Dave007

The oil fruit extract isn't the same thing although both are good for birds. The oil delivers alot of VIT A and VIT E. The palm fruit is just that----Fruit. Palm oil is Palm oil. In the wild, the palm nuts are surrounded by the palm oil which certain species of birds will eat. In it's packaged state, it's hard, not creamy and can be given 2 ways---straight out of the container remaining hard or melted down to it's cherry color. There's before and after pics here showing the color. It's very thin and can be put on many things if the bird doesn't like the hard chunks. The oil smells. Most people don't like the smell. It tastes even worse. By melting it down, what you're doing is tricking the bird in order to eat it. The nuts your friend is giving is more nutritious than the fruit extract. Just ask her to crack another nut and ask her to feel the hardness of the oil as opposed to the softness of the fruit.

You can go to a dollar store or arts and crafts stores and pick up oddly shaped wooden blocks which you can string together. It'll take time for your bird to destroy it but eventually, it happens. As has been said, a medium to large cow bell is very good because greys have mock fights and expend a lot of energy fighting with the bell. They also ease frustrations. You can go to the supermarket, go to pet section, look for the tiny leather bones with knots at either end. Make sure they're white. Soak in water until they're pliable and give him that. African Grey means----------destroy Destroy means--------------African Grey

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-pets-birds-for-sale-Timneh-African-Grey-Babies-W0QQAdIdZ228514079 timnehs

In case you're interested any further, we have a 6 page sticky in the Health Room above called Teflon coated Cookware

What I said was""""""""Signs of bacterial infections are excessive yawning"'''''' All parrots will stretch their necks and do a long yawn. They may do it a short time later and a couple of times later in the day, but not do it constantly all day long ( every 15 to 30 minutes). That's what excessive yawning is. It's very obvious and it's easy to see that the bird is acting very unusual. It stands out. Your bird isn't doing that. Be happy that your bird is scraping it's beak and cheeks on hard and soft surfaces. It cleans the outer beak, takes scraps of food off, files the beak down etc etc. All of that is normal. As a matter of fact, that's how greys lose their shiny black beaks and make them look scratchy and dark gray. As far as tickling itself, birds will take many materials and scratch theit heads and face with it. The favorite being dead feathers that've recently fallen off. So, nothing sounds unusual about your bird other than it's being a love bug.

When you say * I mix other things in with his sunflower seed* do you mean just sunflower seeds or do you mean parrot mix that has sunflower seeds in it??

Because of the backyard/forest I have, my birds go ballistic when they see different kinds of wild animals roaming too close. Bears, deer, foxes, large hares, wild turkeys, neighborhood cats and dogs and of course any and all cardboard boxes.

Timneh with excessive red gene----adult and permanent.

The green ones have a long way to go----extremely unripe so they'll be the last to ripen. The orange/red ones should be in a sealed container on the counter top until they turn light cherry red ( look at bunch in pic). Once or twice a day, remove cover from the jar for about 1 to 2 hrs each time so mold doesn't develop. Don't keep them in the sun. When they ripen to roughly that color, take a knife and slice one a little bit. If the knife cuts it, even if its somewhat hard, your bird can penetrate it. Your bird's beak is much stronger and sharper than your knife. You may wanna put those green ones in the fridge if you're not ready to ripen them. The ripening time is greatly decreased when they're in the fridge. But when you're ready and they're green, it's gonna take a much longer time to ripen but you'll have to go throuhgh the same procedure. The next time you buy them, make sure they're very red like in the photo. The internals should be soft like you see in the other picture. The inner orange is the soft palm oil.

Red Palm nuts should look like this before a parrot can easily break into it. These are very ripe.

Parrots with bacterial sinus infections ( also know as upper respiratory infection) have usually been diagnosed by a vet to find that out. Signs of bacterial infections are excessive yawning, shaking and rubbing it's head, sneezing or frequent nasal discharge. A vet runs tests for that and usually, antibiotic or anti fungal therapy is usually given orally or depending upon the seriousness of the problem its given by injection or topical methods. Sometimes in extreme conditions, the bird has to stay at the vet's office for a few days. """"The pet store owner said maybe the vet didn't know what to look for. That older greys can get these chronic sinus infections."""""" Who told her that and what's worse is that she's passing on dangerous, false information. If if you have specific worries about sinus infections, then go to the vet although vets usually recognise that problem very quickly. Older birds get chronic nasal infections? That's ridiculous and totally BS. The word chronic means permanent and can't be cured and if a bird had a chronic nasal problem, it would be dead. Bloody eyes? Red iris or actual blood? Do yourself a favor---get your bird's nails clipped somewhere else

That may be very hard to do. There's no guarantee that you'll get a bird that will remain a one person be it a man or a woman. AND, What happens if this male oriented bird finds your girlfriend extremely alluring, sensual and very attractive after arriving at your house?

Maybe you can buy an inexpensive cordless phone so hubby can walk away while being on the phone?

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If you've had each type before, then you know the differences. As far as both in one home, that's the person's choice. Both have totally different personalities. There's no way to tell if they will get along. A macaw is prone to nasal infections from the heavy dander a grey gives off. Rambo is lucky that he's with you alot but then a new bird would take his place and be alone during your working hours. You liked your past macaw but there's absolutely no way that you'll know the personality of any new parrot. As far as them getting along, well just like with putting any 2 birds together, it's impossible to know how they'll get along. It's an individual thing. We really can't tell you if it's silly. Silly doesn't apply here. Ability to give a parrot as much attention as possible, be around as much as possible, socialize as much as possible---those things do apply. Many here have more than one bird but they can only tell you what goes on in their house. But anyway--- www.macawboard.com www.theparrotboard.net http://www.macawboard.com/forum/f25/

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Hi Judy is just making sure that all the necessary things are covered. She's not insulting you. She's not the type of person that would ever do that. Why did she mention food and water? Well, believe it or not, there's plenty of people who actually have held back food and water until they come home. Some of the reasons they do that winds up hurting the bird. We always give a full picture here because we don't know you and you don't know us. We only try to be helpful.

It's best to leave the radio on, position the cage near areas that have activity so he can see the activity. My birds watch all the outdoor birds all day long whether I'm home or not. I don't know the size of your cage but a big cage is best because he'll have to stay in it most of the day

Tanya This will show you what to do http://www.avianweb.com/lovebirdchicks.html

This is what the crop looks like after the formula is in the stomach. These chicks are waiting for the formula

The large golf sized bulge under the head'upper chest area is the crop. These chicks have just been fed and the crop bulges. After about 21 days, the size of the crop disappears because the bird is not storing a load of food in it. It's the formula that stretches the crop. The crop shrinksafter the food is in the stomach.

Assie That's a hard question to answer. If the parents are constantly feeding the chicks, they're also providing that parent's *mark and smell that will distinquish that clutch from another clutch of the exact same age birds. Now when a human takes over, that person put's it's *human. mark, touch and smell* on the chicks. It's really an individual thing. Some may take them back and many others won't. The only exception is when chicks have to be taken out for an extremely short time and immediately put back in---10 to 20 min. But in that situation, there needs to be other chicks in the clutch when that's done. A parent buird doesn't count the amount of chicks in a clutch.

Although this is truly a sad situation, I just wanna commend you on the strength and perserverence and determination you showed. Any bird around would be very lucky to have you as an owner. Keep your chin up. Believe it or not, tommorrow is a new day and soon, you'll move forward. You're a strong person and you did all you could and we're all proud of you. Everyone's here for you Dave

If the parent bird is feeding the babies, let it stay like that. Let her do her job. Just make sure that she has access to whatever she's feeding them. Many times, parent birds abandon the chicks. She hasn't. Chicks who are fed by parents for a long time turn out to be stronger, than chicks who've been strictly hand fed by people.

You've only had him for 2 days. Some of the pressure can be eased by keeping the bird in his cage for at least 1 week until he gets used to all the new things around him including all the perches and other things in and out of his cage. That's the standard procedure that people do when buying a baby bird with or without a deformity. Doing that will lessen the amounts of time he'll hurt himself.