BMustee

I would first like to say how sorry I am for your loss. Without a necropcy there is no way to know what killed her, and with another grey in the house I would say you need to get one done. It sounds to me like it was some kind of poisoning because of just how sudden it was. I would think it was from vapors if there was cooking in the house right before her death. She may have been a little more sesitive to the fumes than your 5 year old, but this is just a guess...nothing more. I really hope you change your mind on the necropcy, because the cost of it is worth knowing how to protect the life of your other grey.

I know will my finches they go back home wihout a lot of help from me. I let them free fly in the room while I clean their cages and when I'm done they normally want to go right back in. Sometimes they can't find the door so I have to catch them to put them back.

Hahahaha!!! Elmo is the same way at times...if it's in my hand it needs to be in his beak! :laugh:

There was a great article in birdtalk this month about a woman that got a grey and then found out a baby was on the way. She said the grey ended up loving the baby and loved watching and mimicing it. You should check it out. If I was you, I think I would wait on it and maybe get a baby grey from the next clutch because of the major change in your life that is ahead of you. btw, Congrats on the baby!

A 5 year old should not really be handling any parrot. Childeren are not as calm and are jerky with their movments. Even the most calm and friendly parrot will bite down on a finger/hand if they feel unsteady or if a hand comes at them in a way they don't like. I would say 99% of bird bites on kids are not because the bird is nippy, it's because of the kid. I work at a pet store and all day long parents hand their kids birds without asking the staff and the kid gets nipped, and all the birds that have bitten kids are sweet and friendly.

danmcq wrote: LOL...well, even though Elmo is my most expensive bird I'm not letting him have a $300 snack. Hahaha! I'm sure the finch was getting back at him for played "king kong" on the finch cage!

Yes, the keel should be able to be felt. You should be able to feel a little meat on ether side, but it should not feel like clevage...the bone line should not be covered. As for the noise, I'm not sure. My grey will make an "I'm not happy" noise when I roll him over and he isn't in the mood for it. It kinda sounds like a grinding noise more than a popping noise though.<br><br>Post edited by: BMustee, at: 2008/03/23 04:54

My boss at the pet store I work at is always telling me to buy a pair of Canaries to breed them. I seem to have the magic touch to get birds to...well...you know. Hahahaha! I'd like to breed the Gloster Canary, I love the shaggy hair-do.

It depends on how dusty your grey is, how dry the air is where you live, and how "itchy" your grey seems to be. I spray Elmo down about once a month.

I was glad to read that was your hand!!! From the pick I thought it was your face! The far right side of the pic looked like the edge of a nose. I got bite once by Elmo. Alcatraz, my male Owl finch, got out through the top door as usual and Elmo was sitting on the top of his cage. Alc dive bombed Elmo a few time and he went NUTS!!! It was light a switch was fliped. I reached up to grab him off the cage because I could tell he was out for blood and he got it. I had to towel him and put him in the bathtub till he chilled out and I got the finch back in the cage.<br><br>Post edited by: BMustee, at: 2008/03/22 05:33

Oopps, well I got egg on my face. :blush: My bad!!!! I have been reading up on Canaries as pets all day and it looks like what many people I have talked to have been wrong, and all the all the books I have read on Canaries have been just on breeding them. Turns out the male canary is much less social than other members of the finch family. The Male canary can be quite happy when kept alone as long as they have a large enough cage, and items in and around the cage to keep them occupied. As for taming them, this is the best site I have found so far. http://www.helium.com/items/111942-canaries-confiding-little-birds

Also, if you make a big fuss over the poop outside the cage the reaction could be making her want to do it more.

Most morning poops are pretty nasty...and stinky. Why she has decided to start doing it outside the cage is beyond me, but My grey will not poop in his cage at all at any time of the day...he likes to use the potty like a big boy! The scarlet macaw at my work does the say thing that you say your grey is doing...projecting it outside the cage. One thing you could do is get to your grey earlier and try to hold her over a trash can or something before she goes.

BTW, the pictures you see of small birds on peoples hands are not like the ones you buy at a pet store...they have been hand fed like our parrots. No one sells hand fed canaries and finches because no one will pay a parrot price for a bird that you can find for a fraction of the price somewhere else. I have thought of hand feeding my finches but it's much more involved than a parrot...you have to feed them every 2 huors around the clock...and I'm not going to spend weeks getting zero sleep for a bird I can't charge a higher amount for. Most of the time people will hand feed a baby finch or canary when the parents abandon them, and those birds are the ones in the pictures that everyone sees.

Most small birds will never become tame. Some are bolder than others and will be "semi-tame" because of that. I have a pair of Goulds right now that could care less what I'm doing around them and will sit on the bed right next to me if they are out of the cage, and I have only had them for 3 months or so. On the other hand I have a pair of Owls that do not like me near them one bit and I have had them for over 3 years. They know who I am, and don't panic in my hands when I trim nails and do their regular exam after I catch them...they know I'm not going to hurt them...but they just don't like being around people. Here is one of my Male Gouldians sitting next to me while I was on my laptop in bed. I for one do not agree with keeping small birds like Canaries, Doves and Finches single...they really need to be kept in pairs. The are social animals that desperately need a companion of their own kind. Most small birds will never bond with a human, if in need of a friend or not, and most of the time become so depressed that they die from loneliness. I have gone as far as FLY a new bird in from out of state when my female Star finch died because I knew what would happen to my male if he didn't get a partner and there were none in the area to replace her. "Caged" birds like Canaries and Finches can live to be 12 - 15 years old if they are treated right, but if not you will get 3 years max. I'm not trying to be mean here, but think about what kind of life that bird has...no friend to be with and a big giant hand that won't leave it alone.<br><br>Post edited by: BMustee, at: 2008/03/21 15:30

Dave knows his stuff...I second what he said.B)

Well, they need baths if they like it or not. I put Elmo in the bath tub and then start spraying him...he can't get out and he can't get away. Yes, it sounds like I'm killing him for a few minutes, but as soon as we're done he's happy as can be preening himself. It's got to be done, so if he isn't coming around you need to do it with or without his blessing.

Yes, we are not Avian vets here so we can not give you a diagnosis, but there is something VERY wrong with your grey. It sounds like it is a neurological problem to me and that isn't something you want to wait on. Don't have your bird seen by a regular vet...it must be an Avian vet.

FOTFL...their Naughty Spot!!! Hahahaha

Greys are really good at training!:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Like everyone has said, read through the posts and if you think of any questions then you can ask away! My motto is I'd rather answer a million stupid questions than hear one sad story. Not to say there are any stupid questions...it's just some people think their questions are. B) :whistle:

God, I hate people that get birds because they talk. I've given a number of dirty looks to people that say they wouldn't want a bird that won't talk. I love Elmo and even though he is a real talker now, I was happy when he didn't talk and would still be happy if he still didn't talk.

The cats don't care about Elmo...the dogs are scared of him!!:woohoo: One time Elmo nipped Uggy on the tip of her tail and she went running out of the room yelping. No, Elmo didn't hurt her...he does it to the cats all the time and they don't care. Uggy is just a nancy dog.:laugh: The other one probably knows Elmo could eat her, so she runs too. Elmo loves to run around on the floor and use everything he can as a rock wall.

I can't believe people like that. I knew what I was getting into when I got Elmo, and I never want to spend a day without him. How people can blame the animal for a bad behavior and not take any ownership in it is beyond me. When I started looking for a grey I first called a local rescue center ans was suprised to hear that they didn't have any. The lady that ran the place told me about a breeder friend of hers and that he had a few babies but it was not garenteed that he would sell me one. She called him and then he called me, and when I went over to his home I must have talked with him for a good hour before he even showed me the baby greys. If all breeders would do this there would be far less parrots in horrible homes. At the pet store I have people all the time wanting a parot for the novelty of a talking pet. Needlessly to say I tell these people that not every parrot will talk and that you should concider yourself lucky if you have one that does. Most of these people are much less interested in getting a parrot after I tell them the CAG's we sell are $1,100, B&G's are $1,200, and the cockatoo's are $1,700. I know a lot of people complain about how much a parrot can cost, but if that keeps someone that may not take parrot ownership as a 100% commitment then a higher price is fine with me.

That seems to happen a lot around here.:laugh: