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Tasty_Crayon posted:Oh my god why are you not videotaping that. I would love to, but it's such a rare occurrence! He'll be sitting there preening, then we'll here "honk honk" and look over and there he is preening his butthole. He never makes a sound like that any other time.
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Apr 25, 2014 02:06
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We've taken to nicknaming Inko the Fun Police lately-microwaving something? REEEE. Using the hob? REEEE. Watching something too loud? REEEE. Laugh too loudly? REEEE. Other birds are flying around? REEEE. Physical contact? REEEEEE. Even daring to think about enjoying yourself in his presence? REEEEEEE! Is there such a thing as a quiet GCC? Not just in volume, but chattering level. Sometimes it seems like Inko never shuts up unless he's sleeping or stuffing his face. Birdie! Birdie! *kiss* DOIN'? *nomnomnom*
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Apr 25, 2014 16:03
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We got another addition! But first bird updates! Luke (male eclectus) is molting and looks rough! But other than that and his usual pluck patches he's doing well. Lolita (female eclectus) is her usual self. The 2 disabled Timneh greys that we have are doing better and better. The ferret cage with drydecking and flat perches has been very easy on them and their nubs! The nubs have almost completely scaled over like normal bird leg! (from being pink patches) They continue to eat EVERYTHING, particularly chicken bones and bits of our food in the morning. Now we got (first night) a little blue parrolet named Gustov. We need to finger tame him and teach him to step up but once he's out of his cage he loves to hide in my wife's hair (big plus for her) and is perfectly happy being out. He currently freaks out whenever anyone (previous owners and us) open and stick our hands in the cage. Pictures to come! The greys are proceeding to starting pre-speech noises to go along with their usual repertoire.
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Apr 26, 2014 04:25
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Auri loves going outside.   Zippy really loves going outside.  And as usual both Amazon parrots are much more interested in their humans than they are in each other. Kenshin fucked around with this message at 22:52 on Apr 26, 2014 |
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Apr 26, 2014 22:13
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Well guys, my fiance and I are thinking of getting a second conure. She is a cinnamon Conure that was a rescue and she has been at the store for over a year because she is "bitey." I put that in quotes because her biteyness consisted of her just nibbling on my finger in curiosity, kind of hard, but not enough to actually hurt a lot. So basic bird nibbling for the most part, it wasn't like she flipped out and took a chunk out of my finger. Though the nibbling would probably have turned into a bit if I pulled my finger back in shock such as if I wasn't used to birds. They have been hoping to sell her for a long time now, she was even there when we got Simon and they mentioned then that she had been there for 6 months, and they have even said that they would extend the sale to us since we were showing interest in her. (She was already discounted to about $300 and there is a sale that ends tomorrow for $50 off Conures. She is the only Conure there since the store has decided not to allow any more conures until she sells since they want her to go to a new home.) She is very healthy looking, and has been well cared for at the store. Anyway, we were wondering if you guys had any tips for introducing a second bird into our home. We have no illusions that Simon and the new bird(tenative name Gunther) will get along right off the bat, and we know not to let them into each others cages due to territory. What is the best way to introduce a new bird with the least amount of issue. Another question is transportation. We go visit my fiance's parents a few times a year and take Simon with us. We transport him in his regular cage and we bring a folding travel cage with us so that we can take him from room to room with us.(Her parents have two German Shepherds and a cat. The cat wants the bird but the German Shepherds just ignore him ever since they got bit on the nose while sniffing the cage) If we get a second bird though it might be difficult to take two travel cages from room to room with us since putting both of them in one travel cage is probably a bad idea so we would probably just have them in the bedroom with the door locked. Would having each other to talk to make it so that they aren't as upset with being kept in the bedroom?(For reference we do go into the bedroom and spend some time with Simon outside of the cage each day so it isn't like we wouldn't interact with them) Pretty much we need to know the dos and don'ts of introducing a second bird.
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Apr 27, 2014 00:58
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Hey, guys! I just got my very first bird- a parakeet. The guy I got her from said she's a lady, and made sure I knew everything I needed. So far, I have her in a largish cage for such a small bird she's got toys and millet seeds and a cuddle bone, and I made sure to get parakeet specific pet food. I haven't got a name for her yet, but she's a really pretty lady. Sky blue with a white head and wings. I'll grab some photos of her later- I don't want to stress her out on her first day home.  Any words of advice for me? I know parakeets have some limited vocal capabilities, so how would I go around teaching her? Any name ideas? She's ornery!
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Apr 27, 2014 01:09
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Kenshin posted:Auri loves going outside. I took Ravel out of the apartment today to get her nails clipped, and her eyes were pinned the entire time. I guess she's a homebody.
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Apr 27, 2014 01:32
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jadebullet posted:Pretty much we need to know the dos and don'ts of introducing a second bird. You can try my technique, if you'd like! It has a 50% success rate right now, and that's only because I've been too busy with school to be routine about this. I'm a fan of putting them both on opposite ends of the headrest of a recliner or the back of a couch (standing behind it) to see what they do. One bird will probably be more interested (For better or for worst) in the other one. You make sure you're there to stop them if they lunge or do anything dramatic, but I just kept my hand between them, with the other ready to scoop away an unruly bird. I then stuffed them full of sunflower seeds every time they tolerated being around each other, nudging them slowly closer and closer and eventually letting them go on their own. There was a bit of hissing and lunging but each time one bird lunged I scooped them up, held their beak and told them NO BITE and gave the other bird a treat for behaving. It only took Finn and Marceline a week or two to warm up to each other. Unfortunately it's not going so well with a THIRD bird, but I'm going to work on that over the summer. Basically, just be patient and DO NOT ever leave the birds alone where they could ever get within biting distance, even if they've been being good around each other for a few days. Marshall will be perfectly fine with Finne and Marceline, and then suddenly one or all three birds decide they hate each other and I start hearing squwaking and screaming. YMMV but it's worked pretty well for me. Also, before this if you wanted to be EXTRA thorough, you can just start scooting their cages slowly closer and closer, letting them get a feel for each other before you have them out together. But I understand this takes a while and sometimes you want to be able to have your birds out at the same time without being afraid they're going to attack.
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Apr 27, 2014 01:57
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 guys I think my new bird likes me! She keeps facing my direction when I sit by her cage and poofs up into a little ball of bird. She also silently chatters her beak, which is weird, but maybe she's just crap at talking. I gave her a tiny bit of apple through the bars fo her cage, but so far she seems wary of it. I hope she eats it soon, I'd love to have something she likes as a treat.
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Apr 27, 2014 04:36
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Sociopastry posted:
Is that chattering like a grinding? That means it's content. It's chilling.
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Apr 27, 2014 04:40
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Sociopastry posted:
Chattering or grinding of the break usually means cozy so, good job! She'll come around, it just takes time. Until then. I'd separate the sunflower seeds from the food if there are any because they're basically bird cheetos. Use those to train and not as a meal as they're mostly irresistible.
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Apr 27, 2014 04:40
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Yeah! She keeps grinding the top part of her beak against the bottom. That's good, I was a bit worried because she was so skittish when I got her home. Still haven't thought up a good name for her. I got a couple pictures, though. Pardon the potato quality.  bonus fat crotchety old man cat (Momo)   Guys I am really excited about birds.Edit: her name is Tokyo. :3 FluxFaun fucked around with this message at 06:00 on Apr 27, 2014 |
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Apr 27, 2014 04:54
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Sounds like you have a happy little new bird buddy. Female budgies are usually a whole lot quieter than the boys so you're not super likely to get a talker. Some girls do end up with a huge vocabulary though so it's not impossible. Beaker says welcome to budgie club. 
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Apr 27, 2014 05:02
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Another question about adding a second bird. We have a playpen in the living room where Simon sometimes perches when he isn't either on one of us or on a piece of furniture. It is also where we put a dish of food and water for him to eat when he is out of his cage. Will we need to get a second playpen for the new bird? Also should we put out a second dish of water and food for the new bird somewhere else in the living room. Also, part of me thinks that Simon understood what I told him about getting a second bird last night because this morning he sat in his cage saying "good morning, I love you" over and over again and making kissy noises and now that we have him out of his cage, he is being extremely fluffy and cuddly and keeps telling us that he loves us.
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Apr 27, 2014 12:20
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Sociopastry posted:Yeah! She keeps grinding the top part of her beak against the bottom. That's good, I was a bit worried because she was so skittish when I got her home. Still haven't thought up a good name for her. I got a couple pictures, though. Pardon the potato quality. She's cute! Does she have any non-dowel perches? jadebullet posted:Another question about adding a second bird. We have a playpen in the living room where Simon sometimes perches when he isn't either on one of us or on a piece of furniture. It is also where we put a dish of food and water for him to eat when he is out of his cage. Will we need to get a second playpen for the new bird? Also should we put out a second dish of water and food for the new bird somewhere else in the living room. How big is the playpen? Is it big enough for each bird to have its own space not too close to the other? They may get on fine and not mind sharing everything but it's always nice for each bird to have its own spot, and places to get away from the other if it's having a bad day.
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Apr 27, 2014 13:47
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It is only about 2-2.5 feet long so probably not.
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Apr 27, 2014 13:53
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That's bigger than the stand we have that Ohtori and Steve use. They tend to sit at opposite ends, or Ohtori will make his way towards Steve and shove him out of the way or act as if he's going to bite his toes. When they do get on, they still need some supervision in case 'Tori decides the whole thing is now his-so yeah, maybe that is a bit small. I don't remember if Simon is clipped, but if one or both of them were, that would also make it less suitable since they wouldn't be able to leave a bad situation. Maybe consider a bird tree/large branch, since there will be lots of levels to move about? You could tie and hang toys all over it too.
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Apr 27, 2014 14:08
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Edit, whoops. Posting glitch.
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Apr 27, 2014 14:14
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jadebullet posted:Another question about adding a second bird. We have a playpen in the living room where Simon sometimes perches when he isn't either on one of us or on a piece of furniture. It is also where we put a dish of food and water for him to eat when he is out of his cage. Will we need to get a second playpen for the new bird? Also should we put out a second dish of water and food for the new bird somewhere else in the living room. We have a large-ish cage in our living room for the birds to hang out on, it's probably about two foot by two foot and if they're not getting along that day it's not enough room at all. You're basically going to just have to see how they interact and go from there. Maybe it's enough, maybe you won't even need it because they're in love, and maybe just being in the same room will make them scream constantly and go for each other. You can't ever tell  EDIT: I DO recommend another food/water set up. That's a big thing my birds try to fight over. Especially because Finn just sits in the bowl of food and doesn't let the other two eat anything :I
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Apr 27, 2014 16:47
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Battle Pigeon posted:She's cute! Does she have any non-dowel perches? No, should she? I just got what the guy at the shop recommended, but I can definitely get her something different if she needs it. Tokyo's been kinda stationary in her cage, I thought it was because she's still nervous, but if it's her perches I can get her something different. I also put a little bowl of water in the bottom of her cage for her to bathe in when she gets used to her new home.
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Apr 27, 2014 20:18
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Rope perches of the appropriate size are always a good idea. My birds prefer standing on them to anything else.
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Apr 27, 2014 20:20
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Rope perches I can do. I'm going to be such a helicopter bird mom until I get used to things, I can already tell. My boyfriend's been annoyed with me because I kept texting him every three seconds last night with stupid texts about her. "I named her Tokyo!" "She chirped! That must mean she's happy, right?" "She's been standing in one place for a while, do you think she's okay?" "She likes Enya." I'm going to be a crazy bird lady on top of already being a crazy cat lady, I can tell. Edit: SHE LIKES APPLES 
FluxFaun fucked around with this message at 21:04 on Apr 27, 2014 |
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Apr 27, 2014 20:33
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Standing in one place is no problem. But rope perches are a must. I'd replace all the dowels with them. My bird also loves her heated perch, even when I don't heat it in the spring and summer.
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Apr 27, 2014 20:41
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Perches of varying sizes and widths are needed so that they exercise their feet and don't put all the pressure on the same area, which can lead to problems like bumblefoot: http://www.beautyofbirds.com/bumblefoot.html Rope perches, branch perches, and if you wanted, a pediperch (don't make it the highest perch) are all great. They can chew on the branches as well, remove the bark-and if you're able to, a little branch of bird-safe wood with leaves on it could be fun to destroy. Don't rely too heavily on what pet shop employees/owners recommend-of course there will be good ones out there, but a lot of them are just out to sell their products and either don't know or don't care what is actually ideal, especially when it comes to cage size and diet. One of my favourite go to sites is Avian Web, which apparently changed its name recently but here: http://www.beautyofbirds.com/companionbird.htm
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Apr 27, 2014 21:54
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Hey bird guys and gals! My mom just adopted this beautiful sweet little thing (we think a double yellow headed amazon?) and we were told she is 15-17 years old, she has a great vocabulary. She has an infatuation with my dad, myself and singing opera music. I've been trying to learn as much as possible, but I'm really curious on how we can confirm her species/breed. Can anyone help out?   They call her(him) Krystal.
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Apr 28, 2014 01:11
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What's the best way to go about taming Tokyo? I want to make sure I don't scare her.
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Apr 28, 2014 01:15
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You have a beautiful hybrid yellow naped/yellow fronted Amazon! They are a popular hybrid, renowned for their taking ability, which out sounds like she is representing well.
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Apr 28, 2014 01:33
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Lenswork posted:You have a beautiful hybrid yellow naped/yellow fronted Amazon! They are a popular hybrid, renowned for their taking ability, which out sounds like she is representing well. Awesome! Thank you so much!! Everyone in my parents house is in love with her.
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Apr 28, 2014 01:37
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Beautiful bird! Your next steps should be a checkup with an avian vet as well as having them do blood and stool cultures to check his/her health. They can also send off a drop of blood so you can find out if Krystal is a boy or girl! Welcome to the joys of Amazon companionship. Lenswork and I each have Amazons and I know at least one other frequent poster's boyfriend has one as well. Lenswork is the Amazon expert around here but I've got a good bit of experience now handling them and earning love and trust as well.
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Apr 28, 2014 02:13
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Sociopastry posted:What's the best way to go about taming Tokyo? I want to make sure I don't scare her. A more precise way to train is a combination of operant conditioning and the use of a clicker. There are tutorials online you can look into.
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Apr 28, 2014 12:15
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Doing bird maintenance today, so rearranging cages, cleaning... and taking care of everyone's nails. Ohtori lies back against my chest and complains but usually lets me do them for the promise of a treat, Steve gets burritoed and recovers quickly if you act like nothing happened. Inko though, has quite thick nails, not quite normal (maybe due to previous health problems+malnutrition, or maybe genetics? Who knows) and they're a bit awkward to do so take a while. Despite the length and thickness, I file them instead of clipping because the quick seems to be wherever it would be most inconvenient and he's bled even with tiny tiny clips, so now my partner holds Inko in a tea towel and shines a torch up to the nails so I can see where to file down to. So naturally, Inko quickly learned that a specific tea towel or the nail file = nails time, which is VERY BAD. Since he's let out on top of his cage before being towelled, he now runs away to the furthest corner and climbs down the side so he's next to the floor, as far away as possible. So he did that this time as well, climbed away to the furthest part by the floor-but this time, as the hand with the towel was descending, he hopped to the floor and decided to run for it... ...except since his legs and feet are all messed up, his feet point outwards, and his legs are at different heights, he can't really walk or run so much as waddle/shuffle from one side to the other to move forwards. He was running away at maaaaybe 10cm a second, "heh heh heh"-ing all the way 
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Apr 28, 2014 18:38
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Tokyo won't eat her parakeet food, the only thing she'll eat is millet seeds and apples. I'm thinking I'm just gonna switch her over to wild bird food. Google says this should be okay, so here's hoping. She also does this super cute thing where she'll tweet and then stand on one foot for a while, then tweet and switch to the other foot. I get paid next Friday, so I'll be getting her a bunch of perches and seeing about getting a bigger cage for her. I have her in a medium-sized cage meant for lovebirds, but it's kinda crowded in there with all her toys and her bathtub and everything else. So I think I'll get a huge cage so she'll have more than enough room, and then I'll get another budgie when I have more money. Biiiiiirds.
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Apr 28, 2014 19:15
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Get parrot pellets (Zupreem, Harrisons, etc, get one of the nice brands, don't skimp on cheap/lovely food!). Fresh fruits as treats and chopped fresh veggies for dinner are always a great idea too. Please don't feed your bird wild bird food or seed diets, a homebody parakeet has extremely different nutritional requirements from a wild bird that is flying around constantly! vvvvv you're right, I forgot that budgies/cockatiels are more seed-tolerant than other parrots vvvvv Kenshin fucked around with this message at 19:32 on Apr 28, 2014 |
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Apr 28, 2014 19:22
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Get some good species appropriate seeds, since that's what she eats already-not something from an open tub, try and find a foil sealed bag and brand that lists it's ingredients. Something like http://www.northernparrots.com/vitakraft-australian-food-750g-prod5950/ Then get some appropriate sized pellets, of brands like Kenshin mentioned, and slowly switch her over to them. It takes a while and she could be really picky and stubborn about it, but it's worth it. Budgies and cockatiels etc can do better on a seed based diet than other parrots, but seeds are full of fat and the birds can pick and choose which to eat and leave, unlike pellets. You can then use seeds as a valuable treat for working with her. Please don't feed her wild bird seed!
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Apr 28, 2014 19:31
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Yeah definitely do not use wild bird food. Use parakeet seeds. You've had her for only a few days. Don't make quick judgements based on only slight observations of behavior- she will eventually eat more than the millet sprays.
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Apr 28, 2014 20:11
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Went to the pet store today to pick up some things and visit the birds. They had the sweetest little girl cockatiel who came right up to me and started playing with my fingers and talking to me. Pretty rare you actually see good birds in those sort of places, hopefully somebody picks her up soon. She deserves it the little dear.
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Apr 28, 2014 21:39
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Thanks everyone for the replies! I'll get her some pellets instead, and some parakeet friendly seeds for treats. I'm also going to look up fresh food diets for her.
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Apr 28, 2014 23:52
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I have come into possession of a baby dove, looks maybe 10-15 days old, is this the right place to ask how to deal with it?
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Apr 29, 2014 01:18
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Bismuth posted:I have come into possession of a baby dove, looks maybe 10-15 days old, is this the right place to ask how to deal with it? What exactly does "come into possession" mean? Is this a wild bird that you or someone else found, or was it bred in captivity? I'm a little worried that you're having to ask the internet-- the care of baby birds is one of those areas can get very risky very fast if you don't have close supervision/someone with experience to guide you. If it's a wild-caught bird I would start with looking up animal rescues in your area, and if it's a pet you should be googling for an avian vet. Someone local to you (who you can actually bring the bird to if need be) is probably a more suitable person to establish contact with regarding this.
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Apr 29, 2014 01:49
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| # ? Jun 8, 2024 14:12 |
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 that is an extremely young bird, unless you know what you are doing or take it to someone that does it will probably die. This isn't a judgement on you, understand, very young birds are not simple to care for and are extremely fragile.
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Apr 29, 2014 01:52
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