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Deadly Chlorine posted:Oh yes, I've been thinking of getting my green cheek a happy hut, but I've heard stories where people's birds ate the lining or got trapped in a stray thread and died. Is this something I should be worrying about? There are, however, other sleeping tents that do not have embroidery and the only stitching is where the outside and inside fabric meet: http://www.petcarerx.com/catalog/productdetails.aspx?pid=17172& Baby was used to having a hut from infancy, but when we got 5 year old Cheeky she had never seen one before. It took her a few days before she understood what the thing was for and when she doesn't sleep in it, she sleeps in the corner of her cage with her back pressed to it. Sleep huts are a good place for birds to get away from drafts, sleep, or have some privacy. Just be sure to check them for signs of chewing or wear and snip off loose threads or replace when they get too beat up.
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Nov 1, 2012 20:42
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Malalol posted:For birds on seed, any resources for comparing how nutritional different seeds are? Obviously you want a good mix but you know how they say, oh sunflower seeds- high in fat.. etc. If you get the nonsunf. seed mixes, youll see em have more safflower. Is that good? etc. Do birds die from all seed diets from the fat content or is it lacking in some other sort of nutrition? All seed diets are bad for birds since they lack certain factors of nutrition such as Vitamin A and C. They can also lead to obesity, heart disease, and fatty liver disease due to the high fat content. I give Cheeky and Baby a little seed everyday in addition to pellets and fresh food and I try to find ones with a high millet and safflower content as well as some dried veggies and fruit. I did a quick google search to see if I could find comparative analysis of types of seeds but the results are only taking about why an all seed diet is bad. So one of the the two local rescues in our state has a blue Indian Ringneck up for adoption and I wish we were in the position to adopt him so bad! We both love the way they sound and have expressed a desire to get one in the future, but now isn't the time. Too bad because they are so cute!
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Nov 2, 2012 11:48
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Cheeky sees earrings as things to be pulled out with ferocity, while Baby likes to chew on them, roll them around in his mouth, then pulled out. You can always train them to leave earrings alone of course and if that fails just leave them out if you are carrying a bird on your shoulder.
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Nov 2, 2012 17:50
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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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Battle Pigeon posted:It's hours past midnight, Ohtori was covered long ago, but he's still climbing around the bars of his cage squeaking and bitching. I don't know if it's because we didn't take him to shower today, or because he has no hut to sleep in now, or both. Probably because of having no hut. He might not know how to sleep on a perch because feet placement is different in something witha falt bottom versus a rounded perch.
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Nov 7, 2012 03:08
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Battle Pigeon posted:He can bitch all he likes, he's definitely not getting it during the day and he only got it last night because of working/talking in the same room he and his cage is in until past 4am. I don't think he was complaining so much about the hut, as that we were there and talking when it should have been bedtime. We felt bad for him and gave him the hut so he could get some sleep. He doesn't actually seem to care it isn't there during the day and we don't care if he bitches about it at night, so if he complains more it isn't a problem. I'd say putting the hut in there right before you put him to bed would be a good idea since it give extra protection against drafts, he is already used to sleeping in it, and you are controlling when he gets it. He may be so used to sleeping in it that it might take a long time for him to learn how to sleep without it. He'll get used to the routine of taking it in and putting it back soon enough.
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Nov 9, 2012 00:35
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But we were wondering if it makes a difference if he only gets it at night, rather than not at all, since it would be nice for him to have a warm place during the cold winter here.
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I think Cheeky has a cold since she was sneezing a bit this morning. I've been putting off getting a gram scale but I better order one just in case so I can better measure their weight in times like this.
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Nov 19, 2012 12:51
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I am coming down from a mini panic attack right now. I just got back home from a trip to NY for a funeral and all I wanted to do after my 4 1/2 hour drive and stressful few days was sit down and cuddle my birds and decompress. I took Cheeky out and she has a wound on the top of her eyelid which looks like it was caused by her and Baby fighting. The two rarely go after each other anymore, and the only time they seem to do it is around my husband, and he doesn't always break them up immediately. I texted my hubby at work demanding to know what happened: he claims they fought a little but when he broke them up she looked fine. Thankfully there is no damage to the actual eye, but the top is swollen a little bit. She doesn't appear to be bothered by it and when I touched around the area she didn't act like she was in pain. Still, when I saw the red spot I immediately went to worry mode thinking she might have a cornea scratch or something worse and fired off two WTF texts to him. I will keep an eye on her today and if it still looks puffy tomorrow I will take her into the vet.  He was supposed to watch them dammit, Now I have to come down from the stress of seeing her injured!
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Nov 29, 2012 18:19
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What is with all of our conures having issues lately? Cheeky's eye looked much better the next day after I came home and the last of the redness went away today. I've been working on getting both birds to be in closer proximity to each other in order to curb their rare tiffs in the hopes they do not go at it so rough when they do clash. Both Baby and Cheeky seem to be getting the idea that fighting=not happy mommy and are quick to stop themselves from leaning towards the other with an open beak when I say "no." They may never be friends, but I want them to get to the point where they could be right next to one another and just pretend the other isn't there.
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Dec 5, 2012 21:26
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BitchKitten posted:Haven't posted in here for awhile. But I am wondering, if anyone else's conure/bird does this as well? Baby does that as well, he will sometimes grab his tail with his foot and stretch it out as far as he can when he is on his boing boing perch. I have no idea how he doesn't fall off.
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Dec 10, 2012 13:37
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Pip pip pip posted:I toss him into the air towards things he seems to want to go to: his cage, the playstand we have in the living room, or the couch. I feel like a terrible person, throwing my pets across the room, but it seems to be helping a little. It's really funny how slow he flies though, it seems like he is just hovering and only has forward motion because I toss him. We do the same thing with Baby and Cheeky so don't feel bad. It helps them get a little wing exercise while learning how to fly towards a set destination. Knowing how to maneuver in the air has prevented them from crashing into things when they get spooked since they already know safe places to aim for. Baby has recently begun to fly onto his playstand when he feels ready to poop, so we make sure to reward him so he does it more often. As long as you don't for reals throw them I think it is a good idea if you know your bird won't freak out.
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Dec 12, 2012 03:17
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uglynoodles posted:She's only like 6 months old at most, the guy in the shop said she'd been there for 3 months, and they were young when they got them in. I'd think she was too young for this? But... She's doing the whole 'mate with me' thing, so I don't know! Speaking of being able to pet a bird where ever, how are other people's conures about being touched and groomed? Baby amazes me because I can hold him on his back; pet under his chest and wings; rub his feet, wings, and legs; as well as trim his nails, beak, and wings with little to no protest. Cheeky didn't like being touched much the first few months we had her, but now she tolerates a lot of touching around the same places as Baby, with the exception of rubbing her pinfeathers. Apart from that, she will pretty much let me pet her however, with the occasional bitchy little squeal. I'm just curious if such pliability and tolerance is a conure thing, or if the amount of work we've put into having them enjoy our touches that has made the most difference.
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Dec 12, 2012 17:16
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Frozenfries posted:Well I can happily call myself a bird crazy now. http://www.eclectusbreeder.com/care.htm http://loveyourparrot.com/eclectusparrots.html http://www.oldworldaviaries.com/text/lewis/eclectus-care-2.htm The advice is similar to that given for most birds: various fresh fruits and vegges (no avocado, chocolate, or onion as those are poisonous) and pellets. Make sure you don't leave cooked veggies in there more than a few hours because they will go bad. One of those websites mentions that Eclectus parrots like to dip their pellets, so you might want to make sure they are located next to their water dish. Of course this means the water will have to be changed more but if it makes her happy that is all that matters! (My male conure loves making pellet soup and I usually have to change his water 2 times a day.) I am super jealous of yo because Eclectuses are so beautiful and very different looking from other birds because they don't have a ring around their eyes and because their feathers are so soft. I would also caution against having the bird on the balcony without a harness. Even clipped a gust of wind can cause them to fly off, or something spooking her might do the same, and as Wozbo mentioned a predator animal or bird that happens to be near might take too much interest. Once established, taking a bird outside unharnessed is a very hard habit to break. My husband used to do it occasionally with Baby this past summer, even though he knew we had a pair of hawks living behind our house. We have harnesses now thankfully, but god forbid if he'd lost my little one, whether to the wind of a predator. And here are two adorable talking Eclectus videos for good measure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuSS2-ZALSA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsl2gNkERIY (Sometimes it is hard to tell if the owner or parrot is talking in this one)
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Jan 7, 2013 14:44
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The family got me a female Eclectus Parrot, and her name is Ruby: 
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Pip pip pip posted:I also learned that having a parrot that basically poops on command is a pretty good party trick
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Jan 7, 2013 15:05
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bee posted:What are people's suggestions for easy, cheap things you can use to keep your parrot amused? Now that Saffy's wings have grown back she is flying all over the house and finding things to destroy. First it was my bonsai plant, then a bag of grapes I left on the bench.
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Jan 17, 2013 17:07
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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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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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Official Bizness posted:I've been thinking a lot lately about getting a tattoo that would represent the love I have for my flock of idiots. Anyone have their own bird-based tattoos or ideas?
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Jan 30, 2013 02:14
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So has anyone here ever ordered from the website Parrot Safari.? Because if you have, and you had a GOOD experience, I'd love to hear it because I am steamed! I ordered a whole bunch of stuff from there, and even though shipping was ridiculous at $14, I'd spend just that much in gas to drive to our closest bird toy shop, which is 45 minutes away. I spent a lot of money in one shot so I could stock up on toys since shipping is expensive, as is driving to the store. Never again will I order from there. I got my order on the 30th and out of the fourteen plus things I bought, only four arrived in the box... and one of them was the wrong perch. There wasn't even an invoice, and the box was just one that something else had been delivered to them in. I have sent them three emails and a Facebook message with no response and their "contact us" number isn't even a working one. I am so glad I paid through Paypal because I just opened a dispute, hopefully they will respond. I have bought their toys from our local bird shop before, so I figured they were a legitimate business. *End rant* Edit: Just checked the mail to find one of the missing things. No note of when the rest will come, just a box wit one toy inside. Opera Bitch fucked around with this message at 22:34 on Feb 6, 2013 |
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Feb 6, 2013 22:06
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Tasty_Crayon posted:Parrot Safari or Parrot Safari Toy Factory? Parrot Safari. They are owned by the same people though: the same lady's image is on both sites. The paypal dispute worked because I heard from her right away. According to her none of my emails got to her, and she didn't acknowledge my comment that I sent two of them through her own website's order contact page... so I guess having a working system isn't a big deal to them. She apparently never got the facebook message I sent her company, or the email I sent from my own account to address provided on the paypal contact page for her company. I find it strange, however, that after I opened the dispute she got back to me a short time later... using the same email I had sent my third email to. So basically the stuff I ordered that hasn't come yet--items I was able to add to my cart and not listed as being out of stock--were out of stock and would come piece by piece. I never got an invoice or a letter with the first package stating this was the case, so as far as I knew, my order was shorted. She also stated the perch I got was the same as the one in the picture but was one that had bark on it, but she'd send me the sandblasted one if I wanted it. Once again, I ORDERED the sandblasted one, and I got something completely different sent to me. Whether or not this has all been a big miscommunication, I'll stick to the places I used to buy toys from now on.
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Feb 7, 2013 13:24
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Maybe people tried using too big of a heated perch for their bird, which ended up in more heat being dispersed over a smaller area and thus causing burns. I also have a heated perch, and both Baby and Cheeky have no interest in using it.
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Feb 8, 2013 16:41
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I have two conures, and while they each have one person they tend to like a little more, they will happily go from myself to my husband. Both of you should take turns bonding whatever bird you get in order to curb jealousy/single person bonding. If your wife is concerned the bird will bond to you more, make it a special event when she gets home and encourage the bird to spend time with her. For example, when my husband gets home from work I usually say in an excited voice, "daddy's home" and when he comes in he immediately gives them attention and praise, and both Baby and Cheeky REALLY respond to this. Treats help too. We got Baby as, well... a baby. As such it was easier to get him to bond to both of us. Cheeky started off as attached to my husband because the person we adopted her from was a guy, and let me tell you she was a terror to me for awhile. HOWEVER, after investing my time in giving her loving and treats and attention and all sorts of other good things she now loves me to death. We love our conures and they love both of us, and I cannot imagine not having their little fluffy butts waddling and warking around our house.
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Feb 17, 2013 19:45
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Malalol posted:Conure noise
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Apr 14, 2013 20:52
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Plus if you spritz him when he screams he won't necessarily equate it with " I am wet I must preen now," but rather "WTF is my flock mate doing" or "this is bad I don't like this."
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Apr 16, 2013 22:38
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Anyone else have birds who sulk after getting their nails trimmed? I have gotten Baby and Cheeky so used to being held on their backs and having their feet touched that I've done all their nail trimming for over the past year and a half. While both of them will let out an occasional protest squeak or touch a beak to my hand, they do not bite me and begrudgingly endure the process. When I finish and put them on their perches I give them a craisin as a reward. Both of them will then drop it as if to say "I don't want anything from you" but if I put the treats back into the container they will then lean off their perches or look at me as if to say "wait, wait, I didn't mean it!" I can't believe how far Cheeky has come over the past year and a half I've had her. When I used to try and cut her nails I had to towel her and make sure her beak couldn't get to my hands otherwise she'd tear them up. Now I hold her barehanded and the process is done in less than a minute!
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Jul 9, 2013 13:00
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jadebullet posted:I do have a question though. We are planning on getting a Christmas tree this year. What is the procedure and hazards of having a bird and a Christmas tree? Besides no tinsel of course, since that stuff is nasty. I put my Christmas tree up in the same room as my GCCs and they both ignore it. The first year I put it up I was a bit worried they might freak out about a strange thing suddenly being in the middle of the room, but neither of them made a sound when it went up. I also feared the smell of pine might be overwhelming and bad for them, but that wasn't an issue either. It probably depends on the bird. I honestly had no issues whatsoever.
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Sep 4, 2013 22:53
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Battle Pigeon posted:It's definitely a violent rear end in a top hat, but the little steps of progress it's making in other areas is making up for it.
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Sep 9, 2013 23:12
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H110Hawk posted:I don't always wear my wedding band around the house. I took it off when I was watching some TV tonight. The bird was hopping around on me, down my arm, and boom grabbed the ring off the table and took off.
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Nov 23, 2013 05:17
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Battle Pigeon posted:Is "hide and crawl around under things/attempt to put things like paper towels, toys, etc over body or at least back" a GCC thing, or a female GCC thing?
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Dec 5, 2013 13:28
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Wizard of Smart posted:Jack flew off the cage at the missus and attacked her jacket today My conure Baby was clipped at first but we let his wing feathers grow out completely. A few weeks after they were all in he started to get a little aggressive towards our female and flying away from me when it was bed time. I started by cutting two of his primaries and that was enough to get his behavior to change. He was still able to fly and gain altitude but he mellowed out. You may not need to cut them completely, that way you don't feel so bad about doing it. On a completely different note, I am having two tattoos on my shoulder covered up and after thinking long and hard about what I wanted, I decided to get a piece that includes conures. It is halfway done at this point, and I am super excited to see it completed: 
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Dec 18, 2013 13:48
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time to clip his wings I guess.
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:I found a parakeet outside (why does this poo poo always happen to me?). The top of it's beak is a mile long and it's super cold and terrified now that it's in the house. Going to a vet tomorrow for a beak trim, but could someone kindly give me parakeets 101 until this little one finds a home/after it's healed up? I know seed is bad. I'm looking at the OP nutrition stuff, but I don't know if that counts because parrots=?parakeets too? Here is a site I found on what to do with a bird you find outside: http://www.birdchannel.com/bird-magazines/bird-talk/2009-may/lost-bird.aspx Hopefully he doesn't stress too much and it makes it through the night (no idea how cold it was outside).
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Dec 22, 2013 01:01
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Kenshin posted:NO BIRD STOP TRYING TO CHEW ON THE SWEATY ARMPITS OF MY TSHIRTS THAT IS GROSS
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Jan 11, 2014 15:54
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I got my tattoo mostly finished today and it came out awesome! Next time I see him he's going to add some darker ink to the small conure to make it match the rest. I am really glad the conure theme worked with the designs he came up with to cover up the two old ugly tattoos on my shoulders.
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Jan 26, 2014 02:01
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I work in an elementary school and today was the annual duck race fundraiser so I decided to bring Baby with me. People there were amazed by how mellow he was and by the fact that bird harnesses exist. Naturally the kids asked if he bit so I told them how loving he was and let those who were interested pet him. Baby seemed to enjoy being outside as kept looking around and tweeted occasionally. No one tried to touch him without permission but as my husband and I were leaving an elderly woman came up to me and held me by my shoulders saying how precious Baby was while leaning towards him. I was too thrown off by her sudden approach to react, and I had no idea if she might be related to someone I knew so I just leaned away from her and responded in a way to end the conversation. All I could think is "if Baby bites her for getting in his face I'm not chastising him." Thankfully nothing happened and we went our merry way. I am so proud of his behavior!
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Apr 5, 2014 22:11
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I was reading a post I made in GBS when I noticed something blinking under my avatar, it appears I have been marked as a bird crazy! Thanks to whoever gave the sig to me.
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Apr 9, 2014 04:01
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UglyNoodles have you considering taking Iro to the vet to see if there is something physically wrong that might be causing the change in behavior? An avian vet or bird specialist would probably have better insight advice on why this behavior change is happening and ways to stop it. If there is a bird rescue/re-homing organization in you area they would probably be a good place to go to as well.
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Apr 12, 2014 16:16
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My birds do the whole ignoring their toys thing in favor of tissues and chewing on the fleece ends of the rag blanket in our living room. I have learned just to leave their toys up regardless because a few months later they become super interested in them for whatever reason, and then tear them apart. But seriously, tissues are one thing they NEVER tire of destroying.
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May 21, 2014 12:14
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jadebullet posted:So Gunter continues to be quite the bitch. She now doesn't want to leave her cage, except if I force the issue. She will lunge/leap at us from inside the cage if we come close and the only way that I can handle her is either with gloves, or if she winds up on the floor. (she steps up so nicely on the floor.) My hands are now covered with little flaps of skin from where she has grabbed on and wouldn't let go after she has lulled me into a false sense of security. She still will sit on my shoulder, but after a while she will decide that my ear is the enemy and bite it as hard as she can. My second conure came from another home and for the first 2 months she was really bad, going after my hands to bite me. If Gunter is lunging for you the moment you go towards the cage the following advice may now work, but if she is relatively calm when you approach I can tell you what I did with Cheeky. At first I simply put my hand in her cage with no attempt to move towards her just so she got used to its presence there, talking to her soft while I did this. Eventually I extended my finger and slowly moved my hand in saying "step up." If she showed signs of aggression I took my hand out and closed the door and talked to her very sweetly. I wanted her to see that acing huffy might get rid of the hand, but not me. I repeated the process and gradually I moved my finger closer over time. I would tell her good girl if I was able to put my finger in with no aggressive reaction from her and dropped a treat in her cup. If I got close and she bit I would firmly say NO and pushed my hand towards her beak. Doing this upset her balance slightly and caused her to release my finger rather than clamping down if I had pulled away. Cheeky still got in a few good bites and I had to remind myself that I was invading this tiny little bird's comfort zone and that she needed to realize I wouldn't kill her before she would stop reacting as such. When she finally stood on my finger I kept my hand in the cage at first, praised her, and gave her treats so she associated my hand in the cage with good things. After awhile I could take her out with no issues. I think that saying step up every time I wanted her to come out helped her understand why my hand was approaching her and let her know my intentions were to take her out of the cage. She is still a little nibbly at times, but never to the point of causing pain. Dunno if my wall of text will help but I thought I'd give you my thoughts.
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May 24, 2014 05:50
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So I put Baby and Cheeky on their perches, went to use the bathroom, and when I came out they were pecking at each other through Baby's cage bars and when I pulled them apart I noticed Cheeky's beak was bitten through in a small spot right next to her cere:  She didn't make any noise when it happened or I would have heard, didn't react or flinch when I touched near the area, and she is eating and moving around her cage normally. I don't know whether I should take her to the e-vet or wait and take her to our primary vet tomorrow after I get out of work. Any advice? Baby has recently been a bit of a butt to me as well, which is correlating with the season change so I should have know he would be more aggressive towards Cheeky. Edit: Cheeky is eating and playing with her toys and isn't showing any signs of distress so the e-vet I called said to monitor her and bring her to my normal vet tomorrow, unless something changes. Opera Bitch fucked around with this message at 01:17 on Nov 21, 2014 |
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Nov 21, 2014 00:56
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Tasty_Crayon posted:I would keep an eagle eye on her for signs of shock. If there isn't bleeding or a huge amount of swelling you will probably be ok to wait. We had something almost exactly the same thing happen to Leeloo two weeks ago. They prescribed us some clavamox and a painkiller and things have been going really well. I am starting to think she is actually a HE. Cheeky was given to us and wasn't sexed, but a lot of her behavior matches what is typically seen as male behavior in conures. Not only that, but I read that conures tend to fight, especially males during certain seasons, which might explain why Baby is going for her lately. Regardless, I am not going to let them stay in the same room together alone for the time being. If I leave the room then one of them comes with me, or they both go into their cages.
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Nov 21, 2014 04:18
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