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electricgoat posted:I think there might actually be something wrong with him mentally. Who knows what he's planning? I think he'd house them separately because he has said a few times, "When I get my next cage..." I don't want him to get a conure, and I'll do my best to stop it, but remember that I had him convinced for a bit not to get a bird until he finishes school, but then his parents told him to get one ASAP and they'd pay for it? I don't think it's possible to stop a dedicated crazy person. All week, I have had a recurring nightmare where I move out, and months later, he brings me Bird, who has torn out all her feathers and become terrified of all humans. In this dream, I try to take care of her, but she is sad and scared her whole life. I've been down all week because I keep having this stupid dream. I think this is a legitimate fear on your part, sadly I have seen similar situations many times before. When a person becomes determined to get a pet there is little to stop them if the animal is legal (and even if the animal isn't). The only suggestion I have is to see if he is willing to take bird care classes if they are available in your area, maybe he'll listen to someone he has paid to teach him how to care for a bird, if he won't listen to you. This does make a difference for some people.
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Jun 1, 2013 00:54
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Will he read a book? You could persuade him to buy (or buy a cheap used copy for him) Guide To A Well Behaved Parrot: http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Well-Be...+behaved+parrot Maybe make up some bullshit about how you read it gives instructions to turn unsociable birds into nice ones or whatever to get him to read it. I'd have just blown up at him long ago, I think. Poor Bird.
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Jun 1, 2013 01:04
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Mission accepted, Ritz will do this (probably not) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_GrFfeSU4c
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Jun 1, 2013 07:40
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Man, Captain is energetic when awake. Little dude wants to explore everywhere (that is attached to my body at least).
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Jun 1, 2013 16:28
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SaNChEzZ posted:Mission accepted, Ritz will do this (probably not)  ^^^Conure.txt, they are amazingly active, it's like their little bodies are made of pure energy. Also, a bird outing today!  Lovebird and parrotlet, best of friends!  Lovebird orgy goin on here   Sunny when wet, and tree of lovebirds!  The cockatiel pole, Cheeky is the one at the front. And bonus for electricgoat:  The parrotlet corner!
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Jun 1, 2013 16:41
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Platedlizard: If I could convince him to spend his own money going to something like that, it might work. I don't know that he'd do that, though, because he thinks the bird just has an attitude problem, and that it's not him.  Battle Pigeon: His birthday is actually this week, and I am notorious for giving people really lovely gifts they don't want. He does like to read, and he just got a bird, so that will be my excuse for why he's getting that book. Hopefully he'll cave and read it!! Deadly Chlorine: Your tiny dinosaurs are adorable! The little white one looks super evil, haha!! Also, food question! My roommate says Bird is not supposed to eat a lot of foods high in vitamin C (which is a shame, since she loves grapefruit). Is this true? Also, can she have brussels sprouts? And is it possible to feed her too many dark leafy greens? She is nuts about kale and spinach and would probably eat as much as I'd be willing to give her.
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Jun 1, 2013 19:33
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electricgoat posted:Also, food question! My roommate says Bird is not supposed to eat a lot of foods high in vitamin C (which is a shame, since she loves grapefruit). Is this true? Also, can she have brussels sprouts? And is it possible to feed her too many dark leafy greens? She is nuts about kale and spinach and would probably eat as much as I'd be willing to give her.
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Jun 1, 2013 19:42
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electricgoat posted:Platedlizard: If I could convince him to spend his own money going to something like that, it might work. I don't know that he'd do that, though, because he thinks the bird just has an attitude problem, and that it's not him. That's too bad--although many bird classes have a trick-training section so maybe you could convince him to go on a "you could totally train her to do these awesome tricks!" type thing. Re: Vitamin C. Birds are one of many types of animals who do not need dietary vitamin C, they make it on their own just fine. Primates, guinea pigs, and camels don't which is why we get scurvy if we don't have enough Vit. C in our diets. My understanding is that some birds (lorikeets, softbills, and maybe African Greys, and this article says Quakers) shouldn't have too much citrus because it makes iron a lot more effective in the body, causing iron storage disease in birds sensitive to iron. I have never heard of this being a problem for parrotlets however. Dark leafy greens are good too, except for rhubarb, never feed the leafy parts of rhubarb. I feed a lot of mustard greens, collard greens, and dandelion greens to my birds and iguana. Generally speaking I personally do not feed spinach or kale because they contain oxalic acid, which binds calcium and causes bone disease in reptiles. I don't feel like making up two different "salads" for my pets when the differences in fresh food diets are so minor. However, as long as the bird is getting a varied diet this shouldn't be a problem. Oxalic acid is broken down by cooking, so that's another option too. (rhubarb has so much oxalic acid that it is actually toxic to us!) Brussels sprouts are good too, as are carrots and carrot greens (don't throw them away, feed them to your birds!)
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Jun 1, 2013 20:29
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platedlizard posted:That's too bad--although many bird classes have a trick-training section so maybe you could convince him to go on a "you could totally train her to do these awesome tricks!" type thing. Ok, wtf, I asked him if the vitamin C thing was related to iron, and asked if we should then go easy on spinach. He said no to both, so I am super confused! Also, isn't kale relatively low in oxalic acid compared to other dark leafy greens? Or are birds more affected by it? Bird does not have a particularly varied diet. I generally only feed her things my roommate allows me to, which is carrots, spinach, kale, the occasional bit of grapefruit, and I'm going to try to convince him to let me give her some brussels sprouts (I have also snuck her sweet potato, pear, mango, banana, lentils, and chickpeas). He got a bunch of vitamin powder things he sprinkles in her water and pellets that he thinks are more effective than fruits and vegetables (he may be right, but it seems more boring).
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Jun 1, 2013 20:55
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Also if you tie a bundle of say, dandelion greens to the side of the cage, instant nutritious new toy to shred/eat! Vitamin c enriched fruits make great treats though, use her favorites for training. Ritz goes crazy for oranges, but only gets a small piece every now and then. Or tell roommate to try that. Items the bird likes will do wonders for behavior modification. RE: Foods, being a vegan basically anything you eat will be OK for bird. Aside from avocados, rhubarb (as mentioned) and onions (as well as alcohol, caffeine, sugar etc.) but basically any veggies and fruits will do her body good. I wouldn't worry about overfeeding veggies at all, if we all had birds that ate nothing but dark leafy greens, fruits, veggies and legumes there would be no need for pellets, which contain all the minerals and vitamins in natural foods that picky birds won't eat. Also, birds aren't like fish per-se, they won't eat until they explode. They're smarter than that  For dinner every night, ritz gets kale, carrots, purple cabbage, bell peppers, corn, garbonzos and one fruit, either some kind of berry or an apple or pear. He picks at what he likes, sometimes he picks at the things he doesn't then eats pellets, which is more than adequate in my book. If he was as good an eater as Bird, I'd be ultra stoked haha. He also gets seeds for breakfast, which is a nono in most cases, but he doesn't gorge on them and gets a limited amount, then it's pellets that are readily available all day. He also gets the better of the seeds, safflower, flax, star anise, dried corn and other stuff. It's a high protein mix I get from my local bird store, that's supposedly less fatty. You're doing really well with Bird's health, especially considering you're not even her true owner! (Or maybe she sees you as her owner, which is awesome in a schadenfreud kinda way  )
Frozen Pizza Party fucked around with this message at 21:06 on Jun 1, 2013 |
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Jun 1, 2013 20:57
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How are they outside, and out of their cages, without any tethers or harnesses? I just ask because I want to take Iro outside to enjoy the sunshine with me, but my experience from when she got out the window was not a good one. I have brought her out before, in her cage. By the way Iro has been very nice these past few weeks. Her yelling has more or less stopped as long as I remember to close the door when I leave the room. If I leave the door open and head down the hall, it's NON STOP SHRILL SCREAMING TIME because presumably I have left and am never coming back ever, but if I just close the door and then leave, then whatev it's no big. No, this week it has been all cuddles and headrubs, dancing and headwaggling, peeping and neck snuggling. Birds, god drat. uglynoodles fucked around with this message at 21:26 on Jun 1, 2013 |
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Jun 1, 2013 21:22
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electricgoat posted:Ok, wtf, I asked him if the vitamin C thing was related to iron, and asked if we should then go easy on spinach. He said no to both, so I am super confused! Sorry I wasn't more clear, reptiles are more affected by oxalic acid, and I have an iguana and parrots who more or less eat the same thing so it's something that I'm very aware of when I make diets. Vitamin powder is a good way to over-supplement Bird and give her vitamin toxicities actually, especially if she eats a pelleted diet. Pellets already have vitamins added to them, she doesn't need them in her water too. Mangoes, yams and sweet potatoes, lentils, chickpeas etc are all good for her. Peas are good. Brown rice is good (cooked of course). Most foods that are healthy for us are healthy for them. A vet did once tell me once that a female budgie who has been fed nothing but seed and a leaf of spinach daily for years can get seriously eggbound the first time she laid an egg, but given that the bird's diet would have been deficient of many other things like protein I'm not sure it was necessarily due to oxalic acid. fake edit: yeah, a good vegan diet is actually pretty healthy for parrots, although they can eat animal protein as well. (they don't need animal protein but it doesn't hurt them either)
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Jun 1, 2013 21:31
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I wouldn't recommend bringing her out uncaged and untethered. The tiniest thing can startle a bird, especially one as small and light-bodied as a Pyrrhura, and send it rocketing away instinctively. The birds that Deadly Chlorine photographs have all been expertly trained to recall, and some of them, I think she said once, are on tethers just in case. Being outdoors is great for them, though, so by all means bring her cage outside with you when you go out to garden or read or whatever. One of my favorite pastimes last summer was chilling on a lawnchair with a book, a cocktail, and Amadeus.
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Jun 1, 2013 21:46
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LITERALLY A BIRD posted:I wouldn't recommend bringing her out uncaged and untethered. The tiniest thing can startle a bird, especially one as small and light-bodied as a Pyrrhura, and send it rocketing away instinctively. The birds that Deadly Chlorine photographs have all been expertly trained to recall, and some of them, I think she said once, are on tethers just in case. The first time I brought my cockatiels outside (caged), it was sheer panic for about thirty seconds and then they were more relaxed than I'd ever seen them. :3
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Jun 1, 2013 21:56
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We roll our 'too's cage outside almost every day that it's nice. We're planning to build him an aviary on our deck once we have some time. He might be too neurologically damaged to every safely fly again, but he really enjoys the outdoors. Plus it's fun to try and figure out how far away we can hear his calls. Right now we're up to about 1.5 mi without intervening hills 
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Jun 1, 2013 23:21
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I wish we could put the birds outside in their cages, but we live in an apartment with no balcony. We were just putting the birds to bed, and Ohtori flew away into the bathroom to avoid being put back. We called him, he didn't come, even for my partner, though he never comes when I call "come here" anyway. He just sat on the bathroom cabinet and alternated between staring and preening. Partner continues trying to call him, nothing. Then I say, "want nut?" He came flying through instantly. Birds
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Jun 1, 2013 23:45
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When I was about 8 I took my very first cockatiel that I only had for about a year outside. Then he flew away because something scared him. That is my cautionary tale about taking small parrots outside without some sort of harness or proper training. The story has a good ending though. We searched for him all evening until it got dark outside... next morning he was waiting by our glass door to come back inside Bird feather crafting ideas!! I know a lot of us save our birds' feathers. I mostly just save the tail feathers and I've been putting them into tiny bulb vases for decoration:  Do you guys have any other cool crafting ideas that I can use with tail feathers? Ozzy's red ones are so gorgeous that I want more ways to show them off I like Nugget's banded ones too. I only have like 2 of Sprite's tail feathers. Either she hardly ever drops them or I don't ever find them for some reason. 
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Jun 2, 2013 00:39
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LITERALLY A BIRD posted:I wouldn't recommend bringing her out uncaged and untethered. The tiniest thing can startle a bird, especially one as small and light-bodied as a Pyrrhura, and send it rocketing away instinctively. The birds that Deadly Chlorine photographs have all been expertly trained to recall, and some of them, I think she said once, are on tethers just in case. 1) If your bird is clipped, make sure he/she can only glide downwards. If your bird is not, make sure to get some kind of harness or leash, to be safe. 2) If the weather changes, like thunder or especially strong winds, bring them in. Strong winds can basically carry a bird really far away, even clipped ones. 3) If you see eagles or crows circling ahead (your bird will usually alert you to this by making their scared sound and looking up with one eye), bring them in to be safe too. We haven't lost any clipped birds for now, except when some people forget to check their bird's wing feathers and didn't know that they regrew.  ^^^I knew someone who would make earrings from tail feathers, though green cheek tail feathers are probably too long for that. 
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Jun 2, 2013 03:42
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So... I just adopted an 18-month old dusky conure tonight. Meet Alexis.   He's still a bit confused and scared but he's also already stepped up for me and climbed around on my shirt. He's extremely sweet and rather quiet (as dusky conures are known to be). Ordering clickers, a travel cage, and other supplies tonight, and then going to a parrot shop in the next day or three to pick up extra toys and supplies as needed. I now have a little buddy until I'm in my mid-50s. 
Kenshin fucked around with this message at 04:29 on Jun 2, 2013 |
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Jun 2, 2013 04:18
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I know people who use parrot feathers to make really nice flies (fishing lures for trout)
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Jun 2, 2013 04:43
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platedlizard posted:I know people who use parrot feathers to make really nice flies (fishing lures for trout) One of my coworkers loved tying flies and made me three, named them all special, and put them in a nice little box. The feathers on each are from my cockatiel and my lovebird, Ra. They mean an awful lot to me and sit in the hutch where I can see them everyday. They are a way for me to remember my Ra and will be when my Q is gone.
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Jun 2, 2013 05:03
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SaNChEzZ: It might sound like Bird eats well, but she really doesn't. I try to give her as many veggies as I can, but my roommate doesn't really want her eating any. It's weird. What she is allowed to eat, she only gets in a very small quantity, unless my roommate isn't around and Bird and I can be vegetable gluttons together. I think Bird probably considers me a playmate, which works for me! platedlizard: Naw, you explained it just fine. I just re-read it, and your post was super clear and I misunderstood, sorry! I just mentioned to my roommate that I'm concerned Bird might be getting too many vitamins since they're sprinkled on her pellets and in her water, but he said that isn't possible (but then why can she not have lots of vitamin C...? I'm pretty sure he's making this up as he goes along!). I eat a fairly balanced (vegan) diet and I'm really hoping to be able to share more of it with Bird, though this is challenging. It's pretty easy to get her to eat basically anything, probably because I enthusiastically eat in front of her whenever I can. I just had an awkward discussion with my roommate in which he claimed that Bird is being difficult because the breeder didn't keep her long enough (he asked to have her a week before the breeder wanted to let her go, but feels it's her fault for letting him take her then). He claims this can cause behavioural issues. I told him that might be the case, but his behaviour is not helping. He then claimed that Bird was initially fine with him, and only recently started to not like him. I told him that's not true at all, and she was always terrified of him- she just wasn't biting him really hard until recently. I again reminded him that he needs to take it slowly with her and not pressure her so much to spend time out of her cage. He said everything he has read says that right from the start, you need to be keeping the bird with you outside of their cage for at least 15 minutes a day. I don't know if that's true, but it sure seems to mess her up. I also told him that she might be less aggressive if he'd stop petting her back, wings, and belly (and then I explained that it's a mating behaviour). He just ignored that point and didn't respond. This guy is seriously an idiot manchild. I have been actively seeking a new place to live, and I've very concerned about what will happen to her if I do find a place. I think that's why I've been having the weird nightmare.
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Jun 2, 2013 06:22
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electricgoat posted:This guy is seriously an idiot manchild. I have been actively seeking a new place to live, and I've very concerned about what will happen to her if I do find a place. I think that's why I've been having the weird nightmare.
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Jun 2, 2013 06:48
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Kenshin posted:Steal Bird when you move. Do it.
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Jun 2, 2013 09:18
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Pile of Kittens posted:Do it. Take bird, put her in a box for traveling to your new place, then leave the door open to her cage and a window open in the living room. SORRY BRO YOUR BIRD ESCAPED. Bird Crazies: maybe a fish will work out better for you buddy
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Jun 2, 2013 13:24
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Oh god I'm going to have to get video of this. Alexis is still bonding with me but we're already playing a sound imitation game. He'll do a whistle, or some clicks, or a little rolled-r sound, and then wait for me to do the same sound, then he'll do a different one. Even though he's confused and wary he still wants nothing more than to be with me at all times. Here's a picture from one of the few times I got him off of my shoulder this morning: 
Kenshin fucked around with this message at 16:54 on Jun 2, 2013 |
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Jun 2, 2013 16:25
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Just a warning: Conures are the bird version of velcro. You will not be able to detach the loving once it starts.
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Jun 2, 2013 17:33
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Kenshin posted:Oh god I'm going to have to get video of this. Alexis is still bonding with me but we're already playing a sound imitation game. He'll do a whistle, or some clicks, or a little rolled-r sound, and then wait for me to do the same sound, then he'll do a different one. Man, I think this thread's abundance of GCCs are pretty adorable, but after a few pictures Alexis the Dusky is really growing on me. Really pretty bird, he has very striking eyes and the darkness on his wingtips is gorgeous.
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Jun 2, 2013 18:18
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So it turns out the Pittsburgh area has several bird breeders. I have my eye on a cinnamon GCC. The mrs. wants a more cuddly bird and I figure Hannah could use a buddy. http://pittsburgh.ebayclassifieds.com/birds/moon-township/green-cheek-conures-for-sale/?ad=27526378 What do you guys think. edit Cherry season! 
Jose Oquendo fucked around with this message at 19:49 on Jun 2, 2013 |
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Jun 2, 2013 19:23
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Official Bizness posted:Take bird, put her in a box for traveling to your new place, then leave the door open to her cage and a window open in the living room. SORRY BRO YOUR BIRD ESCAPED. Yeah, her cage had huge bar spacing anyway right? Whoops, looked like she squeezed through and escaped somewhere. drat. Though he'd probably just get a new bird to break... Wozbo posted:Just a warning: Conures are the bird version of velcro. You will not be able to detach the loving once it starts. Unless it's a Blue-throated conure named Ohtori. Gonna trade him in for a sweet, cuddly GCC.
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Jun 2, 2013 21:56
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Ok, why does Bird keep trying to crawl into my mouth? It's super creepy. I obviously won't let her go in there, but why the heck does she even want to? Is it because we eat the same food, so my mouth smells like her food...? You are a prey animal, don't go into a giant creature's mouth! I would love to steal her if I move. Unfortunately, my roommate is home basically all the time, so that can't really happen. I'm still planning on filing a noise complaint. EDIT: Blah, Battle Pigeon's probably right, he'd just break another bird. Though it seems like he's going to break another bird, anyways. Amusing story. My roommate often goes to the US to stay with his parents, who have a place down there. When he was talking about getting a bird, I asked what he'd do with it when he goes to the US. He said he'd take it with him. I told him you can't just casually bring an exotic pet to a different country, and said he should probably look into what's allowed. He of course didn't look into it until just now, when he learned he can't take her with him to the US next weekend. He asked me if I'd birdsit for him, so I'm super pumped! We're gonna eat so much kale next weekend!! Food question: I know onions are bad for Bird. What about garlic? Kenshin, your new baby is so pretty! electricgoat fucked around with this message at 22:21 on Jun 2, 2013 |
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Jun 2, 2013 22:10
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What nuts do your green cheeks like? We tried almonds and walnuts, so far no go.
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Jun 2, 2013 22:38
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Not GCC, but 'Tori goes crazy for cashews, and loves Brazil nuts too. Sometimes hazelnuts.
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Jun 2, 2013 22:50
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Battle Pigeon posted:Not GCC, but 'Tori goes crazy for cashews, and loves Brazil nuts too. Sometimes hazelnuts. Mickey and Jack go apeshit for Cashews. electricgoat steal bird. For birds health. re: mouth stuff - my conures love going into my mouth and trying to steal my food to the point where I have to lock them up or I'll starve, little thieves.  Official Bizness posted:Bird Crazies: maybe a fish will work out better for you buddy I think this should be the new thread title.
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Jun 2, 2013 22:57
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Joe Don Baker posted:So it turns out the Pittsburgh area has several bird breeders. I have my eye on a cinnamon GCC. The mrs. wants a more cuddly bird and I figure Hannah could use a buddy. It says they don't keep the birds in cages. What do they do with the birds at night?  What do they do with the birds when they have to go out? It seems really weird that they would keep the birds free-flighted AND not cage them. Sounds weird to me, but not atrocious. I just don't understand how that kind of setup would even work unless they have an aviary or something?It's hard to tell anything other than that from the classified ad though. Doesn't hurt to respond to it and check the place out before you commit to anything. If you get a bad vibe, don't get the bird.
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Jun 2, 2013 23:06
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electricgoat posted:Food question: I know onions are bad for Bird. What about garlic? No garlic either! You can try sharing a little cup of apple juice, though. BIRDS loving LOVE APPLE JUICE. Zeke and Zoe stuff themselves in my mouth for delicious leftovers. Chiyo loved to lick my teeth and trying to stuff strips of paper or other toys in it for storage.
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Jun 3, 2013 00:18
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The mouth thing might just be a curiosity thing, or maybe be a weird bonding thing too. Just make sure bird doesn't start regurgitating for you and thinking (s)he's got a new mate I'm excited for you having Bird all to yourself! Maybe you could videotape the stuff you do and how you get her to bond with you? (or you could always steal Bird, that's what I'd do) 
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Jun 3, 2013 04:17
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Hey all, Ritz had some dried poop around his vent this evening but with his prior history of being able to somehow get poop on his head, I wouldn't put it past him to poop on something, then sit in it. It wasn't like an entire turd dried up as it came out, t'was just a spot, and not immediately ON his vent, but in the general area. Cause for concern, or should I just monitor and see if it keeps up after a bath?
Frozen Pizza Party fucked around with this message at 17:12 on Jun 3, 2013 |
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Jun 3, 2013 17:08
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So a little bit of background and then some conure questions: Alexis has really only known his two owners his 18 months of life (besides, of course, whoever hand-raised him), and they said they didn't really have people over very often so he wasn't socialized well. Right now he's just super-clingy to the point where hands are fine UNTIL he's got himself latched onto my shirt, and then HANDS ARE THE ENEMY BECAUSE THEY WILL TAKE ME OFF HUMAN. Even to the point where he'll headbang angrily on my shoulder if I try to put my hand (without a food treat) anywhere near him. His bites hurt but not enough that I have to react or to draw blood, so so far I've just been letting him get his angry nips in and then slowly pulling my hand away, then trying another tactic to pick him up (usually involving bribing him with a treat, or just walking to his cage and seeing if he leans toward it). Is there a better tactic than what I'm currently doing? Is this likely just him still being very confused about the situation he's been dumped into and feeling insecure? In better news we did have our first scritches and cuddle session on the couch last night--he moved down toward my chest and let me give him lots of head scritches and back strokes, while closing his eyes and slowly working his beak open and closed, so I think we're making progress. He just is extremely resistent to actually physically letting go of me!
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Jun 3, 2013 17:29
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Mindo was getting a bit attached to his mirror, today he was trying to offer it a blueberry that he had gotten as a reward for pooping in his cage. We took the mirror away and now he seems sad. We took away his friend. Guess we'll just have to play with him extra today!
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Jun 3, 2013 17:52
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