siobha9

That is great progress even to have him tasting pellets already. If he isnt eating enough of them be sure to offer him a little of what he likes. Considering he is sick, he needs to be eating enough to fight his illness;)

Hi Corissa, Welcome to the grey forum. I'm sorry it was a nasty bite that brought you here, but I hope you'll stay now you've found us Siobhan

Now that is one adorable baby! Absolutely beautiful. Congratulations!

I am curious as to what experience you had prior to this with handfeeding baby birds? Have you tried a spoon with another bird and found it to be too slow? You baby is only 7 weeks old, he is very young to be left on his own all day long. Doesnt anybody come and check on him during the day while you are out?

Lupa wrote: I am a very proud Aunty Lupa. They are little cuties. With lots of help from Tracy(lovemgreys) I am mastering the hand feeding. It was quite scary at the start and I am still very very nervous that I could do something wrong and hurt these little guys. Tracy... I am too young to be a granny:whistle:

Well due to extraordinary bad weather here and the nest box getting wet, I had to take the babies into the house last weekend. They are doing well. Here is the latest picture, taken just this morning. <br><br>Post edited by: siobha9, at: 2008/08/22 10:01

That is cute:kiss: Yes it is normal for them to preen their feathers, and their clutch mates, maybe she thinks you are a grey:) One of mine loves to chew on his toes, his talons are always really short. I was thinking of getting some of that stop'n'gro stuff that you get to stop kids biting their nails:P

Well that could be because by and large we ARE nuts Dan:woohoo: :blink:

Cockatiels:dry: ???? I don't know actually. I've never actually thought about it:unsure: Here they are. What do you think?

Oops! It probably is:whistle: I have 2, and I have never even questioned what kind they are... to me they are cockatiels:unsure:

It is a great forum isnt it:) ? I think what really helps too is that it is truly international. I think there are members from every continent, and certainly every time zone. It means that whenever you log on there will be someone here. And there will also be lots of new posts to read;)

nesha wrote: All birds will naturally preen themselves whether they have had a bath or not. In fact I find about an hour after they get out of the bath, they spend ages preening every feather! If you do a search on the forum you will find lots of different ways to encourage your grey to bathe as this is a problem with a lot of our birds. Personally I put them in the bath with a couple of inches of water in it and use the hand held shower head to lightly sprinkle them. I wouldnt say they like it, but they put up with it fairly well. They have no choice and they have learned its quicker to stay quiet and let me get it over with:whistle:

Broomer wrote: I am really sorry you feel it is a personal attack, and I understand what you are saying about posting a picture and getting criticised. I suppose from our perspective it is unnerving to see a baby as dirty as yours appears from the photos. Hygiene is so important in preventing illness and hygiene "appears" to be lacking here. There is a huge improvement in him since the earlier photos you posted and there is no doubt that you have addressed this with the breeder. However I think that there is no excuse for the mess he was in earlier. Many babies have brothers and sisters in their clutch and don't get this messy. I feel that if the breeder has 50+ pairs of breeder birds and cant keep up with the hygiene end of things then she has too many pairs or too little staff;) The good thing is you are on top of it, and the breeder knows you are concerned, so if any baby is going to get attention it will be your little one.

I think he is a cinnamon pearl. Here is a picture of one.... Do you think it looks the same? <br><br>Post edited by: siobha9, at: 2008/08/21 09:08

Isnt that amazing that your grey was 12 and didnt know how to step up! I would have thought that would be the first thing any owner would have taught him! That's great that he learned it so quickly though considering he is an adult. Well done;) Siobhan

Hi Nesha, Welcome to the forum. We are glad you found us. The mumbling you hear is probably CJ practising talking. It isnt uncommon for a grey to start talking on or around their first birthday so he is still young yet. I hope you enjoy it here. Siobhan

Oh no! What an awful thing to happen. You must have been panicking. What did the vet have to do for him? Is he home or did the vet keep him in?

Liaths tastes are not quite so refined:P She loves Doggy in the Window and she can whistle a reel along with the best of them;)

I bought a some rawhide bones for my birds a while back. I soaked one end in water until I was able to untie the knot. Then I retied the knot around the cage bars. The greys and my caique love them. They gnaw on them for ages! And best of all they cant drop them;)

Hi Bluecounty and welcome to the grey forum I am sure you are really excited about getting your baby! Its understandable that you are a little nervous as well, but I think you will be a great owner as you are doing all your homework even before your little one gets home;) ! Siobhan

Hi Milks, Welcome to the grey forum! I am curious as to why you would prefer a parent reared bird? If the tag has had no interactions with humans it will be much more difficult for you to handle it. It will require a lot of patience on your part to get your baby to the point where it will be comfortable with you. Whereas a hand reared baby will be comfortable with humans from the outset. A hand reared baby who has been properly socialised should be a relatively confident bird. This socialisation must happen at the breeders and then at your home. As for the price difference, it may be because the birds have been unweaned, it may be that they are older rather than younger birds, or as Dan suggested it could be a breeder vs a pet shop. The certificates you mention are probably a Health certificate and a DNA certficate. Even if the grey has had a health cert you should still bring him to an avian vet yourself to confirm the bird is healthy. And if it isnt you should agree with the breeder that they will take it back. I wish you the best of luck with your search to find a grey and I have every confidence you will be a great owner as you are doing all your research before bringing your baby home;) Siobhan

cdelatorrejr wrote: My parents are also nuts about my birds. Whenever they phone me they spend more time talking to Liath than they do to me. Most people just ignore her chattering in the background, but my dad will ask me to put her on speaker:blink:

The poor little guy. I hope it is just a bad night and a grumpy day. If he is eating and pooping then it is probably just an off day. But you are right to be concerned and watch him for a while. I love his little walnut shell boats;)

My kitchen is right next to the room the birds are in, and that is exactly what I do. While I am cooking and while we are eating the birds are in their cage. We eat in the same room as them, and I feed them some of our meal at the same time (when it is suitable). This way they still feel part of the family, but they arent fighting us for the best bits off our plates:P

Aw he is gorgeous! I love babies. Now I want one