August 22, 2010 – 5:23 pm
I do hope everyone is enjoying my more fanciful “Tuesdays with Ty” posts, but I realize I have been neglecting what was initially the core of this blog– training and behavior advice. I need to get back at that as well.
I love writing the little essays for Tuesday, pondering what it is that the parrots [...]
From time to time someone who is thinking about getting a parrot asks me what my opinion is. Should I get a cockatoo? Or do you think an African grey? Wow. Those are two very different species. And if I don’t know you, I probably don’t have a very valid opinion. It’s all about your [...]
Making your own toys can be a lot of fun and save you tons of money.
These are some parts from Rose’s Pet Emporium
Sunday morning is my favorite time to make toys. A cup of coffee, a power drill, what morning could a girl ask for?
I could give you some instructions, but with drilled tongue depressors, [...]
You think I’m nuts, right? In fact your parrot is screaming right now. A normal serenade, the sort of noises parrots make in the jungle is perfectly acceptable and should be accepted. Not everything is screaming, some noises are natural behavior.
Screaming is a learned, not a natural behavior. At least, the sort of screaming that makes [...]
It’s been a regular avian grumpfest around here lately. The falcons are on an all-you-can-eat diet and the molting has commenced, meaning falcons who have no use for me and are nearly impossible to handle. The pigeons or making ostentatious and impossibly loud overtures to one another. Meanwhile, the parrots are touchy and feathers abound in the house. [...]
Someone asked me the other day, “Do parrots have feelings?” She apologized in case it was a dumb question, but she was curious to know. This makes a difference doesn’t it? Or does it?
Of course parrots have feelings. I imagine that all animals have feelings. I simply don’t know what those feelings are at any [...]
December 13, 2009 – 5:10 am
I had a dream the other night…a nightmare, really, that I couldn’t take it anymore.
The animals were too much. I decided that I had to give up my African grey, Ty and my Brittany spaniel, Booth. Worse. I was desperate. I wanted them out of my life immediately.
And so, I left the grey in a [...]
November 23, 2009 – 12:19 pm
I realize that you have already chosen a new BFF and I was never possibly going to be a contender anyway. But Girlfriend, you have GOT to call me. That parrot isn’t a plaything. I know you were smitten by Joey McFarland’s parrot, Smokey. And I understand that meeting an amazing grey parrot makes you [...]
Several days of thunderstorms have caused my bird’s waterbowls to be suspiciously empty the last few days. I suspect there’s been massive bathing parties while I’m at work, so I’ve left bathpans at the bottoms of their cages…not that they’re being used… Apparently, there’s something irresistable about bathing in the drinking water.
Even the grey, shunner [...]
So you’ve done it. Despite all of the reasons I have given you to never ever get a parrot, you’re a lunatic and decided you couldn’t live without one. So what now?
My number one most favorite piece of advice is simple…have fun! Don’t over stress, don’t be too hard on yourself, don’t freak out about [...]
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