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Look what I found on the floor of the finch cage yesterday: Super-grumpy baby zebra remains super-grumpy. He is apparently also starving to death, from the amount of impatient beeping emanating from his nest. He has a rudimentary grasp of flight and is working hard at being a spoiled only-child. Gonna call him Cheddar or possibly Gouda.
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Nov 4, 2012 10:22
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I've linked to his blog before, but he has such fascinating travels and great pictures - read Shan Lung's entry on a falcon market and feral hornbills.
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Nov 4, 2012 14:00
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Oh my goodness, look at that angry little baby birdy  That picture made my morning
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Nov 4, 2012 16:45
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Today we got up and took both the birds in the bathroom with us while we had our morning shower, which they normally are still covered for. Even though he'd just got up, and hadn't eaten breakfast yet, Ohtori still decided that since we were having a shower, he should too Scary Ned posted:Look what I found on the floor of the finch cage yesterday: As a Brit, I throw my vote in for Cheddar. Grumpy finch babies are the best, with their black beaks they look so drat cute.
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Nov 4, 2012 18:58
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Welp I think we got the cuddliest amazon ever. She's just let us--nay, demanded that we--scritch her for 30 minutes straight--both of us, while she sat on Lenswork's knee (and we watched TV). Also was roosting the whole time. Holy crap is she happy with us today. From before TV scritches time: 
Kenshin fucked around with this message at 06:36 on Nov 5, 2012 |
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Nov 5, 2012 06:28
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Yeah, that pic about sums up our nighttime routine we've set up in all of two days. We got pretty lucky with her. She's thrilled to just be a part of our activities and wants nothing more than to be in the window of whatever room we're occupying. Singing and dancing is the way to her heart and because we figured that out she has loved all our visitors that have come to meet her. I also lucked out in that the transition from seed to fresh food has gone incredibly smoothly. She lost 10g in her first day here but has more than made up for it in eating today. She loves all the fresh bean/grain mashes and fruit/veggie chops I prepped for her. She even eats the sprinkling of organic pellets I leave in her bowl overnight in case she gets peckish. Asking her if she wants a bean is like asking me if I want chocolate
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Nov 5, 2012 06:52
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D’aaawww. So glad the transition to your home flock is going so smoothly, Kenshin & Lenswork.
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Nov 5, 2012 06:55
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We were at the vet for Scout again today and they were housing about 4 African Greys. One of them would climb up to the top of his cage and then say "Helicopter" :3 There are always a bunch of Greys there when we go in. One of them had the best name for a bird ever - "Preposterous" Talk me out of an African Grey. Tell me they eat babies or something.
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Nov 5, 2012 07:39
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They can literally live 100 years and are as neurotic as a human being. That being said, if you find an old(er) one in rescue, they tend to actually be pretty quiet, mellow birds. They're just always abandoned because they live forever. 
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Nov 5, 2012 07:45
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Yeah I would go for a rescue bird. Our previous bird experience is 4 finches and now our GCC. Approximately how many babies do they eat per day though?
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Nov 5, 2012 07:48
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mikerock posted:Yeah I would go for a rescue bird. Our previous bird experience is 4 finches and now our GCC. Having had two Greys in our family, my experience is that they eat about a half a baby, or a chunky kitten per day. They also really love chewing on the bone from a t-bone steak. (seriously.)
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Nov 5, 2012 08:34
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I can deal with half a baby. They have a kitten upstairs. How many half babies are in a toddler?
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Nov 5, 2012 09:01
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mikerock posted:I can deal with half a baby. They have a kitten upstairs. How many half babies are in a toddler? Three half-babies per toddler. Bird would go through 2.33 toddlers/week. Um. Discouraging words, as requested: they can be bitey, they're super-prone to feather-plucking, they live forever. (Oh man I would love to inherit an elderly grey.)
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Nov 5, 2012 13:46
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Instead of a grey you should consider the Senegal Parrot. It's their smaller, greener cousin.
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Nov 5, 2012 15:25
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Or if you have 50k, you can get a red one! http://www.upatsix.com/chats/hand-fed-babies/topic111243.html Our male grey just bit the poo poo out of my finger - slow and hard, not just a lunging bite. Hurt like a mother.
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Nov 5, 2012 15:28
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Oh my god she's not even grumpy in the morning, she just shoves her head toward me for more scritches
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Nov 5, 2012 15:38
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unprofessional posted:Or if you have 50k, you can get a red one! I can somehow never access anything from upatsix for some reason. Do they block everyone outside of the US? For reals though greys are probably one of the more neurotic birds, probably less so than big cockatoos but still pretty bad. A lot of greys I see have a little patch of plucked feathers on their chest. Some will pretty much be the hardiest loving birds though, like I've seen greys who've gone through a few homes still act like the adorablest cuddlebug bird. By the way, I have a question that me and a friend were talking about, her grey has a few patches of red feathers here and there. Is it a mutation or some lack of nutrition in his diet? ^^^Oh my god Amazons are the best bird, wait until she learns how to say GOOD MORNING!!!!! in that adorable Amazon voice every morning.
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Nov 5, 2012 16:13
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Kenshin posted:Oh my god she's not even grumpy in the morning, she just shoves her head toward me for more scritches In the evenings Hannah demands head scratches. Mrs. Joe Don can spend up to an hour doing that and then Hannah screams until I get him or hurls himself off the recliner and walks to me so that I can scratch him. I'll spend maybe an hour doing that and he just sits on the corner of my desk and chills for a while. After his evening snack, which is usually a piece of toast and peanut butter, he preens and gets ready for bed. It's hilarious that he has such a set routine every day. To the guy above contemplating a grey, they are fun but a lot of work just like any other larger and intelligent parrot. Hannah's never had a problem with plucking or any neurotic behavior. He's just spoiled rotten. He's also pretty good about dealing with other people. We have some friends who watch him when we go out of town and he has a ball whenever he goes over. A question for the other Grey owners: Is your Grey cuddly? We've had Hannah since he was a baby. He loves us and enjoys interacting with people, but he is far from cuddly. I can scratch his head, but I dare not touch any other part of his body. I don't know if that's typical behavior or not. Jose Oquendo fucked around with this message at 16:34 on Nov 5, 2012 |
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Nov 5, 2012 16:29
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mjs6643 posted:Instead of a grey you should consider the Senegal Parrot. It's their smaller, greener cousin. Serious answer: this is true, Poicephalus are really interesting birds with many of the appealing qualities of greys but so much less likely to self-destruct. They don't live a hundred years, they're less prone to neurotic behavior, they're an extremely "parroty" parrot... unprofessional posted:Our male grey just bit the poo poo out of my finger - slow and hard, not just a lunging bite. Hurt like a mother. ...though I should add, this is a favorite Poicephalus biting tactic too. Clamp and grind. It sucks.
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Nov 5, 2012 17:13
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Joe Don Baker posted:A question for the other Grey owners: Is your Grey cuddly? We've had Hannah since he was a baby. He loves us and enjoys interacting with people, but he is far from cuddly. I can scratch his head, but I dare not touch any other part of his body. I don't know if that's typical behavior or not. A few others are basically just your naughty intelligent parrot, they'll bite you whenever they feel like it. The most cuddly one I've seen is one that will go up to someone to snuggle beside them, like a conure.
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Nov 5, 2012 17:51
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Andrias Scheuchzeri posted:Serious answer: this is true, Poicephalus are really interesting birds with many of the appealing qualities of greys but so much less likely to self-destruct. They don't live a hundred years, they're less prone to neurotic behavior, they're an extremely "parroty" parrot...
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Nov 5, 2012 18:06
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Just a heads up, definitely a YMMV type thing, but good to know the potential hazard: http://www.birdtricks.com/blog/dangerous-parrot-accessories/ Also, pictures of sleeping birds inside, that definitely look dead. The author says they're sleeping though.
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Nov 5, 2012 21:25
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This looks like a viable alternative to those bird tents: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=5059+8472+17999&pcatid=17999
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Nov 5, 2012 23:09
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The photos are different now, from what was shown earlier. These birds are very much alive and awake. I wonder if hanging a square of fleece (or other difficult to fray fabric) for them to snuggle against would be just as bad, or not. We're considering removing the hut to see if it cuts down on Ohtori's hormonal behaviour, but: -He looks really cute in it -Sleeps in it every night-clearly he really likes it -Never seen him try and chew/destroy it -While he does use it as a masturbation aid, he doesn't try and rub on anything else, including us. Maybe because he has that, so if it was removed, he'd have to find something else? -Keeps him warm and comfy when wanted But then there's the whole "possible risk of death" business, as well as potentially lowering his hormonal aggression/posturing/harassment of Steve when removed. Hmm.
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Nov 5, 2012 23:30
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Daemon loves his happy hut  So torn on whether or not I should remove it since he's had it since he's been a baby bird (I've replaced one to wear and tear though)
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Nov 5, 2012 23:42
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Ritz loves his as well, we have them in his play cage and sleep cage. He sleeps in it nightly, doesn't chew them, doesn't masturbate on them (that's reserved for forearms) and I don't think it's an issue really. Like I said, YMMV and yes, they did change the pictures which is kinda odd. We'll be leaving them in his cages, but we're going to keep his nails shorter to minimize sticking. E: Mairi Johnson Patty Jourgensen can i ask who gave permission for MY PHOTO to be used because i certainly did NOT I guess even though the author gave credit, the photos owners did not like it. Frozen Pizza Party fucked around with this message at 00:15 on Nov 6, 2012 |
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Nov 6, 2012 00:07
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They changed the pictures to the stock PR pictures because people got bitchy about it.
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Nov 6, 2012 00:21
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There's a little note at the bottom re the photos: "Note: As much as we wanted to share real photos from real people of their sleeping birds in snuggle huts, people felt slandered having their names on such photos that they would openly share on a facebook page so we decided to use the product pictures instead from stores that sell these."
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Nov 6, 2012 00:25
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We had to take Pookie's version of a happy hut from her; it was a 2.5 foot x 1 foot wooden box that sat on a dresser in the kitchen. She used to go inside and chew the walls apart and then pop out of the door occasioanlly to defend her 'nest' from intruders. The thing was, we noticed over a period of some months that she was definitely getting more hormone-crazy, bitey and aggressive, and the box was very clearly a focus of the crazy. Unfortunately taking the box away didn't really help, she then focused on the undershelf areas of the dresser as places to lurk, burrow and pounce out from. Sadly I had to do a pretty awful thing to deflect her - I put the scary brush up on the main shelf of the dresser. I think I have mentioned it before, but the scary brush is an old-fashioned sweeping brush with a red handle whuch Pookie hates. She hates it so much that if she is being extremely bold all I have to do is say to her that I am going to get the scary brush, she immediately stops whatever mischief she is up to and starts behaving like a little angel. Anyway, it's been a few months since she was evicted from the dresser but the scary brush is still in place as a deterrent. Fortunately she has mostly forgotten it is there so I'm hoping she'll just remember that it's not a fun place anymore and continue to play around the rest of the house happily without missing her dresser too much.
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Nov 6, 2012 00:28
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marshmallard posted:There's a little note at the bottom re the photos: Ugh. Yeah, copyright is such a hassle and all, they would post them on Facebook so why can't we use them too??
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Nov 6, 2012 00:29
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I've never used huts because of safety concerns and the hormonal stuff, but I make sure Pinto has some big complicated toys set up in the top/back of his cage with perches behind them, so he has some hiding spots where he can stare down at the world unseen.
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Nov 6, 2012 01:09
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I guess I am lucky Baby and Cheeky don't chew on their huts or even go near them unless it is bedtime.
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Nov 6, 2012 01:17
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Had people over for dinner last night and instructed them not to acknowledge Scout as we're trying to train her not to perceive guests as predators. Went pretty well. Their 2 y.o. son was interested in her for a bit and she was a little defensive, but as long as we left her alone she was OK.
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Nov 6, 2012 01:32
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Oh I meant to say, Miss Lady came out today, She is an elderly budgie with a mirror obsession and a life-long gimpy wing, so she is kind of set in her ways generally. However. Today she decided was the day for vigorous activity. There was unprecedented wing flapping, so I stashed a piece of her favorite cheese on top of the cage, out of reach from the inside. She spent about 10 minutes trying to eat it from inside before venturing outside to munch cheese. She did drop it quite early but I picked it up and held it for her so she got to eat loads She is a strange and really sweet little person. Edit: she saw my powder compact today and thought it was quite scary until I showed her the insides and thus that there was only a goofy budgie inside so she realised it was sort of silly and not something to be frightened of at all. Pookah fucked around with this message at 01:45 on Nov 6, 2012 |
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Nov 6, 2012 01:42
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I thought cheese was bad for birds? Have I been denying Squirt treats all this time? Also, coming home to a quiet house is weird now. We are heading away on holidays for a week and a bit, so have given Squirt to my partners mum for now. She has looked after Squirt before, and has kept birds for longer than I have been around, so im not worried about anything. I just miss the squarks of fury when I dont open the cage as soon as I get home.
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Nov 6, 2012 01:44
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Frogmanv2 posted:I thought cheese was bad for birds? Have I been denying Squirt treats all this time? It isn't really healthy since they can't really process dairy, but a little bit every now and then is fine. It's Steve's favourite food and Ohtori likes it a lot too. http://exoticpetvet.net/avian/dairy.html
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Nov 6, 2012 01:48
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Frogmanv2 posted:I thought cheese was bad for birds? Have I been denying Squirt treats all this time? I think it is bad in large amounts but she eats little tiny beakfuls and is in any case so ridiculously pickly about the cheese she will eat that it becomes a moot point- she'll eat emmenthal, maasdam, jarlsberg if sliced thinly, but thinly cut pale cheddar is an insult, plain and simple.
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Nov 6, 2012 01:49
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Yeah Hannah LOVES cheese. He gets a little square every so often.
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Nov 6, 2012 01:50
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Would using cheese for clicker training treats be too much?
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Nov 6, 2012 01:54
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Joe Don Baker posted:Yeah Hannah LOVES cheese. He gets a little square every so often. Do you know what is the worst cheese for an african grey? It is cheese that has been previously offered to another pet, like maybe a budgie. That is terrible cheese that should be rejected out of hand, or possibly thrown across the room. Greys are hilariously stroppy when it comes to cheese priority in this house.
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Nov 6, 2012 01:56
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