Janet M. seeks advice,
My African grey “Sheba” is showing signs of making a nest — any suggestions on how to stop her?
Thank you for any advice. Jan
Rob K. has a “Light question”
Mitch, I have read much and understood all of your points about lighting.
My bird is a Congo African Grey.
My concern is that I have also read articles about the danger of eye damage such as cataracts from such closeness and intensity of the light. At the equator, high noon footcandles range from 9-10,000 and cycle up and down moonlight to moonlight (.01 FC @ full moon) and between dawn & dusk (10 FC).
I have a full spectrum bulb in my ceiling 5′ above his cage.
Elleen A. relates,
I have 2 male fully flighted cockatiels that will not let us handle them. They are bonded. How can I get them to let us handle them again?
Dear Elleen
Short answer. You can’t. Birds of a feather stick together and you have no feathers.
Long answer.
You can clip their wings, separate them into different cages, and plan to spend several hours with each of them individually in daily sessions in hopes to earn their trust and want to be with you.
Nancy B. has a very needy cockatiel,
My 21-year-old female cockatiel refuses to stay in her cage.
She goes to all extents to get attention, the most of which is constant screaming.
If she so much as hears a squeak as I’m walking down the stairs – she starts screaming.
She can go on for hours at a time until I finally take her out of the cage.
This behavior is constant and interestingly she tries to “mate” when she sits on my finger.
Sarah A. relates,
Hello, I am looking for help in training my parrots.
I have two African grey parrots.
They are 21 and we have had them their whole lives.
My mom used to handle them, however, she began to have severe allergies from their dust.
Male cockatiel attacked female and drew blood so I separated them, but now the female laid an egg and I’m afraid of putting him back in.?
Don’t put them back together in the same cage yet. The hen does not need the male pestering her.
She may continue to lay eggs without him. You can remove the eggs as they are laid.
Dawn C. asks,
My conures cage at night it is in our lounge where we watch tv hence there is some light from the tv etc.
Also, he has become quite hormonal and aggressive towards me over the last 2 months whereas he was quite the opposite before spending lots of time with me now I am very wary of him and at times fearful of him attacking me.
What can I do to get back the loving funny bird he used to be. Btw he is very gentle with my husband.
Susan F. is concerned,
I just noticed a patch of black on Seymour’s right side just now.
Should I be overly concerned about this enough to get her in to see the vet?
I have been giving Seymour 1/2 of a strawberry almost every day for the past two weeks.
Could that be causing this?
Also, I have been trying to file Seymour’s nails with a crystal file for the last several weeks on Sundays to get her used to it and to do a little at a time…perhaps 5 mins because she pulls away so often.
Just as the name implies, this is a series of quick and easy ways to help your birds stay happy and healthy around the clock.
This is a series of short but incisive ideas you can apply today bringing you closer to bird care nirvana.
The number of things necessary to provide foraging enrichment for your birds can be found in a series of quick and simple ideas.
Lisa N. writes:
Hi Catherine,
We are having a really difficult time with our Pineapple Conure.
We know he’s going through puberty but he has always been good with my husband now he bites all the time and won’t go in his cage.
When we try he just flies away and he has his times where he can be sweet but most of the time he’s a little hellion.
