Navre and Friends in Boston

[Navre]

It seems to me that CAG and TAG are very different birds. Nicky talks in the travel cage, in the car, at the vet, between growls at a dog; he seems to talk out of stress.

Timnehs seem to be a lot less vocal, overall, than the Congos are.

I'm a little concerned about how quiet and sedate he is. He seems sad. I need to check where the cyst was on his back. I'm hoping he doesn't have a infection. He hasn't been picking at it, and I have avoid bathing him, so I think it's okay.

It's also hot in the house. It's over 85. Maybe that's keeping him subdued.

[Navre]

It is cooler today, and Nick is doing better. I managed to find the toys that he likes (Rattan Balls, Jumbo Corks, Sola Balls) and he has been busily destroying them all day.

Also, the animal hospital called today. He is a boy, just as we suspected.

[Pajarita]

I don't think it's the heat, John. I think it's the 'newness' of it all. As the days go by and he starts getting used to his new humans, home and routine, he will open up more.

[Navre]

I don't think it's the heat, John. I think it's the 'newness' of it all. As the days go by and he starts getting used to his new humans, home and routine, he will open up more.

I plan to move him into the room with the other bird after he has been here about a month. Someone told me that if I let the birds hear each other, but not see each other, for the first month, they had a better chance of adjusting. That will probably start his adjustment all over, again. Where he is now, he is dependent on artificial light. He can see a window, but it's north facing and there is another house about 6 feet away. A little light comes in through the door, too, but there is a big, covered porch out there that keeps the sun off the door(by design). I want to get him into the room with the 4, big, south and east facing windows. Rather than get a dome top cage, I got one with a play top. This will allow me to put a tray, or plexiglass up there, to make it less likely that the green cheek ever lands on his cage and gets a foot bitten. She generally stayed off of Tanya's cage, but Tanya couldn't get to the top of the cage, anyhow.

[liz]

Putting them in hearing distance while in quarantine is like two people talking on the phone for a month before they meet. They will communicate long before they see each other. Unless they speak in English I don't know what they are saying but even two different species will begin to understand each other.

It is like when my Bubba Cockatiel got out and left Sweetie's window after 3 days. A male Cardinal flew to the place outside the sunroom where Bubba perched to try to get Sweetie to follow him. The Cardinal was about 3 feet away from the window Sweetie was in and spent every moment after feeding to be with her. She learned to speak Cardinal before winter when I had to close the window.

[Wolf]

The only time that Kiki will go to Kookooloo's cage is when Kookooloo is with me or can't get to her although Kookooloo will climb up to the top of Kiki's cage whether Kiki is there or not. Kiki is my Senegal.

Mimi, Amazon, is a larger bird and since Kookooloo's cage is also next to hers if Kookooloo is out and Mimi decides to circle the outside of her own cage she will on occasion climb over to check out Kookooloo's cage, but never when Kookooloo is there.

Kookooloo does not like either of these birds and does not like any human other than myself either. Even in the wild Grey do not flock with other birds. I have been trying to find more about them in their natural habitat. Each pair of greys nest in their own tree, they both care for their young which fledge at about12 weeks. The fledglings leave the nest and remain with their parents until they know how to feed themselves and then spend most of their time with other juveniles, but then they always return to the parents who continue to care for and teach them until they are ready to be fully independent which is around three years of age.

This last paragraph was just in case you might be interested. Still part of what I am trying to say is that you should not expect too much in the way of actual interaction between your two birds as Greys, while not really aggressive, don't tend to associate with many other birds and for the most part tend to ignore them.

[Navre]

I'm not expecting the grey to be interested, but the greencheek need to know everything that is going on. She is too curious for her own good.

[Pajarita]

Yes, GCCs are like that - all little ones are! They are all over the place, in your face and needing to know everything that is going on. Codee GCC is not like that, though, but I think that's because she has a mate so she prefers to stay with me all the time she is allotted one-on-one and just go back to him when we are done. Of course, the fact that her cage is in a different room might be also a reason why...

Yes, hearing each other will begin the familiarization process but I don't think Nicky needs a full quarantine, John. He has been quarantined and vetted in the rescue so this is more a matter of getting him used to things than an actual health concern, I would think.

My greys don't go looking for trouble but they take exception to my paying a lot of attention to another bird. Sophie CAG has now gotten into the habit of climbing down a rope to the top of Linus's cage while Linus and I are having our morning 'love session' (the door is open but he likes to wait inside on his favorite perch for me to approach him). She wants me to pay attention to her and starts going: "Come here, Soph!" and "Up Up" mixed with kissy noises and clucking trying to woo me into leaving him for her

[Navre]

The separation between the birds isn't for quarantine, it's just to introduce them to each other gradually. I just want everyone to keep all the toes they started out with.

[Pajarita]

AHA! Great minds and all that...