Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 11:13 am Post subject: questions
hey again guys
i know i will get told to use the search bar but i have been and i seem to spend hours reading and find out tons of helpful information but nothing specific to my questions, so my apologies if the answers are there but maybe im not using the right buzz word to find them, i have a few questions about Sonny and any help would be great
1 do i need to cover his cage at night?
2 if so for how long?
3 how much sleep does he need?
4 he paces often across the bottom of his cage, is this normal?
5 he keeps eating the wall paper on the wall behind his cage when he is out, how do i stop him? or let him know he cant do it? i know that i could move the cage forward and this would stop him but i dont want to be policing him all the time, i want him to be free to explore, ive moved and covered wires and anything thats dangerous to him but i cant move the walls
6 should he have food available all day or do i set meal times like with the cats and dog i have?
many thanks guys
regards Miss Sophie and Sonny :D
Until the people in the know answer your questions, i can answer a few according to what i have learnt from my kak.
1) my kak doesn't get a decent nights sleep without the cover over his cage because he like it pitch black during bedtime
2) during bedtime hours which is about 10 hours. My kak won't get into his sleeping position unless the cover is there. Once i remove it, he thinks its morning and stands at the door waiting to get out.
3)my kak usually sleeps from 8:30pm to 5:30am. I have read on a few forums that they do need about 10 hours sleep a day
4) From my experience and a few threads I've read on here, If his just pacing left to right then he wants to get out of the cage. They spend a lot of the time on the floor scavenging.
5) kaks are very curious and from my experience from mine want to bite everything in their path. Mine nibbles on wall paper, any boxes lying around, shoes, carpet, cables etc so expect it.
6) I make sure theres always seeds available and usually have half an apple and grass available to him through out the day
We realy do appeciate member helping out, and of coase there are different thoughts on the matter
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1 do i need to cover his cage at night?
From memory I do not think this has ever been covered....we used to years ago, when I wa a child...since then 40 odd yrs we have had alsorts of house parrots, budgie to big sulphur cresrted , kings and kakariki.
And since then never bothered....birds nap during the day, they are like cats and Grey Hounds put out huge amounts of energy over short periods (flighing is damn hard work..try it )..And like cats grey hounds nap when need to...And if one uses CCTV to observe over many months, no birds do not sleep soundly all night.
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2 if so for how long?
Well in summer we have daylight from around 7am to 9pm, with the avairies, waking up about 7:20 am and tucking down about 8:30 pm at the moment...Again refer to 1/.
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3 how much sleep does he need?
He needs it when he is ready for it, refer to 1/
4/ 5/ and 6/ Sam has that answers there.
And control is being alpha male of the flock....critical for any pet behavour....If he knows what a good growl is he will take note of it...AND he has to know that when u are not there a growl still exists, so montor occassional when he thinks u are out of the room, watching from behind a door. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
As Sam, I can give you answers according to my experience.
1)I've heard both that you should cover the cage and the opposite, but I've chosen to cover Teo's and Iwa's cage at night as it is in the living room and I keep later hours than the birds.
2) I usually turn off their lights at 20.30-20.45 and if I forget to cover at 21 I get reminded of this negligence. When I start to put the cover on the boys go to their sleeping perches on the opposite sides of the cage (they may be brothers, but they do NOT cuddle together, and the best perch is fought over)
3) Sleeping time is usually from 21.00 to 7.00 on weekdays and from 21.00 to 9.00 on weekends, give or take 15 minutes.
4) Pacing around the bottom of the cage while nibbling at everything they see is just normal foraging, pacing back and forth while cursing loudly means that stupid humans should open the cage NOW, thank you very much or the RSPCA will be notified.
5) I don't have wallpaper but got fed up with sandpapering bits of food from the wall behind the cage so I bought a sheet of clear vinyl cloth of the type that can be put over tablecloths to keep them clean. It works very well, it's easy to wipe food rests off, and as long as there isn't a hole in the cloth the birds cannot get at the wall.
What I've also done is to put old newspapers on top of the books in the bookshelves, as I didn't want them to nibble the books. The birds love to climb on the books and now if they fancy a nibble they can tear the newspaper, as it's easy to replace. I have not really taken other precautions, the can't get at any wires and I don't mind that the odd houseplant gets regularly trimmed.
Basically I've come to the conclusion that living with the kakariki is like living with one-year olds, you let them try most things under supervision, but you only react severly when you get that deep suspicious silence that tells you the birds are up to no good...
I make sure they always have seeds available, as well as feeding them their veggies in the morning. Then as I know they prefer food they discover themselves I usually "accidentally" forget to clear away all veggies or bell pepper seeds, thus leaving some goodies in the kitchen for them to find all by themselves. Then there are of course the houseplants...
I don't, eventhough their cages are in my livingroom. But then I seldom stay up late and almost never watch tv. I read, write or work on my comp so a reading light is enough for me.
I never covered their cages because that would mean, once they are used to that, i'd have to be home a certain time every night or ask someone else to take care of that. I don' t close my window curtains so their day /night rhythm changes like the seasons change here in the Netherlands.
3 how much sleep does he need?
I let them decide for themselves. They take naps now and then during day time and as soon as daylight fades have a quick last snack, climb up to their fav spot and call it a day.
4 he paces often across the bottom of his cage, is this normal?
Yep, mine do the same now and then. Specially if I decided to sleep in and they want out.
5 he keeps eating the wall paper on the wall behind his cage when he is out, how do i stop him? or let him know he cant do it?
First make sure it's not because they lack some vitamins/ minerals. ( calcium/ proteins) Check the " what do you feed" thread to make sure of that.
Then make sure it's not out of boredom.
I have a ( hand made) net hanging across the room from one wall to the other with lots of toys and interesting stuff. On top of their cages are ( rodent) tunnels of straw/hay and pieces of corck and wood. On the floor of their cages are things like bottle caps, pieces of paper etc.. They dont eat wallpaper or nibble at my furniture and stuff.. plenty of interesting and a lot more tasty stuff for them around.
if your cage is set up against a wall you can prevent it from getting dirty by covering the back of the cage with acrylic glass.
6 should he have food available all day or do i set meal times like with the cats and dog i have?
My birds love their veggies, sprouts, flowers, nuts, grasses and fruit. A lot more than they do their seedmix.
I give them a mix of several raw veggies in the morning and fresh fruit late in the afternoon. Sometimes both at the same time when not home in the afternoon. Seedmix available to them all day long. BUT I dont refill till all is gone. To prevent them from eating only the goodies.. Some meat or hard boiled egg or other types of proteine rich food and seaweed at least once a week.
hiya.... personaly i havent ever covered any of my cages but if your up late a lot it might be a good idea...
i fitter perspex bout 3mm thick to the back of a cage and round the base at about 10cm high with cable ties through small drilled holes.... this stopped the wallpapper picking and bathwater going down the wall and keeps the wood shavings in the cage when they are having a good old scratch about.
also... to help the vandalism ....phone directories on top of the books on the shelves..... and pleanty of distractions...... if he likes peeling the wallpaper... maybe something paper and peely.... you can make lots of stuff yourself if your a bit crafty.... something i just started was rolling a rasin in a rizla (cigarette paper) to make a sort of paper flowerbud with a tasty treat inside.... thinking of trying some paper machet stuff...... will use home made flour and water paste ..... you can also get paper craft straws ...... they are on my "gunna getem when i got the money" list _________________ May........
thank you guys for all your help and support, ive spent the last few days making sonny a playgym of sorts, tons of stuff for him to do but while doing that i discivered he does not like to be pointed at , so the wall paper issue is no more, he bites, i point at him and say no, he goes back to his cage and sulks for a while , still hasnt made any noises what so ever tho and im gettin a little concerned about it but i guess time will tell on that one, anyways, just wanted to say thank you and btw steptoe i have a grey hound also :)
you can add all sorts of stuff to your home made play gym... change it round regularly so give him new stuff to discover.... slices of loofa can be used to stuff treets in ( a few sunflower seeds or bits of fruit) fir cones (i pour boiling water over ones ive colected to kill off any baddies sea shells too... i collect ones with holes in to string up.... wooden coffee stiring... sticks i have a box i put things in when i come across something i can use then every so often get it all out and have a swap round.
as for the noises..... is it very quiet where he is? they sort of like the hustle n bustle of people... i put the radio on for the birds i have in my birdhouse they really like music. it does vary between birds tho the 2 young ones i have in the house 1 doesnt say much but will join in a bit with the other.... who is really quite vocal... makes the noise of my bedroom door opening and the squeeky stairs when i go down and even trys tell the dog to get in his bed and starting to say step up ..... id just say be pacient and talk to him a lot try using the same words (that you want him to learn) and use the same tone its the rythem and variation they seem to copy... good luck sounds like your doing fine :D _________________ May........
My Brother in law has one...apparently they are trained raced for 18 months or something then 'retired' which means there is a huge source of well trained dogs...
Those that dot find homes are put down...Their dog was one of the exceptions.
They are neat dogs, quiet, behave just like a cat....run in the morning and evening hard out for 10 mins and sleep rest for the day.
Beautiful natured BUT everyong in the house hold must be the dominate 'male' And watch antrhing small and fluffy.....rats cats, possums rabbits and fluffy slippers _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 10:58 am Post subject: :D
i rescued him from bieng drowned bu his former owner when he was a baby and discovered he had a limp that meant he would never race, he is absolutely fine with any other animal, havnt found one yet that bothers him,the cats kick him out of his bed regularly and he never argues with them, he is awesome with my kids, gentle and sweet, i would never have another breed again, i think tho once they have been trained to race they do tend to wanna kill anything small and fluffy and how could they not if thats what they have been taught, thats why its hard to re home ex racers, i personally believe that ppl who have racing greyhounds and dump them once they have made all the money they can should be done for animal cruelty, most of these dogs end up in re homing centres ot greyhound rescue and not many find new homes, its a very sad state of affairs.
btw guys, thank you for all your help answering my random at odd questions , i like to have lots of information :D
i keep trying to upload a pic of my little luvvie but it keeps tellin me that the file is too big
ithink tho once they have been trained to race they do tend to wanna kill anything small and fluffy and how could they not if thats what they have been taught, thats why its hard to re home ex racers,
Yes that what the people who rehome the racing dogs say, which according to my Bro in law/ Wife....at 1st was a bit of a handful, untill they where told to put their foot down harder, couple days and everything settled down...best pet one could ask for....ideal house dog so long as have a backyard.
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i keep trying to upload a pic of my little luvvie but it keeps tellin me that the file is too big
This server is just an old computer that sits beside me in my office, so does have limitations, espec uploading huge pics....
There are instructions in the "how to.." section
Basically...
Open the pic in an editor like infran
Crop out all the background so the subject takes up all the room
Resize longest side to about 500/600
When u "save as" choose .jpg a button appears to adjust compression, choose about 25%
Change the name so as not to over right the orginal file and save.
This can take a huge pic of many meg down to a few kb ideal for emailing uploading stuff like that. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
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