Cosmos_Friend

Well, it seems I got my answer, thanks all. Cosmo used to stay up with me until around 10-10:30 P.M. It was a few years ago when he started the 12 Hr. sleep regimen.

Hi everyone, Cosmo, my GAG insists verbally that he wants to go to sleep at around 7 PM every night. I then shut off all the lights (except for a lamp that's on one of my end-tables so I can see where I'm going!). I'll cover his cage, lower the T.V. to where I can hardly hear it. I typically go to bed around 11, so when ever I do anything around the apartment after 7 P.M., I have to be real quite or else Cosmo will call from his cage, "Go to sleep!". He awakens about 7 A.M. and calls to me to uncover his cage to start his day. He'll usually take a short nap in the afternoon and expects me to do the same. (I don't take naps in the afternoon, so I'll lay down on the couch and pretend to nap because if I don't, Cosmo will become a bit agitated saying repeatedly, "Time to take a nap, OKaaa". My question is, how much sleep does a Grey really need? ~Rick

Talon, How's she doing? Are the aloe spray baths continuing to work? ~Rick

Thank God we have a Forum like Grey Forums for us to ask questions like this! ~Rick

Nancy, Yeah, I think he's OK, however Dan seems to be very a experienced Grey Parront, so I've been trying what he suggested to stop the regurg, with no luck. Like I had mentioned, it's only a tiny bit and since Cosmo is so attached to me, I guess this is his way of him showing extreme pleasure and excitement. ~Rick

Dave, Good stuff! (All I need is peanuts and French fries, LOL) Now I know what Cosmo must be thinking. ~Rick

KarahEve, Rebel is sooo lucky you found her! It breaks my heart to hear stories of Grey's or any other parrot living in an abusive situation. The picture you've provided shows how beautiful she is. She looks strikingly similar to my Cosmo. The best of luck for you and yours for the future.

I've recently got my 6 year old Congo Grey to eat RoudyBush Adult Daily Maintenance Diet, I'm feeding him the small pellets. I mix it into his seed diet. He also gets daily, in a separate bowl of fresh fruits and vegetables. Pretty much all manufactured parrot food contains salt, so I wouldn't think the a company as respectable as RoudyBush would put anything into their food that would harm your Grey. It could take some time for him to take to any pellet food, sometimes trying a different brand until they take to it. Most of what I have read in the other forums on the topic of what others feed their Grey, Harrsions seems the most popular. RoudyBush is also mentioned quite often, ZuPreem Veggie mix is also a good alternative, from what I've read on this site. As you read the different forums, you'll find a plethora of information from very experienced Grey owners on topics ranging from cages- to bathing techniques- to diets- what fruits and veggies are good for your parrot and what's not so good and everything in between. I must say off the bat that the definite "do not feed list" would be: -Chocolate (Deadly!) -Fruit Seeds (Which most contain a naturally high amount of Arsenic) -Avocado (Poisonous to parrots, however I've read that some people have claimed that they feed their parrot Avocado with no ill effect) I would just avoid it all together. -Any meat that is under cooked -Eggs (which given in moderation are a great source of protein and Omega fatty acids) that are runny, hard scrambled would be the rule -Raw onions -Fried foods (Over time could cause serious health problems) And any parrot food that you feed your Grey should be stored properly... (What I do is put the bag of food in the freezer overnight {I've had problems with pantry moths, even from high quality popular parrot food. Freezing the food overnight will eliminate any possibility of panty moths hatching and flying all over the house!}... then keep it sealed and stored in the refrigerator.

Avian Naturals is where I get something called "Beak Smackin' Breakfast". All of Avian Naturals food mixes are human-grade organic. (I've posted what seed mix I include as well as the mix from Avian Naturals in my CAG's diet, that's just a few posts up) If you look down towards the bottom of the Avian Naturals introduction page (1st web page) you'll find a thank you in a link from Irene Pepperburg, form Pepperburg labs. She and her team of avian research scientists were the pioneers of African Grey studies of behavior and intelligence. I'm sure you've heard of "Alex the African Grey", probably one of the most famous Congo Greys ever.

I've been using ABBA 1300 for Cosmo's seed mix for years now, I purchase it from this website ( https://www.birdsupplynh.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1519&osCsid=7f0752c718c154c5f3aa32c4bfa4a1d3 ). If any of the more experienced Grey owners out there, after looking at the contents, think that it's not a good quality seed mix, please by all means, let me know because I don't think it's a very well known product. One of my friends has been feeding his 10 year old Grey this for quite a while, and he swears by it, and Cosmo loves it. I've recently got Cosmo to take to RoudyBush Adult Maintenance Diet, the small pellets, so I've been mixing the RoudyBush into the ABBA 1300. I also add, in a separate bowl once per week something called "Beak Smackin' Breakfast" as a special treat. I get 1 pound a month from an online company called Avian Naturals ( http://www.aviannaturals.com/index.html ). All of their food is organic and human-grade and you steep it in hot water as to warm and expand the ingredients. One Tablespoon full of the mix to 2-3 Tablespoons of boiling water until it is almost completely absorbed, is recommended for one parrot. It's expensive, however a little goes a long way.

Yeah, their food sure is! I usually buy 1 pound and all you need is a tablespoon of the food in about 2-3 tablespoons of boing hot water, steeping it until the water is just about absorbed. The eggs and some other of the ingredients are freeze dried and will expand. So a little goes a long way.

My CAG Cosmo never took to Harrisons. I've tried just about everything from chopping up the pellets and mixing it with his seed diet (ABBA 1300 - https://www.birdsupplynh.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1519&osCsid=7f0752c718c154c5f3aa32c4bfa4a1d3 ), Mixing the pellets with a little unsweetened apple sauce, feeding it to him whole (He would just throw them out the side of the cage)... I've recently got him to eat RoudyBush Daily Maintenance Adult Diet (small pellets) to where I mix about a 1/4 cup of pellets into 1/2 cup of his seed mix (I no longer use any vitamin supplements). I also feed him daily, fresh fruits and vegetables and once a week as a special treat, I give Cosmo a cooked food called "Beak Smackin' Breakfast". I get this online from Avian Naturals - http://www.aviannaturals.com/index.html every food mix they sell is all organic. Enough of the diet background, I do have two questions, 1st: Is RoudyBush a good alternative to Harrisons? and 2nd: I've heard that putting a couple of drops of extra virgin olive oil in their main diet two-three time a week will help maintain a healthy cholesterol level, is this true???

What I could never figure out is how they manage parrots possibly flying out the door when a customer either comes in or out of the store. In the two windows on either side of the entrance, they have Amazon's and Macaws sitting openly on perches, just like it was Macy's window. It is a very unique parrot-pet shop I do have to say!

Cosmo's hasn't bitten me yet, except for an occasional "hard squeeze" if he's angry at me for some reason. Here's one... We have a parrot pet shop located in Shrewsbury, N.J named "Bird Jungle". None of the parrots (and they have just about every species kept as pets you can think of) are caged, they sit on perches throughout the store, with wings unclipped and free to fly around. It's actually amazing. All of the parrots are bred on sight. I frequent "Bird Jungle" whenever I get the chance to drive down there. One day, I came upon a Severe Macaw, sitting on his or her perch with a written sign over head that stated "Take me home and I'll love you forever!". I slowly offered my finger to him/her, softly saying "well hello there, yes, your a pretty bird, aren't you". As my finger approached it's under-belly, the bird rather slowly bowed it's head towards my finger and what seemed as if the parrot was just going to feel me out with it's beak, the bird enveloped my index finger completely, and started biting the living sh*t out of it! As not to make a scene, inhaling in pain, I started saying "nice bird... OK, OK, OK...Ahhhh". It let go after a few seconds as one of the staff approached me and asked, "are you OK?" I answered "yeah, I'm fine", she said that he (so it was a male) does have an issue with biting. I thought to myself, then why does he have a sign over him saying "Take me home and I'll love you forever?". About 15 minutes later, I developed two really nasty blood blisters on either side of my finger, just above the knuckle.

Yeah, I know about the "spite bite". The only time Cosmo has given me one of those is when I'm going out of the apartment and in passing his cage, I'd try to give him a little scratch on the back of his neck (which he normally relishes). He knows I'm leaving him for the time being so he'd give me "the hard squeeze". He does say, as I walk out the door, "I'll be right back....Good-Byyye". I respond to him the same.

How true, my apartment is run by a crazy CAG!

I see, however there's really nothing to clean up...it's only a very small bit of mushy food that he'll shake off which usually lands on me. I guess stopping the birdy head lovins' and the "the clean up" would show him that it's not what I'm expecting as a behavioral response. Whenever I put my shoes on in front of him, Cosmo says, "I'll be right back". As I leave the apartment, he'll say "I'll be right back...Good-Bye", and I'll respond in kind. When I come home, Cosmo will say, "Hellooo, I want some pasta and a cup of coffee". (I give him a small amount of organic macaroni once a week as this is his favorite treat) Giving him the pasta treat is the only time he'll do the regurgitating routine without me scratching the back of his neck or kissing his back. I'll give your suggestion a try if you think this may be problematic. P.S Cosmo, of course never drinks coffee. ------ Thanks, ~Rick

Nancy, That's how I always took the regurgitating, and the same thing with Cosmo, he'll do this after an extended neck message or when he lowers his wings and I "smooch" his back for a short while. Cosmo will thrust his head up and down almost wildly where some food works into the tip of his beak. He then shakes the mushy bit of food out of his beak on me. I can't tell you how many times I've had regurgitated Congo Grey food fly onto my lips and in my mouth! I also thank him for this with a gentile baby-talk voice. I think that maybe this is some kind of ritual Greys do in the wild to other members in the flock that they are attached to, a flock member that may preen them more than others, etc. You got to figure that in the wild, food is worth it's weight in Gold! Earlier this evening, when Cosmo said "It's time for seep" (no, I didn't miss the letter "L" in sleep by accident) before I cover his cage and turn the moon light on, I always give him another "Birdy Head Lovins'". I usually, quietly sing a silly made-up "good night Cosmo song" to him... he, as usual grabbed one of my fingers in a tight hold where I continued to message the back of his neck. After a couple of seconds, I said "OK Cosmo, it's time for sleep", I slowly started to pull my finger away and out of his clutch. He then grabbed my finger even tighter and tried to pull it as hard as he could back towards him. I moved my hand towards him in tandem as not force my finger loose from his talon. I stroked the back of his neck for a few more seconds, then I said, "Awe, come on Cosmo, you said it was time for sleep, I wanna go outside and have a smoke". (He knows what that means, of course I never smoke a cigarette anywhere in the apartment, and always wash my hands before handling him. I'll go outside on the back porch telling him "I'm going out to have a smoke". When I come back inside, Cosmo will say, "Going out to have a smoke" then he'll imitate my smokers cough!) Anyway, tonight when I sort of pleaded with him, he let go. (Interesting)

Parrot Lady, Where can I get pure Aloe Vera Gel? I've tried some of the health food stores in my area with no luck. Is there some place on-line, maybe that you know of that sells it? I'm not trying to sell the idea of using "African Grey Spray", it's just the only thing that came close as a possible alternative. Since I've never used just Aloe Vera Gel itself, do I mix that with water, or spray it on Cosmo full strength?

Yeah, Cosmo my CAG is terrified of the shower. Sorry for the late reply. You asked what's in the African Grey Spray. All it contains is distilled water, aloe vera and Omega 3/Omega 6 fatty acids (No fragrance). I started using this a few years ago because I had a hard time trying to find aloe vera that didn't containing other unwanted ingredients.

thanks again for your insight. So gently pulling away will not effect him negatively. That's good to hear because earlier today, he had me captive for over 15 minutes! About the regurgitating, how would I go about discouraging this?

Thanks for all the of the posts. Thank you Danmcq for your knowledge and insight. Cosmo can be a test at times, I have to admit that there were a few times where I yelled at him, he would just look at me as if to say, what's your problem. (he wouldn't actually say that, but that would be the look on his face) Whenever Cosmo gets a bit rambunctious, I'll speak gently to him where he'll offer the back of his head to where I'll gently scratch it. We call this "birdy head loveins". Now, whenever I scratch the back of head, he'll grab one of my fingers tightly and will not let go for sometimes 10 minutes or so. I don't want to pull away as he may take that as rejection. (am I correct?) Not to go off topic, but there's something else Cosmo does that's interesting, He'll lower his wings, exposing his back for me to kiss it, which I do. On into the "captive' birdy head loveins', Cosmo will start regurgitating some food as if it were an offering. are these common Grey traits?

Good job, Smokey!

I'm Happy to hear that Talon is feeling better. P.S. Dried Pasta is Cosmo's favorite treat too!

Hi all, Every time I handle Cosmo, he'll lower his wings and head, exposing his back. I'll then stroke it gently with my other hand as well kiss his back. I think this is a sign of trust and affection on his part. Am I correct? I included a picture of him doing this.