HeatherStrella

I took AnnaBella to the vet for her 6 month check up. She had started chewing her wing feathers right before the last time I took her...6 months ago. I've noticed her doing it more and more. Sometimes when she's doing it, she acts like she's trying to get at something...but can't. She seems frustrated sometimes. I thought maybe it was dry, itchy skin...I've been giving her palm oil forever...misting her...anyway, the vet looked and noticed she's only chewing the right side. Because it's ONLY the right side, she thinks something might be wrong. She could be in pain...it could be...just about anything. She flies fine...she flaps both wings the same...I have noticed recently that she's kinda fiddling with her right foot a lot. She kinda picks at her right foot with her beak. She's doing it really softly...almost like she's eating crumbs stuck to her foot but there's nothing there. She acts fine other than those two things...the feather chewing and foot fiddling. So, my vet wants to knock her out to do x-rays. I voiced my concerns about anestheisa...she said she would try Valium first and that Valium is totally safe for birds. If it doesn't knock her out enough, then she'll do a quick anesthesia. She said it would be very fast and she wouldn't be under long...just enough time to do the x-rays. I totally trust my vet. She works with a lot of birds...pet birds and wild birds brought in by people who find them injured. I saw two hawks come in once when I was there. I am a little worried about the other staff there...the vet techs. I'm worried that AB is fully flighted and might get away from them when they take her out for the procedure. Or, a dog walking by will grab her. I'm thinking of all these things and it's freaking me out. Has anyone else had this kind of thing done for their bird? Like I said, I totally trust my vet...I wouldn't let any other vet do this. I want what's best for AnnaBella...I want her to be happy and healthy...pain free. But, if something happens to her during this whole thing, I'll be crushed. Any comments? PS My vet did a poop test and all checked out fine...

Thank you for all the nice comments. :-)

You've probably heard this before...AnnaBella loves when I react to one of her bites. If I do react, she flies to her swing and starts laughing. When I say "react" I mean that I let out a yelp or my body jumps from being startled. I TRY not to react but it's hard when it hurts. I started saying "NO!" with a mean look on my face....so, now sometimes when she bites, she'll say "NO!"...then she laughs. Gotta love 'em.

Here's a short clip of AnnaBella talking..this is my first attempt...I can't believe I finally got something...this is using the video cam on my phone..

Great pic! I wish I could do this with AnnaBella...unfortunately, I have DUMBO ears...she goes right for 'em!!! I have to settle for her sitting on my knee while sitting...and on my hand while walking.

Hi...I really want to video AnnaBella talking but I'm running into a problem. She usually talks when there's other noise in the house...like music or TV. When I have taken video of her talking, it's hard to hear over the TV. If I turn the TV off, it's like she knows something is up and won't talk. I've tried video taping her when she's been playing...she sees the camera and stops. I've tried leaving the video camera laying around so she gets used to seeing it, but it's like she knows when it's turned on. She talks sooo much and says such amazing things, I want to put her on youtube. Does anyone know of a small video camera with good audio recording?

He's a sweetheart, really. When they first got him, he liked cuddling and sleeping in the daughter's sweatshirt. I don't know if he still does that. They got a Grey because of their ability to talk. Mine talks a lot, they were attracted to that and so they decided to sell the sun conure they had to help pay for a Grey. Horrible, I know. Otis is starting to talk quite a bit. He's really a sweetheart. He's attached to the daughter and pretty much only allows her to handle him...I think the mom might be able to do a hold him a little. According to my friend, the sun conure was adorable. I never got to meet him...But, he couldn't talk and probably never would...they wanted a parrot with talking abilities. I didn't know they were selling the sun to get a grey...When I found out they did that, I tried to tell them that not all greys talk. I blame myself a little because they got their grey after they saw AnnaBella. I was always talking about her and they came over to meet her...I wish there was more "animal policing" by authorities so that this sort of thing didn't happen.

Regarding the wing clipping...They had the bird clipped at a bird shop...but he could still fly a little so they took him back and had him clipped shorter. I told them that if you're going to clip, they still need to be able to glide. I did tell them my opinions on clipping. The reason they wanted him clipped is because they have 8 dogs. They are in and out all day long and they didn't want the bird to escape. I told them that their household isn't a household that should have a bird. My friend got pissed off at me for saying that...that's around the time she told me the lie that they took him to a vet and he checked out fine. I know that there are a lot of Greys out there with owners like this...and worse. The only solution, in my eyes, is kidnapping. If I could keep the bird, I might consider that option. I don't know how I would do it...I've never done something like that. I know I must sound like a deviant criminal, but that's really the only solution I see. I remember when they first got Otis, when I suggested they take him to a vet...another comment that was made was that if he was sick, they'd have to do something about it and that just costs too much. I thought about getting them a gift card to the vet to have him checked out but, like I said, they'd probably use it on the dogs. If they did use it on Otis and if (when) they found out he is sick, would they be willing to do the treatments? Not just financially, but would they DO it. I told them that when I got AnnaBella, she looked FINE. She was active, her color was good...etc. But, she had a bacterial and yeast infection in her mouth. I told them that it was common for babies to have this...still no luck. As far as wing clipping being good or bad, I personally don't like it. But, I understand that people's situations change and they may have to do that in order to keep the bird. But, there is no excuse for what was done to Otis. AnnaBella went through a really bad time where she was biting all the time. The vet said that if we clip her wings, she'd behave better...we didn't do it...it wasn't long and she stopped the biting. I think some of the reasons for her improvement was ME learning how to "handle" her...and change of seasons. Otis is on my mind all the time and I wish there was a solution. I'm going to see my bird vet soon and I'm going to talk to her about it to see if there's something that can be done...I'll keep you posted. Thanks for the replies.

Hi Dan...I haven't taken many photos lately...I was asked to do a wedding and I said "yes"...I'm not a pro and shouldn't have said yes. They loved the pics but I hated doing it. Never again!!! So, after the wedding, I just kinda stopped taking pics. I need to do it again...I have too much equipment to just leave it sitting there. I'll post them here if I start up again :-) Dave007, I love that pic of your dog with your Grey on his tail. What a great shot!! I didn't see it there before when I posted. Does your Grey just sit there while the dog walks around?

Sandy is our 7 year old miniature schnauzer. AnnaBella is 5 years old...we got AnnaBella when she was 3 months old...Sandy was 2, I guess. Anyway, we have to be very carefull with those two. Sandy wants to eat AnnaBella. Yet, Sandy is afraid of her too. AnnaBella will tell Sandy to "go on, go out there"...like we do...and Sandy listens. She'll tell her "go on, stay...good girrrrrrrl"...ha. Sandy was sniffing around under AnnaBella's swing, the first time we heard her do this, and AnnaBella went upside down to get as close as possible (not close enough for Sandy to get her)...AnnaBella said "go on! Go out there!"...Sandy went out of the room...AnnaBella said (right side up)..."STAY! Good Girl!"...LOL We have to be vigilant with the two. If AnnaBella is in a flying mood, Sandy is out. If AnnaBella wants to cuddle or do anything 1:1 with me, Sandy is out.

Oh NO!! My AnnaBella will be an adult on December 31!!! Ha... ;-) What a great 5 years it's been!!

She was/is a member here. She posted pics of him when she first joined and people were ticked off by his "bad haircut" as she called it..... She quit coming here right after that. She felt attacked. She doesn't think she's doing anything wrong. They don't think anything is wrong with him. I forgot to say that they also had a cockatiel...it died recently...I suggested as nicely as I could that Otis might have the same thing that the 'tiel died from and they might want to have him checked out...but...nothing. I have told them about my vet...blah blah blah....and I know the daughter has a substantial amount of money...she can afford to take him to the vet. Unfortunately, she puts the responsibility on the mom to pay for the vet...and the mom doesn't have a lot of money. It's a weird situation. Thank you for responding.

Those pics are really small...you can see them better here: http://photos.imageevent.com/heatheranddenis/otischelsiesgrey/large/bf.jpg and http://photos.imageevent.com/heatheranddenis/otischelsiesgrey/large/bb.jpg

Hi...I haven't been here in a long time...the forums look different!! I see my AnnaBella is still on the front page...I love to see that. OK...here's my problem. I have a friend who is a dog breeder. She's always had tons of dogs and cats. Her daughter (19 years old) got a Grey after she fell in love with mine. Otis is his name...when she got him, I tried to give her advice but she wanted to do things her way. I think they see themselves as good pet keepers...and they are...with their dogs. Anyway, Otis has never been to the vet. I suggested they take him when they first got him but they didn't. My friend told me that they did just to shut me up as she told another friend of mine. I kinda backed off because I thought maybe I was "preaching" too much. OK...so it's about a year or more later and I was visiting their house today. Otis has a nice roomy cage...a few chew toys. His water bowl was slimy and the water was kinda "thick". I told my friend about it and she said that her daughter takes care of him and she got called into work early. I could tell that the water bowl hasn't been cleaned in a long time...not just a day. My friend actually said "my daugher takes care of him, I do nothing...he's alive."...My friend went to the bathroom and I took care of his water bowl. The bowl doesn't go with the cage....it doesn't fit right...he's been stuck btwn the cage and the bowl before and almost died. In fact, they thought he was dead...his head was wedged between the cage and the bowl...still no vet visit. That was a while ago and he "seems to be ok"...GRRRR. And now the food. They feed him all seeds. He had maybe a teaspoon full of seeds in his bowl...my friend said "I don't know if my daugher fed him this morning."....another GRRRRR. I don't want to seem preachy and yet Otis is suffering. He looks like crap...always has. His feathers are shabby and he just looks sickly. I want to steal him and take him to a vet. I cannot keep him...not that they'd let me anyway...my husband would freeeeeek!! One Grey is enough for us. Plus, I don't want AnnaBella to get sick from him. I KNOW he has something wrong...he needs to see a vet. Now one of her dogs is pregnant...I know Otis will be ignored even more. I thought about getting her a gift card to my vet, but I'm afraid they'll use it for one of their dogs....or just won't use it. I've explained to both of them how birds tend to hide illness...they don't see that he looks sick. I told them that he doesn't look right, but he's always looked that way so, to them, he looks normal. Anyway, I've told both of them that he needs AT LEAST one vet appt...just to check him out. They won't do it. I've told them I take AnnaBella every six months...they think I'm crazy. I know a lot of people can't afford to do that and I understand that. Here are some pics of him from when they first got him. He still looks like this. Bad wing trims and all. This just makes me sick. What do I do? Anybody have any ideas?

I really don't know if this counts as "potty training" but it works for us. AnnaBella is quite a good talker and picks words/phrases up very quickly. When she'd do the deed, I'd say "go poopie". Now, when she has to "go", she says "go poopie"...actually, she kinda says it in the form of a question but, hey, it works!! If she's somewhere I don't want her to be, I'll send her flying to her perch where it's ok to "go". She goes...most times, she'll say it again and watch it land...LOL. I guess the next step is to have her go to her perch on her own...but I'm happy with the way things are now. She's never unattended when she's off her perch. Good subject....

EDIT: It seems there's a problem with all the pics downloading...if you don't see 12 pics here, you can see them on my website... http://imageevent.com/heatheranddenis/californiaacademyofsciencesaquarium Original Message: In San Fransisco, they just built a new aquarium in the Acadamy of Sciences Museum. They have a King Tut tour and also a Rain Forest exhibit. We didn't have time to go to those after we were done with the aquarium so we'll go next time. We live about an hour and a half from there. Here are some Sea Creatures from the aquarium. It was very difficult to shoot through glass...I took over 200 shots but only a few turned out decent...I used "auto focus"...I wasn't thinking...I should have used "manual focus"...darn it.. Pink Jelly Fish Cuddle Fish.. My favorite photo..but I don't know what kind of fish this is.. Some kind of blue eel Jelly Fish Parrot Fish Leafy Sea Dragon...the plant looking thing is the animal Some kind of eel Fishy Fish.. Another Fishy Fish... That same Parrot Fish.. Penguin I must have shot 50 shots of the penguins...I would have spent more time but there were sooo many people there...The glass was water stained from them splashing it...this is where the "manual focus" would have REALLY been helpful!!! Oh well, live and learn. Post edited by: HeatherStrella, at: 2010/03/13 22:20<br><br>Post edited by: HeatherStrella, at: 2010/03/13 22:21

Love the one where he's on his back. His legs are so cute!!

Nice Grey. How old is he? When I saw his beak, I thought he was a baby...then I saw his eyes. How do you keep his beak in such tip top shape? :-)

I just love it when those little puffs land in the right spot! Very cute pics of your lil one. :-) She's a beauty.

Have you tried red palm oil? When the vet first cut AnnaBella's wings, they cut them too short and she began chewing. She was chewing because when she'd fold them in to her sides, they'd poke her causing irritation. I went to a new vet who gave her some red palm oil...that really helped soften things up and they started to grow once she stopped chewing. You give red palm oil orally...just a tiny bit on a favorite treat. Actually, I give it on the tip of a straw now because she won't eat the treat...she figured out my trick..ha. But, now she won't get dinner until she "bites" the straw and gets a little palm oil.

AnnaBella was BUTCHERED by the vet...it took 2 fricken years for her flight feathers to grow back. Never again!!

They love it!!! Perfectly normal..as everyone has said... B)

Well, AnnaBella learned the wolf whistle quickly after we brought her home. She did it quite often whether she was in her cage or not. We were having a new fridge being delivered and it was being brought in by two Spanish speaking men. One of the men was done with his part then the 2nd guy finished his part and was leaving. AnnaBella had been quiet up til this moment, they couldn't even tell we had a parrot. So, the 2nd guy passed me amd a few steps later, AnnaBella let out her wolf whistle. The man stopped and looked at me...I think I turned 10 shades of red!! I tried to explain that we had a parrot...he just smiled and went out the door...LOL. I don't know if he understood me or not.

I lost my sister, Kim, on this day...but in 1999, she was 37 years old. I remember in 2001 on this day...I woke up in the morning, turned on the TV, muted it, and called my mother to see how she was doing on the 2 year anniversary of Kim dying. As I talked to her, I watched the news and saw planes flying into buildings and thought I was watching a movie. My mother hadn't heard of it yet. She had just woken up herself. That was a weird day!! I was working in a psych hospital at the time and that afternoon when I went to work, they had all the TVs on and the patients were quite disturbed...more so than usual. We had a lot of intakes that day...such a weird day that was!!! Such a sad day for those families whose loved ones were killed...and those who diverted the one plane from killing even more people....the courage those people had!! My thoughts and prayers go out to those people who lost loved ones on that awful day. <br><br>Post edited by: HeatherStrella, at: 2009/09/13 04:02

I sooo agree! I never ever loved an animal the way I love AnnaBella. She means everything to me. I've had dreams, horrible dreams, about her dying in terrible ways and it scares the crap out of me everytime. I have a dog...and I adore her..I've had cats and one in particular was very, very special to me...but there's no relationship that comes close to the relationship I have with AnnaBella. There are times where she finishes my sentences or says a word/phrase I'm about to say. She blesses me when I sneeze and says "mmhmm" when I thank her...lol. There are so many ways that we're connected...like all of you are to yours. As I say in my signature...She's my little GREY of sunshine!! Great topic...thanks for posting it.