BMustee

Thank God I had him vaccinated when I first started woring in the store...so he is protected from the virus. Just incase it was a bacteria they were exposed to I'm giving them Nystatin and Baytril (not sure if those are spelled right) with their first feeding and their last feeding each day. I'm really hoping it was an infection and not Polyoma. It hurts just as bad as it would be to loose Elmo...I got so attacked to that little guy. It was cute, after he ate I would lean down to talk to them...telling them that if I give them anymore they'll explode...and he would reach up and nibble the tip of my nose. I'm going to miss him so bad.

Tari wrote: I don't have koi nor do I want them...not to knock them but I don't like any goldfish. I only have 6 platy, I'm still going to get the cory but I am rethinking the yoyo. The cory are smaller than the platy and stay at the bottom...there is still room for them.

As many of you know I have been caring for 4 baby greys...3 TAGS and a CAG. I've had them about a week now and all was going great...they all pumped great, crops emptied, everything was fine. Today I was, as my boss put it, Initiated into the grim side of breeding and caring for hatchling chicks. Last night the 2 week old Congo died. I was in hysterics as soon as I found him when I went to feed them as soon as I woke up. My boss calmed me down when I called her and told me to just bring him with me when I went into work. He was then taken by one of the other girls to our vet for a necropsy and from the amount of hemorrhaging in the organs he said it looks like Polyomavirus. It's now a waiting game to get the labs back on the baby and see if the others were also infected. I want all of you to hold your babies a little tighter tonight, because I have seen how fast they can be taken from you and you never really know how long you will have with them. RIP little man... <br><br>Post edited by: BMustee, at: 2008/07/01 04:01

Going off to school is much different then going to work. I was working 2 jobs for months, working 60 hours a week, but I came home between jobs and on lunch breaks and Elmo was still out of his cage for 4+ hours a day. If you go off to school, you could be hours away from home and may only be able to come home on the weekends at best. If she really wants a grey now then she would have to have thought about the "what ifs" in the future and a 14 year old girl with her mind made up on wanting a parrot would think something to the effect of "someone could take care of it for me"...and being a 14 year old girl myself not that long ago I remember being the same way. So why you would be worried about me making a valid comment is beyond me.

As it was said, any attention is still attention. Parrots don't care if it's negaive attention, they just want you around. Like you said he will do the alarm for 3 hours...but at the end of those 3 hours I bet you go in and tell him to hush it. He has now learned that if he keeps it up he WILL get your attention. What you need to do is ignore it. I know you said that you have tried that before but it is the ONLY way. If he is making the offending noise DO NOT ENTER the room...DO NOT YELL for him to be quite...and that goes for the girlfriend as well. Only come into the room when he is quite. If he "rings" for 3 hours...then don't go into the room for 3 hours and 5 minutes. It will get worse before it gets better. If you are dead serious that he will go on and on for 3 hours, well then it might go up to 4 hours, but once he relizes that it isn't going to get him what he wants he will stop. If you want to know why he does this, it is because you have trained him to do it. I'm sure it started by him making the noise for a few moments and it got your attention. When he did it again it may have taken a little longer, but it got your attention. Unfortunately your attempts to ignore it have always ended up with you or your girlfriend going in to tell him to knock it off, therefore teaching him that he just needs to keep it up longer and longer till he gets what he wants. Basically what you have on your hands now is a Grey acting like a big spoiled Cockatoo. Once you have stayed out and not contacted your grey at all and he stops the ringing, then go into the room and let him know how good of a boy he has been. Any time he is being good give him the positive attention. He is still going to call for you but once the ringing has stopped you can replace it with an acceptable contact call.<br><br>Post edited by: BMustee, at: 2008/06/30 03:14

I'm sorry to say but I do not think it is a good idea. Greys can live to be 50, so you could have it till your in your 60's. Plus, if you go off to college they don't allow pets on almost all campuses. I'm sure your thinking "well, someone could keep it while I'm gone at school..." but that could send a grey into mutilation from the separation. Even if your family went on just a short vacation your grey could start plucking...would you still want him if he looked like a plucked chicken? Also, I spend at LEAST 3 hours a day with my grey...are you willing to give up that much time a day every day? That means you can't leave for school first thing in the morning and then go over to a friends house right after school and not come home till 8 o'clock at night. Greys can very much be one person birds, and the person that buys the bird are not always the "chosen" person. If your grey liked your mom or dad better than you would you really want to still spend all the time cleaning up after him and cooking meals for him and only get a nasty bite in return? From what you said with your parents not to keen on having him it sounds like if he wants to be with them then they won't want to take over ownership of him. Also, you can't work at your age...are your parents willing to buy pellots, seed, fresh fruit and veggies every week? Toys are not cheap...they are around $15.00 a pop and greys go through toys like they grew on trees...are you going to be able to spend at least $30.00 a month on toys alone? Lets talk about vet bills...a well bird checkup can be anywhere between $150-$300 and need to be done by an Avian Vet...not just the vet down the street you would take a dog or cat too. If there is an emergency would your parents be willing to pick up the tab for that? A woman I know has a parrot with an infection that doesn't want to clear up and she has spent $4,000 so far on treatment and he is still not cured yet. At your age you would never be able to pay for extensive treatment like that. Greys are extreamly smart, sensitive birds that have needs very much like a small child, and at 14 I really don't think you are ready to take on such a huge responsibility. I wanted a parrot sense I was a little kid and I did not get my first birds till I was 18. I started with finches and learned a lot from having them and now I have a flock of 14. You should maybe look into getting a pair of Zebras...they are a GREAT first bird and once you master them your could work up to the more exotic finches like the Owls, Stars or Gouldians. If you HAVE to have a parrot, maybe a Cockatiel would fit better. They can talk, learn tricks, and are very loving if you get a hand fed baby. I know this is not what you wanted to hear but it is what would be best for the grey and you to wait till your at least in your 20's and you know what your life is going to have in store for you. I'm now 23 and I have had my grey now for over a year and I'm very happy I waited till I did to get him.

Hahahaha...now you see what I deal with every day of my life!!!! I'm about 2 hours south of Tampa, and it's just as hot and muggy here if not more so. My bro just got back from Iraq the other day and as we all know is a desert out there but the first thing out of his mouth when we walked outside of the airport was "Good lord it's hot!"

Elmo gets so into attacking his toys he has fallen off his perch! He calmly will clime up the cage, get back on his perch and then all of hells furry is released again!!!

Yeah...I did't have time yesterday to get one but I'll be getting it today. I'm thinging of getting one with a planted rock scene on it. I'm going to hold off till Monday or tuesday before I get the cory becuse I want to be sure the water has stablized first.

Your vet is a douche!!!!!!! I can't really say anything new, I agree with what everyone else had said.

I asked Frank and he said sand with koi would be fine. Just be sure to keep the filter high in the tank (like I have it in the pics) bacause goldfish like to stir up the bottom and the sand will burn out the motor. I just got the 6 Sunset Wag Platy fish I wanted. They look sooooo nice. <br><br>Post edited by: BMustee, at: 2008/06/28 04:58

Yes, if the feather keeps opening up and you are not able to pack it with flower then it needs to come out. I have removed a number of broken blood feathers at the store...mostly on the macaws...and they get over it pretty quick. I would say that if you can't get control over him and be able to pull it out in one quick pluck then a vet should do it for sure. Plus what Sevi said, you don't want your baby to associate you with the feather removal. I wouldn't be "scared" at this point as long as you are going to the vet because it's not bleeding all oer the place. If it was all out hemeraging and there was blood everywhere I would tell you to pull it yourself. Also, you def. don't need to have Zahzu going under to have it done...don't let them tell you he does.

Hahahaha...he does look like he is looking for something! If my water is in good shape by the time I go into work I'm going to get a couple cory to start with...don't want to get a bunch and have the water condition crash and kill them all. I'm going to get some more plants and a background too.

{Feel-good-0002006E}

Yes, Thats a great idea! I had almost the same thing happen with Elmo a while back. I was doing something in one of the finch aviaries and my 4 year-old male owl finch Alcatraz as usual escaped as soon as I opened the top door. Well, Elmo was on top of his cage and the finch I guess wanted to mess with him because he started buzzing Elmo's head like the planes did to King Kong!!! Elmo went into KILL MODE and was doing everything he could to catch that finch. I reached up to grab him and got a bite to the back of my hand. I was able to get Elmo to the floor and then I put him in a towel and put him in the bathtub and closed the door. It's the only time Elmo has ever bitten me, but I don't blame him though...the finch started it!:laugh:

That is such a sweet story. I really love to hear about second hand birds being taken in to forever homes. I look forward to reading more about Zazu. P.S. - It's good that he seems to get along with you both. Many times if greys are socialized right they will not be a "one person" bird and have a fav person for different things...like one person for play and one for snuggling.

I live on the gulf coast of FL and I have all kinds of raptors around my house. I only have Elmo with me outside on the porch where he can't see the hawks and they can't see him. I have talked to a few people that have had parrots/tiels kills and eaten by hawks and from those stories I have an eye in the sky all the time. You grey free flying would make him an even BIGGER target for hawks because they are so good at killing in the air. I would not risk it if there are birds of prey around.<br><br>Post edited by: BMustee, at: 2008/06/27 05:40

White sand. It's the first time I've used sand before but I've been talking the fish guy Franks ear off on how to maintain it and from what he has told me it's really not that different than gravel...you just have to clean the bottom a little different. The sand is better for the loaches and corys too...it won't damage their whiskers like the gravel can.

Oh I know!!! If I do end up taking them in I'll have to hang a handicap parking sign on the good end of the food dish!:woohoo: :silly: :laugh: Here are some new picks of the babies!!!

HAHAHAHA...just two decades ago I was in dipers! I think me being 2-years-old and impregnating someone would be the bigger story than the person that got prego being a dude! :laugh: :woohoo: :laugh:

danmcq wrote: {Feel-good-0002006E} I made sure the hood was a good fit because that sounds like something Elmo would do!:woohoo: :silly: :pinch: From what all a read the Sunsets should do really well...everyone says be careful or they will "over run" the tank, but I can always sell them to the store (we don't have them there). I'm used to having all loaches or Oscars so having the livebearers will be new. Here are a few shots from the setup... Elmo checking out the new diggs... And Elmo finding out I have the camera...

yeah, the disabled ones are the ones that get to me. I'm thinking of taking a Zebra that is missing a leg and an Owl that only has one eye.

Yes, he is a really good looking Congo. Here is a pic of a TAG. The TAG's are smaller in size, have a darker grey body, a maroon colored tail, and have a horn colored beak.

Thanks Toni, I have worked the whole tank around the Panda Cory...I love them and had them all growing up. I didn't think I would be able to do the Sunset Wags because when I went into Petsmart to look at their fish and saw them the tag said they needed added salt. I talked to some fish people online and they all said they didn't really need it and they would do great in a loach tank. I'll take pics of the whole process during setup and post them...I can't WAIT!!!

I second what Judy has said...expect some baggage behavior after they have settled in. I know for a fact that those birds know they are in a good home now and I'm very happy for you that they didn't give you a hard time. {Love-000200BF}