Kaedyn

I have to admit, I did the same so I could watch mine from work too. What I wound up doing was creating them their own Skype account and setting Skype to automatically answer my calls with video. Now, not only can I see them, but hear them. I have a nice safari sound coming from my office. They could also see and hear me if I so desired, but I figured that was a bit too much! The camera I'm using is a Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 and the picture is quite good for a webcam.

Tickle. I just posted an article called "Bathing Our Parrots" on the Grey Forum's main page. It should help you get started down the road of bathing your new fid.

DebT, When replying below, I didn't realize that this was an old thread that was resurrected. So, I guess the real question is, how did things work out? Has he finally come around to accepting his bath or the spray bottle? ---- I don't know if this will help your current situation, but it may be beneficial over time. I've found that my greys were more accepting of the spray bottle if I warned them before it appeared. Now, before I even show them the bottle, I ask them if they "Want spray?" Then after they've fluffed up their feathers in anticipation, I lift the bottle into view and spray. Obviously their anticipation of the event came after quite a bit of time following this same regimen, day after day. I started by spraying over their heads from a distance with a bottle that created a very light mist. To them it probably appeared more like humidity than drops of water and therefore was much less offensive.<br><br>Post edited by: Kaedyn, at: 2008/08/06 21:19

As best I was able to identify him/her, I believe it's a Kentucky Warbler. Image attached.... <br><br>Post edited by: Kaedyn, at: 2008/08/06 04:51

As soon as he's capable of avoiding the local cats, I'll release him into the backyard. As friendly as he is and as much as I want every bird I see, I'm gonna have to let this one go. I don't think I'm suited to raise a bug eater. It's amazing how trusting they are when they're small. You'd think he was a pet. Based on what I've read online, this area is within his territory, but I've never seen one around until today. As soon as I get a chance, I'll post a photo. I can't tell if he's just a baby or just dazed by his crash into the window. -Jim

I managed to find some cans of small meal worms and crickets at Petco. I read that they really like grasshoppers, but the only can they had said jumbo and I was afraid they'd be bigger than him! I haven't seen him eat yet, but he does seem to be perking up a bit. For now, he's living out in the garage in a tupperware tub with a mesh top.

Thanks! We don't have any good independent pet stores nearby, but I have a PetSmart on the way home. Hopefully they'll have some critters. I offered him some water and unsalted crackers for the time being, but right now all he really wants to do is sleep.

Anyone know of a food product designed to feed a worm/bug eater? I rescued a tiny Kentucky Warbler which crashed into a window here at work. According to what I've read online, their primary diet consists of mostly worms, grasshoppers, and small spiders and I'd prefer to not have to start hunting out in the yard!

Depending on what vocalizations you want, the model/rival approach might be of some help. You wouldn't really use it for teaching cute phrases, but it can work well for identifying foods, colors, etc. This is the technique that Irine Pepperburg of the Alex Foundation uses in teaching her birds to communicate. All you need is a few toys or some food, a human assistant, and one bird. Your bird should be perched about shoulder height with the three of you sitting forming a triangle. Start by turning toward your assistant, showing them the object of interest, and asking the question, "What is this?" Assuming the object in this case is an apple, your assistant should reply "Apple". At that point, give your assistant the piece of apple--which they'll take and play up their excitement while enjoying every bite. Do this a few more times, all while your bird watches. Every now and then, have your assistant answer incorrectly. In those cases, speak a gentle "No" and briefly turn away from your assistant. As your bird's interest grows, turn toward them and ask the same question, "What is this?" If they answer--possibly fairly unintelligibly--praise them and give them a piece of apple. Chances are, it'll take a while before they attempt to answer. If after asking a few times, you don't receive a reply, turn to the human rival and repeat the process all over again. So that your bird understands that the noises you associate with a particular object aren't unique to yourself, you and your human rival should reverse roles every now and then. Just remember that as long as your bird makes even the slightest attempt to vocalize, you'll want to make sure they receive the object and praise as a reward. Of course, always encourage them to improve their vocalizations. It does take quite some time to learn new phonemes. So far, I've only worked this method with one bird, so I can't speak for how quickly you'll see results. In my case, it was lesson number two on the second day when he made his first vocalization attempt. It was closer to a grumble than speech, but it was fairly obvious what he was trying to say. Over time, his speech improved.

Well, it's official. The vet called today, she's a baby girl. Now to start working on a name.

Just keeping everyone posted.... The vet wasn't overly concerned by the single incident. She wanted details on his diet, weight, etc. I've been keeping morning and evening logs of his weight and the quantity of food eaten, so that was easy enough. The bloodwork came in on Friday and all was well. His calcium score was an 8.4, which is just under the low end of normal, which starts at 8.5. I've been putting more effort into introducing calcium rich foods, with a good calcium/phosphorus ratio. So, hopefully that'll be more within range on the next visit.

I hope this works. I am replying from my phone. . It only happened that one time. I've been spoon feeding-to avoid any aspiration problems-allowing the bird to take the food, rather than using a syringe. I guess that doesn't preclude the possibility that it was lodged in his nasal cavity. I've been checking his nares often and other than that one event, they appear to be clear. His respiratory system sounds clear, but I'll leave the final judgement on that to his vet. I'm still waiting on his bloodwork from last Wednesay's exam. Hopefully that will be good news

What are the chances that my new baby happened to sneeze up a small bit of baby bird formula about 30-45 minutes after eating? He was happily sitting on his perch when he sneezed, there was a small line of brownish paste just below his right nostril. It had the color and consistency of his food. I took a photo for the Vet and then cleaned him up. No matter the replies here, I'll be calling the vet, but I'd like to at least know how likely it is that this is typical. My other grey was a bit older than this one when I adopted him and it's amazing the difference a few weeks can make. Just when you think you've been there and done that, you realize you have no idea what to expect. I've been turned into a proxy-hypochondriac!

I just happened upon a show on Animal Planet this evening called Extraordinary Animals. The particular episode was called Smart Bird. It has several greys along with Alex and Irine Pepperberg. It's probably too late now for anyone to catch it, but like most channels, I'm sure they'll re-air it soon. I'm only about 10 minutes into it, but it appears to delve into their cognitive and speech abilities, both how and why.

He's eating solid food, so I only feed him formula in the early morning and again around dinner time. I'm trying not to force him off of the formula too soon. I figure he'll quit when he's ready. He can hear my other grey making noises in the other end of the house, which seems to help, but doesn't hold his attention for long. We visited the vet yesterday and she poked and prodded both the bird and my wallet. She seemed to be happy with his overall health, but the blood-work won't be in for a few days. She says he'll likely stop crying for food in about 7-14 days. As you can see from his video I posted in the main forum, it's not like he cries for food all day. He sort of flips back and forth between "helpless baby" and "fearless adventurer". Right now, I'm busying trying to expose him to everything I can think of that my current grey either doesn't like to eat, is afraid of, etc. The list is long, but this time I have the benefit of hindsight.

Here are a few clips I pasted into a single video of my now 13 week old baby CAG playing with his toys. Enjoy!

So, I have a 12 week old CAG. I took my first CAG home at 16 weeks, so some of the behaviors I'm seeing from the 12 week old are new to me. I just want to confirm that he/she's doing what I think and ask for recommendations on how I should respond to the bird. The first evening home you could tell he was a baby, but he was much more "mature" and playful. Today, I suppose the shock of leaving his siblings is kicking in and he's been making what I consider crying sounds. Of course, he stops while I'm busy filling him up with his baby formula or red grapes. So, I assume he's just trying to guilt me into feeding him till he can't eat another bite? I've read online that I should feed him as much as he wants, but I don't want to overdo it, or reinforce any bad behavior. I've tried distracting him with toys, but that only lasts for about 30 seconds. When I'm looking away from him and concentrating on other things, he seems to calm down a bit. Can anyone recommend a best response to his crying, for both the bird's health and mental well being? Also, a second question. We'll be visiting the vet on Wednesday, but I figured I'd ask now, so I can either feel a bit more confident that all is well, or make a bigger deal of this with the vet. At least twice now, I could swear that I saw him regurgitate some liquid from his beak. I could be wrong and it might have come from the other end, but it sure seemed like the beak. Is this also a normal behavior for a baby grey? Sorry for all the questions. It's amazing how much more mature my first gray was at 16 weeks. He didn't prepare me for this one.

Hi all, I brought home a new baby AG today and thought I'd share some video. He or she is about 12 weeks old and is my second grey. Rigel-my first-is coming up on a year old in about a week. If anyone has any wisdom on keeping and introducing two greys, now is the time to share! In return, I thought I'd share a quick video of the new baby having dinner. He's a lot more playful that he appears in this video. As he would tell you if he could, it's been a really long day. He was asleep about 10 minutes after this video was shot. -Kaedyn<br><br>Post edited by: Kaedyn, at: 2008/06/29 06:59

Rigel eats up to a quarter cup of Harrison's high potency a day. I also mix in a few (3-5) power treats Sometimes I add a bit of Zupreem to keep him from getting bored. At night when I sit down for dinner, I feed him a slice of apple, sweet potato, grapes, etc. I try to save the fresh fruits and veggies for when I am home. That way I know they are fresh and he gets to eat with the family.

Hello all! Sorry, I've been away for a bit. Thanks for the votes in the photo contest on eyes! I think both Connie and HeatherStrella were trying to guess what sort of creature owned the eyes in my photo. Connie was close when she guessed it was a turtle. I actually had a few turtles in that same photo shoot, but HeatherStrella was even closer. It's a close-up of a Caiman, which is in the crocodile family. The photo was actually taken in my living room. A friend who does a lot of work with reptiles was caring for two baby caimans, abandoned by someone who thought it would be a good idea to keep these animals as pets. -Kaedyn

Thanks for the replies! The breeder had him eating Zupreem when I picked him up. I believe his baby formula was also Zupreem, which I've always assumed was a decent brand, but maybe not as good as Harrison's. He's not a big fan of the red palm oil, but he loves the Harrison's Power Treats, which say they contain "palm oil". I'm not sure if this differs from the red variety. I've seen him cause feather damage through a variety of means, sometimes while playing and climbing on the sides of his cage. Once during the recent earthquake, he was purposely dropping to the bottom of his cage, with wings flapping. While out of the cage, I've seen him fly off his perch and bump into objects in his way, but I think that came from unskilled flight. He doesn't seem to do that anymore. He just likes to be where we are, so he's not always one to stay where he's put. That's why I wound up building him a portable perch. I've seen him break feathers while fighting with toys. Mostly, he hits them on the sides of his cage or on other objects in the cage. The breeder warned me about him before I bought him. She said he "played hard". He was the last of a huge group of babies. He either didn't click with the adopting families or they went for the birds with the bright tail feathers, with all of them in tact. Personally, I consider it their loss, since his personality has more than made up for a few missing feathers. Don't get me wrong, other than his tail and some broken primary flights, the rest of his plumage looks healthy. He likes people and isn't shy unless it's a complete stranger. I've never been bitten and I've done things, such as introduce him to a flight harness and hold him upside down while carrying him around. I've even lifted his wings and clipped some of the broken feathers myself, without much complaining on his part. He even started talking before he reached 5 months. So, I suppose the lesson here is, you shouldn't pick a bird solely based on looks? The breeder called him her favorite of the bunch. Now if only I could have my cake and eat it too. A great personality along with pretty plumage.

Rigel likes to play hard in his cage and in doing so, he's managed to break many of his primary flights. The good in this is that I don't have to worry about wing trimming. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to do as neat a job as an experienced person would do and it's a real mess when he spreads his wings. He's even broken a few of his pretty red tail feathers. Now he's only around 10 months old and I assume these are not his adult feathers. I have to think the adult feathers would be stronger. I brought him home from the breeder at around 16 weeks of age and quickly converted him to a diet of Harrison's, fruits, nuts, and vegetables. I'm hoping this will also improve the strength of his adult feathers. I see a lot of birds on this forum, which all seem to have fairly full plumage. So, I don't know if it's just the way he plays, his diet as a baby, or possibly the size and layout of his cage. His current cage is fairly cheap, but large. It measures 48h 36w and 24d. It's not overcrowded, just a few toys, food/water bowls and two concrete perches near the top. It has a rope perch which extends from the top to the lower portion of the cage, where a single wooden cage-length perch sits about a foot from the bottom. Does anyone have any insight into my broken feather issue? Are there cage and cage-bar designs that seem to contribute to breaking feathers? Is this normal for a young bird's first set of feathers?

I can't help with the plastic ball, but I use a concrete perch next to my grey's food and water, which has eliminated the need for nail trimming. I've been told by my vet that some of the trimming perches, such as those coated in sand, can cause sore feet. She recommended the all concrete version from Polly's Pet Products. It doesn't address your wing trimming issue, but should keep your bird's nails in shape at all times. http://pollyspetproducts.com/ I don't have to worry much about wing trimming, since Rigel seems to break his primaries over time, playing hard in his cage. That'll be the topic of my next post.

Over the last 3 days or so, I've noticed Rigel exhibiting a new chewing behavior. When he's just hanging out on his perch, he'll sit there and chew for hours, but there's nothing in his mouth. Here is a quick clip on YouTube which if you listen carefully you can hear him smack his tongue. Does anyone have experience with this particular behavior. Is it something to be concerned about?

Thanks Connie! The only hint I'll give at this time is, it's not a turtle.