Kaedyn

I know this isn't grey specific, but I wanted to make sure the most eyes caught this thread. For those who don't already subscribe to Bird Talk magazine, Amazon is running a special of $10.00 for a one year subscription. It's $13.99 on the product page and they discount $3.99 at checkout. If you look carefully at the top of the product page, you'll see a small blurb about their magazine promotion. To contrast, it's normally $19.97 if you use the card inside the magazine and $59.88 if you buy 12 individual copies (US prices).

My personal preference would be to have a friend look after my fids. If you don't want anyone in your house, maybe there is someone you trust that will allow your bird and cage in their house? If neither of the options above are viable, then I would leave mine with the vet. I've not used their services, but I've inquired about them and unlike many pet stores, they require that all visiting pets have proof of a recent examination, in which they were deemed healthy. The big fear any time you bring your fids around other birds is transmission of deadly disease, many of which are airborne. The other reason I would recommend the vet over a pet store is that the vet knows how to handle an emergency, should anything go wrong. Look at it this way. If you were to suffer a critical injury, where else would you want to be than the hospital?<br><br>Post edited by: Kaedyn, at: 2009/01/11 22:23

Since we were on the topic, I posted this as a question for Irine Pepperburg on the recent Parrot Talks teleconference. It turned out to be the first listener question they asked her. As Jan pointed out, Irine said that 90 percent were left footed. She also said that Alex was a lefty, Griffin is ambidextrous, and Arthur (Wart) was forced to use his good foot, since his other sustained an injury.

We removed the leg band from my parent's timneh back in the 80s. In his case, he had an open band, since it was placed on him when he was imported into the U.S. We toweled him and carefully removed it with two pair of vice grips. He'd worn it for quite a while, but we felt he'd be more comfortable without it. Most birds that have been banded as babies have solid bands, which can't be removed in the same way. Many are aluminum, but some are stainless steel, making it even more difficult. You could probably remove it using a Dremel tool, but I'd recommend having the vet perform the removal. They have more experience, better tools, and if something goes wrong, no time is lost in treating the injury. Neither of my two greys have ever been banded. My vet recommends "chipping" them instead for legal identification.

The King's is VERY large for a travel cage. It's designed for extended stays. The cage Judy recommended would be perfectly fine for shorter stays and is easier on the wallet. It would even work well for longer stays if they spent most of their time out of the cage.

If you can get past the price, the King's large aluminum travel cages are so nice, you might replace your primary cage with them. I have two of them and am very pleased. They lock together like Legos and come apart easily without any tools. http://birdsupplysales.ashopcart.com/catalogue.php?exp=26|&cat=33&shop=1 Scroll down the page and look for model #. ATM2029

Mine are both lefties. If you are interested, do a Google search for Dr. Peter Snyder. He did one of the more recent and comprehensive studies on parrots footedness and speaking abilities. If I recall, the majority of them are lefties. I'd post a link, but I'm replying from my phone and it would be a major ordeal to do so. Maybe someone here would be so kind as to do so?

I was curious how many people have two or more greys, or other birds, that wander in and out of each other's cages? My Sierra is always on or in Rigel's cage, eating his food and playing with his toys. He doesn't seem to care at all. At times they are in the cage together. He just doesn't like when she tries to take the food that's already in his beak! The funny thing is, he has the same food and toys in his cage that she has in her's, but somehow, his are better.

Don't be ashamed. You are now in the unique position that you can speak from experience when others raise the same question. They work really hard at making their product appear legitimate.

I've actually read that thread that Dave is talking about where Chet apologized and explained that at the time he didn't know what he knows now about bird training, which in my opinion isn't much. His marketing had always screamed SCAM to me and that thread really confirmed my suspicions. If I remember correctly, his early training included brilliant concepts, such as withholding food from your bird in order to encourage them to learn tricks using treats.

What you are describing doesn't sound uncommon. My youngest grey, Sierra, never knew anything about cages when I got her. She was used to being "free" in a large room or aviary. So, her initial reactions to being in a cage were about how you describe. She would scratch at the cage bars and twist herself in all sort of positions. It was no secret that she didn't want to be in there. She wanted to be with her flock. All I did was ignore it and she eventually got the hint. I also made sure she had plenty of toys and foraging opportunities to occupy her time. Another thing that helped, in my case, is that her cage is in it's own room, so I wasn't constantly in sight.

I'm happy to hear you enjoyed your trip and it's nice to have you back!

I don't know how you managed it Judy and I'm not talking about the rollercoasters. I have trouble making it through the day at work without the company of my fids. I even created them their own Skype account so I could check in on them when I found time.

The full spectrum lamp simulates being out in the sun where they would be exposed to UV light. Our fids have what they call tetrachromatic vision, which means that they have cones in their eyes which see in not only red, green, and blue, but also ultraviolet. Hence, when kept indoors as pets, it's the equivalent of us seeing only two of the three primary colors. Imagine going through life without green? To look outside and not see the green grass or trees might seriously effect your mood and outlook on the world. Being near the window won't help unless the window is open, since modern glass blocks UV light. Only what we call the visible spectrum gets through. Even a fine mesh can block UV light, so the screen on some windows could also be a problem. Along with the need to see in the UV spectrum, the second benefit is that UVB plays a key role in the production of vitamin D3. D3 is necessary for the absorption and metabolism of calcium. So, just feeding foods high in calcium may not be enough, as was my case with Rigel. Even 20 minutes of natural sunshine a week wasn't enough. In the wild, he'd be receiving hours of sunshine a day, so the UVB produced by his lamp is a way to supplement what he's missing. Of course the lamp can only put out a fraction of the UV light that he'd receive from the sun, so the lamp has to be in close proximity to him.<br><br>Post edited by: Kaedyn, at: 2008/12/12 05:38

If you switch it to the other side of Talon's cage, does she just change sides? Mine are in the cage while I'm at work, so they get plenty of time with their light. I did consider getting one of the hanging versions and placing it just overhead of their play stand. If your crew spend a lot of time in one area while out of the cage, that might be an option for you.

Thanks for the comments and karma! Rigel was afraid of his lamp when he first encountered it. I took a bit of a risk and mounted it over his food bowl when he was out of the room. He didn't growl at it, but he did sit on the opposite side of his cage for a bit. Eventually (two hours) he got hungry and decided to be brave and sneak over for some food. By about day three, he didn't seem to care anymore. I purchased mine directly from Featherbrite, but I'm sure there are resellers. You might possibly find it cheaper. They have even fancier models than what I got, but I just wanted something simple. They also have light/timer packages, but I picked up a digital timer from Home Depot for around $10. http://www.featherbrite.com/ecommerce/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2

I agree whole heartedly with Dan here. I won't even allow friends or family to repeat words or phrases without context. It would be such a waste of a brilliant mind to do so. Out of the top five (probably three) most intelligent animals in the world, your grey is the only one the average person will ever get to keep as a companion. Elephants and dolphins just tend to be impractical.

A few weeks ago, I replied to a post about nutrition and mentioned that despite a diet of Harrison's high potency pellets, palm oil, eggs (with shell), veggies, and other foods high in calcium, Rigel's yearly bloodwork showed that he was hypocalcemic. He's not in a danger zone, but also not where he should be. I should also mention that he was outside in the sun for at least 20 minutes a week before the weather turned too cold for that to be practical. Well, we will be returning to the vet for follow up bloodwork in a few months, but in the mean time, I bought him a Featherbrite full spectrum lamp with a timer. I placed it over his food bowl and not far from where he likes to hang out during the day. It runs for three hours, starting at noon each day. Obviously, I have no way to know if his calcium levels are improving, but I thought I'd comment on the changes I've seen so far. For starters, his feathers are looking healthier and richer in color. He's become more talkative and he's also consistently more cheerful. He's also become much more forgiving of where and how people touch him. Is it all due to the lamp? Well, there really is no way to know for sure, but it is awfully coincidental. I suppose if his calcium levels have improved by the next vet visit, it'll lend more credibility to the theory.<br><br>Post edited by: Kaedyn, at: 2008/12/11 05:37

As Lyric said, that's just what birds do. I prefer to keep a grate between my greys and their paper that way they don't wind up walking in their droppings. My preference is for three to six inches between them and the paper. Then I provide them with clean paper, wood, and "shreaders" to satisfy their need to destroy things. B)

That's what's going on. Her husband posted the initial thread and she posted the followup for clarification.

Yup! She's a good looking bird. Congrats on your adoption. Please keep us posted on her progress over the next few days.

Four months is still very young. Don't try to rush things. Has he completely weened off of his baby formula? As in, did you continue to offer it to him until he refused it? Also has he had his first visit with an avian vet? I'm just trying to get an idea of your situation, so that we can offer you the right advice. At first glance it sounds as if he's just doing what babies do and crying to mom for food and/or attention. They tend to outgrow this stage fairly quickly, but it's also a time in their development that's very important to get right.

That's about the same pattern I experienced with my first grey, Rigel. He was sweet with everyone until somewhere around 8 or 9 months old. That's when he started reacting to anyone and everyone that wasn't me. It's just part of growing up and bring a grey. He was especially that way with people he knew. Those were the people who had reacted to his biting and he knew he could get away with it. He was less likely to do so with strangers, since he had no idea how they'd react, but once they reacted, it was all over. Now, I'm not going to tell you that he never bites anymore, but it really started to taper off when he hit around 13 months. You are likely going to have to put up with a little pain and let him know that his biting just isn't going to work. That's what I told one of my best friends who used to be able to handle him before that magic 9 month mark. Take the bite and don't react. Don't immediately put him down after the bite. That's exactly what he wants. Also, take advantage of the good moods. Rigel is most forgiving at night when he's tired. That's when my brave friends would push their luck and touch him. I also made a point to hand him off to other people, so that he might catch on that this met my approval. I let them feed him treats and when I caught him biting them, I'd be the one to tell him "no". I'd also be the one to praise him when he put up with their touching, without biting. You could see that he wanted to, but he knew that I didn't approve. I socialized him with every person I could that was willing to take the risk and not react when it happened. So, now he's 17 months and I'm not saying that he will snuggle with anyone other than me or that others can touch him in the "off limit" locations, such as under his wings, but they can touch him. He's perfectly content sitting on their arm when we're gathered around the TV. Of course, any time I am in the room he does have a preference for me, but sometimes I just don't allow him to come over. Another thing I did was to have friends play with his box of foot toys. He'd eventually want to get in on the fun, and to do so, he had to initiate the interaction. I didn't do this that much, but the few times I did, it seemed to work. He's definitely made a lot of progress over these months. I recently took a trip to visit with family and brought the fids along. There were many family members that they'd never met. We all crowded around the portable cages and passed parrots from arm to arm. Although I warned them that he was likely to bite, he never did. All of the positive socialization over many months was paying off.

Judy is absolutely right; you don't get a choice in the matter. Just bear in mind that the worst thing your wife can do is to back off. Your grey may never be as close with her as he is with you, but that doesn't mean that they can't have their own relationship without the biting. She just has to keep working towards that goal.

Rigel and Sierra both seem to use the voice of the person/bird that they learned a particular phrase from. They also tend to use the tone and inflection commonly used for that particular phrase. Since Rigel is all about business, the majority of the tones he uses are everyday speak in my voice or that of anyone else in the house. Sierra being the more outwardly affectionate one who sits close on my shoulder, repeats phrases in a more quiet tone. That's because, it's what she's used to when I turn my head her way and talk to her. As of late, they've both started learning phrases from each other. Rigel has learned Sierra's "Whatcha doin?" and repeats it in her quiet and higher pitched voice. I say the same phrase around him in a normal voice, so I'm not sure if he feels that he needs to copy her because she gets attention when she says it, or if he just hears it from her all day while I am at work and assumes it to be a Sierra original. Sierra will repeat many of Rigel's phrases in his voice (being either mine or anyone else in the house). It's humorous too, since right in the middle of her quiet and high pitched speech, she'll throw in a growling deep bass sounding word and then right back to the higher pitch. The only downside to each of them learning phrases from each other is that they are both still learning to articulate clearly. Hence, any phrase that they pick up from the other is just a bit less accurate than the original.