danmcq

Cosmos loves you very much and enjoys those "Birdy head Lovein's". You could of course pull away if you don't have 10 minutes to invest at that time. Birds to the same when preening each other. It's not considered rejection, it's and "I have have this much time right now". I would gently discourage the regurge, I know you can't stop them completely because it is obvious he loves you very much. Dayo is and always has been affectionate like that with my wife by hanging on to her finder, lowering and spreading wings, roll over on his back for some belly scratches etc. Heck sometimes he will become so relaxed he will nod off. Anyway, sometimes my wife needs to stop the love fest to do something and it does not offend Dayo in any way, just as there are times he decides he wants to do something else and will end it. Some greys will interact like this all their lives with their love muffin, but there are some that will never be like this or as they age the love fests may become less often. So it really is not what I would call a "Common grey trait". They are very much different from grey to grey. Your a GreYt Parront!

No problem. Your advice is very good as well and should be taken. With baby greys, you never know why they may have stopped accepting formula suddenly.

Very interesting observance Birdhouse. I can totally see that being a good point to consider and can picture them wincing upon hearing that name called out. I suppose to any abused critter, a name in that case could mean to them, here comes a scare or pain.... sad actually.

Hoping it works for you.

My take on this, is it sounds like he is weaning his self quickly. Besides the pellets, I would suggest a seed mix and some nuts like shelled, roasted and unsalted peanuts, almonds, pistachios, walnuts etc. Pellets are one of the most unnatural and least likely thing a baby grey just starting to wean is going to eat. There is nothing wrong at all with offering them of course. If you wish to get him to eat some, please soak them with a little apple, grape, pomegranate or other true juices to make them a little more tasty and desirable. Also, dont forget to make up a 7 or 15 bean mix and add some oats etc. and freeze after cooking by placing portions in a snack or sandwich bag. Your grey will enjoy them as well as a healthy food source. Oh and welcome by the way, it's GreYt having you here!

If you have any photos of that time period, videos or stories to share, I would love to hear and see them. Also we just love to see and hear about others greys and other birds as well.

Looking forward to an update and photos once the dust settles.

LOL Ray, your trying to make me do math... Anyway, I put 8 harrisons pellets a day and 8 zupreem nutty pellets mixed in with his seed mix each day. I don't bother counting what was eaten. Some days he eats half of them and some days he eats them all. Plus as much of the seed he wants. He also has a mixture of fresh veggies and a small amount of fruit everyday as well. I personally use the bountiful diet just like we humans enjoy. Some days you feel like a nut, some days you don't. I must say, my personal belief is a strictly pellet diet is not enjoyable or healthy for our birds.

Enjoy! http://www.hanfordsentinel.com/news/world/pancho-the-pelican-an-urban-celebrity-in-havana/article_b89e3b15-47d3-5a3a-92a3-398166555a9d.html

LOL Dee, keep on trucking!! Love the inventiveness as caffeine, good music and thoughts coarse through your brain.

No young kids of our own. Only grandchildren from 20 down to 3. When the youngest was just crawling, my grey dayo was totally infatuated with her. He learned her name (Dakota) in one day and would call her, watch her like a hawk and want to be by her or in a view of her at all times. He never tried any type of beaking or hostility to her. He was just infatuated at this tiny floor crawling baby human. We of course watched this interaction like hawks as well. But all the young children and teens were told never to stick a finger in the cage, to offer food or hit the cage with some toy when he was in it. They were under supervision and allowed to have dayo or jake on their shoulders for brief periods and how to get a step up. A few developed a very good relationship with both our birds, but others were just too afraid of the beak and a possible bite. So those just never really interacted with him other than talking to him and laughing at dayo's answers. Each home and child, parrot, adult is different and you'll soon learn how each dynamically interacts with the other. Vigilance and overseeing is however a constant must maintain. Oh, and watch those doors if you have flighted birds like I do. Children forget about the birds and rules, as all will do.

Thats good news. Thanks for the update.

Welcome Bill and Bailey, it's GreYt having you here. Based on your introduction, I bet you have a ton of stories and good information to share. I am looking forward to that.

Too Cute. The second video django became very interactive to your voice. It is parrotese for "Quit talking, get me outta here and lets have a love and food fest". Thanks for sharing these.

Nice cover! Thanks for the link.

Dayo has loved shredding paper towel rolls since he was very young. I had never considered hanging a roll in his cage. Thanks for the for the great idea to keep him happily shredding another item he loves that would be in his cage.

Oh Penny, i feel for you knowing how much you love Talon and all your flock. The slight over preening or plucking I see is not that severe. Like Dave said, I suspect more irritation and maybe a build up of god knows what residual substance stuck to her talons and bottom legs. They get juices from fruits and other items eaten on their talons and legs when eating various items and like all birds like to stay clean. If your not bathing or misting her good at least twice a week, she is going to be very irritated from the severely dried skin and build up of dander. Plus her legs and talons are not getting rinsed. When dayo has stuff on his talons or legs he will nibble and lick until clean as he can get it. I would mist with Aloe after getting her soaked with water. Thats what I do with Dayo. In regards the pine cones, a grey will either love it or hate as others have said. I pine cone is nothing more than an object for them to chew on and shred. Favorite wood toys and other items to keep them busy and happy work just as well. I do like the looks and suppleness of those leather collars versus those harshly rigid plastic collars. But, a collar is not needed other than for a bird that has been plucking a long time and is displaying a bare spot with fresh bloody wounds or an entire bare chest as seen in photos of worst case pluckers. Talon is no where needing a collar. Does she have favorite things to shred and keep her busy? I know you know the importance of this, but just thought I would ask. I truly believe just regular bathing and Aloe juice will resolve Talons issue.

Oh that is heartbreaking Sterling. Words cannot provide much comfort, but I and I am sure others here have dealt with the sickness and then eventual death of a much loved bird, dog, cat and it is always like losing a birthed child. The most important thing to me, is that your Jardine is in the best place this could have occurred at surrounded by pure unconditional love. Bless you both.

GreYt posts Dave! I have nothing to add other than welcome to our forum.

Oh jesus Sterling, I am hoping and praying for the best outcome for your grey. Your answer is very good because it is coming from a person living that nightmare right now. We must have both been typing at the same overlapping time period.

In regards the Bornavirus in Parrots. Here is some good information for you. First, your baby grey came to you with that virus. So it was not anything you did and you should not feel bad. Your vet is the expert on this, not me. If you feel confident your much loved baby grey is doing better and is at least on the mend, go with your heart. Here is the article I am partially quoting: How Do Parrots Become Exposed To This Disease ? How Infectious Is It ? Not enough time has passed since the discovery of the virus for veterinarians to work that out with any certainty. The bornavirus is not very stable in the environment – so close contact between an infected and an uninfected bird is probably required. As with all infectious virus that are present in stool and oral secretions, the more parrots are confined to a relatively small area, the poorer the sanitation and the higher the stress level, the more spread of infection is likely to take place. Both the fecal and the urine portion of a parrots stool can contain the virus. But the history of avian bornavirus in parrots tells us that much more than exposure to the virus is required for a bird to become physically ill. It is well known that many parrots kept in close contact with a known ABV/PDD bird never become ill. Complicating our understanding of how this virus moves between birds is the fact that very long periods of time can pass (years) between the time the parrot is exposed to bornavirus and the time it becomes ill. That could easily explain why ABV/PDD can occur in a parrot whose nutrition and environment is now superb and why long periods can pass in an aviary with no new cases, only to have one appears years down the road. So the mystery is more likely about how individual birds’ immune system reacts to infection than how infectious the virus itself is. That seems to be the case with the borna virus of mammals as well – lots of animals are exposed to the virus (about 60%) but only a few (5%) of those get ill. Although most veterinarians believe that avian bornavirus probably moves from bird to bird through ingestion or inhalation of droppings or saliva of adjoining parrots that carry the virus, there is evidence that it might be transferred (vertically) from an infected female to its offspring thought through the egg as well. There are also veterinarians who believe that the strain of bornavirus that the bird encounters is important in determining how severe a disease will develop.

Can't blame you at all for getting anxious. I think most of us remember that feeling like your going to explode very well. I found several shots of Bacardi 101 on the rocks was a good band aid that last week. Though I did hear the bald faced lie I showed up around 2am at the breeders with a gun trying to get Dayo... I don't remember it..... just kidding.

I always enjoy videos of Emma. She is so interactive with you. Thanks for sharing this.

If he talked at 11 months old and you hear him mumbling, he is still working on it and calibrating. The more you talk to him as you offer him a nut, fruit, veggie or are washing dishes, vacuuming, cleaning the cage etc. and describe each as you do so. It will give him word that have a meaning to them. The ones he finds most valuable like a favorite treat or wanting out of the cage he will practice (Mumble) and use them. 16 months is still very young. Dayo did not say any word to us loud enough to be heard until he was around 14 months which was "Hello". After that mumbling was heard and with in 6 months from that point he had a vocabulary of 100, then 200, then 300 etc. and the growth became exponential. I stopped counting at around 600 words. They reach a point when they can hear a new word one time and be saying in hours or the next day. So just hang in there and talk to him all the time with meaningful words.

LOL, too cute!!