Dave007

Almonds are a very good item for suppling certain essential vitamins which are good for greys. I see that many people try them out and don't have success with the bird cracking them or just flipping them because they never get a chance to see what's inside.Many people stop giving them. Many greys may have trouble gripping an unshelled closed almond. This is a method I've used for greys to see the interior of the nut and see if they're appealing. I remove the pointed end of the almond so that the bird can see inside. They then hold it and proceed to eat the interior of the nut. The greys that are attracted to almonds will eat the entire nut without cracking the shell. I've seen it work for loads of greys and this method can even be used on other types of nuts too. These are pics of the almonds after being eaten.

****If you are not familiar with my prev posts than I will brief that I adopted Joei about 4 weeks ago.*** This isn't really important other than it's obvious that she doesn't know everything about you and what goes on and you don't trust her because of the things she does to make you fearful. The learning period happens over a certain amount of time ( sometimes, a long period of time) especially when the bird has lived in another home. In this case, the important thing is biting parts of your body. So instead of telling you loads of possible solutions to this problem, I'll ask a few questions and this has nothing to do with what the previous owner said be it the truth or a lie. 1--what would you do if your bird liked to go on your shoulder and liked to bite your earlobes or neck or pulling at your hair all the time as soon as she's up there and draws blood? 2--what's the difference between feet / legs getting bitten in comparison to cheeks /neck/face getting bitten and draws blood?

Everything you wanted to know. There's no vaccine--tells where it comes from--it explains how it's spread--explains how other animals such as domestic animals don't get it --explains that there is rarely a cure----explains what they previously used in order to treat it--explains that all birds can get it----explains that people don't get it because there's another form of the disease that only people can get. Like many other bird diseases, it isn't diagnosed until after the infection has set in and since it comes from outside sources there's no vaccine for it. http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/giardia.html

There's been bird vitamins sold for years for all sorts of parrots of all sizes from tiny budgies all the way up to huge Macaws which are all hookbills and also for canaries/finches( softbills). The small softbills will drink more water during the day because of their extreme constant activity. Rarely do they stay still plus they're constantly breeding. Vitamins are also given to softbills to enhance their feather color ( ex--American Flyer--very red bird) Just about every vitamin has to be mixed with water. All parrots don't drink much water during the day and evening. Like food, it's a bit here and a bit there. Liquid vitamins sit in the water and mess up the water during the day. Basically, they're useless. All species of parrots have particular needs for their bodies. The most important vitamins/minerals for a grey are VIT A, VIT E and calcium. All greys need calcium as well as the other vitamins. All different proper food items supply these things but with some greys, they also need extra items like red palm oil which supplies the vitamins. It's not put in fluid. It's put on food of all types and some greys like eating it in solid form. Again, I don't know if it's available in your country but a bird who's eating a varied diet can live without it. Don't think you're being cheated when you buy liquid vitamins in your country. The pet stores here sell loads of it but people need to understand what they're buying and who they're buying it for ( their pets). All pet shops will sell anything, good or bad as soon as they find out that people will buy it. That also includes stupid, ridiculous products for dogs and cats and rodents and various pet bunnies.

That's something that can happen periodically from playing with toys very roughly, especially hard toys that they bang around.

1----That's something that many parrots do. Nature tells them to do it. It could be food that he imagines is there or he could be scraping the forest floor looking for different things they eat in the wild. Nothing you can do will change that habit but it doesn't last 24 hrs a day. 2---Most greys don't like bathing or spraying but it must be done periodically. The squaking and growling will stop as soon as the spraying is finished and doing that won't harm them. You need to do it no matter how your bird reacts. 3--Solid food has to be left in the cage 24 hrs a day. Veggies can be given but they must be removed because they go bad after a few hrs. There's no such thing as breakfast, lunch or dinner to a parrot. They eat when they want, as much as they want or don't eat much at all. 4---Your vet can give you a professional opinion on weight. Your bird may be small boned and the weight will be less on a small boned bird. There isn't any way we can give you a perfect answer to that. Some baby food is fine as long as he eats it. If he doesn't want it, he can't be forced to take it. 5---The mirror is what appeals to her. Nothing wrong with that. Other greys don't like mirrors and some greys don't care if it's there. If the mirror bothers you, remove it. 6---Again, there's no way to answer that. Some like it outside and others don't. You'll need to find that out by yourself. All greys react in different ways to outdoor elements 7-----shredding it. Greys don't eat those types of things 8---That's one of the best ways of doing it. Some people use newspaper. 9----No, as long as your saliva doesn't get on the bird's face. Don't sneeze in your bird's face. 10---The bird looks like he could be between 3 mts to 5 mts of age (approx number) 11---Normally vaccines aren't given to a bird. Birds are usually checked for internal diseases and external skin disorders once a year. Parrots don't get worms. BUT in your country, vets may deal with parrots in a different way. We wouldn't have any idea about what a vet does there. Liquid vitamins mess up a bird's drinking water. Proper green vegies and other types of natural fgoods give greys all the vitamins they need.

Are ya sure you wanna spend that kind of money on a blue or split to blue quaker? Green quaker---approx $125 to $150 Blue quaker----approx $275 to $400 Split to Blue quaker--approx $400 to $600 There's no difference ( personality--life span) between any of them except for the color.

Isabella is quite the cutie just like her future mom.

As far as pasta ( spagetti). Try buying other pasta products that your bird can hold while eating it ( gnochhi---cavatelli--bowties--ziti. They like to hold things when they eat them. Spagetti is difficult to hold. Perches in the cage... You can take the perches out and soak them in water and use soap ( dishwasher fluid or other liquid soap). Let them thoroughly dry. In the summer let them dry in the sun. If your perches are very dirty right now, that's what should be done now. Then in the future, keep up with the minimal mess. For now pick off the crusty pieces first and scrub down. In the future use a mixture of vinegar and water and wipe down things. That should help to solve your problem. It's alright to let him out of the cage all day as long as you keep an eye on him. Parrots like to get into many things and investigate and sometimes chew things. Having him out and mixing with the family is a good thing. Pooping all over the place? So far, there's been no solutions to that but I and some scientists are working on it.

no problem

Well, you can give all the birdie bread you want but thinking that these tiny amounts of items that are listed as having calcium just won't change the amount of calcium in it's body. Usually, when a vet says that a grey is calcium defient, there's even more problems going on at the time of the visit. The owners of the birds usually start seeing things that aren't normal with their bird so they visit the vet to get a number of tests to find out what the problem is. Most of those visual symptoms aren't showing up because of lactose interance. I have a number of adult greys that are all lactose interant and all are in the best of health from the time they were hatched. Their parents were lactose intolerant and so were the grandparents etc etc.Greys eat so many things in the wild and nature provides them with the right levels of all things. I'm not gonna tell you what those greys eat in the wild to get nutrients because I have no idea whether you're nearing your next meal. Don't wanna lose your appetite. I'll just say that they get their important needs from strange things. If you're really interested in helping along a grey's health, give a bit of yogurt once in a while because yogurt contains good bacteria which replaces bad bacteria in the body. That's also what happens to peolple when they eat yogurt. What's good about yogurt is that they come in loads of flavors.

Yes, parrots can have soy milk in very tiny amounts once in a while but if you're giving it in order to raise calcium levels, well, it just won't work especially the way you wanna use it. Even regular milk can be given to a grey( extremely tiny amounts once in a great while) and it won't help any parrot raise their calcium levels. If your bird has been officially diagnosed with extreme calium deficiency, the vet will tell you what to do. If your bird hasn't been diagnosed with extreme deficiency, then the your bird will get all the calcium it needs from natural things. All greys are lactose intolerant and live long lives with no problems. Nature made them lactose intolerent. Soy products are used by people who are allergic to regular dairy products and a MD prescribes alternatives for them.

That's definitely a Timneh. See the corn color on the upper beak in pic #1 and #5 ?? Only the timneh has that. A congo is black on upper and lower beak. The timneh is much smaller and weighs much less than a congo. It's also not as long as a congo. The timneh should also have some darker body feathers that a congo. Some timnehs may have a slighty red tail color but most have a marroon color. So, the bird that you have there isn't unusual at all.

I think you should be asking about other future treatments if this doesn't work. You should tell the vet about present conditions and also ask about how long it takes to see results. Crop infection from stress? Normally, stress doesn't cause that type of problem. You should stay in constant contact with your vet as far as changes that are going on. Stay on top of things. The diet sounds fine but that diet has nothing to do with curing a crop infection. I can't much about the feather chewing because parrots do that for a multitude of problems. I also don't think that the weather seasons has anything to do with your bird's ups and downs. Your bird is inside and is protected by indoor elements. Concerning contact with your vet------Not to insult you but many people walk away from a vet's office visit and really have little satisfaction from the vet. Some people are to timid or shy to get into it with the vet so they just accept what's been said on that particular day Look at this way----if you had a medical problem and went to your MD and he/she found out what the problem was, that MD would tell tou about the problem and he/she would treat the problem or prescibe meds and or treatment for that problem and would normally tell you that if it doesn't work, a follow up visit would be necessary and yours is which is good. He would tell you about possible side effects. He would also ask that you contact him if any problems arose from the treatment or medication so he could continue another course of treatment. Your vet should be doing that with you or you should be doing that with him. Avian treatments costs a lot of money.

Arthritis Now is the time to replace the different straight dowel perches in your cage and possibly his play stand with different sized branches. They should be thin up to thick and in no particular order. That will cause the bird to open the feet if he moves from small to large branches. The branches should be in no particuar order. They should have knobs on them. This is a picture of some types of branches that are on a play stand but they should be in his cage too.

Increase the feeding to 4x a day What kind if formula are you using? Are you syringe or spoon feeding? The chick must stay in the tank. Cover 1/2 of the tank on top with a light towel so heat stays around the inner part of the tank. Take the tank out of the cage. If you need quick axccess to the bird, keep the tank out of the cage. Make sure the bedding in the tank is toweling, not anything else.

Your chick can't be put into a cage until it's at least 10 wks old. Right now, it needs warmth and protection from anything that surrounds it. Is it possible that you can bring the bird back to the breeder so that all of the weaning can be done by that person? A bird should be weaned before any selling takes place. Many serious problems can happen with such a young bird.

And they don't work anyway. Those CDs are good if you wanna lull your bird to sleep

There's many greys that don't talk. Many people aren't told about that. Sadly, that's the reason some people buy greys. Many people here have greys that don't talk in the human tongue but they do talk to people in their own language. It takes time but eventually a person starts to understand what the bird is communicating in it's own language. Just keep on practicing. Don't just use one word. They're more comfortable hearing 2 or 3 or 4 words at a time. Do things when you're talking to your bird.---Are you going out? say *see ya later*. Coming home? say * how ya doing* . Eventually, your bird will beat you to the punch. If your bird doesn't react in the human sound, he'll definitely react in his own tongue and sure enough, you'll hear that specific sound over and over when you leave or come back. Giving a treat? say * I want a treat* Eventually all the words used will happen when treat time comes ( if the bird actually talks with human words). If not human, then in parrotese. They'll never say *see ya later* when giving a treat. They'll either repeat the sentence ar make a particular sound that will tell you that he's on the same page as you.

Bluntness---To be honest, you have a lot of problems which can't be changed until you change things. The one person thing--as Judy said, the only way to change that is to have your bird among the other people in the family. Not part time, full time. Being in a room by itself with only partial contact Your hunting dog--The dog has instincts that are ingrained. He's a natural predator. Can't change that. Your bird is definitely a prey animal. All parrots are. AND your bird has a natural buit in reaction to predators if aggressive behavior is around. Comparing to past birds--the other birds you had could easily be happy and survive because the birds you mentioned can live in a cage with little problems. Greys need to be out because they can eventually become introverted and become pluckers or cause themselves other injuries. Your friends and family---again, less contact with the everyday goings on in the house will make it very difficult for that to happen. Getting your bird into the mix with the whole family is the only way that might happen. The older he gets the more difficult it will be for him to accept anyone. Personalities form from a very young age and are permanent and many stay like that. That has to be done on a full time basis. Toys--many greys won't accept new things for quite a while and that includes many other things besides toys. Living in cage most of the time---doing that can cause a grey to become cage bound and that's not good nor is it natural. Greys need lots of time away from a cage. They need a playstand to hang out on. *****Young for entering into a lifetime friendship with a parrot maybe, but I wanted to take my bird lifestyle to the next level. Anyway, I've run into a few problems that I want some advice on.** Your age---there's lots of things in the future ahead of you. You may not know those things but they're definitely there. *****And the third, is he is very skittish around new objects. He'll move away from them and start growling, even if he feels they're too close (this happens with people as well) he will jump off his cage onto the floor. I hate this behavior, it has caused him a lot of problems including bruises on his beak and bending of major wing feathers to odd angles that are very painful for him. It's upsetting for me for him to be so frightened and in pain. **** You said it yourself. Lots of damage to different parts of the body which more than likely will escalate the more he stays by himself. Aggressive behavior, growling, biting. He has no idea what's gonna happen next and he'll protect himself in the only way he can.You also said it yourself----any problems arise and you walk away. AND because of your situation, nothing is being done to ease those problems and they'll only get worse. That's not good for you and even worse for your grey. That's no way to address these problems. Patience has nothing to do with your problem. Total heavy duty involvement is absolutely needed here. There are no other methods. The bird can't change what's been created. The grey had nothing to do with it. In a smaller cage?? Greys need large cages in order to live properly, especially if the bird is gonna spend lots of time in that cage. As upsetting as it may be,my advice to you is to strongly think about rehoming your grey. If you love your bird, that means that you want the best for him. Many people have rehomed their birds with less problems than yours because they realize that their bird could be happy in a situation that would be productive and more natural for their grey. Many people can't provide that. I've seen this scenerio many times. Taking care of a grey takes lots of constant long term involvement. People here can tell you just how much involvement is needed. It's a lot. For many people, greys have changed their lives once they got their grey. Sorry, but you wanted the truth. Think about your bird's happiness. Right now, your bird isn't happy.

Welcome back. Yep, it has been a long time. Lots of people here wanna here about an adult bird such as yours. Figured you flew away with your TAG. So, stay awhile and enjoy yourself. Loads of new members here. Take care.

You can try out these for starters although I guarantee you that your bird won't like many of them. It's up to you to find out. Broccoli, Cabbage, Mustard greens, Brussels sprouts, Cauliflower, Radishes, Organic Kale, Collards, Turnips, Watercress, Spinach, Red and Green Romaine, Dandelions, Red and Green Leaf, Swiss Chard, Endive, Escarole, Artichokes, Beets, Yams, Carrots, Parsnips, Radish, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Stringbeans. There's even more but for now check some out of these. Try giving raw. No success, try steaming them. In supermarkets, there's packages of mixed veggies in the frozen food section. They usually have about 4 different vegetables in one bag. Don't expect your bird to like all vegetables. Many birds turn out liking only 2, 3 ,4 kinds. Other like more. Others like less. Feed pasta products. Tomato sauce is fine on it. Feed hard yellow cheddar cheese, small pieces. Parrotese is the natural language of parrots. They don't need to learn it because it's built in like a dog who barks, whines, growls or whimpers. All outdoor wild birds talk to each other in their own language all day long. Not all greys talk in human language but they do talk all day long either with other birds or to their owners or just to exercise their voices. A person who has a non talking bird will eventually know exactly what the bird is saying in it's own language. Others here that have a non talking bird can tell you all about it. It's also one of the reasons why people get very disappointed when the bird they bought that was supposed to talk doesn''t. That's the reason that people should never buy a bird just because it has a reputation for talking. Talking is a very minor attribute of parrots. They have so much more to give that has nothing to do with mimicing a person's voice.

****Raisin(once or twice a day) dog food(He flies down to eat them!!!)---------absolutely not!!! They have artifical chemicals. fries(when we get take out)-------very bad for them. Any fried food isn't good for them popcorn----as long as it' doesn't have artificial coating on it ( like the type that's put on popcorn at movies.) noodles peanuts---------human grade. Buy at the supermarket. Peanuts that are safe for people are safe for birds. apple(he dont' like)------very acidic. can be given once in a while, not on a regular basis. bananas(he don't like) Grape(seedless) (does not like)--------very acidic. can be given once in a while, not on a regular basis. crackers Your list doesn't include veggies--very important--dark green ones have vitamins and calcium. DNA testing--if you're not familar with clipping, stay with the feathers. Have one person hold the bird, take twezzers and quickly pull out one or two. No big deal. No pain, just squawking They blabber all day ( parrotese). It may be practicing concerning words or it may just be talking parrotese. All parrots talk parrotese--it's their natural language. Dipping food is completely normal.

I've brought in a few and basically, many rules below may pertain to what you're doing There's plenty of things that a pre owned bird has to get used to in his new home---household habits---new people----other pets----new environment----general hustle and bustle of the house etc etc. That usually takes months, not weeks. The bird has to first feel assured and comfortable in it's new house. Lots of talking to the bird, having the bird in the middle of everything that goes on in the house on a daily basis. The bird has to learn your habits, the husband's habits. Immediate intense physical handling is not a good idea right now. At this time, it's not a good idea to have lots of strangers constantly hanging around or wanting to touch your bird. There's a couple of 'classification' names that apply to all pre owned adult parrots that're adopted. One is 'the bird has a past history' and the other is 'the bird has some baggage attached'. Most of the time, history and baggage can't be gotten rid of. It can be modified though as soon as your new bird realizes that many things are now different. Talking is one of the things that can't be changed. If he wasn't a talker, he'll remain that way. Some will say that professional behavior modification can done by some person with many letters after his/her name but a bird's likes and dislikes concerning people can only be modified by those owners. I don't believe it. That's a lot of BS. The so called 'professional people' don't live in your house. Most of the time, their methods are just blanket methods. Handling your bird is an individual thing because your bird has it's own personality unlike any other bird even though it might be the same species. The best thing to do right now is to say to yourself that "I shouldn't be disappointed if everything I hope will happen doesn't happen". Having that attitude allows you to see the many other great features of your new bird and will help you to enjoy and appreciate them. Besides the greys I have since they hatched I have some pre owned parrots and none of them are 'ideal'. They're simply great birds and I'm glad they're happy. Some of them were serious biters. My wife and I, working with them for quite a while, have succeeded in lessening the bites BUT they still sometimes bite. It doesn't completely go away. All parrots bite. Fear biting can quickly become learned or habitual biting. By putting yourself in a situation where the bird will bite, he is being taught that biting will get him what he wants - to be free of your attention. I would recommend that you position a chair at a comfortable distance from the cage (you can determine what the bird's comfort level is by his reaction to the position of the chair), sit quietly and read the newspaper or magazine aloud and incorporate the bird's name into the narrative. Have a quantity of very small treats handy. When/if the bird comes down the side of the cage (he is locked in his cage), offer the small treat. He may accept it; he may throw it on the floor. Don't rush that process though. Offer the treat in such a way that he is unable to bite your fingers. I suggest holding a tiny bit of the treat between your thumb and first finger. Most of the treat will be sticking out and it should be easy to determine if the bird is going for your fingers or for the treat. If he takes the treat, all well and good. If he goes for your fingers, ostentatiously drop the treat into his bowl inside the cage from the outside of the cage and return to your seat. The treat must be one that he wants. Many birds like pine nuts, pecans, almonds, crushed bits of Nutriberries, a piece of grape once in a while etc. Experiment to determine what treat the bird likes best and use this treat at no other time except when you are offering it, whether the bird is in his cage or on the playstand or cage, etc. Good luck

The only way that the bird's crop will stretch abnormally is when you take a syringe and put it way down into the mouth. That rarely happens because a bird will spit the excess out. The crop isn't the stomach. It's a holding area and the food gently goes into the the stomach. A syringe shoulldn't be pushed deep intothe mouth. 1/2 inch should be used. Syringe shouldn't be aimed to the center of the mouth. It should be aimed to the cheeks. If you're worried about using a syringe, take a teaspoon, bend it lengthwise into a half funnel and let your bird take it in by himself. The important thing here is that he eats as much as he wants and has formula available to give him as much as he wants. Some wean at different times. There's birds that can take as much as 4 to 5 mts before weaning. It's not the person's choice. That's called *abundance feeding* The bird will tell you that too much formula is in one feeding and the bird will also let you know when too many feeding are being given. Take the fruit out and replace it with Cheerios and a variety of veggies ( stringbeans, carrots, broccoli.that haven't been moistened. A chicks gets fluids from formula. I'll tell you now that I don't like giving out advice about hand feeding unweaned chicks but since you already have one, I'll try to do it to help you without hurting your chick. Parrots should be fully weaned before purchase. There's been too many accidental deaths concerning unweaned birds. Empty crop waiting to eat http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/DaveVP/CopyofCopyofCHRIS1-1.jpg Full crop after eating. Crop should look like a golf ball http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/DaveVP/May22b-1.jpg