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Why is bobbing up and down bad news Falconeer?

Zahzu also says "i love you" and "peek a boo" and she screams like our nieces and nephews when they are playing outside our house - very irritating! However she gets no attention or response for that ;-) I think she has picked up a lot because I (Sameera) have been home a lot of the time since we got her as I haven't started work yet since moving here to South Africa... so she has someone to talk to all day - and as insane as it might sound I talk to her all day in return - sometimes I forget she's a bird not a child!!:silly: Now, while I'm bragging about our Zahzu, I might as well tell you she can also wave (with her left foot), shake hands (right foot) and do a "turn around"... oh, she also has started saying "step up".. hehe... As you can see we are totally smitten with our baby! It's amazing what a grey's capabilities are - and to think I had no idea what an African Grey was 1 year ago when I was living in Australia! Back to the topic - I know male budgies and cockatiels have much better talking abilities than females of those species - but the research I've done indicates there is no difference between the sexes as far as talking goes They say females are sometimes more docile than males - but nothing is fact it's just opinion really...and i'd say a LOT would depend on the bird's personality and environment. geez...zahzu is on my lap and wont let me type - she just wants neck scratches so i'm outta here! -sameera

our CAG is 7 Months old and a Female and she can say "hello", "Zahzu" (her name) and "Sameera" and she mumbles some other words here and there.

in South Africa we got our CAG, Zahzu for R1500.00 which is about $187 (US Dollars). Zahzu was 7 weeks old when we got her, shes now 7 months old.

Hi Kaedyn certain toner is regarded as a group 2A Carcinogen. Which means: Group 2A: the agent (mixture) is probably carcinogenic to humans. The exposure circumstance entails exposures that are probably carcinogenic to humans. but this was in the past, i think nowadays they dont make toner with the same formula. i may be subject to correction though, its just what I have heard since i work in a company that supplies toner and cartridges and one of our suppliers has told me that!

Thanks so much Makena! We contacted the store where we got Zahzu from - and they "don't know who the breader is" they say they get their birds from the public (somewhat dubious I think!); however, tonight Zahzu ate a full feed! We mixed in some pureed veges with the formula to entice him more and it worked a charm - hopefully we are back on track! The vet said the formula we are now using (which is for older birds) is not as tasty as his previous one; however the vet advised that we must continue with that formula (unfortunately here in South Africa we don't have much variety!) We have also been doing heaps of reading about this and other topics; however hearing from "real people" on this forum is fantastic! It's off to sleep for us now here in South Africa! Thanks everyone! Will keep you all posted. -Sameera

Hi This afternoon we took Zahzu to the vet, the vet said that Zahzu seems healthy and is just a bit fussy as the new formula is not as palatable as the formula he had when he was younger. The vet advised that we should keep giving him feeding and if he still doesn't eat tomorrow we should take him back. We thinking of adding some liquidised tastees into his formula to make it more enticing. The vet gave him an antibiotic injection "just incase" and a gauge feeding. will keep posted Thanks:)

Hey all, Zahzu is gaining weight for sure - we are using a digital kitchen scale to weigh him. Also, we are using a spoon which we found on day 1 that he preferred and we give him food at approx 45deg celcius (I think thats around 110F). Today I did adjust his feed time to after a play - and this worked! Yesterday and the day before, maybe (I also suspect) he wasn't eating so well because I fed him in the living room which he was not used to (he'd been eating in the bedroom in the past-and for the past 2 days he has had the obsession of trying to get back into the bedroom, however this is slowing down now and he his more happy to play in the living room). Maybe he ate better today due to the fact that 1. I changed the time of feeding as Angie advised and 2. he's had a chance to explore his surroundings a bit more and wasn't so distractible? Anyway; these are all theories = the main thin is he ate his breakfast and is munching on veges now - will see how lunch goes next! I'm glad we asked for advice early because if we had let this go on for too long he may have lost weight The other concern we had was that a breeder actually told us to stop giving the lunch time feed once we see he is "playing" with the soft foods and warm moist pellets! We were totally uncomfortable with this (he told us about 1.5 weeks ago to cease the lunch feed-ofcourse we DID NOT do this). Toni, was Alcazar fully weaned at 12 weeks or was he on 2 feeds per day by 12 weeks? Thanks everyone for your early intervention assistance!! -sameera

He is eating a wide variety of veggies such as: sweet potato, butternut, carrot, potato, green pepper, corn, peas. he also eats his pellets and occasional fruits by himself and we give him 4 handfeeds per day. Today he only had 2 handfeeds together with his veggies and pellets. We were just concerned about this and his behaviour. He is gaining weight though.

judygram, we are still handfeeding him, but his rejecting the morn and afternoon feed, although the evening handfeed he eats nicely, so we started giving him another feed at night which he also eats nicely. its just the morning and afternoon feed he refuses it himself, even though we try to handfeed him. We put some veggies and pellets by him in the morning and afternoon and he eats a bit of it.

Thanks Angie, its good to know that most of those behaviors are normal - will see what we are able to do about the weaning.

Hi guys! We have a 9 week old CAG and have concerns regarding some of Zazu's behaviour: (sorry this is a super long post!) 1. Whenever he comes out of his cage, he always wants to go into our bedroom. History: When he first came home for the first 2 nights, we were advised to keep him in a basket and he slept in our bedroom (this was 3 weeks ago now). We also sometimes play with him in our bedroom; however we want to discourage this now - as his poops are messing our carpet (we are thinking of investing in birdy diapers!); and secondly we want to encourage him to play in our living room, not only the bedroom. We think this desire to play in our bedroom may be because it is relatively comfy and quiet which he probably enjoys. Also, in our living room some furniture has moved so might this be irritating him? I should mention his cage is in our living room. He walks to our closed bedroom door and flies at the door sometimes (trying to gain entry) which is worrying - what if he gets hurt?? He is also learning to fly now, so maybe he is more comfortable flying in our bedroom?? The main thing we want to know is how can we encourage him to enjoy play in our living room and make him stop obsessing about going into our bedroom? (We live in a one bedroom apartment so we don't have heaps of space for him!) 2. Wandering about the house - he won't stay put in one area to play - how do we manage this best? At the moment we just return him to the area we want him to stay in... also today he just started attempted destruction of our blinds! I'm trying to just retrieve him and return him back to his play area without talking to him (to minimise attention given to this undesirable behaviour). 3. Getting him back into his cage - he NEVER wants to go back into his cage - at the moment I (Sameera) am not working so I'm home most of the time and I take him out quite frequently to play; however once I start back at work, I'll be working quite a hectic schedule and we don't want him to expect to be out of his cage all morning/afternoon. We always try to take him out when we are at home together in the evenings also. He is never short of attention. He often digs in a corner of his cage or climbs all over his cage bars to try to get us to take him out after going back in - we ignore this and when he stops we will talk to him - is this right?? 4. He is 9 weeks old and seems to be rejecting lunch and breakfast feeds - he is more interested in playing! However he does nibble and consume pellets and veges we give him.... but by 5.30pm when it is his dinner feed, you can see his crop area is empty empty empty! He is very active, curious and adventurous and doesn't seem to be starving so was just wondering if this is ok? I don't want to force feed him. I feed him with him on the floor and with a spoon...he always ends up running away to explore our house (hence making me run too when he goes "walkabout") 5. Tameness - he is not happy just sitting on our laps or our hands - he just wants to wander about! Is this normal for a baby? Will he be more happy to chill out with us when he gets older?? Is this just a phase? Ok, those are our concerns (hope we still have your attention and you haven't given up reading this looooong post!!)- any advice or resources we can be directed to would be greatly appreciated! (We have been doing heaps of reading, so am thinking maybe we are being a bit paranoid also??? :blink: ) Thanks everyone! Sameera and Ameen

seems like a cool product. whats the difference between the aviator harness and the flight suit with poop pouch?

Yes DanMcQ a lot of enjoyment. Today we offered him pumpkin, sweet potato, and warm moist pellets in a feeding cup when he was out playing with us. He seemed quite chuffed and seemed to have ate a fair bit and he also had three good formula feeds. We may be a bit paranoid, however this evening it seemed he was a bit unsettled - we have a suspicion that he may only like making poop on our bedroom carpet! He was in the living room and was "fussing" however once we took him in the bedroom and he made his poop on our carpet he settled (I'm sure if he could he'd smirk at us!! :silly: ) Despite this 90% of the time he's very affectionate and playful. He knows how to communicate what he wants most of the time.

he does take the formula but he doesnt take till his crop is full so I increased his feed to 4 times a day n during the day he has lots of soft food that he plays around with. today it seems though he was eating a bit of the weaning food. will keep u guys informed. Thanks so much.

beccy by handfed i meant another bird. What happens now is I give him his morning feed, then afternoon, then late afternoon and then in the evening. he seems fine like this so he gets 4 feeds a day, is it ok if I do that? He seems healthy and playful as usual and I didn't notice any signs of illness. Will see how it goes today and if he still does the same I'll call the breeder. Thanks for all the help. will keep u guys posted.

yeah I have hand fed before. This is the third week that I have Zahzu and all these days he has been eating well. Its since I started putting the pellets and veggies for him has he started eating less of the formula.

Hi my baby CAG (Zahzu) now 9 weeks old refuses to eat all his formula in the morning and late afternoon. He doesn't eat until his crop is full. I have begun the weaning process and im still continuing 3 hand feeds per day plus I put a bowl of pellets for him, his still playing around with the pellets and not eating much of it. Im Stressed as to why he is not eating until his crop is full. Thanks

Hi Just want to know if perspex / Acrylic toys are suitable for African greys? I have a laser cutter used for cutting acrylic / perspex and I could make some great toys for my CAG but i'm not so sure if they suitable or not! Thanks

Thanks a lot lovemygreys and judygram.

Hi I have a 8 week old CAG and I started the weaning process. He eats his pellets and vegetables without any fuss and I also hand feed him 3 times a day. I just want to know if I must continue the hand feeding 3 times a day or should I cut down to 2 or should I wait till he refuses one of the feedings? Thanks

Thanks for the welcomes. This forum is great and we've definitely learnt a lot. Yes we are still handfeeding him/her, although today we have begun trying to wean her with fresh fruit and vegetables and she has investigated a bit. will post pics soon! thanks once again

Hi We are new to this forum and are the new parents of a Congo African Grey, named Zahzu. S/he's almost 8 weeks old. We are on a steep learning curve and this forum has given us a lot of valuable information. We look forward in participating and interacting with other grey owners. Thanks Ameen & Sameera