birdmom

I too am soooo sorry about your rafiki. This is not a good first experience with a grey, but don't forget if your bird had cancer or something it's very unusual and not likely another one will get it. So why not try adopting a grey who needs a home? Many of the rescue places for birds have Congo greys up for adoption and you already know so much about how to care for one. You can google for bird adoptions in your area. Please don't forget the little birdies who would love to do their best to replace litte rafiki for you, who can't be replaced but they may make it easier for you. Besides you already have a cage etc. Think about it. Best wishes!

! Both my birds got a bargain! BUddi was left in boarding by the husband/owner when they got a divorce; when the wife learned the bird was at the bird shop, she refused to pay the boarding fees. So, they just left her there. Fortunately she got good care, and then I wandered in there the same day she was released into the main aviary, for sale. I wanted an adult grey, not a baby and they told me she was a biter. But she didn't bite me however, they thought she was a he. I put the deposit and visited her every day for three weeks, and then they let me take her home when they were sure I could handle her. So I only paid 2/3 retail, she got the best part of the deal. Buddi says: I was almost two when Joanna came for me. I was in that boarding room for three months and those darn noisy cocatoos and amazons nearly drove me nuts! I get good food but I'm bored with my cooked food, so now Joanna makes Oatmeal in the morning and it's mmm mmm good! I eat the whole thing and am putting on a few grams. I want to eat what Joanna eats but she says it has too much salt for me. She feeds me cooked cob corn that i LOVE, but the vet told her it is fattening and not good for me. I get almonds and walnuts, and my favorite is the black sunflower seeds, but they're too fattening to eat every day I used to eat alot of millet, but when Charlie came to stay here, he doesn't eat millet, so I thought I better not eat that anymore too. He likes to eat the colored Zupreem pellets, so now I eat those, too just like Charlie. Joanna is confused because before, I was afraid of them, I thought they were aliens but now, I eat only those ones, and I refuse to eat the Rowdy Bush ones, which Joanna doesn't like too much, because our poopy mess stains her carpet now. Oh well! A deal's a deal. I don't think Joanna spoils me, she used to but now I have to share her with Charlie, and he talks with an English accent. I felt left out so I was plucking my neck feathers out and I didn't talk to Joanna for a while. Now, I have a yeast infection on my neck. I'm getting some help with that because I let her know I was feeling sad and she noticed it. Now I know for sure she loves me but I hate that medicine she gives me, it doesn't taste too good but I get to pick an almond out of the can after. Joanna treats me with respect, or I will bite her. But she tells me no biting, kissing only and so, sometimes I'm a moody girl so I just push her hand or finger away, I don't bite her. She told me that hurts so I told her I love her and I say bye bye when she goes to work. We have an understanding. Yesterday I just learned to say What'cha doin? and Joanna went all nutty on me. Whoa. I think I was lucky to get Joanna because I don't have to share her with any other people, just Charlie the Poop now. But, Charlie doesn't like to be held much so I guess it's okay he just hangs around on top of his cage and thinks hes the King of England. I can sit on Joanna's shoulder when she works on the computer, we've done that for years and Joanna knows I don't bite her. We play the boop boop game, and she scratches my head.

Hi judy, thanks for sharing about the oatmeal. Buddi got tired of her cooked food in the morning, and I was throwing it all out. Charlie eats his...anyway, I tried the oatmeal and they both love it! I added flax seeds and some diced walnuts, a little honey and some coconut, a few raisins....success. THanks soooooooooo much. Buddy is back at 430 grams.

Hi Heather, Yes I am in Citrus Heights. I'm in there frequently, it's so close. Nice meeting you.

Well, my female has always weighed around 436-440 g. and as low as 420. My Male is 442-452 g. A vet told me females weight may vary due to seasonal hormonal fluctuations while a male may be pretty constant thru the year.

sure just go to Walmart or a housewares type store. In the kitchen small applicances section, you should find a small battery operated digital kitchen scale. I have one it works great! I paid around $20 USD for it.

Okay, well try. Remember, no apple seeds, they're toxic. Just a slice or two of apple, maybe a grape? Greys do usually pick a favorite human. Often but not always its someone of the opposite sex. Dont ask me how they know. My female CAG vomits for my males visitors. (not frequent) But even so, she is jealous of my male CAG. He tries to vomit for me, and I am a woman. He also does the puppy squeaks and dropped wings. So, I'm flattered and try not to encourage it. Anyway, don't buy the bird just in hope it will love ONLY you. If it picks someone else other than you, you will all have to train it collectively, to properly socialize Birdy to accept and not bite other people besides his favorite. There are other species of Parrots that are not so particular. Make lemons out of your lemonade and realize you have a jewel in the rough.

Ditto! I'd be scared silly in a dark room. When I put birdie on timeout, it's in my bedroom (neutral room) with a light on or the drapes are open; there's food and water in the timeout cage and I do drop in every 30 minutes or so to make sure he's okay. I think in the dark is scary; you may be training with intimidation and i'm not sure birdy will ever trust you?

Sounds like you are approaching the Terrible Twos. Read Sally Blanchard's book. Also, my male likes to be King of the Mountain--any mountain. He is not ever allowed on my shoulder. My female however, is totally fine on my shoulder, she is a pussycat. You must get to know the bird. Each one is different. Good luck! Birdmom

Hi Kat, That's normal. The new pin feathers coming in have a shell around them, it's kink of like a fingernail that's splitting and when they preen, they're cracking the shell, so that the new feather can burst out. But you can't rush it, the new feather has to grow to a certain size, then the bird can pick open that little shell. You may be feeling the shell remaining at the base of a new feather. Don't worry about that. ONce you start regular bathing, those shells are really much easier for Birdy to pick out of there. They should do it themselves. Some don't know how, you may have to help a bit. But the pin feathers are sensitive so don't try too soon. Shower at least twice a week, buy a shower perch and let the mist hit them not the hard spray, greys don't seem to like the hard spray. I just move the shower head over them for a while on and off. Lukewarm water. Best of luck Birdmom.

Trina, What a beauuuutiful bird you have. Is it a female?

KatB, Welcome, I am also new to the forum. I adopted a CAG Charlie, who was no longer wanted by his owners in April and I also insisted on a clear vet CBC and exam. Poor little guy, he was really sweet, they just didn't have a clue. But I needed to know he wouldn't bring home an illness to my first grey, Buddi. So, You are doing the right thing! I told the woman if the bird came out healthy, I wanted to see the report and I'd pay for the vet visit if he was healthy, but if not, no go--she'd have to get him healthy first on her dime. She took him in and it worked out fine, the CBC was normal. It cost me $200 but it was cheap insurance. Good luck to you! joanne aka birdmom, buddi and charlie.

Congratulations! One step at a time. Tell her you love her.

hello, Be careful; the water can get in there, and then you'll get rust in your cage and its harmful to birds. Bleach disinfects, but if you use alot of water with it you gotta make sure that cage gets dried out thoroughly, maybe roll it out into the afternoon sun several hours and let it air out and sun dry. You do need to be careful when rinsing the cage. It sounds like your cage has tubing with openings in it. The roaches will lay eggs. I don't think bleach will kill the eggs, they hatch in a pretty short cycle as long as it's warm. Roaches need water to survive. The only insecticide I know of that will kill insects and that is non toxic to birds is called Camicide. It works on roaches, waterbugs leas flies mosquitoes carpet beetles clothes moths and gnats. The bottle I have I bought at the local bird shop. The phone number on the back of the bottle is 800-448-9030 and its manufactured by Indchem Group in St. Louis, MO. Call them and ask where you can buy it locally. I would try also your local equine feed store, it's used for horse stables too. Get some, and spray the cage down with it. Then wipe it clean again with a damp sponge and some bleach and let the cage air and sun dry. You may want to invest in a smaller travel cage for the interim period. I have one and it's been a life saver over time. You can buy a small cage about 18X24 with one inch bar spacing at your local bird store. It should be fine for a week but let him out alot and put his perches in there with the right size for his toes. This cage will come in handy for travel also, try to find one that folds down. I paid around $100 for my travel cage. It's in the bedroom as a 'timeout' cage for naughty birdy. Good luck!

Moddy, Why don't you try getting up on this website www.africangreybirdshop.com. Just set up a username and password and then you can post a question there and they will reply to you. You may have to ignore some of the stuff some bad people put on there as a joke. This is the bird shop in Denver where I bought Buddi and they are really knowledgeable, and will answer your concerns not as laypersons but as professionals in the field but they are not veterinarians; however, many of the employees there are vet techs so I suspect you can get some good guidance there to decide if you need to see a vet, or not. Be sure to tell them what part of the world you are in and the climate. You will see I have made some postings there and they replied to me. Good luck, birdmom.

Hi Moddy, I hope everything is ok. I've never seen a full molt maybe because I live in California? But I used to live in Colorado and I don't remember ever having that many feathers coming out at once...maybe a dozen or so. Ah, do you give your bird a bath/shower? That may have something to do with it. They need showers a couple times a week and it helps alot with preening and molting. I have a shower perch about midway up the wall, and I just put the shower on lukewarm, not even warm water and not a hard forceful spray, it nees to be gentle. Then I move the spray up over them on and off, for about ten minutes, they don't like to be under the entire spray. I try to keep it off their face. That may help speed this molt up for you and make it not so messy. Good luck I hope it helps you! birdmom

No there is nothing wrong with my browser, and nothing at the bottom of my page but I am using XP Professional, maybe you are using a different op sys. I actually found it myself. You have to click on FAQs, then type your topic into the search field on top right. It pulls up the articles for your topic. THanks.

In case any new people out there are trying to figure out how to navigate this site, you can click on FAQs, then type your subject into the search field on the top right side of the FAQs page. It will bring up FAQs just on that topic. Hope that helps. Isn't it nice to find a helpful person? Also, when you edit your profile you can select one of the tabs on the top to choose whether the site will display postings on a particular forum to you either: in the order of most recent first, or oldest post first. Click on My Profile in the left toolbar, and select EDIT. Then Update my Profile, and choose Forum Settings on the tabs across the top. It allows you to edit that function. Post edited by: birdmom, at: 2007/10/08 02:56<br><br>Post edited by: birdmom, at: 2007/10/08 03:08

Ah. To clarify, the regurgitation and the plucking are probably not related, unless he actually is plucking, it may be from sexual frustration. If you see your bird is plucking, you do need to take him in to see an avian specialist. A molt is normal however and not at all related to regurgitating for you.

Ok i see. Well, try your best for the bird's sake. The kissing sounds and lowering the wings, that's mating behavior and it is being misdirected at you because your bird is bonding to you and is at the age of sexual maturity for a CAG. You should try to discourage that, and don't laugh when he does it. What you want to do is indicate to the bird you aren't interested by moving him away to another perch area and act uninterested. Otherwise, it will mess up his natural instincts since we really don't want our bird to think of us as a mating partner.

Hi Moddy, The regurgitating means the bird is in love with you. They have an instinct to feed their loved ones. Birds do that by regurgitation. So your bird wants to feed you it's the ultimate complement from a grey! Lucky you. But you should try to sandbag at least $500 and put it aside for annual vet visits and perhaps more in case of birdy emergencies. Joanne birdmom

Hi Heather. I also have a female that i was told is male. I had the test run twice just to be sure. Are you a customer of the Bird Shop on Auburn Bl in Sac? Joanna aka birdmom

Hi Benny nice to meet you. Joanna

Thanks Pussycat!

Hi there, Well Dicky601 has had success with using an object, a perch. But I found my bird was afraid of an object. Most people who use a perch are afraid of being bitten, and I personally prefer to get them used to my hand. While CAGs have a nippy reputation, I have found with both my CAGs, there is usually a test nip in store for the new handler. A test nip is very different than an intentional bite, where they clamp on and bite down. The test nip is where they let go right away, most times it doesn't break the skin; they just want to see what you'll do, so even though it stings, I found that no reaction at all is best, and they just look surprised, and don't try it again....that works for me. Having said that, use your own judgement and consult a veterinarian too. I hope it helps you.