Yoda's new brother, Trigger!

Squeekmouse

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May 31, 2017
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Yoda, Green Cheek Conure - Trigger, Congo African Grey
I can't believe we actually did this!! Holy smokes it's been a heck of a weekend...

We've been really wanting to add a CAG to our family for a while, but we haven't been able to find anyone in our state that had any, let alone anyone with a few we could choose from. When we got Yoda, he chose ME and it was the greatest thing ever. It would be worth it to us to have that experience again with the new guy.

On Friday night, my hubby and I flew across the country to a breeder in Southern California who had 5 baby CAG's we could choose from. We arrived late Friday night and stayed at a hotel, where neither of us slept a wink. We had a nice breakfast and checked out, heading off to the breeder's home before 8am. She was a real sweetheart and she showed us around her many, MANY outdoor aviaries. Such a thing would never be possible out here in Illinois, there's snow on the ground this week after all. But out there in sunny So-Cal it's perfect. She had a couple of huge aviaries with Cockatoos, and a few for the African Greys. Mama and Papa Grey were right next door to the 3 youngest babies, while the other two babies were in a third aviary nearby with their buddy a little Lovebird. All of her birds are raised fully flighted and handfed. They were all very very sweet and quite energetic.

She brought them into the house for us to interact with two at a time. The two older ones were not interested in us at all, so we soon moved on to the three youngest, two males and a female. The female wasn't too keen on us, and that was fine because we were kinda preferring a male anyway. The older male was a big, strong, brave, confident, and energetic fellow. He was happy to fly to us and interact with us, he even enjoyed preening my husband's beard. The youngest one was super sweet and cuddly. He was a bit timid around his siblings, but wasn't afraid of us. After less than an hour he would climb and fly over to us when we tried to put him down. Meanwhile the older guy had gotten bored with us and was more interested in being on his own. It was clear which one had "chosen" us. We were delighted.

After a few hours with the breeder, we packed up the new Fid and headed to the airport. We flew him and late Saturday evening we were back home. All of us utterly exhausted. Trigger did NOT like the flight at all. He handled it well, all things considering, as long as one of us had a hand in his carrier with him he was ok, but the second we tried to withdraw he would try desperately to dig his way out of the carrier making such sad little peeps.

Here's the catch: All of the babies were eating solid foods, the three oldest have VERY healthy appetites, however the two youngest babies were still accepting formula. I've had experience with the exact same situation with Yoda, so the breeder and I agreed to let Trigger come home with us to finish weaning in our care. She showed us how she feeds formula to the babies and gave detailed instructions on temperatures, consistency, etc etc. She sent us home with two containers of formula, two bags of the seed/pellet mix they were eating, a bag of his favorite treats, and a list of his favorite fruits and veggies (conveniently, they are the same as Yoda's favorites!).

So as soon as we got home Saturday night, first thing we needed to do was feed Trigger. He was hungry and ate very well. Afterwards we put him in his cage in his own room and fell asleep quickly. Yoda meanwhile was VERY happy to have us back. Our parents were taking very good care of him (came over to play with him and eat with him FOUR times in the short time we were away), but Yoda still missed us terribly.

Sunday morning... fed Trigger formula again, then he and the hubby had a shower. It was a long... long.... exhausting, but wonderful day yesterday. Juggling feeding formula and chasing after two flighted birds (one of which is a huge and very clumsy baby), carefully introducing them to each other, the new living situation, lots of treats, toys and cuddles. All things considered, things went really REALLY well. Better than I had hoped for!

This morning Trigger was not at ALL interested in his formula, but was ALL about the fruits, veggies, pellets and seeds. We'll try the formula again later, and I'm going to soak some of his Harrison's pellets in warm water also, to see if he likes that more or less than he already likes them dry and crunchy.

Yoda is adjusting well, he's a bit uncertain about the new guy and gets spooked when Trigger flies. He's also been more bitey than normal. We're being careful to give Yoda first and foremost attention and lots of treats. This seems to be working.

We've got an appointment with our CAV tomorrow, even though Trigger has already been given a clean bill of health.

The hardest parts of all of this is the free-flighted part of the equation. We have a big living room with a vaulted ceiling and a loft overhead, so there's plenty of safe room for flying. Even so, Trigger is like a small helicopter driven by a blind, drunk pilot, when he goes to fly. I don't know how other people deal with free-flighted birds indoors, so ANY advice is welcome. Heck, any advice about dealing with a baby and adding a second bird and anything else anyone wants to offer is also welcome. I'm sure we're making plenty of mistakes despite our extensive reading and research and best efforts. Please be gentle if you choose to point out some of them. ;)

squeekmouse-albums-yoda-pics-picture20812-trigger.jpg


squeekmouse-albums-yoda-pics-picture20813-yoda-trigger.jpg
 

bigfellasdad

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Sep 21, 2017
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Enzo - adopted Female CAG circa 2004. A truly amazing young lady!
Wow, welcome Trigger :)

Hes lovely!

I cant give any help on baby birds im afraid but what I can say is my CAG is an excellent indoor flier so id only assume he is just finding his legs/wings ;)
 

ChristaNL

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Sunny a female B&G macaw;
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LOL, well played... even if I should kick you a tiny bit in the buttend for bringing home a parrot that was not eating by itself fulltime ... you added that picture! :heart:

(actually you already had me in stitches with the "blind & drunk pilot")

So yes: not feeding itself (yet ..., he sounds like he is doing the weaning just fine) and plunking two birds together without any quarantine at all (if he had been tested for everything under the sun ..well I can live with that too I guess...)
Lets just keep it at: you are giving a bad example here, but well thought through. ;)


Did I mention how ridiculously cute your new bird is?
(I will stop typing and just concentrate on gushing now!)
 
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Terry57

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Oh my Gosh, you got him! I am so excited for you, he is absolutely adorable!
I'm glad the trip went well, and that you let him pick you:)
I am looking forward to following your journey together.
Love the name Trigger, too!
 

FlyBirdiesFly

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Trigger is adorable! As for flying, he should get better. He’s still young and learning to control his flight. Just give him some time and soon he’ll be zooming around corners with precision!
 

Laurasea

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So you pulled the Trigger and got a CAG ! Wow! Outdoor Avairy and young bird yes I agree with CristaNL quarantine would have been a very good idea. But Wow I love Trigger already yippie a new adventure. What a weekend!!!! Wow!! So happy for you!
 

Jen5200

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Oh goodness - he’s adorable! Congrats :)
 

Laurasea

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I don't know if a bit of extra warmth might still be wanted it at least feel good to him, and he came to cold Illinois from warm California! I'm going to find the link for the Sweeter Heater again, it is an awesome radiant heat panal, used to be sold by Avitech but now showing up for chickens, I hang mine on the back of the cage have used for 17 years. My neighbor got the new Sweeter heater last week and loves it looks exactly the same as mine.. you have to hang it outside of the cage a d never completely cover the cage when you use, you can run the cord through a pvc pipe so big guys like your cag can t chew the cord, https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01C...qid=1542052903&sr=8-5&keywords=sweeter+heater
 
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Sunnyclover

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Wow! That's awesome. Welcome Trigger.
 
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Squeekmouse

Squeekmouse

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May 31, 2017
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Yoda, Green Cheek Conure - Trigger, Congo African Grey
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LOL, well played... even if I should kick you a tiny bit in the buttend for bringing home a parrot that was not eating by itself fulltime ... you added that picture! :heart:

(actually you already had me in stitches with the "blind & drunk pilot")

So yes: not feeding itself (yet ..., he sounds like he is doing the weaning just fine) and plunking two birds together without any quarantine at all (if he had been tested for everything under the sun ..well I can live with that too I guess...)
Lets just keep it at: you are giving a bad example here, but well thought through. ;)


Did I mention how ridiculously cute your new bird is?
(I will stop typing and just concentrate on gushing now!)

Yes, I fully agree with all of that. I'm certainly setting a bad example. For what it's worth, we made a valiant effort at the quarantine, changing clothes between birds, separate floors, and all of that. But there was so much going back and forth between birds as both cried and flailed for attention, food, play, space, us. Then I realized both birds were chewing my hair and nuzzling my neck (and the hubby's) and I couldn't shower between birds every time. I began to lose all confidence in the effectiveness of our quarantine, also our home is very open and drafty, can't keep their air separate. Finally I started worrying more about emotionally traumatizing them and hindering their potential relationship.All of the formula feedings have added a huge level of difficulty also. I pray it all works out well.

All of you out there, DO NOT do it this way!

Laurasea, thanks for that recommendation, I'm certainly going to look at ordering one.

We want to get one or two communal tree stands, does anyone have any good ones to recommend? My hubby is pretty handy at basic woodworking, he"d like to try building something. Any suggestions?

Thank you all for the kind words and encouragement. :40:
 

FlyBirdiesFly

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I just got this tree stand on Ebay for my flock:

flybirdiesfly-albums-my-flock-picture20819-tree-stand.jpeg


All my parrots LOVE it! There’s nothing I don’t like about it, other than the wood can probably be destroyed by a bigger bird. The bark is chewable, the branches are perfect size for my birds, it’s not slippery, there’s lots of climbing room, it comes with toy hooks, the list goes on and on! When I was looking into buying a tree stand, the choice was between this or a Java tree. I’m so glad I went with this one (it’s made of Ribbon wood) instead of the Java tree! The Java stands can be slippery, and you never know what you’re going to get when you order it online.

Here’s a link to a similar tree for sale (same seller): https://www.ebay.com/itm/Small-Bird-Perch-Tree/253963663486?hash=item3b2169f87e:g:yWsAAOSwU1Nb3doV

And here’s the larger version for African Greys: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Funky-Curv...665303?hash=item3b2169ff97:g:takAAOSwHt1b3dqc
 

slicksimon4

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I too would be very careful with the java trees, I have a 6 month old Panama amazon and got the pet shop to throw in a java tree. Though the tree looks cool, its visually stunning, Pickles hates it. She can't grip it and has zero confidence on it. There is one small branch she always sits on no matter where on the tree I initially put her. I have even wrapped it in that vet wrap stuff to try and help. It may be great after she develops some coordination and comfort but for now it is just in the way. Glad I didn't pay full on retail.
 

AmyMyBlueFront

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And a Normal Grey Cockatiel named BB who came home with me on 5/20/2016.
Now the fun begins! triggers is awesome! Now I want one :D




Jim
 
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Squeekmouse

Squeekmouse

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May 31, 2017
840
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Illinois
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Yoda, Green Cheek Conure - Trigger, Congo African Grey
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I just got this tree stand on Ebay for my flock:

All my parrots LOVE it! There’s nothing I don’t like about it, other than the wood can probably be destroyed by a bigger bird. The bark is chewable, the branches are perfect size for my birds, it’s not slippery, there’s lots of climbing room, it comes with toy hooks, the list goes on and on! When I was looking into buying a tree stand, the choice was between this or a Java tree. I’m so glad I went with this one (it’s made of Ribbon wood) instead of the Java tree! The Java stands can be slippery, and you never know what you’re going to get when you order it online.

THANK you so much for that advice! Looks like a great option. I think that's the ticket for us.

Thank you to ALL for your advice, I'm glad we didn't go for the Java trees after what you've all said.

Also, thank you for the kind words and praise. We sure love our little Trig.

GREAT NEWS!! We just got home from the vet, he is completely clean and healthy! Also, the vet says it sounds like Trigger is now completely weaned. (The last three times we tried to give him formula he didn't want anything to do with it, plus he is eating his pellets and veggies like a pig.) So, everything turned out great for us.

I do have to say though... based on how rough it was for the first few days, with the weaning AND dealing with the crazy/drunk flying AND introducing him to Yoda... I would NOT recommend anyone take an unweaned bird unless they are fully prepared for the consequences, good, bad and ugly. Fortunately for us, we only got the ugly consequences and not the full-on bad.
 

ChristaNL

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May 23, 2018
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Sunny a female B&G macaw;
Japie (m) & Appie (f), both are congo african grey;
All are rescues- had to leave their previous homes for 'reasons', are still in contact with them :)
Congrats on a healthy flockmate!
 

Billdore

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So jealous that's awesome. Where I live there's almost never any larger birds available either. It's so cool you guys were able to fly out there and fly back with your baby. I should go see my sister in Cali and maybe bring back a little something.
 

Laurasea

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Keep an eye on Triggers weight, birds that are weaning can drop 10% of their weight. Yippie on s healthy baby!!!
 

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