danmcq

Well, it was not frightening. It was actually an awe inspiring experience seeing such a beautiful creature gracing my pool deck. :-) The fish is what made me jump to action and save. The Koi is fine and acts like nothing happened. :-)

It GreYt to hear you have made it through your trying times and decided to have another Grey in your life. It's wonderful that it has worked out for you to bring Kopi home soon and provide the same loving care you are known here for. :-) Looking forward to hearing updates on this and seeing photos as it progresses.

What a continuing trial for you all. Dave gave excellent advice on the diet. One other thing I was wondering. Will Spock still possibly take formula? Even if it's just once a day, it would be chock full of nutrients to help in addition to what he eats. His feathers continue to look worse. Is he over preening? Still praying for you all. :-)

I came home Friday afternoon from San Jose (3 hour drive). High Five the Dobermans, let the demanding birds out of their cages and love them up too. Change in to comfortable clothes with Dayo attached to my shoulder as always. Then turn on the PC and sit down for some relaxing web surfing. After about a half hour, Bentley the Doberman starts this very low and subtle deep throaty growl. He was standing about 6 feet from the sliding glass door peering out. After he continued for about 30 seconds, I lean over from my roll-top desk to peer out the sliding glass door to see what Bentley is alerting to. There stands a 4 foot tall Great White Egret 10 feet from the door and about a foot from the Pool. My reaction is "OMG!! What the Hell? Then, how beautiful, I must get a photo of this. I grab my cell phone laying on the desk, slowly lean over to get it in-frame with one eye and watching with the other. Then it hit me, what is that thing laying on the pool deck at it's feet that looks like a FISH??? Holy Crap!! It's one of my Koi!! I throw my phone down, walk over and open the sliding glass door and as I did the Egret flew away looking like a B52 bomber with it's massive 6 foot wing-span. I pick up the almost dead Koi, a few scales laying on the deck, no puncture wounds though and place him back in the waterfall pond and he swims away to the back under cover, so he cannot be seen. I cannot for the life of me, figure out how this HUGE Egret saw the fish in my waterfall and flew in for a landing. Their eyesight and maneuverability to circle around from who knows how high, then descend and land in a back yard with trees and fence surrounding it and come to a gracefully landing. Anyway, I am still thinking about the odds of this happening, what it was doing flying over residential area looking for food. There are streams, ponds and lakes all around this area that you would normally see them at and rarely ever flying over the city area. So anyway, here are some photos of a Great White Egret I found and thought I would share so you can appreciate this mind boggling experience. :-) <br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2010/03/07 14:43

Great video! It's always wonderful to see how a wild critter and human can develop a level of trust over time and patience. That little bugger is quick!!! You need to go slow-motion to see if it got a seed from your hand. Thanks for sharing this.

Yep, most love cracking that leg bone and getting the marrow out of them. Looking forward to hearing and seeing photos of how it went. :-)

To cover or not to cover is a topic that normally brings a 50 - 50 split from people who do and don't. It is not a MUST. We have always covered our birds at night, but thats us. Jake the conure flies to his cage and starts screaming for us to close his cage and cover him at the first darkness of evening (right now, about 630). Once Jake is covered, he is done, silent and not moving or beak grinding at all.... He's DONE. Dayo wants to stay up until he is certain that we have shut the TV off and started our household retirement to bed ritual. However, we always try to get him to his cage and covered by 8 or 830. He does not become silent however. He sits and grinds his beak, maybe eats a couple of seeds etc. and then may or may not be a sleep in the next 20 or 30 minutes. Birds in nature and in our homes always keep an eye open and alert at anything out of the normal. If I walk silent as a ghost by either of my birds cages when you would think they have been sound a sleep for an hour or two. Dayo will flutter his wings and Jake will make a cute little worry some two tone sound. In the wild, they are never in "Pitch Black". There is always some light from the moon and stars. All critters, whether bird or beast will awake in an instant if they hear an abnormal background noise. They know their environment and every normal sound in it and will sleep right through it normally. But, even an imperceptible sound by us, will alert them. If anything, the only thing covering does is stop any breezes from air vents and give them a little more feeling of security perhaps by feeling hidden and enclosed. However, if they hear something that alarms them, it is probably nerve racking to them in not being able to see where the noise came from and what caused it. Also, ALL birds and critters nap on and off through out the day which probably totals up to what they need respectively in terms of total hours of sleep.<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2010/03/06 16:59

Try to keep most the paint off yourself Jill, you may be more danger to your birds than the walls. Dave and others all gave great advice.

Great photos and awesome toy. Looks like a Boy to me. ;-) Looking forward to hearing the DNA results.

Now thats how I wish everyday could start! Thats for the very entertaining and enjoyable read first thing in the morning. :-)

Welcome to te forum!! Its GreYt having you here. Kudos to you for taking in an older bird. Tracy sounds like a real sweetheart. Your right, a larger age is definitely needed. Most online bird cage sellers do have the cage dimensions in the details section. You do not want a bar spacing over 1 inch. Looking forward to hearing more and seeing photos. :-)

Dayo did the same as Yoshi and I did not think he was going to speak human. Then a little after 1 year old, came one word, then a few months and another, then a few more months and another, then months and phrases, now he won't shut up!!! :-P I love Yoshi and all that you have shared and know that you love her unconditionally, just as the rest of us love our Greys. :-)

Your feelings seem to be predominant amongst Grey owners. We feel the same when we cannot take Dayo with us. he is at home by himself all day everyday M - F. So, when we go somewhere,we feel guilty and anxious to get back. We never felt this way about leaving our Conure Jake at home or our Dogs. It is ONLY with Dayo. I cannot explain it, but it's like your joined at the hip or mentally connected similar to identical twins that feel each other, even though separated. Short version - I KNOW exactly how you feel. :-)<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2010/03/04 21:10

Great news and descicion!!! :-) Good Bird Inc. is a wonderful source for a wealth of professional knowledge and products. I belong to them myself.

WOW! Climbing around the cage is HUGE!! It's great to hear such good news. :-)

Thats a great safety measure to compensate for young ones forgetfullness. Thaks for sharing this. :-)

Congratulations on the floodgates opening!!! Your right, once they "get it", you can't shut them up or repeating just about anything they hear constantly. So, just watch what you say.

This is normal for many 15 month old greys in regards behavior. Just wait until the "terrible Twos" start! This is a critical time that you must be consistent. Also, negative re-enforcement makes it worse. Use a happy voice, keep a positive good attitude, watch his body language to avoid a bite, when you notice chewing on clothes start, gently push away with your forearm and ask for a step-up and praise him when he does so. Others will have a lot to add as well. :-)

You have one of two options: 1. Bird proof your home. 2. Clip your Grey. I am against clipping totally, but if not clipping your Grey means staying in the cage 24-7, then clip. It is cruel to have any bird caged all the time. Especially a Grey that needs to be with the flock and interacting personally with them. Being caged 24-7 is worse than clipping. Besides, what good are wings if they are cage bound? You will need to think seriously about which path you will take and hopefully find a way to make it best for your Grey. :-)

She was probably checking to see if that HUGE Grey was real or not. Alfie thought perhaps her "Ruler of the Roost" was about to be usurped. Great video, thanks for sharing it. :-)

LOL! Greys are just too smart. The phone is normally one of the first way they figure out how to get you running their way. Thanks for sharing this.

Well, I hope you do find the needle in the haystack. I know you will by what a diligent Parront you are. :-)

Oh Boy Sheila. I guess this is going to be a process of elimination to determine what the allergy is to. The most common allergies of our avian friends are peanuts; wheat, corn and soy products; eggs; any artificial or chemical product like colorings, flavorings and preservatives. But, they can also be allergic to strawberries, oranges and any other number of things that we would normally consider ‘safe’. The food items are easiest to stop any suspect items. Remove them "All". Then slowly reintroduce them to see if you can determine which it is. There are also "inhaled" items that can cause the allery which I know your VERY cautious of, but thought I would mention them. Smoke, dander, perfumes, house deodorants, pollen, dust mold, candles (especially the ones with frangance), any kind of aerosol, soaps, laundry detergents, deodorants, paint, household cleaning products, hair products, litter or nest box material, latex, rubber, some metals, some topical antibiotics, resin, carbon monoxide...the list is endless.

What an adorable photo. It is good to hear that Vree is taking this in stride and carrying on as well as can be expected. Looking forward to hearing what the vet has to say.. Thanks for updating this consistently. :-)

I hope you get to the bottom of this soon Sheila. I doubt the light has anything to do with the plucking. What are the anti histamines for? Looking forward to hearing what the vet has to say and praying charlie for charlie. I can not imagine what could be bothering him so much, that he would pull those growing pins out and scream in pain.