KatB

Birdmom-- Good info about the pin feathers and shower. I feel so clueless! But I will learn. I have given him a couple of baths using a spray bottle. I put him in the bathtub and went to town with the sprayer. He wasn't particularly happy about it, but he wasn't terrified or angry, either. Just appeared slightly annoyed. I did think about the shower but was afraid I would scare him. I'll give that a try after the spray bottle becomes routine to him. --KatB

Hi-- Unfortuately I didn't know what to expect or ask for at the vet. Since I didn't ask for a CBC, all I got was a "looks fine to me, that'll be $32, please." The vet is one I've been taking my dogs to for years and I asked his office if he also treats birds. They said yes, but now I'm thinking not so much. I'll look for an avian vet, but it's too late to return the bird -- I've already paid for him and besides, I've already fallen in love with him!

Thanks, Dave! I've been worried about it, but at the same time a little embarrassed to ask :lol: So much to learn!

Hello, all-- I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm about to ask a really dumb question, but I can't find an answer anywhere on the internet so here goes... is it normal for a grey (timneh, if that makes a difference) to have a hole--more like a tunnel-- in the lower mandible where it attaches to the throat? You can't really see it in this photo, but it illustrates the point where I'm seeing the hole. When he stretches his neck you can look straight through the hole up to the skin of the throat. The bone of the lower mandible is at least 1/4 inch away from the throat when he stretches like that... Since this guy is a rescue, I'm on the lookout for possible signs of "special needs". Thanks! KatB

You know, Kiwibarb12, I think you may have something. Although I know he itches -- apparently his previous owner forgot she was supposed to bathe him -- I've noticed he has taken up the habit of scratching his neck with his foot, then stretching his neck out to me, almost standing on his head sometimes to give me access to the place he just showed me I was supposed to scratch When I do scratch it, it feels rough and scaly at the base of the feathers. Is that normal, or something I should talk to my vet about?

Thank you! Here's the pic of my new baby.

Can someone tell me how to upload a photo? The one I tried to attach to my previous post didn't make it. My first attempt I tried to attach one that was too large and on the second attempt I got the message that I couldn't upload a jpg. So I inserted it into a doc, and made sure the doc was under 250 kb, and still it didn't work. Any hints?

Thanks everybody! I think it's under control... I haven't seen a cockroach crawl out in about 6 hours and have hosed and hosed and hosed to rid the cage of fumes. I'll let it air dry outside til tomorrow afternoon, and if I still see no more bugs I'll call it done and set it back up for the birdie. Speaking of the birdie, here's a photo. Hope it comes through. He was dubbed Pegasus by the pet store, where I understand he lived til he was about 15 months old. His previous owner bought him from the pet store and kept him 4 months before passing him on to me. So, he's just over 1-1/2 years old. No, I don't know for sure that he's a he, but I hope to find out once things settle down around here. According to his previous owner he's mechanically inclined -- she said he doesn't like to be in his cage (and who would, sharing it with the cockroaches, ya know?) and he disassembled the door locking mechanism by removing one of the screws that held the eye the bolt fits into. She swears he did it and that he is currently working on the failsafe device -- a little metal tab that swings down to hold the door in place if the bar lock isn't engaged. For my part, I'm inclined to call him Capone -- today he picked up his SS food dish and dumped all the pellets on the floor, then proceeded over and over to bang the dish along the dowels of the back of the chair he was standing on -- like prisoners do with their water cups in the movies! Again, thanks for your help. Hopefully this crisis is at an end! --KatB Post edited by: KatB, at: 2007/10/07 05:24<br><br>Post edited by: KatB, at: 2007/10/07 05:28

Thank you Joe and Dan. I've spent the afternoon on my patio scrubbing and disinfecting and running from the nasty critters. Seems to be working -- but everytime I think I'm finished and have evacuated them all, another crawls out of a crevice. Guess I just have to be patient and eventually they'll all jump ship. At least the birdie seems happy in his huge new digs -- the bathroom. He may decide not to go back to the cage

Hello, and thank you everyone for the welcome. I do have an urgent question right off the bat. I don't know which topic it belongs in, so I hope this one is okay. First, the timneh and I visited the vet this afternoon and it was pronounced underweight (275 grams) but otherwise appeared healthy. So that's good, and I determined to feed up the bird til it gains the needed ounces. But later this evening as we were sitting near the cage visiting with the little guy, we noticed not one but THREE roaches crawling on the cage! I have never had roaches at this house, and though the environment the bird came from could have been expected to be infested, it never occurred to me that I might be bringing them home in the cage. I had thoroughly cleaned the cage as soon as I got it home, so I'm guessing the roaches are living in the metal tubing of the cage. Anyway, the cage is at this moment sitting in my back yard and my bathroom has temporarily been turned into an aviary. I don't know what to do about exterminating the roaches without permanently poisoning the cage. Any advice?

Thanks, Trina. I'm looking forward to getting to know you!

Thanks for the encouragement, DanMcQ and FairY. I'll definitely keep you posted. -KatB

Hello! I'm new to the Forum and new to the AG world, and I'm thrilled to have found a place to ask questions and find answers. I've been researching Greys for quite some time now, always thinking that someday I would buy a hand-fed baby from a breeder. Last night I had the opportunity to purchase a 1-1/2 year old Timneh from an owner in crisis and couldn't walk away from it -- the conditions the bird was living in were pretty bad. I did insist on making it contingent on a vet check, and that's coming up this afternoon. So in 5 or 6 hours I'll know for sure if this bird is mine. So far he has been a perfect gentleman -- not squawking or plucking or attacking... He has nipped me a couple of times, but not enough to hurt, and he seems to have a persistent itch -- he keeps scratching his neck area. Other than that, he hasn't shown any behavior problems. Cross your fingers for me!