Hello, hello

[tlcgourdine]

As I am new to this site I though a little info on me and my birds would be the first step. My name is Tracy I am a proud of owner of a 7yr old Quaker named Poncho and a very new owner of a 10yr old African Grey (Timneh), named Bailey. So new that we just had him brought to us yesterday!! It was a very quick and sudden adoption, and unfortunatley our hearts over powered our brains and I allowed the bird into our home without quarintine.....he is in seperate quarters than Poncho, on a seperate floor but as I live in a normal home there is only one venting/heating system, I am a little freaked because I know this is not a wise move, but I just couldn't let this beautiful bird risk being juggled around from home to home. I'm hoping our good intent has a positive outcome for all of us. I look forward to being apart of this forum

 

[Aussie Ben]

Welcome to the forum, this is a great community

Just take every precaution you can with the quarantining. They may get some of the same air, but you can still practice regular washing of hands, shirt changes etc. Good luck with your new feathered friend

 

[tlcgourdine]

Hi there, thank you for your welcome as well as your gentleness when it comes to my not so good guarantine! First I will tell you the Avian world in Ottawa Canada is a small one, one without many resources for those of us who love and care for feather friends and with that we seem to be left on our own to fend for our beloved pets. luckily I will be taking Bailey to see a certified Avian vet on Tuesday and will have his blood testing and will patiently await a clean bill of health, and 60 day quarantine before introducing him to Poncho

Thanks again

 

[Spiritbird]

Welcome Tracy. In a home there is only so much we can do for a quarantine. I see that we will have the same type of birds soon. I have a TAG named Rosie who is almost 2 years old. She is just blossoming and such a lovie. Next week sometime I will get a little Quaker also 7 years old from a local rescue organization. I have a very small apartment and will keep new bird in my bedroom but the heating system is not separate and there are so may ways they can be exposed to eachother without meaning to do so. For two months this will be a foster and if Kiwi seems to like it here and Rosie accepts that she is still queen of the roost with a new friend I will keep him. He was at the vet today getting tested and groomed. His former guardian did not have enough time to spend with him. Of course there is always the challange to get him to a pelleted diet instead of seed. Nice chatting with you.

 

[tlcgourdine]

Hi SB, thank you for introducing yourself and of course the welcome. I hope your new quaker friend adjusts to his new home. I will tell you our Poncho is an amazing little bird...little bird big personality. We are most amazed with his vocabulary, I never thought I would have a conversation with a bird but with Poncho it's daily!!! As for Bailey my heart still aches for her even though she is now in a better home with us, but she just seems so timid and obviously was not engaged with very much human conversation as she barely makes a peep let alone a word I am hoping with time, patience and love she will come around, I am skeptical that she will ever talk as she is 10yrs old, if we are lucky she may just mimic Poncho but unlikely she will talk in context like Poncho. Either way we have already fallen in love with her!
I will ask you for some advice, as I said Bailey is timid but does cling to the side of the cage closest to us and allows us to touch her feet and belly, what I haven't tried is getting her to come up, personality wise she is not freightening but as she is bigger than Poncho I'm sure her bite is bigger as well, I would have not hesitated to try and get her to come up, but the ladies that dropped her off seemed to be terrified to touch her..kinda weird considering they both have birds!! If she allows us to touch her without getting upset should I assume that maybe she is ok with coming up?? Sorry that was a little long winded...

 

[Spiritbird]

Tracy: Wen you say "come up" I will assume you are meaning step up as on your hand. It is best to teach a bird to step up while out of the cage. You could get Baily to step up on a perch in order to get her out of the cage. The further away from the cage the less likely she will bite you if she is cage possessive.
Each and every day work on the step up and eventually you will have her trained to do that.

My only news on my new bird is that we are waiting for lab results and the vet did not groom the bird because then wings were clipped off very badly and are a mess. I wish people would leave the wings alone if they do not know what they are doing.
Oh well, at least they will drop at molt and grow back properly.

Please let me know if the suggestions I gave you are what you were seeking. Tootles............

 

[tlcgourdine]

Sorry... I failed to mention that when we first got Poncho, he too was on a seed only diet, a mix of budgie and wild seed. When we first introduced him to pellets he would do anything and everything to dislodge his feed bowl, we had to use twist ties to secure it, at that point he would throw each pellet one by one out of the cage, I was worried that the poor little guy would starve but of course with time and my own injestion of pellets....mmmm Poncho this is soooo good, he is now happily on a proper diet...