should I or shouldn't I???

[Auggie's Dad]

I'd also say that in general with cages bigger is better - with exception and one counter-consideration.

The exception is to make sure it has appropriate bar spacing which in this case shouldn't be an issue as long as the cage was meant for a bird.

The other consideration is that a moderate sized cage is *much* easier to clean.

Auggie has a mansion - and giving it a good cleaning is a real pain. I'll occasionally disassemble it and take the parts outside to be scrubbed and hosed off as they won't fit in any sink or even the bathtub.

 

[suebee]

oh i cheat when i clean!! when nut is out of her cage, i spritze it with mister (separate from the one used for bathing) with vinegar an water, do another house chore, then wipe down

for harder to reach stains etc, there are old tooth brushes, blobs of wet tissue to soak the dried on stuff with

these are the big cleans, most nights its just wipe where i can see bits an roll up news paper from bottom of her cage

once you get into routine of adding cage to cleaning list, its no longer a chore so to speak just another to do list lol

 

[brianlinkles]

Well she is here! We scrubbed the cage & gave her a bath. She actually seemed to like getting clean. She has a huge crop area, very swollen looking. I was told it was because she is so, so heavy (which she weighs twice what a bird her size should) I am attaching a picture. It is concerning, has anyone seen anything like this? I separated her wet feathers and could get a good pic of it.
Well everything was going great, then all Hell broke loose. I put her on top of her cage and when I went to go and get her (she was a bit higher than me) She bit me several times HARD! Up to that point I was beginning to fool myself that I would get through all this without any incidence! Well in the middle of all the turmoil I found out that she does talk! I started to talk to her while she was getting all nippy and anxious. She can say "I love you" She said it (not super clearly) a couple of times. She also said "Hi" and my daughter said that she heard "whatcha doing" at that point I was wondering how the hell I was going to get her off her cage and keep all my fingers so I wasn't sure what she was saying! LOL Well she is asleep in her cage now and I must say I'm not anxious to go through all that again! Love that she can talk, don't like that she is not only a biter but a "hanger oner"!! Any suggestions?

 

[merlinsmom13]

I have never seen that before, it looks terrible. Has the rescue vetted her or just assumed its because she is overweight? Wonder if any other members have seen this before? She really does need a vet.

As far as biting, amazons do. She is probably very afraid & unsure, so she feels that she must defend herself. Talk to her & make sure she understands what you are going to do b4 you do it. No sudden moves. Remember she is very intune w/your feelings. Make sure you are calm & confident before you handle her. Handle her only when necessary, just let her get a feel for you & your home this 1st weekend. They do bite, but they can't kill us, we'll survive. Watch your eyes & face, they can do real damage.

I hope everything goes well.

 

[suebee]

if she can say i love you at some point she was, i am sorry but my heart is so breaking for this poor bird, to have been lied to in such a bare faced way!

as merlin says about the biting and with the handling

please do not be put off by this, given time they DO change

what you can do is leave her to come out of her cage tomorrow an when you want her in put in the food, but try not to feed her out of her cage or eat in front of her

if you have time put the food in, let her go into cage an leave door open still an just keep chatting to her

slowly slowly does it

 

[brianlinkles]

I have made an appt. for her at the vets on Monday. That was the first they could get me in. I am so scared now that something is terribly wrong with her. When I feel under her beak (in her crop area, it just feels like fat) Now that her feathers are dry you don't see skin it just looks puffy. I feel so sorry for her. I hope I am not in over my head here. I feel like she wants to be loved and is so unsure of what to do. It was so strange to me that while all that chaos was breaking loose that is when she talked. I had her outside for a little while and she was so cute quietly mimicking the wild birds outside. I told my husband I couldn't figure out what she was doing, making this strange soft little noise until I realized it was the same noise as the birds outside! I think now everyone is scared to death of her in my house except me. I have left her door open in her cage to see if she wants to come out. I have been sitting next to the cage just talking to her. She is shaking. I hope she will come around, I am running out of fingers for her to bite! LOL

 

[Molcan2]

Umm... the cage... can never be to large.

Take her to the vet, and they will be the ones to be able to determine whether or not she is really over weight and make sure she is healthy (the vet can weigh her and judge that weight against her size - my Romeo is only 705 grams - the average Moluccan is 800, if you go off of standard then she is underweight but she is small so her weight is perfect for her size).

As far as the crop area, you don't really know what it looks like when its empty. Romeo is a shredder so I can always see her crop, when shes done eating it looks just like that. In the morning (she has a sleep cage that I don't put any food in) her crop is completely empty and none existent until she eats again.

As far as the biting, well you just got the bird. Let it settle before you start asking it to step up. Really read her body language, she will give you clues that she doesn't want to be picked up (like moving away slightly) if you ignore this and you continue to try to pick her up she will bite you. She has no other way to get her point across other than expressing it physically, birds more often than not will tell you what they want passively first and if you continue to ignore it then they will bite. You also just got the bird (who doesn't sound like it came from a loving stable environment. Unstable environment = unstable bird) it doesn't trust you yet. Since you haven't yet established trust, she is going to be more likely to skip passive signs and go straight to biting (shes protecting herself), she doesn't know you yet. Let her come to you on her own terms. Let her decide how far you are aloud to go with her and if she acts in any way like she is backing off then you should back off as well and give her - her space (or you will risk getting bit). Birds are highly intelligent and don't respond the way a dog would. They need to have a say in what is going on and being done to them. As far as the cage goes, treat it as her domain. That is her space. Think of it as a teenagers room, your not going to just walk in unwelcome and everything be fine. One thing that has help tremendously with Romeo is that there are certain spots where she goes when SHE wants us to pick her up. She is hardly ever in her cage, we leave the door open. She has learned that if she wants us to pick her up, that she needs to come down and sit on the cage door. That is the only time (unless I need to put her up for some reason) that I pick her up. If she is not on the cage door then I leave her alone (I still talk to her and am around her but I don't impose myself physically on her). This gives her the say in whether she feels like physical attention or not (after you develop a relationship chances are your bird will constantly be sitting on the door waiting for you). She has also learned that when she wants to go back to lift her foot in the direction she wants to go and we just put her back. By using these tactics Romeo hasn't tried to bite - not once. Giving them a say makes them feel secure in their environment. You want to establish a level of respect that is deemed on her terms. Your just going to need patience and time, eventually she will come around (don't try to push it or move too fast). Don't expect too much to early. Some birds take months before they are comfortable (Romeo didn't even touch a toy until I had her for about five weeks - now she destroys everything). Establish your routine and stay as consistent as you can, this way the bird knows what to expect.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

The 'fat' crop area does look very odd - I've never seen anything like that. Hopefully the vet will have input. There are various kinds of crop infection - but I don't think they hang around long: either they get better, or they ... get worse. So if she's been like this for a while that is not likely.

Her beak looks like its in good overall condition and from what can be seen here her feathers look alright.

*Maybe* it is just fat - but that'd be a first for me. What is she eating? Did you mention this already (scrolling back through the thread now).

 

[brianlinkles]

I just want to thank eveyone for sticking with me throughout this whole thread. I know that I keep adding new questions but I feel like I would like a parrot expert to move in with us for the weekend! I had a moment after the horrible biting, screeching,talking (that was good though) that I thought : what have I done. I was happily going to buy a baby bird and now I have a little monster on my hands. Well, that was short lived. She is scared, shaky, and so sad looking that I am determined to get this bird to be happy. I am quite scared over the crop issue (does the skin look normal?) I haven't seen that many birds get that wet to where I saw so much skin. The diet she is on prior to last Sunday was Walmart bird seed that's it. They said that she doesn't like pellets and I don't think she has a clue about veggies, fruits. This is what I a thinking, I have been offering a good seed blend,lots of stuff in there. Then once I get her calmer I plan on mixing in a small size Roudy bush pellet. I plan on having fresh veggies and fruits available all the time. Is this correct? Also what I am understanding is that I should just leave her alone in the cage? I have left the door open, I come over and sit and chat with her often but I don't put my hand in there. (am I loosing the ground that I made with her at the rescue when she let me handle her?) I can get her out of the cage and quickly whisk her off to nuetral territory however from what I am reading here is that I should allow her to decide. I am just afraid that we are going backwards. Thanks again!

 

[henpecked]

I don't think you're going backwards.She's in a strange place and her cage is her only safe spot. When she was at the rescue it became home and the cage wasn't as important to her as it is now.All sounds good and normal ,don't stress.Monday you'll go to the vet and we'll work on those issues.Right now let's work on making her feel at home ,take things slow and don't force your self on her and she'll warm right up to her new flock.She wants to be part of the flock she just doesn't know yet where she fits in.

 

[brianlinkles]

So funny! My husband was not one hundred percent on board with this adoption/rescue he was nervous about it, however he is talking to her, wants to think of another name (her name is kitty) we are going to rename her she doesn't respond to it and I am thinking new home, new family, new life, new name! Well, I just picked my daughter up from field hocky, told my husband that I was going to leave her door open because she doesn't come out at all. I come home and my husband said he stood outside her cage talking to her and she came out to the door! Everytime he enters or leaves she responds. (they are playing peek a boo right now.) He approaches her and she is fine, me she sqwaks! I think it is amazing! (I'm a little jealous though!) He would like to name her Kiwi and I think it is adorable and close to Kitty! So Kiwi it is and I hope that she continues to wrap him around her little wing!

 

[henpecked]

Yeah !! She knows who to sweet talk.

 

[suebee]

awwww and from my experiance with nut, let your partner do the handling like putting her into cage for now etc but you should be around as well (but as a safety thing keep your face out of lunging range, please don't worry about this, but we can sometimes forget not to crowd when our birds are being so cute!)

nut was solely 1 person at the start! now she understands who ever is at home with her but she still has her prefrences when we are all home lol

kiwi sounds fab!!! she'll probably think its the new flock call for her, nut answers to both names, angel given to her from my brother and nut by me, my man and son call her angel, i call her nut (angel if she is being good)

also all this excercise will do her good, if she is over wieght

keep us up dated!

 

[Molcan2]

Your not loosing any ground from when you met her at the rescue. When she was at the rescue she was in an environment that she was comfortable in, therefore more willing to trust strangers. Now she is in a completely different environment filled with people she doesn't know or trust. It is normal for them to be stand offish and scared for a while until they get comfortable. Moving to a new home is a major life change for a bird. Try to keep her where she is comfortable for now. If she steps up on you then stay by her cage, this will make her feel more comfortable. This way if she starts to feel insecure by whatever is going on around her then she can just hop back onto her cage. Over time she wont mind being taken into other rooms where she cant even see her cage but right now her cage is the only safe secure thing that she has - shes not going to want to move too far away from it until she feels safe with you. You want her to feel safe with you (this means allowing her to move to whatever area she feels secure in), so that eventually you replace the cage (you become the safe secure thing to hang out on). This means allowing her to go back to her cage as soon as she feels uncomfortable. This is how you build your relationship with her. If you are by her cage and she is shaking and seems nervous then get a chair set it next to the cage and read a book or something until she relaxes, then walk away. She will learn that your presence doesn't mean that something is going to happen to her and she will start to relax around you. Shes probably more relaxed with your husband because he is physically giving her more space (therefore she doesn't feel any pressure from him) than you have. Try to have the mindset that you have the next 50yrs to develop your relationship, don't expect it to happen fast (usually it does though). Don't expect her to step up on you today or tomorrow - just know that one day it will happen. Just give it time - sometimes it will take months.