danmcq

Hello Karen and thanks for wanting to provide the best diet and keep that plucking at bay. I believe your motto "Whatever it takes is my motto for him!" is one that all grey owners should have. The others have made comments on what they feed their greys and their respected thoughts on this. I agree in part with most of them, but there is always the thought of needing to keep a well rounded and balanced diet. My personal thoughts in trying to maintain a well rounded and bountiful diet for my grey and conure, is I feed seeds, nuts, pellets, veggies, fruits, legumes, grains etc. to keep it nutritional and an enjoyable experience for them that they look forward to. I have always relied on Harrison's when it comes to pellets. Why you may ask? Because Dr, Harrison did a very in depth study on grey nutritional needs an formulated the high potency coarse pellets based on that research. You will not find corn fillers being the main ingredient. You will find it is all organic. sunflower seeds and peanuts are the main igredients and of course the vitamins are added in as well as "Clay" which is a foundation of grey ground feeding which coats the crop and digestive tract to absorb toxins they my eat during the day. I just mix around 10 pellets in with the seed/nut mix and let my grey decide how many pellts he may desire to eat that day. I personally wold never try to switch him to a full pellet no seed diet. It would just not be fully healthy and in my opinion a dull and incomplete diet. If you wish, you can find all the information you need on Harrison's website in regards the pellet switch, studies Dr. Harrison did etc. I hope you find the posts in this thread thought provoking and respond back with any questions or additional thoughts you may have. We do not in any way want you to feel your desire to provide the best diet to your grey is being questioned or looked down upon. http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com

Gracie is sure coming along nicely with her vocabulary and real time interaction with you. I totally enjoyed this video. Thanks for posting it and allowing us to have this enjoyable moment.

Welcome Blueberrytunes, Kya and Emeka! Thanks for the introduction and bless for rescuing them both. I look forward to hearing more from you and seeing some photos when you get a chance.

LOL, I am glad peek-a-boo worked out as a fun interaction between you and Oscar. Building that link between you and oscar on a platform of enjoyment for both will be key in building the relationship.The misting sounds like it was a welcomed experience as well and is needed to keep him healthy. I love these updates!

The others gave good responses. Just don't give up on Woodstock. This set back will only last for a while and he will not end up being "just an ornament" unless you let that happen, which I doubt since you have already proven to be a patient and loving person to help to the point he was just at. Lean on this forum all you want. Everyone here is rooting for you and Woodstock! :)

LOL, I love it!!! He has a lot more going on in that grey brain than you realize. Great job on entertaining him in a way he seemed to enjoy. Have you tried peek-a-boo? Many like that as a game.

Congrats on the first word. It is always exciting and now you can both celebrate it and your birthday with a couple of carrots, maybe a nut or two with a splash of aloe juice to wash it down with.

Marco's sound interlude was fun to listen to. They seem to amuse themselves, calibrate and just kickback. Heard lots of sound effects, a couple of big kisses and tiny and a hello once or twice as well. Thanks for sharing this.

Alfie is doing great. You are doing a wonderful job in working with him on showering. Every grey is so different and we all just have had to figure out how we can get them to bathe. Dayo will no longer go near the shower other than perching on top of the shower door and watching. I must mist him until drenched with a spray bottle while he is caged or put out a pan and he will do it himself.

What a wonderful update! Fred is really blossoming in your loving home. He sounds like sounds like a real diamond in the rough and is enjoying himself. His verbal requests are heartwarming to hear he is requesting your presence. I hope to hear more updates and see some photos and videos when you get a chance.

I agree with Judy. He seems to be wanting a warm meal via hand feeding. As Judy said, try oatmeal. If that is not readily accepted, ask your breeder which formula they were using and mix some up and give it to him using a spoon. He is still very much a baby. My grey enjoyed a hand feeding once to twice a day for a few eeks after he came home at 16 weeks old.

It sounds like thing are progressing very well for Oscar and you. He seems to be enjoying the life he deserves under your loving care and patience. The whistles back and forth were no doubt a treat for him.

Congrats! Sounds like a nice homecoming.

Nice!!!

All gave good advice on dogs and bird introductions. You did the right thing in elevating Pearl. Depending on the breed, they can be very sight oriented and when movement occurs it triggers instinctual responses from the dog(s). I had dobermans when Dayo first came home. They are VERY sight driven and become excited at movement. I kept them both in another room for the first couple of weeks we brought dayo home. I would take the dobermans by on leases and at least 5 feet away while dayo was in his cage. This helped both get become aware of each other and used to how they respectively looked. Over the course of of those weeks, I would bring them closer and closer to the cage to desensitize them to each other. Then I stared having dayo out of the cage and kept the dobermans on a leash while watching tv or just kicking back around the house. They of course became alerted anytime dayo would make movements and never take their eyes off him. Even to this day, when dayo takes flight, one or both will stand up as dayo flies over. However, dayo just increases altitude as he does so. Some breeds of dogs can never be trusted while your bird is out and you really need to be aware of both the dogs and birds positions and actions at all times. My son and family came down a few months ago and brought their damn jack russel terrier with them. Talk about sight driven! That little dog could spring 4 feet in the air in a heart beat. After the first incident that happened as dayo flew over, the went on the leash at all times and `was kept in the bedroom. He could not even be allowed off leash while dayo was in the cage. Because he would run over and start hopping at the cage. Needless to say, i asked my son to never bring his dog to my home again.

LOL, they are smart! He must be so proud of himself. Keeping up with a grey is like playing chess, you need to mentally stay at least 3 moves ahead of them.

It's good to hear Alfie is starting to respond better. I believe using the perch for a step up has helped tremendously in him coming to the conclusion you are not such a threat after all. The experience at the vet could certainly give a good example of terrible versus better experience. Your doing a great job of taking things slow with him and it is starting to pay off.

Thanks Steve, the "Now" is interesting in the since that Misty understands urgency. I appreciate sharing more about Misty with us. Keep it coming and more videos.

Dayo does a similar whistle, not exactly as misty though. I enjoyed the other videos as well. The last sounded like "Hello Matey".

She beautiful and cute. I love the play stand and looks like Pearl does too. Thanks for posting this.

Wonderful! The power of grey karma is strong in pearl. She wanted you all to herself. Looking forward to updates, photos and videos!!!

Coconut Oil is ok. The polyunsaturated oil in coconut oil is linoleic acid and it is an omega 6 essential fatty acid. It can aide in maintaining healthy feathers and cell membranes. The monounsaturated oil in coconut oil is oleic acid, and it is an omega 9 fatty acid. This is very important omega in any oil and most oils don’t contain it or contain it only in very limited quantity. Coconut oil contains it in abundance! While moderate use of coconut oil can actually aid in the lowering of bad LDL cholesterol by increasing the good HDL cholesterol, it is important to understand that coconut oil, even though it is a very healthy oil, can be overused because it is a “saturated fat”. It is not an animal fat, and it is a wonderful oil for parrot and human use when used in cooking foods, mixed in with foods etc. It can be harmful if not used in moderation. For this reason, I suggest you do not feed this oil to your parrot on a daily basis. Too much of anything is not healthy. The oil is concentrated and not the same as giving your grey or other parrot a piece or two of Coconut flesh you have chopped up from a Coconut itself. I chop up and freeze the entire coconut meat. Then give a chunk or two every couple of days. You could for example use coconut oil in a birdy bread you bake for your parrots. I personally use Red Palm oil though, as it is a staple of african greys and more healthy than coconut oil for them as a whole. However, as I said, a little coconut oil every once in a while is good for them as well. Also, coconut oil will not go rancid, like some other oils.

It worked. Alfie is enjoying that sock. Thanks for sharing this. Now we want more, more, more I tell you!

The only one I would recommend removing, is the one with a sand paper type cover. The rest are all fine.

Looking forward to hearing the results.