Drewbake

I took your advice and introduced Gracie all around the house. We went and checked out every room. She hung out in the bedroom with me today while I did some housework. We played the "Copy me, I'm stretching" game. She must have stretched at least 10 times! I guess she really liked it in there. She also went in the bathroom and watched me brush my teeth. We'll see how she likes the hair dryer tomorrow. I gave her a semi-bath this morning. Really more of an intro to water. I just misted her a few times. The water pretty much beaded up on her feathers. She kind of walked around the cage trying to get away from it, but she didn't skwawk or anything. So far, she doesn't love it, but doesn't hate it either. We'll see what happens when she really gets a soaking. I read through a previous thread here about bathing and got some good tips there. This is a great resource. I also read through a thread on cages - Beccy I think it may have been you - that changed my mind about the cage we were going to get. Someone was recommending a cage no bigger than 24 X 22"(not sure about the height) but after reading the thread, we've decided to definitely go with the larger cage. The reasoning behind the smaller cage was that young greys are clumsy and can hurt themselves if they fall. We have a small 18x18 cage for right now, just for transition and travel. We just want to make sure we get the best cage for her when we spend the big bucks. Dan - I was thinking the same thing about Gracie! She really hasn't disliked anything here so far. We did discover today that she LOVES mandarin oranges. I love the name Dayo! Anything to do with the song? Rebecca

Thank you all for the warm welcome! It's great to have such a wonderful community of Grey lovers to turn to with questions about our new baby. Gracie is doing beautifully. She is spoonfeeding twice a day with much enthusiasm. (The spoon was a great idea btw!) She also loves fresh green beans, apples, and cheerios. She crunches up her dry pellets and eats them too. I thought that we may be taking a step backward with the weaning, but decided I would rather have her handfeed longer than fully wean her prematurely. I gave her a couple of nutriberries last night, in which she showed zero interest. She spends a lot of time on top of her cage. She is very sweet and accepting. She lets my kids (6 and 13) pet her gently on the back and she loves to snuggle with me, especially in the evenings. She just sits on my lap and puts her head down to ask for scratches. She snuggles and cooes and is just a very sweet baby (which is quickly becoming her nickname) She has really been a fabulous addition to the family. Question about bathing: Birds that I have had experience with in the past LOVE their spray baths. In my reading, I have discovered that AG's generally do not. Has this been your experience? Any suggestions for introducing bathing? Where, how, when? In cage or out? She hasn't been out of the kitchen or living room, so I hesitate to bring her to an unfamiliar area (ie bathroom) for a new experience. Any thoughts? I love this site and the forums! Thanks for your input and support! Rebecca

I guess Gracie must of needed a day or two to really adjust, because she is really at home now. We should rename her Ms. Piggy because she has been feeding so well and we are so relieved. We are so excited about what a great member of the family she is going to be and all the wonderful things we are going to teach her. It's so great to be a member of this online group, we look forward to getting to know all of you and hearing about your life with your Greys. We will post pictures as soon as we can figure out how. :-) Drew FYI - two questions 1. How and when is a good time to use a cover to her cage? Or should we not use one at all? 2. Has anyone purchased the bird training videos that show up everywhere you look online. You know the one where the guy does a 10 minutes sales pitch video. It looks worth while, does anyone have advice in this area?

thanks for the advice, I think that she is going to be fine, we are monitoring her weight and she is eating more. the teaspoon idea was a good one. She maybe a little older than we thought, I did put in a call to the breeder and she gave us a few tips and said she would be fine. She is not far if things do not get better. She weights 362g and I am sure we will fatten her up. My wife and I have take care of birds before and even fed babies, however its been 20 years so we are a little rusty. We will post pics soon thanks again for the advice! BTW - we named her Gracie

Hi, I'm Rebecca, Drewbake's wife. We have tried to hand feed her a couple of times since she's been home, to no avail. Last night I figured that she was stressed and didn't want to eat. She had her wings and toenails clipped before she came home. Tried again this morning, but she wasn't interested (same stuff she's been eating). I gave her some moistened pellets, which she did eat. I thought maybe the formula wasn't the right temp, so bought a scale to monitor her wt (362g) and thermometer this morning. She still didn't want anything from the syringe the breeder gave us, but she did eat some from the bowl. We think maybe the syringe is too small. She doesn't seem stressed at all. She is very sweet, she cuddles and cooes. I put in a toy with blocks and leather straps which she went straight to and started playing with. She doesn't seem frightened or skittish. Any thoughts?

New to the site, love what I have read in preparing for the wonderful new member of our family..she doesnt have a name yet but she will soon... thanks for the great info...I hope to contribute to the discussions often. Just brought home our new 9 week old CAG...she's gorgous! Drew