Fletcher

Congratulations!! theres a lot of good articles on Greys on this site.Its not to early to start preparing.I only had Fletcher for 11 days an hes only 16 weeks old but ive gained enought info here to have had him for years!!

That is the best article i have ever read on parrot diet .That article mirrors the way i have been feeding Fletcher,but i must say that it started at the breeders farm and i just continued .I have added a few pellets from Harrisons to his diet something the breeder didnt do.He eats a snack on the kabob of fruits an vegetables and he does usualy eat ever bit.Theres rarely Ever any food left over by his next feeding,plus i hand feed him 1 meal at nite. Thanks

Curios as to how you came up with the name Shaka zulu that guy was a mad man hope that reptile doesnt turn out like him LOL.

i should knock on wood Fletcher eats every thing i put in his cage at 16 weeks i think hes doing very good.I did however had to find out that he likes broccoli stalks better than the dark green part ,good cause i like the green parts myself,LOL.I do however put his kabob with his veggies in his cage in the morning and by the time i get home from work its gone.I ve had him for 10 days he still wont let me pick him up but he eats like a garbage disposal.

I would also like to know more about the insurance ,as my vet drives a Porche.The only good thing is its at the end of my street.Hope your birds dont have to suffer because your insurers are bailing out that sucks.I work with insurers every single day ,trust me there job is to bring the money in not pay it out so choose wisely,,Ps if your insured by a little lizzard with a tv spot its all hype..

Keep your eye on his eating habits as a lot of chest flops could lead to digestive track injuries.usually there eating will slow down and there stool will be black in color an it wont show up on any well bird check ups or blood test.Do you track his weight if not thats a good idea as its a key to lots of injuries. Good Luck Sam

Yep i would have to agree that birdtricks.com is the preimere site on the web right now but it does come with a cost i have almost all of there dvd"s and tho i havent used them as of yet ,because Fletcher is only 16 weeks old an not ready i have read a lot of the manuals an iam impressed,if you do choose them keep track of your trial periods cause they will!!!I do think its worth the money i paid for it ,theres at least thirty if not more different tricks in there and there still comming.Bad clips suck hopfully by the time they grow back he wont be a flight risk and you can let him keep em!!Fletcher lives in a large macaw cage so he has had a few falls,so i gave him more perches than a tree so he can slowly gain his stability,his faverite thing is to hang from the top of his cage by his beck,but since he only has 3 flights clipped he can usually flap his fat butt back up,LOL.The breast bone is most impacted by bad clips on a new and young bird so added care is needed on your part to keep him from hurting himself.Some books advocate a smaller cage for very young greys ,I just cant see buying a smaller cage so i went with the perches galore. Good luck, Sam

Ive been havin a lot of fun doing different foods and eating a little healther myself.I use a combination of Tropimix hulled seeds and nuts and vegetables.and some Harrisons hi pro.He also likes broccoli stems,apples ,peas, peanut butter on wheat bread well its probally alot easier to say what he doesnt like, huh Nothing. Hes pretty much a eating machine,plus i still handfeed him his formula at night before he gets his snack.Oh yea he likes some finger thrown in.I dont use any meats or eggs but i see some do, personally Iam trying to rid my own diet of those two things.Bottom line is Fletcher will eat anything you put in front of him,did i mention fingers so i just try an make sure its the best..

One thing i dont see in all the advice i think would help is to also practice putting you finger over your birds feet as to secure it in the upside down position,remember an oz. of prevention is worth a pound of cure,imagine the lost trust of a dropped bird on its head ,,,ouch Try luring your bird into position with bits of its favorite treat, holding it over and slighty behind his head forcing him to hold his head back to get the treat..Sam:silly:

Thanks Fletch is home an seems to be fine .He is very skittish but that is also understandable.One thing for sure this bird will be one talking CAG i can understand a lot of the things he is trying to say,hello ,apple are some of the clearest words and some i havent made out yet.He is very clumsy but hes slowly learning how to manuver around his large home.He doesnt trust me at this time but iam sure that will change as he setles into his new home.He does eat very well and seems to enjoy playing with all his toys .Iam about to give him his nightly hand feeding,,Thanks Sam

Well thanks all for the concern as soon as i finished typing the last post of mine the airport calls an tells me that they had the bird and that it was all a mix up .Iam sure they were worried about his welll being but thats not really an excuse for losing a bird especially with gas as high as it is i was really pissed that as soon as i got back home they found him so i rushed right back up an got him ,I did make the guy let me here the bird before i left home as iam sure rocket scientist dont work in cargo. Thanks Sam

Well Fletcher was suppose to be on the plane at 5:29 eastern time but guess what no bird only a bunch of idiots at the airport blamming it on the last stop,how classic.Its going to be pretty cold here tonite so i am concerned with the well being of my baby bird.Anybody ever have this problem and what coarse did you take,will the chilly weather have any effect on the health of the bird,low is going to be 39* tonite plus no one knows where he is ,i do have the breeder in on it she is going to try an trace it back from Atlanta(last stop).Can i hold the airport responsible for the well being of the bird or any vet bill this might cause.Anything i should know? Thanks Sam

Hopfully iam note stepping on any toes as that is not my goal but a few things i would have to disagree on .I dont think many birds eat what they need more like eat what they want,probally why we have to tip toe threw most food changes.Anyone doing or planning to do any training needs to have a far greater perseption of the effects of food training and as a former Schuthund trainer i can tell you starving your poor bird until he does a half cartwheel is not good.Now the book actually sez first cosult your vet before ,after an during this training which is A1 advice so far.Next the book actually sez NO bird will be able to do all these tricks ,more like you have to know your birds strong points and you choose the tricks that focus on your birds intel.I havent come across anything about biting in my tapes or the book but i would think if you need instructions on how to get YOUR bird to stop bitting YOU your not ready to teach it any tricks at all.The new Bird Talk sez bird owners are the least likely pet owners to be sitting in the vets office if so how can you tell if that big old bowl of food is so good for your bird and please dont tell me he looks healthy,that in know way is vet approved. I can see my vets office from my front door and i suspect when Fletcher finally does arrive they will see a lot of each other,thats a big part of love for your pets (all of them)What i liked most about Fletchers breeder and why i cose her is the fact that the money meant little to her she clearly spells that out and i must agree the bird comes first so at no time would starving my Fletcher so as to perform tricks is unacceptable.I ve been bitten everywhere a bite suit doesnt cover by some pretty rought guard dogs in the end even they have to know it nothing but love. Imagine having to suck that in for trainings sake. Bird tricks arent for everyone they just want you to think that.(sellin tapes)I most surely will keep you guys and gals posted on his results but i suspect it will take some time to achieve.{Feel-good-000200BB}

Sorry about the pictures it said they were to large i have to figure out how to size them down and your correct those are the only pictures i have as Fletcher is still weaning, i have 2 weeks to go!! those were taken by the breeder and posted on her site @ royalbirdcompany.com under available babies.. and thats him in my avatar.

Hello siobha9 thats my thinking how ever what i got out of them was the fact that they lead somewhere , i also thought 2 weeks yea right!Initualy purchasing what i thought was there basic kit that is what i thought,30 days later after which i found out (my fault)i just auto purchased the whole thing or a good portion of the whole thing,I called them and gave them a piece of my mind, then i proceeded to watch the tapes that i had purchased,i gotta say i am amazed theres a lot more tricks and they were very understandable of course ial have to prep this to the way Fletcher thinks and his attenion span but i look forward to the Best he's got, i love a good plan of attack.Fletcher only recieved pellets from the breeder so any change i make will be vet supervised as far as other foods go even tho ive always heard that there good for your bird i dont want to make his diet unbalanced.There is a complete DVD on there training diet i havent looked at it yet but soon i will.And of course a grey probally has to think the whole thing is his idea,but we shall see. Your grain of salt observation is duely noted.Yes very slow like a chess game i cant wait:) Thanks for the reply.