Dave007

Norton Anti-Virus is gearing up for this virus! PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS! You should be alert during the next few days. Do not open any message with an attachment entitled 'You have received a POSTCARD from a family member,' regardless of who sent it to you. It is a virus which opens A POSTCARD IMAGE, which 'burns' the whole hard disc C of your computer. This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list. This is the reason why you need to send this e-mail to all your contacts. It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it. If you receive a mail called' POSTCARD,' even though sent to you by a friend, do not open it! Shut down your computer immediately. This is the worst virus announced by CNN. It has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever. This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus. This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information is kept. COPY THIS E-MAIL, AND SEND IT TO YOUR FRIENDS. REMEMBER: IF YOU SEND IT TO THEM, YOU WILL BENEFIT ALL OF US.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/05/02 04:40

""""""One of these days those kids will be bringing home the grandkids, oh what good times those will be,""" Not if you change the locks on the doors

I think it's time to get rid of the kids. You've done your part. Send them out into the streets and let them see what the real world is like. You gave birth to them and fed and clothed them and raised them. You put them in school and the only thing they're doing is yelling around the house. Is it really worth having such irritable, annoying kids around the house? It's time that you live your own life before that goes away too. Pretty soon, it'll be physical fights and more yelling and screaming and maybe some hair pulling. Kids need to be seen and not heard. You should give them a good beating with a stick or paddle. Put them in their place. Teach them that no one yells around your house. Think about putting them up for adoption or put them in a home for unwanted kids. Let other people take on the headaches of having them around.

I wouldn't wash him until he's about 3 mts old or a bit older. Right now, he's a baby and if he gets any formula stck on the breast, face or any other part of the body, use a damp cloth to wipe it off. Your bird should have waterproof feathers by the time 3 mts comes around. Right now, it doesn't and you don't want the bird to get a chill. Warmth is most important at his age. None of the normal dust/dander that goes with greys hasn't yet developed on your bird because of the age.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/05/01 22:19

It can be purchased at large pharmacies, large supermarkets that have a large drug section, Walmart centers. It can also be ordered by a pharmacy if you ask them them to. They usually get it in the next goods shipment and will call you whaen it arrives.

""""""I have been told that when shes growling its best to ignore it and try to get you hands to touch her on the chest that she goes off balance and she HAS to stand on your hand / arm . Also that if she bites to tap her beak with an evil eye saying NO !! Appartantly i have to let her know whos boss. I havnt tried any of these tactics yet as i feel that it might be better to get the views of other owners first if they have had simular problems . After all if this is all incorect i woudnt like the feather plucking or biting to happen on a regular basis !!!""""" This is the proper way to perform that off balance movement. Also, there is a chance that you will get bitten in the future if you constantly tap the beak. When your bird is on your hand/wrist/finger, keep your arm in a horozonal position. When your bird starts to peck at you simply turn your hand 1/2 way as if you were turning a knob on a door. That makes a bird a little unsteady, the biting stops and their next effort is to try to regain a better grip. Do this constantly when pecking/nipping occurs. Your bird will soon get the idea that the pecking and nipping isn't a good idea. The tapping on the beak can possibly cause a bite in the future and your reaction to that bite will scare the bird.

My pleasure and by the way, almost all people who have their birds sitted usually lay down ground rules be it with relatives or friends. I'm sure your parents will understand. They love the bird and will love you more for being concerned about your bird while it's there.

""""""You make me feel so selfish by putting it that way """""" Listen, I'm not trying to make you feel selfish. I'm just being realistic. Obviously, you like your bird flighted cause he travels around your house with ease. He knows the house and is happy about that. You're happy about That. Your wife is happy about that. You're talking about stressing him out. Well, this is what'll happen..he'll simply be pissed off that he's in his cage for your weekend. If having a unclipped bird has been totally successful for you and wife and kids ( if you have any) why would you wanna change that? I'll repeat..it takes a long time for clipped wings to grow back. First, the clipped wings have to grow out before new ones can grow back. They don't fall out the way other feathers do when a bird is molting. When they DO fall out, it's usually 1 or 2 here and 1 or 2 there with no particular time element involved. Most likely those feathers will fall out unevenly. 1 or 2 on one side of the body, none on the other side and visa versa. They fall out irregularly the way tail feathers fall out. """What happens if he gets out when they are feeding him/ cleaning him out? """" A cage can go for quite a while before having to be cleaned out. 4 days is no big deal. As far as feeding, I don't know if your cage has swing out doors but if it does, the bird can't get out. A tip for your parents. Tell them to find a place in the house that has 4 walls and a door. That way, the can come out but not zoom around irraticaly. It's only 4 days. Take my word for it..he'll survive and will be doubly grateful when you come to pick him up. Then you can let him fly around in your house and when he finally lands on your hand or arm, you can have a long chat with him and tell him all about the great things you did on your weekend away and ask his opinion about the things you say. When both of you are finished, be happy that he'll still be able to comfortably fly away to another familar area in your home. Leave the wings alone.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/04/30 23:42

My opinion is that if your bird isn't clipped, you shouldn't clip a bird simply because you're going away for a weekend. Your trip is 2 days. The bird's trip back to flightdom is about 8 to 12 mts. Think about the long term effects on your bird. Anyway, your bird is being sitted by your parents. He shouldn't be let out of the cage while he's there. Bird sitters don't let birds out of their cages. If your bird was a biter, would you tell people to let him out of the cage while birdsitting him?

Don't you have a drug store or pharmacy out there? Where do you buy your aspirin?. Aloe gel is as common as human hand lotion. It's sold for people. Maybe you need to consult with the Ubangi Tribal Counsel. They perform special rituals that induct young boys into manhood. They have many secret herbs and potions and magical ointments that will help a person keep people young looking through their life time. Their people are 75 yrs old and still harvesting wheat by hand and carrying it on their backs to their tents in the jungles. PS--if you have a Walmart anywhere around, you can get both items there.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/04/30 23:16

Listen to Tracy. She's been in your exact same situation many, many times.

I don't know what you're worried about. You should be very happy that he pulled out the rest of the broken feather. Some birds don't do that and it winds up being the task of the person to do that. many people don't know how to do that and sometimes injure the bird which then calls for a visit to the vet which turns out to be expensive. Palm oil isn't an instant cure for any damaged feathers. It simply adds to the healthy structure of future feathers that will come out and also to feathers that are already out but have not yet reached their dying days in which they'll soon fall out. Feather plucking--I doubt it. Feathers that are left on the body after a terrible short wing clip are very irritating to a bird and their natural instinct is to pull them out. The skin gets very sore. Go to the drug store and purchase some aloe vera gel and lightly rub some into the base of the body where the bad feathers are. The gel will eventually sink in to the skin and soothe those areas. The gel costs about $5. make sure it says 100% pure on the bottle. It's a clear gel. Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/04/30 22:04<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/04/30 22:11

A bird is born with spraddle leg which is actually called splayed leg/toes. It's not a condition that eventually develops. It's highly unlikly that you'll see any bird being sold for the going price with that condition. There aren't many things that YOU can actually do as far as a physical examination. More than likely, the salesperson/breeder will do whatever you ask. You can check to see that the beak is even over and under. The bottom beak shouldn't extend beyong the upper one. You can have the salesperson turn the bird on it's back so that you can observe the vent area to check for loose droppings that are present or stuck to the vent and tail feathers. You can ask that each wing be spread in order to check for bald or sore irritated areas near or on the body. You can do a visual to check to see if any plucking occurred. You should pick one that's on a perch, not sitting in a corner all huffed up. But you also understand that some things you might see are par for the course. You will probably achieve what you want by immediately going to the vet who can check for the usual signs of baby birds and do it within the time lines of your guarantee/warranty/exchange contract. Buying a bird lessens the chances of purchasing an inferior bird. The breeder knows the history of the parents, a pet store doesn't. Sickly, weak parents that are overbred produce chicks that aren't in prime condition. Let the vet be the judge of the bird's condition. PS----the condition of splayed leg/toes can't be concealed. Typing error ""Buying a bird lessens the chances of purchasing an inferior bird"" should be ""Buying a bird from a breeder lessens the chances of purchasing an inferior bird Sorry about that. Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/04/30 03:59<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/04/30 17:30

Don't worry about the thumbs up. Just try to be happy with your new family member. That's enough thumbs up for me. Glad to have helped. Patience, patience, patience by by the way, a million people here will tell you how different their bird acts assoon as he can go to areas where you can't go--the most important being the shoulders which is the avenue to so many sensitive areas on your body. Also remember that some parrots are well known for giving free ear piercing so that you can use the latest earrings.

He's a 3 yr old bird. Most of the biting was learned in the past. It's now a part of the bird's makeup. Lots of people have birds that bite all the upper areas. Those upper areas are most vulnerable because the bird can see them but you can't see what the bird is seeing. You've had him for 7 weeks which is much too early to see whether he'll calm down. he might be that type of bird that needs to be left alone until the whole atmosphere of your home sinks in. Also, concerning the petting in the lap. Only pet in the direction of the feathers. Don't come from the back of the neck up to the top of the head. many birds have extremely sensitive pin feather areas that are located all over the body. That's where the feathers will eventually emerge from. With some birds, rubbing in the reverse direction may only be irritating to them when they're molting; with others, it's an all year sensitivity. Pet the bird the same way as you pet a dog. Don't bury your fingers in trying to reach the skin of the neck. Don't *obey* his commands when he wants to be touchedall the time. Just let sit there. Let him come to your hand and push it around to areas he likes. Pet extremely gently. Make it short pets. DON'T touch the beak. DON"t let him on any area of you where you'll lose sight of him. When that happens you'll wind up chasing him around your shoulders and when you eventually corral him, definitely expect a bite that will cause bleeding. I know it's hard but you've gotta try not to use a towel when doing these things Towels should be used when a bird's nails need to be trimmed or certain parts of the body need to be examined. A bird can asociate with a towel in a good way though. I use a different colored towel for each of my 3 greys but the reason they're being used is so that I can cover my lap and legs when they're sitting with me watching TV. When a certain color towel is seen, that bird knows it's his turn for the lap but that's the only they asiciate the towel with. I only do this cause each bird has a very bad habit of shi*ting on my clothes. I never use a towel after bathing them. At this time, you'll have to make an effort to time things with ex--flipping head around. Do that and you simply take your hand away. It takes time but you need to understand that you have a bird there that entered your house with a bit of history attached. Remember that seven weeks is nothing where it concerns learning a new bird's behavioral habits. Patience, alertness and more patience followed by more alertness. That should be your immediate dealings with him.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/04/29 23:35

Kinda simple 3 yrs old with prior bad habits. Likes to bite face. In the future, probably cheeks. In the future, probably neck. In the future, probably earlobes. In the future, probably neck and head hair. In the future, probably jewelry. In the future, probably shirt collars. The bird is simply one of those that shouldn't be anywhere above your lower chest. PS--towels scare birds when used to grab and pull away birds. They should only be used for important things like when a person needs to perform hygiene on the bird.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/04/29 22:38

Some facts When a person purchases a baby grey, the person is told quite a bit of information concerning the bird. Most of it has to do with feeding, vet visits and also what to possibly do with that bird when certain things start to develop. If the person is really lucky, the seller will also sit down and explain the full scope of the grey's personality, the main thing being that they are the type of bird that can be totally different from each otheer and usually develop their own individual personality. Unfortunately, it's not required and most of the time isn't explained. It becomes the owner's task to find out about that bird. Greys are cuddly when young and eventually lose that trait. Independence and thought processes take over. People mistake that action as the grey starting to be unhappy. It causes many people to shop around for a companion grey which is fine. If a person wants to see the full scope of an african grey's personality, that can only be achieved when that bird is allowed to become very possessive and is also allowed to become king of his own castle( his home which is his cage). that also applies to the total bonding between person and bird. When these things occur much more complex sides of a bird also surface. A simple example of this is Get 2 cages that are identical in size and color. Both of these cages come from the same manufacturer. Take the perches and put them in the exact same place in the cages. Get identical toys ( including color and size) and put them in the same place in each cage. Put identical chewing items in the 2 cages. Put identical bells in the 2 cages. Put identical swings in the cages ( all of these things in the same identical areas) and you will eventually see what interests each bird. There will be differences. As the birds get older a more obvious trait develops which has to do with outward and inward personalities. As this happens it allows a person to deal with each bird according to what the bird is showing. The full scope of 2 greys can't develop when both are in one cage because they must share what should be their own thing.Greys don't become lonely just because they're in their own home. 2 can be kept together as long as they each have their own home. When a grey has it's own home, the bird then can focus on showing the owner it's own complex personality. Cocerning what I said about those identical cages, when the end of the day arrives, even though each cage is absolutely identical in every way, each bird will go back to the cage that he *owns*. That allows nature to help each bird develop in his/her own way. If a person has a few greys and they're released in a large room that has many different toys and/or perches, stands etc,rarely will you see those greys immediately congregate in one place and ignore everything else. Each bird takes off and goes to what attracts it. Individual personalities make that happen. People also think that getting another identical species of bird to put in the house is the best way to go but a better success rate isactually having 2 different species together. Each species is different from each other. Putting the same species together lessens the chance of absolute, total friendship. 2 greys know each other's nature. Hypothetical birds--1 grey and 1 amazon don't know each other's ways of thinking. . Different birds in many ways. Another way of seeing this is in the outdoors. I'm going to use chickadees and small wild gold finches small sparrows, siskins and titmice and hummingbirds as examples...a person has a feeder filled with seed ( oil sunflower seed_that the chickadees and titmice like. There's another feeder that contains thistle seed which the gold finches, small sparrows like. There's also 1 hummingbird feeder filled with their sugar water. If 5/6/7 goldfinches come to the thistle feeders, it's guaranteed that each will chase the other away in order to get to the thistle but if a few gold finches anda few small sparrows come to that thistle feeder at the same time, both species will eat side by side with no problems. Sunflower feeder---when 5/6/7 chickadees come to their feeder, each will do what the goldfinches will do, chase each other away but if those chickadees come to the sunflower feeder with a few titmice, they will eat side by side with no problems. Hummingbird feeders--unfortunately, there are only 4 or 5 species that live where I do but if 2 of the same species of hummingbirds come to that feeder, one will definitely chase the other away and come back to get it's fill. Then the other will but if two different species of hummingbirds come to the feeder, each will select it's own hole, drink and stay side by side until they finish drinking. So, my feelings are that separate living quarters are most important for 2 greys for individual development. Greys ARE wild animals and will always be. Amazons fit in the same catagory. I have 3 pet greys. They all get along in an aviary setting but I can guarantee that if they were bunched up together, there would be serious trouble with them because I know each ones personality. Sorry for beinglong winded here but I feel that it's important that this in depth side of wild bird's personalities be told.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/04/28 19:20

In the US.. Purchased from a private breeder--$800/$850/$900 Purchased from a pet store----$1050/$1100/$1150

ok, thanks for letting me know about how the palm oil works.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/04/27 01:06

Not for nothing but maybe I'm reading this wrong..are some of you saying that you put the palm oil on the feathers and body of your birds?

If you were to make something similar to the photo, you would first have to buid a concrete base that it would sit on. Ideally, the concrete would be put on top of solid patio flooring. That concrete would have to be at least 4 inches high.The concrete would have to have 4 rising blocks under each corner. Those blocks would be made of bricks. The concrete and the bricks can't be put into soil because eventually the the avairy would sink into the ground and would become off balanced and attract different tunnel boring insects. Outside weather would affect how solid the soil would stay. The one above is made of wood. That's an ideal material in which the carpenter ants and termites couldn't resist. So, you'll need to do some more research on this project and make sure that all of the other neccessities are covered. The first thing you should forget about is using a wood frame. The one above is fine as an indoor aviary only.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/04/26 21:28

There is one extremely bad side effect of using the vinegar----Although the odor won't bother the bird, some will get very agitated and nervous because they think you're getting ready to use them as part of a chef's salad. Greys like eating off the table but they don't wanna be part of what's being eaten on the table.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/04/26 01:30

Who ever told you to use any type of chemical on your bird's feathers which by the way, could eventually sink into the skin?

Bird people here in the US, UK, Canada are very familar with palm oil. It's a product that has been sold for many, many years. There's many places that it can be purchased at a very low price. The shipping and handling is also inexpensive. We have extensive articles here that talk about palm oil. All palm oil is virgin which means that it's all organic. The reason for that is that it's also sold as a dietary suppliment for human beings. Local stores, large stores, wholesale outlets, health food stores and vitamin stores all need official certificates and licenses that will allow them to sell ingestible products.

russmars Normally, the type of bird you're referring to isn't bred intentionally for that color. It's genetic or it's an excess of the caratoid gene. Many birds lose much of that red coloring after the first or second major molt. When you purchased your bird, it probably had that genetic marker but I think you didn't actually ask for that specific colored bird. Some of those birds wind up keeping that excess coloring throughout their lives. In other words, the bird's color can be classified as an *accident*. Most people who breed greys don't specifically try to create that red color type bird because there's no guarantee that the chicks will come out with even colored red areas in the places you'd like and as I've said, there's a quantity that eventually lose that marker. Just like Lyric said, the father had some random red in it, but I'm sure that the reddish color that she's seeing on her bird is not in the same area that the father's red was in. As far as breeding your bird, is the bird a pet grey? If so, do you intend to keep it as a pet grey?<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/04/25 20:05