BMustee

And one more thing...I don't sell anything but birds. I don't have anything to do with the dogs, cats, fish, snakes, monkeys, or any of the other animals that are sold at my store. As for the prices, of coarse they are going to be jacked up. For example, the Military macaws at my store sell for $1200, we probably bought them from the breeder for $800. There is the cost of feeding the bird for the time in the store, as well as medical care (all our birds are seen by an avian vet) and the cost of overhang. When you buy from a breeder you don't have the overhang or the middleman so you are basically buying wholesale instead of paying retail price. There is also supply and demand, if a breed of parrot had a bad season the cost goes up because there is less of a supply but the same demand. This is simple economics.

Excuse me, but not all pet store employees are flea brain high school morons. I work at a pet store in the bird department and I DO know what I am talking about. I have been breeding finches for a number of years and I have a CAG of my own. I’m not there just to sell overpriced birds, I take time with people that come in and have questions on the health and happiness of their feathered friends. I spend every moment not with a customer making sure all the birds have fresh food and water, giving proper loving attention, and observing them to make sure they are in good health. As for the “sanitizer” you say you refuse to use, we have had birds get sick due to @$$holes that come over after handling the puppies and bunnies and don’t clean their hands. If I ask someone to clean their hands and they refuse…your getting your grubby butt kicked out of the department and probably the store. I’m responsible for 2 military macaw, 2 Buffon’s macaws, 2 Scarlet macaws, 2 hyacinth macaws, 4 Caninde/Blue Throated macaws, 7 Blue and Gold macaws, 1 Harlequin macaw, 1 Hahn’s macaw, 1 Yellow Collared macaw, 3 TAGs, 2 blue fronted amazons, 4 yellow nape amazons, 4 Orange-winged amazons, 1 red lored Amazon, 1 Cuban Amazon, 2 Mexican Red Headed Amazons, 1 Lilac Crowned Amazon, 1 Mealey Amazon, 3 Umbrella cockatoos, 2 ducorp cockatoos, 1 bare-eyed cockatoo, 5 Nanday Conures, 4 Sun Conures, 4 Half moon Conures, 4 Lories, 3 Alexandrian Ringnecks, 3 Indian Ringnecks, 4 Red-bellied, 2 Senegal’s, 1 Meyers, 1 Black-headed Caique, a bunch of cockatiels and budgies along with 13 different types of exotic finches when I’m on the sales floor so I’m not going to let some pompous germ-covered butt munch come in and put my flock at risk. I know every one of these birds personally and can answer questions on all of them because in my spare time I read everything I can get my eyes focused on so that I can pass that information on to people that wouldn’t be inclined to spend hours researching parrots. If we want to insult people in pet stores, it would have to be the customers that have no experience handling large birds and pick up macaws…and then can’t understand why they got bit. Or the jerk-offs that think they are experts and think they are above store policies.<br><br>Post edited by: BMustee, at: 2007/12/03 17:50

FeatheredFiend wrote: Oh man!!! It sounds like your grey has the same sense of humor as mine. LOL.

I've never heard of Hemingway owning a grey...he's known for having the cats with six toes.

http://www.mdvaden.com/bird_page.shtml http://www.plannedparrothood.com/plants.html Here are two good sites for safe/toxic wood.

LOL...yeah! {Characters-0002005E}

This happened the other day in the town I live in...after reading the lost parrot post I thought I would post this story... http://www.nbc-2.com/articles/readarticle.asp?articleid=16021&z=3&p= ...the news has been reminding anyone with exotic pets to be on the lookout because the holiday season is a big time for pet thefts.

Oh man...I would be devastated if someone lost my bird!

I'm going to be going to WalMart in the next day or two so I will be sure to go look at the lights and see if they have the CRI and Temp ratings on the boxes and let you all know...cause I'm itching to know now.

I can't believe how much stuff I have learned from this forum. I tell everyone about this site that has parrots.

Yeah, this one macaw at my work (Oscar, a buffon's) will try to take a finger off if you even touch a feather that is still sensitive.

No problem. B) I was lucky, when I got a new cage for my grey he was so excited that he was hopping and climbing all over the panels when I was putting it together. It was funny once he realized that the door would shut he was like…What is this! You can’t lock me in here! He was fine after about 10 minutes and his favorite ducky toy was hung inside.

Then it's nothing to worry about. Parrots will sneeze to clear dust and down feathers that get into their nose.

Well, if he is really scared of it I would just keep it in the room with him to get him comfortable with it. I would move it a little closer to him each day till it is right next to his old cage. Once he can be right next to it keep the door open and put his favorite treats inside where he can see them...he'll go in to get them on him own and figure out that the cage isn't so scary.

Is there any discharge when he sneezes?

The area's you said do sound like the areas prone to heavy molts and dry skin. As for what Chapala said...I disagree. Aloe juice should be used if you think your dry has dry skin with molting, and being in the winter months the air is very dry and needs that extra moister. I live in Southwest Florida and it's like 80 something degrees outside right now with a good amount of humidity in the air and I still use the aloe juice. Like Dave (MrSpock) said it works just like a hand cream...now doesn't your skin feel better after you use it? That's how birds feel after they get the aloe bath. It is also better than water because it gets rid of the "dirty bird" smell that greys get that water doesn't seem to touch. One more reason to use the aloe instead of water is that most of our tape water had chlorine and fluoride in it...not to mention all the minerals and such.<br><br>Post edited by: BMustee, at: 2007/11/29 18:05

Yeah, I get my Poop-Off at work...I have the bottle with the brush tip. I'll never go back to using hot water after I've seen what Poop-Off can do.

Ok, I just found one thing that's kinda helpful. For a lightbulb to be sold as Full Spectrum, the CRI rating must be greater than 80...so the lights at Walmart would be very, very close to what you should have.

Actually, Birds see in a "fuller" spectrum of colors than humans...that is the big reason why you should use full spectrum lighting. If your parrot is on a proper diet they are getting an adequate amount of vitamin D. In the body, the liver manufactures a chemical known as 'precursor D' (7-dehydrocholesterol) a "good" cholesterol. This substance is released into the bloodstream, where in humans, it is exposed to the middle range of UV through the skin, becoming "previtamin D". This is sometimes confused with D2 (calciferol), a form of the vitamin which is found in plant sources. In most birds, the preen gland (uropygeal) collects the raw pre-D from the bloodstream, and concentrates it in the gland oils. These are then exposed to sunlight by spreading on the feathers during preening. The bird then ingests the UV exposed material when it preens again, and the oils enter the body again as previtamin D. The natural temperature of an organism then rearranges this substance further, forming a weak D3, or cholecalciferol. This is what is generally available as a dietary supplement in fish liver oils. To become fully active as Vitamin D, the liver and the kidneys make other changes in the chemical, resulting in true Vitamin D3 (1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol). In any warm blooded animal, once a source of calciferol or cholecalciferol is introduced, UV of any sort no longer plays a role in the synthesis. This is evidenced by animals who are nocturnal, fur bearing, or burrowing, and receive no UV exposure. They acquire proper levels of Vitamin D from dietary sources. It is the same thing with birds. Several species of tropical birds, including African Greys and Red Front Macaws have underdeveloped or non-functioning preen glands. Other species, such as Cockatiels, Conures, and Budgies obtain the vast majority of their intake in the form of calciferol. This calciferol is found in the fresh grains which form the bulk of these birds diets. From this perspective, any birds which receive a balanced diet, rich in calciferol or cholecalciferol, seed eaters who have access to fish oils does not require either sunlight or full spectrum light to have adequate Vitamin D3 levels.<br><br>Post edited by: BMustee, at: 2007/11/29 15:56

Any lamp with a CRI (color rendition index) of greater than 92, and Color Temperature of 5000-5800K will suffice...I'm looking it up now online to see what the bulbs you can get at places like WalMart have...

My grey will call out when I leave the room...so I call back. Contact calling is a good way of letting your bird know that your still around, just can't be seen. I let my grey know when I'll be right back or I'm leaving the house for a bit...they learn the difference between "I'll be right back" and "See you later". I have my grey out pretty much the whole time I am at home, but sometimes I change it so that he stays in a little bit after I get home. I work two jobs so a few days I work them both and leave before the sun comes up and don't get home till the sun has long been set and he is fine with it. Get your grey used to being by himself and used to not being with you 24/7 because there are just so many people that have come to this forum for advise on plucking because of a big schedule change from the owner being in the hospital or on vacation and had caused separation anxiety...and a bald bird. So, leaving him is really one of the best things for him so that he is comfortable in knowing you will always return.

Yeah, I wondered where I could buy the Red palms too. Thats good to know it seems to have relieved the plucking and works on the skin...I use fresh aloe on my grey if his skin gets dry and the Aloe juice for baths.

Ooops...double post.:pinch:<br><br>Post edited by: BMustee, at: 2007/11/28 20:50

Use pure Aloe juice should be used...don't dilute it. I would keep an eye on your grey and see if you catch him really plucking, because it could just be a heavy molt. I live in FL so I never really need to worry about the humidity level, but I'm sure it couldn't hurt to put one in the bird's room...just be careful about bacteria growth in the water, change it often and don't keep it too close to the cage. Also, get a aloe plant and you can use the insides as a topical ointment for really irritated skin...you might want to try that on your grey's neck.

Yeah, Obi was infected when you got him...no question. You said you had him just under two weeks right? Well, I don't know about Texas but Florida has a Pet Lemon Law, kinda like what cars have...it covers your pet for 2 weeks...and what happened to Obi would be covered for sure. Did the breeder give you your money back?<br><br>Post edited by: BMustee, at: 2007/11/28 20:39