Radio Free Blue & Gold: All Gus, all the time.

[Rival_of_the_Rickeybird]

Saturn? I guess we should consider all the planets. Good point.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Saturn? I guess we should consider all the planets. Good point.

Isn't Saturn the planet associated with scorpios and the Dark Side in general? Would make sense.

Gus had a six month checkup yesterday. Poop was good, blood work good, still waiting for white blood cell count to come back, but no more infection. Turns out this same vet took care of him many years ago and is familiar with his issues. The kyphosis - hunchback- only affected his spine and not his other bones. It compresses his internals so his shoulders shrug with every breath, and he gets short of breath easily. He's probably not in any pain, hooray! He got a bit more nail trim, but the vet says his feathers look good, he doesn't seem to be plucking. He really only barbers when he's being petted. It could be an overreaction or a tic.

Also, the assistant is the person who rescued Gus so she filled in a few facts. He had a ton of things in his cage, toys, a severe macaw cagemate, and he's always been shy and fearful. The adventure continues!

 

[Rival_of_the_Rickeybird]

Dear ol' Gus. I'm not very sentimental but this stuff is pretty touching. Go Team Gus. I'm in.

 

[Kentuckienne]

The vet had one more comment about Gus ... Husband was describing the incessant regurgitation and ripping up of paper which he thinks is nest-building. I'm not sure about that...don't all macaws rip things to shreds? Vet asked if he was doing the guy pleasure thing, we said no. Vet thought that sounded like female habits, but a check of the records showed he had been DNA sexed as male. Vet said, do you think he's homosexual? We said what? He said he knew of cases where, for example, a pair of birds had regularly mated and laid infertile eggs, and finally tests showed that they were both female! He thought it was not uncommon for parrots to exhibit a degree of gender bending, so to speak. Gus might be presenting more hen-like mating behavior, though he's a guy. LGBTP?

It adds yet another layer of head scratching material for us. When I get home, I'm going to make a cover for his cage to shorten his days and see if that disrupts the pattern. But the paper ripping - isn't that ok? I don't know if it simply lets him stay busy so he's not bored and doesn't pluck, or if it amplifies the hormonal stuff. He sure does love ripping!

I asked about the bare places on his body, and the vet explained that feathers grow in tracts leaving much of the body bare. He showed me how the belly had no feathers, but was covered by the feathers from the tracts that ran down either side. Makes sense - feathers are expensive, and feathers all over a parrot could make them overheat. Certainly one of the most surprising vet experiences for me.

 

[Rival_of_the_Rickeybird]

My contribution.
The Missus was once parrot club acquaintances with a big-time Amazon breeder in New Mex. She had 30-40 pairs or so. She said once that she had several "gay" pairs, and she indulged and respected their 'choices'. It's generally reported that some 10% of mammalian populations are homosexual. I suppose there is a related figure to birds.

 

[SilleIN]

RIP RIP RIP! And I don't mean rest in peace, rip in peace It is the macaws nature to rip and tear at things. Especially the B&G, who usually will make out their nesting hole out of a dead palm tree. The other macaw species just uses holes in dead tree trunks, that are already there. B&G's will burrow into a palm tree and make a nest. The B&G's have a much larger need to destroy than the other macaws.

If Gus is happy to rip paper, let him rip. It would probably be beneficial for him to advance to foraging as well. You will need to start slowly with him. My macaws love when I take some cardboard and push in some sunflower seeds in between the "ripples" in the cardboard. And the most natural foraging toy of all; nuts in their shell. They should be easy to come by this time of year

 

[JBassset]

Romeo loves to rip paper. I snag the school's paper when they've got a new edition coming out so I get tons of free newspaper to line the cages with.

But he also loves to rip it. We're working on getting him to say "Read the News" when he wants paper. Something I suspect I'll regret once I realize that he ALWAYS wants paper.

Usually when he's ripping he's having fun. Sometimes though, if he's angry with me, he'll rip with a ferociousness that's funny. He'll also mutter to himself while he does it. I need a video of him ripping mad cuz it's hilarious. The muttering and throwing things... so human!

Anyway, my only thing is that he gets to rip paper when he's OUT of his cage. Either on the play top or his play stand in the other room. That way we don't run into a nesting thing. He has toys for in his cage, paper can be a toy for outside his cage.

It'd be a messy game but I've got hardwood floors and he's a food thrower so I sweep daily anyway.

 

[Teknogeddon]

Maybe go to hobby lobby and get some of those little paper boxes, stick some nuts in it, and let him go to town?
or just crumple up some news paper with something in the center. Maybe will sate his ripping appetite. Sounds to me like he's just having fun, but even if he is building himself a nest- so what? Boys can have nests too! Can't let the girls have all the paper ripping fun!

 

[GaleriaGila]

RIP, RIP, RIP!
Love that, SilleIN!

 

[SilleIN]

Tino has just advanced to this foraging toy. It's made from a jumbo straw. I cut a piece of the straw, I use a lighter to warm up one of the ends and push them together, I put in dried fruit (Tinos favorite) and warm the other end and press together.

I thought Gus might like it as well

 

[wrench13]

Will Gus rip up phone books? Free for the asking.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Will Gus rip up phone books? Free for the asking.

I happened to have a few from cleaning up at a friend's. Gave him one as an experiment.

But we are concerned about the ink. Doesn't blue/green ink have copper in it? He's not eating the paper but he does have it in his mouth to rip rip rip like the industrious fellow he is.

BTW, the second picture shows his hunchback fairly well. You can see it at the very top edge, with the dark line of a wing feather just above the curve in the spine.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Gee, but hunchback and alllllllllllllllllllll... he's still so BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[JBassset]

BTW, the second picture shows his hunchback fairly well. You can see it at the very top edge, with the dark line of a wing feather just above the curve in the spine.

If it's soy or vegetable based inks (apparently most phone books are) then it's perfectly fine. If it's a petroleum based ink it's no bueno. Petroleum inks are more expensive and aren't likely to be used in a throw-away phone book.

I don't know how you can determine the difference unless it's printed on the book someplace?

 

[wrench13]

Then just use thee white pages as those are black ink. Rip out any colored ink pages. He sure loves them! Look at him go!

 

[Kentuckienne]

Oh, that's a good idea. Everybody ca get in on the ripping! He does love it. He sets to work sincerely and earnestly. He is doing a job that needs doing well, and he does it with focus and energy.

 

[wrench13]

AND... well, revenge on the phone company, at last ! Who doesn't like that? Tell Gus to rip up a few pages for me.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Don't know what's in the Arabic message, but that's a long hyperlink. Would advise not clicking on it.

(This was in response to deleted spam)

 

[Kentuckienne]

I was out of the house for nearly three weeks, helping a friend who had knee replacement surgery. Gus was pretty aggressive to me when I got back, and it took a few hours and a couple of cashew nuts to get back in his I-shall-permit-you-to-scratch-the-Royal-head mode. I'm envious of Wonder Boy, for whom Gus burrows under sweatshirt and permits all liberties, because I only get a few minutes of macaw love at a time. On the other hand, he has to deal with the constant regurgitation and having his lounge pants pulled at to make a nest. I finally got out the clicker and started getting him used to thinking treat when he hears click. I hope it will give a better framework for the two of us. Come to think of it, maybe Gus just doesn't know what to do with his energy besides love-puking. Maybe if he learns some new behaviors, some tricks, he will do them instead of nesting and puking. I'm going to show him some of Salty's videos to inspire him.

 

[SailBoat]

Phone Books are designed to break down quickly, last time I checked there is nothing in them that would be of concern short of your MAC electing to make a meal out of them. That would result in you going nuts when all the colors of the rainbow show up coming out the other end!

As stated by others, the expensive printing is where the dangerous stuff is used, long life, bright bold colors, etc....

Have Fun Gus!

FYI Gus: There are really good advantages of Loving Mom, after all, she knows where the good stuff is hidden!

FYI: Love the stand!!!