my TAG, Skippy

[Kakariki]

I am happy to say that I decided to adopt 5 yr old Skippy. He was on kijiji for a couple of weeks and I finally inquired about him. Doug and I drove the 3 1/3 hours and were lucky to be able to bring him home the same day. It turned out that the couple who owned him did have a lot more going on in their lives and had turned down a couple of other prospective purchasers, which I was glad to hear that they were being particular.

He did have some plucked area on his chest, and is not fond of many of the healthier foods....yet. We are working on that. Gloop is accepted in small amounts already, I think it really helps that I eat some first, then offered it to him, then I eat a bit more and he sees the other birds eating it too. Crayola has always insisted on having at least part of her breakfast sitting on my shoulder (something I would also like input on... Doug says I spoil her and she can eat on her own,,,, AM I doing her a disservice? )

Skippy steps up willingly. The couple of times he did not wish to, he tapped my finger with the top of his beak and stepped away, which I respect and never force. Later that morning when I was sitting at my desk, with my back to the cage, he made his way over to right behind my chair, on the arm of the loveseat behind me and said 'GOOD MORNING'' That startled me and I jumped! Unfortuneately he was clipped for the past 2 or more years, but next molt we will see how he enjoys his full feathers. something to look forward to ! In the meantime, we are all getting to know one another and he seems intrigued by the other birds. Raj does his best daily to be friends, and I watch carefully to avoid a conflict but sofar things have been peaceful. When Skippy has enough he says 'go away' in a deep man voice and he will move away or climb back into his cage.

Interesting to note, even though greys generally dislike bathing, two days in a row I saw him trying to climb into his water dish. I took some video but anytime I try to upload it here it wil not allow it. I will continue to work on that from time to time, but my patience with computers is lacking. I did however start putting a large shallow bowl on top of his cage in case he ever wants to use it.

Have to go for now, Crayola is needing some attention.

[Wolf]

Try a spray bottle of room temperature water. He might get excited and move around lifting winds and such. Sometimes they prefer being misted and some prefer showers, or water running gently in sinks, some prefer bird baths although they can be very particular about the dish used as a bird bath. Some like deeper or no, shape can influence them as well as color. You just never know until you find what type of dish they prefer to bathe in.

[Kakariki]

On a related note, baths, I have uploaded 2 videos to my face book, it was easy there, I do not know why I have problems here, anyway I hope the links work. if so I will try to get some of the others, I want to show them off.

https://www.facebook.com/sherry.darlow

[Pajarita]

In my personal opinion, grays don't hate water, they just don't like to get completely wet but they do bathe on their own - only they just don't do what we would call a 'good job' of it but, if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me so, if I were you, I would not try spraying him or anything, just give him a nice size bowl where he can stand in -but don't make the water too deep, they don't like that - or, at least, the six I've had did not.

It was very kind of you to adopt this bird but you do realize that you now have three completely different species that, most likely, will not bond with one another and which each requires hours and hours of one-on-one each, don't you? It's not that I think it cannot be done but it will mean that you will hardly have any time for yourself or anybody else (and I say this from personal experience!).

No, you are not doing Crayola a disservice, quite the contrary! Eating breakfast together is the best thing you can do with a parrot!

[Kakariki]

Yes, that is why I waited to reply to the ad for skippy, I was considering if it was the right thing to do. Skippy also has breakfast with me, but not on my shoulder, on a short perch on the table infront of me. We will bond in time, he is quite a friendly guy, he will step up to anyone who has visited so far. I

The ring necks were in a very sad state when I got them. I know they are better off now and Raj...( I named them as they did not even have names as a breeding pair )...began coming out and exploring MUCH sooner than I ever imagined he would. I can get right beside him and talk to him now without him flying off. I only stay until he starts seeming nervous then I move away. They were supposedly both 4 when I got them but I feel certain that Kaleesi is much older. She is still very timid and never leaves the cage (the doors are open through the day now.) The first few days she actually screamed and bashed herself into the back cage wall when I would approach to change dishes. It made me want to cry. I talked to her from a good distance. She is the one I feel the worst for. If she is ever hand tame it will take years of patience I am sure.

The conures are currently sitting on my chest grooming one another. As long as I stay sitting here they will most like take a nap there as well, they often do. Crayola was 5 when I got her (last October), Jasper was only 4 months and was a Velcro bird for the first 6 to 8 months, which I did not mind at all! He wil be 2 yrs on Oct 19. I have to admit that he is the one I adore most, my little love-bug, even though he now chooses when he wants to spend time with me and for how long, then off he goes again.

I don't work outside the house much anymore. only 3 hours a day, 3 days a week. When I leave I always say to the flock " gotta go to work now, see you later " and when I return to the cacophony of greetings, I say "Hello ! I'm baaaack!" Then say hi, Jasper, hi Crayola, hi kiwi, and so one, to each one in turn. I have gotten Doug doing this as well. I know for a fact that the conures know what this means because they were, each at their own time, the ones that did not want to leave my shoulder. but after a few repetitions, they were totally fine.

If the hours of one on one means straight hours each then I am not doing a good job. If it is an accumulation over the day, then I may be doing ok. I hope so.

[Pajarita]

Well, the budgies and the IRNs don't really need you for anything more than taking care of them so they are fine. The karakiri would do much better with a mate of its own because they are aviary birds so they are unable to achieve a close bond with humans plus this would also help you in your time management so getting another one of the opposite gender would be a win-win. But the GCC, the sunnie and the gray need, at the very least, 2 - 3 hours of one-on-one to keep them relatively content (don't forget these birds are supposed to have close company 24/7/365). You could get the GCC and the sunnie mates - they both belong to species that are not difficult to bond to other birds (even of a different species as long as the size and type is similar - my GCC is bonded to a peachfront and my jenday to a quaker) but not grays, they are REAL hard to get to bond with another bird, so, if I were you, I would not even try.

In my personal experience, medium to large parrots (not the little ones, those are easy because they are basically all aviary) take about 2 years before they feel completely comfortable after rehoming because it takes them that long to find their final 'place' in the flock so it always pays to wait between new birds -something that most people with MBS (multiple bird syndrome) don't realize and why they end up with unhappy birds that never get along with each other.

[Wolf]

So far the only bath that Kookooloo will take is in he water dish which means only her feet, but she just loves being misted and if I don't get her wet enough will ask for more spraying. Although there are species wide preferences you can't really count on them, Grey's are very individualistic.
You do have a lot of birds that are needy and can't be together with other birds so you are already very pressed for time to give them all enough time with you. I can have the cages open for Mimi, Kookooloo and Kiki all at the same time but can't give them individual time with me at the same time. And then there are the budgies and the parrotlets, with Keeta my hen parrotlet wanting and needing her time with me and time to work with her new mate Rajah, the budgies don't care as long as they have each other, so I am hard pressed as well to give them all an adequate amount of time in a given day. It makes it very hard to get anything else done.

[Kakariki]

Hi again, and thank you for replying.
What are some thoughts on:

The GCC and the Sun groom each other on and off all day and sleep snuggled together in the same cage at night. The GCC and the Kak spend quite a bit of time in each others presence and we have often seen the kak feeding the GCC (both are male and close in age and were my first two birds) Jasper, gcc- used to often sit with the male budgie, beak to beak, ''talking'' back and forth. The budgie learned to say jasper and to ''laugh'' from him. since we have the female budgie now this rarely happens anymore. They are all out at the same time and other than the occasional squawk match over the last pea or whatever ( they also have 2 feeding areas outside their cages ) they all get along, or just ignore the ones they are not interested in.

Other than that I have become aware that it can take much more than a couple of weeks to get a bond. I feel the TAG trusts me, and will learn to trust even more with more time, I don't force anything on him, nor would I any of the others, except of course the necessary things like going to the vet, For instance, one morning he did not step up but instead laid the top of his beak on my finger and stepped away. When I sat in my chair that faced away from him he made his way over on his own and said GOOD MORNING right behind me. It startled me as I had not heard a sound of his approach. He then stepped up and I put him on his table perch and fed him goop from a spoon (just a few bites, then put the bowl in front of him)

[Pajarita]

It's GREAT that your birds like each and spend time in each other's company! I don't know what ages they are but, if they are all over 4 years of age, you've done an excellent job of creating a little mixed flock! But I would still get a mate for the karakiri because they are very much aviary birds and, as it gets older, it will need the company of its own species more and more.

[Kakariki]

Kiwi, Kakariki, is 2 and we did get him Willow, a 10 (?) month old. When she flies to him he flies away. I hope they bond in time.