Kasia

LOL greenwinged !!!! That's sweet!<br><br>Post edited by: Kasia, at: 2008/03/15 04:37

Thanks BMustee & Judygram also!!! If it does seem to be scaly foot, I do have a great vet so I will definitely take her in and keep you all posted. I understand about self-dosing with the invermectin -- without proper knowledge of dosing I could do more damage than good -- {Feel-good-000200BB} I'm going to stay on line and enjoy a bit of what's going on in the forum tonight. I work so much that if I check in regularly -- that means I'll get side tracked regularly, i.e., I won't get my typing done -- {Feel-bad-00020063} Thanks again all of you!!!

Hi Terri, Thanks! I've been off line for a day or two. I looked at the pictures on the web and the ones kindly posted on this forum and it isn't that...I did place some Scatt on her feet just in case and bleached and sanitized everything! The birds are in two separate rooms not sharing anything. It's hard to take a picture but it could just be the white stuff between the scales on the feet sloughing off. Does that make sense? It doesn't seem to have a "life of its own" which is what my finches had a while back that I treated. (Horrible to get rid of, ugh.) So, I may have been overparanoid -- but I am going to leave Billie's toes alone and see if the white sloughy stuff starts "developing its own pattern or growth." Thanks though -- very very much for the offering to help in such a super way!!<br><br>Post edited by: Kasia, at: 2008/03/15 04:30

Billie isn't letting me take a picture of her foot this evening. She snapped at me a few times and scampered away -- probably because I was trying to pick some of the scale off. I'll give it a day and try again tomorrow. Is Scatt the treatment that is used to treat this? What are the applications for an African Grey if this is what is used to treat scaly face and foot? I'll check back tomorrow. Thanks again...

Thanks guys, I'll upload the picture this evening -- I appreciate your looking at it. I just took her stand and the keet cage outside and bleached and washed it down along with all the perches, toys, etc. It's out in the Arizona sun -- so that should bake it off. I'll leave it there all day. I need to take care of her big cage later on. Would I put her back on her cleaned and bleached perch while I clean her cage? Won't that reinfect the cleaned soft and wooden perches? {Feel-bad-00020063} My Billie already had 3 toe tips bitten off by her parents while in the nesting box so her one foot is rather sensitive so I really want to get this taken care of asap. my poor baby... Thanks again.

Thanks Siobhan, I have tried listening to her when she's alone. She's pretty quiet -- probably waiting for me to come into the room and when she hears me she starts the high pitched toots. Such a stinker. But, no closet talker yet. At least there's hope. I just love hearing African Greys talk in general. It's so sweet. I think I'll lower my tone even more -- and add some grovely coarseness to it -- maybe she'll think that she can mimic that. When I first got her I was singing the song from Green Acres -- I guess I was just entertaining her -- the ape in the jungle sounds probably didn't set the stage for learning a vocabulary either (along with cat sounds, dog sounds and crow caws). I think I was just entertaining myself in hindsight! :blush: Thanks again!!

I wish my African Grey would repeat the same word 12x like my partner does his stories. LOL! Then I'd have it made as far as her not talking. I wouldn't have to look at him like it's the first time and act interested as if I never heard the story (zzzzz) before. Don't want to hurt his feelings though. You'd think he invented Wonder Bread with the level of excitement on the 12th time around!!! LOL!!! Thanks for your funny comments!!! Made my night. :lol:

Hi, my African Grey doesn't seem to be picking up on words . She has the "cat call" wwwo hooo-oo down pat. Then she randomly in second intervals has a high pitched piercing sound that makes me wonder what I am doing wrong. . I say "Hi Billie, Momma loves you" so many times in so many voice ranges (staying away from higher octave voices of course) that I am wondering if she isn't going to ever talk. She watches TV when I leave the house (the Animal Planet station). Perhaps she should watch CNN or Real Life. I also say repetitively "hello" "hi" -- keeping it simple just to hopefully have her say one word. She is less than a year old. When she was younger she would experiment with her vocal chords and used to grumble and make various sounds. Any suggestion is appreciated. I love her to pieces and probably am over-coddling, if that's possible. She's just my little baby girl. Even if she said "boo" I'd be excited. I was thinking of taking her to the bird shop where other talking African Greys are for an overnighter just so she can see and hear other Greys talking and maybe join the bandwagon. Thanks again.

Hi, how can I tell if my African Grey has scaly foot. I had parakeets in the next cage and the female parakeet may have scaly face. They sometimes share the same perch and I've been noticing a barb looking whitish growth out of the back two toes -- but am unsure if that is just the natural texture. Thanks.

Hello Tui and Andrew, I went on YoU-Tube and watched your video on talking #1 and #2. That was really sweet. I appreciated the tip on not leaving music on but instead a news station or talk radio station. You and Tui have a neat relationship. I liked the end of video #2 - ow, ow, good girl! :) I'll be back to check out more of your teaching sessions. I haven't gotten my baby yet but my intention is to have fun with him and keep talking as if he was a little baby. Same concept actually. Talk about whatever you are doing and verbally accentuate certain things like "hot" :woohoo:, "cold" :ohmy:, "oops":blush:, and so on. Thanks again. Thoroughly enjoyable! :cheer:

I'm going to check out Tui's videos. Nice to meet you Andrew!

I just bought a new Olympus camera from Best Buy the day before yesterday to take a picture of my Grey. I just posted his picture yesterday. It is really difficult to take a bad shot. Olympus Stylus 820. $269.00; card $39.00. It takes videos too. If I find out how to post the video, I would love to post a short video of my Angel Baby Grey (still no name). Kathy :cheer:

Hi Christina and Calvin, Welcome aboard. I'm a newbie too! I feel at home already! Kathy

Thanks!

Dan, I liked your entry about women over 40. It's true!

I was hoping someone would send me something to fit in with this topic...lo and behold, leave it to my girlfriends to pull through in the 9th: If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it will always be yours. If it doesn't come back, it was never yours to begin with. But, if it just sits in your living room, messes up your stuff, eats your food, uses your telephone, takes your money and doesn't appear to realize that you had set it free.....You either married it or gave birth to it! {Feel-good-000200BB}

Hi Jessupsmom, I have yet to bring my African Grey home but as I am almost done with "For the Love of Greys" by Bobbi Brinker, I would recommend you check out this book. I got mine used on Amazon.com. It goes into a in-depth discussion on the sensitivity of Greys and how it is more of developing a relationship built on trust than power or fear. I didn't know that Greys are one of the more sensitive of the companion birds. One of the most standout portions I have read so far is that you are developing a relationship with your Grey. To allow the Grey to just be a Grey. It is their world that we must adapt to (to a certain degree of course), but to not try to put a round peg in a square hole, so to speak, and mold your Grey or try to train it as you would a cat or dog (domesticated). On page 27 of the book, if you don't mind me writing some of her suggestions (they are new to me as well so my writing them is just re-instilling them before I bring my own baby home): What are some of the human behaviors that should be avoided if we are to neutralize fear and establish a critically important atmosphere of security and trust? - Isolation as a tool for behavior modification. - Laddering as an exercise in dominance or as punishment. - Jerky or unpredictable movements. - Unsteady, too large, or too slippery perches. - Dropping the bird to the floor. - "Earthquaking" or shaking the bird. - Slapping the cage. - Glaring. - Hitting the beak. - Covering the cage during non-sleep time. - Shouting. - Forcing the bird to do something he does not want to do. The consequences to the punisher as a response from the Greys (as well as other companion birds) may manifest itself as: - Withdrawal from all interactions with the punisher. - Reduction in overall responding. - Escalation or an increase in aggressive behavior. - Becoming fearful of anything that is related to or similar to the punishing situation or person. - Increasing another negative behavior or displaying unwanted behavior at a high rate in another place or circumstance. Again, this is from "For the Love of Greys" by Bobbi Brinker -- Kathy

I still cannot take my African Grey home (still not weaned) -- the one with the nibbled off 3 toes. After reading the section in "For the Love of Greys" on biting, there was some mention made of it in regards to fingers, I found that he was always focusing on my fingers. I brought a toy to do the distraction method with. The other method I tried first was placing him on my lap and not letting him have access to my hands. I appreciate all the feedback on this question. Once I bring him home, I will look again to the site and see if there are any more discussions on biting. As he doesn't know me yet, it's comforting to know that I may eventually be able to put him on my shoulder. I tried the "kissy kissy face" and he bit my cheek below my right eye. I guess "kissy kissy mamma" will come in time.

You guys are great! I love it!! {Feel-good-0002006E}

Thank you all! I'm sitting here with a huge grin on my face knowing you all are just loving your Greys (and other family member birds) just as much as I have been loving my finches and parakeets and soon-to-be-loving Grey. I will let you know the name I pick out once I get to know his personality. I hope he is not a pit bull -- :ohmy: You've all eased my mind a bit knowing that there is no right or wrong way except to set the routine on time cuddling in the beginning so he does not grow to expect this attention regularly. Just watch him grow up like a child and enjoy him as his personality blossoms through. I'm excited to have found this forum. I'll have the guy at the bird store take a picture of me and my baby so I can post it on the site. :cheer: (All of my other pictures in general have too many pixels. Any hints on how to reduce the size so that it can be uploaded?) That would be great if so! I'm going to see my baby today for an "almost-ready-to-take-him-home" visit. I'll see about that picture! Kathy (Kasia)

Hello, thank you for your warm welcome! My name is Kathy. I live in Phoenix, Arizona. I have one daughter who will be 22 this year who lives in San Francisco. I've been a medical transcriptionist for going on 23 years and working at home for the last 15. I have been enjoying finches in an indoor aviary for about 5-6 years now. I focus on owl finches but also have 2 canaries, 2 european goldfinches (one without a leg - I adopted him from Petsmart as his let got cut off by the cage door in the store - he's wonderful), 4 gouldians, 8 or so society finches, 2 spice finches, 2 strawberry finches and 2 orange cheeked waxbills. I have two parakeets also that stay in my office with me while I'm working. I am finishing up "For the Love of Greys". I wish to complete that book before bringing my baby home. I have ordered other books from Amazon.com -- a couple on Alex and how he learned the way he did. I would appreciate any feedback on the allocation of time that my Grey should stay in his cage in another room vs. how long during the day he should be on his perch inside my office. He will be in my office and I will turn around occasionally and talk and chit-chat, but for the most part he will only be hearing music in the background and my keystrokes. I have heard that it is when they are babies is when you don't want to over-cuddle or they will get accustomed to that and may become accustomed to that time frame of "play time". So, your feedback is appreciated on that as well. I will keep you all posted on when I bring my baby home (first getting the cere issue cleared up-thx). I'm all giddy on the inside like I will be bringing home a new baby. Thanks for welcoming me so warmly! :) Kathy (Kasia)

Hi, I have paid for an African Grey baby who was attacked by its parents while in the nesting box and had 3 toe tips chewed off. He is a sweetie pie baby and I have come to adore him. He will soon be weaned and I will officially be taking him home. Is this a wise purchase for a first time Grey owner. He can hold food in the affected foot. While climbing the cage bars he can get his toe to joint over for a grip, so that is not a problem. The last joint with the toenail seems to be what is missing on those 3 toes. Is it true that they adapt to their physical limitations and act normal like there is no problem. It seems to be the case with this baby Grey. I appreciate your feedback. Also, while I have your attention, each of the times I have visited him he has a slight sneeze, once I saw clear spray coming from his cere. Today I just heard the sneeze and wasn't at an angle to visualize any discharge. However, one of his cere holes looks closed up like it has white matter closing it off vs. its opposite which is clear. Concerns?? Thanks again. I look forward to hanging out with you all with my Grey. Again, first time owner and have gotten attached to this one. The price was cut in half for his purchase. Not the issue though, more concerned over trauma-induced learning disability and bird to love as my little "baby" into old age. I feel for him -- I see him doing his darndest to climb and hold food and it is just precious. His wings aren't clipped yet and he has a mighty wing flapping ability looking straight at me and I, again, am heads over heels with him but want to get some feedback before I bring him home for good. Kathy (Kasia)