CAG, named "Bindi". When she arrived in her traveling kennel, at the Portland, OR Airport, a year ago this past August, she was fully weaned and 4 months old. I opened the little door, expecting her to be terrified, but she hopped right into my waiting arms! She scrambled onto my chest, and snuggled up close, under my chin...and right smack into my heart. After a long cuddle, the "happy-tears" finally subsided, and I offered her my finger and she stepped RIGHT up. I reached for her waiting water bowl, in the traveling cage I'd prepared in advance, and as she drank I took my first good look at her. I was surprised to see that this precious little girl had a bright red dot, right in the middle of her forehead! It looked like a pretty "bindi"; the decorative red dot which traditional Indian women place in the middle of their foreheads, in India. I turned to my girlfriend who'd volunteered her services as our "Bringing-Home-Baby" Chauffeur, and said, "Why, LOOK! She has a BINDI!! Thus, the name for my beautiful girl, was born! Turns out, she'd been marked with a bright red "Sharpie", back at the shop where I'd bought her, on the east coast, to indicate to everyone that THIS little baby had been SOLD! So, her "bindi" didn't last forever...but the name stuck...and it fits her, perfectly.

Bindi is incredibly sweet, and in the year that I've had her, has NEVER even ATTEMPTED to bite! She sometimes lunges with her face toward strangers as though she MIGHT bite, but she simply wants to explore with her sweet, rubbery tongue! I love her with all my heart...and will keep everyone posted as she grows into a big girl! Her "main" cage is right near my bed, in my room, where I spend most of my time. She has another cage in the kitchen, where she watches as I prepare her food, and do the other necessary chores around here. She didn't like her EXPENSIVE manzanita "play tree", that I ordered, on-line, for her this summer. So I'm looking for something a bit smaller for her to frolic and play on when I'm moving around our small cottage. Years ago, when I had birds, they were rarely caged when I was home, so the goal is for Bindi to have as much freedom as possible, once her wings are clipped. Because, I'm not as fast as I once was, and since I have a galoot of a Great Dane, youngster...I cannot trust that she will be safe, flying around here, at will, with unclipped wings. She ARRIVED clipped, a year ago...but of course her wings are fully grown-out, now. She soars like an EAGLE, whenever she's out...and although she flies like....well, a BIRD (!!)...her landings are not so good! She used to be content to just hang out on the top of her cage, whenever she was out, but she out-grew THAT habit, and only wants to be with ME...or Carter, when she gets a taste of freedom, now. She has no fear and takes off with purpose, usually landing right between Carter's big paws, about 2 inches under his chin! NOT GOOD! He's still a puppy and although he means well, one NEVER knows. So, I either have to lock HIM away...when she's out...(and put up with the resulting CRYING, at the top of his lungs) OR, she has to be in her cage, much more than I'd like her to be. Hopefully when we get a bigger home, we can change all of that.

The only Avian Vet we had in the area, closed down her practice, due to illness, RIGHT when Bindi arrived, so I've been looking for a new one, ever since. However the closest one is nearly 2 hours away. My vision is very poor, and I don't drive much, anymore...so...it's been difficult and worrisome, this past year. My son recently bought a house in the Seattle area, so I plan to sell our cottage and move there, first thing in the spring, to be close to him. I've already checked out the Avian Vet scene, there...and am packed up and ready to go. Once my cottage sells, I'll be picking out a home, close enough to get to the vets for BOTH of my critters, easily and quickly, once we're moved in and settled. Having a good vet close by, has always been a priority for me, so when the Avian vet, here, had to close down her practice, it caught all the local bird-people by surprise, and saddened us, greatly. Bindi's first appointment had been scheduled for two days after her arrival, but the vet closed down suddenly, so Bindi has never been seen. That worries me to no end.

Again, I'm so glad to have found this site, and hope to be able to meet as many of you, as possible. I'll certainly post pictures, if I can ever figure out how to DO it!

[Luvparrots]

Very nice and informative intro of Bindi. Looking forward to getting to know you both. I live across the River in Washougal, WA. I totally love this fine area. Welcome to the Grey family!

[Ray P]

That was a great intro about you and Bindi and we will look forward to pictures.

Any way welcome to the grey forum to the both of you. You will find that this is a great bunch of parrot lovers here and not for just greys but all species.

Edited September 29, 2014 by Ray P

[Acappella]

Thanks for the great info and welcome to you and Bindi, (and Carter. I love Danes but could never own one). I identify with your vet worries. My closest Avian vet also stopped practice abruptly. I have a 'bird friendly' one right in town here, but my closest Avian is now two hours away. I'm not a big fan of clipping, but I don't have any useful suggestions as to how else you should deal with Bindi's potentially dangerous attraction to Carter. Maybe someone else will. Have fun reading around the forum.

[Guest]

Welcome Nice intro...I love how she got her name.

[Greytness]

Welcome to the forum! Bindi sounds like a phenomenal CAG!

 

I, too, am not a fan of clipping. I have 4 German Shepherds that I keep separated from my 8 fids whenever they're out. We put up a gate up across our dining/kitchen area, and have hung a curtain rod across the top of it. Whenever they're out, all we do is close the curtain and gate, and voila! No intermingling! You might want to try something like that so that Bindi can continue to enjoy soaring.

 

Looking forward to hearing more about Bindi. Pictures soon! :-)

[Timbersmom]

Hello and welcome to you and Bindi! Thanks for the comprehensive info. I'm looking forward to hearing more about you and your life with Bindi. Good luck on your move!

[Dave007]

A great big welcome to BF.

 

Concerning the manzanita stand......... Many birds don't like them because of their smoothness. Some birds can't grip without slipping so if you get a chance, find a handsaw and start cutting lines in the wood. Put lots of lines in and do it in all directions and the underside of the branches. That'll make the wood easier to grip.

Have a good time here.

[Greytness]

Or you can wrap the branches with vet wrap!

[JeffNOK]

Wonderful introduction! I can feel you enthusiasm and am so happy that your relationship with little Miss Bindi is so close. I look forward to hearing more of your life with your grey. So much is yet to come! I understand your concerns about the interaction between your grey and your Great Dane. I am not sure to what degree clipping or not clipping will help. As a young dog, your Great Dane is full of energy and curiosity and due to his size he can do damage without intent. If they are in the same room, even your clipped grey can still end up near your dog--possibly on the floor and vulnerable. Ciipping might help keep you grey on perches and less inclined to explore, but it might not. Whatever you decide, I can only advise vigilant observation and supervision. My CAG Gracie lives with me without a dog, but we often visit my parents who have a Toy Fox Terrier (11 pounds--Your Dane could swallow him in two bites ) The dog is wary of Gracie and avoids her, but sometimes Gracie flies and tries to land on his head--NOT GOOD. Whenever the dog is in the room with the bird, someone is there with him to deflect any of Gracie's landing attempts. Does your Grey seek out the dog? Is Bindi actively engaging your dog? Does your dog seek out your grey? It seems most dogs respect the parrot and stay on the sidelines, but if your dog gets excited and wants to play--well that would be a recipe for disaster. I know you don't want to separate them or keep one or the other behind doors, but if you sense any hint of risk, that may be necessary. Clipping may seem like a solution, but I wouldn't want to you rely on that as an assurance of safety. I wish you the best and am eager to read updates.

[MizNonny]

Thank-you, so much, for the warm welcome! I'm having so much fun on this site, already, that I must admit, I'm already obsessed! Last evening I began reading through the different forums...not knowing exactly where I should go, first. It didn't seem to matter WHERE I started because everything I read was so interesting! Some of you made me laugh out-loud, other stories and conversations touched my heart...while still others taught me a ton of things I'd never even thought of before! I can see already that I'm going to have to pace myself, because before I knew it, the sun was peeking through the shutters! I'd been reading the WHOLE night through! Not a good thing, since my little girl was beginning to stir! So, I didn't get a lot done today...because I was so tired, and I spent most of trying to slip in a nap, every time Bindi was napping! My dog, Carter, seemed rather puzzled as to why the two women in his life, spent the day snoozing, but he just snuggled right next to me, and only woke up when WE did, so a quiet day was had, by all three of us! I have tons of questions for some of the people who post here, but I'll wait...do a little more reading to find out if some of my questions have already been asked....and answered by others! Meanwhile, I'm going to try to learn to use my phone to take some pictures. I also have some concerns about my little girl's beak...but I think I need to ask you all about that in a different place, so once I figure out WHERE that IS...I'll post, again! Thank you, again...to EVERYONE, for sharing so many of your wonderful stories & pictures!

[murfchck]

Welcome and really great introduction you gave us all! The red dot had me giggling because that sounds like something that would happen to me!

The smooth wood is an issue here for my greys but I found that by wrapping a boing around it to give them something to grip and also gives them the rope to chew, did the trick.

As for the dogs, we have 4 but they are small dogs. One hides in a room when the birds are out, she is scared of them, another is blind so she tends to stay in the room with her buddy. The other two are Chihuahua's, they like to tease the birds and temp their fate of getting bit. Only one bite to a dog and that was by our cockatoo who thought Abby was a stuffed toy and grabbed her by the head and started shaking the stuffing out of her. We were very lucky and no skin was even broken, but there is a new respect for the umbrellas by the dogs now. We had the clipping debate because of the dogs but the thought that if we did clip and a dog cornered any of them, if they had their wings they would have a chance to escape. Without that ability, they would be sitting ducks.

[Inara]

Welcome, Nanny, Bindi, and Carter! What a great introduction, felt like I was along for the ride with you these past few months. So glad that you found us. We're a lot like a gaggle of Aunties and Uncles who love updates, pictures, and swapping adventures and advice.

 

Love how Bindi got her name; a very cute story. My Inara is fully flighted and lives with our Rhodesian Ridgeback. Over the past year, both have come to accept one another as members of the household, but I never leave them together unattended. Once Dez figured out that wherever Inara was, food bits were likely to be dropped, her attitude towards Inara became very relaxed. That being said, a couple of weeks ago, Inara started seeking Dezi out, by either flying over to where Dezi is lying down, or by sliding down the pole of one of her mobile perches and walking over to Dezi. Inara doesn't appear to do this with any intent to beak at Dez, but Dez is a bit disconcerted by it as is apparent by that telltale 'what the heck am I supposed to do' expression on her face. So, I just make sure that I walk over to where they both are and while letting Inara explore near Dez, I keep myself positioned to ward off any nose to beak exchanges.

 

My first CAG lived with two different afghan hounds (who also have strong prey drives) and got along great with both of them, but again I never left them unsupervised. My brother used to have a budgie that couldn't fly, so walked everywhere, and his German Shepherd would lie down and let Grundoon walk onto his head and he would give him a ride back to his cage. So a lot depends on the dog and the bird.

 

A great thread for you to read would be Danmcq's one on the different ages/stages and what to expect. Many sweet little fluff balls grow up to be big sweet feathered friends, and some grow up to be more aloof and independent. Nature dictates that at some point, Bindi may want to be more independent and may or may not become more assertive about her likes and dislikes when it comes to interactions, so just be aware, don't take it personally, and know that you will continue to grow together over the years. I will see if I can find that link for you and will edit this post to add it.

 

Can't wait to hear more about you, Bindi, and Carter (love Danes!) and to see photos. If you need help with adding photos:

 

1) click the little icon in the menu that looks like a picture with a little tree.

2) choose the 'from computer' tab

3) then hit the 'select file' button

4) navigate to where you have the photos stored on your computer

5) choose a photo and click 'open'

5) then click 'upload file" and you're done.

 

EDIT: Link to Grey's Changes Over the Years

Edited September 30, 2014 by Inara