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Ugh, GCC's are perfect. Boyfriend plopped Leeloo down on me when I was in bed and her immediate reaction was "gently caress yeah lets do this nap" And then we did. 
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Jan 21, 2013 18:56
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I nap with my GCCs for hours. I'll prop myself up in bed with a book or game and Zeke and Zoe will just snooze under my neck until I remind them birds have to poop eventually. I LOVE MY BIRDS A LOT. 
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Jan 21, 2013 23:19
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I've taken long naps with Finn multiple times. I sleep on my side usually and he just snuggles up into the crook of my arm and purrs at me while I pet him till I fall asleep Finn is me in a bird's body.
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Jan 22, 2013 00:00
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Been awhile since I've posted in here so I figured I'd do a Lola update! She has been doing very well, I managed to train her out of biting hard which is a relief. She gave me a pretty nasty puncture on the webbing between my thumb and index finger because I wouldn't give her any of my chicken soup but that was weeks ago and she hasn't bitten me hard since then. She will still pick at loose skin on my cuticles and whatnot but that's birds for ya. We had our first clicker training session today and it went really well. She is a pretty timid bird so I started her out on her cage so she would feel a bit more comfortable with me shoving a stick in her face. By the end of the session she wasn't running from the stick anymore and would consistently touch the stick, I'm so proud! Having treats that she goes crazy for really helps, we use dried papaya bits that you can get at the pet store. Plus they are just fiber and moisture so I can stuff my bird full of em without feeling bad. Working on getting her to fly back to her cage or playstand to poop. It's been hit or miss but I hadn't been using a clicker, just praising her and giving her a treat when she poops where she is supposed to along with saying "Go poop!" when she poops. She gets the idea that me saying go poop means I want her to poop but she still has accidents sometimes. Now I'm only giving her treats if she actively moves to where I want her to poop, but I still praise her when she poops where she is supposed to. I have her playstand on my desk so when she is chilling on my knee she will hop to her stand to poop which is great, but she won't fly to her cage to poop when I have her with me on the couch. I think I might need to incorporate some flight training as well or just stop carrying her everydamn where and hopefully she will learn to propel herself instead of being a lazy bird. Anyways, here is a better picture than the last one I posted, you can really see her colors pop in this one. I love the turquoise on the back of her neck. Birds are awesome. Fart Puzzle fucked around with this message at 00:44 on Jan 22, 2013 |
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Jan 22, 2013 00:41
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Holy crap you guys, a Cooper's hawk just tried to eat my birds! A couple of derpatiels and my linnie were sitting on my desk in front of the picture window when suddenly the entire view was filled with angry raptor. He kind of hovered for a bit and then flew to the tree and sat there glaring while we all spazzed for a bit. Fortunately he didn't hit the window and everyone in here seems to be ok. Mostly. Scared cockatiels look like poo poo.  Buffy was totally unconcerned about the whole thing. 
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Jan 22, 2013 02:35
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I get the feeling Buffy was ready to throw down
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Jan 22, 2013 02:38
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Glad all I need to worry about are eagles and ravens! Seriously though I didn't know hawks were that serious about eating pet birds, drat. Lola just crapped on me while I was trying to give her kisses, I really wish she would stop pooping on me as a form of birdy retribution.
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Jan 22, 2013 05:03
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Soooo I got my first bird today. He/she is a cinnamon green cheek conure, I'm probably going to make a appointment with the vet to get a check-up and to get him/her DNA sexed. I have a quick question though, is it okay if he chews on my hair? Well, I think he likes to fun my hair through his beak and he just chews it a little. I also figured out that my dog (11 pound terrier mutt) is still a dog and he tried to have a go at the bird. The bird was sitting on top of his cage and I was sitting on my couch across the room. The bird tries to fly off the top of the cage and flutters to the ground (he's clipped) and my dog dove for him. Luckily he stopped when I yelled at him, scared the living poo poo out of me though. I think he's settling in pretty well, he has given me a few good pinches though. He's a little fearful of my hands but he's gotten so much better in the short amount of time I've had him. By the end of the night he was sitting on my shoulder preening my ear. And he went to bed with much fuss, he just warked a few times then settled down. I love him so much already. <3I just can't think of a name. Any suggestions? Here's a crappy pic:  (don't worry about how small the cage it, I was supposed to get a big cage from UPS today but they moved the delivery date to wednesday  )
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Jan 22, 2013 06:59
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Whelp my mom's Tiel died during the surgery that'd make her stop laying eggs, sucks 2nd Tiel in 8 months, last one got out and this latest one.
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Jan 22, 2013 07:43
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Oh poor Tiel. Sorry to hear that mate  In some brighter news, Ruby was chowing down on the newspapers on the ground today, then decided that it was a great idea to hop into the house plant we have and hide in it, while at the same time destroying the entire plant. She seemed pretty happy, but that poor, poor plant.
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Jan 22, 2013 08:00
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Chewing hair is usually preening. That means he/she loooves you!
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Jan 22, 2013 08:11
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SaNChEzZ posted:Chewing hair is usually preening. What about ripping out stubble, is that preening too? My bird does that way too often
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Jan 22, 2013 10:23
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Slinky Weasel posted:I also figured out that my dog (11 pound terrier mutt) is still a dog and he tried to have a go at the bird. The bird was sitting on top of his cage and I was sitting on my couch across the room. The bird tries to fly off the top of the cage and flutters to the ground (he's clipped) and my dog dove for him. Luckily he stopped when I yelled at him, scared the living poo poo out of me though. Terriers are tiny death machines that will kill small animals given the slightest opportunity. My roommate's extremely docile 15 pound terrier mutt was so abused he was practically catatonic, and he would stop going for the birds when I yelled at him. He still killed my flighted bird when she figured out how to get out of her cage while I was gone for ten minutes. Do not ever, ever, EVER trust your terrier near your bird. In my experience they are more dangerous than cats. Terriers just seem to have a "KILL!" switch in their little heads.
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Jan 22, 2013 10:44
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Scary Ned posted:Do not ever, ever, EVER trust your terrier near your bird. In my experience they are more dangerous than cats. Terriers just seem to have a "KILL!" switch in their little heads. Generation after generation of breeding for that specific purpose is a tough thing to overcome. We have an Am Staff as well, and there has been a few OH poo poo moments (like today when the bird started screaming and my partner started yelling and it turns out the dog was just standing on Squirt by accident) but its been a few weeks with them both now, and the dog is starting to get the idea that eating the bird is a no no. Of course, once they do get acclimatised to each other, there is going to be a saddle made, and a tiny hat and the bird is going to ride the dog and its going to be awesome.
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Jan 22, 2013 12:47
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Grisly Grotto posted:What about ripping out stubble, is that preening too? Thats just bird.
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Jan 22, 2013 17:01
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Frozenfries posted:In some brighter news, Ruby was chowing down on the newspapers on the ground today, then decided that it was a great idea to hop into the house plant we have and hide in it, while at the same time destroying the entire plant. She seemed pretty happy, but that poor, poor plant. I'm so jealous of Ruby, though. My sister always wanted a female eclectus. She wanted to call her Cammie
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Jan 22, 2013 17:07
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I went to a big pet store nearby a few days ago to buy fancy toys and look at cages for my upcoming GCC and they had an African Grey hanging out in their reptile room. He was talking and whistling and after we left, my boyfriend says, "That grey wasn't really all that big..." and I said, "No, but they live for 70 years." He replies, "Well...we could adopt an older one..." This from the guy who said, "You want to get a bird? That's so weird." Bird-crazy is clearly contagious. Also, what would make a good houseplant that could double as a birdy play area? My bird LOVES the Christmas tree but I think pine needles might be toxic and that thing has to come down some time.
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Jan 22, 2013 18:26
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Slinky Weasel posted:
Name it Spice. Or Nutmeg. Unisex names for a cinnamon GCC, who are very spicy little fiends indeed.
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Jan 22, 2013 19:06
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I was writing up Valentines Cards for the GBS mail thread and had a few heart stickers left over. I did what any self respecting bird owner would do and put one on both of my conures' beaks and took pictures. Both Baby and Cheek begrudgingly let me and here are the results: Baby:   Cheeky:  
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Jan 22, 2013 20:50
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Just a note for anyone who is planning to travel with their birds. We just moved from Georgia to Virginia. We placed my African Grey and my Senegal into small travel cages (modified pet carriers). We made sure we fed them well the night before and only offered water during the trip. When we arrived at our destination, their big cages were the first thing unloaded. We placed them into their new room and fed them immediately even though it was about 1 AM. They slept through the night and picked up the next day with no problems. They have a large window in their new home and they LOVE sitting in their cages and looking outside. They are still mad at me for taking them on the trip and I haven't handled them much since we arrived. I've been beaked hard a few times when I stuck my hand into my Senegal's cage. He will get over it. We were best buddies before. Now that I have them here with me and am working a reasonable hours job, I plan to do a little training myself. Pics when I get a chance.
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Jan 22, 2013 20:59
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Psycho_Puppy posted:We just moved from Georgia to Virginia. We made that move too in 2009! 11 hour road trip with a pissed off conure was fun  They'll get over it in a few days.I actually used to make the trip between Atlanta and DC about every 3-4 months or so for a couple years between college and an co-op/internship job with my cockatiel and budgie. They are little road warriors 
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Jan 22, 2013 21:06
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Psycho_Puppy posted:Just a note for anyone who is planning to travel with their birds. We just moved from Georgia to Virginia. We placed my African Grey and my Senegal into small travel cages (modified pet carriers). We made sure we fed them well the night before and only offered water during the trip. When we arrived at our destination, their big cages were the first thing unloaded. We placed them into their new room and fed them immediately even though it was about 1 AM. They slept through the night and picked up the next day with no problems. We moved from Chicago to Denver with our umbrella and he loved it. The worst part actually was having to stay at a friend's house for two days just outside of Chicago where we had already packed up the big cage. We did the best we could to make the travel cage (which is actually fairly spacious) work, but ended up holding him for most of those days. He also really hates eating in the little cage for some reason, so we held the bowl of corn/oatmeal/peas while he ate On the actual roadtrip, we had him situated so that the cage was elevated and occupied an entire window in the middle bench of a Suburban. Dude was happy as could be to watch the countryside go by and hang out with the flock. Driver sat up front, dogs were behind him, and he only screamed once, and that was until he remembered there was actually food inside the cage. He adjusted flawlessly to the new place. Until we put up a new chandelier in the entry hall, he's been giving that thing the stinkeye for nearly 6 weeks now. I guess I don't really have experience with other birds, but I guess I was surprised how easy the transition was for Teeka. Here, have a bonus picture of bird watching me post. Yes, cage is dirty, changing after I finish working (and posting). And I have to keep him caged in the office because we don't have a stand that fits in here yet. 
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Jan 22, 2013 22:03
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Welcome back, Eejit and Psycho_Puppy! I remember you two from lurking the old thread. Pip pip pip posted:I actually used to make the trip between Atlanta and DC about every 3-4 months or so for a couple years between college and an co-op/internship job with my cockatiel and budgie. They are little road warriors Similarly, I recently moved from Albany, NY to New Jersey -- not too far, thank goodness, but toting an elderly cockatiel and a feisty conure. Rosy, the cockatiel, only just now settled into the new house, a month later. Uuggghhh. Amadeus on the other hand used to travel with me very frequently over the last couple years, between upper Manhattan and lower, between my apartment in Albany and my boyfriend's in Nanuet, between PA and NY and back again. He's happy wherever I might be and rubs his beak on my fingers during the road trips.
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Jan 22, 2013 22:14
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Tadhg Dall posted:Also, what would make a good houseplant that could double as a birdy play area? My bird LOVES the Christmas tree but I think pine needles might be toxic and that thing has to come down some time. Here's a good list of safe plants: http://www.liparrotsociety.org/non-toxi.htm And a list of unsafe ones to compare/double check with: http://www.avianweb.com/toxicfoods.html
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Jan 22, 2013 22:34
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I put Fred to sleep today. The appointment was at 430, I got there a little early and they saw right to him. My friend drove me down there, since I was a mess, and she sat with me in a screening room while the vet took Fred. She brought the cage back maybe 10 minutes later and told me that he went *really* fast, right after the anesthesia he just went right to sleep. I guess he knew he could finally rest. She asked if I wanted to see him one more time, and I said yeah. My friend left, cos she didn't want to see him, but I just wanted to give him one more goodbye. She brought him in in a towel, and there he was, eyes closed, peaceful as the day he was born. She left the room and I had a good blubber by his side, said goodbye and came home. I've had him since I was 9 years old. From the days where I couldn't see over a kitchen counter on my own, through high school, awkward interactions with girls, when I went to college (and when I got thrown out), when I moved in with my girlfriend and first brought him to San Francisco, to the rocky days when I lost my girlfriend, my apartment, my job, when I left the country for 2 years to take care of my mum and when I came back, through all of it, there he was. My ex used to get so jealous because she was crazy about him, and he was crazy about her. When she and I would get home from work at the same time, I would come in first and always say "What's up Fred," and he never responded. He didn't care. But when my ex would say "Hi Fred," oh he'd be chirping, jumping from the perches, flapping his wings, you name it. He had a trick where he would have from the cage door with his beak, like "What's up ladies?". But when we had him at the vet - even just to trim his nails - and the vet let go of him, he always ran to me. Every time. When he didn't feel safe, it was always my side he wanted to be by. Even a year ago, I remember meeting with a client about a music video, and we were in my room, seated around my computer. Fred's cage door was open, and he climbed out, onto the dresser table, jumped onto the computer desk and sat directly inbetween me and my client, like he was thinking, "OK you can continue now." Growing up, I never closed his cage door unless I had to. I don't know why, I always just figured that he was doing a great job taking care of himself, so I'd just let him do whatever he wanted. I remember when I was in high school, we had a cocker spaniel named Brandy, who was maybe 14 at the time, and one day I came home from school to find Fred on the kitchen floor, kicking it right next to Brandy, who was fast asleep. That's just how Fred rolled. He loved kids. LOVED them. Just wanted to be around them. I remember when a neighbour had some kids visiting, and Fred started chirping, responding to their noises. I took him out back on my finger and the kids wanted to see him, and he hopped right on their fingers. They'd never held a bird before, and there was Fred just sitting on their fingers, checking them out, showing them what birds were like. When I put out the call that I was going to have to put him down, for three days I had people from all over SF coming to visit him. I got goodbyes from all over the US, from as far as Britain, Portugal and Australia. What a bird! RIP little buddy.   
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Jan 23, 2013 02:20
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I'll really sorry to hear about Fred. Losing a childhood pet is always hard, but you did the right thing for him and prevented him from suffering. I know the circumstances behind your reasoning to let him go were difficult for you, but there was no guarantee treatment would make things vastly better for him. Those pics of him are great, and the last one is especially awesome
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Jan 23, 2013 02:30
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Reading that really hit me. Very sorry to hear about Fred, he seemed like a wonderful companion throughout your life. You did do the right thing though to end his pain.
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Jan 23, 2013 02:38
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I'm very sorry for your loss, bassguitar. Fred sounds like an incredible bird and companion, you were blessed to have each other. Thank you for telling us about him.
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Jan 23, 2013 04:25
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Guys, I think I'm buying another bird. This is like a sickness. On a whim we stopped at a pet store that was called like "Wet pets and friends" or something. I saw some bird cages in the window and figured it was worth a shot. Well, this guy is AWESOME. He buys from local breeders and all the babies are hand raised and sweet as hell. They have a pineapple conure that's two months old and sweet as pie. I was holding it for a really long time and it kept cooing and fluffing up its feathers for head scratches. I really wanted the lady to get back to me about the plucking quaker but that's a huge pain in the rear end that wasn't working out at all. Someone convince me this is a bad idea? You know, even though I have enough cash to take care of it and enough time and two successful birds already.... (Finn will be pimping all the ladies like a Sir....)
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Jan 23, 2013 10:33
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Oh my god, I teared up while reading that post, bassguitarhero. But Fred has lived longer than most cockatiels, and from what you've posted he really loved you as well. At least you know that he's spent the best life a cockatiel could ever have with you, maybe that's why he felt he could finally go. 
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Jan 23, 2013 10:54
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Amaya posted:I really wanted the lady to get back to me about the plucking quaker but that's a huge pain in the rear end that wasn't working out at all. Someone convince me this is a bad idea? You know, even though I have enough cash to take care of it and enough time and two successful birds already.... Well, since you asked... Are you currently a student? Do you think you will have time for 3 parrots that are all going to want a lot of your time and attention once you have a full time job? I say this because I got all 3 of my birds while I was still in college, and it definitely is a struggle now that I have a full-time job. For a while I was taking night classes on top of work and I felt like the worst bird-owner ever I hate to admit it but often times I feel I don't give Nugget enough attention, because Ozzy is always the squeakiest wheel so he gets the grease.It's probably easier for you since Finn and Marceline actually like eachother, so you can play with them at the same time. I'm envious. Hopefully if you get a third he/she will also get along with the other two!
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Jan 23, 2013 14:40
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Has anyone heard about the Gabriel Foundation in CO? I'm finally getting settled and looking for some volunteer work and it would be fun to take one afternoon a week or something and go play with more birds, but these guys are super-focused on adoption and list their animals on a bunch of sites and stuff, so I am a little cautious. It does seem like a great place for the birds, though.
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Jan 23, 2013 16:02
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Pip pip pip posted:Well, since you asked... Are you currently a student? Do you think you will have time for 3 parrots that are all going to want a lot of your time and attention once you have a full time job? I say this because I got all 3 of my birds while I was still in college, and it definitely is a struggle now that I have a full-time job. For a while I was taking night classes on top of work and I felt like the worst bird-owner ever This is something I was weighing back and forth. To be honest? I think it'd be fine. Zomo and I aren't really 'party' people. We're hermits, basically. We spend practically all of our free time at home and find it relaxing. My 'full time job' will (hopefully) end up being something I do from home. If not, not much would change really. I already spend the bulk of the day in class and I'm also balancing a job on top of that. Basically, the only time we wouldn't be home would be when we're working, but there's another 16 hours in the day left after that. Finn and Marci will love the new baby too. Or else. (Basically I just mushed these two together over and over again until they loved each other. The same will apply for new-bird.)
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Jan 23, 2013 16:04
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Eejit posted:Has anyone heard about the Gabriel Foundation in CO? I'm finally getting settled and looking for some volunteer work and it would be fun to take one afternoon a week or something and go play with more birds, but these guys are super-focused on adoption and list their animals on a bunch of sites and stuff, so I am a little cautious. It does seem like a great place for the birds, though.
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Jan 23, 2013 16:16
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unprofessional posted:Lots of rescues are nuts and run by nuts who believe nobody can take care of the animals as well as them, but if they're down to earth folks, it'll be an awesome experience. It seems like an impressive facility. If I don't go skiing this weekend, I might stop by for a tour. My real concern is that it isn't like a secondhand bird mill, but I think a visit will probably clear that up.
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Jan 23, 2013 16:19
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Amaya posted:Guys, I think I'm buying another bird. This is like a sickness. On a whim we stopped at a pet store that was called like "Wet pets and friends" or something. I saw some bird cages in the window and figured it was worth a shot. Well, this guy is AWESOME. He buys from local breeders and all the babies are hand raised and sweet as hell. They have a pineapple conure that's two months old and sweet as pie. I was holding it for a really long time and it kept cooing and fluffing up its feathers for head scratches. Hey, you said to try and convince you!  (If you do decide to get a bird you'd better post a bazillion pictures, I love Finn and Marceline)
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Jan 23, 2013 17:00
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Doing the washing up, and look up to see Ohtori perched there with a knife in his foot, staring at me.  bassguitarhero, sorry for your loss. Fred sounds like he was a great bird and that he was very happy in his long life with you. That first photo of him is great, looking smug and as noble as a cockatiel possibly can. You did your best for him right until the end, and it showed.
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Jan 23, 2013 17:14
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Thanks you guys. This was really difficult, because the decision of putting down someone you love is always hard. I got the news just a week ago, and with the holiday weekend and the bird hospital hours, endeavoured to put together a big weekend for him where all of his friends could come and visit and people across the world could say their goodbyes, and it was nice - 3 days of in-person visitors from all over San Francisco, people from as far as the UK, Portugal, Australia and Bangladesh all saying goodbye online and talking about how he touched them. I always described him to my friends as "the original Angry Bird," because we would go at each other constantly. I'd go to pick him up and he'd hiss at me and jump on my finger and bite me, then get on my shoulder and puff up. Sometimes I'd wait til he fell asleep and poke him just cos I knew it annoyed him. But going through the pictures on my computer (I have photos going back to 2000 when I first got a digital camera), there's one thing that I notice more than any other and that's that he was happy. For 23 years, I made that bird so happy. That's an amazing feeling. I woke up this morning, looking at the empty spot on the dresser, and I felt OK because I knew at least Fred wasn't in any pain. But I can say this - no matter how much it sucks losing him, no matter how many times I bawled thinking about putting him to sleep, all of that isn't even a fraction of a percent of how awesome it was to spend those years with each other.
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Jan 23, 2013 19:00
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DarkHorse posted:Just be careful what he means by "local breeders." Pet stores say that all the time, but you have to consider what sort of responsible breeder sells to a pet store where they have no control over where their animals end up, and will likely go to anyone who has enough dough and not necessarily enough preparation or experience. The only thing wrong with this pet store is that the cages he keeps the birds in are a tad on the small side. However he seems to take the birds out at EVERY opportunity and he also has a Macaw and two cockatoo's in the store that he plays around with. All of them are also hand fed and have no fear for hands and the Pineapple let both of us just hold it which ever way we wanted. We are waiting for our landlord to give us the OK before we go up and make a serious decision 
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Jan 23, 2013 21:18
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| # ? May 20, 2024 06:42 |
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Amaya posted:Guys, I think I'm buying another bird. This is like a sickness. On a whim we stopped at a pet store that was called like "Wet pets and friends" or something. I saw some bird cages in the window and figured it was worth a shot. Well, this guy is AWESOME. He buys from local breeders and all the babies are hand raised and sweet as hell. They have a pineapple conure that's two months old and sweet as pie. I was holding it for a really long time and it kept cooing and fluffing up its feathers for head scratches. Only if you name the new bird Jake. Bassguitarhero, I'd love to see some of those pictures if you'd care to share.
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Jan 23, 2013 21:46
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