danmcq

I am uncertain, but it seems he is on his cage, possibly on a playtop when you are wanting to step-up to place him back in his cage? Is this at bedtime or possibly at different times of the day you need to place him in the cage? Please be careful when pulling him up while his talons are grasping a perch or cage bars. They are very small birds and their bodies are not constructed to with stand very much force. As the others have suggested, change your demeanor if your not relaxed, do not let him bite (Also do not give him a reason to like trying to rip him loose from a perch). At 20 weeks old he is very much a baby still and thus you ar ejust recieving hard clamp downs, not really what I would consider a bite. But, I will guarantee you if you keep doing this, they will turn into bites. Try some type of positive attractor like a favorite toy, treat or something you know he loves. The trick is to get him to let go first of whatever he is hanging on to. Make him step-up onto your hand to get whatever it is ithat will attract him to get to it. Hopefully this will work for you.

Looking forward to an update on how Billy is and if you found an avian vet to see him.

Looking forward to hearing an update on how the vet visit went.

Welcome Ray and Flock!! It's GreYt having you here and I'll bet with that flock and the length of time you have had them, you've got a TON of stories to tell. Looking forward to hearing more from you.

They appear to be the down feathers to me, but the breast area is comprised of hundreds of very small feathers. It's just great to see them coming in. You will not be able to tell if there has been permanent damage to the follicles until you see bare patches if the others are actually left ot grow. I am hoping and praying she will not pluck or bite them off. She is receiving such loving care that if it's possible to stop that behavior, she is in the right place.

I absolutely love all the photos today and previously posted! Seeing photos of Pippa perching in the cage, on stand and in the carrier you would never suspect she has any disabilities. Her breast area certainly is sprouting new growth, congratulations and thanks for this wonderful update.

This story outrages me. I have had very bad experiences with spca's in various cities in rescuing Dobermans and the treatment they received while there. I have taken some to vets the next day due to serious illnesses the spca did not either notice or decided the dog was not "Worth" treating. The vet I use is sometimes so overcome with shock at some of these dogs serious illness that "Could" have begun treatment earlier, yet he had to put them to sleep due to the advanced stages of disease that was to far advanced to treat. I have wept over dogs I have had only 1 day, fell in love immediately and then heard the bad news. The only good in this I can see, is that dog experienced a 24 hour period of love and care before passing on.... Here is the story regarding parrots I am sending help for and hope some others may as well. If nothing else, flood the Houston SPCA and authorities in local government there with with your outrage to this senseless and obvious abuse by ignorant SPCA workers..... Thanks. http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-14953-Houston-Pets-Examiner~y2010m8d6-Over-1000-birds-endangered-by-Houston-SPCA

Happy belated Hatchday Ana Grey!! Boy has time flown, it seems impossible your 2 already. Love your photos and I hope you had a good one!

OMG, you have a BIG FOOT in your home trying to pass himself off as a Grey!! As others have said, most young greys are clumsy when young. Some hold food in their talons at a younger age than others. Each develop at their individual rates. I would love to see photos of them.

I'm with Jay and others on this. The listerine sounds like a very bad idea. It will dry out the skin even more, cause a burning sensation etc. I do not think you can get a better moisturizer and skin healer than Aloe. Drying out the skin more than what a grey has already is a very bad idea. The temperature of 62 is way too low for any parrot. WE keep our home heated to 73 in the winter and no cooler than 76 in the summer. We have noticed our grey actually shivers and the feet are cold at 74. Both our parrots seem to like us keeping the family room at 80 during the summer, which we do. Parrots are all from equatorial regions which equals no winter basically and warm to hot temperatures. It's good to hear that all seems well from a vets view, other than waiting for the lab work to come back. Please keep this updated as you have information or time.

I feel very sorry for this poor Grey. It obviously went through a traumatic experience to the extreme from the description of the cage, blood and body damage. Regardless of what caused this terrible fright, the bottom line is probably happened while the bird was with a human present. The bird I suspect now has terrible separation anxiety as Dave suggested just by a human walking out of sight. This bird is going to require 24-7 attention and special care by a very knowledgeable person that used used to dealing with this level of psychological damage. From your introduction and further posts, it sounds like the first thing this grey needs is to have a flock member (human) in sight at all times. It does not want any physical contact at this point, just the security of knowing it is with the flock. They are a flock creature and mentally wired to always be with the flock. IN their mind, in their survival depends upon the flock. I suspect the most soothing thing you or someone else could do for this poor grey, is to sit in sight, talk very softly and read, watch tv etc. with the bird cage just a few feet away. This is going to be a long rehab from the sounds of it. This grey is going to need to be studied second by second for cause and affect of everything a person does or says with this bird and adjusted accordingly in my opinion. I have a Doberman I rescued 5 years ago. I will not go into the trauma it experienced, but I will only say this Doberman woul dnot let me out of sight without going nuts. It had to be by my side wherever I went. I mention this because he needed that security of being with someone at all times he felt secure with. It took 2 full years to get him to the point of dealing with separation from me. Since then, he has been a normal happy go lucky and confident dog that anyone visiting or interacting with him would never dream of his past. I view this grey as having the same mental damage.

It is unknown at this time IF it affects parrots. It has been proven to affect dogs and cats. I do not let Dayo have uncooked or cooked onions or garlic at all. It is stated in a few articles that birds have nucleated red blood cells, and mammals do not, it is thought that this somewhat protects them from the affects of Heinz body hemolysis. However, there was one member on this forum that had a grey eat a raw garlic clove. It died the next day unfortunately. Garlic contains the same active chemicals as Onions, I Quote "sulfur compounds that, when chewed, are hydrolyzed to thisulfinates. Thiosulfinates decompose to a number of disulfides, including dipropenyl disulfide (or n-propyl disulfide), which appears to be the most toxic disulfide. These disulfides are oxidizing agents that can cause hemolysis or a rupture of red blood cells."

Gotta love the Police Depart in this town...along with an officer named "Doolittle". http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=128094992506671100

Each home must take all the variables into account. You did what you thought best for your Greys safety. No one can question that personal decision, no matter how pro-flighted they may be, like myself. I am looking forward to reading many more updates and seeing photos as well.

Welcome Brittany and Izzy!!! It's GreYt having you here. It sounds like you have a long history with parrots and took the right path in getting your new baby TAG. She is beautiful and I loved the photos, especially the "Wake Up" photo...just so cute! Looking forward to hearing a lot more from you and seeing more photos.

It sounds like Jackson is doing GreYt under your loving care. Thanks for the update!

Darn it, it says the video has been removed.... Hopefully you will re-post it. I was looking forward to seeing it...always love Alfie's videos!!!

Robin - It sounds like you have several full spectrum lights (with UVA and UVB) from various angles and heights, which should have you birds in good shape. Especially since you are able to take them outside year round. The winter months here in the California central valley are too cold and many times very foggy. Thus my need to build fixtures and research to provide what I think will at least help the most during those 3 to 4 months of being house bound.

Well, that one did it for me. I appreciate all the information and comments you have made on this topic Tim. I think the most important question you asked, as well as others is "If there is a doubt, why feed it to your parrot or family?". Considering all of this information and weighing it against the pro's of Soy Beans and separated products produced. It is better to leave this out of all diets, as there are plenty of healthy beans and other vegetables etc. that we know has no risk what so ever and only benefits. With that said, no more soy beans will be cooked or offered here. Altough it has been in very seldom and small quantities, which I believe causes no harm in my scenarion. Again, there is no reason to provide or use this bean at all. I will also strip Kidney beans from the list as well. They do require longer cooking times than the other beans we mix together and cook. Again, thanks for starting and all that have contributed to this topic.

I'll make one comment on trying to be "Dominant" to a parrot, which is not a dog and does not respect a leader via dominance. It actually causes biting.

Thanks for the article Tim! One thing it certainly points out, are the dangers of feeding raw or undercooked soy beans to ourselves or our fids as damaging to health. Please note that MANY raw beans - such as Anasazi, Black, Fava, Kidney, Lima, Navy, Pinto, and Soy - can cause toxicities when fed raw, causing digestive upsets for people and potentially for birds. Some experts recommend that large beans should be cooked to make them safe and digestible. Others counter that soaking beans for 24 hours starts the germinating process and that soaking makes the beans safe and digestible. For those who do not want to take any risks, it's best to cook large beans thoroughly before feeding to your birds. These beans are not recommended for general sprouting purposes. Certain uncooked dried beans contain enzyme inhibitors, are indigestible , and may cause visceral gout in birds. These enzyme inhibitors may prevent or decrease the utilization in the body of substances, such as trypsin and chymotrypsin, to produce nutritional deficiencies. enzyme Beans that can interfere with proteolytic enzymes are lima, kidney and soybeans. Cooking these beans for at least 2 hours destroys these enzyme inhibitors. Other dried beans do not appear to contain these enzyme inhibitors or, if present, are in low concentrations. To be on the safe side, it's best to cook ALL varieties of beans. There is a TON of information out there available for reading on this topic. It pays for all to read and heed all the data on each type.

Thanks for the update on Tui. You are doing a GreYt job.

They are both GreYt books. However, I do prefer the up-close and personal look into their lives in Alex and Me.

GreYt having you here. Looking forward to hearing more.

Congratulations. Photos when you get a chance!!!