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Hi Monica! Thanks SO much for all the advice.
One huge thing I need to mention is...KYLE LAID HER FIRST EGG LAST NIGHT! I am so proud of her. I think it's a wonderful thing because it means she is healthy and happy! Now she is egg laying, should I change her diet any? I supplement with a water vitamin daily. The grain legume mix I cook at night is very healthy, I get it at the parrot store here. The owner makes it in bulk for his regular customers. I wish she would eat the "cereals" and the ROUDYBUSH pellets I bought her. She really only wants to eat anything she can shell. Peas, grapes, orange slices, safflower, nuts, hemp. Anything solid that she can dip that will soften she enjoys too. Breads, bananna chips, she likes some dried fruits. I think her eating has to do with texture more than anything. I only feed her small amounts daily of about 1/4tbs total of hemp and safflower as a treat since I know how she loves it. She does enjoy eating dinner with the family, I used to feed her a bit of what I ate nightly. I don't recommend that as they get so used to it that they will starve to wait till you eat and fill up on that and not what is made for parrots. There is far too much fat and salt in our food for a bird to eat. I will give her a very small BITE. Sundays, she gets a scrambled egg with some cheese (SHE IS A CHEESEAHOLIC!) what she dosen't eat from the egg, the dog gets. Sundays are super special to the pets! I like making her healthy cooked dinner, with extra peas, since she just loves those at night. Desert is an orange slice that we split. I just wish she would eat more food. As I said, she is a tiny lil thing! She gets 3 meals a day, and all are different. I wait for her to fill up, and then take the bowl out. She can free feed on the RB and cereal mix. The diet she was on when I got her was largely safflower and sunflower. It's no wonder she was hardly feathered.
The feathers she has are beautiful. She seems to pluck only the primarys. She has a partly naked chest, even that has grown in since I got her the humidifier. You may have something about itching. We live in PHX AZ. We both have dry skin. I've had the humidifier going 24/7 for 2 months and I have definately noticed a big difference in both of our skin conditions! She used to "itch" quite a bit. I thought it to be just grooming, hindsight she may have been scratching since she hardly does now. I had all the blood and stool panels done back when I first got her and another about 8mos ago. I'm taking her in next week for more since she is egg laying now.
I was reading about a woman who wants a TOO, and people were saying how they scream so loud. I don't know if it is from abuse or luck. When she does sound off, it's only when she gets left alone, even that has finally almost ended. She has a fairly large vocab too. Hi Kyle, Pretty bird, hello, morning Kyle, how are you, Where ya goin (the screams when anyone leaves her feild of veiw) Cookytoo, what ya doin Kyle, and I love you is her new one. She laughs like me now and answers the phone for me. She is the quietest parrot I know. She talks to me like a person, and she mumbles a lot. She says something that I call bird swearing. I can't figure it out. (shut the door, feed the dog, I think) She says it when angry, and continually under her breath, kind of funny. People shouldn't teach them swearing. I don't find it cute or funny, esp if you don't keep the bird for life. I saw videos on utube of a guy who thinks it's hilarious how many swear words his african grey says. :(
She has big abandonment issues. It's taken me a ton of work to make her not totally freak out if she can't see someone. I feel so sorry for her. And I know we are probably too close as I am home 24/7 with her. I have now got her on a great schedule that I've had for a year now. I'm hoping that buying her a new table top playstand for the living room will help to separate us a little more. I used to let her out whenever she really wanted. Now, she has to wait until Brian goes to work. At 10am I put her back, I go about my cleaning and after noon, or when I finish she can come out until Brian is home, then she goes up again. She will bite him anyway. But they are working on that when she is in the safety of her cage. Seems to be helping them bond! She loves her nightly tummy rubs, always waits in the same spot. I think if I keep the same schedule, and am disiplined with her, more than I was, I have done all I can to help her with the plucking. I did try a peacock feather in her cage. She started chewing that about 2 weeks ago. So far, she seems to be relaxing a bit with it. It may be something she will always do. I'm asking the vet if he thinks we should give Prozac a whirl, even though I hate to medicate any animal. It may be worth a shot. Then I will have done just about everything. I tried all you suggested. Oddly for a too, she won't touch wood toys. She will eat sheets when she's on the bed. I put one hanging in her cage, she has a towel on the side blocking the tv light, she rarely touches those. I think it's too ingraned. Maybe now that she's egg laying? We'll see!
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I must wonder how much of a danger Hard Anodized Aluminum is. We have it and use it. (contains no PTFE - brand name Teflon) I know that others do as well without issues. I would like to know personally if all cases of overheated appliances/cookware included PTFE/PFOA, or if in any cases it did not. I myself have read conflicting information about Hard Anodized Aluminum
Nice to hear someone is as confused as me. I went as far as to write CALPHALON about what is safe and not. I will post when/if they reply. I certainly hope their info isn't from animal testing. There really isn't even that much on the net when you google. I'd never use TEFLON now. But, there is HARD ANODIZED and HARD ANODIZED ALUMINUM. I'm confused about them, I've seen so much conflicting reports.
Bugs. I've cleaned and vacummed till my head spun off. It's that beehive attracting them. We have to have the roof re-done now. I freeze ALL pet food for at least 3 days. I have airtight containers for everything. Our food as well. They keep showing up. Found a giant roach in my shower yesterday! EW! We're pulling the carpet, starting this weekend and laying tile. I hope it helps. I'm just very bug paranoid! The problem intitially began when I opened a 25lb bag of guinea pig pellets, got out a scoop, then a second and noticed the food was MOVING! I am talking, millions and billions of flour beetles. That was one of the most horrifying things ever in my life. I had the bag several days and didn't know it was infested. I haven't ever seen something SO infested in my life. You can imagine what I said to the owners of the pet store. I don't shop there now. I prefer vacumm sealed foods for the other pets, and I check for any movement and air escape. Indian moth larvae I've found hide well and don't die easy. I think they have an egg stage that's immune to cold. But I only had those 2 times. When the roof and the window I have leaking honey are fixed, I think the issue will be solved.
You had the BEST advice about a bath with ICE!! Never heard that! She LOVES ice. She gets about 4 cubes a day to chew. LOVES THEM. I will try that. Right now I gently bathe her in the shower with just a slow hand-held shower head every 4-6 days. I'm not clear on how often to bathe her. She has a problem I'm working on solving with those scarred feet, of course I don't blame her. I think since she was outside her water problem is due to lawn sprinklers. Who knows. I'm gently trying to touch her feet every day and pet them. She's understanding it's not always bad to have feet touched. She's afraid of clippers, but her beak wears unevenly and needs trimming every so often, claws too. She wriggles like a maniac and screams her guts out. I'm doing my best to get her used to it. She may never enjoy it. I'm trying to get her to tolerate it. I hope she'll bathe herself with a tempting ice cube in a tub. Great idea!
Thanks for the links and awesome suggestions. I learned a lot from you. I'll update on how she does.
She had some bleeding along with her stool the 2 stools she has had since she laid her egg. Is that normal? Being her first, I assume so. What do I do with the egg? I'm thinking of "blowing" out the yoke and keeping it. I did that with my pet chicken eggs. What do other people do with unfertile parrot eggs? She seems to want to mother it for a bit and since it's her first I made her a blanket nest, she's sleeping happily in it. She is very tired. She does a little butt wiggle dance I've never seen her do also when she rolls the egg. I'm proud of her! And somewhat relieved. I know she is healthy and happy for sure. A bit worried about the blood, but if I shot out a watermelon the first time, I would too! Should I think about getting her a boyfriend now? I don't want our friendship to change too much, I know it will somewhat. She's about 15 now.
Thanks a lot!
~LAUREN~ and KYLE
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