Photos of Lucy

[LucyParrot]

Photos of Lucy spanning 15 years.....   She comes on holiday with us whenever possible.  We originally used a basic cat cage (with a perch) for travel, but then had it modified with a side door and gaps for food & water bowls.  The side door is great as it allows access for food etc without lifting the main lid and allowing instant escape!   We also have a flat pack dog cage which is much larger for destinations such as rented holiday accommodation which sits on a camp table.   She is loves chicken bones out of which she get the marrow.  . 

[Timbersmom]

Lucy is a beautiful bird!

[Greywings]

Love her spa set up! Well traveled and well photographed. Thank you for sharing her with us!

[PapillonDeNuit]

Aaaww, Lucy's beautiful! I get so nervous when people take their birds outside, untethered and out of the cage! Are her wings clipped? Many years ago, we had a close call with our sun conure. She was outside on my stepdad's shoulder. Something startled her, and she took off! Being the smart bird she was, she flew around to the front of the house and hung out by the door, calling until we got her.

Please keep Lucy safe! ❤️

[LucyParrot]

Yes, she regularly has her wings clipped, and generally a pedicure at the same time to save my hand from becoming a pin cushion.   However, Covid 19 has interrupted the normal visit (we are both high risk so keeping away from other home sapiens as much as possible) so she is nearly a full flight bird.   However, and this is the downside of being in a cage most of their lives, the more they don't use their wings as much as they were designed to,  the less they are able to.  Imagine being laid up with a broken leg in plaster; after 6 weeks or so you have lost muscle mass.  Now escalte that to 15 years.    We have been having "flight training" in the  garden of late - now she has so many primaries to give lift - as a means of her getting a lot more exercise.    Even though she has most of her wing feathers she still cannot fly far and cannot control landing that well. Essentially she has a controlled plummet.   No hurt, just a downward glide.   Just after 3 "flights" at about 3 - 5 m ( with a little breather in between) she is breathing heavily.   I saw on the internet last year a device in the US which was effectively a 'bird leash' to allow free flight but could prevent flying away.  I think I will put a new topic on that to see if anybody else has tried it and if so what success.  

[PapillonDeNuit]

Oooooooh, that sounds cool as hell! A flight leash! The big question is, can you get the harness on your bird and keep all your fingers? Even if I could, I would still worry about predators. Hello, anxiety!

We're fortunate enough that our living room as a high ceiling with an upstairs balcony. So whenever I take Timmy upstairs, I toss him, and he flies up to said balcony. Then I gotta run and get his perch before he poops!

[LucyParrot]

I have asked for user experience of this on the Grey Lounge, and would appreciate if anybody reading this can help.    One that seems to have good reviews on  Google is the "Aviator"  from "parrot university".   Believe it or not there is even a Wikipedia article on the subject   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parrot_harness) with a pic of one bird riding on motorbike on a perch with a harness in Taiwan.   When she was young I used to try giving her longer flights on our estate grounds.  Only she disappeared completely one day, even though she never went up only along and down.     I searched everywhere until it was dark and was distraught.   Up at dawn the next day I found her by her red tail, clinging onto reeds by the side of the little lake we have.   My guess is she landed there out of sight and did not move except to climb up.    I never tried it again after that.     Ironically we also have a group of about 6 ringtail parakeets living wild on the residential estate (apparently there are little groups of them all over Johannesburg) and  just the other day our bird table got visited by a lovebird. 

[SRSeedBurners]

The aviator is probably the most used and recommended harness.   I have 6 of them, one for each bird.   Our Grey will constantly chew on hers unless I keep her very distracted, so I've had to buy a few of them for her.

[LucyParrot]

Thx.  Why am I not surprised at that you have 5 well behaved (presumably non AG) and one naughty, chewing Grey!    Fortunately I have actually found someone in SA that stocks them and in the process of ordering, but it's good to get positive feedback from an actual user.   From what I can see they are essentially 10 or 12 mm flat braid  with a little buckle.   When I get one I intend to measure it to death so that when the enviable happens (chewed) I know how to repair or totally replace if necessary.