danmcq

Nice name. I am certain she will be one.

Thanks Deke! This is a perfect example of how time, patience and love can turn a grey around that has been in a previously abusive home. The key is TIME. You did it right and let her determine for the most part the time periods between moving closer and closer.

hats good to hear Lycraloon. Some greys very rarely deliver a blood gushing bite. You are fortunate that peta is one of them,

The Timneh Afican Grey is endemic to the western parts of the moist Upper Guinean forests and bordering savannas of West Africa from Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone and southern Mali eastwards to at least 70 km east of the Bandama River in Ivory Coast. There is no natural range overlap with the Congo Parrot.

The bright red tail is the Congo african grey (CAG) Larger grey and the maroon tail is the Timneh african grey (TAG) smaller grey. They are the only two species of african greys. A third was once considered, but later ruled out by scientists.

Yes, you are wise not to feed peanuts in the shell. A parrots diet should contain many items, seed and nut mixtures, lots of fresh veggies, cooked legumes of various kinds, mashes etc. If you visit our food room, you will find a ton of information there as well. You may also want to try and introduce some pellets to her diet as well such as harrisons or zupreme. Just mix a few in to the seed/nut mix. Here is one thread to follow among many. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?112983-Nutrition-Diet/page2 There is a ton of food items your girl will find interesting in taste, texture and color. Cooked, raw etc. They enjoy food items prepared in different ways.

Plucking can be caused by several reasons. They can pluck if they are fearful for example due to something near the cage. The way to introduce new toys to a grey, is to hang them a little distance away from the cage so they can view it and get used to it. Then move it closer to the cage as they seem comfortable until you can hang it on the outside of the cage so they can view and touch up close. once they are good with that, then you can place it in their cage. Also, since you live in africa, greys eat red palm fruit as a staple of their diet. Star giving peta a few say day. The oil in the flesh is beneficial to them in many ways. Here is one thread very recent on plucking. There are several in the health room if you view through older threads there. Here is the latest : http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?197982-Plucking-%28

You can give peanuts, but they should not be in the shell and should be dry roasted with no salt.

Welcome Lycraloon and Pete, it's GreYt having you here. I hope to hear more about Pete and also see some photo's or videos when you get a chance.

A large majority of pellets are not eaten. I understand the frustration of throwing money out the door, but as talon said, thats a parrot. The other thing is, pellets are not a necessary part of any birds diet, as long as you provide a wide variety of seeds, nuts, veggies etc. I mix some pellets in with my greys seed/nut mix and he eats part of them along with the seeds and nuts. One thing about parrots, one day they will eat a food item, they next they will not and eat something else. I mix in a few harrisons and a few zupreme nut blend with the seed/nut mix. Some days a few harrisons will be eaten, other some zupreme. The same goes with veggies and bean mixes, some items get eat one day, the next other items. Long story short, there is a lot of waste everyday.

It's to hear you are committed. Your right, he needs your home now. The sooner he is out of that environment, the better. I hope to hear tons of updates and see photos as you have time.

Oh no, prayers still coming for you, family and flock.

Thanks Dave, good and true words. I love that photo. Amber and timbersmom, thank you both.

Loved watching your videos. Free flight is certainly only for a select few people that have professional level experience in safely training a bird for this before ever venturing to a first flight outdoors. You are right of course, a grey is the worst bird to try and free flight. They are just so nervous and alarm easily. I always like to ask persons such as yourself to please give some detailed information on how you prepared your grey and other birds for the first free flight. We certainly do not want any members here thinking it is something they could do with their grey, without months of indoor preparation and help by a professional. Even professionals lose their birds at times when circumstances go seriously wrong. Most of us here use flight harnesses outside to ensure we never have the slightest possibility of losing our dearly loved greys.

Nice cage.

I am so sorry to hear this. You have my sincerest thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery.

If you truly are willing to "Accept him as he is", that is the right attitude. I can only assume when you say he is 6 to 8 years old, that his current owner is not the first? Thus the approximate age. The most import thing to do, is to get all the information you can from this current owner on what they mean by "Needs more taming". Worst case, is Oscar has been cage bound for years and has no desire for human contact other than to feed, water and clean his cage. At 6 to eight years old he is fully an adult with tons of baggage in terms of memories on how humans interact with him and whether he considers them a threat and terror inducer. It is imperative you know all this current owner can share. Also, how long has he been with this current owner? The first thing you can expect if you decide to rescue Oscar, is the fact that bringing him in to a new home with strangers, new sights and sounds of the environment etc. is going to take months for him to get used to. You are going to take time just being patient with feeding and watering him while just sitting in the same room and close to the cage while you talk to him, read a book, watch TV, listen to some music etc. It will take tons of time and patience to get him properly settled in before you even consider a step up will ever happen. The only thing I can offer you, is you must be willing to accept and love him unconditionally, with no expectations that Oscar will be a loving grey cuddle muffin in the future that will step up and enjoy spending time sitting with or on you. He may also never say any human word other than "Hello" as you mentioned he does. If you are not willing to accept "as-is" and that you could spend decades with this glorious grey you have been given the opportunity to provide a forever home to, then do not rescue him. We just hear to many stories of greys bouncing from home to home several times because the people taking them in did not really have the commitment to take them in unconditionally.

Thats wonderful Michelle. Thanks for the photos, just so cute! I am looking forward to hearing and seeing more, especially the homecoming.

Beautiful photos of your baby grey. It's wonder your 6 year old son is already visioning the the wonderful life ahead with your new feathered family member that is coming home soon. Thanks for sharing this.

Thanks all. I appreciate your thoughts. All creatures we have the privilege of gracing our lives for a period of time are dearly missed when they pass on. But, all the moments with them live on in our hearts and minds forever. Those memories are what drives a person to know perhaps they have the time to enjoy the honor of helping another feel the joy and love they so deserve. We do still of course have Chloe, whom we rescued years ago as well that loved to play with Bentley. Chloe is presently 10 years old.

Our Doberman Bentley had to be put to sleep on Thursday evening. He was 12 years old, which is rare for a Doberman to live that long. In his frailty he had wobblers which is common in the breed and his back legs would sometimes not work well. IN the last few weeks, he slowly started eating less and less. The last two days of his life, he only ate a few pieces of cooked chicken from my hand. We took him to the vet and they ran a few tests and determined he was in renal failure, probably did not feel well and was probably in pain, though he was not indicating it. We rescued him at 4 years old. He was found in an a home with his dead owner. The neighbors had called the police to check on them due to Bentley barking and howling day and night for 2 days. Once the police arrived, they could not enter the home due to Bentley protecting his owner and had to call animal control to come and safely restrain him. It took a while for him to trust people after we first brought him home, but he did become some what accepting to family and friends that came and visited frequently. He was always by my side wherever I went and would fret and howl anytime I would leave the home. However, he was fearless and would protect my wife or me with his life. He loved the pool and would jump in and swim around chasing the pool sweep.He will be dearly missed....

Hello Lisa, I believe the issue is she has fear of strange people. You did mention that she was not used to visitors at her first home. When a grey is not socialized from early on with people, they are many times fearful of visitors to the home. In her mind, anyone of those visitors could be a predator. Perhaps over time, she will get a little less fearful as she finds that those visiting your home have never caused any harm to her or you during the visits. Only time will tell.

Thanks for posting here Deke. Gracie seems happy and is a nice looking TAG.

Welcome Deke, good post! Why don't you introduce yourself in our welcome room so all will know we have a new member and learn a little about you and your birds?

The trust is still not there in Miki's opinion. If she will momentarily step on to a stick, then keep using that and she will remain on it longer and longer over time. She will get to a point she will remain on it and let you take her somewhere on it. It is all about time and patience as you build that trust. As She gets used to the stick, which is held by your hand on one end, over time move your hand closer to her by holding the perch with a shorter and shorter length between your hand and her when she steps up. Over time your hand will be almost touching her when she steps up. At that point she will start moving on to your hand on her own. It is at that point in time you can quit using the perch and use your hand only.