Jazz - Green Cheek Conure Blog

Back From Vacation!

2009-08-05T12:40:00.000-07:00

I am so sorry that it has been so very long since you have heard from me. With the house remodel and vacation, I simply have not had time for bloggin.

This time, when we went on vacation, we left Jazz in the living room with Grandma. They kept each other company. He didn't get near as lonely and wasn't near as snippy when we came home.

The only thing that happened was kinda funny. He is used to being let out of his cage every night to play on his toys and such. Since Grandma is 85 years old with tender skin, we didn't want to risk her being nipped so he stayed in his cage. I guess at some point he got bored and figured out how to lift the hanger on his water bottle and send the bottle flying to the floor.

Grandma got tired of his game and secured the bottle to the cage with twist ties. When I came home, I was curious so I put it back up right and sure enough, he started it again. So Jazz has a new water bottle with a stronger, tighter hanger.

Other than that we didn't have to deal with the anger at us for leaving him alone. The only thing so far is that he has not yet returned to his normal chatty self. Mostly just whistles and chirps and "C'mere!"

Time Outdoors

Jazz loves to go out on the patio. Its a safe, enclosed place where he can get the feel of being outside, especially since we have a live tree out there. For the first time last night, he sat happily in it. Here are a few pictures:

If you remember, when we got Jazz, he had been kept in a cage that was too small, so his tailfeathers were chewed all up and ugly. Take a look at how beautifully it is growing out!

Almost all of the ugly feathers fell out in this molt and from this angle you can see the new feathers growing in.

We're so glad to be blogging again. If you have questions or suggestions, please keep sending them in. We're having so much fun answering them.

Have a great day!

Bad, Bad, Blogger

2009-07-10T07:46:00.000-07:00

This summer has been so busy that I haven't been a very good blogger. Poor Jazz, he just isn't getting his fair say. Actually he's is talking his head off. It's not always people words, but he does love to chatter.

Funny thing is, it changes depending on who is around. When I take him in the living room, where Mom is, he chirps and whistles and whispers(Mom has chronic bronchitis and talks in a whisper). When hubby comes home he starts hollering "C'mere", and "What doin?" When I walk in, he whistles and says "pretty boy".

He has other sounds, too, like when I vacuum or run the hair dryer, he shreiks, letting me know he really doesn't care for that sound. When the radio or GAC are on, he dances and chirps. And, when he is playing in his play pen, he chatters. It's so cute, he sounds like a little old man just talking to himself.

I just love being a birdie momma!!

CONTEST WINNER!!

2009-06-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

Good Monday morning! Sorry to those of you whose posts didn't show up until now and those who couldn't post. Jazz' Google settings were kinda goofed up, so I had to go change them. All posts should be there now and a winner has been picked.

Drumroll please??

Jazz and Bethanie have picked Zoe from McKinney, TX!! Zoe & Michele, you will receive an email shortly with instructions on how to pick your prize!

Jealous Butt!!

Hi, my name is Jazz and I have anger control issues.

No not really, but he is a jealous bird. Anytime the kids are in my lap that boy squawks and shrieks. He will let the kids pet him and hold him, but he totally verbalizes his distaste with them being in my lap. Such a funny boy!

Fan Club???

Keebler and his person, Kristin, from New Mexico asked if Jazzie had a fan club!! How neat is that. So our answer, Keebler, is no not yet...but if you want to be the founding member, we can sure create a Jazz the GCC fan club!! Send us a comment with your email address if you would like to join Jazz' fan club and we will email you soon with information!

Catching Up

2009-06-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

I have had some server issues so I haven't been able to post. But here I am now and I have so much to tell you about!

Molting

I got this cute picture of Jazz today. Poor guy he's molting. When I get home from work, it looks like a bird has exploded in his cage. Anyway, he can't stand for his feathers to be dirty, even the ones that have fallen out. He pics them up and cleans them, its so funny.

I do my best to make sure and clean all the feathers out of his cage daily. I don't want him to get to used to playing with feathers. A friend warned me that could lead to plucking when he is no longer molting and doesn't have any feathers to play with.

All That Talking!

Two nights ago, hubby was at a friend's house until late. When I went to bed, I said, "Goodnight Jazz" like I always do, then turned out the light and went to bed. His cage is just outside my bedroom door and when I got laid down, he said something that sounded like "Goodnight" so I said "Goodnight" and he did it again. It was soooo cool. So I kept repeating it and he kept repeating it.

Then, night before last, when we went to bed I wanted to see if he would do it again, and sure enough, we repeated goodnight about 5 times and hubby was so excited he said "Goodnight Jazz" to which Jazz replied in a deeper voice "Goodnight. What doin?" (he asks Jazz "What Doin" every day when he comes home).

Last night, when hubby got home from work, he walked in and said "Hey Jazz, what doin." To which Jazz promptly replied "C'mere". He loves his daddy and has so much fun wrestling with him (have I told you that Jazz thinks he can wrestle with daddy like the puppy does?)

So, when we went to bed, I told hubby not to say anything and see what Jazz does. We climbed into bed and as soon as it was quiet, Jazz said "Goodnight".

Jazz' vocabulary is just growing every day and we just love it!

Snuggle Bunny

When we came back from vacation, Jazz punished me for leaving him. He ran from me for days. Now he's back to his sweet little self. When I open his cage and sit down on the sofa, he runs to me, snuggles down into my hair, preens my hair and jabbers away in his little old man speak. I just love to listen to him chatter.

I'm so happy to be a birdie Momma!

Contest

Well, I created this website just to help others like myself, searching the web for information on GCC's. I never knew it would go over so well! In just a few weeks, we're already almost to 400 hits.

So, to celebrate, we're going to have ourselves a little contest. The winner will get their choice of (GCC size) either a snuggle bag or flight suit. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment with you bird's name(s) and your name and where you're from. Winner will be chosen at random next Saturday night by my sweet daughter and listed on this blog.

Come Here!

2009-06-12T07:44:00.001-07:00

Jazz is just doing so great! We went out of town last weekend and I was so worried about him. He did great for the sitter but let me know when we came home that he was none too thrilled with me. He punished me for a few days by not wanting to come to me and even running to the back of the cage so I wouldn't get him out. Then yesterday let me know that I was forgiven. When I walked past his cage he hollered "Come'ere" - which he hadn't said before - then he cuddled me and preened my hair.

"Come'ere" has become a regular word in Jazz' vocabulary the last few days. This morning, as we sat reading the Scriptures, he hollered "Come'ere" so I opened the door to his cage. He gave me more wonderful snuggles this morning. He hates it when I put him back in his cage, but he knows when its time so he goes, albeit reluctantly.

I just love my birdie baby!!

Bathtime Jazzie

2009-06-02T12:58:00.001-07:00

Oh, Jazz loves his bath time!! I will get some video soon. He has sooo much fun playing in the water. Here are a couple of pics of Jazz after his bath:

Hanging Out

It is so funny to watch Jazz playing in his snuggle bag! He lays on his back inside the bag and plays with the toy hanging just outside.

Here he is hanging out of his snuggle bag, holding on to the toy with his foot:

Because the bag is fleece and he doesn't hold on, he slowly slides out while he plays and every so often, he falls to the bottom of his cage. Then he looks around and makes sure no one saw him...silly boy.

Jazz just loves his snuggle bag! It's the best thing in his cage.

Wake Up Daddy

One last pic before I go today, Daddy thought he would sneak in a nap before supper but Jazz had other ideas:

Trip to the Park

2009-05-27T16:45:00.000-07:00

I had a pretty rough night last night and because of that, Jazzie didn't get much out-of-cage time last night. My mother-in-law was ill and I had to stay with her at the hospital. So tonight, after supper at church, Jazz and I put on the flight suit and went to the park. We had so much fun! Here are some pictures:

Here he is on the sign that says "Frank J. Smith Bird Sanctuary". We didn't go inside because I'm afraid of him catching something from the outside birds, but I thought it was a cute picture.

Here's Jazz on the swing. I waited till there were no kids around so he wouldn't get scared. I just love this picture...doesn't he have the most beautiful birdie smile!!!

After this we went over to where the kids were playing and a few little ones from our church fed him a couple of the safflower seeds I brought for his treats. He soaked up all the attention!!!

This is the beautiful rock wall that runs through the park. He likes to walk up and down it. We are blessed in that we don't have any large prey birds in town to watch for, mostly just pigeons, so we are free to walk around the park without fear. We are always cautious and wear the flight suit and leash to keep Jazz from flying away.

That was our evening, its bathtime and then early bedtime for us now. Have a great night and drop us a comment!

Jazzie's New Toy

2009-05-26T06:09:00.000-07:00

This has got to be the BEST $1.97 I have ever spent on Jazz! Pam, Jazz' breeder, said that she loves to buy cat toys for her birds, so I have been on the lookout for the perfect toy.

When we were at Wal-Mart Saturday, I found these little balls called "Midnight Crazies" and Jazz just loves them. His favorite game is to throw them off the top of the cage and stare at it, waiting for one of his trained people to pick it up for him.

Here's a video (I'm not sure what the grinding sound is in the video, it has something to do with the camera, I'm sure):

He also likes to play with them from inside his cage while they are on top of it. He moves them to the edge with his beak and then knocks them onto the floor (a variation of his other game). I'm sure pretty soon he will throw them down and say "Uh-oh" because every time he throws one down, my MIL says "uh-oh" so I keep waiting for that.

Flight Suit

2009-05-21T11:23:00.001-07:00

Isn't he sharp in his flight suit?? He is really doing well. Last night I put the suit on him and we went walking. I had another couple stop in the middle of the road to ask me if he was a bird. Seriously, I want to say something really stupid when people ask me that. It just amazes me. So Jazz flirted with that girl and then we resumed our walk.

We walked to a local open greenhouse. It was so neat, as we were walking through the rows of plants, Jazz says "preeeeeeeeeeeeetty" all long and drawn out. Then he flirted with the greenhouse girl and we continued our walk. Jazz didn't even bite on the flight suit. He was too interested in our walk.

The flight suits are available from Avian Fashions and they have some great packages. I don't have the lanyard or leash that goes with the flight suit. I had an Aviator Harness that totally terrified Jazz. So, I cut the lead off of the harness and used it with my Flight Suit. It's virtually weightless and has the wrist strap and worked out great for us. Here's a picture:

Does the suit work to prevent fly aways? Definately. When we were leaving the yard last night, a motorcycle drove by and gave Jazz a start. He left my shoulder and tried to fly away. He got to the end of the leash and then landed on top of Mom's car. I will remind you, Jazz has all but his last two primaries clipped and I'm pretty sure he would have been gone had it not been for our Flight Suit. He sailed right over the gate on a gust of wind. I am very thankful that I didn't take for granted the fact that he is clipped.

I really love our flight suit. Jazz can't fly away and I don't get pooped on. I would definately recommend the Avian Fashions Flight Suit to anyone who wants to take their birdie with them on walks, bike rides, vacation or one of Jazzie's fave places, the hardware store!

Pictures and Updates

2009-05-20T11:47:00.000-07:00

Jazz is a camera ham! The boy loves to have his picture taken. If I get the camera out, he runs to the top of his cage and does anything he can to get his picture taken.

Silly bird! He loves his playgym. His favorite thing to do up here is to take it apart and throw the ladder in the floor. He loves it when someone new is sitting on the loveseat. Its gets him tons of attention. I swear you can almost hear him thinking. "I wonder how many times this one will pick up my ladder and put it back where it goes before they figure out what I'm doing."

Snuggle Bag

Here he is in his snuggle bag. Since I opened up the end, he sleeps in it every night. He plays in it too, climbing through it is a fun game! If you want directions on how to make your own, you can find them on the toys page of our website.

Where Are You?

Being the flock creature he is, Jazz does not like being left alone and he has really bonded to me. So when I get home from work, if I don't come see him right away, he will whistle at me until I whistle back. This is just his way of checking to see where I am and that I know he wants to see me.

Most mornings, my husband and I get up within a few minutes of each other. When hubby wakes, he goes into the living room, turns on the light and lets the puppy out of her crate. Usually I walk through just in time for Jazzie to crawl out of his snuggle bag and stretch. I tell him "Good Morning" and open the door and he rushes to greet me. This morning, I was lazy and stayed in bed a few extra minutes, so after hubby walked through and took care of the puppy, Jazz climbed out of his bag and stood there looking back and forth, back and forth (I could see him in the mirror)watching for me. When I didn't follow suit, he let out a loud whistle. I think he was worried about his Momma, so I whistled back. The look on his face was priceless, it was like, "Phew, I was lookin for ya." He was okay because I answered him and went about his morning. Climbed down and took a drink, took a few bites of food and checked out his place to make sure everything was as it should be.

When I finally got out of bed and opened the door, he ran to the top of the cage and gave me a sweet kiss. What a great way to start a morning!

Messy Mouth

Jazz will not eat over his plate, so please excuse his table manners. He gets a mouthful of food and then goes to the door of his cage and eats it. Heaven forbid that he miss a minute of what's going on!! Don't worry, though, Jazz is a very healty 69.7 grams, so no Weight Watchers for this birdie!!!

Getting there...

2009-05-18T11:58:00.001-07:00

I had some new pics of Jazz but the camera died, so I will have to post them later.

He is talking more now. He doesn't like it when Dusty (the Heeler) gets too excited and tells her "No bite", he laughs my laugh, which is hilarious, and he mimics the squeaky toy that Dusty plays with.

He still doesn't quite know what to think of the flight suit. When I put it on him, he doesn't fight me at all, but he chews on the top of the Velcro at the back. He gets the suit on almost every day and he immediately gets to go outside when the suit is on. So far, he doesn't seem to really care that he gets to go outside. He loves it when we go places and other people pay attention to him, but just outside seems to be no big deal. The awesome thing is, the suit works great for what its purpose is. He can't fly away and he doesn't poop anywhere. The suit comes off clean, no poop on Jazz, not even on the feathers around his vent. It's all on the liner in the suit. I take the liner off and throw it away and its just that simple.

This weekend, Jazz stepped up on my hand and his feet felt so warm. I was scared, I had never noticed that before. I got on the computer and talked to some other GCC owners and searched it out on the web and, phew!, its normal. Warm feet are actually a sign of a healthy bird. Yay! Just wanted to share that piece of information in case another GCC mom finds themselves with a case of warm birdie feet.

I just love being a GCC momma. Its so great! I hope that you enjoy following along with me just as much! Have a great day!

Flight Suit

2009-05-14T09:13:00.000-07:00

Check out Jazzie in his new Flight Suit!

He didn't like it much at first, but it was a whole lot easier for him to deal with than the harness that went over his head.

Our friend, Cathleen and her GCC Ivy, sent it to us. Miss Ivy wouldn't wear it so she she it to us for Jazz to try out. She was hoping "some birdie" could use it. (I just love her clever little play on words.)

Jazz nibbled on it a little at first, but then accepted it. Especially since he got to go outside with it on. We attached a lanyard to it and Jazz went outside to see the new house across the street and he went to Sonic with me to get dinner.

It's so funny to me when Jazz goes places and people say, is that a Parrot? Duh! My husband said I should say, "No, its my pet bat, I just dress him up like a parrot, but Shhhh don't tell him, he doesn't know."

I'm so lucky to be a birdie momma!!

Time Out Jazz!

2009-05-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

Well, as with any toddler trying to find his limits, Time Out worked with Jazz. When he bites he gets told "Time Out Jazz" and put in his cage with the door shut for a few minutes.

Jazz loves our attention. He enjoys doing tricks and giving kisses. So being in his cage when we are in the room is just a dreadful thing to him. It's so cute too. When he gets a time out and I open his cage back up, he will use his beak told hold on to step up (which he normally doesn't do) and oh, he does it ever so slowly and ever so gently. I am pretty sure its his apology, as if he's telling me, "I am so sorry Mommy. Look I won't bite you hard anymore."

Hopefully this phase will pass very soon. Until then, I will keep you posted.

Turn Around - First Trick

2009-05-12T06:03:00.000-07:00

Here is a video I took of Jazz learning how to turn around...his very first trick. He's doing so well:

Turn around is a very easy first trick to teach your bird, it just requires time and patience on your part to teach any animal to do anything.

Here are the instructions from "BASIC TRICK TRAINING" by Tani Robar

Holding the seed in the right hand at about the bird's eye level, let the bird see the seed. Tell it "turn around". As the bird reaches for the seed, move your hand around the bird to the back so that the bird must first turn its head and next, hopefully, its whole body, to follow and reach for the seed. If the bird turns half way around to face the back, tell it "good" and reward it at once. Then coax it to turn the rest of the way around by following the seed in your right hand. Use the simple command "turn around" each time you ask it to turn. . Once the bird turns from front to back and then back to front readily, insist it turn all the way around before it gets its reward. This is a simple first trick and it might not interest you as a future trick, but what you are teaching the bird here is more than just a trick. You are teaching it how to learn and what is expected of it, and how it will be rewarded. Remember, a bird will not repeat a behavior for which it is not compensated in some way. In the next step, let the bird follow the seed around in your right hand, but hold another seed in your left hand. Once the bird has completed the turn, reward it with the seed from your left hand. Gradually raise your right hand a little higher each time the trick is successfully repeated. Next, have no seed in your right hand and just make the right hand move in a small circle above the bird's head, being sure to immediately reward the correct behavior with a seed from the left hand. Eventually you will be able to just circle the right index finger above the bird, and drop the command altogether. A tip to remember, a bird responds much more readily to a visual cue than to a verbal one. But in the beginning teach both. The verbal command forces the bird to pay attention, and gives the trainer focus. For now be satisfied with the bird turning around on the T-stand, even if it does so a bit awkwardly or slowly. Think of what the bird has learned in just a few minutes. It has heard a command (turn around), it has seen and learned to respond to a visual cue (the right hand, index finger circling over his head), it learns that the word "good" means its owner is pleased, and finally, that a reward will be following. And all it had to do was turn itself around!

The Honeymoon is Over

2009-05-11T08:53:00.000-07:00

My sweet, sweet Jazz. He has decided that the honeymoon is over and he is going to see what exactly he can get away with. Even though he has opened up immensely with us and is more cuddly, talking more, all around a whole lot more outgoing, he has begun biting. Not the gentle nips like before he actually drew blood on my hubby's ear and left bruises on my fingers.

Some GCC owners find blowing in their faces to work. Jazz really doesn't care. He just bites again. So, when he bites, he goes back into his cage with the door shut for a time out. So far that seems to be working. I will keep ya posted.

Update on the Snuggle Bag

The Snuggle bag I made had one design flaw. Jazz couldn't get in and turn around, so he wasn't getting in. I opened the other end, so now it's more like a tube, and now he plays in it, climbs on it and sleeps in it. You can see the pictures of it (before I opened the end) on our toys page.

Aviator Harness

The petite Harness I got was too small for Jazz, as some of you know. I wrote to Parrot University and they said to send it in, that they guarantee fit. When they got it, they said that it was the proper size for a GCC and tried it on one of their birds and said it was right. I guess Jazz is bigger than your average GCC. So, they sent me the extra small and I got it in the mail today. We will see if it fits better. I will let you know.

Update: At lunch I ran home and tried the harness. Yeah, well, I think its the right size but Jazz panicked. Then hubby panicked. He kept saying, "He's going to break something." So we took it off and we'll try again after we let him play with it a little more. I also have a flight suit coming in a few days. We'll see if that is easier for him, since it doesn't go over his head.

Mashin It Up

2009-05-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

Jazz loves his mash! I have talked about it before. In the evenings I give him vegetable mash and in the mornings I give him finely chopped bananas, apples, seedless grapes and peaches. I fixed all his stuff up in ice cube trays (one serving is one cube) and when I removed them, I placed 7 cubes each in small freezer bags. So every few days I get out three cubes and place them in a small ziploc bowl and set it in the fridge to thaw. Then at feeding time I pull out the bowl and set one serving in his extra food dish.

Last night I got the bowl out and the phone rang so I set the bowl in a coffee mug. Why? I don't know, mostly so if Jazz decided to dive in, the bowl wouldn't fall over. He DID decide to dive in and I caught him on film:

Silly boy looks like the kid that got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. I am so glad that he is eating better now. If you have finicky birdies, try the mash recipes, they're amazing!!

So Funny!!

2009-05-07T09:07:00.000-07:00

Laughter is said to be the best medicine, if so, I have a very healthy bird! Last night we were sitting on the sofa and I was talking to Mr. Jazz and he just busted up laughing. Not just any laugh, mind you, MY laugh. It was so precious. We all sat there and laughed our tails off for about 45 minutes over his new little mimic. I just love his little personality.

Oh yeah, he barks like the puppy too!

Silly bird...

Baby Pictures!!

2009-05-05T09:52:00.001-07:00

Jazzie's breeder emailed me some of his baby pictures today and I thought I would share them with you! Isn't he precious???

Here he is, a 1 week old Jazz with one of his clutch-mates

Here is Jazzie at about 3 weeks old

Jazzie about 4 weeks - toy protector extraordinaire!

Jazz about 5 weeks - so pretty

Jazz and his clutch-mates 6 weeks old
Do I know which one is Jazz? Do you? They all look the same to me.

They day after he came to live with us, just over a week ago, a 6 month old beautiful Jazzie! I'm so lucky to be a bird mom!

Doing so great!!

2009-05-05T08:49:00.000-07:00

Last night Jazzie ate his entire serving of "Mash". Serving it cold seems to be the key. So when I was preparing ingredients for this morning's breakfast for our family, I made a small bowl of mashed banana with finely chopped apples, pears, green seedless grapes and peaches. I mixed it all up and placed it in the fridge. This morning as we sat down for breakfast, I served him a spoonful of the "fruit mash" and he devoured it! I am so glad that he is eating so well!

When I was talking to Pam, his breeder, she suggested a snuggle bag for Jazz, said all her birds love them. So I made my own and wrote to her about its success. She said that Jazzie just loved the snuggle bag when he was small, so its no wonder he loves his new little sleeping bag. I have to reinforce the bottom so he can stand in it easier. The pictures I took are very dark, so I will try to take some better ones and post them soon.

Last night, my husband's puppy was hollering from her crate, she pretty much slept all day so she wasn't ready for bedtime. Funny thing is, every time she hollered, Jazz replied with a funny little sound. Not sure what it was, if he was saying "hush" or just making some sound but it was funny because the same sound followed every one of her whimpers.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!!

Website Updated

2009-05-04T13:13:00.001-07:00

I got alot of new content on the homepage today!! Click the green house on the left to visit.

Eatin, Talkin, Happy Bird!

2009-05-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, like with this little bird is so very much fun. He has quite a personality.

I was concerned last week because my Jazz wasn't eating any fresh fruits except for broccoli, which he loves. So I wrote to my GCC group on Yahoo and got some really great recipes (that I'll be adding to the site very soon). So I used one and pureed some veggies and added it to some cooked rice. I was so disappointed the first night, he just didn't touch it at all. It made a big ol' bowl of "mash" so I stuck it in the fridge and tried again last night.

Last night I grab a small spoonful and put it in his empty dish. Took out his seed mix bowl and his pellet bowl and he munched that stuff down. Who would have known that he likes it better cold??

He talking so much, its so cute. Not only do we have Jazzie that we''re trying to teach not to bite, but my husband's Texas Heeler pup as well and so Jazz' newest phrase is "No bite!" It's so cute.

His favorite toy right now terrifies me. Not the toy, but the fact that Jazz enjoys hanging from it by one foot. I know he can fly to safety if he falls. I know that he knows what he's doing, but I am so afraid he's going to hurt himself. I know, don't worry so much!!

He's still working on his first trick - turn around. I'll let you know and maybe post a video when he gets it down!

Anyway, that Jazz for today, he's such a happy bird!

Hello!

2009-05-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog! I started this blog so you can follow the progress of my six month old Green Cheek Conure, Jazz! Jazz came from a breeder in Oklahoma, at Scotties N' Greys. As soon as I have her permission, I will link to her site. I can't wait, she said she was going to see if she had somepictures of Jazz when he was a baby!!

I got Jazz almost a week ago and he has changed so very much since then! He is talking, learning tricks and playing so much! He is saying "Pretty boy, Jazz, pretty boy" almost every night, along with some things that we can't understand. He is eager to learn. Teaching him tricks is so much fun! He knows when I open the seed bucket and get a few sunflower seeds that we're going to do something fun and he is so excited!

I am just getting the website and blog started so check back soon for some really great updates!