Dave007

Open bands can have any info that a person wishes to put on it. There are no standards concerning open bands. If you contact the place or person that had the bird you could get more info.. I can take one of my greys and put an open band on him that says N 07 DDP. I could tell people that the 07 number was the year he was born. That would make the age of the bird 6 yrs old. The only thing is, the bird is really 15 yrs old. Many times bands are put on birds to represent lot numbers. If you decide that your bird is approx 4 yrs old or whatever age , simply invent a certain birthday date, put it on your calender and use it to celebrate a birthday. Problem solved.

It's possible that your bird was brought in before 92. The bird would have been very young. Breeders were brought in and very young birds were brought in. If your bird was a breeder it would have to have been about 6 yrs and older. If it was a breeder bird the likelyhood that the bird was turned into a pet was next to impossible. Your L is correct but birds in quarantine were assigned numbers in numerical order. Back then, when quarantine facilities were closed, many official records were discarded. Your bird may be an adult but so far, you aren't having any problems with him. Things are only getting better. So, why is this situation torture for you? It was a long time ago and you're the new owner now. Focus on now, not yesterday. Nothing will change from what went on yesterday.

I'm not a big fan of pellets. There's colors, flavors, shapes, sizes, many different bands and yet it amazes me that so many parrots don't like them. That should tell you something.

***********LOL! I like the a-hole, it is a true description of what one would think of a person taking away something you were enjoying. Thanks for sharing this. ********** ******************************************* **********LOL... I'm with Dan... I like the a-hole better. It would fit********** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ HEY!!!! Both of you better watch your language. I won't tolerate such inuendo ESPECIALLY when it comes from the Super Moderator. Shame, shame You've upset my day. I,m a baptist and we do it with the lights out!

You're welcome-----good luck

Simply tell the vet when you first saw this problem. It's possibly an emergency. Going places doesn't aggravate the problem. Instead of sending us the picture, bring it with you to the vet .Let him decide what to do. That problem can come from many things.

So, what's gonna happen after 3 yrs?

Before different types of training is started, there has to be one important thing that has to exist which is stepping up. When stepping up is succesful, many other types of training can be started. You said that your bird doesn't do this. More than likely, he didn't do it with the previous owner too. The step up command is the most important command to teach your bird as it gives you some control over him and helps you to interact with him. Many birds will have learned how to step up before you get them home, but if they havent this short guide should help you. 1. Choose the command you want to use and stick with it. It can be as simple as Step Up but it should not be a question and should be short and sharp. 2. Choose a time to train when you have the birds complete attention. You may need to go into a neutral room such as a quiet enclosed area away from the cage to begin training. Make sure there are no distractions for the bird's attentions such as other pets, or people. The best place is a room with doors. 3. Hold your hand at the bird's abdomen above the feet and give the Step Up command. More than likely, he won't step up. . If he doesn't try pressing lightly on the birds abdomen. 4. When he gets used to your fingers/hand touching him and he steps up give him lots of praise and his favourite treat. As he gets better at stepping up you can decrease the treats, but keep praising. But that only has to do with how long the training sessions are. Also, he/she may not wanna step up onto human skin so have a 10 inch perch and substitute it for your hand. When he gets used to the perch, start using your hand. 5. You can have him step from hand to hand to practise. But when it seems he is getting tired or losing concentration, stop at the next successful step up, give lots of praise and end the session. 6. When it seems he has mastered the step up away from the cage you can begin practising it from inside the cage. If he's one of those birds that won't tolerate your hand being in the cage then don't put your hands in. Just continue with him on the cage or on the floor. 7. Have different family members practise the step up with him A couple of things to remember when you are teaching your bird to step up; 1. Never get cross with your bird, always be positive and ignore any unwanted behaviour 2. Keep the practise sessions short, but frequent. 3. If the bird appears to be going to bite your hand, relax, he may just be testing to make sure the perch (your hand) is stable. If he does bite, say firmly No biting! but keep your hand steady. Use a perch as a last resort. 4. If he doesn't seem to want to step up, or understand what you are expecting him to do a gentle push on his belly will help him to make the step. When he steps up, remember lots of praise and treats in the early stages! 5. And lastly remember if a step up always results in a negative outcome such as being returned to the cage, your bird may start refusing to step up. Make sure stepping up remains fun for your bird. The stepping up success may take a while. Different birds, different times. Don't put time limits on things that you thik the lessons should have been a success Try out the stepping up lessons and other training comes easier.

[QUOTE=Chenliu85;279907] When a guest comes over, I try to ask her to talk but she gets very shy and does not speak a word. ?/QUOTE] This is a very common thing that greys do. The large majority of greys won't speak when guests are around. At times, they''l even become quiet when the owners are around. Expect her to do that frequently.

Donations---no one can really say what happens to the donations. It's just like hundreds of other organizations that ask for donations. There's really no way to tell. What does she think?----she had a major impute into the movie much like most of the books that she's written. I wish I could really answer that question but I haven't slept with her yet. If I did, I'd have much more to convey. There's lots of controversy concerning the relationship and work that was done with Alex. There's hundreds of opinions pro and con from many people. It has to do with training, amounts of hours training, relationships with the other lab techs, feather picking that he did, reasons why he died, what the official medical diagnosis that actually caused the death. I do believe that many of the things I've read and seen shouldn't be set in stone. Personally, I feel that there's many, many other greys around that could have been Alex but that's just my opinion. She worked with the bird for 30 yrs and she's now working with others.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!!!!!!!!! Please let me introduce the one and only MOONROCK, (Drum Roll) The official reviewer of The PEPPERALEX Saga~~~~~~~~~~~~ How about a big hand of applause.:cool:

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Looking at feather patterns is a very unrealible old fashioned method for sexing birds. Feathers change with age. Today, most people get a DNA test done by their vet or by companies that specialize in DNA testing. The price is about $20 from those companies. Vets cost more. All that's required is a drop of blood or a feather. Check Avian Biotec. They will send you the kit and instructions for free. Their results are sent back to you with a 99% guarantee certificate.

You must be thinking of someone else. I never said that picking/scratching/pulling neck feathers had to do with sexual frustration. The skin may be dry. He may be trying to pull out old feathers or feathers that're irritating him. The area should be moistened frequently. Dan said aloe vera juice which is a good and inexpensive product.

Parrots don't eat like us. There's no breakfast, lunch or dinner. They eat all day long. They need a staple dry type food in their cage 24/7. Greys won't gain weight no matter how much food is around. As for as veggies, anytime is fine as long as they eat the veggies within 2 hrs. After that time, the veggies start to go bad. They dry up, shrivel, lose their moisture and some even rot so the veggies go bad. More can be supplied but only you will eventually know if putting more in is necessary. They don't need veggies all day long. Various amounts of veggies throughout the day won't hurt a parrot. Notice that I don't focus on fruit? Lots of fruit isn't important because there's really no nutritional value. They're acidic and run through a bird's digestive system . A little fruit 2x a week is fine. Also feed that anytime you want. Parrots don't eat every kind vegetable that's given so it's gonna be a trial and error situation in the beginning. Just make sure that the veggies are darkish green, leafy or solid. You'll also have to find out how your bird accepts the veggies. Some like them raw. Others like them steamed. Others like both. So that's another trial and error situation. Stay away from any type of avocado. It's toxic. You've gotten different opinions concerning pellets so I'll repeat---you'll need to find out which he likes. Another trial and error situation.

So your birds are blue collar. Basically, they're saying " HAY YOU!! Get your ass over here on the double!!! That's not a contact call. That's an order OR ELSE!!

Good productive response. Expense isn't alot. After all, how much do veggies really cost but no matter what, the person has to be prepared to accept so called failure. Failure is the name that people classify this problem as but that word shouldn't be used in this situation. . Pellets? Expense wise, that's a whole different story but I'm not so excited about pellets because I saw parrots do very well without ever seeing a pellet. Also, understand that my 2 questions weren't hypotheticals. I know the owners and their birds who are in these exact same situations but they're not having problems. I only bring this whole thing up because I see some the worry and horror that people have when their birds just don't follow the same path as other birds do. It's not a nice thing to see many people get depressed over such a thing when it isn't necessary and Dan, I know that you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Jeez, all this talk about bird food and it's value to the parrots and how the bird will suffer if not given these *good foods*. I've brought this subject up before and no one seems to have any answers. The reason is that most of the birds that are talked about are very young birds. So 1--what about the any age bird who won't accept any of these * good* foods no matter what method /methods are used for a long period of time but has only accepted parrot mix? And 2--what about the bird that about to be adopted at the approx age of 9 to 13 yrs and older and has only accepted parrot mix as a food staple for many years and refuses to accept new foods no matter what's introduced over a long period of time? And many methods are used. Should the person who's doing the adopting change his/her mind about adoption? Should the person prepare him/herself concerning the early death of the bird?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA8VJh0UJtg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Many people use their tap water because there's no problems but that can be different all over the place. My tap water can't be used for drinking. I use the water that gets filtered into a cannister which has the filter in it. The water gets poured into the cannister and the water goes through the filter and is extremely clean. I use this water to also make coffee and well as drinking. Filters last a long time and when they need to be replaced, There's a light on the cover ----Green light means very good. Yellow light means that filter needs to be changed soon. Red light means that filter needs to be done immediately. Some people who have bad tap water can also attach a filter to the nozzle. Water comes out clean.

I don't know whether it was your camera that took a distorted view of the cage but this is what a grey cage should look like as far as dimension goes. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/DaveVP/DSC_06311.jpg Concerning age, your bird is much older than 9 mts old and it's hard to tell the age after a certain point so give the bird an age that's liveable like 18 mts old. Sexing can only be done thru DNA test. That's done by a vet or there's companies that do it by sending the company a feather or drop of blood. They're cheaper than a vet and guaranteed and results come back with an official certificate. You've gotten some good info---gloves are out of the question. Many of the other things you wanna know about only come with time---talking. Imitating is second nature to them. Don't compare the IRN nature to a grey. Your bird needs veggies and not too much fruit which has little value. The nuts you give are fine but limit the sunflower seed. Add almonds to the diet. Leave hm alone so he'll get used to the many new things that surround him. That may take days or a couple of weeks. Eventually, his natural curiosity will show itself. Stop the hand feeding if he growls. That means he's afraid, nervous and will be defensive and the closer you get the quicker he'll bite. He may even screech or squawk. He's got alot to absorb right now. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/DaveVP/b.jpg

Veggies are a great idea and many people prepare them in different ways. Raw, steamed etc. It depends upon what your bird likes. It may take time to find what he likes. As far as seed to pellets, well that also depends on whether your bird likes the type you buy. You may have to try out different ones. Your bird needs his basicfood 24/7 and if that means seed, then it's seed. You can try putting one cup pellets in and then take it out and put one cup seed in and see what happens. Or you can put 2 cups in-- pellets in one and seed in the other and see what happens. One thing though----pellets aren't really that important or extremely nourashing for a bird. Chemicals, coloring, processing all has to do with pellets. Many of us here have found out that pellets aren't really as good as they're cracked up to be. Lots of baloney advertising. The best thing you mentioned here is veggies which are very natural and important for parrots.

You should keep the dog away so she doesn't have to eyeball the dog. She has enough to contend with right now. The big diference between the room, movement, voices is that the dog is another animal and that kind of trust has to be worked on gradually.

Definitely. It's high in fiber, and has some calcium. More importantly, it has lauric acid, which has shown to have bacterial and anti -viral properties. It's also contains medium chain triglycerides, which is fat, but it is immediately converted into energy as opposed to fat. It is also mixed in with veggie mixes in the supermarket. So yes, feed fresh coconut. If you want to give them the dried, or dessicated coconut, that's fine too, just make sure it has no sugar in it.