Air Filter

I ended up buying the Honeywell Air Filter:

Honeywell Filter

I have been very happy with the filter. It is very loud, but that is alright. I keep it in with the birds in their sleeping cages. The dust in that room was incredible, so I couldn't imagine that it was very good for them to breathe. It has a double bonus. Since it is pretty loud, they don't ever scream for me to get them out in the morning because they can't hear me moving around. This wasn't a huge problem or anything, still, it is nice to be able to get up in the morning and do morning activities for a few minutes before they begin asking to be let out.

Anyway, if you have a parrot, I would highly recommend this filter based on a few weeks use. Maybe my opinion will change with time, but I'll post an update in six months or so.

Maui furthering her harassment

Maui has taken the run of Manzi's cage. As soon as she is out, she is on top of his cage. He usually takes off and has claimed the perch in the living room. Maui can't go there unless I carry her over. At first Maui would just climb on Manzi's cage and eat my dry wall. Now she goes inside and makes herself comfortable, eating his food, swinging his toys and napping on his perches. When I first got Maui, Manzi would have killed her if she went near his cage. Now he just waits for her to leave. Sometimes he will patiently wait on the very corner of his cage. Then she knows he wants in and she will usually climb out at that time.

Today I am working from home, so the birds get to be out all day. These days make me forget how much running around I did shooing them back into good behavior, those days when I permanently worked from home. Hopefully I can do that again before too long.

I have plexiglass in the outdoor cage as a wind break. I drilled holes in it and use zip ties to hold them down. Recently, Manzi discovered the joy in chewing through zip ties. Luckily he is only paying one side of the plexiglass any mind. Still, within a couple of hours all the zip ties on that side have been removed. I'm glad I bought the 100-pack.

I'm still looking for a nice, huge stainless steel cage. If it is large enough, maybe Manzi and Maui can share it. I don't think enough of those cages are out in the market, so there is not a great deal of used ones available. I am really happy with the large patio cage. In another two months that will have to come back inside though.

Evening outside

Last time I put Maui outside, she was acting very nervous (doing her nervous tick). Today she is quite happy. She took a bath in the larger water dish and now if playing with the bell toy. Unlike Manzi, she's not too fond of playing with toys. She prefers to destroy things, but doesn't seem to get enjoyment out of attacking toys or swinging from them, etc.

Right now she is swinging the hanging bell. She waits 30 seconds or so until it slows in swinging, then she grabs it again and tosses it into a big swing again. She's been doing that for the last 10 minutes. I grabbed the camera, but of course she stopped and watched me at that time.

Manzi is pretty happy outside as well. Right now he is going through the feed dishes picking up scraps that Maui left.

I saw a really nice stainless steel cage online. They are quite expensive new. This one is listed new at $2500. It is 6.5' x 4' x 3'. That would be a wonderful replacement to Maui's current indoor cage, which is small and non-collapsible. The price is still pretty high, so hopefully I can wait it out to get it for a lower price. I measured my place and that cage would be a squeeze, but it would fit where Maui's cage currently resides (although it would have to be turned sideways along with Manzi's cage).

Maui chewing my dry wall

For the first year that I had Maui, Manzi would constantly raid her cage as soon as she left. Lately, the roles have been switched. Maui, for the first time, has taken a liking to raid Manzi's cage. She plays with toys, climbs around, eats some snacks. I found it amusing until I saw that she also found the dry wall within reach from Manzi's cage. I had moved Maui's cage away from the wall so she couldn't reach the dry wall even when outside and stretching for it. Manzi doesn't have the bad habit of trying to destroy my apartment (he goes instead for personal items), so I left his cage up close to the wall. Maui has only been raiding Manzi's cage for a few days, but there is now a 5" section where she pulled the dry wall off the corner. Toothpaste will not cover that up!

Today the two have been outside in their patio cage while I have been painting all day. They are doing very well together and have stayed in close proximity to each other in that cage with no threats or anything. They are talking back and forth to each other right now. Manzi often does the "charge" whistle followed by Maui's "Charge!" Maui is so consistent at her "charge" that I often tell visitors about it and she rarely disappoints me.

Maui has taken to a guy who comes and visits. He often gives Manzi and Maui treats when he comes over. Maui has always followed him around, seemingly making sure he wasn't up to no good. One day, she put her head down for him to scratch her, but chickened out (backing up very quickly) when he reached down to fulfill her request. Yesterday, Maui began to beg him for scratches and even flew to him. I was so shocked as she has never flown to anything except her cage. Once I got her to land on my arm, but only because it was between her and her cage and she eventually gave up flapping. I am really happy that Maui has come out of her shell so nicely. She is very friendly with women, and now even has a guy on her list of people whom are "okay."