Dave007

Ok, let me explain what's happening as best as i can--- 1---Molting---first thing that starts to fall out are the white fluffy base feathers. Usually, they don't look like feathers. just pieces of fluff. 2---Next comes the small grey feathers. They look like feathers but are tiny. A grey has about 400 to 500 of those tiny feathers. 3---Next comes the flight and tail feathers although that doesn't happen to every single grey. Concerning the tail and flight feathers, that's just a coincedence. 4---the body is left with small pin shafts in which the new feathers will come in. The old feathers are being pushed out by the new feathers. So what's going on is normal. The bird looks pretty disheveled---normal Now as far as the eggs --an overactive gland is causinng that to happen. It doesn't happen to all greys. If your bird is ignoring the eggs or just pushing them around, that's good. Don't remove any eggs. After about 20 days she'ss know that they're no good and will totally ignore them. Then you can take them out. Immediately taking an egg out as it appears only makes the bird lay more. It's possible that she'll push out one more egg, possiblely 2 but I don't think so. If it's 4, not to worry. No nests should be given. No special foods should be given. Leave her and the eggs alone. Don't make a big fuss over her. As far as molting goes, that's not an overnight thing. It's takes quite a while until the molting finishes. A new molt will happen againin about 8 to 12 mts As far as the workmen in the house---she may tolerate them but it's not a good idea to have your grey around strange people who're doing things. You really don't know whether something will happen that will scare her.

Not to worry. No disrespect taken:o

I never said anything about YOU rehoming your bird. What I was saying is that many other people have the same types of problems as you. But they decide to not to take the bull by the horn wind up losing control and give their birds away.

Many times a bird temporarilly changes personality. If he/she had a different personality before the change, the bird will eventually turn back to that original personality. But a change means that the owner needs to also change his/her ways of handling the bird. A bird who has reverte to biting many things including people needs to be put into it's cage and some of that freedom that the bird has needs to change. Basically, the owner has to start over almost as if it was a new bird. Everything he does is outside of the cage. Aggressiveness to toys (normal) *****He wants to be on one of us much of the time**** Not a good idea if the end result is getting chewed or bitten. Scents, clothes, new hairdo or colored hair has nothing to do with your problem. All of those things apply to a bird who is very frightened to come out of a cage. Getting his wings clipped won't do any good because you'll still have the bird all over you and he'll bite. ***** A normal part of his growth as he transitions into an adult? Hormonal?***** Maybe, but a male is hormonal/ horny all year long cause he always wants to get laid. All seasons long. It's possible but that bird still needs to go through basic training again. Put more of his toys in the cage. Stop walking all around the place with him. That just makes it easier to bite you. Another example of hormones----some friendly adult female greys who goes into that stage needs to be left alone. She's grumpy, dosn't feel satisfied, and will bite at times when the owner does the same exact things when the bird wasn't hormonal. It pisses the owner off but they need to be told to leave the bird alone. Your bird is a male so that problem isn't the same thing. Males who are hormonal don't have major personality changes. I could go on and on but basically, the things you wanna change aren't gonna happen when the bird is constantly free. That grey is a wild animal and most prey parrots are unpredictable. Start by feeding through the cage. When he's out, he must be confined to a small area so he can't zoom all over the place and use you and family as landing strips. If he's a bird that refuses to go in the cage then find the greatest thing he likes to eat, let him see it and then put it in the cae. He'll go in. Do that repeatedly. When he's out of the cage have all his toys, playstands etc near the cage. The bird has to learn to be calm around you. All of your family showing fear from the bird is being picked up by the bird and parrots will take advantage. Parrots won't feel sorry for you. You and the family have to be calm with him and as it stands that won't happen if the bird is sneak attacking the family. I've seen families not change any part of that bad situation and they usually give the bird away. Parrots have no desire to lightly bite when they're in a biting mood. The harder and deeper it gets, the better the bird likes it. Most importantly, none of this is gonna happen quickly. It takes much time and I've read your posts ( combining 2 threads) and not much time has really gone by since you started complaining about your problems. You obviously thought that a solution was just around the corner. The more you hold off doing anything about it, ( starting fresh) the worse it's gonna get.

Some TAGs do have red tails. Even now, that exists. That's why some people think they have a TAG/CAG mix bird which is untrue.

If you're having problems with wolf spiders and recluse spiders, both of which are deadly, it's best to have it professionally done and remove your birds to another place. Pest control companies lays a killing agent and then a protective agent to temporarily keep them from coming back. Cold weather is nearby and your problems will lessen. Be careful with those types of spiders. They're not your everyday common spider. The pest control agent that's used does,t have a lingering odor. People here in PA have the same problems with those types of spiders.

Polly died in 1947 From what I've read, she was 25 yrs old

I'll add to what Dan said. Greys love having that done to them. If your bird is an adolescnt or adult and you do that under the wings, lower breast area and vent area, your bird will eventually bite you after you decide to stop. You may wanna stop but that doesn't mean that the bird wants you to stop and many times a bird will bite because of sexual excitement. That pic definitely shows your bird sexually stimulated. Thats the same exact position that mating birds will get into, male or female. The biting won't happen every time but the biting will happen when you least expect it. Hormonal time of the year? Heavy molting time? Etc.

We have a special place to enter Cosmo's name, age, how you got him ( if you want). Lots of people check out that section. Today, Cosmo is a star http://www.greyforums.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?25-Happy-Bird-Day-Room

This is a pair of Major Mitchells (AKA--Ledbetters). These are the seond most expensive cockatoos that exist.--$3000 t0 $4000 per bird. These cockatoos are the most aggressive of all cockatoos. They don't do well as pets because of the climate they live in.----40 to 55 degrees Enjoy the photo.

I only wish that the so called Teachers in my schools would have had that same attitude.

It's just another one of those millions of BS advertisments that constantly float around on the net all the time waiting to be picked up by people. If a bird hates spraying, bathing, misting, there isn't anything arund that's gonna change it's mind. Too bad it's not against the law. although, I must say this one is unique. I had a good laugh. Hmmmmmm, maybe I should sit down and create a crazy product. I'll need time to think of good professional name. PLUS---any excess feathering on flight and wing and outer body won't accept fluid. All those feathers are water, fluid proof.

I'm sure you'll find all the true information that you speak of in our numerious Boards that took quite a long time to create. Each thing you mention is covered on these boards including the most important foods, methods of bathing, types of bathing in special situations, brand names, and of course different ways of showing affection which is the least important because all the grey owners love their birds dearly and have different methods of doing it. After all, It would be a bad thing to say things that might turn out to be misleading. That's why the boards were put into place.

Actually,. It could turn out to be a wise lesson. It wasn't serious but it could have been. For years I'v been telling people not to kiss a bird's beak because of the unknown. but people just don't listen and find that kissing a bird's beak is some kind of affection. Well, getting bitten this time wasn't showing affection. It's the same thing I've told people about birds being allowed on shoulders until a peron is positive that nothing will happen but people just can't resist. In the wild, greys don't kiss each other. They mouthe each other. This is a person who had a love affair with his bird. The guy was a kisser. He had the bird since it was 6 mt's old. It was 2 years old when this happened. He kissed the bird hundreds of times. Needless to say, he doesn't kss his bird's beak anymore.

Is the Emergency Vet an avian vet? If so, then go. If not, the diagonis could be wrong. Look around and see if there's soft feces. She might have an infection or something else that got her sick. If you can hold out until tommorow then go to your avian vet. Bring a small amount of feces with you. Unless the cage is in a cold area there's no need to move it. That might get her upset.It could be a problem in the digestive track. Watch and see if she's constantly spitting up. The problem could be in the back of the throat. Don't move things around in the cage. We cant diagonis the problem here because there's no vets here. The problem could bee digstive. PS--fruits can sometime cause loose droppings. Molting doesn't usually make a bird hide all day. Sory about the health room mistake

If I may ask--what's the reason for putting this item into a CAG or TAG cage? Their cage is usually accepted as the ideal place for any grey to sleep in. As Judy said, height is what they like. One of my greys enjoys napping or sleeping with a heavy duty metal touching him. He goes behind it so that the bell is constantly touching him.

*****Regardless of a breeder's claims that a bird is fully weaned, they really aren't until they are nearly a year old.****** The word *weaned* means the the bird is off formula and eating solid foods and is ready to go home with the buyer. *****You will still need to guide your baby in what is good and safe to eat.***** Weaning has nothing to do with correcting or changing a bird's diet.

I think it would be safe for you to take the bird now since the bird is almost 4 mts old. Handfeeding a bird that old is very easy. All that's needed is a teaspoon and the formula. You should get the mixture of formula that was being used. Usually, the advice that's given about not taking a bird home applies to birds that are strictly being fed formula many times a day. Those birds are usually 6 to 10 weeks old. You really shouldn't have any problems and people here can easily tell you how to spoon feed a bird although the only thing that has to be done is allow the bird to scrape off the formula from the spoon. Have a good time with your TAG.

Fairness When a man talks dirty to a woman, it's sexual harassment. When a woman talks dirty to a man, it's $3.95 a minute.

***I promise this will be the last question!**** First off, I think that you not asking questions about your bird, especially a pre owned adult bird who hasn't been dealt with properly is a very stupid thing to do. We're here to try to give advice and also trying to make owning a grey a pleasant experience. No one is told that they have only a limited amount of questions even if it's on the same subject. But if you don't wanna ask questions, that's up to you. Towels are usually used to get a bird out of a bad area or to taking it to the vet and also holding a bird down to clip claws. No matter what you do with a towel, you're gonna get a bad reaction. In that sticky, those different reactions are talked about. My advice is to mist your bird while it's in his cage. Instead of squeezing the trigger all the way in, try using 1/2 squeezes. Get as close as possible when doing under the wings. Turn knob on mister and turn to the water pistol setting. Aim at the front of the wing connected to the skin. Your bird will then take care to spread out the rest of the water under the skin. Remember that no matter what you do, it'll cause a bad reaction but most of the time the person is really more freaked out then the bird. People hate to hear their bird growl, squawk, screech etc. People think they're killing the bird. You can also get a baking dish, fill it with water and put it in the bottom of the cage. Don't expect the bird to immediately jump in. All of these things take time for a grey to absorb. CAGs are very leery, defensive and take quite a while to accept new things. This can apply to toys, new foods, coming out of a cage, stepping on to a playstand. It's gonna take time but you need to ask questions but again, that's up to you. Others are here and have many tricks up their sleeves concerning dealing with greys. Person A has one way to do something Person B has another way Person C has another way Person D has another way. It's your job to try to take little things from A,B,C,D and coming up with things that work for your bird. Your bird is an individual. The only thing he has in common with another grey is the color of the feathers

I really can't say whether you actually need one but I can tell you that having one in use around a grey that has dry or normal skin is a fantastic thing to do. Greys are known for their itchy skin. Moisture of any kind is very important. I forget whether you said something about your bird hating getting misted or bathed or showered but they do need it and a bird who doesn't like it will squawk, growl, screech while getting bathed. The secret is getting the actual body skin wet, not just the outer feathers. There's a section (sticky) about bathing in the HEALTH ROOM. Check it out and it'll give you a general idea about wetting/bathing/misting/showering a bird. Even though a grey acts like that, there's no hate involved and actually the whole thing is harder on the person who's doing the wetting/bathing/misting/showering. A larger % of greys don't like any bathing or wetting down so it's nothing unusual.

Has he been doing this plucking for a long time? Any moving the cage around? Strange people around him lately? Kids darting around him? Very important----has he had this condition looked at by a vet? If not, make an appointment. For now I would get this product from a pharmacy. It's a gel, not toxic, sinks right into the skin, won't burn, will relieve itchiness. Lightly coat the bald area 2/3x a week. Don't wash off. There's different companies that make it. Make sure the label says 100%. Ask pharmacist about what percentage is in it if nothing's on the label Another possibility it the room he's in. it may be very dry. It may need more humidity.