danmcq

One other to thing to think about also Jamal, is if you mean you are actually taking your greys out to stores and they attack people. Many by natural reaction will hit or grab whatever it is attacking them This can kill a 1 pound bird or any bird for that matter very easily. It also would damage the publics view of Parrots and their owners. Same with a bad behaving dog, if it runs at me with an obvious intent to bite, I'll kick the crap out if it, because I will not suffer a bad bite from something that is determined to harm me or maybe one of my family. If the owner objects and becomes aggressive, I'll kick the crap out of them as well. We should not expect people in public to react any different when they are attacked by either a very mean or Ill behaved pet that should NOT be out in public where they can harm innocent bystanders. That is infringing on their rights to be safe and secure when out in public.

What a nice story of your walk and Alfie's responses to the environment. Who knows the mind of the creature? Thanks for sharing this!

Anne Kenyon is a very powerful writer of truth in poem. I am glad you all have found that as well.

THE HUMAN HAND. By Anne.M.Kenyon I didn’t ask to be your pet, You said you wanted me. I was taken away from the world I knew, Though not unwillingly. I’d learned to trust the human hand, With its soft and gentle touch, So patiently I waited for The caress I loved so much. I meant no harm that day I screeched, I just wanted you to see That someone lived behind those bars, I thought you had forgotten me. Then the human hand I loved so much Came through my tiny door; But it offered me no gentleness As it knocked me to the floor. A feeling welled inside of me, Like I had never known. I felt frightened, hurt, confused and lost Within the bars of my new home. But patiently I waited For that hand to treat me right, But it rarely came to bring me food, And there were no toys in sight. In boredom and in loneliness, In hunger and despair I slowly ripped my feathers out, But no-one helped, you didn’t care. So I learned to hate the human hand As it slammed down on my cage, It held a brand new meaning now, Fear, pain, and rage. And then one day a stranger came, And to my great surprise, Gentle words came from her mouth, And tears welled in her eyes. But then the terror filled my heart, For that human who had cried, Opened up my tiny door, And put those human hands inside. I screamed in panic, fear and dread, As I waited for the pain That the human hand would give me As it slammed me once again. But gently I was lifted From my prison, cold and bare; But still I bit at those human hands In my terror and despair. The new prison I was taken to Was somewhat different to my home. Fresh food was all around me, And toy friends to call my own. And the human hands that touched me Brought on me no more pain, And slowly as the weeks went by, My ravaged feathers grew again. And as the weeks passed into months, I began to understand, That once again I could begin To trust the human hand. I’m old now, really very old; But my memories are clear, Of the gentle hand that soothed the pain From the hand I’d learned to fear. I’m tired now, really very tired, Many years my life has spanned, So I close my eyes for one last time, Safe and warm in the human hand. Anne.M.Kenyon

I can not add anything to the truths given in these responses. Your grey is growing up and you will see many changes in personality through these aging phases. You will need to grow in your understanding and interactions with him as well. We all have gone through these phases and I believe better individuals from it as well in temperament as we endeavor to understand how our birds view the world. It is truly quite different than how we view it.

As others said, it's fine. Dayo sits on the shower door, fluffs up and acts like he is a part of the showering process, however not a speck of water gets on him, just a little steaming. He actually looks forward to it and reminds me when it's time by saying "Lets go take a shower".....

You lost his trust in this first outing during the capturing and inspection under the tail process. Just time, patience and letting him decide how and when he wants to interact on more personal levels will resolve this.

Remaining "Non-Calloused" is key in helping all through such a devastating loss. Thank God for people like you who truly understand and console as much as you can with your understanding.

It depends on his molt cycle. It could take up to a year. Your description of him flapping and enjoying it is cute. He knows he is meant to fly and it appears to me he has the "Never give up" mentality.

Oh no Sheila, I am so sorry to hear the implant did not help. I know you will make the right decision on this and also that you won't do it without weighing out all the pros and cons. Please know I respect everything you have ever done with Charlie and a Grey could not have a better home to live and love in than yours.

Dave gave excellent advice. A place for them to hang out like a tree or T-Stand works wonders when you need a place they can sit close to you, yet not on you as Janet mentioned.

Wonderful news and congratulations on your grey having been found!!!!

Hi Kim, Placing the lamp above will be fine and at least provide full spectrum lighting enhancing your greys vision of the world around him by the higher color temp and the uva components. Unless your grey is sitting directly under the lamp on top of the cage, no benefit of uvb absorption of the production of d3 will take place. The low wattage output from any compact bulb like the avian sun 5.0 lends itself self to a distance no greater than about 14" from your bird to have any affect in regards D3 production at all. But, the visual affects of full spectrum lighting for your bird and you are still beneficial in the mental sense as it is what many professionals recommend in the dark winter months to avoid the "SAD" symptoms. Light affects every living creature on this planet and the closer you can come to duplicating the color temp of daylight sun, they better affect it has on the overall well being mentally. So in a nutshell, yes please do get an avian sun 5.0 compact fluorescent and place it in that receptacle above. Sorry, I can get very long winded on avian lighting, it's proper application and theory of it........

Watch this Chameleon change... totally amazing.

That's GreYt news! Thanks for the update.

You have the time to spend with them daily out of the cage You have researched and know you could provide all the physical and mental stimulation you and your grey would both learn and grow through You wish to eat a healthier diet and share those foods with your grey They will be a life long companion and perhaps even out live you You enjoy puzzling over cause and effect, then applying what you have learned You enjoy building toys out of wood, rope etc. You would like to give all your wood furnishings, drapes, cloth and leathered furniture that unique antique look and feel. You enjoy teaching a young child to speak, count and identify objects by and actions name or short phrase You like having someone eat off your plate You love having the same feeling of a toddler constantly pulling on your clothing for attention You enjoy wondering what your young child is doing when you realize it's become deathly silent You love the sound of anything that makes a loud CRASH-BANG-BONG- DING-DING-DING as it is thrown to the floor You love being questioned and stared at until you give an answer You love answering a young child Why, Why, Why? You can take a bite and keep smiling and love them You love cleaning up Poop just like you did with your young infant human child, but without the raunchy gagging smell. You love the sound of a Pterodactyl screaming over head You enjoy having to give a bath to a child throwing a fit the entire time I think I'll stop, I need to rethink why I wanted a Grey...

Ok, first to correct a little of what Jamal said. Your parrot will not starve itself and secondly you don't just feed a bird what "It Likes". They are like a child. If you place a bowl full of cookies and a bowl full of spaghetti in front of them, they will of course eat the cookies. With that said, I will now continue with a correct answer to your question on my "Opinion". I believe the mad craze of a parrot, dog, cat etc. should all be on pellet diets because they are specifically formulated with all the correct amounts of proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals. They entire pet industry pushes them as if your pet will die or suffer from malnutrition if the are not on their "Special" pellets. This is first of all grass root all about money to the manufacturer, the middle man and finally the retailers marked up price and profit. Now I am NOT saying anything is wrong with pellets, but they are not the "Total" solution. A bird or any critter for that matter should always have fresh seeds, nuts, veggies, a little fruit, some legumes, grains, complex carbohydrates, all the "Omegas" etc. It is all about balance and moderation of each. I offer pellets and always have since I brought my grey home at 15 weeks of age. Most the time I toss them as he just may nibble on one or two and the rest get tossed. A high quality seed\nut mixture along with tons of veggies, legumes, grains etc. will provide an optimum diet. The only other factor you cannot get from the food diet is sunlight. They must have a full spectrum light source from either daily outside time or avian lighting that includes the uva and uvb components which leads to vitamin D3 production in their body just like humans. Vitamin D3 is necessary for the absorption of calcium and critical to many organs in the body and it's immune system. Just make wise choices and feed the proper quantities of each to accomplish a well rounded diet. The food room is the best place to explore all the various food groups many of our members provide to their parrots.

Welcome Aurora and Congratulations on your baby grey. Dave and Judy gave great advice. I few things I have observed, that Dave pointed out and I want to expand on a little. Offering a large variety of vegetables, legumes and gains is important. You will notice that your grey will pick through them, toss a lot, take a nibble, toss etc. They may eat an item one day and toss it the next, but then eat an item they did not the day or week before. I cannot explain the mentality behind this, but they seem to be like us humans in eating habits some what. Some times you feel like eating meat and potatoes, then the next meal you crave a salad of some type. My grey for example will eat all the carrots out of the veggies I prepare and toss everything else with perhaps a small nibble. The next day he may eat Dandelion greens, a little broccoli and ignore the carrots. I think this gives you the picture briefly. Most love nuts like shelled peanuts, almonds and walnuts. They are also healthy for them in small quantities daily. You should visit and read the articles posted in the food for great tips and advice. Thanks for sharing the photo of your baby, he is beautiful.

LOL - A Macaw on the loose is a formidable opponent to any person, critter or home object. Thanks for sharing this.

WOW!!! What a wonderful article. Please give our thanks to Steve Hartman for allowing this to be posted on our site. It is a true honor. Also, thank you Jack for taking the hours required to place it on our Forum. I know it is a pain to copy text, format it then save images to photo bucket and then place the image links in the correct spots. I have no doubt this pioneering article on imping of Parrots will help many people make the right choice when deciding to clip or not to clip and also, if they do not have a choice a solution possibly if they can find a person experienced in doing it and with the feather inventory to correctly select the donor feathers. Again, I think you and Steve from the bottom of my heart. This article is priceless!

A belated happy hatchday Lyric!!!!

Forget the beak, Dave! Your Grey has an arrow stuck in his eye! You must have a few Quakers on the war path

Awww, Echo is cute!

This is an amazing footage of a Penguin being chased by a Pod of Killer Whales, it has a very happy ending so don't be afraid to watch it.

Many times we jump to a totally wrong conclusion......