gbdb_kcb

Woo hoo!!! So thankful for all of the great information! It makes me feel so much better!!!

oh thank you so much. I actually went to Home Depot and it is paing called FreshAire. Thank you for mentioning it, I n ever would have looked for it

Thank you all so much for your kind words and everything!!! As I sit here and start my day my little Booty Goo is singing out her window... (so cute!) Sorry side note. Laurie that is awesome about the paint! Do you know what brand it is? Thank you again all and have a great day!

Oh I know you were kidding... Let me tell you as soon as I read your second to last email, I said "awwww" then you wrote the last one and boy did I ever "ooooh and awwww" Omg, how sweet!!!!! I love the pic where she is resting her head on your shoulder! Thank you so much for your advice and you know what, right before I get your message, I told my husband, "in our next house, we are going to have a bird room." As we havent purchased a new house nor have sold our present house. I will keep in mind an extra room off of the living room so the bird room is not isolated! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! Big kisses to your winged family and baby Millie. Sooooooo cute

Hi! I am Booty's Mom, she is 11 months old. She had a Vitamin A deficiency when she was young, our vet shared his Macaws diet with us and we adopted the same. Her Vitamin A deficiency has cleared up (she lost feathers around her ears) and she loves the pellets that he suggested. Basically, I shred fresh squash, zucchini, carrots and sweet potatoes daily. Put them in a container, shake them up and then fill one of her bowls with the veggies. The other bowl gets filled with her pellets, Roudybush. She absolutely loves them. I do this twice daily. Morning and night and then I will cut up chunks of veggies for her to play with and pick at. She does not get any other type of food except for this. She seems very happy. Our vet explained that fruit is basically candy, so it should be few and far between, also that some treats or food, may say it is 100% a daily food supplement, but tends not to be. I had to try with many different veggies with Booty, then I found a good mix. I switch them up alot so she does not get bored. Some days sweet potato, carrots and broccoli. The next day squash and zucchini and so forth. Anyway, that is my two cents. Ha. Dont give up just keep trying...

omg no, I LOVE Joolie's accent. Funny thing, she is teaching me as well as Booty, English. The appropriate English compared to American English. Joolie will say one thing in her accent and then repeat it Americanized, and oh my, how it sounds. I cant say banana, cant, progress or schedule anymore the American way. No my friend, I wish I could live there. I have always had a love for your country! Thank you so much for the advise. Yes, I will stay over at a friends house. I would rather be over safe than worry. Thank you so much for your Barley condolences. Interesting thin, the day that Barley passed, Booty did not say one word, or the day that we brought his urn home. Bill (my husband) and I were of course a mess. I think Booty felt it, or maybe she was grieving a bit herself. Thank you so much for your advice. I was actually going to email you 'love my grey's', I noticed you have a Blue & Gold Macaw. We are contemplating a Harlequin Macaw for our next family memeber. How does your household get along? Do you mind if I ask, why you chose a Blue & Gold Macaw. Sorry if I am being nosy. I want to get as much information as possible. Very best to you Leigh

Hi all, It is Booty's mommy again. Sorry I have been away for a while, but our 12 year old lab fell very ill about 6 weeks ago and it has been an emotional rollercoaster. I am sorry to say that our sweet boy Barley passed away a week and a half ago:,,,( The pain is so terrible, that is all I can say for now. ....... I am concerned about Booty though. She and Barley were buddies, she seems to be ok, just when we leave now, she crawls all over her cage as if to get attention to keep us at home. Not sure what to do. I know eventually we want to get another bird, but financially we cant at this time. We do leave the radio on during the day and she has a great shady window to look out of. I just didnt know if you all could recommend any behaviors that I should keep a look out for. On a cute note, have I told you all that she says "I'm Booty Goo!" to everyone! Ha ha. That is usually our wakeup call, and she is almost saying ...almost there saying "I'm Booty Goo, who are you?!" For being 11 months I think that is great, yeah? She also says "hellooOOoo" in our houseguest's accent (british) she says HUR-RAH! (taught by our houseguest (British Joolie:) She says Huh?, we are not thrilled about that one, and "ooohh" in a very sympathetic voice, ha ha, also Woo! very monotone. It is so cute. Woo. We arethinking maybe from the owls outside not sure. She mimics the coffee maker beeps (really not happy about that one, ha) and she mimics all types of birds that fly around the Florida Keys. Sorry about that side note, just had to smile. So, we are trying to sell our house and need to paint our bathroom. SHould I take Booty over to a friends house and stay with her next weekend? Remember guys I am OVERLY cautious. We make all of our own house cleaners now, just for her. No one can blow dry their hair in our house and absolutley no aeorosils, oil, fragrance, etc.... Ha. Any advice on the type of paint, the length of time that she should be out of the house and anything else would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all so much. Oh, and we are hoping to move to Charleston, SC. Is anyone from there? Have a great day everyone! Leigh & Booty <br><br>Post edited by: gbdb_kcb, at: 2008/08/10 17:10

I will do that sometime today:) Our 12 year old lab is not having a good day so it will be a little later, but will do:)

OMG!!! LOVE THAT YOU POSTED THIS!!!!!!! :)

WOW!!! I am so happy to hear all the trials. I think they may have small bags, I am not sure about samples but I dont see why they wouldnt. Booty LOVES the medium pellets!!! Like I said before she holds them in her foot like a person who is noshing on an apple. Oh and our dog gobbles up the once that she drops or throws away and he is very picky, so.... They are prob pretty good. Oh and I fill up her dish about 3/4 full in the morning and by dinner most of them are gone!!!! Whoo hoo! Please let me know if Dayo likes them! OMG she is sitting on her back perch (perch on the back of her cage next to her window) saying "I'm Booty Goo!" that is new the part the "i'm". Ha ha. Had to share:)

PLEASE KEEP US POSTED!!! MY thoughts and prayers are with you!!!

:angry: You know I am so upset over this and I know I want to live in a world where everything and everyone are taken care of and are not abandoned or live in fear. Seriously though, I hope this beautiful baby finds a wonderful home! I cannot state it enough, regarding what type of animal you purchase, EDUCATE yourself on the breed. An animal is a PART of the family once it is brought into your home. IT RELYS ON YOU!!!! If you dont have the lifestyle or temperment or what have you for the type of parrot, or animal you are getting. DONT GET IT!!!! I am just so tired of hearing the excuses about not being able to keep an animal. Just so tired. Sorry if I ranted, but seriously everyone should have to have a license and home check. My sister has personally rescued over 3000 dogs and cats in the past eight years and some times you just say "enough is enough." Please think and educate yourself the next time you want to purchase ANY type of living being. Please. Good luck and I hope and pray that your little one finds a wonderful home!<br><br>Post edited by: gbdb_kcb, at: 2008/07/05 18:46

Hi all, It has been a while since I last posted and I am sorry for that. I have gotten a very FT job and as I always say, WORK gets in the way of my social life. Ha. Anyway, it has been about 3 months since we took our Booty to Dr. Mader about her missing feathers around her neck, but mostly her ears. She was scratching alot and as you all may or may not remember, he diagnosed her with a Vitamin A deficiency. He gave me a diet to stick with, and basically said the diet he was giving me was what he keeps his Macaw on all the time. I was told veggies, pellets and more veggies and pellets. AND let me tell you, OH MY her feathers are growing in like crazy. I will soon take a pic. The feathers around her ears almost cover up her ear holes now and she is always having little pin feathers coming in. My girl will be 10 months on July 10th and she is singing and whistling up a storm and her first word was "Booty Goo" meaning Booty Girl, but I shorten it and call her Booty Goo. SO CUTE!!!!!!! Anyway, I hope this is not advertising a website, I dont mean to if it is as I am not going to say the specific website, but the change and the story that I have regarding the pellets that Booty is, I think is very important for all Grey owners to know. Ok, so our vet, advised us to give Booty pellets and veggies. The pellets that he suggested was "Roudybush." He suggested "Roudybush" because when he was in college to become a vet (he was specializing in Exotic pets actually he travels the world educating other vets regarding exotic animals) and from what I remember his roomate was studying to be a vet but specializing in the nutrition of animals. I will now land the plane. Basically our vet bred African Greys to study but also to help pay for college. While our vet was raising, his roomate was experimenting with food for them. Thus, ROUDYBUSH came to pass. So, Roudybush was created based on our vets own Greys. You can beat that. Our vet told us before we tried them, "they are plain to look at but mix them in with veggies and good to go". Let me tell you all being a VERY overprotective mother. We tried ROUDYBUSH and Booty eats them like it is going out of style. I give her a bowl of Roudybush and a bowl of veggies and she mixes them together herself, going back and forth, she will also sit on her cage door and have a nosh. She looks like a little man sitting there chomping on an apple!. Needless to say, she loves them. So if you are having anytime of deficency problems maybe give it a try. I was told that it has everything they need in terms of vitamins. I was giving her another form that stated the same thing prior to her feathers falling out, now I dont know if it is because the statement is untrue or if it is because she didnt like them. I didnt mean for this to be negative or push anyone either way, but I feel like I had to let all of you know my experience with this. Best of luck to all and many prayers to keep our little babies and ourselves healthy, happy & safe:) Leigh & Booty Goo:)

Awwww, thank you all so much for your kind words, care and concern for my little girl:) It means so much! I will keep you all posted on her progress! At this moment she is very angry with us as we tried to get her to take her medicine through a siringe (sp?) placed in her mouth, uh, no that is not going to happen at the moment.... We will try again in a little while... --- Dan, her vet said that the missing pappila is a sign of vit a deficiency and should return to normal once we get her vit a back to where it needs to be. Again, I will keep you all posted on everything. Thank you all again so much:) Leigh

Hi everyone, I dont know if you all remember but my Nittles whose name is now "Booty" I kept calling her that and now her little head pops up when I say BOOTY, oh and we had her DNA tested and she is a little GIRL!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, as you may or may not know, my Booty has been missing feathers around her ears, it started on one side and then began on the next and now it seems to be a little on the top of her head. I spend every day with her so it was not picking. She is 7 months old by the way. Today we went to see her doctor Dr. Doug Mader (love him btw) he is known for his treatment of birds and exotics, so yay:) Makes me feel a lot better than the previous vet I went to. We walked in and he gave Boots a complete exam. Looked in her ears, around ears, and down her throat. He said that her ears and surrounding areas were irritated and that she was missing lower left Pappila?!?! I am sure I mispronounced that word, but basically where we have tonsils, our babies have hair, so she is missing some on the bottom left side of her throat. With all of this considered he seems to think that she may have a Vitamin A deficiency. He seems to think that her irritation is systemic. SO, we are going to start there. She recieved a Vitamin A shot today and he also gave her an antibiotic that she needs to take twice a day. I am praying and feel very confident that this is what it is. So for all of you who pray, please say a Get Well Prayer for my Booty. Also her Dad and I have already been to the store to get plenty of veggies filled with Vit. A. Squash, Spinach, Sweet Potatoes and Carrots. Please advise if you know more. To sum up, he wants me to call him a week from Monday for an update, then have her come back in the following Saturday for another shot and we should be good to go. He also said that Vit A is processed through your liver so once the levels are up, they are up, it is not like it will go back down unless of course she stops having Vit A. Just wanted to let you all know, cause I know me and I am excessive and neurotic and if I were just randomly reading a story like mine I would start to give her more A and that is not good either. Just and FYI. Anyway, again, I cant thank you all enough for all of your help with my Boots. She is my first African Grey and she is the Apple of my Eye:):) I wanted to pass on my update it is always good to know new bits of info to help our babies. Thank you so much again all:) Leigh

OH thank you so much! I am going to get one tomorrow! I appreciate it more than you know.

I definitely will!!! We go see the real doctor next week, so I will keep everyone informed!!! I am going to try to give her a real bath tomorrow, we have been spraying her every other day with George's Aloe Vera Juice and it doesnt seem to be helping. I am going to get the gel tomorrow. I will let you all know and thanks for all of the helpful advice!

Thank you so much!!!

Dan you know, I feel the same way about the "in training" doc. Funny thing is you pay the same amount as the trained doc so what is that?! Thanks so much for your post. She is very happy and loves to eat, ha, I cant believe such a little baby bird can hold such a HUGE part of my heart!!! Have a great day!

Hi Everyone, It has been a while since I posted, I was waiting to see if my Booty's feathers started to grow back and alas, no. I am not sure if the image attached or not. My Nittles Bird aka (Booty:) has been scratching at her ears and feathers are disappearing. I took her to the vet and the vet in training (which I did not know at the time as it was my first time there) checked in her ears and didnt see any infection or inflamation and checked the area around her ears and did not see anything. He did give me medicine to put on her ears and we have been able to do so some of the time, but whenever we go to put the drops on her, she becomes a boxer and her head starts to bob and weave.(any ideas on an easier way?) My question is, has anyone seen anything like this before. I am scheduled to go see the original doctor next week, but just wanted to see if anyone has an idea. PS. I thought it may be dry skin because she hates baths. Since then though I soak her with Aloe Juice and Water. Do you think if I put Aloe Gel on her blank patch if that would be ok? Also, I heard the putting diluted GSE on it would kill any bacteria.Has anyone heard of that or putting some aloe juice or gse in her water. Please advise! My little Booty is very happy, sings and is trying to talk, plays with her toys everything. I work from home so I am with her all day and her entire cage is cleaned with water and GSE. If anyone knows anything I would appreciate it. Thanks so much! Leigh:)

Hi Everyone, It has been a while since I posted, I was waiting to see if my Booty's feathers started to grow back and alas, no. I am not sure if the image attached or not. My Nittles Bird aka (Booty:) has been scratching at her ears and feathers are disappearing. I took her to the vet and the vet in training (which I did not know at the time as it was my first time there) checked in her ears and didnt see any infection or inflamation and checked the area around her ears and did not see anything. He did give me medicine to put on her ears and we have been able to do so some of the time, but whenever we go to put the drops on her, she becomes a boxer and her head starts to bob and weave.(any ideas on an easier way?) My question is, has anyone seen anything like this before. I am scheduled to go see the original doctor next week, but just wanted to see if anyone has an idea. PS. I thought it may be dry skin because she hates baths. Since then though I soak her with Aloe Juice and Water. Do you think if I put Aloe Gel on her blank patch if that would be ok? Also, I heard the putting diluted GSE on it would kill any bacteria.Has anyone heard of that or putting some aloe juice or gse in her water. Please advise! My little Booty is very happy, sings and is trying to talk, plays with her toys everything. I work from home so I am with her all day and her entire cage is cleaned with water and GSE. If anyone knows anything I would appreciate it. Thanks so much! Leigh:) Post edited by: gbdb_kcb, at: 2008/03/28 21:06<br><br>Post edited by: gbdb_kcb, at: 2008/03/28 21:09

Thanks All for everything!

OMG!!! I just saw this and have to respond! I do everything to spoil my "Nittles Bird" yes, that is her name, I started calling her that and it stuck, so her middle name is Bird. Our dog's middle is Dog so there you go. Anyway, I am not a cook at all; however, I cook for my Nittles. My husband is always like "wow, she gets better meals than I do..." ha. Also, I go to the grociery store just for her, there is a NO AVOCADO rule for the house. No non-stick pans or non-stick anything. No arisols of any kind. I could go one but I already sound a little crazy. Oh, and I had a 10 day vacation planned and cut it 5 days short cause I missed her so much. Dont worry, you are not alone. It is nice to hear how spoiled pets are, they deserve it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Awwwww. That is awesome! How cute is Elmo!!! My Nittles is trying to talk. She is 5 months. She gets this real low voice and I think she is trying to say "Good Birdie" I think... I will keep you posted and CONGRATS!!!!!!

WOW!!! My Nittles Bird was awesome through the party!!! We left her cage in the living room with her door open (of course:) and she pretty much just stayed inside and watched everyone come and go and talk to her. I did however come up with a really fun game "Find the Green Bean" in one of her toys, which kept her VERY busy for hours. So, I am happy to say, she survived her first human gathering... and I SURVIVED.... Ha. I am so protective of her. I have rules and luckily great friends who understand my neurosis and my rules... But I have to say, she is doing very well with new people. Someone tried to invade her space when I was not there and she gave a LOUD CHIRP, I walked into the room and said "Yeah, she is saying get away from me man, your buggin me!" ha. So... thank you all for everything. I cant tell you how thrilled I am about this site! My husband and I will talk or have a question about something regarding "Nittles" and he will say... "Ask your forum, I am sure someone will know..." So THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!