danmcq

Sheila - If you don't mind my asking. Since Blue is older than any pellet product (That I know of). What has his diet been for 4.5 decades?

Sheila - Thanks for sharing Blue and his photo. It is wonderful to see a grey at 45 and by the photo looks just like a when young. :-)

Just had to share this as I sit here in front of the "Computer" LMAO @ Dayo!! So I'm sitting here and Dayo is over blabbering away. Next thing I know he's experimenting... "I'm on the Computer" "I'm in the Computer" "Banana in the Computer" "Coconut in the Computer" "Put me in the Computer" Still laughing and now he's begging for a cracker!!! :-)

pearllyn wrote: It can be done using rewards along with showing him how to do it. Much like I taught Dayo to turn the water off. IN that video, I am sure you saw me offering an Almond as the reward he had to climb up the faucet and step onto the handle turning the water off and getting his reward. He now does it simply for the praise. :-) He also has a toy box he throws over and dumps everything out of. I did have him placing a few items back in, but then I think the boring job of picking up 45 toys and pieces he just stopped doing it. I guess he figured at that point it was "work" and that is for slaves..... ;-)

Kevin wrote: Kevin - He knows how to put them back on....but he's training you to do it for him! Yes - They are that intelligent. :-)

I agree with Julie and Greywings. You really should have a complete work up done on him at an Avian Certified Veterinarian. Supplementing vitamins in very dangerous and not recommended at all unless an Avian vet gives you specific instructions to do so. Vitamin D is vital to all life forms and if missing by having no direct sunlight, Avian lighting or Pellets that contain it, will suffer serious health issues.

Great post Greywings and Amen! We all strive (I believe) to provide the best home our Parrots could have as responsible stewards given the opportunity and privilege to share our homes with them. Karma to you. :-)

Sharing this in the main room due to birds of many types including grey's are in this photo montage put together with a great soundtrack... enjoy!

The coating he chipped of likely does not contain any metal. When they chew things like this, they normally just let the flakes fall to the floor. As Lyn said, just watch him.

Welcome 1JBird! Wow, now that is one of the oldest Greys on this forum. Why don't you introduce yourself in the Welcome room so all will know we have a new member. :-) Looking forward to hearing your greys name and I am sure you have tons of stories to tell of this very long relationship and perhaps some photos to share. I am sure with 3 decades of experience with you grey, you will have a lot of helpful things to share with us about greys. Thanks for coming and joining our forum. :-)

Ok, you sucked me in Jill. The person that owns this Grey is a very experienced breeder with several pairs of Greys housed outdoors. The Grey is fully flighted and could have flown anytime it wished. It is only for a minute or two, so it was an experience the grey found interesting at the least, I think.

RockysMum wrote: No problem. I deleted all the duplicate posts. What happens is the forum does not seem to be doing anything. It is sometimes VERY slow to respond. So you click on submit more than one time. The number of times you click on submit = the number of duplicates that will be generated. :-)

This is very exciting news Robin!! She is truly advancing under your loving care. :-)

It's Spring??? :blink: We're in the heart of winter here in the USA and the molting has been taking place for a while here since the onset of winter. Bet you can't wait for those primaries to molt out and grow back in!! :-)

Janet is right, they will nip for attention if yoru ignoring them. The best thing to so is either have a T-Stand or something next to you with toys and food to keep them entertained or put them in their cage until your done with what your doing. Otherwise, the nipping will continue.

Hallelujah, the clouds parted, the light shined and you finally posted a photo. Thanks for posting it and looking forward to many more in the coming weeks! :-) I few videos would be great too!!! :-)

This thread has been driving me crazy, so I waited to post until I could find out what the heck this could possibly be. It seems birds have "Air Sacks", well that was news to me, but heck, I am not an Avian vet The more we learn about our birds, we see they are physically so much different than us and thus we in trying to figure out in human terms "Whats" wrong, we make many uneducated guesses. :-) Thus, Dave's original response to get that bird to an avain vet is what all responses should be, when we have no clue what is really wrong. The bottom line is you need to get in to an Avian vet: From this site below concerning this "Ruptured Air Sac" http://www.petparrot.com/Injuries.htm#Ruptured Air Sac When this happens, it can take from a few days to a couple of weeks for the air sac to heal, depending on the age of the bird. For this baby, it was a matter of about 3 days. Until the air sac heals, the air must be allowed to escape from under the skin so that the crop and other organs can function normally. To do this, an incision must be make in the skin, and a tube inserted and secured to allow drainage of the air. The tube is necessary because the opening in the skin will begin to heal in a matter of a couple of hours requiring it to be reopened. The picture to the right shows the baby with a tube insert into the slit made for drainage(indicated with an arrow). The tube is taped to hold it in place. In this picture, the baby's crop has been filled with food, but as you can see the skin is no longer transparent. After the air sac was healed (about 3 days), the tube was removed, and the incision healed. After less than a week, the scab from the incision fell off without even leaving a scar. The baby recovered beautifully, and very quickly caught up to his clutchmates in size and development. In an older bird, the drainage would have to be done in a way that the bird could not remove it. It may be necessary to make two incisions in order to make a loop of either string or a tube that is folded and taped on the ends to keep the drainage holes open. This procedure, whether for a baby or an older bird, should be done by an avian vet to reduce risk of complications and infection." From this site: http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/anatomy.html " There are eight air sacs in most species of birds. There are one cervical and one clavicular air sac, and two cranial thoracic, two caudal thoracic, and two abdominal air sacs. Occasionally, an air sac may rupture, and the bird may develop air under the skin (subcutaneous emphysema) or a large swelling of air in the neck region. When a bird is surgically sexed, the left caudal thoracic air sac is entered by the endoscope. The air sacs allow for easily visualization of the internal organs, usually, and the membrane between the caudal thoracic and abdominal air sacs may need to be punctured by the scope, to better visualize the gonad. Usually the scope in entered to be able to visualize the left gonad. If the trachea is blocked in a bird having breathing difficulties, or if surgery must be performed around the head and neck, it is possible to insert an air sac tube into one of the air sacs, allowing the bird to breathe through that, instead of the trachea. Our breathing only takes one breath to completely exchange the air in our lungs, while it takes a bird two breaths to completely exchange the air in the system. This is why an air sac tube can be used for breathing in a bird." I found a site with a very good write up and graphic illustration of air sacks in birds: http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/birdrespiration.html Photo showing air sacks: <br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2010/01/24 14:42

Hi Kaedyn! It's GreYt hearing from you again. That is an adorable photo and loved the video of that foraging toy. Sierra has that thing down pat! Thanks for sharing them.

Welcome Jordan, Einstein and Grace and thanks for signing up! Your photos on Facebook are very good viewing and I love the "Binky" shot. Looking forward to hearing more from you and seeing photos here as well when you have time. :-) Karma to you for taking in a grey and giving him a forever home with tons of love.

Wow, sorry to hear of the pain and Numbness you've been enduring. I pray you have a 100 percent recovery and are back on that piano in no time. It's great to see others here that have had this surgery and good outcomes. :-)

Deb - Sorry if I confused you with my whimsical post making lighthearted fun of the Churchill parrot story of 104. It has been a macaw, a grey and even a cockatoo! The reality is, Parrots do have very long spans and as some have noted, there are actual true records of them hitting 70 and 80. But, all the data that can be found is very minimal and only a few birds out of millions. This the various guestimates by very respected vets and researchers in the avian field of average longivity ranging from 40 to 60 years. I am positive there are rare incidents of Greys or other Parrots living to 70 or 80. But, suspect that is a .5 percent range just like humans that reach a 100. I also think once a person has had a parrot for so many years. They just don't go to forums etc. and talk about. IN fact, those with parrots and have had them from weaning to perhaps 30 or 40 years may not even use the internet at all as they are older people also and find no interest in it at all. So, we just do not have enough data to give an exact "Average" on human raised and kept Parrots lifespan.

Debandbella wrote: This is true for 100 percent of all those addicted to anything. An addict can be laughing, crying and turn in to an irate beast in 1 second. You hit the nail on the head saying he thought you didn't know and became angry when you talked reality. Hanging on and hoping is what most spouses do. Erika's story is an example of that. The problem is, you don't know if the addicted person is in the 20 percent range that will truly quit and stay clean or not. I know that percentage sounds very low, but it's the reality. You must keep him accountable. It will piss him off, but if he is serious, he needs to show or prove to you he is drug and alcohol free, account for any money spent or suspect time he just disappears with a lame excuse. Yes, he will become irritated each time you ask him to account for something or you bring up the pain and suffering he has caused. That's an issue every addict has. They don't like to hear the reality of the pain and suffering they have put everyone in their lives through. My question is, how do you know he has stopped 100 percent? Let him know the seriousness of the situation and that as you said, you still care for him. But, you are not going to suffer anymore ro allow the suffering of fids, kids or finances to continue one speck. If it continues, you and the household are gone and you will get a restraining order. You must stick to your guns with an iron will.

It sounds like the honeymoon is over and your seeing some of the real behavior he has LEARNED from previous owners. It will take time and training to get this to slow down. As Accapella said, shoulder is probably not a good idea at this time, if ever. Also to learn his body language.

Congratulations. The first word(s) are always very exciting. :-)

Very nice! Flight photos are certainly very difficult to get. :-)