danmcq

If there is any piece of the claw left inside it will grow back, if not, it won't. Either way, it really will not affect your Greys perching or other abilities. :-)

Get some flex wrap from a local drug store that is self adherent, cut it down to size and wrap a little a few times around that area of the leg. Be careful not to pull it too tight so as to cut of any circylation. This will protect that wound from the scratching and continued bleeding. Also, welcome to the forum!! Looking forward to hearing more from you. :-)

This is turning in to a great topic, with all the input, comments and thoughts on this. I too agree with all that this is not a right or wrong knowledge, as others of have said. It is more along the emotional lines which drive all human core reasons for doing what we may think is right or wrong in each of our isolated thoughts and patterns. These are ingrained in each of us as we grow from infancy to maturity and are molded, for the most part, by the family and friends we grow up with. I believe the same can be said of any critter and it's up bringing and future groups, families etc. it encounters throughout it's life. I also thought the comment that the "reward" will supercede the negative consequences, was a great observation and is true from humans to all other living creatures on this planet. Each one individually has a weakness or fondness, if you will, that brings a pleasurable sense that is worth the negative consequences once found out. If you think about it, we are all wild to an extent. Look at a child that has been reared by an animal. It acts like the animal and does not have what we consider "Human" normal behaviour or capabilities. I believe it is only one generation from being what we may consider being Human, to being a savage. basic survival instincts are in each and every living thing. It is, I would suggest, at the very reptilian stem of our brains. Keep the great thoughts and comments coming. I find this intriguing to say the least. Oh and Dave - Thanks for forgiving me my Brother. :-)

Welcome Shannonzee and Flock!! It's great to see you posting. :-) Looking forward to seeing some photos when you get a chance and hearing more of your Greys progress.

Lisa - Your right, for some reason I though she was 7 years old. :ohmy: So an allergy is certainly a good candidate to look for as a possible cause. :-)

Welcome John and Jake!! He is a fine looking CAG. As Lisa has suggested, perhaps trying to find foraging toys and other items like things to chew and shred will help take some of the loneliness away by keeping him entertained while your gone longer hours than you used to be. Looking forward to hearing more from you and how Jake is doing. :-)

Well, it's good to hear your mother moved Zazo and he seems to be better in just a day. Try to spend some more time with him if you can and also your parents. At such a young age, he is very insecure, needs what he feels is a flock that loves him and will train him how to interact properly with you and the family. Looking forward to hearing more updates on how Zazo is doing. :-)

Dave - This is I believe the only occasion I Have to disagree with you. You Wrote: "It's been said over and over that a wild animal such as a parrot can't be punished because they simply don't know they did wrong." I know that has been stated several times along with the statement that they just mimic and do not understand by the historical scientific community. They were proven wrong by Dr. Pepperberg and Alex, along with the signing Ape Etc. These wild animals do understand us if brought up and taught in our environment. In my opinion. "What makes them react badly to people is the fact that people aren't acting like how the members of a flock would behave in the wild in certain situations. If a wild animal actually knew right from wrong it would eventually stop doing things that annoy owners." I disagree with this also. We humans with all our self perceived brilliance, make conscious decisions to the defy and not obey our parents, law enforcement etc. based on what we have come to conclusions on, whether those individuals think we are right or wrong. Defiance is also seen in the wild. The wild critters of all kinds have rules if members of their flock, pack. pod etc. wish to remain in good standing. If one or more start misbehaving, they are forced out of the group or just harshly attacked and sometimes killed due to be a rebel. The lucky ones make it out alive and go else as a hermit or find another group that MAY except or spend the remaining days in isolation alone. This is seen in the wild constantly. The have what they consider good and bad behaviour along with rules each group member is expected to follow. It is no huge leap or surprising to find, that when a critter is raised in a human enviroonment, that they start understanding what we consider good conduct. They also still have a mind of their own, just as we humans and sometimes elect to NOT follow some of the rules. They know when they are bad or misbehaving from what I have seen. They also know when they have been bad and receive punishment in the form of being placed back in the cage, walked away from Dayo had never used the term "Sorry" before and the one time thus far was used appropriately and had nothing to do with mimicking. If he wants water, he will ask water, if he wants an apple and you have offered him a carrot, he will refuse and tell you "Apple!!". There is no doubt in my mind, that these critters are thinking on there feet and know how to communicate correctly. I know you don't agree with me either. But, that's what having free speech and opinions is all about. :-) I can't believe I am actually disagreeing with you this once, but I am. I still think tons of you thoughts, expert advice and opinions though!!

Hello Shannonzee and welcome! I am glad you found something useful on those items you paid money for. Namely something that broke the barrier between you and your Grey. I actually suspect it was more your determination to give building a better, stronger relationship with the grey. Rather than just giving up to the thought that the Grey had chosen your husband as the favorite. Some of us have purchased and reviewed "Chet's" products in the distant past and realized he not only gave bad advise, but was himself just learning about how to deal with parrots and decided to capitalize on it monetarily, rather than give good and correct advice for free like we do here on this forum. Some of the things Chet and his brother promulgate as truth or new concepts are actually completely wrong and some very dangerous for your bird. Again, welcome to the forum. :-) We care and help for FREE!!<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2009/01/20 16:33

Your Corkie, I would suspect, enjoys the delicate, precise effective preening expertise of a fellow avian. It feels much better than a scratch and is effective in actual preening, rather than just messing up there feathers as we scratch them. At least that's my thought on this question. :-)

This is something that I have considered a long while. There are books and web articles out there, that claim a bird or other animal does not understand punishment or correction and do not have feelings. Please understand, when I say punishment. I do not mean any form of physical contact with a bird or animal. I mean purely negative feedback for bad/wrong things and positive feedback for good/right things. Having had animals and birds throughout my life. I know I have seen critters demeanor change when they are corrected/punished or feel happy/sad. They lower their head in shame, eyes look sullen etc. Versus when they have done something good and are praised. They "Light Up". You can see the body language change, the eyes, perhaps a little dance of vocalization etc. What instigated this topic. Is having not only an intelligent creature, but one that can talk with full knowledge of what the words mean. Gives us tons of feedback we can not glean from a non verbal critter. Last night, Kim was washing her face with Dayo on her back, as always. However, last night evidently he became impatient and gave her a good "Pinch" in the back of the neck. She raised up forcing him to walk up to her shoulder, got him to step up and promptly carried him over to the bed, sat him down and said "NO BITE, Bad Bird!!". She then walked back over and started washing her face again. Dayo flew immediately to perch on a door top directly behind Kim and LOUDLY announced "NO BITE....SORRY!". He then sat up there until she was finished. The flew to her shoulder and gave her a kiss. This is the first time he has ever said "sorry". We have never heard him say it before. The only thing I can reason out on this. Is that when that Dog incident happened that changed Dayo for 5 Days. I was VERY emotional at times, while gently talking to him, crying sometimes, trying to get him to respond with something that would tell me the old Dayo was still in there. I was of course emotional over Kim's being in the Hospital also. I would always say "I am so sorry Dayo". Many times, sometimes with tears, and I would see him looking closely and deeply into my eyes. I just have this feeling that he not only could see the sorrow in my eyes, but also "Felt" the intensiveness of what I was feeling inside. I have no other explanation than he clearly understood what "Sorry" means and used it correctly to let Kim know he was sorry for his wrong action.

Just a good informative link to give you some insight in how misalignment is corrected in some cases. Note the case used is a SEVER case. Your Grey is not that severe, but it could become worse over time without attention. http://www.avianweb.com/scissorsbeak.html

Hi Sarah, Thanks for the additional information. Preening aggressively right after the shower/misting is unusual. Most wait until they have dried, then start preening. Hopefully, this will boil down to either an allergy to the peanuts or corn. But it would be odd to have an allergy just pop up to one of these foods after a few years. It good to hear your going to give the Avian vet another shot at performing some additional tests to confirm there are not any underlying reasons. Several medical conditions can cause a bird to feather mutilate. The behavior needs to be stopped before it becomes a habit. The good thing here is you are getting on this early, before it has had a chance to become a habit. Looking forward to hearing updates on this. :-)

Welcome Eric and Koigi!! It's GreYt having you here. Thanks for the photos of Koigi, she is a nice looking TAG. :-)

Awww, cute baby. Two weeks and he'll be home!! :-)

Spray her thoroughly with 100% Aloe Juice atleast 2 to 3 times a week. That will sooth the dry itchy skin and new prickly feathers coming in. I would also ensure that all the external parasites are indeed gone. :-)

Yes, they definitely know what they are saying. I would highly recommend dr. pepperburgs book that David mentioned above and the link to it. It is a wonderful read. :-)

Thats a great idea and good news. One other way you can know. Would be to put foraging items you can make or purchase. When you get home, normally you will find they had a good time keeping themselves entertained by the evidence left over from the day. :-)

Hello David, This normally always boils down to what the owner perceives as a threat to the bird. Normally, the threats are not real. The owner must just ensure they do all their checks and balances. Which becomes just an automatic response you don't think about anymore. The real question, I would think. Is what is best for the bird mentally and physically? Birds were all evolved to fly and they have special breathing and cardiovascular systems designed just for that. Not getting the workout from flying about and exercising obviously is detrimental to their life span and over all health. Flying gives them great coordination and self confidence. It also protects them from the dangers encountered when having to walk on the floor, taking a slip and crashing to the floor, getting stepped on etc. The list just goes on and on. I have guests and small children that run in and out of the house all the time. It is simply a matter of "Training" those guests and children to be careful when opening a door and to watch and close it quickly. Although I must say, our birds do not target an open door as a place to fly to. They target my wife or myself. So we are the ones that need to always pay close attention to the fact of whether or not one of the birds are going to try and hitch a shoulder ride outside when they see we are going out. Most times, they always give it a shot. However, they have learned the "Stay" command fairly well, but their are times they will try anyway. We just put up our arm/hand in front of us and say "Stay" and they just bank and land on the closest perching area knowing they do not have a shot at the target, namely the shoulder. If nothing else, I would strongly encourage you to allow him to become fully flighted so he can fledge and build up his coordination and confidence. Then make a decision if you can live with him flighted. You really never know unless you at least try. :-)

Welcome Sarahsflock!! I am sorry to hear you Grey is biting off feathers, not plucking. Either is not good. You starting with the Aloe spraying is great and a step in the right direction. It will not instantly stop the feather biting right away and may not at all. It just depends. However, this entire episode seems to be linked to the Christmas holidays and all the things going on around and to your Grey. Since things have settled down back to normal, does it seems as if his feather biting has slowed down a little? When does he do this, while in the room with you out of his cage or only when returned to the cage? Has anything else in his personality changed also that you have noticed? Looking forward to hearing more from you and hoping this slows down and goes away quickly for you. :-)

Welcome Charliesgirl! It's nice having you here. Your story of how you have taken on the responsibility for you father is wonderful. It's also good to hear that a close bond has established between you two. Either way it works out with whether or not you get to keep Charlie. That bond will remain and he will recognize you every time you go to your dads. That is of course, if you don't get to keep him. :-)

The topic of whether a bird needs UV light or not, is dependent upon 2 things - 1) Their Diet - UVB. 2) If you wish them to see with the full spectrum of light they were meant to, namely UV. It lights up their world and gives them more visual information than you or I can see, namely UVA. If your Grey consumes enough pellets to obtain sufficient vitamin D3, then the UVB light spectrum is not necessary for production of D# for proper Calcium absorption and other glandular benefits. A bird sitting in front of a window receives no UVA or UVB. The glass blocks it. So the bottom line is, if your Grey consumes mainly seeds, some veggies and fruits and almost no pellets, it needs a good Full Spectrum light light source that includes both UVA and more importantly UVB. You can also take your Grey, caged outside (Partial shading of the cage) for an hour a day to get the full dose of UVB required.<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2009/01/18 21:27

Thats wonderful! Seven Months is young and Charlie is definitely associating the correct word with the action. The more actions and items you name everytime you perform a task or offer a food item, the sooner he will start calling it by name. :-) Example: Ask Dayo when eating a food, receiving scratches etc. - "Do you like that?", He responds -"Yes, I like that!". He learned this conversational skill through the use of the same phrase and response over and over by Kim and myself. He will ask the same when he does something he thinks is worthy of a reward and we always respond with "Yes, I like that" or "No! I DON'T". They are amazingly intelligent.

Very nice photos Heather, as always. Thanks for posting them. :-)

Thats great news! Thanks for the update on Leo. :-)