tiombe

Hello: My husband has thus far posted a few questions on this forum, and you have all be very helpful with your responses and suggestions. I hope we can now get your advice on the following query we have: Our CAG, Tiombe, has now been a part of lives for about 2 months, even though he is actually about 6 months old now. He's slowly getting used to his new environment, and we've been advised by CAG owners to make sure that in getting to know us, we should try to pet him and play with him together. Although he's taken a bit more to my husband (who has been with him longer as i was out of the country when he brought this new family member home), he's still slowly getting used to me and we think that in a few months, he'll be perfectly comfortable with both of us. However, in seeing how long it has taken Tiombe to get used to us, we're getting a little apprehensive about the idea of having children and raising them around Tiombe. Does anyone have any experience with 'introducing' children into their family after their CAG has been with them for some time? We'd really appreciate hearing any experiences you may have with this.

he seems to be doing much better now. In fact, unless i am mistaken i am almost noticing his belly starting to bulge a bit! I wonder, then, how to ensure the opposite as well: not to overfeed him. Is there an overall weight amount that serves as a good guide for different ages of CAGs, or should i feed until he is no longer hungry (with sunflower seeds there really would be no end!).

thanks again. based on your detailed post about clipping, i will have another look and see if i can make sense of the clip job done. yes, this is my first bird (with the exception of a dove ive had for a few months also now--very different can of worms though). I will heed the advice about not rushing to him when he flutters to the ground. i will keep you posted over time.

well said, and thanks for explaining. i appreciate your feedback. given the furniture is all a dark cherry stain, the stark pine is a bit of an eyesore. i can live with it, but i am still curious, even if just for the record, whether there are even child-friendly paints that might have worked and which wouldn't be unsafe for the grey. i concur with you, though, and will err on the side of caution.

thanks dblhelix, you seem very knowledgeable in these areas. have you read my other post about staining/painting the outside wooden frame of my new CAG's cage? Any advise?

the new CAG i bought must not have been clipped properly, as it is one of hte most devastating things to watch when sometimes Tiombe gets nervous and tries to fly to me, or from me back to the cage or in other directions at whim. he sees to crash-land into things and it certainly isn't a gracel downward descent. It isn't straight down like a rock, but neither does he land on his feet and catch himself. it looks pretty painful, and it pains me to watch. as a result, i try not to handle him if he seems nervous, and when i do i try to be in a clear spot where he won't run into things. I suppose until he grows and his feathers regrow, there isn't much else i can do...?

the first few nights i was covering my CAG, though he hated being caged up and would cluck/squeek for almost an hour, a very sad sounding thing to listen to, so i decided that since he never seems to fly off the top of the cage, why not just leave the lid open, allowing him to sit on top of the cage, which is his favorite thing. when i go to work now, likewise, i allow him to sit up on top of the cage. he goes down when he likes for food.

can anyone confirm what i have read, which is that introducing toys needs to be gradual, etc, etc. i have heard some say that they had to first put the toy somewhere in the room, until week after week, they finally inched it closer to and then into the cage. I wanted to learn for myself, so i just put together a few 'toys'--one is a thick rope with knots in it (its a start), and the other is a set of colorful climbing Caribeeners connected together and hanging from the top of his cage.

my CAG is only 4months old and according to the previous owner he was talking in arabic quite well (handful of words), though i have read that they don't usually begin talking until after the first year. Can others weigh in on this? does it seem it is only after they reach a certain age (1?) that they can formulate words. All that i hear are clicking noises when he gets on my shoulder, sharp short 'squeeks' of disapproval if i put her in her cage with lid closed, and the rare whistle. I wonder if anyone who has read the Beak Book would be willing to share with those of us in obscure corners of the world without access to the book a synopsis, say a how-to in ten steps. I am sure there is more to the book than that, but any summary of the most important steps would be immensely appreciated by many of us i am sure. Simply put, i am wondering what i can do other than to 'keep talking' (as Pink Floyd suggests) to Tiombe, even when i feel as if i am talking to myself.

thanks all, again for many helpful tips. yes, the cage material is standard, came from a very reputable breeder on a nearby kibutz (btw, i first picked up a electus rarus (green) and brought it home but after one night of ear-tingling screeching and unpleasant looks from neighbors in the apartments above and beside mine the next morning, i proptly exchanged for a grey). i am hoping someone might be able to weigh in on this: i was at the hardware store last night and discovered that the safest thing they have is a water (acrylic)-based stain, that effectively has no varnishes, no turpentine, etc., it is as acrylic as household paint. so, i am wondering about using that to paint the wood on the outside frame of the cage. my guess is that this should be fine, as he never seems to have access to that wood even if he wanted to chew/scratch at it. I am going to upload some photos this weekend of my homemade DIY cage to show the wood. I am also thinking of phoning the company that makes the stain as well as a local vet. If others have knowledge on the topic, though, i would love to hear.

thank you all. I am going to approach it this weekend (it will have to be a strategic and efficient arrangement as Israel has oddly only has a 1.5 day weekend). I will report back to the forum what the result is. having a balcony and being as warm as it is here, i can have Tiombe out on the balcony for the weekend, all the while running the air circulation and all windows open. given how windy it is on the hilltop where i am, air moves completely through the house, and i am nonetheless only spraying in one bedroom.

thanks Talon you are very kind and patient, and helpful in your posts. i greatly appreciate it. anyone else for tips on easing your grey into hand feeding, and helping them with a better food retention ratio??

thanks julia for your positive spin. i am sure others might think i am posting too many questions and avoid my posts like the plague!

i have read many references to feeding the grey corn on the cob. does it need to be boiled first? why?

thanks all for your generous feedback. he is definitely eating as i have seen him and see evidence in his bowl, just that it seems to be about half of what the previous owner claims he was eating previously. i have tried hand-feeding him but he sees to 'chomp and drop', getting seemingly nothing down the hatch. i have tried cheese, lettuce, grapes, and i first came to the conclusion that he was either mad at me as if to say, here is what i think of you and your lousy food! i will rip it up and drop it on the ground. Although he seems to not do much better when i watch him go at a corn on the cob wired to his cage. he chomps at it seemingly dropping 99% of it! Is my CAG missing something, not all there, too young for hand feeding, or simply nervous/upset with me (not wanting to eat in front of me). The irony is that somehow i see in his sunflower seed dish that he manages to have cracked open many of the seeds (presumably he has eaten the contents), so i am led to think, 'ok, he is not incompetent, and is capable of eating'. these are the musings clearly, of a new African Grey owner...

hi all, why is it that newbies to forums always seem so desperate in their inquiries... so i have a new(to me) 4 months old CAG. just today i have discovered that the hoard of bites i have all over is likely due to bed bugs (started just before i got the grey so no finger pointing at him). being in humid israel where everything breeds and returns, i have yet to find a compelling way to rid them from the home except to use a household spray designed for the job. needless to say, my worry is with the grey and the fumes. has anyone else been faced with such a dilemna. if i put her and the cage outside while spraying and open the windows of the infected bedroom with door (to rest of the home) sealed off, would this be sufficient. if so, after how long would it be ok to return him to the living room (a distance of about 30ft from the door to the bedroom). is it seriously too risky, or with proper care can it be done?

have a new (to me) African grey. He is about 5mths old, and came from a friend. I have had him for two days and i am worried as he has only seemingly been nibling at his food. The previous owner explained that he would usually eat two small bowls of a soaked seed/bean mix and other things, whereas he has only munched on the same bowl and a few sunflower seeds the entire time he has been with me. I presume it is shock and nervousness as he settles. he oscilates between putting his head down if i approach to pick him up (so as to not let me put my hand by his feet to step up), and on other occassions letting me hold and pet him. I also have a white dover in a nearby cage and a himalayan cat. What i am not sure is whether his not eating much is just generally due to the transition in which case perhaps i give it a few more days and see how he does, OR if it in fact that he is feeling terrorized by the presence of a cat in the room. Are there any 'super foods' that he won't be able to resist as a way to help him transition? Also, when the dove coos/calls Tiombe always shakes his head. I assume this is disapproval/irritation, but do others know? He also insists on standing on top of the new cage i built for him (30"W x 20"L x 40"H). I built it before reading that it is unwise to have a cage where the bird can be higher than you. With him standing on top he is actually just lower than eye level, so in effect i suppose i am still higher (top of my head) than him. Whether this has anything to do with it or not, if i am able to pick him up (on my arm), and put him inside the cage he immediately scales the side and goes out the top again. If i close the top he does a lot of clicking (presumably disapproval). If someone can confirm: my sense is that it is good to generally keep him caged in during the day (while i am not there) as he seems to nibble more his food when caged inside; it also shows that i am in charge (i.e., i let him out on my terms, not his). Although i also assume that his uneasiness in being in the cage is due to the very new surroundings especially this new cage.

thanks. yes he is banded but it is closed. The rectangles should be ideal. I bought the material from a parrot breeder. the rectangles are about 3/4" wide by 2" high, so just big enough to get claws in, no heads. I am quite anxious about another post i made about eating. Talon, if you have a moment (or others) could you give any suggestions, re: my bird over 3 days isn't really eating much.

hi all, thanks for the replies. the wood is pine, typical of a lumber store (is this in itself ok? it is not, of course, "treated wood" per se, but is this type of lumber not also treated in some way?). i didn't know the term to use for the caging, it isn't actually chicken wire, it is proper heavy-duty stuff that has long rectangular shapes made by the crossing of the wiring. So, has no one had any experience in painting, coloring, staining a wooden frame (albeit on the outside of the inner square metal caging) with materials that are safe?

while i know fumes are deadly to greys, i have nonetheless just finished building a wooden cage which is lined with thick metal chicken wire. The outer wooden framing i was hoping to stain and then varnish. The plan was to put Tiombe in a second cage while and for a few days after doing the staining and varnishing. I am very concerned though as i don't know to what extent the fumes may have an effect on her. Is a few days drying and curing outside in hot sun sufficient to remove fumes? Is it more of a question of what based (oil vs. latex) the stain and varnish are? Even if i went for several days of drying outside (while he is inside), what about if he digs at the wood with his beak, effectively scraping splinters off (which he has been doing currently on the raw wood, but i am hoping only because he is new to our home, to us, and to this newly built cage).