Dave007

Please if you have any suggestions that can help with are new baby African congo grey.

She arrived Yesterday after she endured 11 hours travel time from breeder to Us in are wonderful waiting home .She is only 12 wks and I thought she was 17 wks

She arrived by plane then we had to travel a hour with her home from the airport

There was a flight delay midway and I thought from what breeder said that she was going to make sure that the plane did not make any stops but of course that did not happen !!

So She is home and after cutting her out of her carrier that had zip ties everyplace I go to get her out and give her some nice warm perfect baby formula and she came barreling out of the carrier hissing and puffed out running at the syringe and bites it screams runs to the ground.I pick her up with a blanket and put her into her awaiting home now,she has had no water or formula for all this time so I put in water and some of the food that breeder was giving baby.

I watched as poor baby drunk the water like she was in a desert I cried as she went to a corner and got behind a big java perch in her cage and tried to hide her little eyes from us.She put her head in that corner and stayed so I covered her for the night it was late.

This morning I woke at 7:30 am to feed her and she still screams at the syringe then now tries to bite me and the syringe.I cannot get near her or she screams she drinks water as I seen but today I tried giving her a saucer of baby formula ,homemade birdy bread, oatmeal warm,Her pellets and nutri berris the breeder used nothing PLEASE HELP US !!

She goes to the Avian Vet Friday was the very first they had but shes not sick YET

Thank You so much

First off, nothing I'm saying is meant to insult you or scold you or accuse you of anything. It's just about some facts and knowledge you should know about in the future.

I'm not a big believer in plane travel when it comes to birds( especially young ones). Too many things can go wrong. The only animals I would ship are dogs and cats. They can handle long distance travel.

Your problem isn't as serious as you think but the breeder should have been weaning this bird more than 3 mts, especially because it was gonna travel a long distance. It may take longer to get the bird but at least the weaning is finished. The reason it isn't seriuos is because your bird is already eating other things besides formula so your bird is defionitely not `starving. Proper weaning is when the bird actually tells you to lessen up on the formula feeding. As the bird gets older and eats more regular type food, formula isn't as appealing to the bird and the bird will stop eating the same amount of formula that's being given--example, a bird is being given formula 3x a day. The bird is also eating other things which all birds eventually do because it's natural so the bird will refuse to take one feeding of formula which the owner does. It'called abundance feeding and it can happen to young birds at any time. A bird can start doing that at different ages because each bird is different . Some will start when they're 3/4/5/6 mts old. Your bird may not like syringes. You may need to use a spoon or you may need to put it in an area where the bird can get to it. If he won't take it, there's no problem because he's simply interested in other foods.

Water---birds drink very little water during the day or night. That's why water needs to given a couple of times because it can collect dust or droppings etc. The reason your bird drank so much was because it was dehydrated from a long trip. Expect him to not do that so much as time goes on.

Food---a bird doesn't have breakfast, lunch or dinner. They need access to regular food all the time. That usually come from hard foods such a decent seed mix, crunchy veggies. Any vegetables need to be replaced during the day because they dry up or get hard. They lose the vitamins in it. That's the reason for dry food. Some people say NO SEED MIX. I personally think that's a lot of hogwash. Just think about the bird who grows up hating veggies, fruit. What is a person gonna feed them???

Another important thing you did that was unintentionally wrong was about how much time you gave to the bird when it arrived home. The bird was home with you and within 15 to 20 hrs, you started getting frantic and started thinking that bad things were just around the corner. A bird needs to get used to it's new surroundings, a new cage, habits that are going on in the house, different people living in the housse, possible other pets in the house and finally, understanding about how many people are involved in it's care. The bird just left one world and is now in a strange new one. Formula was the last thing on his mind. Many greys don't care for children. Kids are just to erractic, unpredicable, too fast around a bird. That can cause nervousness and the bird may look to biting people.

All of these thing take a little time for the bird to do. Right now, the bird isn't interested in formula. The only food that should be around is the type where the bird can get to if it wants to.

One other thing in your post concerning formula--you said baby formula. Did you mean formula that's given to kids or the type that's given to birds? If human type is used, that's gotta stop. Pet stores like Petsmatyrt or Petco or Petland and other big chains sell formula mix that can be used when mixed with water.

Another good idea when your bird gets used to you is to buy some flavered oatmeal mix. Quaker Oats makes it and it's also available genericin stores like walmart. Make sure you get flavored. Don't worry about sugar content. It's a favorite ith birds. It can be served in a small coffee scoop or large table spoon or any other item you have where the bird can get to it.

Veggies---try out dark green ones, carrots. Don't expect your bird to like all types.

Just remember--dry food that can be around 24/7 and veggies and some fruit that would need to be replace once a day.

Good luck

Dave - I THINK you are getting two people mixed up ... the dog walker (who is also one of my closest friends) is the one who freaked out Echo ... the bird sitter is someone Echo loves to bits and I would have her come and take Echo to her house for a couple of days to "settle" down and hopefully have some fun at her house. The sitter lives 1.5 hours away - one way' date=' so not really feasible to do a couple of visits.

 

They are two completely different people!!!!

 

Also, I don't have a "sitter" that comes into the house for the bird / dog. If I go away, Echo goes to the sitter's house. My friend just comes to pick up the dog and take her for her run. She is a VERY good friend ... we spend a lot of time together ... that's why I'm so ticked off.

 

The only man in the house is my dad, and he knows better!

 

A nanny cam is a great idea ... IF Echo doesn't find it LOL ... then it's destroyed![/quote']

 

OK, my mistake. Sorry about that. I was only looking after your safety.

I totally agree with everyone has said.

I only have one suggestion especially if your friend likes posting on FB because she thinks it's funny. I think you need to lie to her a little bit and tell her that when she breaks the rules, your bird is gonna go after you later on and try to bite your face and cheeks and eyes. I think you should tell her that your bird makes you bleed on a regular basis when this type of thing happens. I'm not sure whether you said that you bring the bird to her house but if you do, that should stop. Many people have bird sitters and a very common thing that people do is to ask the sitter to come over about 3 times a day, feed and water her and sit around her for a bit. The sitter should leave the bird alone. After all, she is only a sitter. You need to make drastic changes in order to maintain safety. A bird shouldn't have to be chased around in order to retrieve it because each time you do that the bird gets more frightened and bites even harder. She'll lose trust in you for a few days. She's gonna be pissed and she's gonna be more pissed at the sitter. If no men should be around then MAKE SURE THAT NO MEN AROUND!!!!!!! and hammer that into your friend's brain!!!!

Hello all,

We have just got our first African Grey (we paid the deposit yesterday) and our baby girl is due to arrive in 4/5 weeks. As you can imagine we're very excited. Even though we're first time owners of an African Grey both myself and my partner have had some experience with parrots in general (for a couple of months I lived with an African Grey and a Macaw whilst living with a family member) and my partner kept a Macaw who unfortunately passed away. After careful consideration and doing our research we've decided to get one, however I do have a few questions (not sure where to post these so I'm sorry if it's in the wrong forum) that hopefully a few of you can answer?

 

1) We're currently looking for vitamins for our girl as it's coming up to winter here in the UK, does anyone know of the best quality vitamins available within the market?

 

2) Another question I have does anyone know of any suitable recorded tapes that we can buy for when we're out of the house that we can play to her so she doesn't get lonely? We're at home a lot but sometimes there's times when we have to be out and don't want her to suffer from loneliness!

 

Thanks in advance! Looking forward to getting to know you all!

Congratulations on getting your new grey plus it's great that you've had past experience with parrots. Concerning vitamins, there's no store bought vitamins that are for greys and any other medium ti large sized parrots. They all get their vitamins from the food they eat, especially vegetables. Some fruit is good but fruit doesn't give vitamins to a parrot but they're not harmful.

You're very lucky to be getting a young grey. A young grey can be perswaded to eat vegetables very easily. Getting a young grey and starting that type of food will give a grey all the vitamins it'll ever need. Don't expect your grey to like all types of vegetables. Darker green types are very healthy. Carrots are very good. Different types of nuts are very good especially almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts. A decent type of parrot mix should always be available because a parrot eats whenever it wants to. There is no *breakfast, lunch or dinner* so food must always be available. This applies to all parrots.

As far as records----records don't work. If you're home quite a bit, your bird will eventually adjust to you and your partner not being there. Having stimulating toys are what's needed. Toys that can be destroyed, banged around. A heavy duty cow bell. We have lists of toys in the toy room that you can check out. Many people make their own.

Well, good luck and enjoy your time here.

Well, it's been four days now and it's still out. It looks worse every day.

Is it really normal that it's bent this way? When he arranges his feathers or shake his wings it doesn't come back inside.

Well, I already told you that it may take a while for the feather to fall, break or snap off. It won't happen overnight. I never said it would. If you did put the feather back in it's proper place and when he shook his feathers you saw the feather again, that's simply a sign that the feather is getting weaker and weaker. This especially applies to blood feathers. The feather will look more disheveled . I told you it was common that this can happen. I could show you pictures of birds that look much worse. I have great adult greys that fly around and they sometimes break feathesr. I pay attention to it just to make sure it's not b;eeding. If it isn't, I just walk away and let the bird take care of the problem himself. Many people here can chime in and tell you when that happened to their birds.

That includes wing, blood and tail feathers. Sometimes a bird flaps in the cage and the wing gets caught and breaks or partially snaps. A damaged feather that your bird has is not gonna look better simply because days have passed. It's dying and the feather will come off even if you don't believe me SO, if it'll make you feel better, you can go to an avian vet and have him snip it off.

Hello everyone. Our Congo African Grey, Echo, has a misplaced feather for three days now.

This happened when he flew off his play stick and kind of fell on the floor... He landed on his feet but it seemed kinda harsh.

Last night the feather turned completely counter-grow direction (the bottom goes toward the beak, not the tail).

He seems to play normally, but when he notices it he seems bothered and tries to pick the part that is connected to the wing.

My biggest concern is that it's a blood feather and that it is causing him pain. We looked at the base of it and it seems white with streaks of grey.

I called an emergency vet but he said he doesn't know much about parrots.

Do you guys have any suggestions about what to do?

The problem with the feather in your picture is a common one. It happens with many birds. If your bird allows you to hold him, just take the feather and put it back in it's proper area. More than likely, if the feather is broken, your bird will eventually pull or snap it off if it comes out again. This may happen a few times before your bird ecides to pull it away. If it happens in the cage, you'll see the feather on the bottom of the tray. Discomfort causes the bird to do this. It's not painful to a bird. What you shouldn't do is try to pull or snap it off because I can see that you're not familiar with blood feathers. So, let the feather die off and let the bird take care of the problem. Normally, this doesn't affect the bird's everyday behavior.

Good to hear from you. How close was the light to the cage for Talon? I was planning to hang this from the ceiling about 12" above his cage. perches are really 2.5 feet below the ceiling of the cage....but there are toys at the top so I don't want it right on top of the cage. I was just worried my current one wouldn't be doing much that far away from the perches. However, do let me know if you think what I am doing might be dangerous as I can always return my stuff. the stuff I read in the article I linked above seemed pretty legit.

All horonztal avian lights should be positioned 3 ft or more above the roof of the cage. Avian lights have the ability to give out long distance rays even though lights are at least 3 ft away. Incandesent bulbs should be approx. 4 ft above the roof of the cage. They give off more heat. Toys ( any type of toys or ropes or swings_) shouldn't be positioned at the same height as the light. If a person does that, the bird can't avoid seeing the light when looking across the cage. Birds don't like looking straight up into light (any type of light including the sun). If a person or a bird were to look up at the sun for a while, the eyes would get injured.

Of course, if your bird area has a decent amount of indoor regular lighting around the cage and room, no avian lighting is necessary. Thousands of people have birds with no avian lights near or on the cageand no problems occur.

Well, that's good. 3 wks is a short amount of time before any judgement behaviors can be made. For most birds, about 3 mts you'll see diferent results. The nervousness is common and will soon subside. You're in for a good time.

My vote is not to clip a young bird because the bird needs to build up muscle strength and coordination. This takes up to about 6 to 8 mts or more. Having a full set of unclipped wings allows the bird to do this evenly.

All young birds will eventually fall off of a cage once in a great while. The bird who has short wings won't be able to handle that shocking quick experience. That experience only lasts for about 2 minutes. The bird with a full set of wings will be able to handle that experience much better because of coordination and muscle strength.

I have a problem with my African grey (7-old male) and was hoping somebody could help me with some advice because I have nearly given up – he is a bitter

And not a “warning bite” kind. Also not “get out of my space” bitter. He comes to me when I am sitting on the sofa, he begs me with a titled head to be scratched and when I do that, he lets me scratch him for a few minutes and then…bam…he suddenly bites. Strongly – usually drawing blood.

 

I try to do right by him. When I am at home he is always out of his cage, sitting on a perch near so he can interact with me. We do training to keep his mind occupied and to build a communication bridge between us – he does all sorts of “tricks” and comes when called. But the biting issue persist and I don’t know what to do. When he bites me this hard I lose all the buildup trust with him and am afraid of touching him, a fact I am sure he senses I don’t strike him or jell at him for doing it – For his “punishment” I just ignore him for some time. But he has bitten in this way since we got him (4 months old) and keeps doing it no matter what I try.

 

I would really appreciate any sort of advice or direction to help him. I am sure something isn’t right for him if he keeps doing it – I still believe that some parrots aren’t just mean by their nature (as one African grey breeder suggested when I approached him with this problem).

If your parrot will let you pet him but bites after a few minutes, this means that you're are trying to pet him for too long a period even though you think it's a short time. The pet owner’s job is to figure out how long is too long. If you time the interactions, you will get a feel for your bird’s tolerance. Once you understand that, you can remove him from the situation before he loses patience and lashes out. If he accepts being stroked for 10 minutes, then move him away after 5 to 7 minutes. You will begin to have less problem with him biting those who pet him, specifically you. You never mentioned any other family members. His patience will increase once she no longer feels pressured.

If you observe your parrot closely, you will find that he warns of an impending bite with body language that humans often do not understand. Despite their proclivity for noisy interaction, parrots communicate mostly through subtle changes in body posture and feather position. You say that's not happening. If we are oblivious, we tend to blunder along, being incredibly rude from the parrot’s point of view. As far as they are concerned, they are being perfectly clear with their feelings. Unable to know that we do not understand what they are telling us, they likely perceive humans as ignorant.

Another thing to think about doing is not to pet your bird when he comes over because for some reason he associates his biting with your petting him. There's nothing wrong with a bird not being petted when he comes over. The bird only wants company.

Ok, now for the big change-----have a 10 inch perch close by you and let him step on the perch when you're bringing back to the cage.

Remember that some birds don't want the touching to stop so in order to tell you this, he bites. Some birds nip hard and some birds bite very hard causing blood.

This whole process takes time especially with an adult grey. This is a problem that should have been addressed when the bird was 8,9,10 mts old.

I don't pet my greys when they fly over. They only wanna be close by and are curious about what's going on. If I were to pet my greys every time they came over, I'd get bitten too.

PS----just what areas are you petting him besides the head?

I believe Ollie is her dog....:confused:

Oh okay.Must of read it wrong.My mistake.

Parrots don't get kennel cough because it's a viral disease that can only be passed to other 4 legged land animals such as dogs and cats and sometimes although rarely, people. Even animals bred for food such as chickens, turkeys and other food animals won't get kennel cough but can get other airborne avian viruses such as what happened in 2005. In that year thousands of chickens were euthanized because of that H251 virus ( also known as Avian Flu). Other wild animals such parrots, hard billed and soft billed flying birds who were exposed to that deadly virus had no symptoms.

Hi, today we adopted an older CAG from a home that wasn't the best of places. Was wondering if we can get some tips on the best way to transition our new gift to our home.

Well, congrats on getting an older grey. Many people won't do that even though it's a very safe and nice way to introduce yourself to the world of greys. The most important thing to realize is that they have certain memories from the past which remain ingrained. Many changes can be made but others can't. In other words, maybe your grey won't talk----probably it will never talk but it will tlk in it's own language. One of the easiest things to do is changing cages. The bigger the better.

So, just ask away ====we have many areas to address many situations - Enjoy the read.

Hello how can I know how old my African grey is??? I bought one bird at that time he told me she was 6 months old. My gf believe she is older like 3-4 years going by we read online for eye color .

This the generally accepted eye color change which can vary either way by 2 to 5 mts. =================================================

Eyes opening up to 6 mts.--------------From black to medium/light grey

6 mts. to 1 year----------From Medium/Light Grey to beige white

1 year to 1 1/2 years-----------Beige white to pure white

1 1/2 years to 3 1/2 years------------- White .

4 1/2 years to 5 1/2 years-------------------White with the hint of yellow mixing in the white.

5 1/2 years into adulthood --------------------Yellow------white disappears

========================================================

Hi guys. My and my boy have been doing just great and we are as happy as ever. One thing i was thinking about was a larger cage for Isaac. Two things hold me back at the moment though. The first i think he would get over pretty quickly which is a new bigger cage. Isaac tends to adjust pretty quickly to things like that. The other is "cage flapping". So what I am worried about there is that in his smaller cage, he occasionally gets startled and flaps in his cage like he is a little out of control. I'll come over and calm him down with a calm voice and ask him what's wrong....tell him things are okay. In a small cage he can't get much velocity from any direction enough to do much more than the infrequent scrape on the head. In a new larger cage, I worry that he could pick up more speed and do damage to himself. Looking for thoughts on this. I always have a towel to pad the bottom of the cage for him, but I don;t want to create a situation for him to do more harm for himself. I also want him to have as much space as i can give him when I am not home to care for his little butt. Advice?

 

My dream is getting him a larger room and\or aviary to spend his time in. However, I think you may want something for the near term. I live in apartment so it's a little way off for a full room for him.

I think that you may be confused by that very heavy duty flapping which parrots do periodically in order to excersie their wings. It can get very intense and last a little while. Usually, they hold on to the perch but the flapping raises their body a bit even tho the claws remain in the perch BUT getting a bigger cage is always a plus if a person can afford it. As they say,--the bigger the better

Hello I was wondering if I should buy them uva light for my greys?

http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?157511-UVB-LIGHTING-IT-S-IMPORTANCE

I'm wanting to take my girl for a full check up and was wondering what it will be like when they draw the blood. How exactly do they do it on birds and will it be pretty traumatic for her?

Thanks

Thomas

An experienced avian veterinarian is comfortable drawing blood, even from small birds, and will be able to calculate the amount of blood he or she can safely take from the bird's body weight. Many avian vets draw blood from the bird in the examination room in front of the owner. The most common site from which blood is drawn is from the jugular vein, on the right side of the neck. The bird usually has no bad or traumatic reactions

The pet bird is commonly restrained in a towel and held so that it is lying on its side. Then, either the vet alone or the vet and an assistant grasp the bird’s head, locate the vein by putting alcohol on the neck, and then gently draw a small amount of blood into a syringe.

After taking blood, the vet puts gentle pressure on the neck for a minute or two to ensure there is no further bleeding before releasing the bird. Other than to check a red blood cell count or a blood sugar level, or if the bird is too ill to be restrained for blood sampling from the neck, taking blood from a toenail clip is not recommended, because any debris on a toenail can interfere with blood test results.

Once the veterinarian is assured that the pet bird has recovered safely from the blood draw and the physical examination is complete, the veterinarian should return the pet to its owner and offer to help the owner get the bird back into its bird carrier. The vet should ask the owner whether he or she has any questions and should offer the owner some idea as to when tests results will be back.

An experienced avian vet will then follow up with the owner on the telephone, after the visit, to report test results and to see how the pet bird is doing at home.

You should also call the vet to see if he wants a stool sample. Pieces of info is found just from the stool sample. Eyes are looked at, wing confirmation is checked, claws and legs are checked. Areas around vent areas are checked. Skin is checked for dryness and parasites.

I am considering retailing the birdie bread that I regularly make for my fids. I've been searching high and low for food prep regulations pertaining to birds but without any luck. I can only find state regulations for dogs and cats.

 

Does anyone have any advice for me?

Thanks! :-)

Well, first off, you're talking about a product that will be ingested. Second, you're referring to a product that's manufactured by loads of companies. Usuually those companies also make many other bird food products. Not to be insulting but no matter how good you think your product is, there's always another same type of product that's better and that has to do with advertising. Your product would need to go through numerous testing in order to guarantee that it's not harmful to birds and also other animals that may get a hold of it. A common example is woodpecker suet. Other animals, rodents for example must be able to eat that suet without being poisoned since it falls to the ground. Ingredients in your product need to be tested and put into food classifications. All of this takes a long time to accomplish. You would need to pay for all the testing. That testing is usually done by the USDA. They cover and test all different foods for all different animals. Another problem that you need to take care of is the fact that your food will be given to wild animals such as parrots. After that's done, you would need to obtain a license and a patent on your food so that no one will be able to copy the ingredients in your product. Birdie bread isn't a hard item to copy. Instructions all over the net giving instructions on how to make huge varieties of bread and it's not against the law. Just about anything can be copied from the net no matter what type of item it is. So I'm not gonna tell you how successful you'll be. I will tell you it's a very common type of bird food that can be gotten and made anywhere.

I can offer 2 choices

1-----There's a member here who only visits to advertise different bird toys she makes. The ad usually includes photos. Her name is carolz7( She's usually in the Toy Room )You may wanna PM her to get advice on how to deal with rules and regulations concerning sales of products. Just remember that she's not selling food.

2----You may wanna decide to travel around the country to all the bird shows and give out samples with the option to buy your product. It's costly but if you think that you have a ground breaking item that you made then giving out samples may be a good idea.

I have a different way of doing this because I don't believe in putting artificial items such as vet tape on different perches and other bird items. I take very smooth items such as perches and take a dremel tool and cut very shallow lines into the perches in all different directions which imitates natural tree branches that are on outdoor trees. In the wild, all the different wild birds have no access to vet tape. The lines allow the birds to grab the perches easily and allow the claws to easily grip the branches. I'm a big fan of imitating whatever wild animals use especially different sized branches

PS---a simple hand saw can also used.

They have their own cage and Java tree as Novalee likes to be more to her self when playing so we got 2 java tree so they both enjoy their time outside the cage. Every other day we switch them the Java tree as one faces the window n they have different toys. As for macaw not an issue as no macaw is in my house

OK, sorry about the macaw . SO, can I assume that some of your questions have been answered satisfactorly?

I really don't see what the big deal is about keeping 2 greys in one house. I've got 3 greys at home and all have their personalities. they get along and they don't along. Depends on what side of the bed they wake up from. All of mine are adults and never knew each other as youngsters. 2 were adopted. The most important thing is each having their own cage====2 birds, 2 personalities.

I echo what others have said about grey dander getting in a macaw's nasal passage. the macaw needs a large space away from the greys.

Hello guys,

 

My dad has had a 10 year old grey (Bailey) for a month now. He will eat from our hands but will not step up or be touched.

 

My dad noticed him splashing about in his drinking water so decided to get a bath. My dad proceeds to get a small shiny metal bathtub and attaches it to the bottom of his cage, he then goes for a nap smh.

 

I come into the room about 10 minutes later, Bailey's pupils were very small and he was stood very still on the edge of his open-top cage perch in the corner (I'm not an expert but he looked petrified). I assumed that something was wrong so put my hand out and called his name expecting him to shuffle away as he normally does, he didn't move and let me touch his tail so I moved my hand back quickly to see what was wrong as this was VERY different behaviour. I immediately moved the metal bath to another room and after a brief search for the bath he was back to normal. Not just back to normal, he now puts his head down when I put my hand near it waiting to be petted and stroked!

 

When my dad puts his hand near he lunges viciously.

 

I want him to stop liking me and start liking my dad, how do I reverse our roles. Do I have to avoid Bailey?

This will happen periodically when new things are introduced. It can happen even if a fantastic new bird toy is introduced. Some greys don't like change, some don't mind it. Your bird will eventually come back to dad but when it'll happen is anyone's guess although it should be soon. This doesn't happen frequently with timneh greys. Not to worry about it. There's a section in the health room whih has to do with body language. It'll tell you a lot. You don't have to avoid him. If you don't mind me asking, why do you want him to stop liking you?

I am in desperate need of help. We have purchased an African grey that was still on formula. The breeder that we got him from told us that this is the way he gives his baby birds away, it also helps to create a bond between bird and owner. Unfortunately I only found out after we purchased Dixon that reputable breeders never sell birds like this. We purchased Dixon at the end of June and were told that he was 3 months then which would make him 5 months old now. No matter what I do I can't really get him to eat. We are trying the zupreem fruit and we have also tried the vegetable. The only thing he will eat without a problems is seeds, which I don't want to feed as a main food source. Fresh fruits and veggies are pretty much a write off with him,as he only eats a little bit on occasion. If anyone can give me some advise it would be greatly appreciated, as really don't want anything to happen to my little baby.

Yes, you're correct. Breeders shouldn't usually sell birds at an exact time according to age. It has to do with money. Some chicks ( even in the same clutch)need more time to wean off formula. This isn't an unusual thing. The breeder should have told you and shown you things about continued hand feeding after taking a bird home. I know a little bit about about chicks and breeding greys. My opinion is that you should get some handfeeding formula and continue that feeding method. If you can't make your own, it's sold in pet stores. Yes, some solid food should be left around the cage but more impotrantly, the bird will actually show you when the formula feeding should slow down. You'll see his interest in solid foods . Put some cheerios in the bottom of the cage. Put some string beans in the cage. Put some small fruit in the cage. Put some sunflower seeds in. Put chewable foods in the cage. Continue the hand feeding until he totally doesn't want more. This whole process is called *abundance feeding*. Your most important thing is to get quality foods in his system. Don't worry about him refusing solid food. We can show you how to do it.

BTW, did you know that in the UK, it's against the law to sell unweaned chicks?

Hi guys,

 

I brought Alex to vet because he is picking his white feathers under his wings and on his back. The vet gave me mental medicine and he said it will make him be more relax. I am wondering if I should trust this vet or I should use soothing spray instead or maybe I should consider visiting new vet?

The other reason that I am doubting this vet is that he said Alex should be 2 pounds (1,000 grams) while Alex is 1 pounds and 2 ounces (500 grams). He said Alex is under weight, which sounds so weird.

 

Thank you,

1000gms???????? Listen, you shouldn't even think about going back to that vet. Greys have weight classifications!!

A grey who's 575 to 611 gms is considered to be the largest size a grey can be. It all has to do with bone/body structure.

A grey who's 465 to 500gms is considered a large sized grey. It all has to do with bone/body structure.

A grey who's 400 to 430 grms is considered an average sized grey. It all has to do with bone/body struccture

A grey who's 410 to 425 gms is considered to be a slightly large averaged sized grey.

A grey who's about 380 gms is considered to be a small sized grey. It all has to do with bone/ body structure

I have breeder greys and all between 575 to 606 gms. All the chicks are larged sized greys.

Magic medicine??? Listen, the vet is taking drugs and is pretty messed up. There's no mental medicine for molting. I also think you haven't actually seen a bird in full molt. There's hundreds of dead white fluffy feathers in the cage all at the same time. They come from the breast,upper and lower breast areas and under the wings. It's a messy time of the year.

Mental medicine????????

You know that I when just about seen or heard everything about greys, someone comes up with insane statements ( your vet)

Hi,

 

Long ago I fell in love with African Greys. I planned go get one as soon as I bought a house after graduating from university in 2000. For a variety of reasons it never happened- still always wanted one though.

 

Fifteen years later my wife (a veterinarian) comes home and says "Do you want an African Grey?". She really knew the answer already... Turns out a client has taken on some as a rescue case and they need homes. I'd pretty much come to the conclusion I'd never be getting a grey, but the fact there was one in need of a home, I couldn't say no..

 

In something of a rush a cage was purchased in the Internet, and delivery eagerly anticipated. I was able to borrow a small cage while the new one made its way here. Soon the new cage arrived though, so he has much more space. 42"x34"x45" inside dimensions if I remember rightly, so plenty of room for toys as we both work.

 

His history is somewhat unclear, but he's about 15 years old, has eaten mostly peanuts, seeds and some veggies. His previous owner started off with two greys which bred, Winston is one of the offspring I believe, then got identified as a 'bird person' and ended up taking on a bunch of other birds.

 

Anyway, this is Winston..

To say the least, you greatly lucked out. Lots of rehomed birds make a transition difficult both on the bird and the new owners. There's just a few things to remember here and those things have to do with his age. Throughout 15 yrs of life, your bird has picked habits which are now ingrained. There's no way to change those habits or attitudes. Luckily, he's very friendly, likes to mix with people, seems to have a good appetite and seems to like his environment. You did a good thing with that new cage. It's a great size. As time goes on, you'll be able to see his attitude when he's out of the cage.

The one thing I wanna mention has to do with the toys. You should try different pieces and strengths of plain wood. Nothing fancy. Just wood that can be hung in the cage. After a while, they will love wood. They'll wanna destroy it which is a good thing. Another thing to get is a heavy duty cowbell. That's another thing that they love to fight with. They love to be very aggressive with that bell, but in the evening, you'll see the bird snuggle up to his friend which is that cowbell.

There is one thing in your post that I don't understand what you mean

**********Winston is one of the offspring I believe, then got identified as a 'bird person' and ended up taking on a bunch of other birds. This got too much and he didn't have time for them all, and they lived in a heated garage.. He seems pretty healthy, and I don't think he suffered abuse, just lack of attention.**********