hveusnthbrige

My Grey is supposed to be a Cameroon, and he isnt that big! :ohmy: I dont know his weight, but I do know the breeder is tired of this particular bird eating so much haha. He's still eating a Macaw serving. Yet the last I saw him he was 9 weeks and had just be moved into a cage and was barely able to stand under his own power. I imagine the 2 weeks difference we have is a critical growing time. I'll be certain to weigh em in on Wednesday an report back with photos. Still thats a Cameroon you have there Dan, it matches all the pictures I have of them. They have a lighter grey shade of colouring and of course the larger size. As an interesting side note, the name "Cameroon" is taken from a city in Africa. Since a 'Congo' comes from the heart of the jungle they are smaller with less need for protection and defense(easier to find shelter) plus they need to travel shorter distances for food. A Cameroon comes from the further reaches of the jungle and poachers would take the "Giant Congos" they trapped nearby to the city of Cameroon. When the Grey's were exported, they were exported from Cameroon! When they arrived in North America, likely the customs agent told to band them noticed the colour and size difference and thought this must be a different sub-species of Grey and as such used the city of export on the papers to signify the difference. In fact, Congos and Cameroons have no differences biologically. So really, Cameroons are the result of paperwork! lol Even wild animals cant escape from being screwed by the system.

Ya its funny how you get all the items ready for the little guy when he's not even due to come home for weeks or even months! I'm guilty of that too, lol. 3-4 weeks left for me I'm told.. I can hardly wait till Wednesday for the next visit.:pinch:

That's awesome shes doing fine again. Feather plucking is best done without the bird being ready for it. I will spend lots of attention touching the other wing or complete other side of the abdomen while "plotting my attack" on the target feather. Then when it seems like the time is right I'll say, look over there! just like a child and yank that bandaid off quickly. Then lots of attention and comforting to follow! It's kinda like when a little kid falls off their bike an is scraped and bruised from head to toe. They make it seem like they're gonna die, and it might even look pretty horrible with all the blood and tears... but they bounce back more often then not. In the wild birds break blood feathers all the time and you think in the 60 or 80 years years a Grey will live it will encounter this several times. No one is there to help them and they survive just fine. More than anything the reason a bird in the wild dies from a broken blood feather is becoming infected directly into the blood stream. That's just my take on it anyway and how I treat it!

That's hilarious Lidia! I was at work one day and my Mom came into my room looking for some of my dirty clothes to fill up a half load of her laundry. She bent over to pick them up and Pinkie my male tiel, did the wolf whistle at her. When she stood up stunned and looked at him disgusted he then made his smoochy kissing noise. So my mom said "Pardon me Mr.?" He replied with his quiet little laughing noise then ran and hid behind a few of his big toys. Granted I should mention, Pinkie only knows the wolf whistle, the kissing noise and the laughing noise. So really he just went through the order in which he learned the noises from me from start to finish... but nonetheless he did them perfectly!:cheer: :silly: I can hardly wait until my Grey comes home in a few weeks. Oh the craziness that will ensue is just mind boggling!<br><br>Post edited by: hveusnthbrige, at: 2007/07/02 18:45

Birds do strange things sometimes upon realizing something new. And usually it's an effort to win your attention, and it sounds like it certainly worked!:laugh:

Yes 2 birds competing for your affection and attention is somewhat unnerving and unexpected. When I first introduced my tiels to eachother they hated eachother profusely. They sill hate eachother to this day nearly 2 months later but I think they secretly are learning to get along. It took a month and a half before I could leave them both in eachothers company unsupervised. Basically if one was nipping at the other he or she got a good dose of fast step ups until basically out of breath. I can't imagine what 2 Greys would do with eachother...:pinch:

Ya some people are very emotional about clipping. Even people that dont own any birds at all still have a solid view on clipping. It really does boil down to the preference of the owner. What you decide to do with your own bird is up to you and the opinions of others are only opinions. Yet all things considered Dan, our breeders both want whats best for the animal. In their experience they believe it to be best case scenario with clipped wings. I believe it to be important for the bird to learn how to fly and that is where my opinion will always reside. And please people, lets not start another wing clipping flame war.... opinions and experiences only!:cheer:

You can use baking powder, flour or corn starch to clot blood. But that will not help as a blood feather that is cracked and bleeding down its length can not be clotted. You must solve the problem by using some pliers and grab the feather shaft near the skin, maybe 3/8" away, and yanking it out as if plucking an eye brow hair/eyelash thing or pulling off a bandaid thats stuck to some hair. Just yank with speed while applying slight pressure with a finger to the base of the feather shaft against the skin so the skin has no chance of tearing too. The feather hole thing(cant think of the actual name right now...) after yanking may bleed for about 2 mins or some but if dabbed with the flour it will stop. Make sure to wash you hands and arms throughly before doing this and have your toweling assistant do the same!

I posted about having the breeder leave the bird flighted a few weeks ago. I then went to the breeder content in asking to leave my baby Grey flighted. This is what my breeder basically said and I will paraphrase: "Birds in the wild are not like birds in the home. Therefore birds in the home need to be adapted for life in the home and homes are not designed for birds to fly around in them. Greys are clumsy birds that use their wings for transport... simple point A to point B, they're far better at using their vocal abilities and their feet. As I still own this bird by having the greater majority of the price value still not paid for, this bird will leave here clipped. What you decide to do after you take it home is up to you but if you come back here in a year with a Grey thats fully flighted I'll still be your friend but I'm going to think less of you." So I really had no choice in the matter. But given his experience with breeding birds, I'm going to follow his advice and keep him clipped. Somewhat not fond of this decision but he assures me it will make a better life for the bird.:whistle: I suppose..

Different birds live different length lives. A Budgie can live to be 12 years abouts so it's generally sexually mature around 3-6 months. A Cockatiel lives about 30 years an will be mature around 6-12 months of age. In the case of a Grey which lives to about 70 years as an average age, it will have more variation in how quickly it matures. Some Greys will be fully ready for breeding after 3 years. These birds that mature after only 3 years are capable of breeding yet the likeliness of success is low because of mostly inexperience with brooding the young and the slightly overpowered hormones that need time to balance out. Think of a factory that was built with no concern for quality, just finish it and start to produce products asap! Then you get your more typical Greys that begin sexual maturity around 4 years of age and are fully intellectually and biologically ready to breed at about 6 years. So as far as what you asked HeatherStrella, when do they start mating behaviours? As early as 3 years but more likely at about 4 years old you will see it. Unfortunatly, this is the event that brings on severe desire for independence and frustration with not being able to locate or attract a suitable mate(if it's not you). This is when most birds get pawned off at parrot rescue centers or rehomed due to these new and undesirable behaviours. Babies are cute and funny, but stuff grows up and when it does you have a disgruntled old man! or Woman!

I dont know, but I think reptile lights are for mostly heat reasons...:huh:

Yes male birds, or better known as cocks, have far more intense behavioural reactions. They will display by straightening all their feathers on end and faning their tail. Likely they will become very territorial over both their cage and their mate, again, possibly you. A flighted bird will likely charge someone "competing for your affection" and attack them by biting their face. Cocks will also begin to create a nest as a way of showing off how sexy they are! Their bulding materials might include: the dinning room table, the end table beside your bed, a nice straw and bamboo room accent feature... or something more availible like their perch or toys. I enjoy reading many books about avian behaviour, they usually arent boring at all and you will learn so much about your bird if you read a few too.:side:

I'll bet the time spent training would be much appreciated by the birds. I attempt to train my tiels things by acting all crazy and excited beyond belief and you can tell they are enjoying it to no limit. I try to teach them to mantle their wings on command by showing them myself and sometimes they do it too. If they do, sometimes we morph into wild wing flapping episodes accompanied by loud cheerful screams and the male going through his repertoire of sounds I taught him. It's usually obvious they arent learning anything I'm attempting to teach, but they are getting a good dose of exercise and intense direct attention. That's why I think teaching stupid tricks is great!:side:

Birds dont menstruate as humans do. There is no pre-menstrual syndrome whereas pain causes emotional discomfort either. There is however a "time of the year" where daylight reaches 10-12 hour lengths and the birds' hormones begin to tell it things like... put your butt in the water bowl... go sit on that ping-pong ball... make a nest out of paper shreds... or non behavioural factors such as the body begins to produce eggs and lay them. If you are the birds' mate, the bird will expect you to mate with it and might "display" to you where it turns away from you and lifts its pygostyle(tail part) toward you in the air and fans its tail feathers out... yes your bird wants to make babies with you when this happens. But all in all, no time of the month and dare I say, thank god. /ducks and runs...:silly:

Yes the thought of shielding the wire from chewing came to mind. Or run the wire through one of the hollow tubes in the corner of the cage.

lol Judy. With that in mind I taught my tiels to shoot poop on the wall behind their cage...:laugh: Ive heard unconfirmed stories of a parrot having a pistol shaped hand pointed at it with a "bang!" then it fall over on its back... seems more like something a dog would do as a trick to me. I dunno how anyone would even train a parrot to do that! Nonetheless, there's some show around where I live I think to do with the local parrot clubs that have contests focused on domesticated avian behavior rather than simple looks. I think the purpose is to encourage breeding based more on positive genetic behaviour instincts.

Has anyone taught their Grey any silly tricks? Basketball.. Playing dead.. Humourous conversations..

I'm going to check out my birdy shop next time I'm in and pick something up. I foresee a light going on the cage shortly.

I put my tiels in the sun in front of the window screen. They like to watch the hawks:dry: lol..... Yes CD, do you have a timer?

Anyone have full spectrum lighting? I might go get one and put it on a timer.. say from 9 to 9. But I dunno, it might just be hocus pocus unless I get a good quality one.

He looks pretty tightened up. Noooooo, he's not startled by it;) That's great you introduce him to new and different things. Too many people it seems like protect their Greys from things that cause them alarm. No wonder Ceasar isnt plucked at all. I'll bet in no time he'll be driving you insane with it lol.

Ooo this topic has my eye! I'm thinking on feeding my Grey Harrison's. I feed my other birds Harrison's and they are so full of life and look stunning. My vet also suggests this brand of food over any other. My breeder says it could easily be the best pellet available yet to most birds eating this pellet is about nearly the equivalent of eating dirt. It's not colourful or neat smelling so baby birds that are weaning won't touch it over a fun food like for example ZuPreem. Plus I find ZuPreem being that it smells quite powerfully it's all I can smell in the vicinity of the cage and it makes me think my bedroom is a pet store... But yes, Fine or Coarse for a Grey? Maybe a mix of both..?

I taught my Cockatiel to sit on my hand by slowly chasing her with my finger and asking her to "Step Up!". Similar to your advice from the breeder, an empty room is best. On your hands and knees I would follow after the bird with my hand slowly and calmly and when she finally got onto my finger I would freeze and stop moving and stop talking. I let her sit there on my finger until she jumped off then I started chasing her again. It took about 2 hours total to train her and I did it in 20 minute lessons. This method is described in more detail on this website: http://www.parrotscanada.com/birdowner/forthenewbirdowner.html#Taming%20(the%20Wild%20Bird)

My friend has a 13 year old CAG and shes plucked nearly bare. He has the classic "Halo" or "Force-field" around the Grey in that if the bird doesnt like it he wont do it. In this case its getting wet. Cherry hates getting wet in the shower so he doesnt give her bathes. As a result she yanks those itchy little things out. My Cockatiels have 2 bathes a week. They HATE getting wet, but after they are all dried off they play hard and sing loud. 'Tiels come from the Australian desert. These Grey parrots come from the African rain forests. In the wild it rains and pours.. And, don't be ashamed of your baby looking a little plucked. He's still pretty, keep that in mind and pay no notice to plucking in front of him. Otherwise he'll start doing it to get your attention!:ohmy:

Haha judygram! You flatter me! :blush: CAGguy, wow those are some very young pictures! My breeder doesn't touch or even look at the babies until about 3 weeks old so I never had pics that young. I think right now my Cameroon is 9 weeks old, hatched May 1st. They tell me he's eating a Macaw serving! He's also showing signs of aggression to protect his clutchmates.. strange he's always nice to me when i go visit, lol. My bird I think is becoming a monster.. I better go buy him a motorcycle, a nasty spikey necklace and he can play drums in a rock band along side me playing my guitar. \|_| Haha. Oh and a tattoo too.. lol.