IndianRingNeck.com

Not yet.

Wilko's have an ideal foraging toy, a stainless steel cage ball, with chain and clasp for hanging up, it isn't for birds, but Sanjay isn't to know!. I don't suppose Billie can be distracted from her weird behaviour with foraging. I cannot imagine how yummy a dummy egg must have been, eeeooow!.

I could not find a trace of the dummy egg so she must have eaten it all, they taste awful Billie tells me not patch on a the real thing. If she follows the pattern she is due to lay tonight.

I am going shopping tomorrow so l will look into Wilco, the new Argos catalogues must be out soon will pick one up. But she is not keen on foraging she will bite to get to the tasty bit but as for working it out no way.

I did a bit of googling, apparently hens are reluctant to lay if their environment is disturbed frequently, i.e. if you change the cage layout, by moving perches etc around. It also said Not to indulge them by giving them a nesting box. Because it encourages them to lay.But as I have no experience, this is just someone elses viewpoint. Have you considered writing or e mailing the expert panel in "Parrot" magazine?

No l must admit l have not thought of writing to the experts in Parrot mag, l aslo have an option of asking a vet at Ask Jeeves, but moving her cage around certainly stops them laying or helps but the avian vet l spoke to last year thought it best to let Billie have a her laying cycle and then if it went on too far trying to stop her by upsetting the routine.

My feelings are that if she is going to lay it is better to get it over and done with, and she did not lay an egg last night and she ate the egg she did lay and l can see no bulge that might indicate she is going to lay tonight.

Went to Wilco's today but could not find that ball and chain you mentioned but l bought a trio of munch balls which won't last two minutes but will give her something to chew. She had an empty Shaw's biscuit box and a stick to chew l gave them to her when she demanded to be covered up tonight and they last nearly two hours!

Also went to Pets at home and bought a load of stuff anybody would think l have shares in Pets at home!

I must have shares in lidl and market stall!,

Want to swop?

No ta, our pet superstores, pets at home and jolleys are outside town, and not easy to get to I have found their range disappointing, better to order from N Parrots or Scarletts, both deliver next day.Sanjay isn't keen on the seedy bars from those two, he much prefers the wilko ones, although the plastic sticks in them are pretty puerile, the bars fall off them too easily.

How funny (peculiar) those plastic sticks stick like any stick should stick, perhaps they are selling olld stock?

I bought Billie a snuggle sack she happily went in it on the cage floor and also 6" off the cage floor but when l put it higher she got cold feet, so l fixed it lower down. We do not have infra red lamps, now if she wants to use it she wont get cold feet!

The goodnews this morning is that she did not lay an egg, hwich has to be good and l could see nothing in the pipe line either so here's keeping my fingers crossed. However she has been scanning the floor looking for a nesting site. She managed to climb down the back of the cage but did not fly down.

She is very crafty, when l play the organ she flies to my shoulder and sits on my blind side

OOps it looked as if MIcro soft was going to spoil the party so l sent the first part on ahead. However when l turn my head to look at her she reaches over and kisses me on the lips but then when l look out of the corner of my eye she continues to masturbate on me.
When l catch her doing it she gets put back on the cage.

I am jolly pleased she picks the pellets out of her seed bowl and eats those first and then she crosses over and eat the pellets from the pellet bowl, this morning she did not poop straight away so as l sat at the organ l was blowing raspberries through my lips this must heve started her off becasue she pooped two massive poops. Her poop is brownish colour.

Eeeeoow!! Thanks for sharing! Has she been eating chocolate?, it's very comforting at hormonal moments.

You should not give Sanjay chocolate and Billie has none, a diet of pellets turns the poop brown and she is not hormoanl nowadays.

Theory one

Billie does not have a calender in her cage so she has to rely on instinct and clues as to laying eggs, and l was taking her out to sit on the garden wall in the weak winter sunshine l think she thought it was spring and egg laying time. She has not laid any eggs since that one on sunday night. QED

She has been enjoying the snuggle sack l bought her and l hope she will make us of it when the cold nights come. I gave her one of the munch balls made of reed and she stripped it into bits in seconds then pretended it was the man in the moon, when l came back into the room and called out she squealed she thought she was going to be in trouble but l patted her on the head and and all was well.

I Never give Sanjay chocolate! It was meant to be a joke,

Ha Ha

Who has pooped on the carpet?

Who trod in it?

There is this lovely snuggle sack Biile has tried it out several times but this morning she was shivering on the bottom of the cage in her favouirite spot.

Parrots is out, sad story of Pepper, it is something l worry about with Bille. I am 76 this year and if l have a stroke or heart attack who will look after her? Should l make arrangements in advance? Billie is only 6/7 years old.

There is a lovely parrot sanctuary called "the zoo" which we have frequently donated to, You could make arrangements via your will, we first saw the place on a TV programme.I cannot exactly remember, but I think it is near Scarborough I must check it out on line. I donate via "Just Giving".

It's a good job I checked, it's actually in Boston, Lincolnshire.

High drama today, this afternoon Billie started to make mewing sounds and she was dragging the rain hood along she had started to unpick the seams and had encounted nylon thread which had got wrapped around a leg.

So emergency stations grab a pair of scissors and a towel I wrapped it around her and dragged her off the perch much sqawking and attempts to bite my arm off but eventually l had her out and turned her over, she squirmed like and eel but l was unable to pull the thread clear of her leg so l cut it close to her leg as possible and then unravelled the thread so l could pull it clear, all the time she was yelling and biting so l held her close until she had calmed down and then had another look turning her over.

Her leg was clear of thread but we had a similar incident last year when she managed to get her head though some cloth, so l have taken the rain hood away and taken down the perch that held it up. She was very annoyed as she enjoyed hiding under the suspended hood. she pretended that her wing was damaged by holding it down, but l just ignorred her
She still has the snuggle sack and this morning she was as warm as toast.

However pomegranite is off the menu but blackberries are in as my walls will testify!

Well, I stuffed the steel cage ball full of nuts, himself loved it, especially the bit where he extracted them and tossed them on to the floor of his palace but the play value is huge! It has a bell with a very satisfying noise, and he can spin the cage around, upend it, and generally engage in a bit of hanky panky with it. At two pounds and fifty pence, it's a great parrot plaything!.

Our Wilko have hidden them l did have a quick lookl where are they stashed in your Wilco?

Hanging up among the Guinea pig/hamster stuff!, as I said, they are not meant for birds (officially), tomorrow I will stuff it with shredded paper and nuts.

There l forgot to go, however l did pop into the garden centre and got some spagnum moss to line her nesting box. Because she laid an egg last night so bang goes my theory that taking her out started her laying. I put the egg into a small plastic dish but she wanted it out so it rolls around on the floor of the cage. I expect she will eat it tonight or lay another one.

Pomegranites are out, did not buy any more today but l bought some runner beans l offered her a sweet pea or runner bean she grabbed the bean. Is Okra okay for them? She really enjoys the blackberries, l bought some strawberries to see if she will eat those, also some limes and lemons. Must keep her off sweet things, she was eating pellets but seems ot have gone off those.

Okra is fine, not sure about runner beans raw, they cause vomiting and the Aztec quickstep in humans, if they're not cooked. O he Loved the shredded paper etc, so tomorrow I will add avi cake squares. Have you thought of using barley hay?, it might be more snuggly than moss.

Yes l tried hay but my carpet looked like a haystack by the time she had kicked it all out, Parrots talk of pods being okay but l will take you warning about raw runner beans.

Just in case she has the nesting box, l have a bag of shredded paper to pad the spagnum, but the last time she had the nesting box she went all broody.

I had to lock her in when l went shopping this morning although she is not looking for a nesting site l did not want to take any chances as l knew l would be a long time.

Elf'n safety, I would worry about what himself would get up to whilst I was out. Hay isn't as messy as straw, meadow hay smells lovely too. When I line the floor of his palace, I use large broadsheets, i.e. Daily Telegraph Financial times etc, and fold the edges up so they make a barrier against the bars at the bottom, it keeps the tut contained, so very little ends up on the carpet.

Unless H'self kicks it out Billie scratches like a chicken, and the result? All over my carpet!
Her egg was intact this morning and l told her sit on it and you can have your nesting box back. Later l saw she was trying to sit on the egg but it kept skidding away and l provided a small plastic dish to put the egg in but she held me to earlier promise, and gave me such a look of reproach it shrivelled my soul.

So she got her nesting box l was qutie pleased becasue l wanted to see her reaction to spagnum moss. She picked a few pieces out and then walked away, but later l saw she had kicked half of it out so l rebagged that lot, she did not look too happy l think the moss was too wet so l tried mixing some wood chippings with it but she kicked a load more out so l baggged that lot for a rainy day/

Then she decided to attack the bowls; the lightly boiled runner beans got a lot of attention as did the lightly boiled chestnuts, and then it was the turn of the fruit bowl, the blackberries went down a treat. She threw the Okra out.

It went quite dark at 2.30 so she called it a day and demanded to be covered up, l kept saying no it is too early but she asked me in such a sweet way l gave in and covered her/

Poor old Billie does not know whether she is coming or going, this morning she was not sitting on her egg in the nesting box, so l took the box away and put the egg back in a little green dish, where it has stayed all day.

She has been most persistent in trying to masturbate on me, every time she tried it l put her back on the cage the last ime she was so persistent she laid an egg so we shall have to wait and see what tomomorrow brings.

I gave all the pomegranites away to a deserving cause. Our local drunk. Did you see that programe on Pets Wild at heart? Fantstic photography/

No, I didn't watch it. I watched a couple of Jungle Book movies with Jack recently, Not animated btw, and in one scene a little IRN hen flits down and sits, briefly, on Mowglis wrist, then flits off again, she had a really scratched beak, it looked quite tatty. Sanjay thinks Billie is a little hussy!.

Billie thinks Sanjay is an upstart. But she did not want her egg in the hamster food dish, she made sure by pooping in it and tipping it over. I do not think she wants the egg at all.

It has been too cold to even to think about going out side, but the fire alarm man came and rang the front door bell, Billie let fly with a chorus of her own. I wish she would sing more often. I whistle all the time to encourage her.

She likes a little play at night with the cage covered. and this evening l gave her an empty tea bag box and she was as happy as a tea girl ripping it up.

I dunno about "upstart", but he can be such a tart at times!, sounds like Billie had fun shredding the carton. Someone rang my bell the other day and made us both jump!.

My flat is upstairs and the bell also and people who ring my bell cannot hear it so they resort to kicking the door, which scares the living daylights out of both of us, but the other day when some one rang my bell and it has 30 or so different chimes Billie joined in, l thought that was jolly nice.

Today she wanted a nap under cover lunch time but l was so busy it was longer than usual and she complained when l uncovered her. I was quite pleased today she lasted until 10 past 3 before wanting to be covered, l do this in stages first a light cover and then 30 mins later a heavier cover and then about 4 a feather duvet which cuts even more light out.

She huffs and puffs under all those covers until she gives in and goes to sleep at 5 pm. Her egg is still rolling around the bottom of the cage, l nearly broke it this morning when l dropped a brush on it OOPS!

She was trying to skinny dip in a small water bowl so l gave extra and in the end she was very wet, but quickly dried out when l turned up the heat/

Himself wanted a shower today, after I'd tnoroughly cleaned his abode. Samjay just has a kingsize black cotton sheet to cover the cage, it is perfectly adequate.

Good old Sanjay, Billie impressed me tonight by holding out until 3.30 pm before asking to be covered, little by little she is pushing the clock back.

Her egg is still floating round the bottom of the cage and she sat on it for a while this morning, she does not like strawberries so the ones l bought l have been eating up with a can of evaporated milk. Gone are the days when l would take a can of condensesed milk to the flicks and eat all of it watching a film!

I had to lock her in her cage this morning when l went to church she still wants to explore.

All my whistling has been paying dividends she calls l whistle, or l whistle and she calls!

There you see?, Sanjays daddi and himself were always calling to each other from separate rooms. His daddi could eat condensed milk, ugh!, one teaspoonful would set my teeth on edge, it was so incredibly sickly sweet. In later years he lost his sweet tooth, along with quite a few others!.

Who bashed Billie's egg?

Clues:

She was sitting on her egg this morning when l uncovered her. So after cleaning the cage l took pity on her and gave the nesting box back, carefully placing some moss in it and the egg on top.

But after making my bed l came back to discover the moss had been kicked out along with the egg. It looked alright. but for safety sake l put in a dummy egg but she saw me doing it and started to gnaw the dummy egg so l took it out and put her real egg back it was then l noticed it had a dent. Thinking of the itme she go an egg stuck to her l took it out and hid it. So no egg.

I told her "You will have lay another."

Later l gave her the Wilco box the parrot sticks came in, and it took her nearly an hour to demolish the box. I still think she bashed the egg.

If it was me she might expect me to lay the next egg.

A couple of IRN articles in Parrots magazine, one sad, one quite funny. Also, a letter from a guy whose henny penny keeps laying, and some good advice given by the experts.

I liked the bit about not providing a nesting box and l agree about not taking her eggs away in hte laying cycle. Billie not laying a th moment she not very intested in a nesting site, she does want to go exploring so l lock her in when l go out, but she is quite content to be near me.

When l got back from shopping this morning l let her out, she did get a bit anxious at breakfast time, l had persuaded her to be covered while l at my porridge in the kitchen but when l got bak she thought l had been too long and made a song and dance out of it.

She does love a box at bed time tonight she had an empty Birds Eye chicken burger box and she gave the box hell, it put up a stiff resistance but in the end Billie won and it was in tears. There are a lot of interesting articles but it takes all sorts to make a magazine.

Ah yes, we often find answers within. Im poorly with a virus at the moment, so I spent much time in bed today, just popping out to see to himself and make hot drinks, I try Not to get ill, in case Im taken to hospital, I've got nobody I can trust to look after him.

Yes l feel the same about Billie, what would happen to her if l was taken ill and had to go into hospital lf we did not live so far apart we could help each other. I had a close encounter myself this afternnon, l love crunching polo mints up and crunched three they were a bit peppery so l opened my mouth to take a lungful of air when some of the crunhced up peppermint went down the wrong way, l could hardly get my breath. I thought l was a goner.

Billie is a clock watcher she is getting later and later to be covered up, tonight it was 4 pm.

A fizzy drink will sort out choking on food, but food in the windpipe is terrifying. I think these lighter evenings are helping Billie. My daughter lives too far to help out, and knowing himself, he would refuse to go back in his cage for her, or anyone else for that matter!.

I made Billie promise that she would go back if l let her out and l hold her to that promise but she is very good, l just say down you go and off she toddles, she does like some cardboard to rip up before bed does Sanjay have any bed time rituals?

I had thought that if I was having a heart attack of opening a window and letting her make up her mind if she wanted to go or stay, her prevuious owner put her out of the upstairs window and she just flew to the ground, and there was time shortly after l got her when l went out on to come back and find her standing on top of the cage enjoying a breeze from an open window!

We shall just have to hope fot the best.

That would be a really drastic solution!, Im quite sure the paramedics would contact the RSPCA for you, you could carry a "dependent parrot at home" card too in case anything happened, anyway, there are always solutions if we look for them. My daughter is hoping to move to Luton soon, I've told her to look out for "peppa", the little blue ringneck featured in parrots magazine,

Yes there are always solutions l like your idea of carrying a card "Depentant parrot at home"

Is Luton very far from you?

It's quite a distance, but she needed a bigger house, and it was the only swap available. Btw, I always tell chuggers I have a parrot to keep.

You have lost me, who are chuggers? Did you see the table from Claire on energy levels l thought it was very interesting.

Chuggers are those people who stand outside shops, or on street corners with tins and sticky badges, everywhere you turn there is one begging on behalf of a different charity, or you have the ones who want you to set up a direct debit to them. I prefer to choose my own charity to donate to.

What l want to know is how much do the bosses of these charities pay them selves bet they earn more than l do!



Perhaps l ought to sit down in One Stop shopping centre with a placard around my neck
"One hungry parrot to feed, please give generously."
.

It might just work if you busk! Lol!

I thought l would take off my "Dirty" joke it might offend people it was in bad taste!

Good, I've led a Very sheltered life, and Sanjay is extremely prudish.