Tanner Picture

[Tycos_mom]

Yes I agree he really needs to get home a Pet store is no place for any animal for any length of time. He does seen to be trying to develop a bond with you I think once you get him home the 2 brains thing will stop and he will be alot more comfortable. I'm sure haveing a million different faces stareing at you all day long does not help he confidence level he needs a rotine and a flock he can call his own then he will be a happy bird.

[BaxtersMom]

From listening to you guys talk it sounds like these are such wonderful birds. I seen one in a pet shop about a month ago and he was a total clown. I asked them to get him out for me and they did. He came to me and bit me real hard :laugh: but with the lady in the pet store he laid back in her arms on his back while she tickled him and it was the cutest thing. They sounds like they would be so much fun to have around but I have my hands full as it is;) Wish I knew someone close that had so I could visit.

[Tycos_mom]

:)Ok I'm dieing to hear how your visit went today I've bee waiting long enough now. Was he excited to see you. Do you think he's starting to recognise you as a more frequent visitor now. You should try taking some kind of special treat with you like somethig the store doesn't give him. I know Gizmo just adores walnuts he will come out and stand on the door of his cage for a walnut. I try not to use bribary with my birds because i don't want them to turn into black mailors I find lots of praise works just as good. Since Tanners not home yet I figure a little bribary won't hurt and he would probubly love to have a little treat. Anyway I'm waiting to hear how your visit went today so when you have time please fill us in. Thanks

 

Post edited by: Tycos_mom, at: 2008/11/10 03:14<br><br>Post edited by: Tycos_mom, at: 2008/11/10 09:17

[LindaMary]

Hey all, my visit with Tanner yesterday was another little step forward. I think he's definitely figured out that I'm coming in to see him especially (I think most of the other birds in the room have, too ). I let Mary hang out with him by herself for about ten minutes yesterday (I want him to start getting used to the idea that she and I go together), and she pointed out to me that when I leave the room, he squawks. Otherwise he's just saying a running stream of "hello" intermixed with a few baby chirps, kissy noises, and a purring sound that I'm not sure I haven't taught him. I had thought of that idea of maybe bringing him in a treat, Pat - for now I think I'm going to stick with the big praise award when he makes progress: like yesterday when he *almost* stepped up on my fingers. I don't know, tho - I 'm still thinking about it. I've been using your iron-fist routine, too - thank you for that tip! because I gave blood last weekend, too, and I don't want to get too jumpy about him biting me. He actually tolerates my fist right inside the cage now, reaches out to lick it or beak it, but with more relaxed body language. He pulled my hand into the cage several times yesterday, and then he will hold onto my index finger and snuggle his head into my cupped palm - it's soooo cute! I think the racket from the other birds winds him up actually - toward the end of my visit yesterday, the pair of quakers they have in there started competing for Decibel Masters with the three conures and the scarlet macaw, and he was clearly more nervous. Well, heck, so was I! When I left, I heard that squawk Mary was telling me about for the first time - like he was saying "don't go!" This is going to be a hard couple of weeks waiting!

 

I may get a chance to go see him again today, as my brother's in town from Texas for one day - he brought my mother back to town - so I have taken the day off of work - and my mother and brother would both like to go see him. I wish I could go in every day.....

[BaxtersMom]

It would be so hard to wait to bring him home but atleast you can visit him and it's not too far off. That is so sweet he squaks for you when you leave but how heartbreaking too. It would be so hard to leave without him. This is going to be one special Thanksgiving for all of you though. Especially Tanner. Won't he be surprised when the day has finally arrive that he doesn't have to squak when you leave cuz he is going home too:)

 

I was wondering if the employess are working with Tanner too. Do they get him out and give him attention during the day?

 

I can't wait untill he comes home and can't wait to hear all about it:) It's going to be exciting.

[LindaMary]

You know Erika, I think that's one of the problems here: this store used to have about a third again as many employees as they do now. I often have to wander around a bit to find someone to unlock Tanner's cage for me, becaue everyone who is still there is clearly maxed-out busy - there's no apparent idle time. The people there are very helpful and willing, but it's clear to me they are overextended. So I think the birds are getting less attention from the staff than they used to, and it shows. The Boss Bird Lady (as I call her)really cares about the birds, and right now she is clearly willing to deal when she sees a good home option for one of the birds like Tanner who's been around for over a year - she came right down on the price for me. I notice they are not bringing in so many baby birds now either - and they are letting some of the empty cages stay empty for now. I know it's this economy that's got the store "pulling in its wings" as it were - but it's so hard to see its effect on the feathered victims, you know?

[Tycos_mom]

ya thats sad that the birds have to suffer because there are not enough staff. It also makes it very difficult for novice potentcal bird owners to want to buy them. who wants a bird that bites and is cage bound not to many people that I can think of. unless of course you belong to this forum and have access to a wealth of information to help you through the tough part. If your totally new to birds a cage bound bird is not the kind of bird you should buy thats for sure. I'm so glad things are going well for you and Tanner it sound like he's really taken a shine to you. Gizmo squawks when I leave the room also. I glad to hear that Tanner no longer trys to bite your fist thats great They really seem to like to use their tongue I find Gizmo does the same thing he licks my fist when I have it in the cage with him. I hope you don't have the problums I'm haveing after you bring him home. I can't seem to get him to come out of his cage anyfarther then the top of his door and if I try to close the door when he's on it he scoots back in really quick. I really have to get his wings clipped so I can get him away from that cage I can't achieve the results I want if he's to afraid to leave his safty zone. My Daughter went to Seatle to see a concert a couple days ago but when she gets back I'm going to get her to help me clip his wings. then if I have to I will towel him so I can work with him in another room.

[LindaMary]

Hey all, I got to go see Tanner again last night because my mother and brother wanted to be introduced. Turned out it was a good time to go because the store was pretty quiet. He was just a doll with me the whole time last night - as soon as he saw me he started the upchucking routine, even tho I told him Thank-you-but-I'm-going-to-get-my-own-dinner-soon.. He wouldn't come out of his cage, but he really spent most of the time at the door, and was all about the "holding hands" and snuggling his head into my palm for most of the visit. He also kind of sat right down on his bum so he could get both his feet around my fingers a few times, but if I started to try to lift him up, he'd step right off again. He also is letting me move my fist around inside his cage a lot more without it seeming to make him nervous - like he's expanding the territory I'm allowed in. (His central perch is still the no-go zone.) I came away from last night feeling very upbeat - we seem to be making steady progress. He squawked like mad when I started to leave - it was pretty heartrending. :( I am really curious to see how he adapts when I bring him home. He still has a real aversion to leaving that cage, but I wonder how he will be when he gets into a brand new unfamiliar cage. I'm trying to figure out whether I can bump up his coming-home date a bit and get him out of there sooner...

 

I'm sure you must be frustrated, Pat - sounds like leaving his cage is a real hurdle for Gizmo, but I'll bet once you get him into another room things will leap to another level. Is it your teenage daughter who you are going to have help you clip his wings? Another thing that was cool about last night was that Mary stayed home and put Maxi to bed while I went with my mother and brother to see Tanner, and apparently that went just fine. Maxi really has become a very settled and sweet little girl, and she's been much more open to Mary handling her as much as me lately, too. I have to admit it's really nice to come home to a bird who loves to come out of her cage and steps up like a charm!

[Tycos_mom]

No its my 21 year old daughter that I'm going to get to help me clip Gizmos wings. I did have a bit of a reprieve this morning he came out of his cage and sat on top of it for about 10 minutes I guess he really wanted to spend time with me. we played and tug of war and had a little dance together then I sat down on the chair beside his cage and put the Towel on my knee he came right over and put one foot and his beak on the towel but as soon as I said step up he move back to the top of his cage. I should learn to keep my big mouth shut some times I think he might of come and sat on my knee if I had not reminded him what he was doing. any way I took that as a good sign that he is starting to want to come and be with me. I'm so glad that Tanner is comming around Mabie he will be better with a new cage and different surrondings. Gizmo got more cage bound. My friend in Prince George that got me Gizmo took Him to her house for a couple weeks before I got him home and she said that he always sat on top of the cage door and never wanted to go into his cage. well here he has a huge cage and tons of toys and I can't get him to come out. I was thinking I might take All toys out of his cage and put them on the outside of it Mabie then he'll come out and play. I almost ready to try anything. I don't think you will have to many problems. I think once Tanner is away from all the different people that point and stare at him all day long and there is just you and your family around he will be much more relaxed and comfortable. like I said a pet store is no place for a bird to spend any amount of time. he has no flock to call his own there and to a bird that must be a scary thing. no wonder he doesn't want to venture out of his safety zone. Its sounds like he has chosen you to be part of his flock since he looks forward to you comeing and hates it when you leave the sooner he is home the better.

Right now I have Gizmo on top of his cage I locked the door so he can't go in I hung a huge boing from the ceiling beside his cage and a few toys. I'm hopeing being out for a few hours will get him to be more confident about it.

[BaxtersMom]

It is too bad that the pet store is understaffed so he is really lucky that he has a regular visitor. Little does he know you are to be his new mom:)

 

I'm sure he will be thrilled when the day has finally come he gets to come with you. Did you say you might bump up the date??? What day are you hoping for. Next week maybe? That would be great.

 

I have to tell you guys I am really liking this other birds room. I'm afraid I'm spending more time in this room than the others lately. Ooops :whistle:

[Tycos_mom]

I;m afraid I'm guily of the same thing these days I think its because Linda, you and I have something in common to write about and share these days and our new birds are other birds not African Greys so this is where our intrest lies at the moment. I still goe and check out the other rooms and give a helping hand if I can but right now this room is very interesting to me and to you also by the sounds of things.

[LindaMary]

I hear you, guys: I'm doing the same thing - and I think your take on it is is right on target, Pat. But outside the forum I also worry about how adding Tanner to my little family is going to affect Maxi and my relationship with her - and that's a subject where the both of you and your experience are going to be very important to me, I think. When you get a chance - both of you! - tell me a little bit about how your greys are reacting to seeing a little less of you and hearing the new bird (since I assume Cooper's still in quarantine, too...). I know it will be different because both of your greys are also already accustomed to sharing you with other birds, whereas Maxi is the first bird here and my princess. I know she will be the alpha girl, and I know that my own attitude should be "this change is going to happen but everything's going to be just fine" - which basically IS my attitude - but any insights you can offer will be welcome! (She's over here behind me on her cage saying "Good girl":P )

[BaxtersMom]

Yes, Cooper is still in quarantine. He is in the dining room and my other guys are in the front of the house. After seeing the filth he had to live in I was a bit concerned about his health but I think he is fine but still keep him away from my other guys.

 

Baxter my grey was my first and he is still my "top bird" and I'm sure he always will be. The lost conure came and I tried to quarantine him but Bonkers had other ideas. I could not keep him off of Baxters cage (he is expert flyer;) ) and the quarantine was blown. I tried & tried to keep them separated but Baxter didn't even seem to mind so I quit fighting it. They are buddies and Bonkers hangs out on Baxters cage half the day. And I quit making a big deal out of it. I have noticed though when I wanted Bonkers off Baxters cage and I would be raising my voice saying "You come here, Get off his cage" and stuff like that Baxter would team up with me and go after Bonkers:ohmy: . But if I didn't mind, Baxter didn't either. If I would have kept it up I think I would have taught Baxter to be aggressive with Bonkers and I don't want that.

 

Tigger, my eclectus, I did not quarantine either because he had been at the vet prior to me getting him. Baxter didn't mind Tigger either. He would watch me when I talked to him and pay attention to him but didn't see any signs of jealousy or aggression. Bonkers is the only one who wants to visit. Baxter is fine with it but Tigger will growl at him and Bonkers quickly makes a u turn in flight and goes somewhere else:laugh:

 

I did always and still do make sure Baxter got the first greeting of the day, the first food and water, the first snack, the first petting and last to go to bed, so he didn't really have to be jealous. That seemed to work out good.

 

I was really worried about how I would divide the time up between them but it was actually alot easier than I thought it would be. Baxter is not a morning bird and does not really want any attention from me untill late afternoon or evening. Tigger on the other hand wants attention during the day and he goes to bed on his own around 8 pm. So their schedules work out for me really well:) They kind of decided what their schedules would be. I did feel guilty at first though anytime I would pick up Tigger, I thought Baxter would have resentment but he didn't show any signs of it. When I got Tigger I did kind of feel like I was betraying Baxter but it was really all in my head. I actually think Baxter likes having other birds around him.

 

I do think it is important to not make a big fuss over them being together and act like it is natural. I have heard so many other people say their birds do not get along and can not be let out at the same time. I am so lucky I have not had this problem at all. Maybe it's the birds themselves or maybe because I didn't act like there was a problem so there wasn't one. I leave all my birds cage doors open and they come and go as they please in and out of their cages. They don't fly off the cage very often either.

 

Cooper is the only bird I have that has clipped wings because I seen from the start when we had him out of his cage he was always looking for somewhere to fly to. And he jumped off our hand and flew wildly a couple of times. I am hoping that when his feathers grow back out we won't have to clip him again. :unsure:

 

Another thing is sometimes I take both Baxter and Tigger to my office when I work and I have a wood shelf cabinet that I open the doors on and sit Baxter on one side and Tigger on the other and they have never seemed upset about it:)

 

Baxter, Bonkers & Tigger are in my front room and their cages are only about a foot away from eachother too. They all seem happy with the arrangements:) I am not sure I even have enough room for Cooper to go in there without rearranging furniture but still have a ways to go on that.

[LindaMary]

Thank you for the detailed reply, Erika! I think you are probably right that (1) you are very lucky to have ended up with at least three birds whose personalities just seem to mesh quite well, and (2) your own attitude has really helped that along. Somewhere in one of these posts recently I remember reading that you grew up dealing with bad-mannered horses, and although I have much less experience with horses I have enough to know how sensitive they are to the human's attitude, too, and how HUGE a difference it can make when you are handling them.

 

If I'm not mistaken, you have acquired this 4-bird flock over a pretty short period of time, haven't you? How long have you actually had Baxter?

[Tycos_mom]

Erica is right Don't make a big deal about it and neither will your birds I have 7 bird and all though Gizmo for now is separated from the rest he to will become part of this flock. All six of my birds cages are opened at the same tome 8am and closed at 8pm they are all out together all day long they are a flock they don't fight or get aggresive with each other. I never worried about stuff like that it takes about a month I find for them to except a new bird but after that its not a big deal I have 2 cockateils a Grey and an Amazon all in the same room together and all fully flighted if I thought their would be any problems I guess I would not do it. I always get a new bird clipped once just until they get to know the rotine and to give the other birds that are here a chance to except then into the flock. after thier wings grow ot they are free to go where they want. THe more you try to separate your birds and keep them apart the more trouble your going to have with them becomeing flock members like every thing they will learn who they like and who they don't like and they will have frienships or not but they will learn not to attack one another if you don't make a big deal aabout it neither will they.

[LindaMary]

Thanks to you, too, Pat! My mother and I were talking about it last night and I said I guess it's really like adding children to your family one by one - you simply expect that they will learn to live together in peace. (In fact that's the first thing I did when I started seriously thinking of adopting Tanner : had a long conversation with Mary about it and sussed out her feelings on the subject of having another feathered "sibling".) Tanner's wings are clipped at present, and Max's are just starting to grow out, so I expect that will aid the transition. I plan to leat Tanner fledge as well, but he'll be a bit behind Maxi in the process in any case.

 

I really appreciate the input from both of you - it's very reassuring. :)

[BaxtersMom]

It's all going to work out fine for you when you bring Tanner home. And as for your questions, yes I did list in another post that I worked with race horses and had to really stand my ground or could get hurt real bad.(I even lived at the tracks at racing seasons, it was a blast) I seen others that were so scared of horses and they really can tell. And the other one, yes I have gotten all my flock in a short period of time starting with Baxter. He was my (early) birthday present and he came to live with me on July 13th of this year. I knew I would get another one large parrot in the future and then my neighbor brought over a lost Conure, we couldn't find the owner so we took him in and he runs the house now:evil: :laugh: , we thought that might curb our urge for another parrot but it didn't and I found Tigger online and I just love how they look. I wanted him but decided against it, thought the time just wasn't right so I gave up on it, I almost had him out of my head and was okay about it and the guy called me back so I went and looked at him and fell in love immediately and took him home:) My husband seen an dyh at a bird show and wanted one of those and that's where Cooper came in.

 

Baxter is pretty much my personal bird, my husband can handle him but I think I was so protective of him when he came home and did everything with him. I was determined he would choose me as his chosen personB) Bonkers likes my husband best but will go to any shoulder he can find. He is a pest, like the little nieghbor kid that never goes home:laugh: But he has his special place too. Tigger will go to either me or my husband and he is probably the sweetest bird we have. And now Cooper, other than me getting him out of his cage my husband does most of the work with him. I am trying to stay out of it for awhile so they can bond but it's really hard;)

 

So we got all these birds starting in mid July and added one member about 1 month apart. :woohoo: Crazy huh. I work from the house though so I have a lot of time to spend with them all. At the current moment, I do not have any urges to add to my flock. Plus I am out of room in my house now with all these cages:(

[Tycos_mom]

Boy do I know how you feel about runing out roomwith all these cages. I have I have 3 large birds That all have huge Macaw size cages, then I have Raja a mediam size bird with what most people would classify a good size cage for an African Grey. My cockateils have large cages and so does m Conure they are all keeped in separate cages and they take up a ton of room. My house has an open concept and its fairly big. but I am definatly at my limit for a while I want to turn one of my bedrooms into a birdroom but right now I have my 21 year old daughter staying with til she gets on her feet again. So right now there are 7 birds 4 dog (one belongs to my daughter) 1 teenager and 2 adults living here. My daughter was suposed to move last month and the month before that so who knows when she's really going to go.So I can have that room. She mover out last February and moved back home in august for what was oly suppose to be a month so I don;t know when my birds will get a room of their own. when she finally move this time i'm going to move my birds into that roon right a way so I then I won;t have room anymore.

[Maviarab]

Both beautiful birds.