Dave007
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Posts posted by Dave007
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average cage size for an adult greyHi! I am Peter and I have fmale African Gray from 10 days. This is my first parrot. She is very smart and kind. I have many questions but I hope to find answers here.
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I don't know. I thought at buying him, but:
- The vets may have doubts about me, as I am kind of atypical person (they know that I spend most of my time and money rescuing pigeons) which is perceived with suspicion (craziness)
- I don't have the money
-I wouldn't be able to provide him good conditions, as I would have to keep him in cage in a room where pigeons fly freely, including outside during warm seasons, which may depress him. Also, my house is infested with coccidia and e. coli (possibly also with other diseases), there is almost always a treatment ongoing with the 30+ flock. That means he surely will aquire those diseases, as happens with all the birds that I rescue. But while I have the skill to keep the pigeons in good condition, with other species completely unknown to me there may appear problems leading to death of the rescued.
Well, this new addition to your original post, I'd advise you not to get any type of parrot.Mixing a parrot into an area that has possible diseases and constant medications and loads of feces that parrots can eat will surely cause the parrot to get sick. You wouldn't get anywhere as far as living one on one with a parrot. I totally agree with the vet. For your situation, stay away from parrots of any kind. Sorry, but you'll be putting that parrot into a dangerous environment. Parrots aren't mde to live around pigeons or any other ground birds that will eat anything that's nearby.
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Hi! This is my first post on the forum.
I don't own a grey but saw one in a pet shop who seemed sick and who, as the title says, was eating only sunflower. I talked with their owners who are in fact a vet clinic (where I used to take some of my sick birds) who own a pet shop across the street from their headquarters. The bird is kept in the main space of the pet shop, in a big enough cage but under constant strong artificial light (from room illuminators), in draft (customers entering continuously) and noise (same customers talking to the shopgirl). His droppings are light green (not toward yellow, but like you would mix green and white painting colors) and viscuous, like some diarheea, a homogenous paste of uniform color, not mucoid.
They told me they tried to make him eat something else but he doesn't touch anything but sunflower. The bird cannot be handfed or manipulated in any way as bites anybody and has an extremely strong beak, really dangerous. If someone aspproaches him he also start screaming, sort of agressive yeld, very loud and impressive but scaring the customers. The owners apparently were not puting at least calcium, vitamins in water, neither probiotics or acv. I typed, printed and handed them a four pages text about grey diet and fat liver disease, translated from the websites dealing with this domain / subject. They seemed reticent to receive advices, probably because they arte vets (but have no experience with birds).
I feel pity for that poor bird and want to help him, even in the conditions the owners are not cooperative. If I could receive some practical advice from you, I can go and handle them another text and they may want to follow the advices.
I know how useful would been some photos with the bird and especially with the droppings. Unfortunately, I was not inspired to take some photos when I was there and I'm afraid would not be prudent to do this now, as this may cool the relationship with the owners even more, making them even more reticent.
I have no experience with parrots but I'm rescuing pigeons for more than three years, I keep over thirty at my home and know to a certain degree their problems, how to hand feed etc, so I will understand your indications and find easy to put them in practice, if I can convince the owners to let me do this.
Unfortunantly. there's very little that be done while the bird is in a public place every day with lots of people around who have loads of ideas and opinions concerning the well being of the bird. All of the things you'd like to change need to be done in a stable private home and only by immediate family members. Convincing others (especially a vet) to do something is not an easy thing to do. Many people bring home pre-owned birds and have pretty good success rates in some of the areas you speak about. It's up to you. Wanna take a chance? REady to give that bird a one on one life? Give it genuine happy life? It's up to you. Good luck with your decision.
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Will this be ok?
It says 100% but then has the following ingredients:
100% Natural aloe vera juice, antioxidant: ascorbic acid, preservative: potassium sorbate.
Are any of these harmful to birds?
This product is the same as the aloe that's sold in the US and can be used on birds----full strength, no towel drying, no blow drying. The bird should be allowed to dry off in it's own time. No window drafts. The longer it stays wet on the skin, the better. 1 or 2x a week is fine. If you feel that the price is high, check out pharmacies, supermarkets, health stores. It may be less expensive. I don't know the the difference between the pound and the dollar. The impotant thing is that the product says 100%
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losing hope very fast ! 3 yr old cag had him 8 months is on a pellet diet with fresh fruit and veg palm oil 4 times a week sparyed with aloe vera juice 3 times a week lots of toys and out of cage time but still he plucks...bites...and he knows where to poo but continues to do it anywhere he wants my previous cag i had 20yrs was no problem and a joy to be around give up
Go to the Health Room on this board----read this. It's a sticky.
Chronic Plucking ( Different than acute plucking)--Some Facts
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What can be done about this?
http://www.birdlife.org/africa/news/ghana%E2%80%99s-grey-parrot-population-may-soon-cease-exist
Steve n Misty
There's nothing that can be done by us other than to sit back and feel bad. The problem that's going on are in countries that we no longer have contact with as far as exportation and importation of greys and other species. That ruling happened in 1992. This isn't the first time that a country ( many countries) has wiped out a species of animal ( birds or otherwise). All the greys that are talked about has to do wild greys in the wild.
Unfortunately we can't take on the problems of other countries. These problems are going on with elephants, certain predatory cats, marsupials, white tigers etc etc.
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Hey Dave, what kind of mister do you use?
Any simple type of mister can be used. It can have soap, windex, counter cleaner, window spray,---Any kind that's usually perchased in household goods/ cleaner dept. in stores. The sprayer has to be thoroughly cleaned out until there's no trace of the original product that was in it. The mister on the top of the plastic bottle has to have one feature on it which all sprayer bottles/plastic have---there's a knob on the top that turns clockwise or the opposite. There's usually 2 holes---one hole says *spray* and the other side says * stream* ,
The stream shoots out like a squirt gun and the other side comes out like a fine mist. You'll be using both holes. The stream will allow a strong jet of water to enter any closed areas like where the wings sit tightly against the body. Most birds aren't too eager to spread those areas. The mister will be used on all the white fluff areas plus all the rest of the body. The trick is toSOAK DOWN THE BIRD UNTIL THE SKIN IS SOAKED. Your bird will screech and squawk and try to fly around the cage. Pay no attention to this. DON't react. Just keep on Squirting until the bird is soaked. DO not towel dry him.!!!!! LET HIM DRIP DRY HIMSELF!!. THIS WILL TAKE AN HOUR OR SO. MAYBE MORE, MAYBE LESS.
There's many methods in the link I posted to you yesterday
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You shouldn't be shampooing your bird ever. Only birds that have special feather problems like the wild birds that've gotten stuck in oil spills need shampooing. Greys and other parrots don't ever shampoo themselves.
As far as the Aloe Vera Juice-----------it should n't be mixed or diluted at all.
http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?189967-100-natural-aloe-vera-juice
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Hi
Hope everyone has a great new year and hopefully a more peaceful one too.
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]I read in the paper today, how a juvenile went into a family's home, found a bb gun and shot their pets. A tinneh grey, two other birds, a Lizard.I can't express, how angry I am! I won't even tell you what I would do, if they were MY pets! I have been so upset all day. My co-workers knew of this, and hoped I didn't read the paper today.They knew how I would react. Can you imagine, if this was YOUR child that did this? Can you imagine the pain, this nine year old owner is going thru? I am HORRIFIED! These beautiful animals destroyed for no reason! I will be following this story closely in Webster, NY. A simple slap on the wrists, isn't going to cut it. Nancy
A very special book is now being opened. Your name is being looked for. When it's found, a huge A* is being
placed next to your name for showing serious empathy for the creatures who inhabit the earth. Believe me, not everyone has empathy for anything.
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We fight over cheddar cheese. GreycieMae tells me, back in the wild they would milk cows and make cheddar cheese for all the Greys to eat. I don't believe it.
I don't know who fights over cheddar cheese. For years the subject of cheddar cheese has been brought up on this and other boards about the safety and harm that cheddar cheese can produce. As long as the cheddar cheese is in brick form and yellow, it causes no harm to greys. As with many other items, it should be given in moderation ( a small piece approx. every 2 weeks) is perfectly fine and totally harmless. Many people have been told that it's harmless and so far, they're been no complaints, only people who say that their birds simply didn't like it. It's too bad that such important subjects like this don't get spoken about anymore on the board.
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When would you expect the first molt for a TAG? Zoe is 10 months now so just curious when we should expect to see the signs of molting and what those signs would be. Thanks!
TAGs don't molt as often as CAGs. There's no exact time to expect the signs of molting. It happens when it happens. Temp and humidity in their living area also either increases or decreases the amount of times a (CAG) grey will molt. That really doesn't apply to TAGs unless weather temps are severe. TAGs lose more flight and tail feathers through out the year than CAGs but that isn't considered molting, just sporadic loss of feathers whose blood supply has dried up which means a new feather is gonna replace. This happens any time of the year and there's no way to tell how often it will happen. Of course all of these things can vary from bird to bird but what's above is the general rule.
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Right now, let's forget about all the birds here and remember all the savagry that been going on in Cal and Paris and other places. People have been lost. lives have been gone. Children have been left with no parents There's a plague going on. Religious or non religious--it doesn't matter. Just remember how fucked up this world has become from people who consider it an honor to kill themselves. It's a new type of enemy that'll be very hard to control.
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I eat yogurt with fruit and sako likes to eat the blubberys out of it,and a lot of times its covered with yogurt,just wondering if a little yogurt on its ok for sako and if so how much might be to much>
Thanks if anyone can help on this matter.
love and light all
Yogurt is fine because it contains beneficial bacteria which is also good for people. How much? No more than 3x a week so that loose bowel movement doesn't occur. All flavors are fine.
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She now eats the seed mix (the breeder said not to go for pellets) and vegetables and is not on formula anymore. Does this mean she's weaned or is there more to it than that? Also, what does the oatmeal do in particular?
Thank you for putting my mind at rest! I thought it was because of how young she is. I didn't know whether it was best to get straight into these things from the start or whether to ease off and go at her pace. I guessed the latter but thought I would make a thread to ask just in case.
So what things should I look out for in regards to knowing when to try and handle her and let her out of the cage? Are there any indicators that can show when the best time to start doing these things is?
Thanks!
Pellets ae a waste of good money. Artifcial flavors, artificial colors ( ever see any nature show where the birds fly away from their natural food and search and seek out that famous PELLET TREE?):cool:
Veggies are very important in their diet but raw veggies need to be taken away after a few hrs because they wilt and soften and are less appealing to the bird. Having a decent seed mix in the cage 24/7 is nessecary because a parrot eats all day long when it feels like it. To a parrot, tjere's no breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Oatmeal serves as a treat, is warm and allows a bird to look forward to you coming to feed it. It should be flavored Quaker Ot has different flavors. They also sell a 10 pk that has different flavors in it. Don't worry about sugar in the oatmeal. It won't hurt the bird. Do it about 3x a wk.
Oatmeal also imitates formula concerning thickness. Obviously, your bird should have been weaned a little longer but the past is a past so don't worry about it.
Time limits on things--I can't do that because all greys are different from each other. Usually, as they get older, the only thing they have in common is the colors of their feathers
Patience, patience, patience. Talking, talking, talking. Being around the bird constantly. Let your bird be in the midst of everything. If you have children around, they should be told about polking or knocking around cages. Greys are very nervous about kids. It's not unusual for a grey to bite a child if the kid is getting the grey nervous and leery.
Handling her----she'll definitely tell you when she wants to finally involved with you. Curiosity, acting like she wants to connect with you, Hanging on the front of the door to get your attention. Once a grey gets interested, she/he will constantly show that interest to the point of being a pain in the ass. Sitting at a table or couch? She'll wanna sit there too. Sitting at a PC typing? She'll wanna come over and go on your shoulder or bite the keys. I wouldn't encourage shoulder sitting until you're totally positive that she won't nibble on your ears, jewelry, clothing, cheeks etc
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We just got our 3 month old Grey on Friday (13th). She is fully weaned but, as I say, still only 12 weeks old.
She's been quite hyperactive in the cage, jumping about, climbing all over the place etc. I assume this is the first proper cage she's been in so she's getting used to it. She regularly sleeps throughout the day. Anyhow, I did try to bring her out on Saturday to go on the playstand on top of the cage. However, she seems very nervous and she ended up flying off me (not wing-clipped) to the other end of the room. I had to then carefully grab her bodily and put her back in the cage.
My question is: when should I start attempting to get her to step up on my hand so I can take her outside the cage? Should I be doing this immediately or waiting a while to build up trust? Currently I feed her the odd bit of food through the cage and tickle her but I haven't attmepted to get her out of the cage or step up on my arm since Saturday.
She also seems to make strange noises and behaviour when I go up to the cage, walk by, or she sees me looking at her from the sofa. She looks up at me a little frantically and starts making sort of whining noises, similar to the noise dogs sometimes make if they're frustrated and want something. I don't know whether she feels threatened or something?
I can only assume it's because she's so young?
Today is the first day she seems to not be so hyperactive and not going down to the floor of the cage to mess about with the newspaper.
Thanks in advance!
****I can only assume it's because she's so young?**** -------YES, you're asking and expecting a bird that's only been with you to perform certain things while the bird is still getting used to many, many things in the house. That includes, getting used to the environment, getting used to other people and animals that may be there. You say she's fully weaned at 12 wks? I don't think so. You probably got that info from the people or place you got the bird. A bird needs to be weaned until the bird tells you that she/he has had enough of feeding of formula (refusing to take a feeding. Example--a bird who's been given formula 3x a day decides that it only will accept 2 feedings a day--etc etc. That's a bird who's being properly weaned and different birds take different times to get to that point. When a bird is barely weaned, the bird will act irractily. It will be nervous. It will still remember the other chicks that he's been taken away from. He will act erractily in a new home with new people who have different habits. A bird needs to be left alone so that all of these things can be absorbed. Give oatmeal (warm and lumpy in a spoon or scoop. The noise she's making could be from a variey of things but all of these strange sounds will lessen as the bird gets us
*****Should I be doing this immediately or waiting a while to build up trust?****
Well, I think I've already answered that question
******I don't know whether she feels threatened or something?
I can only assume it's because she's so young?******
I already answered that question
Stop the stepping up process until the bird shows interest and less nervousness around you. She'll come to you. She'll wanna show curiousity to you.
Take it very slowly. She's only been there a few days. She's a wild animal and will always be a wild animal. Parrots can't be domesticated.
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Oh dear! I will send this to the tech dept asap.
The problem seems to have been corrected.
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What? I haven't seen any problem. Please explain when it happens and a screen shot?
Well, I already described what's there. In the area that has the 4 moving pictures of greys, right above that area that has the moving pictures, This is what's there=======
Got error 28 from storage engine SQL=SELECT m.*, sum(case when p.published=1 then 1 else 0 end) as cnt FROM jos_menu AS m LEFT JOIN jos_menu AS p ON p.parent = m.id WHERE m.menutype='mainmenu' AND m.published='1' AND m.access <= '0' GROUP BY m.id ORDER BY m.parent, m.ordering
Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/greyforums/public_html/templates/rt_fire/rt_supersucker.php on line 97
I have no idea what it means. The only way I can get on the board is to press any item in Popular Threads. That allows me to get to the main page. I'm simply copying and pasting what's there. I didn't put it there. It's been there since about 3 PM
That type of message can only come from the internals of the board. It's also possible that it won't even be there tomorrow OR it might still be there.
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There seems to be a problem on the board above the moving pictures of greys so pressing on the forum doesn't allow one to get on board.
This is what's there
Got error 28 from storage engine SQL=SELECT m.*, sum(case when p.published=1 then 1 else 0 end) as cnt FROM jos_menu AS m LEFT JOIN jos_menu AS p ON p.parent = m.id WHERE m.menutype='mainmenu' AND m.published='1' AND m.access <= '0' GROUP BY m.id ORDER BY m.parent, m.ordering
Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/greyforums/public_html/templates/rt_fire/rt_supersucker.php on line 97
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**********Thanks for your reply!
I haven't bought the light or unit yet, was going to wait to see what people said. If I wanted to have the light shining into the cage from above then I'd need to remove the top slide-tray whenever the bird is in the cage. Which is no big deal, my only concern is that space it at a premium where I live at the moment (will be moving in the Spring).
The only other issue I have is that if the parrot has full spectrum lighting whilst inside the cage she won't have it when she's on the playstand on top of the cage. Won't that distort her vision, going from one to the other all the time?
I could get one with a stand so it can be moved around depending on when she's in her cage or on top? I'm still concerned about the difference in her sight when she's under UV and when she's not though. *********
I can see that you're worrying but you shouldn't be. Lighting for a bird is pretty easy. You simply get a fixture, put the light over the top of the cage, turn it on and walk away. A light shouldn't be moved around just because the bird is in a different part of the cage. Ever see any wild birds that actually stay under the sun all day long?? Of course not because birds don't stay in direct sun light all day long.
It doesn't matter if the upper tray is in or out. The light needs to be above the bird's body, not on the side. The light shouldn't be positioned on the sides of the cage.
So, to make this simple, I've added a picture of a light. The light is above the top of the cage. The upper part of the stand is bendable. Once the light is positioned it should be left alone. You shouldn't be following the bird with the light. At the most, a parrot only needs about 4 hours of light per day. A little less--fine. A little more---fine. All day long----fine.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=5059+5690+24615&pcatid=24615
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From what I've read here and elsewhere it seems like UV lighting is highly beneficial. However, one thing I have read is that the lighting should be placed above the bird. The only thing is my cage has a playstand perch built on top of it, which has a pull-out metal tray underneath it. This means I can't put a UV light directly over the top of the bird cage. The only available place is to attach it to the side of the cage and angle it downwards towards the main middle perch of the cage (where the food/water bowls are).
Would this be ok? Or does the lighting have to be directly above the bird so it doesn't look into it too much?
Hi-----I'm very sure about what type of cage (style) you're referring to. The vast majority of cages that are sold have that upper tray just under a playstand type top. As far as lighting, It's good for greys but they can grow and be healthy without the lights. But since you already have the lights you may have to use a bit of redesigning with that light. It needs to be put on top of the crossbar part of that upper playstand. It needs to be positioned about 10 inches above that playstand bar. You may need to put an extention that has a clip on the frame of the light so that it can be put on the playstand bar. You see, there's a long list of styles that have a bird light. Another way of doing it is to use that same type of extention but make sure it's about 18 to 20 inches long. By doing that, you can bypass the playstand bar and simply hook it on to the top of the cage and position it right on the back wall of the cage.
Yes you're right. Any light shouldn't be placed on the side where a bird can't help but to look at it. It's possible that a bird can get cataracts or vision loss. Some people are able to get a refund or exchange it for a different style.
What I've told people in the past who haven't been able to exchange a light or just can't afford one is just to forget about putting a light on at all. I've told 100s of people that and most have never had any problems
OH and one other thing concerning that crossbar on the playstand---there's a possibility that your bird may decide to not even bother to go up to the playstand area if you hook something on it but that shouldn't be a problem because there's loads of playstands that can be purchased or even homemade. Many people like to make their own.
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hi does anybody know where i can get the juice from here in the uk ? paying nearly 100 pound for a gallon ?
There's many places in the UK where Aloe Vera Juice and Aloe Vera Gel can be purchased but just like in the US, there's many people that need to order it online. Below are just a couple of places and none of them cost as much as what you quoted.
http://uk.shop.com/Beauty/aloe+vera+juice
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Optima-Healt.../dp/B0013G1ROS
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=aloe+vera+juice
As far as your picture, are you referring to pasta or a bird's name??
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Does anyone here have any experience of PetalCleanse feather cleanser or AirCleanse made by Bio-Life in the UK? After 13 years, I have suddenly become sensitised to Misty"s dander.
I have tried these products today and they seem to be effective.
One is a spray containing Aloe vera and other plant extracts for spraying on Misty's feathers and the other is an air cleaning spray containing Eucalyptus and other ingredients.
My sensitization seems to be due to me inhaling mould spores whilst cleaning out some old damp magazines from storage. Since then I seem to be allergic to all kinds of dust.
With Misty, I get a strange slightly oily taste in my mouth and sensation on my face as well as a tight feeling at the back of my neck. It does not affect my breathing.
It is just a bit worrying!
Steve n Misty
Since you already know that you have allergies to other dust collection items in the house, that should be telling you that you need to see an allergist and get tested for your problems. Lessening dander isn't gonna stop other dust collecting areas to ease up. most of the items sold for dust collections or preventative measures are usually ineffective. Another example of bullshit advertising is the companies that say that spraying on a special concoction will stop birds from screaming or screeching.
One thing you can do with the dander from your bird--------
Spray water on your bird. It will make the dander heavy. When your bird tries to shake it off, the wet dander will fall downward instead of all over the place. Wet feathers and wet dander aren't able to spread around as much as dry feathers and dander.
BUT, remember that test---you need to be checked out for allergic pathogines in your home.
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I had a boxer and two Rottweilers with a CAG for many years. The CAG loved all dogs. She knew all dogs by name, family members dogs by name etc. the dogs were indoor dogs and all animals were treated as a part of the family.
I never had any issues that weren't 100% positive.
I had a german shorthaired pointer who died last year at 14. I now have a Brittney 7 yrs old. Both are bird dogs but they totally love my greys. Their main interest is deer, squarriels, other rodents, doves, frogs and some snakes, feral cats--all outdoor animals. They have absolutely no interest in the greys but both can be used by hunters for getting quail, grouse, turkeys. The greys love the greys, play with them
and I have pics that show them together. Others have seen those pics. Cats? They're a no no.
African Grey Account
in Welcome & Introduction Room
Posted
I'm not the admin. I really don't know how to delete your account. People simply stop posting. People who do this can come back in the future whenever they want and repost or simply read the latest. Only you know why you want to unsubscibe. Having any special problems?