Charlies Dad

Hows the cockatoo?

Before I was using dawn dish soap with super hot water. But even then I would either need to sit around and wait for it to break the stain down or re-apply the spray. So I went and got me some poof-off after reading this thread and have to say I am quite pleased with the results. It smells good and breaks down hard stains fairly quickly. I would say the only downside is the price. I paid $29.99 plus tax at my local Petco for a 32 oz. bottle.

I love the grate cage outside the window idea!! That would work so well with my "work in progress" bird room. The build is coming along great Alex, I wish I had carpentry skills like that.

Such a crazy work week... Thanks for complimenting me on becoming Charlies Dad, but honestly, I am sure any one of you'll would have done the same thing if you encountered the same situation. Plus, one look at Charlie and you can literally melt...so...yeah! Oh my you guys are funny!! And so much more awesome than anticipated. Just the advice given to me in this thread alone has been super helpful!! The ice bath video with a casserole dish is something Charlie and I are working on. Right now, he just looks and perches near the water. He hasn't gone into the water yet.. This past week, he did chew 3-4 of his newer feather...so that was kind of a bummer.... But I did move his cage recently and there was one day where I overslept and forgot to take him out of his cage on time. I'm guessing that didn't help the situation either... Does anyone know anything about vests and cones? Are they even beneficial? Will they be too traumatic for him? What if I put a vest or cone on Charlie until all his feathers grow back? Will he still be unconformable and chew them? I honestly think he is chewing due to a combinations of itchiness of the skin and plain old boredom. But then again, I'm no doctor. I'm also going to go pick up a cold humidifier...I think it will help. Thoughts? Again, you guys are a great support to Charlie and I. Hopefully I can pay some of this support forward as Charlie grows and improves. Thank you!!!

This is awesome, thanks for sharing!! But wheres the defense??? Oh and I saw the eclectus fouling the grey like crazy. We need free throws!!

Charlie and I are still working on "designated pooping areas". His big bombs in the morning can be a pain to clean up, especially when I am running late. So what I did was make a PVC perch that sits over the toilet bowl. I take him out of his cage every morning and and place him there and tell him "bombs away"....then he waddles his little butt and lets it rip. Obviously, I do not condone leaving bird near an open toilet alone. I let him take care of his business every morning while I shave/shower, get ready for work. His poopies are considerably smaller the rest of the day...but he smart and know not to poop on the bed or couch. Usually, he will fly to his tree stand, drop one, and go back to whatever he was doing. I praise him highly when he poops in desirable areas and when he poops in the wrong areas, I stay completely silent and only give him stink eyes. I can tell he knows he did a no-no...

My grey gets super skinny when I have a hat on and he wants nothing to do with me. I think he thinks I am someone else completely unless I say something to him. Then he calms down a notch but still has his guard up. Maybe let him play with one of the disposable ones to let him know its ok to be on your face, he probably just thinks it is something attacking your face and is getting scared/nervous for your safety....those stupid glasses.

I love this. And I think your grey loves it as well. I could save a lot of money if I could build a Stand of some kind. Maybe this is the inspiration I need.

Here are some pics from when his feather condition was at its worst and the progress my little guy has been making. I have to say, I am very proud of him so far. This was at the 8 month period. He looked like his feathers were really bothering them, so he chewed them all off.... adult photo hosting click image upload This is Charlie around 9 months old...he was looking really ragedy at this point. I was worried I was doing something wrong, but I just stuck to the game plan...and treated him like he was the most handsome guy around... image sharing sites 11 months...was a bad month for us...one day I woke up and found too many to count of these around his cage. I was devastated to say the least. image host As hard as this was...I just pretended like he was doing great...In my head I was mentally exhausted. But he is my boy and I refuse to give up on him... When he turned 1, we threw him a birthday party. gif uploader temporary image hosting At this point, I just focused on postive reinforment and encouraged him to never be afraid to try new things...After he turned one, he started talking almost the next day. He can call himself a good boy, copies a blue jay, plays peek-a-boo. He can say about 10 phases total. And just yesterday, he combined 2 sentences!! He said, "What you doing. Are you ok?" I was shocked...he is only 14 months old right now...anyway, since his birthday, he seems to be a lot more happy and content. And he looks healthier to me as well. Hopefully, we can keep progressing forward!! Here is a couple weeks after his birthday party. free upload pictures screen shot on pc And here he is today at 15 months of age. images upload Singing his little head off... image hosting free free upload image Got him his first Manzanita tree stand. It was a pretty penny, so I hope he likes it!! imag Thank you reading my super long post. I did this all for Charlies sake as I care deeply for my little guy. I was hoping people can learn from my mistakes while I learn from your experiences. If anyone has any advice or comments, please do share. I am from Texas so I have thick skin!! Have a nice day!

**Super long post warning, please see post 2 for pictures** Hi everyone, So here is a some background on Charlie and myself...hoping I can learn how to care for him better. Charlie and I are the best of buds. Yes, I have a very demanding job and hectic family/social life. But my Charlie Boy is my pal. And I hope to have him around a long time. We have been together since he was about 3 weeks old. He is about 15 months old now. I have a breeder/buddy guy I know, and he does some side breeding out of his home backyard. He had conures, lovebirds, vasas and greys. But being outside, there were dangers. He mentioned to me that pack of raccoons have peen raiding his place and that the greys did not make it. I honestly used to warn him to manage his trash disposal better and use better hardware cloth on his breeder cages, but I guess that was not his prerogative. The carnage was horrendous. Some greys were dismembered while some were missing altogether. He told me that if I wanted the one baby that survived he'd let it go to me. He no longer breeds greys. I was also told I would need to hand-feed it 6-8 times a days since Charlie was so young at 3 weeks. Well, being a commodities trader, I did not plan on getting a parrot anytime soon even though I planned on it "down the line". But since I am friends with the breeder, I decided to at least come over and help him beef up the breeding area, and clean up/disinfect the...mess. When I finally got to look at the carnage I almost threw up. I was shocked at how viscous these raccoons were. They literally pulled back the wire mesh and got into the greys nest box by ripping the front door off. How Charlie survived, I cannot comprehend. When I first saw the little guy, it was a special moment for me personally. I just looked into his black pearly eyes and saw so much innocence. His life was precious and I wanted to do something to give him a chance at living and growing up as he deserved. I wondered what would happen to him and would he go to a good home, then I considered....Why not my home!? And so....there went "down the line"... So I brought him home and in the beginning he was always sleeping...haha...eat, sleep, eat, sleep, eat, sleep. He was a lazy fatty baby. I figured, he probably is a little nervous not having his parents or brother/sisters around. So I didn't push him too much to socialize. I focused on making sure he was getting nutrition, getting rest and most importantly, felt safe. When he was about 6 weeks old, one day he just stood up and started walking around the house....for no reason at all. Just walking around checking out the place, haha. From that point, I would play with him all the time, I would sing him songs, show him different shapes. I would whistle to him and respond to him directly anytime he made any kind of sounds. He was growing developing right before my eyes, I was so proud of him!! Anyway, fast forward a little bit, I got him onto solid foods eventually and he was eating Zupreem Fruit Blend and some seed mix as well. I went and got him a ridiculously huge cage that could fit 2 grown people in. He would sing and play all day long. He showed me his potential at a very young age. We started working on flight recall as soon as he fledged and I am proud to say, we had it down pat by the time he was 6 months old. Then around 8 months of age, things went downhill rather quickly... He went into his first heavy molt. This was around winter time and I didn't know it at the time, but we ran the heater all the time. I think that made him uncomfortable and for some reason he started chewing his feather everywhere. I took him to not 1 but 3 avian vets around the Houston area and they all told me he was "just molting". I asked, how can you say it is molting when he is clearly breaking his feathers in half??? Their response, "oh then it is behavioral". I was frustrated because we did all kinds of test and thankfully they came back ok. But the vets did not seem to want to help Charlie in all honestly. They made me feel as though Charlies issues would be a liability for them to diagnose. So, I did what any good Parront would do...I buckled down and started working on things on my own with Charlie 1 day at a time. First thing I did was started lurking around these forums and getting tips from other posters. I learned that I had a lot of learning to do. Then I went and started reading books on parrots at Barnes and Nobles. I even started talking to my other avian enthusiast buddies about what they thought. Eventually, I started forming a game plan... 1: Get Charlie on a solid sleep sched. Before he was staying up late watching TV with me or sitting on my shoulder while I worked on my laptop. He was getting maybe 6-8 hrs of sleep. That had to change. I kept read parrots need 12-14 hrs of peaceful, uninterrupted sleep every night in a place where they have no fears and worries. Well, his cage was in the kitchen, up against a window where he would hear us getting a drink of water or walking around at night. He could also have gotten scared of something outside the window. So I moved his cage into a spare room in my house in a corner with a view of a window across the room. And now, I put him to bed at 8 pm every night, curtains shut and uncover his cage around 8 am everyday. This move alone has seems to really help him out. I will continue to see how this goes, but for now it is working better than anticipated. 2: Get some variety into his diet. Before he was eating only Zupreem and seeds. Then one day I thought, who the hell wants to eat the same crap everyday. No one. So I started getting him on some treats while making it fun. Greys need to use their mind to think and figure stuff out. This, in my opinion, not only keep them busy but nurtures their potential intelligence. I give him steamed broccoli, carrots, sweet potato and mango. I put them in foraging toys him his cage and offer it with his meal. In the beginning it was tough, but he eventually got curious enough to check it out one day and now eats a little veggie with his Zupreem/Seeds. One thing that has made a big difference is adding Red Palm Oil and Coconut Oil to his diet, I always add some to his veggies and I have noticed a lot of improvements in his moods, feathers and activity level. 3: Socialization/Play. Before, I admittedly underestimated the importance of toys. Especially for greys. I got him a few toys when I set up his cage, but he never played with any thing. Then one day, I was eating cheerios next to his cage and offered him some from my spoon. Instead of taking a cheerio, he took my whole spoon and starting playing with it. While cleaning the mess, the light bulb finally went off. I took a bunch of stainless spoon and jerry-rigged it somehow hang in his cage. Charlie went nut on them, he would hang upside down and try to annihilate them for hours. He was having a lot of fun. Most importantly, his mood seemed to be better whenever I gave him spoon or bell toys. That all he really wants to play with. He doesn't like wood blocks, or leather straps much. Some things we still need to work on.... 1: Bathing. My god. Charlie believes water is Satans blood. Nothing is easy with Charlie and water involved. I tried bathing him in the sink, nope. tried the shower, haha, nope. But then I recently read that grey like cold baths and showers, and no water in the face. So I have been doing it wrong. I have been using warm water and showering him all over....whoops. Going to try a cool shower and see how he does. 2: Fighting. My sun conure can be a punk towards Charlie. I think she scares him. But conversely, Charlie thinks their tails are toys and tries to pick them up upside down. My sun conure doesn't appreciate that and fights back. My gold capped conure wants to be his friend but Charlie beaks at him. It seems he is only bonded with me and doesn't want to make other friends. I am still having quite a bit of trouble getting everyone to get along. Does anyone have any advice?? It would be nice to have some harmony among each other. He tolerates my sister and my mom, but wont let them pick him up. Only I can without getting bit. 3: Lighting. He needs more sun. But I have hawks and coons, snakes and all kinds of crazy things that wants to eat him outside. Considering his family massacre, I also think he might be a little nervous going outside. I wanted to setup some artificial lighting for him indoors but am not sure of specific requirements for greys. Anyone done this before? Well, here you have it. Below you can see some of his pics as we have progressed in our journey together. If anyone has any advice, comments or criticism, please share.

I have a Budgie named Sprite as mentioned by Sterling, bright neon green. My sun conure girl is named Mango because she is addicted to Mangoes. I like the name BoomBoom for conures as it matches their head-bob when their is music playing.

Thank you Dave! That was very informative.

I hope Maalik feels better. Maybe he's just a little shook from the cup incident?

Oh boy, I was trying to post some pics of the how Charlie and I have been working on things...but it says that an admin must approve my post? I don't know where the post went? Should I start a new thread somewhere, where I can share the trials and tribulations Charlie and I have been going through? Oh and btw, this forums is one of the most welcoming ones I have been on. Thank you so much for the warm welcome!!

I also have their Coconut oil but have not used it for my birds. Is coconut oil also good to give to them? Should i mix a little bit of both to give them? I think they may like the nutty taste better.

I buy the Red Palm Oil made by Nutiva...It's organic, about $12 a jar and Whole Food carries it. I mix in Red Palm into all my parrots food. They took about a week but I think it is growing on them. I even give them to my budgies and their chicks look healthier than ever!

****Long post warning. I am looking to learn and pay is forward, if this thread needs to be moved to a more appropriate section, please help me do this as I do not want to step on any toes.**** WOW, you guys are so nice and welcoming! Thank you to each on of you!! I am a little nervous about introducing Charlie Boy. Because I mostly blame myself for not understanding or researching his needs better. Just last night, I spend a few hours reading everyone's sticky's and trying to understand the thought process of these magnificent animals. I just wish he could tell me what is missing in his life, I'd do anything for my boy. My family and I have other parrots. Sun and Gold Capped Conures, an Indian Ringneck with medical problems, 2 Cockatiel rescues (also recently attacked by those darn raccoon) and an aviary full of budgies, with chicks in the nest....It is a busy house to say the least. With a full time job, I still try to help my buddy every moment of free time I have. We are not sure why he feather chewing, but as his Dad, I am been working tirelessly to teach him confidence and how to be comfortable in his own skin...We have made some progress over the last 4 months but we still have a long road ahead. He just needs to know that I am here for him and will help him every step of the way as he grows up. He can count on me, but I need him to give me his all as well. Things Charlie and I are working on as a team: 1: More stable wake up/sleep schedule: Still a little challenging as I am a petro-chem trader...I can be at the office at odd hours for long periods of time watching the markets and I travel internationally frequently. Corporate America is not very supportive with my Avian Adventures so i keep my work life and bird life separate......but still, we are getting better with the work we are putting in. Charlie went from 6-8 hours of sleep with the TV blaring in the back to 10 ish hours of quiet sleep. Would like him to get a quiet room with 12-14 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Still working on that. 2: Diet. This is a tough one. He used to eat Zupreem fruit blend but my vet told me he looked a little thin. She advised I mixed seed into his pellets for the fat content...I wish I had never done that. Now all he ate from age 6 months to 8 months was Safflower and Sunflower with the occasional millet. The last month or so, I am adding more Zupreem into his food bowl with less seed. I put some Red Palm Oil (the most purest, safest one I could buy was $46 for a 32 oz. jar....sheeeesh..) on his seeds and he eats that a little. I offer him cabbage, carrots, sweet potato, strawberries and broccoli. He eats it if i eat it with him. But otherwise he only eats small amounts. So then I mashed it and gave it him in a syringe with some Red Palm Oil mixed in. He loves it like that. I give him about 5-10 MLs a day...I notices his feather condition improve a week after I started that. But now, I am afraid he will get into a bad habit with syringe feeding. So then, I went to the grocery store and bought baby food in those $1 pouches. I feed him Sweet Potato, Carrot, Mango baby food and he loves them as treats. Hope soon, I can get him off seeds and back onto pellets. Hopefully back on Zupreem or Roudybush or Harrisons. 3: Play/Exercise/Attention: His cage door is rarely closed and he is fully-flighted. Never been clipped. But since he chews his wing feather, he is a clunky flier. But he seems to enjoy watching everyone hustle and bustle around the house so we let him be. I noticed that sometimes he gets to hyper or worked up and seems to help him calm down when i let him relax in a closed cage for a few hours a day. He sings his little head off and plays with his toys. He loves bells and spoons. I was not very aware of the importance of toys before and would not change his old ones. He does not like new toys if they are big or scary. But he will readily accept new toys that he cant beat up on while hanging upside down on the rope I provided him. I try to rotate toys in his cage now every other day. And he always gets head scratches and attention throughout the day by everyone. He knows he is loved. Things Charlie and I am really struggling with: 1: Bathing: My god does this suck. He think water is the blood of Lucifer. He does not like sings, shower heads, misters, water hose. He hates water, generally and have only seen him bath on his once in his entire life which happened in his water bowl. I though he liked warm water but read last night that Greys prefer cooler water. So I am going to try that this weekend. 2: Biting/fighting other people: First, he gets along with everyone in the house. It is just that he likes to be help or carried by me only. If my sister or mom approach to pick him up, he lunges at they hands, but gives them kisses 2 seconds later. So weird. Why is he doing that? Charlie will only go to them if they have food he wants of if he knows they are bring him to me. He sometimes tolerates being touched by others if I am in the same room watching and reassuring him, but that happens rarely. 3: Biting/fighting other birds: How I wish they all got along. My 2 conures are bonded to each others butts. But my sun conure hates everyone else who is not mate. She thinks she is a tiger and runs to attach Charlie and my sick Ringneck. My Gold Capped Boy is always trying to be friedly with Charlie, but Charlies tries to beak him or grab his tail, so I have to separate them. My Ringneck, although very ill, thinks he is Rocky Balboa. He also hates everyone and does not play nice. How I wish I could have Charlie befriend another bird, then maybe he won't be as uncomfortable when i am working long hours at the office. I, at this point have no clue how to dismantle this dynamic... 4: Cage/location: Right now his cage is in the living room. But is does not make sense to keep it there as we are night owls and I am afraid he is not getting the rest he needs. I am planning to either move his cage to the "bird room" I am building, or get him a sleep cage for sleeping in a quiet room. Also, his cage is up against a window, and after researching, that may not be ideal for him. He might get scared of something he sees in the dark outside. I put the blinds down at night, but I don't think that helps him feel secure. I am working out the kinks with this one as well and could really use some advice. Anyway, I wanted you guys to get a full picture of my situation and after my long, crazy post, here are some pics of the progress we are making: This is how bad it eventually got when he started molting at 8 months of age. I was so hurt, sad, frustrated and ashamed. It was a low point for Charlie and myself as I felt like I was letting him down: image hosting no registration imagen I buckled down at this point and started reading books and googling. Talking to avian vets and other parrot owners for advice. I started experimenting with different things that might be fun for Charlie and beneficial for his heath....instead of progress, I saw more of this... free screen capture software But, I cannot give up, so I keep at it, some things work, some things backfire...he started looking a little better around his 1 year Birthday Party we threw him, I baked him a seed cake: screenshot on pc photo hosting At this point, I did start seeing *some* improvements, with the occasional chewed up feather. But some progress is better than no progress i suppose. upload image Then a little more progress... pic host Some more... image sharing sites image sharing image sharing sites And here are pictures from today at 14 months....with still some more work to do....I hope my love for the guy will translate into a happy Grey.. free photo upload Handsome boy isn't he? The ladies will love this stud muffin. image host upload a gif Well, here is my super long post with my Charlies story. If you have any advice for me on how to proceed forward, I am all ears. I can promise you I will pay the knowledge forward when I have some of my own wisdom and experience. Thanks for reading, good evening, Syed

My Charlie Boy has mastered the flight recall. It was one of the first things I taught him. I managed to find a video from when we would first practice when he was 6 months old. I'll try to get an updated video soon. https://youtu.be/b_W_5dLmWpQ

Bringing this thread back from the dead.... Here I am: And here is my Charlie Boy...His feathers are looking better and better every day:

Hi, I am Syed, Charlies dad. My boy is almost 1 and half years old now. I love him to death as I raised him since he was 3 weeks old. His mom, dad, 2 brothers and 1 sister was killed by raccoons and he was the lone survivor and youngest of the clutch...the breeder guy told me it was a gang of 4-5 coons that did this. I just took one look at him and knew he was coming home with me. He is a miracle in my eyes and I feel like I spoil him, and maybe sometimes too much. I got him a macaw cage and still feel it is too small, haha. He is the sweetest, most well behaved boy. Only time he is out of line is when he wants to fight with my 2 conures. Also, his intelligence is growing by the day. He calls himself "good boy" and plays "peek-a-boo" with me. He does not scream or is too loud and only goes crazy with his bell toys. He will hang upside down and scream at it for 30 minutes straight while trying to destroy it. He is never alone as my mom or sister are home during the day while I work. Whenever dinner is being made, he loves to fly from him cage and "help" by rolling that nights dinner ingredients into the trash bin. He loves to sit on my shoulder and talk right into my ear in his "psssst, can you hear me" voice. Hes a good boy and we all love him. At about 8 months of age he went into his first molt and it was not good. It was heavy and it seemed to bother him to the point until he started chewing his feathers. Being inexperienced, I made all kinds of mistakes as well. Things were not looking good and since that point I have been working with him in trying to give him the life he needs. I want to try to rehab him while training him to be an independent, confident boy. Hopefully I can get the feather chewing under control. I am not willing to give up on him and never will! I finally decided to make an account after lurking because it seems, I can learn from you guys/gals and provide Charlie with what he truly needs to be happy, confident and content. Hopefully things will get better as I absorb the knowledge. Thanks for reading and have a nice day, Syed