Dave007

Trays shouldn't have any items in it that can attract and hold dust. That includes what you're using as well as any types of sawdust or wood chips. Eventually, a bird will get attracted to walnut shells or wood chips and even pet litter that people use in cages. There's a danger that some very tiny piece could get stuck in the bird's throat or get imbedded under the tongue as well as taking in dust. Play it safe and use plain black and white newspaper which birds don't particularly like eatin. They like to shred paper. PS--newspaper is the easiest to discard and also the most inexpensive.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/03/02 03:33

poochbabe I replied to your PM

That may have to do with a neurological situation. It's not harmful. Just looks odd or different. It really depends upon what you mean by a LOT. He may be a very high wire nervous bird. He may be excessively stretching the wing muscles as well as breast muscles. The excessive flapping may have to do with not being able to fly very much in the past possibly from an extreme type of clipping. Sort of making up for lost time. You haven't really described the type of flying he does. Are the wings totally extended making the bird look like it's gonna take off? """Holds them out in a begging type of position and they just flutter. But it seems to me that he does it to much. I have seen him do that for an hour non stop."""" If the bird is as old as you say, that's possibly a sexual reaction to stimulation or a part of a season. His new owner should contact the previous owner and ask some questions. It's impossible to give absolutely correct answers to what you describe. It would be guesswork right now.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/02/28 06:37

Sorry about that. Misread your post but still ask about the payment plan.

Before you sell your bird's stuff, you might wanna ask your vet if he has a payment plan. Many do.

well, if you're looking for the best vet, you'll need time to do that and it can be done after you've finished the initial vet visit. You say that he's the only one in town. So, that means that you'll have to expand the amount of distance in order to find one and that's gonna take time and you should do it in a relaxed fashion. For this first visit you should have no problems with him. A *well check* is pretty simple to do. It's probably one of the easiest procedures that avian vets do.

Experience--recommendation---good results! Many people don't have that advantage but anyway, you're jumping ahead of yourself right now. A new parrot's first time to a vet is usually a *well check*. That's a process that all decent avian vets do. After you get the all clear, than you can start checking out other vets for the future. The worst thing that can happen right now is that many tests could come back bad but if the people you bought the bird from are good people, the chick is probably in decent shape. So basically, calm down. PS---""avian vet, but a GOOD vet?""" If he's a genuine avian vet, he probably is a good vet. Maybe not the best around but for what you're having done any avian vet can do it<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/02/27 00:16

if your bird was tested for certain things and the results came back negative, that means that the things he tested for are fine. It doesn't mean that he tested for every single thing that could have been tested for. Every avian vet visit and procedures costs lots of money. The more tests, the more expensive. It seem that you have to wait for more results to come but it's impossible to know if the vet is gonna give you the answer you want be it good or bad. Now as far as vets go--many people find that they need to see another vet in order to find out more. It's the same thing with specialists that deal with humans. Just because he's a specialist doesn't mean that he has the right answer especially when there could be many possible answers. You need to wait until the whole procedure is finished and make your decisions then. Telling a vet that birds shouldn't have gas won't get you to first base. The vet needs to see the whole picture before giving a whole answer. Some vets give those answers as each step is performed such as tests.

And during that molting period many people find that their birds are quieter and more moody. Petting has to be done differently because the areas where the new feathers are growing from are very tender so petting a bird in a reverse direction can cause a bird to be short tempered and a little nippy. All of this happens to many greys and with others it doesn't happen. There are other species of birds where these types of things constantly happen so a person has to be even more careful in how they deal with those types of birds.

Is it possible that you can say where you read or heard about such a thing? The closest thing to change which can be seen by a person ( which has to do with emotion or fear) is a slight change in the color of the white patch on the face. The color is very pale pink and disappears relatively quickly after the bird settles down. It's similar to blushing. Your bird might have acquired a slight injury where blood was involved but if you don't see anyone, more than likely it's already mended itself with a possible scab. Another PS--the only animal that does what you describle is a special amphibian, a toad, which oozes blood from different parts of the body when it thinks it's gonna be attacked and killed by another creature, usually a snake. I forget the name of the toad and also the country where it originates from. The blood is toxic and a snake usually spits it out before any harm is done. Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/02/25 17:09<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/02/25 17:28

I assume that the palm oil was mixed in with water? If so, the naural dryness and dander underneathe the skin will eventually dry out the oil and it will slowly fall off. Your bird will also help in taking it off but it's gonna take awhile. In the mean time, give your bird frequent baths in warm water because warm water will help the oil rise up off the feathers. There is no quick way to wash off the oil though.

That's the way many greys react when thery're in new places with new things around them. It has nothing to do with sex. All things are new to him since he's only there 3 days. That's more likely to happen if the bird in general is very high energy or nervous.

After it's major big dump in the morning, the rest of the droppings alll day long will be watery with some white mixed in. The droppings shouldn't be large throughout the day. The different foods you give affect the color and consistency of the droppings. Give a bird colored pellets all day and I guarantee yo that the dropping will come out in diffent colors/ The clear color is urine. That color varies throughout the day usually with white mixed in. I have no idea what you feed your bird but if in general, what you feed is soft, the droppings will be the same. I have no idea whether your bird does eat peppers but even if it does, there's gonna be plenty of days where he'll just tire of that particular item and either ignore it or discard it and that also includes other foods. If he had a problem, he wouldn't wanna stay outside. A problem bird usually stays in the corner and is extremely quiet and stays fluffed up. PS--your bird not wanting to go back into his cage or not wanting to come out of his cage isn't really a health problem. It has to do with that particular day and his particular mood on that particular day. Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/02/23 18:40<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/02/23 18:59

The closest thing you're gonna get to as far as a herbal product is an item called Pluck No More which is strictly for birds that pluck their feather feathers. It's not used for high wire birds. The item above has a very poor success rating. You'll have to go along with your bird's situation and see if it lessens but many times, that's just the way a bird's personality is. Of course a vet can give you something medicinal for that situation but it's only a temporary fix. Plus, what may be a nervous bird to you may not be a nervous bird to other people and we can't possibly know what you mean by * nervous*

Sometimes they do but it usually has something to do with something stuck in their throat but if that was the problem, they wouldn't eat until the problem is solved. Sometimes it takes a while for them to clear up the problem, usually by spitting up what's in there. Give it a couple of days and if you feel there's a problem, go to a vet and he can check iy out further.

There's nothing wrong with your bird not making noise. As they get older, they become more selective in when they wanna make noise, or talk. Your bird is a baby and still has to develop those permanent habits. You're talking about an grey which is known to be one of the quietest species of parrots. Another sign that there's nothing wrong with your bird is the fact that every other thing that he normally does is still happening with regularity. Expect that your bird will do different things as it gets older. Each has a different personality that allows the bird to act differently as they grow up.

If you don't mind me adding my 2 cents inI have 3 humidifiers and I got 1 from Rite Aid and2 from CVS. They're 2 gallon humifiers and the ones I bought have the ability to not only take just plain water but they also have a feature that allows a person to put a liquid VICKS concentrate in the water. That would mainly be used for a person who needs a humid breathing appiance when they're sleeping. It's not for birds but I just thought I'd mention it. I use humidifiers in my breeding room downstairs all the time. The other birds also benefit from plain humifiers. . Lots of people use that Vicks concentrate for their kids. The ones I bought were $49 each because of the Ability to use Vicks. There's others that are cheaper that don't have that feature. Just a little add on in case anyone is interested.

At this time, it isn't a good idea to introduce an unweaned bird to an aduld bird who is aggressive. There's a very goodchance he will try to kill the unweaned baby. They need to be dealt with separately. As far as feeding the baby, if it wants more formula than you're giving, simply increase the formula. There are no set standards for lessening the amount of formula that should be given. Eventually, an unweaned bird will let you know when to decrease the formula. It will simply not eat the portion of formula that's given at any particular time so you simply stop that feeding and replace it with more of the food it's getting used to. Concerning the adult bird--I don't know how long you've had him but if it's only a short time, it will need to get used to many things in your house besides you. That's the way a bird eventually relaxes and possibly takes to the owner. Giving items to the bird is fine but if he's also biting you, it's still in the stages of getting used to you.

Your IM that you wrote and this post you wrote don't seem to be the same so i'll just go by identification The center of the eye is called the pupil. It's brown/black and will always remain the same. The entire white area surrounding the pupil is called the iris which will end up darkening to a pale white/yellow color. It's very slight and a person needs to check it out a couple of times because the difference is so slight. That happens after a bird reaches maturity which is APPROX 5/6 yrs old. Eyes remain that color. The black area that cover the entire edge of the whole eye is the eye lid which is dark and can only get darker but that's extremely hard to see.

I'm really not sure about the kind of aloe juice you pointed out. A cranberry taste means that it has an additive even though that additive isn't a problem. The other thing about the product that you pointed out is the price. That seems like an extremely high price for such a small container. The amount of aloe needed by a bird is a lot and by looking at that item, it looks like it will guive you 3 uses and be finished.It seems that because you don't have a Walmart, you're only looking in health food areas which may only contain flavored juices that need to be ingested. Before you order that stuff, you should visit pharmacies that may have it. Many pharmacies can order it for you. The aloe Vera jice we speak of is 99% pure and it's inexpensive. This is a one gallon jug. ---in Walmart, they are sold for about $9.00. In pharmacies, they're sold for about $12.00. This is what the aloe should look like. Notice the figures on it. Nothing I saw in the place you named shows anything that's totally pure. PS---Pharmacies don't normally carry health food products. They deal with all types of medications for people and the aloe vera juice above is only made for people who have various digestive problems. So, look into pharmacies before you buy it. <br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/02/17 19:15

He never prefers to bathe when water isn't present.

Your grey must have originally come from a place that needs to improve their hygiene and husbandry practices. This is not a common parasite of young parrots except in areas where the birds are raised in over-crowded flights with dirt floors. Internal parasites are not a common problem in parrots. That's why conversations about these types of problems don't come up often on parrot boards. That illness is common in poultry who are ground feeders. It's also common in dogs and cats. Some parrots get sick from eating contaminated soil that contains round worms but that happens in the wild.

If your bird is in constant or general 72 degree surrounding temperature, you'd only be hurting your bird by raising the temp especially with a heater in their area. The cooler air is much better for a grey then very warm air. A humidifier is fine as long as the temp stays in that general 72 degree temp.

Let me get this straight. The breeder you speak of actually buys unweaned chicks from a breeder and then weans them himself? Have you ever seen the parents or the actual breeders of the birds he buys? Why are you calling him a breeder? Is the owner of the store the only person that buys from the wholeseller? Do you have any idea if he's a mass producer of parrots? So, you think a macaw is not a noisy bird? The macaw is the loudest bird concerning squawking and the cockatoo is the loudest bird concerning screeching. They won't act that way all day long from morning til night in a store but are you in the store all day long from morning to night? All types of parrots need a steady life style in a person's home before their true traits show themselves. There is no such thing as a quiet macaw unless it's sick.

I just remembered something else you can do. Go to Walmart or other stores that sell household leaning products and purchase a feather duster. All of those feathers have no chemicals in them. hang it in the cage in a corner. It may distract your bird from pulling it's own feathers and he may concentrate on working on the feather duster.