Nychsa

I can't join throuhg my my CAG Bella, she's never bitten me, but Jigme, my conure! He bites EVERYTHING!

Hi Mike, I'm sure you can start over with Ned. I didn't watch the video either. It just seemed important to me that in order to make sure I can care for Bella properly I be able to check her out all over, including under her wings, her belly etc.. So, we made a game of it where we play tickle the feets, belly, wings, under the wings etc...She loves horsing around, and playing games so she's gotten used to me touching her all over, and I think that is what made it easier for me to slip the harness on. Good luck!! Terri

Hi, As others have mentioned, getting the right breeder is extremely important. I consider myself very lucky to have gotten my Bella from www.kandkparrots.com. The two ladies who run this aviary are nurses and avid parrot lovers. This is in my mind a winning combination. They don't just hand feed the babies and send them off, they socialize them, snuggle with them, teach them "step up" and "no bite" etc.. My grey is very secure in who she is, well balanced, and adapted very quickly to my environment - to include my conure Jiggy and two greyhounds. Bella is awesome and I believe her good start in life made things a lot easier for me - and as a new parrot "mom" that is very important!! regards Terri

Christoph, I wish you the best of luck and thank you for sharing what happened to Harley. I know it must have been hard to talk about it, but your information sent me scrambling to read everything I can on "poopology" and I'm sure I am not the only one. I hope to see you on the boards sharing how things are going with your CAG. Best to you and your new friend Terri

Matt that is excellent news!! Keep at it! Bless your heart for being so caring and getting information and working with him. I know the plucking issues often frustrate people and they often just pass the bird on. I'm so glad Max has a "Dad" who loves him like you do! Yeah!

My pleasure Matt! Good luck with that, and do share how it goes. My conure, Jigme, is also afraid of new toys. Bella my grey is much more relaxed and usually checks out anything new to see if it is something good to eat LOL! She LOVES food! Jigme has started to copy her after he watches her with a new toy. Maybe if you played with the new toy first and make a big deal out of how much fun you're having Max might get curious? Does he like new foods? The food angle is a blessing for me in trying to get my grey to do something. She's all about the food LOL! Good Luck!! Terri

Hi Matt, I'm by no means any kind of an expert on Greys, but I have been getting some pretty good information from my Vet as it relates to how to keep my parrots happy: Since parrots spend most of their time in the wild foraging, it's a good idea to create some kind of foraging opportunities for them in our homes. He suggested I make a foraging enviornment on their playtops. So, I got some hay at the pet store (the one they use for rabbits), and spread it out on their playtop, and then I scattered their food throughout and underneath the hay so they have to forage for the food. I also have anumber of toys that they need to noodle out and open in order to get the really good treats like walnuts and pistachios. When I'm gone during the day I try to keep the foraging activities going. So, I've made these little foraging cups out of dixie cups that I hang all over their cage and put different things in them. Some I leave empty and others I put a bunch of stuff in. That keeps them hunting around. I have to make a new round of cups about once a week as they tear them up. But other then that, they really enjoy the cup games. I also have these toys that I can hide treats in hanging around the cage. I usually put carrots, and celery in there. For my grey I also have big pinata type toys that she can tear up. She loves to shred things now (didn't at first but now she does) and she attacks those toys vehemently! So, I'm not sure if you've tried some of these things, but maybe if you give him an opportunity to forage around, he may let go of some of this more obsessive kind of behavior. Again - I'm not an expert on AG's - but I find those to be some fun tips from my Avian Vet. Good Luck! Terri

Oh she did Judy - she made a real mess out of it (and she has it in for anything on my clothes this evening so my posts are going to be very distracted! Every time she starts up I give her a rasberry on her belly and I think that spins her up more!)but she really liked it. Jiggy of course had to attack it first - then he watched Bella eat, and then he reluctantly tried it - but he wasn't as eager to eat it as Bellas was. Cheers! Terri

Dan thank you for the tip! I bought some today and Bella chowed down on it!! She loves it! She's being a real rascal this evening, so I don't know if it has something in it to spin them up too (kidding )But, I know we're putting this on our list from now on. Thanks! Terri

Hmm, I think my phones are in more danger from my CAG then my CAG from the phones! I had to buy her a play phone as any time I was on the regular land line she was absolutely focused on picking at the keys and would do what ever it took to get me to give it to her, to include nipping me pretty good!

Even though I'm very uncomfortable with the whole discussion around an African Grey for profit business and looking at AG's as a commodity, I'll share my thoughts in response to your questions and I'll try to briefly do so from business case perspective: Prior to entertaining any business proposition, I always want to see a business plan. If there isn't one, then you need to do it. Completing a business plan for any prospective business requires that you do the research, with data collected from numerous tangible resources. The plan will identify your costs (to include start up), risk, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, required marketing strategies, client profile, competition, logistics and distribution. I'm not sure you will be able to collect this information from posing the questions you've asked here on a web site such as this. However - in addition to collecting the data I've mentioned above, I would urge you to visit parrot rescue shelters as well and take in the stories of those birds who were bred and sold for profit. Please take in what happens when you have birds you've bred and you have to place them in homes that you've not vetted properly just to keep your business out of red ink. While that story is not reflected in a business plan, it does go to your desire not to harm the animals. So, to me, that should be a factor in your research. Here is a web site for one of the rescues I spent a good deal of time with before I brought home my grey www.garudaaviary.org. I'm sure other members here know of rescues as well. I didn't get my CAG from a rescue, mine is from two wonderful ladies who do breed, but not as a primary business for profit. They happen to love parrots. They are nurses as a primary profession. I'm a first time CAG "mom" and I simply don't know enough about bird behaviors to be in a position to rehabilitate a severaly damaged bird. But trust me - once I'm on surer footing with my bird knowledge, and I've built an outdoor aviary and increased the size of the bird spaces inside, I will invite rescue birds into our life and try to help those poor creatures who have endured such suffering. Personally, I hope you pass this up and think about some other business - here is a web site of businesses for sale - check these out - there are some pretty good deals to be made with sme of these businesses: www.bizquest.com

Thanks everyone for the input! We've got the humidifier in my bedroom, so I think all I need to do is move it down stairs for the birds. That's easy enough done - good tip there on the grapefruit seed extract Spooky! The last thing we need around here is mold developing! I live close to the water, and even though my house is a fairly new construction, I fight mold on the outside of the house all the time. Cheers! Terri

Aww - well, if he has a new friend in Coco, that's awesome! How's he doing food wise? Is he getting into vegies and stuff or does he stick to pellets?

Initially Bella's name was going to be Tashi (Tibetan to go with Jigme - my conure). But when I met her, the only thought I had in my midn was how beatiful she is, and the one thing I kept thinking was Bella - Latin for Beauty. In the mean time she has all kinds of nicknames - the one that seems to stick the most is Beep Beep - she Beeps a lot! LOL!

Thanks Judy! I wasn't sure if that dander is normal or if it is a problem. Jiggy doesn't have dander like that - in fact I've never seen him shed dander at all. I have a humidifier in my bedroom. I can either try that or the pot of hot water on the stove. I keep the house at 73 degrees - feels warm enough - should be warm enough for the parrots no? Off topic real quick - just happened - moments ago - I was scratching Bella's neck and head and Jiggy came over and started preening her!! I was so pumped! I think they really do like each other!! Bella let him preen her! It was too cute. I have to get a video recorder so I can share these moments. Cheers! Terri

Oh that's a good idea - a pot of water on the stove. My grandmother used to do that and it worked wonders! Thanks! I have been using aloe, so we've got that part. Her feathers are beautiful - they look sculpted, and perfectly in place. And they feel silky. When I scratch her head and neck, the base of her feathers feel soft and moist It just seems her skin is dry

Greetings everyone, We're having a bit of a difficult time with dry skin on Bella. She seems to have the itchies a good deal. I suppose I'm comparing her with Jiggy and I'm not sure if comparing different parrot types is incorrect. In other words Bella's scratching herself just fine for a Grey or if she is uncomfortable. She seems to have a good deal of dander coming off her when she cleans herself. I've given her aloe sprays, and I also have a parrot skin moisturizing spray that I use regularly on her. I'm wondering if a humidifier might help her out. Does anyone have any experience using a humidifier to help a grey with winter itchies? She's such a noodle, when she wanders around, she loves standing over the vents from the forced air coming out of the floor and I know that must be contributing to her itch - but I usually shoo her away from those. I may also be over reacting as I don't know what is normal for a grey and what isn't. Her feathers feel nice and silky, but in the evening when she sits with me, shebegins to preen herself and dander is just all over when she does that! She seems ot preen in the morning and in the evening and she goes through every feather it seems in the greatest detail. I really only have Jiggy as a compariosn and while he preens quite thoroughly as well, he doesn't have this kind of dander. LOL I think I'm obsessing about it - I just don't want her to be uncomfortable. Thanks! Terri

loviechick wrote: Oh that's a hoot Lovie! :laugh: Believe it or not, I'm kind of used to my name being Googled - but in real life - potential partners and employees tell me that they Google me. I'd never done it before, so out of kicks and giggles I Googled my name (real name, not screen name) and I was really surprised what all came up! I mean I was happy with it, but surprised none the less! Re: religious discussions - I've actually had an easier time discussing interfaith issues then many of the other traditions that are diametrically opposed to each others. There are some REALLY VIOLENT discussions on those boards between some of those groups - yikes!!!! Cheers! Terri

I think so too Chapala - I'm going to give plenty of communication a try with mine - so far so good. Jiggy, my conure, who used to be so reactionary (attack at all costs first and think about it later!) has taken plenty of cues from Bella, my grey, and has started to mimic many of her behaviors, such as watching her when she's interacting with me, and then he copies it. Communication worked with one of my kids (that would be my daughter - my son - well, what can I say - he is a visual person LOL!) - might work well with the feathered kids too. Cheers! Terri

Hang in there Tickle! Keep the detergent handy, and hang in there LOL!

LOL Joe thanks! My shoulders seem to be the 2nd best poop location LOL! Today I had a little bit more success - Bella had to go and she flew off my shoulder, but missed her perch and landed on the carpet and decided that was as good a place as any Better then my shoulders though Cheers! Terri

Hi there, The ladies from whom I got Bella teach all their babies "no bite" - they do that by raising their finger in front of the little one and making a "frown face" and saying "no bite" very clearly. They told me parrots can understand facial features and know if you're unhappy about something. My avian vet did the same thing when he gave Bella a check up, and was playing with her and she nabbed him a bit roughly. He lifted her to his eye level, and looked her straight in the eye and made a sad face and said "ouch - don't bite". Both of mine seem to understand that, as when we're horsing around and Bella nabs me a bit harder I say do the "no bite" routine and she pauses, and looks at me (what a face she makes! It's like she's pondering the origins of the universe!!) and then the next time around she nips me gently when we play. Maybe that might help? When teaching them to poop on command I used the big happy face and tons of praise and they seemed to react to that pretty quickly - I can get them to poop where I need for them to poop!

You bet! We have an appointment next week with the Avian vet to do some initial blood work - I'll mention it to him. Thanks! Terri

Thank you all for the reassurance. Bella's skin is discolored from where that silly band was on. I want to take Jiggy's off, but I'm not sure how best to do that. He is so tiny and his seems to be on much tighter then Bella's was. I don't think I can get an instrument in there to get it off.

Spooky that's a great picture! Thanks for sharing Bless your heart for carrying Nikko like that! I'm sure she appreciates it as well. Re: the Aviator harness - I think I got lucky. Bella is very playful, so I have tickle games I play with her that got her used to my touching her places such as under her wings, tail, belly, feet etc.. When we play tickle, I tell her I'm going to tickle the belly, or tickle the wings, her feets etc.. and she nibbles on my finger real fast and runs off only to come right back for more. I'l hide my fingers under my fist and she'll try to get my fingers, so I let her get one and she grabs hold of it with her talons, nibbles real fast and runs off and then we play tickle again. My "mom" side told me I need to treat her like a little kid and get her used to letting me touch her all over so that in the case of an emergency I can inspect her quickly without getting bitten to pieces! So, we've made this a game - and one she seems to like. When we got the harness I played tug-of-war with her with it. We did tickle the feets with it, and she grabbed it and I grabbed it and then we played tug-of-war. Since she's used to me holding her head so I can clean her beak, right after playing a little, I gently took hold of her head and slipped the harness over her head. She went ballistic at first, but after we talked for a while I was able to calm her down. Since she was distracted with the harness being over her head, I was able to slide her wings under it - and that really made her mad! But then I quickly told her we're going outside and we dashed outside so she could see what we were up to. She was REALLY interested in being outside, but didn't want to leave my shoulder. She did march around a little in the grass, but preferred to come back up on my shoulder. Now it's cold outside and I can't take her out. I'm hoping for some nice days as if I let too much time go between these activities she'll revert back to fighting me about the harness. So! It is an adventure taking them out!!! Cheers! Terri