Muse

Craigslist tears me up. I hate going there. Every time I see one of those posts it makes me want to throttle the person. And the REALLY sad part is, most aren't worried about the "rehome fee to insure good home" actually MEANING a good home. They are selling the animal, plain and simple. A friend just rescued a poor macaw kept in an unprotected cage on a back patio for $500 -- NO CAGE. The woman even stated "I'm not losing money on this." So no, that rehoming fee isn't to "insure a good home" it is to keep the ad from getting flagged off Craigslist as an animal sale (which it really is). I pray these peoples' karma comes back to them tenfold.

I am so glad it all ended well!

Duh..... Wow. I feel silly. All this time I thought it was the "thanks" thing that was generating those notices. Thank you so much for explaining this!

So glad he's doing better! I hope that continues. I started work again (I teach CNA classes) and for a week was helping another teacher waiting for my own class to start. (Thankfully it was cancelled for lack of registrations). She'd been doing fine, no plucking, and as soon as I started working, it started again and she's got a bald area on the front of her throat, another on her tummy and patches on both sides of her back. So frustrating but now I am almost 100% sure this is all behavioral as every single time it has been tied to my job (me having less time to spend with her).

We give that to Megan. Make sure you get the pet one, it does not have alcohol and thus doesn't taste as bad.

I am on Facebook as Dee K Hicks and Regis's mom tags me in a lot of pictures, so I think if you friend me, it will show the pictures. She updates us constantly on his progress. He's getting stronger and stronger as time goes by. I can only imagine the atrophy from being in a cage too small to even really move around in. He's really blossoming now!!!

Thank you so much! I feel very blessed to be a part of this forum and I constantly refer new Grey owners here as a go-to place for the best advice. On the giving points, I noticed I am getting notices that come with comments. When I click "thanks" it never offers me the option to leave a comment. Do I have a setting wrong somewhere?

I think I'd find another noise to 'teach' her. Peck was a red-tailed hawk for a long time, but has moved to a door squeak now. (I did not teach him either). It seems like they have one sound for a while then move on. Hopefully Greycie will move on soon!

Megan does that sun conure "eehhh-eeehhh" screech to a T. Except louder. And she will do it, then go "Alex!" as if she thinks I am going to blame him. LOL

#3 - I use almonds in the shell. Great pacifiers to keep things quiet while I make a phone call.

What a beautiful post. You are lucky to have found such a sweet girl, and she is very lucky to have found such a great mom. Too many times on CL things do to go well for birds (or any pet for that matter). I am so glad you got her and she has a wonderful, happy life.

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/pet/4678697592.html This person really seems like they want the best for the bird, but CL is really *not* the place to be advertising. Anyone in that area or is there anyone that has any connections there?

Lots of space for flying or just hanging out watching the sunset. Meet and greet with another flock member. These last three were taken of Regis when he was showing off his new-found macaw attitude. Look! I'm BIG! And SCARY! Nice to see he knows how to act like a macaw. His mommy was very happy about this. So the DNA sexing came back and he is a HE - all boy. He's blossoming under her wonderful care. He's actually preening Kaiser already which is unusual for birds who just met, and even more so for one who has been isolated for so many years. He also has begun asserting himself and acting like a macaw! Every picture she posts gives me a feeling like I have never known. It just makes me so happy to see this bird who had an absolutely miserable existence for 25 years come into such a perfect home.

That's what I said. I want to die and come back as one of her macaws. LOL

They love going in the playroom together. The other day, I had one boiled egg. I rolled it on the counter to crack the shell and tossed it in one of the little locking crocks. As soon as Megan saw the bowl she went into a frenzy and flew over and was already trying to get it before I could even lock it in its holder. Rasa came over to investigate and looked into the bowl. As he walked up she backed off, but he didn't eat any. He backed up and let her go back to eating and he got his after she'd had her fill. It's so cute. Tonight she was going up to him and 'sparring'. She can be a little snot. He just moves away and lets her settle down and them moves as close as he can get. It's hilarious. He's completely smitten.

Marden was exactly like that until he encountered "the thing" - a small wire shelf we installed on the big playstand to hold plates and big bowls of water for bathing and to hook food crocks to. It's wire, just like a cage, and smaller, about big enough to hold an average dinner plate, but for some reason he was hysterically afraid of it. He wouldn't even go on the playstand for a while. Strangest thing I ever saw.

Ray, I know the pain you feel. I feel it too, and it is unlike anything I have ever felt in my life. It amazes me that you are summoning the strength to share this information and help others despite the pain it is surely causing you. You are so kind and an inspiration. I am very new to Amazons and am learning every day and appreciate you sharing your wisdom!

I know others have suggested a vet check but as a nurse my first concern with an atypical scream would be pain. I would definitely have your baby thoroughly checked by an avian vet. Do you happen to know what the bird's background is? Did they maybe come from a home with other birds such as cockatoos or amazons? We recently took in an amazon who loves to scream and our female grey is starting to learn to "speak amazon". It does not bother me - in fact I usually join in - and our dogs are used to it so it is not a problem here (we are a bird rescue). But I can see where some people might not be happy about it. If it is a learned behavior it may be more of a challenge but as others have said - it is fixable with time and patience. A 13 month old is still a baby and this may be a baby behavior they will just grow out of. I know mine used to make this adorable sound as a baby, I can only describe it as "moink, moink" and after about 18 months, it stopped. It was a sound that usually accompanied begging or excitement but I think as they learn more complex communications they leave the simple sounds behind. Except that pterodactyl screech. That is forever, evidently, lol. Please don't give up on your grey. With time and patience any undesirable behavior can be modified. Is the bird starting to talk? Perhaps focusing on words when the screaming starts will reinforce human speech and extinguish the screeching. I taught our birds "inside voices please" and believe it or not, that usually works. I say it in a firm but quiet tone. We also have a screaming session (we call it "birdie fun time") daily where I put on bird sounds, or play YouTube videos of other birds making lots of noise and we all scream and screech and sing and have fun. This gives them a focused time when they know that loud noise is okay, and lets them be birds (which are typically noisy). We follow it with very soft music and a nap (for them). Sometimes if the behavior is amplification of normal bird behavior (the kind of scream they do during play with each other) a simple play session will get it out of their system for a while and allow them to focus on other behaviors once they have had their fun. It might be useful if you have a camera or smartphone to get some video and share it because sometimes seeing and hearing the actual sound can be helpful in diagnosing the cause. Best of luck and let us know if you need further help. Welcome to the group, this is a fantastic resource for any bird owner as everyone here is kind and helpful and supportive!

And today she was being a little witch, biting at his tail. He's being so patient and just maneuvering away but showing no aggression. He's persistent, I will give him that. I can't believe she's being such a brat!

THIS one crossed with a wild and crazy Amazon? Oh Lord help us!

I am going to ask Kirah again about it. I told them I'd gladly pay for a long recording of the wild Grey sounds. I'd also love to have some Amazon sounds as well. Our birds LOVE LOVE LOVE that video and it does get them to settle in at night. Megan listens but does not call back, but Peck speaks that language and joins right in.

Greycie is truly an amazing bird!

You make some great points. Thanks for sharing! Do you mind if I ask why the other two are not trimmed? Do they fly a little more "sane" than Poet? Do you trim yourself or have someone else do it? We do trim for safety. I am an ex-psych nurse. The first thing they teach you about using restraints (and as far as I am concerned, clipped wings are indeed a restraint) is that it is only appropriate to do so for two reasons: if the patient is a danger to others, or a danger to themselves. I feel that a bird that is flying erratically or panicked can indeed be a serious danger to themselves. At that point, they get clipped. Depending on how panicky, perhaps severely clipped. It is based solely on limiting their ability to get sufficient speed to injure themselves. It sounds like you've made wise decisions. Thanks again for sharing!

The Grey sounds in the background are from this video (you may need to be logged in to Facebook to see it), which I often play in the evening during "settle down time". You can also hear Rasa's flirting coos and growls. Megan has been making googly eyes at him for days, and tonight, he was out while I was vacuuming. I moved her cage forward (closer to his) to sweep behind. While sweeping, I made her get in the cage since I couldn't supervise and clean at the same time and they have just been introduced. (Before this video all three - Peck, Megan and Rasa - were out together and behaving just fine). I was vacuuming away and look up and see this.... oh my. So I had to grab the camera and catch it on video. Peck missed on but doesn't seem to care. Kind of like my ex, his only goal with Megan seem to be to poop on her. LOL Good think they can't interbreed. I can't imagine what a Grey/Amazon cross might look like, lol.

I used to fill ours with shredded paper (now I save and give them back to the 'egg lady') and hide treats in them for our birds. They loved chewing through the cardboard egg carton to find the treats.