dblhelix

A pic would be very helpful. It is rare that greys suffer from the mites that cause scaly face/mites. However I suppose it could happen. Post a pic if you can and we can better provide an opinion. As always, you may be best getting a professional opinion.

These are pretty amazing. Looks like the bird is loving it. I have been working with Kip on indoor recall for months now. She pretty much flys to me on command just about 100% of the time...maybe one day, with lots more research, I will try some outdoor recall. we'll see, but its insprirational. Thanks for sharing the links. B)

Kip plays at the bottom of the cage all the time. She likes to drop her fresh food down and then go pick through it off the bottom later. Its normal foraging behaviour. She also rolls and will tear/shred the paper at the bottom sometimes, making a nice mess. We have a grate but putting that in would take away the fun she has foraging. She poops in her cage as much as any. I change the paper daily and have not had a problem with her getting dirty...

Congrats! Show us some pics when you get a chance!

Welcome Jessie! B)

From what I have seen and read Severe's are great. For the photos, you need to upload the photo to a site that will host the .jpg (like photobucket or Flickr). Once you have uploaded it, you go to the full reply option in these threads and select the "Img" button from the list twice. This will appear something like: <br><br>Post edited by: dblhelix, at: 2008/03/08 03:57

Hi jdr, As others have said, even if you trust a breeder completely its best to adhere to the quarantine. You just never know and illness often is not initially apparent. Absolutely do quarantine with the budgie. They are mightly little parrots, so much fun!... B)

Very sorry to hear of this loss. Please keep us updated and give your sister support. :unsure:

Hi Yvette, I am a firm believer that with patience and persistence you will get him to step up and bond with you. My Granmother's Red Lored Amazon we have had for over 38 yrs now is extremely agressive with people he does not know. He will bite people badly, lots of blood. He was wild caught and we really dont know his history all that well, but believe he was mistreated at least during the capture period. In any event, my point is that to this day, after 38 year living with our family, he is still aggressive with people he does not know. However, he has proven time and again that he will accept new people, but it may take a year or more of consistent, calm interaction with him. Once the trust is there it is never forgotten and extremely rewarding to have created the bond. He remembers people he has bonded with and steps up quickly even if he has not seen them for years, once the bond is formed. Keep working with your baby. It may take some time yet and 1 month is a VERY short period in the life span of these animals. You will get there and the reward will be that much sweeter whne you do! B) Keep us posted.

Malibu California. B)

congrats! she is a pretty girl!! HA, I was right! just had that feeling. congrats again!!!

If she has previously laid eggs this could certainly be a sign. Since you are not all that familiar with her and egg laying I would see a vet ASAP. Not wait until Monday, ASAP. She could be egg bound. Hopefully this is not the case and this may be totally normal, but I think you need to get it checked out sooner rather than later. Keep us posted.

The moon looks reddish during an eclipse because while the moon is hidden behind the earth the only light that gets to it is filtered through our atmosphere. The atmosphere filters out most of the other shades but leaves red. Thus because the light hitting the moon is red, the moon appeart to turn red. During a total lunar eclipse the Earth casts a complete shadow on the moon because it is directly between the sun and the moon. However, some sunlight is still hitting the moon but this light is bent around the Earth and refracted through the atmosphere. Particles in the atmosphere cause the light rays coming from the sun to bounce around. Some are refracted, or bent. They get redirected through the atmosphere and out around behind Earth and onto the moon, which is blocked only from direct sunlight. Thus, the moon is still visible in the sky. However, the refracted rays of sunlight doing the illuminating turn the moon a strange reddish. Or copper. Maybe rust. That’s because of all the bouncing around those rays had to go through on their way through the atmosphere. The more atmosphere that sunlight travels through, the more the blue and green parts of the spectrum are scattered. That’s why sunrises and sunsets are yellow and pink and red. The low early or late sun, hitting the atmosphere at a shallow angle, has to fight through more atmospheric particles on its way to your eye, and the reddish wavelengths get through better. The same thing happens to sunlight refracted onto the moon during an eclipse. The sunlight hits the atmosphere on the sides of Earth at a shallow angle and is carried through a lot of atmosphere until it’s redirected out onto the moon “hiding” from direct sunlight. The red end of the spectrum is all that can get through that much interference. So the moon in total eclipse appears as an eerie, glowing copper ball in the sky. This is a great link about eclipses for those interested: B) http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2008Feb21/TLE2008Feb21.html

Judy is right. What worked for one may not work for all and hopefully this thread helps. Here is a dose of what was reality for me and please don’t take this the wrong way. The key to quitting is will power. Period. If you truly decide to quit, you will quit. You don’t need a patch or some pills, that’s just a marketing ploy by companies to make money and sell you one crutch for another. It is totally and completely in your control. It is not easy. The physical and mental addiction is real. Your body and brain become dependent on the nicotine. If you try to quit and relapse it does not make you a bad person. Happens to most people. But see it for what it is. If you decide to stop, you can and will stop. I believe the key is truly realizing you have control. Its all up to you, but you have to be committed. Focus the energy elsewhere. Try and get a “healthy addition”. I used to dip every day for 10 years. Ah that taste, the buzz, the relaxation…Then one of my dogs got nasty mouth cancer. An ugly tumor growing out of her gums. It would bleed, was always raw and smelly due to constant saliva on open sore. It got as big as a golf ball protruding out of her lips with this disgusting undulating flesh, almost brain like and sinister. We had it cut out several times, had her on some chemo and some home remedies. It finally spread and we put her down when the suffering was outweighing her quality of life. The next day I quit dipping. Cold turkey. Threw out whatever I had. The thought of that dip possibly causing me to have a tumor like that was what it finally took. It was not easy, I had chills, headaches and cravings…still do. I have not dipped for over 6 years now. Every time I get the craving, I think about my poor doggy, and I do still get the craving. I wish all of you out there trying to quit the best. Don’t give up. If you try and fail keep trying! You can do it, it is up to you and only you. There is no other magic solution. Peace.

Sounds like you did the right thing. If you do not make a big deal out of it the birds will key off your energy. We have earthquakes all the time in California. Kip is super sensitive. We have had 3 that come to mind in the last 12+ months we have had Kip...the first time we hear her around 4AM flapping, fluttering and making some noise in her cage. We had no idea what happened but found her sort of trembling and hanging on the side of the cage. Soon as she sees us she says "You're Ok. It's OK". Clearly something had scared the heck out of her. Looked around for a bug, spider or something and found nothing. Later in morning we hear report on news about a minor quake and of course it was exactly at the time she went nuts. The next 2 times similar issues. Early AM, she goes nuts and wakes us up. Living in CA nothing over a 4.0 quake will get most people too excited or even out of bed (I dont even wake up for most). But now I check a really good USGS web page with real time earthquake tracking and sure enough that is what it has been...So in these instances I know we have not freaked out, in fact we have been sleeping and it is KIP that wakes us up! During the day we can move her cage around etc with her in it and it does not phase her at all. I think the earth movement startles her from sleeping perch stance and just freaks her out. In any case, if we are calm etc that helps them a lot in just about any situation. Hope the ground stops shaking out there! B)

WELCOME GusandGloria!!

Sorry to hear about this. Go to the vet. Chances are all will be fine, but you should get it checked out ASAP. Is Charlie a new flier/learning? or was/is he flight proficient and had a crash landing? Keep us posted.

I am voting Female...but will not be surprised if I am wrong!

Dear Aldosbooks, I am so sorry to hear of your loss. Yes, Teflon is known to be deadly though not publicized nearly as much as it should be. Bird owners must exercise extreme caution if cooking with any non-stick cookware and really should replace those pots/pans. Thank you for sharing your experience. It is helpful to revisit these things and keep household dangers on people's radar. Again, I am sorry for you loss and hope you continue to participate here and perhaps bring another bird into your life when the time is right.

I dont get the sense that Tubescreamer is a troll. I think he is a legitimate user who took on a bird w/o any knowledge about them. If you read the comments made, its not unusual for someone with no idea about parrots to erroneously expect the tactics mentioned to work. I dont think its appropriate for us here to be labeling members as one thing or another. We need to give advice. If there is someone who is not educated we need to try and provide them information even if we do not agree with their stance/approach, not turn them away with insults. That would only be bad for the animal in the end.

I appears that TubeScreamer has indeed entered into bird ownership w/o any information, and said as much himself in the very first post. If you, TubeScreamer, sincerely have good intentions then you will continue doing what you are doing, which is educating yourself on these amazing animals and their needs. Parrots ARE NOT DOGS. They WILL NOT take to the same type of training/mentality of pack leader etc that does work with canines for the most part. Parrots are unique, beautiful and intelligent animals that will reward you 1000 times over if you have the right approach an invest the necessary time with them. Time and patience is a concept a lot of people do not truly appreciate with parrots. These are long lived animals (many 60+ years) and therefore you cannot expect change/reward instantly. Some things take YEARS. If you are in this for the best interest you either commit entirely 100% now, learn and enjoy the ride together or you should get this bird rehomed as soon as poosible to an owner that will properly embrace the animals needs. If you "boot camp" a bird the damage you do to its trust in humans may be irreversible and you will completely undermine what you are trying to do AND make the animal a difficult pet for any future owner. I encourage you to continue educating yourself so you can truly do what is best for the animal and you. On another note, you are a new member here and we welcome new members with open arms. However, quickly entering into inflamatory posts IS NOT going to be tolerated. Every post I see here was written by people investing their time to try and give you advice. All responses here are of a mature nature and with intent to address your questions. If people come across as critical its because they are concerned for the animals welfare based on your stated and clear misunderstanding of these animals needs. Please educate yourself and make the best decision in interest of the birds long life. We are happy to help as we can, but you need to have an open attitude, willing to adapt and patience if you want to be a successful parrot owner. Are you up to that challenge?

Go with perches that dull out the nails. Dont clip unless absolutely necessary (usually not) as it can cause them to lose grip on things, fall and then become phobic. Dont do anything drastic in the first few months with a new bird if you can avoid it as this will only make the bonding more challenging. If they associate negative things with new owners this will be a set back.

Greetings aslterp59, Each bird is of course different in talking ability etc. There are absolutely some members here with birds over 15 years that report them still learning/saying new words all the time. It is generally accepted that grey can continue to learn and use words their entire life. If you have a talker (which it sounds like this one may be), chances are he will continue to use/learn words depending on the environment and interaction he is given. The more interaction he gets, the more talking and learning he will do. Sounds like a nice grey that has been well cared for but can use some extra attention. If you decide to go for rehoming, make sure you are commited. They are truly life long companions and a move can be stressful for them. Keep us posted! B)

Very cute! He's determined!! Watch those walls, Mak could easily take a chunk out of them B)

It sounds like you have plenty of time to make sufficient preparation. I agree that leaving Charlie at home in his cage would be the best option if possible. To give an example, we have had Kip for just over a year now and in that time we have gone away 3 times already. First for 6 days to Hawaii, then for 2 weeks to Europe and recently for 5 days to go skiing. Plus we are going away this coming week for another trip to the snow...We are fortunate that we have a friend who likes/knows birds and is happy to stop by each day (and/or house sit) for us. Kip has been FINE on each occassion. So, I think with a little planning you should be able to get things in order so you can go and enjoy your trip and not worry about your baby! The sooner you start familiarizing Charlie with the neighbor or care taker the better. Also, getting the bird used to you leaving from time to time is a good thing so it becomes more natural and less stressful for all. B)