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[Echo's Mom]

Good afternoon all!

 

I have an almost 7-year old TAG that I've had since she was about 5 months old.

 

She's a great parrot, and I'm very thankful that I don't have 90% of the problems that I keep reading and hearing about!!!

 

Just this past weekend I decided to go "cageless" with Echo. I have to admit cleaning a bird cage is NOT on my list of things I like to do. And, I'm very fortunate in that Echo has her own bird room (Echo and I share space - my computer and sewing room are in the same room as her). She is fully flighted, and has yet to destroy things that cannot be replaced, or easily repaired.

 

I bought two long tables so the total length is 15 feet and placed newspaper all over the bottom. Put two of her perches on the tables, and in the corner, put a small end table on the table, and then put a 3x3x3 foot travel cage. This is now her sleeping cage. She has two perches, a food and water bowl, a shreddable toy and that's it!

 

She is out of her cage at 6 a.m. and quite amusingly, she now puts herself to bed around 8 - in her cage and last night she even closed the door!

 

She is not a huge talker, she does get going every now and then, but she is SUPER camera shy ... every time I try to take a pic of her doing something, she just stops.

 

Funny greys!

 

Echo and I share our home with a cat and a dog as well (pics below).

 

[neoow]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

 

Beautiful photos of your pets.

 

How does Echo get on with your dog and cat? Do they have to be separated or can they be in the same room?

[Luvparrots]

Love your Avatar picture of Echo! And a very nice intro. Looking forward to learning more about your companions. By the way, I love your shepherd mix; quite gorgeous.

[Echo's Mom]

Echo got along BEAUTIFULLY with my last two cats and my last dog. Seriously, they were the best of buds. She would preen the cats / dogs heads, ears, feed them her food, call the dog, get the dog to do tricks, it was wonderful to watch them interact.

 

Sadly, my current cat Raylan (who is part siamese) has WAY too much interest in Echo. He is declawed (I got him from a cat sanctuary in October last year, he's about 4-5 years old) but I'm pretty sure he had to eat birds and mice to survive before someone found him.

 

Kyleigh, my long coat german shepherd (NOPE, not a mix!) believes that Echo is lunch in a box. And that would be her lunch.

 

While my dog is very well trained, and very well behaved, Echo is fully flighted, and has never had a negative experience with a cat or dog. With the HUGE amounts of interest that both current cat and dog show Echo (you know ... that fixated stare?) I simply don't trust either one of them with Echo's safety.

 

Echo's room is 15x30 so she has plenty of flying space during the day when I'm at work, and she's out of her cage (she only has a night cage to sleep in). Two to three times a week I bring her upstairs (I put the dog in the backyard, and lock the cat up in my bedroom) and Echo gets to fly around the living / dining and kitchen area. It's a big circle. She swoops around the circle, screeching like a banshee, lands on the chandelier, and then is off again. She does that for about 20 minutes before she tires of that game, and wants to do something different!

 

It's quite the sight and the racket!

[neoow]

I know that stare all too well!

 

Alfie has grown up with a German Shepherd (long haired like yours- but black and yellow as opposed to tan and black) and a moggy cat. He now lives with two crazy bengal cats which both live indoors. I didn't really trust my german shepherd with him and definitely didn't trust our moggy cat as he used to go out and kill birds for fun.

I REALLY don't trust the two bengals. They are so quick and agile I know they'd just pluck him out of the air. So when Alfie is out, they get locked out of the room. I had to turn some door handles upside down to facilitate this though because one of them can open doors!

[Echo's Mom]

I know that stare all too well!

 

Alfie has grown up with a German Shepherd (long haired like yours- but black and yellow as opposed to tan and black) and a moggy cat. He now lives with two crazy bengal cats which both live indoors. I didn't really trust my german shepherd with him and definitely didn't trust our moggy cat as he used to go out and kill birds for fun.

I REALLY don't trust the two bengals. They are so quick and agile I know they'd just pluck him out of the air. So when Alfie is out, they get locked out of the room. I had to turn some door handles upside down to facilitate this though because one of them can open doors!

 

Can you post a pic of your gsd? I know it's a grey forum, but dogs are my second passion!!!!

[neoow]

 

Here are a few of my favourites. We no longer have him. We had to have him PTS in 2009. He had problems with his back legs but fortunately wasn't in pain with it as apparently the nerves were damaged. He'd struggle to get up and would sometimes just suddenly half sit/half fall down as his legs struggled. He'd turn round and look at them as if to say "what are you doing?" - probably because he couldn't really feel what was going on. Despite this he carried on and was otherwise fit and healthy. He wasn't ever in any pain and he would still have days where he acted like a puppy. Unfortunately it eventually caught up with him and got worse and worse and we think he had a stroke overnight. When that happened we had to have him PTS as he wasn't able to stand or walk and his head was tilted to one side and kept quivering.

He was an awesome dog. VERY stubborn when he wanted to be but such a big character. We were all devastated when we lost him, even though he was 13 and we knew it would happen at some point.

[Timbersmom]

Hello and welcome to the forum! Echo is a cutie. I have four cats. They don't take as much interest in Timber as he does in them. That said, I'd never turn my back on any of them when they are out together.

[Echo's Mom]

Neoow - your GSD was gorgeous ... there's something about those long flowing coats that is so pleasing to the eye (and yet, such a PITA to keep pretty!)

[Ray P]

Hi Echo`s Mom, Welcome to the grey forum to you and your flock of feathers and fur.

[neoow]

Neoow - your GSD was gorgeous ... there's something about those long flowing coats that is so pleasing to the eye (and yet' date=' such a PITA to keep pretty!)[/quote']

 

Oh yes, he had a really thick coat so shedding was a nightmare. We would fill bags and bags of fur at that time of year. Probably could have made several jumpers from it

It used to get EVERYWHERE!

[Brat Birds]

Welcome. Echo is adorable. My TAG is just a little older than yours. He ( I think) is not a talker.

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

Just want to make sure, even if you adopt " open cage" belief, your baby always has a cage, and its their home. Bedtime for Sophie... always putting herself to bed... in her cage. Nancy

[Echo's Mom]

Kins2321 - Hello! Yes, she does have a sleeping cage (I did mention that in my original post LOL) ... she puts herself in there for her afternoon naps, and at night when she goes in, she even closes the door!!!!

 

Thanks for bringing it up tho - had I not thought of it, and there were problems, that would have probably been the most likely reason OMG you took away my BED!!!!!