Dave007

Your aunt knows this peron from other social experiences? Has she ever dealt with this person in any other way even if it doesn't concern animals? PS -any other communications with this person between your aunt and her?<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/10/19 18:52

""""""Obviously I want to make sure this is as cheap for me and safe for them as possible. I cannot tear down/modify the existing walls/drywall etc."""""" There's two types of noise reduction and they are almost always confused with each other. All noise reduction and soundproofing are not alike. Noise absorption is not noise reduction. You would need to choose what's best for your requirements. Noise Reduction is achieved by stopping it, killing it, not letting the noise get through the wall or window. Stop the noise before it gets to you, or into the room you are in. For this you use mass and space. You can build heavy walls with large air spaces and you maximize dampening as best you can. Noise absorption is achieved by changing the characteristic of the noise. Stopping it from echoing. Stopping the reverberation. Stopping the noise reflections. All this involves handling the noise that is within the room. It seldom involves noise from outside the room. You've probably heard of a room as being a “live” room or a “dead” room. For this type of noise reduction or soundproofing you will use carpets, upholstered furniture, acoustical ceiling tile, soundboard or interior walls. What works for noise absorption doesn't ever work for noise reduction. Soundboard is useless at stopping noise. When put up with the sheetrock it is useless unless it is the outside layer and it is being used for noise absorption sound control. So if you decide to do it yourself and go with noise reduction, it will still cost quite a bit of money and more than likely the walls will be partially affected and altered. If you get it done professinally, it will cost even more. If you go with noise absorption, the items that are needed are not the items normally found in a birdroom. The items used here will also be expensive unles you can possibly buy them used. PS--if soundproofing is important to you, you may want to rethink getting a very loud bird such as the cockatoo. The animal is not only loud but constantly loud all day. Maybe, that extreme loudness may make it necessary to put him back in the rescue center. The bird will do better in a home where the people will expect and can handle that type of situation without soundproofing. The large majority of TOOs are in shelters because of loudness,self mutilation and aggressiveness. The one you named is well known for loudness.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/10/19 05:10

Harianna

Annemarie This is a long post. This reply is strictly aimed at what you said in your reply in this thread. There are things that you said that are true but are only basic,obvious facts. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know about what the situation is in rescue/adoption centers. BUT, you should understand that there are people here that might not understand the complexities that are involved in the taking over of rescue birds. Telling people that are loads of birds in these places that need homes is totally true. 1---I can see that in a deeper sense you know nothing about why many of those birds are in shelters. The reasons that there are too many to name off. 2---I can also see that you don't realize the capabilities or lack of capabilities that people have concerning giving these birds the home that they deserve. What you don't realize that by saying what you said about making breeding illegal is also telling the people here that they don't deserve the right to own a bird that has no problems other than the common problems that arise with owning these babies. The problems are generally simple and are usually solved in a short time. What you don't realize is that there are people here who also feel bad about the situation of rescue birds but I can tell that definitely, if these people decided to take on these birds that have very serious problems of all kinds, eventually those same birds would be back in the shelters simply because not all people have the ability and knowledge on how to deal with these birds. These birds will go into a new home and immediately take over. It will be the bird who dictates everything . More problems will occur and people will then realize that a big mistake has been made. People will than know that they bit off more than they can chew. Owning these special birds that have built in special personalities will create a terrible situation in a home where there might be children, other people who have no interest in birds, other pets,environments that these special birds won't take to no matter what attempt is used. The only people that will have a chance with these birds are the ones that know something about pre owned birds and their complexities and the possible problems that can occur. Not everyone has that ability but it doesn't mean that because of that inability they shouldn't be allowed to enter into the world of parrot keeping with young birds. What you're saying is that only specialized experienced people should own parrots. Unfortunately, that doesn't exist. Candidates for shelters-----normally, I wouldn't bring my birds into this post but because of your statement I will. I'll start with the small one first. His name is Baby. I named him that when working with him. 1--Baby is a quaker. At one time he was a feral bird that got accidently separated from his wild flock. One rainy evening in 1993, he flew into my brother in law's 15 story condo. My brother in law captured him in the house and put him in a cage. He then brought the bird into a section of the building where about 15 employees worked. He was always around people but they couldn't go near him without getting bitten. After about 5 mts my BIL contacted me and asked if I would take the bird and I did. Also understand that my BIL owns 2 DYH amazons that are approx 25 yrs old so he knew about parrots. I took the bird and my wife and I worked him with for a long time until he accepted the fact that he now lived in my home with other birds. He eventually changed into a controllable bird. He also stopped the biting but before he did that, he took pieces of my wife's hair out of her head and inflicted many scars to both of us over a long period of time 2--Jazz is a CAG. At the time was 3 1/2 yrs old He had serious issues. He was the classic mutilator. His only daily constructive relief was to be destructive by pulling all of his feathers out. He was a bird that was alone all day in a cage that was a bit too small but even worse, had too many toys in it. He had little room to move around in.The owners ( who I knew) had to work all day. It wasn't their fault. They tried different things with no success. Eventually, they contacted me and explained things and asked if I would take him which I did. It took my wife and I approx 3 yrs to get this bird into a different frame of mind and turn his focus outward instead of on himself. He had setbacks. He is now fully feathered and has a friendly outgoing personality with people. He's only afraid of the dog. 3---Tee is a TAG and probably the best candidate for a shelter. At the time he was 8 yrs old. He's now 14. Tee was the classic viscious attacking bird. The only thing he lived for was biting and going after whoever was nearby. He couldn't be handled. The owners ( who I also knew) were very frightened by him. He constantly and seriously bit the husband and the wife but the straw that broke the camel's back was when he went after their 7 mt old baby. He was a very jealous bird and he succeeded in biting the child. I received a phone call at 12.30 AM. The woman was crying and asked if I would take him and I did. The husband traveled 270 miles to my home and brought him to me. It took my wife and I over a year to stop this behavior and to also make him understand that there were other birds that lived here. My wife and I were seriously and constantly bitten throughout that time. My dog was bitten. He went after the other birds and succeeded in inflicting bites that caused bleeding. Today Tee is a non biter. He's friendly with my wife, me, the dog and the other birds except for one of my quakers who insists on flying to him to bite his feet. Now a days he simply avoids her. At one time all of these birds would have wound up in shelters. I realize this post is very long but I wrote it in order to explain to you about some of the various personalities of birds that are in shelters. I'll go one step further and say that I doubt that you would have been able to handle these 3 birds simply by the very short statement about how people should only get birds that are unfortunately in shelters. If some people had obtained these birds from shelters, I guarantee you that they would be given back to shelters.

like liefie said--vet immediately. that could be a sign of very minor seizures or an injury to the head. How old is he? Been banging a heavy duty toy around lately that's hitting him back? Look around eye area. see any pink blush marks? Did you move the perches around lately? Did you change the type of perch he uses? Does he hang out on the bottom of cage more than usual? How often is he actually falling off? does he do it while sleep, Hanging on cage?

Fairymyst Non stick stainless steel cooking sets www.cooking.com/products/reviews.asp?SKU=668989

No witty comment on this post Dan;) . All of my greys and my 2 quakers love oatmeal. A long time ago, it was a food that made them more attracted and cuddly to my wife and I. They would hear the boiling water and they would be climbing all over the place. Now because I know for a fact that these flavored oatmeals aren't harmful, we buy the Quaker Oats instant oatmeal that has the 10 different flavored packets in one box. Any time my wife makes the oatmeal, the finished product is extremely lumpy and as far as they're concerned, the lumpier the better. As a matter of fact one of those packets is called cinnamon apple and that's their favorite because of the small square apple bits that are in it. That's the first thing they go after. Years ago, I tried giving the regular oatmeal that was in the end very mashy, they refused to eat it. So, I don't know about grinding up the oatmeal into a powder consistancy. I give each bird one coffee scoop of oatmeal. I give each of the 2 quakers about 1/4 scoop. Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/10/17 19:55<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/10/18 03:59

Put a bell in the cage and see what happens. Be ready for some violence

Most all of them do that. It's very healthy for them. It stimulates their minds and helps them forget about frustrations. The more violent, the better

Cooking with stainless steel isn't that hard and most foods come out tasting very good. For a person new to SS, there will be timing differences that a person has to find out about. I imagine that whatever fat or oil you put in has to do with what you're cooking. They cook well and clean well and good SS will last a long time BUT if you can actually get extremely good cast iron pots and pans, then go for it. All foods taste great in cast iron. I have 3 very heavy duty cast iron cooking utensils which belonged to my grandmother. I was a child and she was using those utensils. It's been 45 yrs since she died and those 3 utensils are going hot and strong. The cooking quality is fantastic. She had a an 6 piece set and I wish I had the rest of them. Each utensil is very heavy.

If you're handy, you can make your own simple stand out of wood which can be moved around wherever you go. Simple to make--very inexpensive or you can go to this link and see some stands--what you want is in the $25 to $50 range. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/pet_supplies.cfm?c=5059+5107<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/10/16 18:17

The wood in the pic is perfectly fine. The wood is somewhat hard so that the bird doesn't destroy them too quickly. The coloring is food coloring and harmless. The only time a bird rejects them is if the they don'y like a color. The bell is a very good item to have for a grwey. They will get aggressive with it which is a good thing. You'll find that in the future, you'll wanna hang that bell on it's own chain so that the bird can aggreesively knock it around and have mock fights with it,.

I'm not a fan of wing clipping but for those that feel that they must or want to------ The wings shouldn't have be clipped until the bird has built up strength in the breast/muscle area which entails loads of flapping. The bird should learn to be coordinated and able to fly before a decision about wing clipping can be made. All of that doesn't finish happening until the bird is about 6 to 8 mts old. You'll have to watch your bird very carefully now and watch out concerning the bird falling. You should get a small throw rug and surround the cage so that he dosn't bounce off of the floor and possibly crack any breast bones. """Is one sex smarter or talk better than the other"" The answer to both of those question is no. """Do greys like a certain color cage better"""They like the color of the cage that they come home to. Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/10/15 04:39<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/10/15 05:39

The only thing I can tell you about the gas models is that there's 2 kinds 1--Vented gas logs are rated as a decorative appliance, designed to operate in a wood burning fireplace, with the damper fully opened but it doesn't really make an area as warm as wood can. The heat shoots right out of the damper 2--Ventless gas logs are rated as a heating appliance, designed to operate in a vent-free or wood burning fireplace, which does not vent to the outdoors so what happens is that the area does get warm but the damper is closed so that heat spreads. If the damper is closed, residue can't escape. That residue can't hurt us but can harm birds. The only thing I can suggest is that you keep your bird in another room with the door closed and when the gas log is used up, make sure the air in the area is vented to the outdoors. You would need to open the damper in the fireplace. I think you should look into this a little deeper. No one wants accidents.

Most people use regulation firewood that's sold in gardening centers and also the type that large stores such as Home Depot sells. There's really nothing special about the wood other than it takes a long time to burn up. Most of the wood that's sold is oak. People who have backyards with dead trees usually get the trees cut down and then split the pieces into firewood. Most of the time that's also oak. I get firewood from my backyard. Every year there's dead trees back there. Just a few don'ts in case you've never used a fireplace Don't burn charcoal in your wood burning fireplace. Only wood should be used. Don't close the fireplace flue while a fire is still burning. This could cause carbon monoxide to accumulate. Don't use kerosene, lighter fluid, or gasoline to start a burning fire. Only dry wood should be used in your fireplace. Don't leave a burning fire unattended. If you have no access to wood from a back yard, go and buy a bundle. Each weighs 25lbs and also 50 lb bundles. The bundles are ery inexpensive.

As long as you have your bird in another area away from it and a chimney or other flue that will pull and allow gas and particulate exhaust fumes to escape the house. There should be no problems. Be extra careful with gas logs.

Many things that you've heard can happen but it's up to the owner to prevent it from happening. Some of what you've heard is true, some false When you bring your grey home, it's not a good idea to be handling him a lot until he/she feels good about that new cage and it's contents, new people, new surroundings, what goes on everyday.. Everything else ahead of the bird is also going to be new and learning about them in a relaxed state is best accomplished from the security of it's own cage and no time limits should be placed on the grey re when anything should be accomplished. All greys are different from each other. A grey should be acclimated into the whole family. Allow the least amount of opportunities that will let a grey become a one-person bird. The whole family has to be involved with the bird in all areas--feeding, treat giving, cage cleaning, adding toys and handfeeding certain types of food. Your grey should be in an area where your average daily constant habits, conversations, household chores, relaxation and guests are nearby. Putting a grey or any other species of parrot in another room with no human contact or visuals accomplishes nothing. The bird has to learn to accept all different things and the owner needs to help that parrot do all of these things by putting the bird into the mix of things. Because you're new to owning a grey,it's a bad idea to allow your grey on your shoulders because they can develop a bad habit of biting necks, ear lobes, nape and head hair, breaking jewelry and sometimes biting the face. They're not being aggressive. They simply find these things attractive. Not all do this biting but it's a habit that should be avoided. You never can tell what's going to happen to you when you can't see the bird up there. You need to supervise any out of the cage time when you have other animals around. Never under estimate another species of animal and it's possible daily attitude be it dog or cat. Many times, even other species of parrots need to be watched when put together. It's impossible to tell who will like or dislike each other. I'll repeat---all greys are different from each other. They're all individual animals. """""ive read about owners with a bird that hates men/women."""""" That's a falsehood. Many people buy greys and they never find out what the sex is. So, if that statement was true, many people would be very unhappy with their bird. """""do younger birds take to new owners easily? Do problems only really occur if you take on an older bird? The chances that a younger grey will take to new owners is basically true but the the people who have older birds are usually people who are willing to accept that older bird and all of it's old habits. For the new grey owner, an older bird should be avoided until that person understands what owning any type of parrot entails.

My advice would be to have your bird with Eddie more than before. If your grey screams at him, let him deal with the bird. Sometimes, a habit develops which is unintentional. The bird gets a little older and is very aware of where all the everyday attention came from when he first arrived in the house. sometimes, one person deals with the bird and all the situations that go on with the bird by themselves. It's no one's fault. Your husband is at work. When he appears, the grey's attention is focused on that intrusion. He can't do anything more than scream. You yourself said that it started mildly and increased as time went on. Your grey's attention was also aimed at the dog who needed your attention. Again, the screaming starts. many people aren't aware of this but greys are quite well known for their intense jealousy concerning people, other animals, other attention getters. I believe that your bird is going through an adjustment period because of it age. He's a baby and has had loads of attention from you. No insult here but what's going on is that your bird is becoming a brat and trying to take over. Many greys try to do that. It's a common thing with them. Very young children do the same thing. They carry on. They're obstinate and basically pains in the ass when they don't get their way. many people give in to the kids to shut them up. Others are more stern and let the kids carry until they see that nothing is gained. In the past if you've been on grey boards, you must have heard that greys have the intelligence of a 3 to 5 yr old kid and it is a proven fact. That should tell you something right there. I personally think that your husband has to start dealing with the problems with the bird one on one. You can't be the problem solver all the time. You can't be playing interference all the time. Antything your husband will start doing with the bird right now in order to get a change going will take time. Your husband is part of the family and the bird needs to accept that. Let your husband handle some of the difficult things that have to be done. This is why early socialization is so very important when a grey first comes home to a new house. The whole family must be involved in as many things concerning the bird whether it be the happy side such as treat giving or the not so happy side such as cleaning. Each person should get as much of a physical relationship as possible from the get go.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/10/13 00:15

Anmlhggr

Concerning glands that excrete powder for waterproofing feathers--- There is no gland on a bird that secrets powder. It isn't powder that waterproofs a bird's feathers. The powder which is called dander is material shed from the body of various birds and other animals, and is similar to dandruff. It may contain scales of dried skin and old feathers which are on the verge of being replaced. The gland that waterproofs a parrot's feathers is called the uropygial gland. The uropygial gland is also known as the preen gland or oil gland. It's present in most species of bird, and it's relatively large in some aquatic species. In certain species of psittacines, this gland is not present. Hyacinth , Lear's and Spix's Macaws don't have this gland. All parrots in the genus Amazona also don't possess a uropygial gland. The gland is present in all other psittacine species. This gland, when present, lies on the mid-line dorsally on the trunk in the rump area above the levator muscles of the pygostyle. There are no feathers normally on the skin over the gland. There is, however, a tuft of down feathers at the tip of the papilla in most species, and this is called the uropygial wick. In many species of bird, the tail usually flexes laterally each time the bird reaches around to contact the gland and the wick. The gland secretion is spread over the feathers during the act of preening. Waterproofing is considered to be one function of the secretion, and another function is the suppression of the growth of organisms on the skin. The secretion helps keep the feathers, beak, and scales supple. The secretion from the uropygial gland contains vitamin D precursors that are also spread over the feathers by preening. With exposure to partial sunlight, the secretions are converted to an active form, vitamin D, which is ingested with subsequent preening. The gland has a size and shape variation from species to species. For example, the uropygial gland is raised and somewhat heart-shaped in the African grey parrot, and in comparison to that of other species, such as the Eclectus parrot, it may appear enlarged by comparison. However, the uropygial gland is just a larger gland in the grey, which is a normal species variation. Another species with a prominent uropygial is the Moluccan cockatoo. The most common abnormality of the uropygial gland occurs from vitamin A deficiency. Birds on poor diets are likely to be vitamin A deficient. Correction of the diet and perhaps an injection of parenteral vitamin A, will usually rectify the problem. Infection may also occur in the uropygial gland. This may be secondary to hypovitaminosis A, immunosuppressive disease, such as that which occurs with Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD), or trauma.

An important reason to letting a parrot get used to being touched by humans has to do with creating the socialization process. Pet parrots don't live in the wild. If a person comes across a flock of parrots in the wild those birds would't let any people touch them. We would be considered predators. They would seriously bite and if cornered, would probably get injured. I've never heard anything concerning a bird getting into plucking or aggressiveness habits because of a good human/bird relationship was instituted or begun from when the bird was a baby, especially touching. I do know that those two habits can develop when there's no contact between the two. If the human/bird relatioonship ( including touching)was so wrong, bird being wild would never consent to it. If a much older bird who hasn't had a stable relationship in the past and doesn't wanna be touched, it isn't because of it's age but because of a past situation. In the home as well as in the wild, there must be some type of a flock commander. The owners take over that role. yes, in the wild they preen each other but also bite each other and neither is bothered. At home, if people start to stick food in their mouthes and try to feed the same way as is done in the wild, trouble is just around the corner. In shelters/rescue and adoption centers, many of the birds that are there have many problems because they didn't have different types of contact with the owners, the three major ones being biting and plucking and emotional problems. All of these places recommend that some type of physical bonding be started in order for the birds to calm down. Many times it's too late for that to happen swo people take those birds home just to provide a safe environment but they also realize that the birds won't change. Love my greys has a number of greys and I doubt that she's gonna say that her birds are pluckers or aggressive because of a physical relationship that she probably started a while back. Speaking of problem birds, I have a number of greys too. One was a special needs bird who abused himself because of no human contact. That bird is no longer a special needs birds and what brought that on was instituting physical contact which the bird never had. Speaking of aggressive birds, I too have a TAG who is now almost 15 yrs old andwas a big time serious biter. The previous owners were extremely afraid of that bird. There was no physical contact because of their fear. It took me over a year to get the bird to stop that behavior. One of those things that was instituted was physical handling by both my wife and I. Today, that bird won't bite any of my other birds, me or my wife. At one time that's all he lived for--biting, biting, biting. """"Besides: we humans are primates, like chimpansees, gorilla's, Orang Utans and Bonobo's. If we like eacht other, we hug and cuddle. But parrots are not primates, they have a totally different "etiquette".""""" We might be somewhat like the animals above in that those animals are predators and we people have the capability of being predators. Parrots aren't predators. They're prey animals and function best in an environment where there's a connection to a leader which in the home is us.

This is not to frighten you but the coloration of the upper mandible that's in the photo is not the same type of shading that occurs as the bird is getting older. When that happens, the beak loses it's vibrant smooth black color and the eventual result is a very dull dark gray color with loads of scratch marks. The black beak never returns. The beak in the photo isn't the same. That's a beak discoloration. It's very possible that there is a partial absence of color that's developed over a period of time--compare it to a person who loses some skin pigment in certain areas. You'll need to take your bird to your vet in order to get his opinion because the beak discoloration could possibly mean other things that have to do with health. If it is, it's treatable. The first thing you should do is call him, explain what you see, how long you've seen it, the specific area that the discoloration appears. He might be able to give an explanation over the phone.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/10/11 04:15

The 2 items you mention are favorites--plastic bottles, plastic pens, plastic spoons etc. It takes a while for the bird to tune in to plastic but it eventually does as he/she gets a little older. Boxes on the other hand, can affect a grey in two ways. They will get aggressive with very small boxes but they'll also be terrified by large cardboard boxes and try to avoid them. BMustee summed it up perfectly """Because he wants to bite the bottle and you moved it...so he bites the next best thing. You.""" Some birds that are on shoulders might also find something very attractive and tempting up there. Jewelry, plastic or metal eyeglasses, ear lobes, clothing, hair and they'll bite those items. So when it comes time to remove the bird from those items, the person doing the removing is the next best choice. Nice soft skin..yummy<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/10/09 04:55

All of the above should give you some things to think about. One other thing is nighttime frights. Not be able to fly well can cause accidents in the night. Clipping her feathers isn't a good idea if it's only for this time away from the house. She's used to flying. She's comfortable outside there cause she hears and sees you with her. If something did happen that causes a person to have to go into the cage, things will even be worse if the bird starts to bite. I personally feel that you should leave the bird inside with the sitter. Better safe than sorry.

5.00 at pharmacy--16 oz. 100% ALOE VERA GEL Will last a very long time and it's very good to have in the house for emergencies such as what just happened or minor things that could happen to you or your family.