CTGull

Finally a picture!

The perch I put on the door came out the next time I opened the door. She freaked when it moved and walked back and forth on the far wall. I opened and closed the door a few times so she could see they were connected. Nope. It's gone. Maybe in a few months.

Another story from the category "You can't make this stuff up", my wife was just woken up from a nap by a guy our oldest works with at the local pet store. He wanted to negotiate terms to buy our new African Grey. "How would your husband like to make $300?? AND I'll throw in a Nile monitor!" I asked her if she mentioned how many hundred dollars we're into this bird in vet bills. NOPE!! Don't think so!!! Ain't happenin!!! In bird news, she continues to get more vocal. "Hello." "Good morning." Various odd sounds. I removed a shredded rope toy that was probably dead a year ago, and a nasty tangle hazard. And moved one toy from the toy farm in one corner to another corner. And I moved a 10" long pearch that was covered with the bird equivalent of plastic barbed wire!! I removed the nasty stuff and put it on the door near the hinge so she could perch on it and it would pivot out when the door opens. We're done that with our Alexandrine and he likes it. Then again, he's dumber than a box of rocks. He greets me by grabbing a toy and the side of the cage and violently bobbing his whole body up and down. When I talk to him he stares at me with his puppy dog eyes. But, getting back to the Grey, she came over to check out the perch, hanging upside down and looking at it closely. Hopefully she doesn't get too upset at all the changes. We still need to put some new toys in there, but I figured I'd spread then out a little first. OH!!! I FORGOT TO MENTION!!! SHE'S A BATHER!!! We came home this afternoon to find her standing in her water bowl taking a bath. Our naked Eclectus is also a bather, while the Alexandrine would stand forever if the spray kept coming. Oddly, the vet had mentioned the white crust on her feet and said she needs to bath more. So she must not of always had water available. She's still in the cage she's been living in her whole life! My wife was thinking of putting a large ceramic bowl in the bottom, but there's no easy way for her to get out of it. We used to have some larger bolt-on-holder bowls that would giver her more room to bath. I have to look to see if we have one left. We got the some of the blood results Friday. We'll get an explanation from the vet on Tuesday. I remember there being many values that were normal, and a few way out of wack, probably due to her feather destruction..

Fixed ! Thanks!!

More progress today. When I opened the feed door to change her water she came over and poked her head out for scratches. When I had one of the other birds in front over her she came to the front top for scratches. Three times so far. She had previously never left the rear upper bar, other than to get away in the first couple of days.. I hope it's not getting sexual for her. When there were 3 of us talking to her she only looks at me. I can touch her anywhere on her head, as long as I stop on top to give her scratches. She does have a few pin feathers there. She even sometime puts her left foot above her head and opens and closes it to ask for scratches. Any movement towards her feet causes her to shimmy sideways. I'm not pushing it. I bring the other birds over once in a while with them on my finger and say Step Up. She'll get it eventually. Every member of the family have given her scratches too. So it's not just me, but she focuses on me. I'll be honest, we're not giving her the medicine, only the first 2 days. It was for pain and possible infection due to the bleeding blood feathers. I couldn't see upsetting her. She's eating and drinking great. And getting more vocal and moving around her cage more. I'm quite amazed at how easy going she is. I know that could change. But I'm hoping to continue to improve on that. Slowly.

I've been trying to add stuff to my profile but I cann't save it because of the Random Question thing at the end. It doesn't like my answer, or any other answer I've tried. HELP!!! Random Question – this is to verify that you are human and help keep spam off our forum.: REQUIRED What is the colour of the sun?" That value is not allowed.

A little update: Our son told us today he could hear her talking and making sounds during the night. His room is closest to the livingroom. So it's probably not a good idea to move her into our room, if we'd like to get any sleep. A little progress today. She still wants lots of scratches, probably to block access to her legs. I continue to pick up the other 2 birds, say Step Up, and bring them to the front of her cage. I was able to touch her foot a few times without much of a growl, but she would still move away. I didn't push it much. It's still a big improvement from 3 days ago. She's gotten much more vocal today. Our Eclectus has also gotten a little more vocal. Probably because he wants to be the center of attention.

SERIOUSLY, how do I answer this question at the end of the EDIT PROFILE page?? I can't add to my profile! Random Question – this is to verify that you are human and help keep spam off our forum.: REQUIRED What is the colour of the sun?" That value is not allowed.

Thank you everyone, so far!! I should be able to get some pictures this weekend. A little update from last night: I made some progress last night. I've noticed she spends a lot of time looking up. There is a large tray on the top of the cage, about 1" from her head. When I got home last night I removed that tray. Now she can see all around her, and it's easier to see her. I did my usual of picking up the Alexandrine a few times to show he's OK with it. I said step up to him. I tried step up on her and got the usual growling, warning open mouth lunges (no bite) and moving away. Then she changed to putting her head down for scratches. I'm thinking this bird is more intelligent than me. By putting her head down she blocks access to her feet!!! All I can do is try to push her head out of the way, which isn't appreciated. My son and I and I spent 45 minutes talk each other, my daughter, the other birds, and her. I would occasionally pick up one of the other birds, using step up. The other progress, major progress, is she is eating the colored ZuPreme pellets without a problem. She ate for at least 10 minutes of the time the cage was open and we were talking to her. Picking up individual pieces, biting, chewing, rotating, biting, chewing, etc. After the 45 minutes by back was sore from bending over so many times. She never stepped up, but she's allowing scratches. Any attempt to touch her feet gets a small growl and she will move away, even up the side of the cage, and put her head down for more scratches, blocking any other attempts to touch her feet. I think she will come around quickly. She sees and hears the 2 other birds in the room. She sees them getting picked up willingly. She is very curious about what is going one. Her eyes were open very wide just about the whole time last night. I may be pushing it, but I'll bet I get her to step up this weekend. We'll be moving her into our room this weekend, where my wife usually is, the TV and the lovebird. But I'm wondering if maybe she should stay in the "flock" with the 2 larger birds for a while. Not sure what to do. Once I get her out of the cage willingly, or she ventures on top, I'd like to move her primary high bar down slightly, maybe only 1-2 inches, but to get her head a little farther away from the bars, but still have access to the food bowls at that level. And she needs some new toys, the existing ones are tired.

And unrelated to this topic, it seems I can't update my profile because I don't know the proper colour of the sun. Can someone tell me what colour it is looking for???

I apologize in advance for my lengthy post. I just like to write! :?) First, an explanation of my forum name – CTGull. I am from Connecticut. Simple so far. Gull – I do not have a Seagull, nor am I obsessed with them. I use this name in many guitar forums, in reference to Seagull acoustic guitars. So, yes, I am actually obsessed with seagulls, but the wooden variety with strings on them. And vintage Yamaha FG acoustic guitars, but that’s another story. We’ve had a few birds in the past 10+ years, including a crazy Amazon and a large Cockatoo. They were total opposites! We currently have a Love bird (it LOVES human flesh!!!), and Alexadrine and a mostly naked male Eclectus. The Alexandrine and Eclectus love to step up and come out. We’ve had a couple birds who did not, including the Amazon. I’ve always wanted a Grey. On 5/21/18 I saw an ad in the Free Stuff section of the local CraigsList for an African Grey parrot. I’ve seen ads for parrots before but they have been scams, stealing someone’s name and phone number. Why I have no idea. Both times I contacted the people and they didn’t have a parrot. So I figured this was the same, but I sent an email anyway. As usual, the ad was flagged and disappeared shortly after I saw it. Just before lunch the next day I got a reply to call him if I was interested in the bird. I replied I didn’t feel comfortable talking about the bird at work and I would call when I got out at 3:30pm. So I called and asked a few questions, with the main one being “Why do you want to get rid of the bird?”. His response was, “We just want it gone.” I attempted to process that for a few seconds before responding. And I arranged to meet at 5:30pm. It had been raining all afternoon and was expected to continue until about 7pm. After a 40 minute ride we found their condo, after driving past the street twice. They have a few animals. Who doesn’t?? The bird has chewed off its wing feathers and has down all over its body. What does the bird eat?? A seed/nut mixture!! They say she won’t eat anything else. The worst thing she said was their ferret runs around and sometimes goes on the cage. OMG?????!!!!!!! I didn’t want another basket case but it’s obvious she isn’t wanted there, so we had to take her. A couple of stubby chewed wing feathers were bleeding after a long struggle to get it out of its cage and into an open wire carrier. We load out in the rain and drive home in the rain. When we get home the rain has stopped, but there are a few droplets of blood on my wife’s clothes and her van’s dashboard and door panel. We bring the carrier in and find the blood stop powder. It’s a struggle to get the bird out and restrained enough to apply the powder. But there are at least 3 blood feathers bleeding, however infrequently. My wife is concerned and calls the local 24 hour vet, which also has an avian vet. We ask our 6’3” 18 year old son to bring in and set up the 30” x 30” x 60something” cage by himself. And we’re off. They take the bird as soon as we get there. And we wait 1.5 hours for them to bring her back. (We’re assuming her.) Then we have to wait for the vet to come out to talk to us. Another half hour. Then we BS with the nurse for another half hour. It’s now 10:30pm. They did the same thing we did, but a bit more thorough. They found 5 feathers bleeding. They gave us (I use that term loosely) some meds, including one for pain, that have to be given every 8 hours. They also suggest dropping her off in the morning and leaving her there for a full exam with the avian vet. So the next morning I get up at 4:50am (my usual time), take a shower, and get my wife up, 1.5 hours before she normally gets up. While we would rather have had the bird set up in our bedroom to isolate her, there just isn’t room at the moment so we have her in the Livingroom next to our Alexandrine. I attempted to take out the Alexandrine to show that I’m not a threat. He’s usually more than willing to step up, but it’s 5:20am and all he wants is head scratches. More scratches. And more scratches. I finally come up from behind and get him to step up and show the Grey. I kiss his nose and put him back. I opened the Greys cage and slowly advance my finger towards her. She growls, as usual. Then she drops her head!!!!!! SCRATCHES??? So I gave her scratches. And tried to get her to step up. Lunges, growls, and wants more scratches. Well, I guess that’s progress. A little chasing around the cage ensues before I got her on my hand (with the other hand) and started to pull her out. She’s looking for anywhere to go. Her first choice is my chest. She latches on my shirt, fortunately only getting shirt. I pull her off and the struggle continues to gently restrain her for my wife to give her the meds. My wrist was very scratched up from her needle sharp nails, but no blood was shed. Progress. I put her in the carrier and load it into my wife’s van. She goes to the vet, I go to work. We picked her up that evening. They said she had a good day. She was tough getting out but was bopping around and making noises otherwise, and watching everything that was going on. She even ate a little of the colored ZuPreme pellets, which is what we use. Excellent!! I’ve noticed, and the nurse at the vet mentions, that the bird seems to like me, she watches me a lot and blushes. Hopefully I can use that to my advantage to get her to step up eventually. My wife pays (we must be $600 into this bird!!) and we go home. So far in the less than 24 hours we’ve had her, she’s spent more time at the vet than with us! It was a little struggle to get her out and into her cage. Since it was 6:00pm, we left to get some food. Later I attempted to take her out for her meds. Nope. Not happening. She put up quite a fight. And we had to give up after a few minutes. I AM NOT HAPPY …… I thought we had made some progress, but she was probably tired after a long day of excitement. This morning we prepared for battle. 5:20am again. Again I took out the Alexandrine (didn’t want scratches) and showed him to her. Again she fought to not come out. She ended up falling off the perch and I corralled her on the bottom. She’s not pinning like she wants to kill, she just doesn’t want anything with us taking her out. She got her meds and we went to work. We can’t continue like this. She’s going to get hurt. And never trust us. I had really hoped I’d be able to take her out to put her on a stand to get to know us better. But I can see it’s going to be a struggle. We want to reduce her stress so her feathers will grow back, but if we have to fight to get her out, I don’t see how we’re helping. Obviously, our biggest problem is not being able to handle, or even take out, a growling, feather destructing, and stressed bird. The change of homes can’t help. I don’t think they ever took the bird out. They just opened the cage and let her walk around, and she would go back in eventually. I’m not like that, I’m hands on with our pets. We also have reptiles (lizards & snakes), along with 2 cats and 2 dogs. I can’t see having a pet that can’t be taken out, even if it’s only for a few minutes here and there. Of course, for my enjoyment, not theirs. Obviously, this bird is not enjoying it!!