Dave007

First off, greys don't live until they're 79 yrs old. Their lifespan is about 40 yrs if they're kept indoors, are healthy, given proper food and a good living environment. Very few parrots live until they;re 79 yrs old. In the wild, a grey who lives with a flock, has no human connection has a shorter life span because living in the wild is a totally different thing. So, I really think you should explain yourself and how you came up with the idea that 1---he's 79 Yrs old? 2---what makes you think he's gonna die in one year?

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The above thread that I posted for you doesn't apply to you right now!! This is your first time and you'll will go along with the vet. That's important. The thread I gave you is for the future. Read what I said there. Read what others have sauid concerning what they started doing as time went on. Your guarantee expired so there's nothing you can do. The seller should have told you that you have X amont of days to have the bird checked out. Stop thinking about the past. You can't change that. Think ahead, learn about growing old with your bird. There's quite a few sections here that cover just about anything you could think of. You've already taken the first good step by now posting in another section which applies. Getting everything you want to know about doesn't happen as well as visiting other places. Where you first posted was only a Welcome room. You're on your way to many different experiences. On a sour note, I'm still pissed off at what you were originally told.

Probably, because it's gonna be your first time at the vet, you'll be paying more than normal. The vet will tell you that particular tests need to be done and of course, because you're a new grey owner, you'll say yes which is understandable. But it is the first time going so you'll need to live with that. Many breeders have chicks checked out by a vet before sellingAs time goes on, you can be more careful about when to go to a vet. The thread below will tell you alot for the future. It's very recent. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?191683-Wow!!!-522.oo-at-vet-for-check-up-!!!!!

I'm afraid that we won't be able to give you help concerning greys that are sold in eastern Europe. Prices here in the US are different than those in the UK but are generally similar. Here in the US, we have pet stores and private breeders where birds can be purchased. In the US, prices can range from $750 to $1200 depending upon where they're purchased and what kind of grey a person gets (there's 2 kinds). As far as what to look for concerning health and a getting a decent bird, it's wise to look for a young bird that is not eating formula. The bird should be able to totally eat parrot food. Usually, after buying a bird, we in the US and Uk usually bring the baby bird to vet for a checkup and if something's wrong the seller refunds the money. Age can be determined up until the bird is about 2 yrs old. After that, the color of the eyes changes so age can't be known. The seller usually provides info about the age.

Congrats are in order especially concering the acceptance of that well rounded diet. Much more healthy. Add some almonds to that nut diet and give frequently. Lots of vitamins in them and a good way to start the bird off on chewing the right thing--with almonds, try unshelled first and if he won't crack them then use shelled. With unshelled, you can crack it open a bit so he can get to the interior. The picture looks great and the eye looks very good.

You've got a long way to go before worrying about the *terrible twos*. It's temporary and can be dealt with very esily. Not all greys go through that experience but many people here can tell you what they did, how they put up with it, when to recognise it . It's not as bad as you may think. It's simply a stage. The beak is larger but don't let that frighten you. You've got a bigger bird, hence a bigger beak. As far as having 2 on your shoulder, well only you can see if that's gonna happen. Both may vie for your attention but who knows. You should make sure that you ask questions considering that you're a new grey owner. There's loads of people here that are and were going thru the same things as you. I'm still pissed at the person/people that told you about the biting, roaming and yelling. A person who enters the parrot world willl experience those things. It's like saying that a dog won't bark. Greys don't yell as much as much as they make low sounds which is their way of practicing what they've hearing. I'm sure you're in for an unusual but rewarding experience.

****She likes to jump off things and I'm pretty sure that is how she is breaking her tailfeathers.**** Very common especially when the bird is young like yours is. *****Anyway the first couple just seemed to come out after awhile, but after she broke another feather I noticed it looked more like she chewed it out. ***** ****If she is chewing them off, is there something I need to do with the remaining feather left in her? Will the remaining feather fall out by itself or do I need to take her to the vet? Also could this mean that she isn't getting enough play time and she is bored, or is this something normal?**** There's no need to do anything to the remaing feather/feathers because it's now dead and will eventually fall out or get pulled by your bird. More than likely, new feathers will grow back at different times because the first ones were lost at different times. There's no need for a vet visit. A bird can't be stopped from chewing feathers. If this goes on over a long period of time, the area can be treated so that it doesn't feel itchy or dry. You can purchase a product from Walmart or other pharmacy called %100% Aloe Vera Juice and mist the bird's area with it. As a matter of fact, you can mist the whole body with it.--about $9 for 1 gallon. This is a common problem that very young birds go through. They can rough house and it can happen. Also very common with young birds when some feathers are lost. Remaining feathers sometimes annoy birds and they chew them off.

Well, I see nothing wrong. You're getting a well adjusted parrot who loves you, wants to be with you, wants to bite you because you don't want him around, wants to be all over you because he finds you very appealing. Your time schedule is something that he'll learn to live with. All people have their own time schedule but I can tell you that schsdules have nothing to do with a bird's likes and dislikes of a person. The only exception to the *wanting to be on you* is this--if your bird can't control seriously biting your ear lobes, clothings, face, breaking jewelry, nipping at your neck, well it's time to realize that he's not a shoulder bird. Many are shoulder birds and many aren't. They can't be trained to not like doing that. I'm truly sorry that you came across such info. Hundereds of people here would tell you that they've been bitten, kissed, have been cuddled by their birds. People even buy certain types of toys so that the bird can vent on the toy--cowbells being the common choice. Watching a bird fight with it can be scary but watching the same bird cuddle up to it all night while sleeping is even stranger. Just try to understand the different parts of the personality and I'm sure you'll be happy that you own a TAG and all of this even applies to CAGs.

Hi, welcome ***I read somewhere that birds should not roam, bite or scream.*** I don't where you read that and also if you're only referring to your TAG. All parrots will roam, at times will bite and at times scream. Over the top noises to you may not actually be over the top if you're comparing it to other types of parrots. In general, greys are quiet birds and the ones that aren't can be classified as screamers/squawkers because they do this all day long on a constant basis. Periodic noise from a grey isn't unusual. The same goes for other parrots although many other types of parrots do it much more often throughout the day. Greys will bite because they're willful when they don't get their own way and what you just said is a classic example ***** After a few times, he lets me know he isn't happy by not stepping off my hand to the perch and today he bit me, but the bite truly was a warning bite as it wasn't hard.***** He wants to be with you, you don't and he's telling you that he doesn't agree with your ideas. The time schedule you created doesn't make a bird bite. being in a cage will give him the incentive to roam when he's finally out of the cage. He's clipped so he can't fly around and roam. He has to walk around and roam. Nothing unusual about that. Greys aren't stationary birds. 3 weeks won't allow you to see or judge just how the bird will eventually be. If he comes from another home or place that he was in for a long time, things are now different for the new bird. ASs far as screaming, the most normal screaming is when greys and other types of parrots start playing with toys that they have mock fights with. It can get loud when the bird is trying to kill the toy. It will be hard to convince a bird to stay away from you unless you do something drastic to the bird and make him permanently frightened of you. Your bird need much more time to show you his personality. It taks a lot of time for a bird to adjust to all the new things that surround him. It may look like he's adjusted but it needs more time to accept things. Many times, being on or with a person is much more appealing than a playstand even if there's no toys on that person.

Many people going to an avian vet don't know that it costs much more than a non avian vet yet people see the word vet and assume that a vet is a vet is a vet no matter what type he or she is. Many people who are new to owning parrots read lots of material that say a parrot should be checked out at least once a year to see if there's any problems. The bird is acting completely normal, eating great, playing great, flying great, being a pain in the ass constantly, is constantly acting out the typical personality of that particular type of parrot so, lets go to the vet. A parrot is a very protected animal when living in a house, much more so than cats and dogs who live in the same house. Parrots probably get much more attention than the dogs and cats in the house. Many times, there's legitimate problems to go to an avian vet so this post is aimed at people who go unnecessaily and pay lots of money for nothing. It's also necessary to know how a vet will deal with a customer that comes in for basic services. 95% of the birds that are being brought in for beak filing don't need that beak filing but the vet is still gonna go through the motions of filing down that beak and the customer will pay for something unnecessary. Many people will go to a vet because a few feathers are out of place and the vet will go through the motions of putting feathers in line but will tell a customer that if it shortly happens again within a few days, it's normal because the feathers were out of place for a longer time than they should have been before coming to the vet. People will go to a vet because a bird is molting heavily and has a few bare spots combined with the fact that the bird is generally in a very lousy mood when molting which is totally normal. The vet will give a spray that won't really do anything because no matter what a bird is given, molting will continue until it finishes the process. Vets will push certain foods that the bird should eat. 80% of the time, when looking around the office a person will see that exact food sitting on a shelf and the price is exorbitant but it's * finest*. The same thing holds true for non avian vets. Look around and you'll see dog and cat foods a person won't recognize. That food will also be extremely high but it's the *finest*. When a person can't find the product in a store, they wind up going to the vet to purchase it simply because the vet said it was the best. The reason that it's not cut in stone is because a person can go to another avian vet and see something totally different on the shelf that the vet will say it's the *finest*. So, who's right? The same applies to non avian vets and the unknown brands of foods on the shelf. It's known that people who are going to see avian vet A, has examined a bird checked for general health 6 mts ago, which come back negative and then eventually going to avian vet B just to have the bird sexed, it's not unusual that avian vet B will do everything he or she can to get those tests repeated for *safety sake* As a matter of fact, many of the secretaries at the front desk are actually trained to coax a person into getting unnessary testing. Many people will fall for that. Another thing is that many people here and other boards ask about many minor problems, are given loads of basic info, solutions based on personal experiences from loads of people yet they decide to go to a vet anyway. Of course it's their choice to go to the vet anyway. So, my point is 1---don't be so shocked by prices and 2---always remember that some of those costs can be avoided by listening to personal advice from people who've gone through the same exact problems and have come across solutions. The last time I was to an avian vet was 5 yrs ago. It concerned one of my greys that I adopted who was totally bald except for it's head. Not one feather was there. The bird was totally featherless down to the skin. Pictures of that bird are on this site. The only reason I went was to find out how many of the root follicles were permanently destroyed and to find out if any surface skin was seriously damaged or thinned from the years of plucking. If this bird didn't have any neck or head feathers, it would have been impossible to know that it was a grey. Does this happen to humans? I have periodic bouts of acid reflux. I went to the Gastro specialist, was diagnosed even though it was obvious what was going on. I was given a certain medication to deal with it. Afterward, he said that it would be a wise thing to go and have a very painful heart stress test which had absolutely nothing to do with acid reflux. Luckily, my primary MD not only said it was unnessary but also questioned why such a thing was recommended in the first place.

You're welcome. The next thing you need to do is calmly sit down and have a stiff drink.

Yes, it's out just as I said it would ( in a short time). He simply broke off the area where the original crack was and there's a very good hance that there's a part left which is absolutely normal. He'll proceed to take the rest of it out when he was ready. I told you he would work on it when he started preening which he did. There's nothing to worry about because there's no bloood. There's a good chance that the feather was already dead before it cracked nad he''l dislodge and pull out the rest, either in pieces or the entire leftover.

Most of the time, it usually doesn't bother a bird as much as the owner. Actually I'm surprised that a problem occured with the dremel unless the vet nicked with the edge of the file. Normally, themost that ever happens is the bird squawking but greys will also do the same squawing when they're being misted or bathed. It's their way of reacting to something that's annoying them. Even deeper cuts don't really bother a bird but having to hold a bird to use blood stopper will bother him, not from the stopper but from the holding.

A dremel is probably one of the safest tools to use on claws. It's just noisy and no bird will be perfectly still when it's done. It may squawk a little but the chore is done quickly. Loads of people here use dremels with no problems and at one time, they knew nothing about dremels.

I can tell you that him being pissed off isn't unusual and him being nippy isn't unusual. Him not wanting you to bother him isn't unusual. If you don't wanna do what I suggested, simply leave him alone and let him take care of the problem himself. That may take time but he will do it. Now as far as you trying to grow a pair, hmmm, well I have no experience helping people grow a pair. My advice--see a testspecialist.

Ok, this is what you can do. If you have another person in the house, put your bird on the floor. Have a towel ready. Qickly put the towel on him, wrap him up and go to the kitchen table. Loosen towel so that you can put your hand on the wing. ( if your other person is the one that handles, let that person do it) Slihtly spread the wing open, not much, only until you can hold that feather. Take the feather and put it back in line with the other feathers and take the bird to whereever you want. I would tell how to remove feather but I can see that you probably wouldn't be successful plus it would involve a bit of blood and blood stopper. If he flaps, and it comes out again, he'll be ready to take it out probably by tommorrow or the next day.

Jack Schitt Have you ever wondered just who Jack Schitt is? We find ourselves at a loss when someone says, 'You don't know Jack Schitt'! Well, thanks to my genealogy efforts, you can now respond in an intellectual way. Jack Schitt is the only son of Awe Schitt. Awe Schitt, is the fertilizer magnate, who married O. Schitt, the owner of Needeep N. Schitt, Inc. They had one son, Jack. In turn, Jack Schitt married Noe Schitt. The deeply religious couple produced six children: Holie Schitt, Giva Schitt, Fulla Schitt, Bull Schitt, and the twins Deep Schitt and Dip Schitt. Against her parents' objections, Deep Schitt married Dumb Schitt, a high school dropout. After being married 15 years, Jack and Noe Schitt divorced. Noe Schitt later married Ted Sherlock, and because her kids were living with them, she wanted to keep her previous name. She was then known as Noe Schitt Sherlock. Meanwhile, Dip Schitt married Loda Schitt, and they produced a son with a rather nervous disposition named Chicken Schitt. Two of the other six children, Fulla Schitt and Giva Schitt, were inseparable throughout childhood and subsequently married the Happens brothers in a dual ceremony. The wedding announcement in the newspaper announced the Schitt-Happens nuptials. The Schitt-Happens children were Dawg, Byrd, and Horse. Bull Schitt, the prodigal son, left home to tour the world. He recently returned from Italy with his new Italian bride, Pisa Schitt. Now when someone says, 'You don't know Jack Schitt', you can correct them. Sincerely, Crock O. Schitt

****can't wait to hear about others! ***** Hmmm, anticipation! Plop!!! What a thrill. Exciting, isn't it??

For most greys, that's usually the beginning of trying and mimicing sounds and words that he/she has been hearing. There's no particular order to it and they'll also mix in the other sounds he/she's been making. How long it'll take to heqr woerds depends upon the bird.

It may take a while for the feather to come out. If it's only awkwardly bent, it's probably not dead so the discomfort of the feather on your bird is what'll cause your bird to start pulling at it. They never intentionally cause themselves pain so it might still be a painful before he tackles it. Or he may eventually put it back in place and nature will cause it to fall out. Anyway, leave it alone especially since it's a flight feather.

A parrot's poop will change color according to what it eats. Pellets are the biggest culprits as far as a color change occuring. Actually, it's called artistic stylized color coordination.

First off, I don't speak for the administrator. Whatever she feels like doing is her business. I'm me and she's her. So, you wanna write a book. Fine. I truly hope that you're successful. Without young potential good writers, there wouldn't be good books to read. None of that means that I have to support what you're doing especially when it concerns that bird. You have no idea what I know about that bird but I can tell that there's 2/3/4 sides to every story. A writer makes his bones by taking risks. You've decided to do a book on that bird. There's so many books out there concerning that bird that people would find it difficult to read all of them. There's so many pros and cons about that bird and I'm positive that you won't get anything except the positive. Maybe you didn't realize that so much has been written about that bird on boards since before 07. People wrote good things, bad things, were neutral, didn't care one way or another. thousands don't even know he died from hardening of the artieries. Did you? I can say good things, bad things. I can talk about rumors concerning the techs that wiorked there. On and on and on. Another thing here---you speak of the holiday wishes and it ends off with your website which asks for donations. A greeting with your personal name would have been nice. Hundreds of people come here doing the same thing. I'm replying to you here because I appreciate when a man or woman wants to be a writer--book writer, reporter etc. It takes alot of balls to tackle it and it takes guts. I hope you're successful but I'll give you another tip here----you have a pictire of you, a buddy and Irene. You feel that it means something. Well, there;s hundreds of people around that have posed with her. She takes pictures with people on every tour she's at. If she wants you to succeed let her fund the site. I'm not gonna apologise in the way you want and if you can't live with that, so be it. I told people that you were here before and it didn't go off well so my message IF AT ONCE YOU DON"T SUCCEED , TRY, TRY AGAIN was totally in order.

I believe it will change. At that age greys are extremely willful. They get a toy, check it out and then procide to destroy it. Give them a bell and they'll fight with it, get bruises and then decide to snuggle with it at sleep time. Oh, by the way, if you haven't gotten one yet, it would be a good thing to get a heavy duty cowbell for your bird. They will expend lots of enrgy trying to knock it here to eternity. Your bird is doing exactly what so many others do. I'll give another example of a young sweet grey--for the longest time, people will kiss their birds on the bird and give off sweet sounds. Then one day, the person goes over to the bird under the exact same conditions, kisses the bird the same way as always and BANG, the bird puts a hole right through the person's lip. Was it the person's fault? The person was only being kind but the bird has now discovered an area that's soft and very bitable. So at the time, the person realizes that the beak kissing time of life is now finished. When you get a chance, read Body Language here and you'll be amazed at the things you'll soon recognize. Sometimes, a person just needs to walk away from a bird who's being ornery. I won't say aggressive because your bird isn't being aggressive in the way you would think. Right now, biting is appealing but I'm sure that if you take the time, give him space, ignore him but eat or play with things that he can see from a distance, you'll see a very curious bird who doesn't like being kept out of the loop. Try out almonds. That p[eaks their interest. At first, just put in one of the food dishes. Crack it have way and let him do the work. Eventually, he'll want that treat from your hand. Ever hear the saying. **I won't bite the hand that feeds me?**

Yeh Penny, you're right. The person above was here quite a while back and it caused a stir. Very annoying person BUT there's an old saying-- IF AT ONCE YOU DON"T SUCCEED , TRY, TRY AGAIN