Dave007

Your article----2nd paragraph ****Unfortunately, it turns out that when Teflon is heated to over 600°, the coating can break down and release a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA. The fumes can be fatal to pet birds. In humans, DuPont acknowledges, they can cause a reversible flulike condition called polymer-fume fever, first noted in the company's labs. In animals, though, PFOA can cause cancer, immune-system damage and death. And about 95% of all Americans have traces of PFOA in their blood.***** Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1200779,00.html#ixzz1Ltqyeq6E

As I've already said, Teflon is only harmfull when heated. Millions of people and pets are surrounded by teflon pots, pans, utensils and none of it is harmful until it's heated and when people use it for cooking, they don't get sick.

There is no teflon in home window ACs, portable ACs and home Central air systems. Industrial, commercial air systems do have teflon. BUT, if home ACs DID HAVE TEFLON, it wouldn't be anything to worry about because teflon is only toxic to birds ( it's not toxic to people and other domestic animals) if the teflon is heated such as when cooking.

Just as long as any AC isn't directly aimed at birds,they're ok.

Your bird has temporarily stopped mimicing human words but he hasn't stopped talking. Right now, he's making different types of bird sounds that are more natural than human speech. They'll be times in the future when your bird will go back and forth doing human mimicing and natural parrot sounds. As long as he's talking in whatever language, that'll mean that he's healthy and doing what comes naturally. How long before he switches? No way to tell because he's getting older and more talented.

Breaking new wings that are coming in isn't unusual. Wings that are still growing in are very delicate. It's just another set back to a bird that's waiting to have the wings grow back and the wings do take a long time to grow back. That's another reason that birds can have accidents. When she is perched somewhere and get excited, she may be in her cage and see me and wants out, or she is perched near a window and looking outside, she puts her wings out and quivers as tho she wants to fly, but can't. of course she can and does, but it's as tho she forgot she can. ***When she is perched somewhere and get excited, she may be in her cage and see me and wants out, or she is perched near a window and looking outside, she puts her wings out and quivers as tho she wants to fly, but can't.** There's nothing unusual about that. Even birds that have a full set of wings will sometimes quiver just before they take off. In your particular situation, the problem isn't bad because she;s not hurting herself. In other cases, the wings are so short that it's impossible for the bird to fly and crash lands on the floor. In those situations, people will need to put an old rug under the cage which will extend about 3 to 4 ft so when the bird ounces, the fall isn't as hard when the bird hits it.

You can't use any medication for a sour/infected crop because there is none that's sold. A vet is the one that does the exam and can treat it. Sour crop can be caused by a bacterial infection which may not have anything to do with the amount of food that the parrot has eaten. It could be that some food it ate was infected or the existing bacteria in the crop, that is always present, has worsened through natural progression. There's also the chance that it isn't a crop infection at all. This can be fixed by a visit to a vet who will flush the crop out and put the bird on some medication. We're not vets here and can't recommend treatment. You'll need to go to a vet tommorrow. As for now, have water in the cage and have a minimum of any type of food in the cage that he eats. Since it's only one day that you'll have to wait, it is'nt a good idea to mix different foods no matter how good they may seem. There's no food or mixture of food that instantly treats a sour crop. The same applies to vitamins. PS---How old is the bird and are you hand feeding it?

No, the gel is perfectly safe. It's used for many different kinds of wounds, serious plucking which usually leaves raw spots and other problems. The gel is totally harmless. If a bird ingests it, no harm will occur. The gel basically sinks into the skin and softens the area keeping it from drying out. Actually, you should always have a bottle of aloe gel around all the time because birds periodically injure themselves in different areas. Some of those areas are accompanied with blood. It's also good for different areas that dry out making the skin scaly such as legs and feet. It can be used on all parts of the body. Basically, it acts like a first aid ointment that has absolutely no chemicals in it. Some people have aloe Vera plants which also contain the gel but it's messy to use and it needs to be applied properly. The gel has helped many people who's birds that have injuries. Here in the US, a 16 ounce bottle of the gel costs about $5. I can tell you that it's gonna be quite a while for your bird to get back a full set of feathers and my advice to you is to not have the bird clipped again. Remember the rug---in case he decides to jump off the cage. A rug will allow your bird to bounce off the floor with no shock. PS--don't use peroxide. It burns the skin and a bird will wanna pick at the skin which is no good. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/DaveVP/DSCN0113.jpg

Your bird may have damaged his keel (breast bone).Right now, go to the pharmacy and buy some aloe gel. Coat the area with the gel, don't let him out of the cage until you go to the vet so he can see how serious it is. He may suggest a temporary wrap to use. In the future, surround the floor that the cage is on with a 6 ft square piece of old rug so any future jumping won't damage the bird.

There may be something else in the cage that's making your bird's beak a beautiful, darker polished shine. A grey who's been using any type of concrete or other rough surfaced perch for a while will eventually cause the beak to look like this. Scraping on a concrete perch also removes the very dark black sheen.

Giving a bird nuts is a great idea. Slightly cracking a shell, giving it to your bird will help him learn how to do the job. One thing though--Just remember that pistachios contain salt which is a no no. Almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts are very good and have natural vitamins in them.

Hi. We welcome you and Simba to our large perch. Just wanted to say that there's plenty of info here concerning older rehomed greys in case you're interested. Ask questions and answers are right around the corner. Also, if you'd like to offer things, it's always appreciated.

If your bird is diagnosed with PBFD, the Vet can determine how serious it is and suggest treatment. Serious cases can sometimes be fatal. With others, the disease seems to go away. The bird looks healthy but actually the bird becomes a * carrier* which means that it can be passed on to other birds. We aren't vets here. We can't suggest treatments. You shouldn't go to extremes though. You're thinking about the worst things only. First you've gotta go to a vet.

With many greys, the inner part of the iner and outer feathers may be darker. With others it doesn't happen. There's nothing wrong with the color differences. Many times it accentuates each feather. That's what's happening to your bird's feathers. There's other grey that have that darkness throughout the whole feather. As far as the red color, that's just an abundance of the red color that's in the tail. Loads of greys have that and it can show itself here and there in no particular order. Some birds lose those red feathers when molting. With others, it's permanent. Again, there's nothing to worry about. As far as dander (powder) it won't be laying on the skin. it's located on and in the feathers. It goes away with baths and it comes back very quickly. Again, nothing to worry about unless you see that skin raw and picked on. That's a sign of dryness which can happen to birds that aren't bathed periodically.

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***So basically keep calm, ignore unwanted behaviour and do not touch any no-no spots! "" You got it in a nutshell.

****what I wanna know is what would you do about the panting and dropped wings at this point in age when walking away does not work? ***** It will work though. With some birds they continue doing it for a while after a person walks away. With other birds, it may take longer. With other birds it may be shorter. More than likely, it's bothering you more than the bird because of what yiou're seeing and hearing. Understand that what he's doing all has to do with nature because your bird is a wild animal. Eventually, they stop. In the wild, very young greys do this within the flock. Others in the flock ignore the bird be it male or female. Eventually, the bird simply stops doing that. In your house, the bird is in a flock situation and will do the same things and eventually stop. As I've already said, the most important thing here is not sexually stimulate him by touching areas that should be left alone. There's times when you're holding him or he's on your lap and you're watching TV and he'll do that to you without you touching him. Leave him alone and he'll eventually stop. What you need to do is stop worrying about what you're hearing and seeing. Remember, nature is making him act the same way as if he was in the wild. Understand that your bird is a wild animal and will remain so even if he lives with you.

He's first telling you that you're messing with his cage. Then he's sticking out his beak to pet it. It's just an individual bird thing. Other birds do it and others don't. A definite explanation can't be given. **Do you think he might actually bite if he could,** Maybe, maybe not. Again, it's just an individual bird thing. It's not a good idea to be doing all this touching with the bird in the cage. The cage is his property and he may react in different ways when someone is sticking hands/fingers through the bars. The bite will be fast and painful.

A bird who is younger than 4 or 5 can go through extreme periods of affection but it doesn't mean that the bird is looking for another parrot to mate with. At such a young age, a bird is sexually *aware* and nature controls and causes that behavior. It's like a 11/13 yr old boy who has an erection but doesn't know or have the ability to do anything. A bird who is older than 5/6 yrs old is sexually *mature* which means that the bird is capable of actual mating. When their hormones kick in it's much more obvious that what you describe. At that age, a male can be very moody,sometimes wants to be alone, wants to have less contact. With a male that's about it. A mature female on the hand goes through all of these same things including biting for the smallest of reasons. They're extremely moody. They definitely don't wanna be touched and when a female bird is like that, a person needs to make sure that the bird is left alone. Bites can be serious. With males, all of this behavior usually stops within 1 mt but with a female it can go on for 2 mts and sometimes more. What you need to realize that thje 2 yr old bird that you have will be doing many more things as it matures--things you don't know about yet. A good example of this is the baby grey. A person gets one, the bird is cuddly, sweet, loves lots of attention, lots of affection. By the time that bird is 1 1/2 years to 2 1/2 old, the bird isn't the same anymore. That's when the true * grey* personality kicks in. Some people are actually sad when it happens because the grey isn't the same warm cuddly bird they purchased. Greys go through times of wanting to be alone because they're naturally aloof. There's other times that a bird will bite when it wants affection but doesn't get it. Example--a bird is perched on the hand/arm and the person wants to put the bird in the cage or on the cage or on a playstand, A person tries to but the bird digs in and won't let go. What can start some aggressive behavior is when a bird goes to someone and bites them if not enough attention was given. In your case, there's been a change--the bird is in the cage much more than it's used to and he/she will let you know. A bird can't talk to complain but he can bite to get your attention. As far as ***He would get a bit of snuggles and scratches**** what can cause a bird to react in an aggressive way is where you touch the bird---under the wings, on lower breast area, near vent area are all a no no. That's stimulating a bird sexually and when you wanna stop and take the bird off you, it may bite. Why not? "Hell, why not? It feels real good so don't stop or else". So, you'll need to see the different things a grey does as it gets older. Their permanent personality isn't really developed until they about 5 to 6 yrs old.

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The only reason a bird flies on a person's head is because it's the tallest part of a person. If a person keeps his/her arms above the head all the time, he/she will eventually fly to the hand/fist/finger. Having a tree that has branches which are taller then the head of a person will cause the bird to fly to the branches. Flying on the head can be discouraged by using the lower arm/fist/finger method. Using those body parts consistantly so flying to the head will eventually be less attractive to the bird. Domination has nothing to do with it. Domination is a word that's used much too loosely in the parrot world. Most of the time it doesn't describe the different real situations where the word is constantly used.