Dave007

Hi alipallly Welcome to our board! The administrators may take this post and put it into the WELCOME ROOM area so others can say hello or You can go to the WELCOME Room, Hit NEW TOPIC, and copy/paste this post in that section. Have a good time here.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/11/11 21:16

Another thing you need to take into consideration is the natural personality of an african grey and your bird's age.. The grey that has been cuddly and sweet for the first year of it's life, starts to change. Greys are not known to be cuddly anymore when they reach a certain age and level of independence. They wanna be left alone more than before. They wanna be held less. At that age they find more things to amuse themselves then before and many times, that doesn't include the owner. It has nothing to do with it's feelings for the owner. Greys get much more aloof as they get older. Their body language becomes more obvious. A person eventually has to learn about that body language. Part of that body language has to do with the bird warning a person that he's about to bite. Many other parrots don't give out warning signals. An african grey has to be left alone more as it gets older because that's their natural personality showing through. There are hundreds of posts on this board and other grey boards that have to do with the exact situation that has happened to you. It's been asked about for years. Not all species of parrots are like this. The best example to refer to is the Cockatoo. They're the exact opposite of greys. As a TOO gets older it becomes extremely clingy. It wants to be with the owner for as long as the owner allows. They wanna be in the middle of everything all the time. They wanna be held constantly. When they're treated like this biting decreases drastically. At first, the TOO owner is thrilled. Just as you have a complaint as to what your bird is doing, TOO owners have a situation which even though it's the opposite of greys, it's also extremely annoying. People are constantly asking about how to get the TOO to be more independent. They don't want the bird to be so clingy, Many TOOs will seriously pluck themselves if left alone to amuse themselves too much. Your bird is growing up now. Maybe, the act of saying NO will help your situation sometimes but there are many greys out there that find that being told NO is very appealing. Your grey is now growing up and showing you it's CAG/TAG nature. Some people have even given this time in a grey's life a nickname. It's called the *terrible twos* As they get older, the problem evens out and eventually subsides but not completely but by then, you will have become more familar with body language. The whole process takes a little longer when there's 2 or more birds around that have great interest in each other.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/11/11 19:10

Well then, just check the area a few times tommorow and look for any changes. The blood you see won't go away though. It'll stay there, dry up and get darker the same way a scab gets darker and is ready to fall off.. Wet the area and eventually the blood stain will fade away.

Tiel's flight wings are very long and slender and the blood shaft is thin. Since you see an unusual amount of blood in one area only, clotting probably occured.Tommorow, if your bird will allow you to hold him, take 2 pieces of tissue or 1 napkin, put cold water on it and very gently wipe off the area where you see the blood. If the feather looks broken, it would be best to have it removed ( if it is a flight feather). Tonight, if your tiel is a frequent flapper, remove anything in the cage that might hit the feather if he flaps. Check it tomorrow. If you don't see any new accummulation of blood in that area it won't have to be removed. Keep all of those extra items out of the cage for 2 days just so that you can observe the feather/wing. have some blood stopper or talcom powder nearby. If the bleeding starts again, put the blood stopper on with a Q-tip and hold it there for 2 min.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/11/11 04:21

Most of the time when the bird is approx that age, the quills coming out of the head are somewhat soft and crack easily causing irritation which then causes scratching. If you're petting the bird on the head, go with the direction of the feathers. Cold water is probably better. It provides a certain amount of temporary relief from the itchiness.

All greys, male or female, do that. So, a DNA test might still be in order.

Just keep each cage door closed when they're out so neither will get into the novelty of visiting a place that's different than their own cage. There's nothing you can do to stop it other than preventing it from happening again.

"Male or Female? " Rather than worrying about which is pickier ( which neither is), the most important #1 job is to make sure that the bird is completely socialized with all the human members of the family and the family lifestyle. Greys be they male or female will take to a certain member for certain things and pick the other member for other things. Building that relationship is important. Don't expect the bird to react or treat you both exactly the same way.. "Congo or Timneh" They're 2 different birds with different types of traits and you're the one that has to get into detail about what appeals to you. Unfortunately, there's only 2 types of greys so people try to figure out which is better. Neither one is better or worse. "congos can be more nervous but how much is that?" They're more leery of new things, don't easily accept new things as quickly as TAGs but that really has nothing to do with their over all personality. That aspect is rated low on the importance chain. Now, if we were talking about Amazons the situation would be totally different since there's approx 15 to 20 species of amazons so, it would be extremely difficult to find out who has the better personality. That's why the question of different personality traits doesn't come up as much. Any grey you purchase should be fully weaned at the time of purchase. Afterward, some will still accept formula simply because they like it or simply because they weren't fully weaned at the time of purchase. There's nothing wrong with giving extra formula IF the bird will accept it. They can't be force fed. What will make a grey less prone to health problems is when the bird is fully weaned. Many people have nervous, high strung birds that were fully weaned and others have birds that weren't fully weaned and yet the birds are calm.

Most problems with the uropygial gland are related to hypovitaminosis A and most respond well to medical therapy, including the application of moist heat, massage and appropriate therapeutics. If there's any tumors, abscesses, and ulcers the problem may require surgical intervention but only if the bird is at that point of where tumors, abscesses, and ulcers have already been seen. This gland produces secretions which are somewhat waxy and that gland can clog but it's not a very common problem because birds are constantly manipulating that area with their beaks pushing the thick substance out which they then apply to the external areas of their feathers. If there is a problem in that area, most of the time it has to do with an impaction which an avian vet can clear up easily. You vet does need to know what the general size of a grey's gland should be. They differ with different species. The other tests you had done have nothing to do with a possibly clogged oil gland. If your vet finds problems in the results of those tests you had done, they'll be dealt with separately. """vet said she may not been preeening correctly or enough""" What caused the vet to say that? Greys and other parrots don't have a regular exact schedule for preening. They do it when it's necessary. """Could she be molting at this age?""" At her age, she's still losing baby feathers which are being replaced by juvenile feathers which are more dense.

Buying the Farm -------------------- A farmer had advertised his farm and was showing it to a prospective buyer. As they walked alont a fence line the buyer saw bee hives and stopped. "Those hives are pretty close to the road", he said. The farmer explained that the bees just make honey and have never stung anyone. The buyer felt unsure about the sale until he proposed that he be tied to a nearby tree,naked, overnight. If he was stung once he would get the farm for free, but if he wasn't stung then he would pay the farmer double the price. The farmer agreed and tied the now naked man to the tree.The next morning the farmer saw the man leaning over and very pale. "Oh no,the farmer thought, he got stung and now I have to give him the farm! "As he reached the man he gently shook him and asked where he got stung and if he needed a doctor. "No, no, I'm okay,"gasped the naked man, "I'll pay you double for the farm, but doesn't that damn calf have a mother?"

Hillbilly Wedding Night ------------------------- A hillbilly got married, and on his wedding night he calls his father for advice on what to do since he had never been intimate with a woman before. "We're in the bedroom, Pa. What do we do now?" Thinking that nature will take its course, the father replied, "Take her clothes off and then you both get in bed." The hillbilly calls his dad 5 minutes later and says, "She's nekid and we're in bed. What do I do now?" Knowing his son wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, his dad asked,"Did you take your clothes off, too?" " No." the son replies. "Well, take your clothes off and get back in bed with her." The son calls back a few minutes later and says, "We're both nekid and in bed. What do I do now?" The father's patience is quickly running out, and he growls, "Look, Son, do I have to spell everything out? Just stick the hardest thing onyour body where she pees!" The son calls again a minute later. "Ok, Pa. I've got my head in the toilet bowl. Now what?"

Dr. Seuss Explains Computers --------------------------------- If a Packet Hits a pocket on a socket on a port and the bus is interrupted as a very last resort and the address of the memory makes your floppy disk abort then the socket packet pocket has an error to report. If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash and the double-clicking icon puts your window in the trash and your data is corrupted 'cause the index doesn't hash then the situation's hopeless and your systems gonna crash! If the label on the cable on the table at your house says the network is connected to the button on your mouse but your packets want to tunnel on another protocol that's repeatedly rejected by the printer down the hall and your screen is all distorted by the side effects of gauss so your icons in the window are as wavy as a souse then you may as well reboot and go out with a bang 'cause as sure as I'm a poet, the sucker's gonna hang! When the copy of your floppy's getting sloppy on the disk and the microcode instructions cause unnecessary risk then you have to flash your memory and you'll want to RAM your ROM Quickly turn off the computer and be sure to tell your mom.

A sale representative stops at a small manufacturing plant in the Midwest. He presents a box of cigars to the manager as a gift. "No, thanks," says the plant manager. "I tried smoking a cigar once and I didn't like it." The sales rep shows his display case and then, hoping to clinch a sale, offers to take the manager out for martinis. "No, thanks," the plant manager replies. "I tried alcohol once, but didn't like it." Then the salesman glances out the office window and sees a golf course. "I suppose you play golf," says the salesman. "I'd like to invite you to be a guest at my club." "No, thanks," the manager says. "I played golf once, but I didn't like it." Just then a young man enters the office. "Let me introduce my son, Bill," says the plant manager. "Let me guess," the salesman replies. "An only child?"

This is so true! They always ask at the doctor's office why you are there, and you say in front of others what's wrong and sometimes it'embarrassing. There's nothing worse than a Doctor's receptionist who insists you tell her what is wrong with you in a room full of other patients.I know most of us have experienced this, and I love the way this old guy handled it. An 86-year-old man walked into a crowded Doctor's waiting room. As he approached the desk, the receptionist said, "Yes sir, what are you seeing the Doctor for today?" "There's something wrong with my penis," he replied. The receptionist became irritated and said, "You shouldn't come into a crowded doctor's room and say things like that." "Why not? You asked me what was wrong, in a crowded room, and I told you," he said. The receptionist replied, "You've obviously caused some embarrassment in this room full of people. You should have said there is something wrong with your ear or something and then discussed the problem further with the Doctor in private." The man replied, "You shouldn't ask people things in a room full of others, if the answer could embarrass anyone." The man walked out, waited several minutes and then re-entered. The receptionist smiled smugly and asked, "Yes?" "There's something wrong with my ear," he stated. The receptionist nodded approvingly and smiled, knowing he had taken her advice. "And what is wrong with your ear, Sir?" "I can't pee out of it," the man replied. The Waiting Room erupted in laughter. _______________________________________________

WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU PARROT PEOPLE!!! Because, let's face it, parrot people are weird. Now don't deny it or send me indignant notes about how normal you are - you're not fooling anyone. Think about it: When a normal person brings a pet such as a dog or a cat or a goldfish into their homes, they continue to lead normal lives. They socialize with other normal people, they continue to listen to the same types of music, read the same types of books, and eat the same types of foods as before. You, my parrot-afflicted friend, do not. So how odd are you? Let's make a list! 1--You are a scholar of psittacinism. You can spell psittacinism. You scour the Internet and bookstores for research material on parrots. You join discussion groups and share in agonizing detail each tiny movement of your parrot with other parrot owners, who then share a more-than-unusual interest in everyone else's parrot's poop. In fact, poop now occupies so much of your thought and free time that you have lost interest in politics, career, and IRA earnings. 2--You have begun avoiding normal people, because your parrot seems to have taken a dislike to normal people. This includes your spouse. When he (or she) walks into the same room as you and your bird, there is obvious resentment at the intrusion. However, you are trying to stop reacting this way. 3--You eat parrot food. That is, you have taken to eating the special healthy people food you fix for your parrot. It's so much easier than separately preparing the usual junk for yourself. This is, in general, a good thing. (Just remember to avoid the birdie bread you made with Harrison's.) 4--You have rearranged your furniture to accommodate your bird and future birds. If you are severely afflicted, you have bought a new house especially designed for parrotly needs, including vaulted ceilings, screened-in porches and rooms with drains in the floor. 5--You buy only healthy and interesting pet toys that cost the equivalent of two months' salary and can be destroyed by a beak in five minutes. You ask store clerks questions such as, "Is the dye on this wooden block human grade?" and "What types of chemicals were used to treat this suede strip?" and "Where can I find your organic, preservative-free unshelled imported almonds?" 6--You make your own bird toys. Sometimes you do this even when you can find bird toys you like. "My toys are cheaper to make, or more interesting," you tell yourself. And then you set up an Internet store or auction site to sell your toys. You use your other talents For the Good of Parrots. You make quilted cage covers, human clothing protectors, jewelry designed to be worn by humans and chewed on by parrots, paintings of parrots, key chains engraved with the parrot's name. Parrots are the dominant species on earth and they are simply using us to perpetuate their race and eventually take over. If you doubt that, just remember that it's the dominant creature who gets other creatures to take care of it. Think about all you do for your bird, the hours spent cleaning his cage, cleaning the floor, cleaning the food and water dishes, cleaning the bird toys, cooking food, cleaning the walls of said food, bandaging your skin from the latest nip. Then think about how you sit down exhausted and feel grateful and honored to look upon his pampered plumage and big dark eyes. This is not normal. You'll never see a dog person made misty eyed by the beauty of their pet slowly lifting its leg. I say it's high time we parrot people reclaim our lives and save the human race from certain demise. Be strong - it won't be easy or done quickly, but by acting together we can thrive as a species again. I'll be right there with you, just as soon as I finish sewing this bird cosey and taking the pellet casserole out of the oven.

Yes, if you have an aloe plant, go for it. Just remember to rub it into the abrasions, not just on top of them. Do it once a day The 2 pieces on the top in your pic represent feather chewing. Chewing gives the feather that distinct V edge. You may also need to bathe your bird more than usual. If he doesn't like baths, just mist him trying to soak as much skin as possible. You may need to slightly adjust the nozzle so that the fluid comes out more like a heavy rain as opposed to a thin mist.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/11/09 02:12

It looks and sounds like your bird had originally found a couple of irritated spots on the body and decided to pull those feathers out from those spots. If any irritation remains more than likely, the bird will continue to bite into that area. One thing you could try is putting a salve on each spot. The salve will sink right in and get absorbed into the skin. The area becomes less irritated and the bird picks at less. The secret is to continually put the salve on for a while even though you feel that the problem is gone. The name of the salve is called Aloe Vera Gel. It can be purchased in pharmacies and it's inexpensive. It's also commonly used for other irritations that a bird might get including abrasions, small cuts, dried legs and feet etc. It's not toxic and if any is accidently ingested, there's no problem. PS--I really can't tell you if the cause was the hurricane. Normally, a parrot will pluck out feathers from many areas when extreme fright or terror occurs <br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/11/09 01:47

Most people who post use some type of online storage area in order to post pictures. A popular one is Photobucket which automatically assigns the picture different links to post in different areas. You can immediately resize the picture when putting a photo there. It's kinda simple once you get there. There are some other online storage areas but Photbucket seems to be the easiest to work with.

It seems that the photos didn't get posted. Any possible way you can try them again?

It doesn't matter whether he's a male or female. It's possible that he's more attracted to a man right now. Greys are known as one person birds if it's allowed to happen. There's no way to give definite absolutely true factual answers to many of these things until some time has passed. Some greys will stay as one person birds and others can change. I say this because he's an older bird that has some history and being a one person bird might be part of that history. It doesn't mean you should stop trying to make headway with him.

Well, if though you gave some history about George in another area, I'll repeat a very basic thing concerning George and behavior. George was in an atmosphere that contained almost 50 birds. It's impossible to give 50 birds personalized attention or training. The birds congregate together and act like birds with each other which including all different degrees of biting, nipping. pecking and lunging at each other. The owner makes no effort to stop what seems like natural bird behavior. This behavior goes on daily. Now the time comes when George is taken away from that atmosphere and put into a calm more loving environment. That doesn't mean that George will simply change. He has an aggression that has to do with other birds. It takes a long time for a bird like George to calm down and gradually relax. Much longer tha a very young bird who's just starting out on that wrong path. Something I never asked before--is George in the same cage that he was in before you got him? If so, get rid of that cage as soon as possible. He knows that cage TOO well and it's become his home base. He knows every inch of that cage. You can purchase relatively inexpensive but well made cages on EBAY and if necessary, we can give you the proper sized cage to get. You, hubby and George will be starting out on an even level playing field.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/11/08 00:32

The vent area is underneath the tail where the feathers of the tail are attached to the body. It's also the area that the bird craps out of. That areamay be irritated for many different reasons and the juice will soothe the area Veggies String beans Carrots Sweet potatoes Leafy greens such as collards, kale, turnip greens, mustard greens, Swiss chard, beet greens and dandelion greens Parsley Sweet red, yellow and green peppers Cauliflower Broccoli (head and leaves) Eggplant Sugar snap or snow peas Squash Romaine or green/red leaf lettuce (small amounts) Corn (kernels, or on the cob for larger birds. NO AVOCADOS Also start feeding different fruits Your bird will not like all the types of veggies you offer so you just need to test them out to see what types the bird likes. The same thing applies to the fruits. Stay away from pomergranites. Too messy.

TAGs---Every 10 to 13 mts--once a year but lose more flight feathers in one year than CAGs. Flight feathers are quickly replaced. CAGs---once or twice a year depending on humidity. They molt out more breast feathers during a whole year than a TAG does. Breast feathers are quickly replaced. They lose more tail feathers than TAGs do at one time. Tail feathers are quickly replaced. If you have 1 CAG in a cage with a TAG next to it in another cage, you'll see many more loose feathers (especially breast feathers) in the CAG's cage throughout the year.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/11/07 19:04

Greys do a lot of clicking without holding anything. Sometimes they bite something, hold on and do the same thing. It's just a grey who's showing slight aggression with something he or she is familiar with. As they get more comfortable with their surroundings the past habits they had eventually come to the surface.At times they also do the same thing with bells. Most of the time, the item is made of hard material ie metal, plastic, chains.

Your bird is chewing it's feathers and the area won't look good until those feathers fall out and are replaced with new ones. lets hope that by the time the new feathers grow in evenly, he won't do it anymore. Many times, a feather or feathers won't fall out when it's time so the bird decides to pull at it but considering that your bird is extremely young it could also have a high strung personality which causes chewing or plucking. The item you got at Petsmart has chemicals in it and doesn't prevent chewing. There is no item that's sold that prevents that. A change in it's daily habits and routines helps that problem. You should start spraying that area with an item called Aloe Vera Juice. Use it full strength on that area and also on the bird's vent area. You should try to have the kids around more often so she gets used to the idea that they're around. Many greys get nervous with kids. When a bird has a specific feather problem, you can't rely on a water bowl. She needs more wetting down and you're the only one that can do it. You should do it with the juice in a mister and it should be done everyday especially in that area. The scratchiness on your bird's beak is normally what an adult grey's beak will eventually look like and it happens for the exact same reason as yours--rubbing against perches, or other rough surfaces. It's not a serious problem but you can take a little aloe get and put a very slight bit on the beak. The beak will turn black again but within a few hrs, the beakwill look like it does right now. @ very good items you should always have in the house is Aloe Vera Gel and Aloe Vera Juice. In the future they'll be used for many things and both items are inexpensive. Diet--Now's the time to introduce all diffent types of very dark veggies which contain many more vitamins and nutrients that a bird needs. Straight seed and cereals don't have that. PS--your photos were perfect.