incubus1310

Thank you for all the suggestions! To those that said plexiglass, how do I go about actually sticking it to the wall ? Murfchck, I'm gonna look into the multi cleaner.

I looked at the other threads and found this one to me the most fitting for my problem. I know African Greys are messy eaters but I've been living in my new house for about a year and I've been trying to come up on my own a solution but haven't found any and I'm hoping one of you can help. I have Ruby's cage situated in a corner of my house where two sides of her cage are against a wall. Whenever she eats, she makes a MESS and those two walls are literally covered in small bits of food residue. I have to wipe off the walls daily but in doing so, it removes along with it parts of the paint. The paint is not wipe friendly. I mean, my house is only a year old and I wish I could provide you with more details of the type of walls I have but I don't know. I've been looking into getting some backsplash plastic tiles to stick on the wall around her cage to make the cleaning process easier. That way, if she makes a mess, she dirties the backsplash and not my actual wall. Only problem is the ones I've come across have too many ridges and I think it'll make the cleaning process harder. Is anyone experiencing the same issue? Have you come to a solution?

That is so cute! Ay definitely not looking forward to the silent treatment but I really don't have any other option. My aunt also has a coworker that has had a grey for over 7 years so if any questions arise while she's at work and she can't text me, I know her friend at work will be more than glad to answer any of her questions aside from the countless questions she'll ask me before I leave. Lol

My cousins are both 15 and 13. Their step sister is 10 and she's the one that gives Ruby the most attention. Lol The phone idea is not a bad idea! Thank you. I'll give that a try. And I'm hoping having her in the living room will not be such a bad thing because that's where they mostly spend all their time in. Their step sister loves feeding Ruby papaya treats so I can instruct her to do so through the cage bars. I'm going to see if I can arrange to drop her off sooner and see how she reacts to sleeping over at my aunts house rather than waiting until the last second. I don't want to overwhelm her too much with a new environment. I'm hoping she picks up a few new words too while she's there! Lol the living room tv is constantly on.

In the first week of October, I'll be going on vacation about 4 hours away from home. I was originally going to board Ruby at her avian vet's office but decided against it because just taking her their for her appointment gets her nervous and I so not want to stress her out too much the four days I'll be away from her. Then I figured I could leave her at home and have my elderly grandma feed her but my grandmother is nearing 84 years old and I think that is asking too much. I mentioned my dilemma to my aunt and she offered to care for Ruby for the time I'll be away since I always care for her two guinea pigs every year when she goes on vacation with ehr husband and my cousins for a week. I have no problem with this. I've taken Ruby to her house numerous times and she's comfortable around my cousins. They handfeed her treats and such. I'll be taking her cage along with me and assembling it in her living room. The only downside is that Ruby will have to remain in her cage because once she is out, there is no way to get her back inside unless you have her step up and place her in her cage. The only person that she steps up for is myself... my issue is that I'm concerned she'll pluck while I'm away because she won't see or hear from me for four days... the longest she has gone without seeing me is two days and for the first few hours that I'm back, she can't keep herself off me, climbing up onto my shoulder and asking for tickles and such. I'll be restocking her cage with new and exciting toys to keep her occupied during her stay at my aunt's house and all I've asked my aunt to do is just change her food and water everyday and keep her inside the cage until I come back. Is there anything else I should do now or take into consideration so I can make the transition easier? I have no worries about leaving Ruby with my aunt. I trust her with everything. I just want to make this process easier for Ruby so she doesn't think I've disowned her because this is the first time I'll be away from her for a long time.

I used to cover Ruby's cage back when I lived in a apartment but now that she sleeps in my room and I'm at home I don't bother covering her cage because it's such a hassle. At night I sometimes forget to close her cage and I'll wake up in the morning to find her perched on top of the door to her cage or inside her cage on her favorite perch. Rarely does she climb down to wake me. And if she does, it's usually cause it's around 11 or so and I've slept in lol

Oh... Your bird needs to associate your wife as the person to also take him out of his cage as well for playtime. She doesn't necessarily have to handle her for now because I can understand she must feel hurt or "betrayed" because she's been bit but just by letting her out of her cage while your not home is a start. Also offering her treats as positive reinforcement wouldn't hurt. She needs to spend as much time with your grey as you do either by talking, whistling to her, or just silently sitting by her cage and going about her day and pretend that she's not bothered by the bite. Parrots can sense when you're stressed and they will act out if they know you fear them. My brother is SCARED of my bird and she purposely chases him because she senses he's afraid of her. Let her know that the bite she suffered today shouldn't make her have ill feelings towards your grey. Everyone has a bad day.. Lol Ruby is currently going through a moult and although she hasn't drawn blood yet, there's days that I can't touch her because those new pin feathers really hurt. I've also heard that around that age they get very moody and bitey but my grey isn't at that age yet. Hopefully someone with a much older grey can offer more advice on what else you can do to better the situation. If I come up with anything else, I'll let you know keep us updated

Does the biting only happen when you're in the room??? Has she tried handling him on her own when you're not around ? Perhaps one thing you can switch up a bit and see it if helps is rather than reach in to take him out of his sleeping cage every morning, open up the cage for him and let him get out willingly and then have him step up onto your hand. My grey has never been cage territorial but I never reach into her cage to take her out. I open he door and she gets out on her own, climbs off her cage and walks over to me. Perhaps he bit your wife because he was "not ready" to come out or he felt that she "invaded his space" even though this is a routine she's done for the past four years. You also have to think about if she's done anything to upset him recently. I raised my Grey with my boyfriend and when I had to move back home, I took her with me (obviously). She didn't see him for over 4 months. When she did finally see him, she flew to him and when he reached over to pet her, she chomped down on his finger, drawing blood. I picked her up immediately and placed her back on her cage and told her "no biting." Few minutes later as we were watching tv, she flew to him again and by this time I was about to pick her up again to avoid a repeated episode but instead she lowered her head onto his chest asking for a head tickle. He was hesitant at first but gave her a head rub and she let him! She was mad because he disappeared on her. Imagine, he hand reared her for five months. After that episode, she hasn't bitten him again but he knows to watch out for the feather fluffing and the eye pinning. She was NOT HAPPY that day.

And if your baby won't try what you give him, eat some yourself and show him it tastes good. Might sound crazy but this is how I've gotten Ruby to try sweet potatoes. She hates it!!! But I've smashed it up and I sit down with her at the table. Once she sees me eating it, she'll come and eat it off my plate just because she wants to have what I'm eating. You just gotta trick them sometimes

I read through some of your posts and wanted to give you some advice because I myself raised Ruby from five weeks and on. I read in one of your posts that you've been mixing your baby's formula in with beans. Have you been throwing it out after an hour or two when it starts to smell up? It gets a foul odor after it sits out for a while and it's best to toss it out. With my Ruby, I placed small pellets into a bowl and as she got older, I gradually changed them from parakeet size up to cockatiel until finally she was able to successfully eat the parrot size pellets that I currently have her on now. I also would handfeed her banana. I would smash it between my fingers and she would go CRAZY and gobble it up. I did this with strawberries as well and steamed up some broccoli for her. With her pellets, I didn't have to entice her much to eat them because it just happened naturally. As she got older, and the months went by, I continued to handfeed her but I decreased her feedings. She's already almost a year and a month old and I still give her a nighttime handfeeding before bed and she loves it. Just give pellets and water available at all times and toss out the veggies and fruits after two hours because they spoil.

You bet I spoiled her on her hatch day. More than what I do on a daily basis and thank you for all the good birthday wishes so excited to spend many for years with her by my side !

Thank you all

She's finally a yearling! My little chicken is officially one year old! So excited! Extra tickles and definitely spoiling her on her first hatch day ?

I've taken Ruby into the shower with me. She'll tolerate it but the moment she sees that spray bottle, she screams bloody murder. I haven't sprayed her for a while but I have noticed that her legs are very dry due to the lack of feathers but I'm gonna wait a bit more and go back to our normal routine of weekly baths.

I'll have to try your suggestion Katana. He helped hand feed her when she was 2 months old but she lives with me now and I'm her been her only caretaker for the past 5 months. She's 9 months already. The only person she ever interacts is me and him occasionally because we don't live together anymore. I want to definitely change that though because like I said. I need her to be on good terms with him and she's already accepted him back.

Finally got the results back from the vet. No infection present, thus Ruby as of now does not need any oral medication or spray to be applied to her legs. I've been keeping an eye on them and her legs are slowly healing. Vet said to not freak out if she scratches at the new feathers coming in since they'll be a bit itchy but to keep her entertained and she'll be good as new in no time. can't wait !

Haha yes. As of now, she hasn't and I'm happy she's more accepting of him now. He's being extremely careful of her body language and I feel it's important that he can handle her if in the future I need him to take her to the vet for me and such.

I hand raised my grey as well only because I have years of hand raising experience with cockatiels, lovebirds, sun conures, etc. It was different though. I'm still learning with her everyday and she's not even a year old. Just know that everyone here is more than happy to help you with any question you have! Enjoy your baby

I think she's allowing herself to be more people friendly lately. Just the other day she accepted treats from my cousin, something she also refused to do even though they were her FAVORITE treats. She goes days without seeing my boyfriend and when she does see him, she'll let him give her tickles. He hand raised her with me when I first got her back in August. I think maybe she was just having a fit because I had to move back home in October and she stopped seeing him? They really are such cute little things.

Yup thank goodness it's nothing too serious

Vet says aloe vera helped in Ruby's instance. Helped cool her down. But since feathers are growing back, to stop for now and see if she plucks again. As of now, she has stopped.

So I am here to update you on Ruby's trip to the vet. Everything was fine. She already has feathers growing back in and her legs are starting to scab over which the vet informed me to not worry about it because the area is already starting to naturally heal. I thought it was pus and the start of an infection but it's not. She also recommended to stop with the aloe vera and to just let her heal and if she starts to pluck again, to give her a call and that we'll take her in and she'll spray something on her legs to stop the irritation. She informed me that what probably stressed her out was the air conditioner breaking down at my house. She informed me to keep her cool and that in a week once she gets the results in from Ruby's culture, if there is unwanted bacteria present, she'll prescribe something to apply to the area. Ruby is currently also going through a molt. I'll update again once I get the results.

I think I made the area more irritated by applying the wrong aloe vera. I had applied aloe vera cream instead of aloe Vera gel.. I'm guessing that's why Tuesday's picture looked so bad.. I didn't notice I bought the wrong one until I went through another posting and found the actual picture of the 100% aloe vera gel. She's doing better now. She has been preening alot because of the aloe vera misting but I haven't seen her pulling out any more leg feathers once I switched over to the correct gel. I'm going to continue to spray her and apply the gel.

I just took these pictures now. I think it looks much better today. Her feathers are wet because I just finished applying some aloe vera gel. Yesterday it looked much more irritated.

i don't know what could be going wrong. i'll have to make an appointment tomorrow to take her in because i see that she keeps pulling out the feathers from her legs and preening. I just had a look now and it seems that she has stopped plucking the area and has left it alone. i noticed the bald patch right after our AC broke down at home. We spent two days without a working AC so do you think maybe she was too hot? Everything else has been the same at home. She's out all the time when I'm home, she's has numerous toys. Nothing has changed and honestly, I doubt anything is wrong with her because she had blood work done in January and everything was perfect. My guess is possible allergies or that she was too hot during those two days that our AC was broken. The only difference in her life as of late is that I've been taking her outside because my avian vet recommended that I take her out in her carrier or harness. Regardless, I'm making an appointment because I am not going to wait for it to get worse.