Dave007

It would be best to submit a closeup picture of the area you're referring to. The nicks could be from scratching making them look like they're open. Dry skin/aloe vera juice---- Any aloe juice that's used needs to be put on a bird so that the skin is saturated, not just external feathers. For some birds, it's a bit of a chore to accomplish this. Even when bathing a bird with water, that water must saturate the skin. Feathers are waterproof. The only way to get success with bathing with the juice and/or water is to repeatedly do it. Neighter is a quick fix concerning dry skin. After a bird is saturated, an easy way to see if the job was successful is that your bird should be dripping wet for at least an hr or more. After a certain amount of time a bird will begin productive preening while it's still wet. Towels shouldn't be used to remove excess water. Saturated skin eventually softens up after many uses. Antibiotic---where did you get it? Who recommended that you use it? Are you using it as a topical?

I totally agree with the breeder but if you decided to go the other way, you would have to wait until your bird has muscle strength, wing strength, coordination and most importantly, he must know how to fly in order to handle the fact that he won't be flying as well after being clipped. That all happens in about 6 to 8 mts depending upon how much exercise he gets now. PS---I just noticed that you said *a wing clipped*. Wings are clipped on both sides. Clipping of one wing went out the window many years ago. Very dangerous to a bird<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/01/10 23:45

This has all been discussed recently. Scroll all the way down to BREEDING QUESTION thread in this section.

It may be just a mood change which many greys go through. On the other hand it may is an illness that's starting. When intestional problems and digestive problems occur a bird usually stays fluffed up all the time, won't come out of a cage and won't eat. The signs are obvious. It doesn't sound like he has that type of problem. ""he can be a bit timid and easily spooked."" If he's prone to doing that it's possible that something occurred that you didn't witness. It could have been a small thing. I would suggest that you watch him for a couple of days to see if he gets back to his regular self. But if nothing changes and he's obviously not being himself, a visit to a vet should be considered.

Your mom is right. The pet store is right. Your bird will get very sick without the proper temperature. The only thing that will happen in a tank is that the bird will learn how to walk. The bird shouldn't even be sold at that age. Bad things can happen and many times, they do. Onions? what's that mean?

First and foremost, the most important thing here to to make that all important to an avian vet even if it's 4 hrs away. Not trying to insult you but you're mixing habits and symtoms and subtle changes in this post. A complete examination with pertinent tests will tell give you many answers to many things that are present. A non-avian vet doesn't have the intricate tools and knowlkedge to deal with birds. You're not doing your bird any favors by not going to a vet. """"I was told it might be cause it's a female and she's menstruating."""" First of all, a bird doesn't menstruate. This board is known for giving out high quality information concerning all aspects of a bird's different situations. Right now, the only thing that the people here can only give you * could be or would be answers* which will only confuse you more. The droppings situation could be from a lot of what's going on with stress or on the other hand it could be from food etc or a change in the type of food. The eye situation could be from a stress situation or an infection or just something you haven't noticed. I say that because it's possible that you weren't keeping a very close eye on your bird until you started seeing different things happening. You don't and neighther do we. Everything you ask needs to be broken down into individual situations that may be connected to each other but on the other hand, may not be. Make that very important visit to an avian vet. Your bird may need medication but we don't know. Many people here have gone to vets that don't deal with birds and a lot of unhapiness and disgust occurred. There are no vets here and people here would be very irresponsible by giving out solutions. PS--if you went to an internist who could'nt understand why you have growths or swelling in your lymph nodes, he/she would tell you that you need to visit a oncologist, but the nearest one is 3 hrs away, would you not go?

Go with the sitter. """"cons - he is going to be at a new enviorment and smaller cage, and he will have to stay there for one extra day since we will have to take him there a day before we leave for our trip..""" It's not a con because all birds come flock environment and having other birds around is much better than having no one around

Bald spots aren't unusual during a molt. Some areas are more itchy then other areas and the bird picks or scratches that area creating a bald or irritated pink area. Some birds chew on some feathers at times when they're young and right now is no time to make judgements concerning chewing or plucking. More than likely it's all temporary. A molt, especially a large one can be irritating to a bird because more feathers from more parts of the body are falling out. Spray some cooling water on your bird and if the spots get inflamed, pick up some aloe vera gel at the drug store and put some dabs on those areas.

Well, good luck with Kenworth. Licking is normal. But, you may have a problem with your wife. It's best to give her a strong drink right now and let her watch her favorite TV program so she'll lose the jitters. 2 drinks if necessary.

I doubt it. He'll remain quiet. If he's eating and drinking, that means he doesn't have any stomach problems right now. He may go to sleep a little earlier tonight( it's night time here right now) don't know where you are. Tomorrow , he should be fine but if it will make you feel better, then go to the vet just to be sure.

I don't know what you mean by unstable. If he's eating and drinking then there should be no problem.

Ever eat something and it goes down the wrong pipe and you gag and spit it up? Usually, you're not in the mood to be joyful. Same thing happens to parrots

Well, forget the breeding. Greys have to be at least 5 yrs old and even then, most usually aren't successful until their 3rd or 4th try which usually comes around when they're about 6 yrs old and ONLY IF THEY'VE BEEN BONDED WITH EACH OTHER which has nothing to do with them being close friends right now.. Use the long time period to study up on it, all the expensive items you'll need, the methods that have to be used, the hand feeding you'll need to learn, the special foods that you'll have to use,formula you must learn to make, what things have to be done when emergencies occur, a permanent connection to an avian vet. Breeders need special cages that have to be set up in a certain way, and special types of nestboxes and lighting and extreme privacy. Very conservative figure..For breeding 1 pr of greys you'll easily need $2500,( not including the pair of breeders) more than likely even more if you don't have access to good price on incubator, brooders and a breeder cage and extra cages you'll need for chicks as they grow older.

Everything above plus getting nippy, wanting to be alone, less interest in toys. If you pet her make sure you rub in the direction that the feathers are growing. hair follicles are very tender when molting. If you spray, give a litlle more with cooling water. You can use aloe juice but it's really not necessary unless there's also skin problems.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/01/08 01:12

There's nothing more you need to do. Repeat the corn starch in about 3 hrs. Check tommorrow and apply again if you see bleeding although I doubt that you will. Tips of beaks close up pretty quickly.

Bronxboomer How old are your birds?

Human grade peanuts are processed in order to kill off any aspergillous that may be on the shell. people can get that disease so that's why they're processed in order to ward off disease. Birds are prone to this disease too. You can give the whole peanut to yor bird but it'll take about 5 sec to break the shell to get to the peanuts. Shelled peanuts are also fine. They should be unsalted. They won't produce any weight problems for greys becauses greys don't have a weight problem. They can also be given to other species too. Small birds like them. Human grade tastes better. Any that come in parrot mix should be thrown away. They're not cooked. PS----I should also added this yesterday it's alright to give peanuts as long as everything is proper about them. Cooked, clean, purchased from stores that always deal in decent food of all types. Talon spoke of her vet who said *no peanuts ever*. well, he says that because he doesn't know how good they are, where they were purchased, what general quality they are, how many are given. The reason he's saying that is because he's taking the better safe than sorry attitude which all vets should do but don't. But there's another side to giving nuts. People give peanuts because they like to watch the bird break the shell and eat them but as I said, it takes about 3 sec for the bird to break the shell open. So people sometimes don't see the capabilities of the bird. For those bird's that like almonds, you see a surgical procedure which will take about 15 to 20 min to accomplish with almonds and almonds are good for birds. They don't need to be given in a tiny quantity and my belief is that they shouldn't have to perform in order to get them. So here's 3 almonds from 3 different greys and their surgical procedure. it's fun to watch them totally concentrate on doing this. Notice how all of the almonds have had successful surgery. <br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/01/08 19:15

What would rather hear hello--- hello----hello---hello----hello or hello, how ya doing----see you later buddy---sleep well buddy---time to go to bed

Good choice. Wise decision

They sound better and greys can associate sentences with actions Example--you're cutting up some nuts. He can't see you be he can hear you. You go to him and give him a nut while saying * Gotta nut for you*. Eventually, when he hears you cracking nuts, he'll say * Gotta nut for you* if though you're not there yet. Single words are for small birds.

You can try speech training sexssions about 4 times a times a day---10 minutes each session. You can talk to your bird by repeating phrases that pertain to you, your bird, your friends or your surroundings. fter about 10 mins. the bird tires of listening so one min before he tires, stop the session. How can you tell when a bird is tiring??--he turns his face away and pays no attention to you You can sim[ply talk to your bird all day long whenever you feel like it and when the bird has picked up on things, he'll practice it when alone until the day comes when you hear the actual words. So, that's speech training and natural training Always use sentences, not single words with a grey

That's one of the most common things that medium sized parrots do. Most of the time it has to do with playing. Other times a bird will do that in order to knock something around that's sitting loose on top of the cage. To a person, it's scary but if you notice, he never falls down.. At times you'll also see a bird hang off the cage with just one foot. Again, just playing. Some birds hold onto the top of the cage with their beaks and flap their wings. Greys, amazons and eckletus do this often. Some other birds of the same species won't do it. That whole thing will decrease a bit as a bird reaches maturity but for now, it's their way of playing. PS--that would also include Severe, Hahns and Yellow collared macaws<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/01/06 22:21

You're wrong there. It is a grey thing and it happens frequently. Many greys are either afraid of certain colors from the beginning or start to develop it as time goes on plus it has nothing to do with your other birds not being a affected in the same way. In the future, one of your greys could possibly get spooked but the terrible hair color you recently chose to beautify yourself although it didn't really work. It just may take a while to sink into the bird's head once he knows it's permanent.

Even though I'm still waiting for an answer, in my opinion this sounds like a vet who's suggesting that a certain procedure be done just to make money and there's many vets who will do that. It's one thing to tell people that they should have different tests done in order to make sure that illnesses aren't present or are lacking in certain nutrients. It's another thing to suggest a procedure on a bird that has no visible problems yet, especially egg laying. Sexing a bird isn't done on the bird. It's done by sending out blood or feather specimens from the bird to check the gender. The results won't tell a vet any other thing that's wrong. Just the results of the DNA test will come back with an answer as to the gender of the bird. Future over production of eggs can't be seen until a bird is actually doing it. The test won't tell if the bird will be over productive as far as egg laying. Many people never have their birds sexed and there's no problems.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/01/06 18:24

Is is possible that you could tell me what the vet said about health as it pertains to gender?