Dave007

***So, if he is fine today, which he seems to be doing great. That seed is probably not going to cause a problem?*** Right

Well, what you're just saying here isn't surprising at all. There's really no reason to fear an animal that you've never been cruel to. Yes, periodically a parrot will bite but a well adjusted parrot will rarely do that but if it does do that, more than likely it won't be a serious thing. I think you feel like the parrot is gonna jump out at you ad try to do heavy damage and chew you all up and you should know that that's just not gonna happen. He's already showing signs of relaxation with you. It's what you're saying right now that tells me that your fears have to slowly go away and your b/f should be there with you to help in every way he can. All parrots in a house should be in general, family birds and because of his age that can happen easily but it takes time Slow and Easy-------Patience---Patience----Patience Nothing happens over night

Actually, you have a lot going for you. Not to be cruel but the biggest problem here is the way you feel. You have heavy anxiety.You have the upper hand because the bird has known you quite a while. He hasn't hurt you, hasn't attacked you. The bird is extremely young. He favors your b/f. Greys are knopwn to favor a certain person. That doesn't mean tha the other person has something to fear. If a person like you has such fears, it's simply a matter of dealing with the bird by talking, doing things around the house with him nearby. Go about your daily habits and life. One thing you should remember is that a bird who's constantly caged all day will eventually wanna stay in that cage won'twanna deal with the outside beyond that cage. You would be surprised how much a bird feels when he's out of a cage. An in-cage bird is totally different than an out-cage bird. Yopur bird should have a playstand near by to sit on. Some toys should be on it. A huge major personality trait of greys is their inqisitive nature. They alays wanna be involved or at least wanna show heavy interest in what you're doing. You never said anythoing about this bird being a special problem bird. Feeding the most popular treats is to a bird much more important than biting the hand that feeds it. Feed the treats with your b/f having the bird perch on him. You never said how long it's been since you and b/f and the bird moved back. A bird going into a new place needs time to adjust. Maybe all of this is just words to you and I have no idea how you'll take them but I can tell you that a person who has the fears that you do is very lucky to have a well adjusted bird plus b/f who's dealing with the bird. One tip----it's better to feed treats when the bird is out of the cage. I hope things get better but I must say that I'm not a professioal as far as dealing with your personal situation because I've seen people like you going through different stages of this problem. Some stages are more complex than others.

Skin disorder is the end product of abusing the skin for a very long time. Loss of follicles, skin that's so thin that injuries can happen more often. Infections can start more easily. Skin condition is what the bird has caused to happen over a long period of time. Dry, scaly, pulling out shafts. Both really mean the same thing. It's a matter of semantics.

It may cause problems but those problems will show up immediacily. You should understand that a very young bird can accidently swallow something that's not chewed and when it goes down the digestive system can't break it down quickly. That's where the problem starts. Ever eat anything that wasn't chewed well enough and after it went down, you could feel it and be very uncomfortable?? Sometimes a bird will vomit it up. lay off the very hard food and only give things that can be chewed easily. Remember that you soaked the pellets so that won't those pellets won't cause a problem.

Well, it's good that it happened. It should happen more often. Loads and loads and loads of people have been screwed by getting animals from Craigslist and that doesn't just include birds.

Go ahead. Have fun.

She's simply telling you that she doesn't like the shower so don't do it anymore. Many greys don't like getting wet no matter what method is used but they do need to be bathed. Many greys like the way they feel after getting soaked. Gotta take the bull by the horn. There are many methods to use. These important methods are for getting an important job done. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?189753-Bathing-possible-method-1 http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?189752-Bathing-possible-method-2

http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?109885-Scoliosis

"OH REALLY! Well, if I can do it, so can you. Trust me!!!" http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/DaveVP/JD8weeks-11.jpg "See, that wasn't so bad" http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/DaveVP/10weeks-adv2011.jpg

GOING http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/DaveVP/going-1--8WKS--2011--ADV.jpg GOING http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/DaveVP/GOING-2--8WKS--2011--ADV.jpg GONE http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/DaveVP/GOING-3--8WKS--2011--ADV.jpg

You should understand that you needn't state that you're a newer member in order to state your opinion. This place is for all opinions and no one is gonna chastise you for what you say. It's not disrespectful to agree or disagree with opinions. It's a free country and if you wanna say what you feel, than do it. It's not the level or amount of membership here that allows a person to say what they want. When someone is intentionally disrespectful to others, we recognise that and we always address and take action concerning the problem.

This is one that I've used for years. It lists toxic and non toxic plants. It's very acurate. There are other lists though. http://www.busybirds.net/Articles.html Look for Toxicity of Plants Safe Plantson left side of page.

Thanks for the heads up. It doesn't seem to have any people saying nice things on either link. Anyway, all you need to advertise in Birdtalk is the money to buy ad space. The larger the ad space, the higher the price. They've stated that they don't take responsibility for the products that are advertised which is not unusual. Most companies that advertise another company's product don't need to take responsibility and many companies have a disclaimer printed concerning that.

Either you're spelling the word (Zakica) wrong or the plant is known by another name. Here in the US, there doesn't seem to be a plant, bush, tree, leaf or twig with that name. The item may be only be decidous to your country. It's not listed on any parrot or bird list ( safe or unsafe).

Most here are not in favor of clipping because of many legitimate reasons but since it's been discussed a million times here, I'll post these things for you to read. One major thing I'll say is that considering the age of your bird, he's nowhere near the age to clip because so many muscles haven't developed yet and coordination isn't developed yet. Just because a bird is flying around doesn't mean that he has the above things. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190512-WingClipping-Part-1-Objective-Neutral http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190511-WingClipping-Part-2-objective-neutral http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190510-WingClipping-Part-3-objective-neutral'>http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190510-WingClipping-Part-3-objective-neutral http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190510-WingClipping-Part-3-objective-neutral

Luvparrots, not to worry-- FIGS: (CREEPING, RUBBER, FIDDLE LEAF, LAUREL LEAF) are all safe for parrots

Apples and oranges. Greys as well as other parrots don't pass on or pick up the habit of plucking when another bird does it. There's necessary plucking, chronic plucking and acute plucking. The first happens and nature guides that. Dead feathers, itchy skin. The second and third are from skin disorders and nervous personaliies and bad /weak parental stock.

Why?--Too much orange as well as most other fruits are very acidic and most parrots in the wild would never eat such a variety out there other than rosellas who's main diet is almost totally made up of fruit. Fruit once a week is enough.

5/8 to 3/4 inch at the most. 3/4 is best but both sizes work.

------------------------------------------------------- Well, from that photo it's really hard to see the size so I'll provide a photo of a large boned CAG and the his cage. look at the bird and look at the size of the cage he's sitting on. That should be the amount of space that would surround a grey The cage is approx 55 in high---28 in deep--33 in wide ( measurements are just for the cage) Add 15 to 16 inches more to include the stand. Cages come with stands My persoal choice is a flat top because a grey is out of the cage alot and a flat top can hold more toys and such. Just my preference though. They like to climb upside down in the roof of a cage. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/DaveVP/c.jpg

**********My husband thought that maybe the bird is a plucker and they just don't want to say so.******* Listen to the hubby. The bird is a chronic plucker and most will pull out new feathers as soon as they're visible to the bird. There are ointments, medicines, liquids that can be used but the fix is usually used to calm down the extreme itching. Most chronic pluckers stay that way for good. Some will lessen the plucking a bit after being put into a new environment or home. That could also work in reverse though

Right now, it's testing time until you're absolutely sure about certain things concerning feeding. Consider this a fine tuning process. Start with 40cc. When and if he craves more at that feeding , give 10cc more. If he doesn't want all of the 40cc, decrease the amount to 30cc. Once you see exactly what amount he will take at each feeding, stick with it. Don't put any time limits on the feedings. Some greys take quite a while to wean and some greys don't. This method is called abundance feeding and it guarantees that your bird will get the best nourishment all the time. As far as a cage--I don't know what you wanna invest as far as cages go but right now a 20 inch square cage would be good and all the perches have to be kept low. The bird will climb around and may fall. Supply a soft landing. Put a towel in the bottom. The next cage you'll get will be the final cage because at 3 to 5 mts, the're very agile as far as walking, climbing and even falling. There's loads of pictures here of those permanent sized cages. Different designs, colors but the most important thing about a permanent cage is height vs width. A grey's cage should be wide, not long and slender. If you wanna get that permanent cage now, just follow all the rules above concerning height of perches, a soft landing. It takes a grey awhile to get used to things especially cages but you only need to remember that food and water must be easily accessible.

------------------------- *****I still feed him twice a day on hand formula , an also I offer him.carrots , broclie , and green peas , he eats it all up lol ... My concern is , should I.keep feeding him.the vegys? Hand.formula ? ****** As far as the hand formula, up that amount to 3x a day until you're absolutely sure that he wants to drop down to 2x a day. The bird will definitely tell you when he wants less. After feeding 2x a day, wait until your bird tells you to cut that down to 1 per day. The bird in the picture looks like it needs more formula than it's getting. He also looks like he's younger than that but it could be the camera shot. As far as other food, continue with all the veggies that he can eat and if nothing solid has been added, try out some unsweetened hard cereal or pellets or a bit of parrot mix. Mixing hard and soft is important now. Very little fruit.

*****Behavior issue is that she screams whenever we're not in the same room. She lives in my bedroom along with my other CAG, Z. (different cages) I do call out to her (when she's not screaming) to let her know where I am but it hasn't made a difference yet. I often take her with me from room to room but can't always do that and she freaks out.***** Not to be harsh but you should really decide on a permanent main room for both of your birds instead of taking the bird/birds from room to room. Simply put, you're spoiling the bird. He now knows what to do in order to get your attention for different things he wants or does. That room should serve as a place where the family is all the time. One of the most important things that are told to people who are getting a grey is to make sure the bird is in an area/room ( usually a living room) where everything is visible, people are around and everyday habits can be seen. When bedtime comes around that bird should settle into the cage in the main room where's he's been around you all day and has seen you all day. Most prople don't consider a bedroom as a main room in a house. Since you have 2 birds, they'll keep themselves busy throughout the day in a main room. A radio is good but greys and other parrots will soon tire of it. Some people leave a TV on but eventually the same results happen. If you've been doing what you're doing for quite a while, it'll take some time to break the bird of that habit.