She bit me !

[Wolf]

As much as I know that you don't like cages, there is something to be said for them at times like this. I can't let my birds be cage free due to the other animals that I have or else I would give it a go here myself. But sometimes a good time out for them can be just the thing and while I would not intentionally lock a bird in a room by itself I could easily place them in a cage where they can see and talk to me and the other bird and still not be able to attack me. I really don't think that clipping her wings would solve any of her biting except for the aerial assaults, the remainder of the biting issue would still remain an issue. Like many of us you are no longer a spring chicken and your reflexes are not as quick as they used to be.

[Pajarita]

She is becoming overly hormonal, Liz. Your light schedule has been off for months and, most likely, she is eating a bit too much protein, too. The too much protein is, basically, pretty unavoidable in captivity -we all do it no matter how careful we are- but, going by what you have explained you do with the grains and seeds (20 minutes hot water in a thermal cup), you are, basically, giving them wet seed and grains. In order for them to have less fat, they need to be cooked or, at the very least, soaked - and that means 12 to 18 hours in water with rinsings in between.

[liz]

I can do 12 hours. I will put it in for a hot soak the night before. It will also save me prep time in the morning. They also get veggies and half a walnut in the morning. If that is too much I could reduce it to a quarter of a walnut.

[Wolf]

Liz, I know that this is frustrating and redundant, but protein and fats don't just come from a single source. So please make a new list of foods as well as how they are prepared and when fed and let us see if there might be another source creating a problem, please.

[liz]

I am so tired of loosing my posts before I can add them. It happened again,

Breakfast for the Amazons is 1 Tbs of the grain mix, half a walnut (I put Rambo's under his grain), and at least 3 colors of fresh cut veggies.

Supper is a Tbs of parrot seed, 1 almond in shell, unsalted mini pretzel and half a ginger snap.
Myrtle has not been eating her almond or ginger snap because she eats so much of her veggies during the day.

Time was 9 am and 5 pm but will change it to 10 am and 3 pm. Aunt B and I go to our rooms after supper to watch our own TV programs so the Amazons are nite nite by 7 pm.

Myrtle has not drawn blood today. Twice she bit hard. She is allowing me to pick Rambo up and move him to another place and even played in another room while he was with me. Right now Myrtle is on my door and Rambo in on the floor beside me. I have hopes for a better tomorrow but will set up another cage in the morning. Have you ever tried to catch a fast flying bird that knows what you are up to. Wish me luck putting her in a cage.

[Wolf]

What grains are you using? It may take me a little time to get back to you on this as I need to compare your list to several others.

As for catching such a bird, I always recommend that you try and find that one treat that they will do most anything for and save it for times like that.

[liz]

I don't remember right off what all the names are but they are on the list. Quino, ferra, steel cut oats, oat grout, wild rice and I don't remember the rest. I buy them in bulk at the health food store but throw the bags away after setting up the pouches.

Myrtle is too smart. I think she is telepathic and can read my mind. Even if she took a treat she would take off with it before I could grab her. And I would have to grab her to make her do something she doesn't want to do. To take her to the vet I have to bring her in the bathroom so she can't fly so far away from me. By the time I get her in a carrier and open the door, all the others are sitting there wanting to know what I did to her.

[Wolf]

How long before you need to buy more grains?

[liz]

They usually go through it in a month and I just bought some.

Why? If my choice is wrong I will eat it or give it to the horse. Do you have suggestions.

I didn't get one bite yesterday but she watched me very close when I picked him up and moved him. He spent a lot of time in my window yesterday with Myrtle perched on top of the TV.

[Wolf]

So that I can compare the nutritional values of what you get and can get against what the birds need so that you can give maybe a more balanced diet. I often go to sites like this one in my attempts to learn more. http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cer ... ta/10352/2
Although we mostly keep it simple and speak mostly about proteins and fat in our birds diets it is also important to look at the other values as well. Where we often eat beans or rice neither is a complete protein but beans and rice in the same dish or meal does give a complete protein. Protein are used mostly as building blocks for repairing the body, but also have other functions as well, one of these is as an energy source. Carbohydrates are the bodies main fuel source, so carbs are primarily an energy source. I think that we need to balance these in the diet as too much carbs can lead to a bird getting fat since it has more energy calories than it can use, this would mean that the bird may need less protein in its diet as more of it would be stored as fat in the liver or could be freed up for producing hormones. So what may appear to be the result of too much protein may actually be the result of too many carbs.
This is just the tip of what I am still learning and that is not even going into the balance required in the area of vitamins and minerals.
I already know that you try very hard to keep the protein level down and yet your bird and other peoples as well keep going into breeding condition out of season. Light and protein are the easiest to control but I do not believe that they are the whole story. So if I can get a list of what grains you normally buy or what is available to you I may be able to give you some suggestions. For instance you are listing both steel cut oats and oat groats in your list of grains, my understanding is that oat groats are basically the whole oat seed while steel cut oats are a rough cut oat so nutritionally speaking they would be the same So I would suggest that you use only one of them or combine them so that you only use the same amount for them together as you use for just one of them sort of instead of 1/2 cup of steel cut oats and 1/2 cup of oat groats, use 1/2 cup of them combined. And then add in a different unrelated grain.