sugarbeth

I have gotten a harness shipped from them directly with no problem. Could it be stuck in customs?

Was it an avian vet? What exactly did they do to test out your bird's health? I remember reading somewhere (I can't remember where) someone's grey was plucking their neck and there was some sort of crop infection. What's the humidity like in your house? You may want to invest in a whole-house humidifier for the cold winters. Good luck!

I have a great link about this. It's kind of an urban legend about the zinc. http://www.theparrotuniversity.com/papertowels.php

Annmarie~ it's great to see your post, because I am in the same situation, and I haven't brought it up yet. I came here to research greys as well, and spent the past year getting ready to bring one home. Then I went and met a few in person, and talked with some owners who were giving their pets away, and I realized that a grey wasn't quite what I was looking for. It is a HUGE commitment, and should not be entered into impulsively. So you've done great to do all the investigating beforehand. Someone told me once, "sometimes you have to walk all the way up to the edge of the cliff before you make the decision not to jump off". I'm glad I didn't jump into getting a grey too quickly, because I've since fallen in love with the little Hahn's macaws, and also, I really hate to dust! The eclectus are super cute, I think that'll be a great bird for your family. I still love those greys, but I will just admire them from afar now. Hopefully I'll get my Hahn's this summer.

We have two flighted budgies and I think the key like others have said is to have a lot of designated spots for them to hang out on. Our boys have the run of the house 24/7 for the most part, but they really only go from their cage to the boing to the tree perch and that's it. They are only semi-tame, though. They might be more curious about the rest of the house if they were more comfortable. But it's really not bad at all keeping them flighted - the poop pretty much stays in those particular spots.

I would say get a few of each kind and then see what your grey likes. I've picked up shredding toys, foraging toys, toys made of coconut, yucca, cornhusks, wood, leather and a couple of plastic ones. Mostly I've collected foraging toys that can be refilled and destroyable toys that can be replenished. Also lots of foot toys. The grey that I played with at the store recently really liked those cardboard rings (birdie bagels) to hold and chew up. You need to have a lot of variety so you can switch out the toys often. The more you do this when they are young, the less chance that they will become nervous around new things. Definitely get at least one boing. My budgies love theirs by the window.

Non-stick cookware has the potential to kill any bird INSTANTLY if you accidently leave it on the stove. It doesn't matter where the birds are in the house. It's that bad. Not worth the risk, IMO. I have grown to love my cast iron pans - they actually work much better than teflon now that they are all seasoned.

Oh, he's CUTE! Congrats!

Dan, how often do you find that you need to fill it? Is that one pretty easy to clean? I was checking out that model when I was considering a portable one.

I totally agree! I don't have grey yet, but our house is so dry that I have to take claritin to deal with the itching. And I can't even imagine how uncomfortable a humid-dwelling bird would be. I have a friends husband who works in HVAC coming by next week to talk about adding a steam humidifier to our furnace. Hopefully we'll have it installed in the next month or so.

Dan, don't you have a conure as well? So your grey is not actually alone when you are gone. I agree with the breeder in that I wouldn't want an intelligent bird to be left alone that long. I'm sure that there are those that would disagree with me, but I really feel like it is similar to leaving a human toddler alone for most of the day. And as mom of two young kids, it really hurts my heart to think of it. This is why I've waited until I was almost 40 and staying-at-home before considering a grey. At the very least some birdy company would help with the isolation.<br><br>Post edited by: sugarbeth, at: 2009/02/21 19:49

How are the cages held up off the floor? Must be easy to clean the floor that way! Very clever!

Thanks for the TIP! (heh heh) :laugh: That's a good idea and you can get a giant pack of those things for cheap.

Thanks! The cage I'm looking to get is the Kings euro 137 in silver black (to match my budgies' cage). My birthday is coming up in April, so I'm hoping to get it around then. Pchela, feel free to pm me the name of your breeder for my list. One breeder that I am eyeing is wendysparrots.com. She said that she'd specifically pick one that was good with kids for me, and that is a big plus. But I still want to see what all my options are. (And I'm still looking for a used bird in the meantime.)

I've been getting ready for a grey for a long time, so I can tell you what I've done. I stalk craigslist and every time I see a bird stand on there for cheap, I grab it. My plan is to have a place for my bird to hang out in every room. Got rid of all my teflon and learned to appreciate cast iron cookware. I am a total cast iron junkie right now. My latest purchase is a cast iron waffle iron so that I could get rid of the teflon one. All it takes is one instance of forgetfulness and leaving a teflon pan on the stove to instantly kill your bird. This point was hammered home for me when I recently left a pan on and forgot about it when someone came to the door. Thank goodness it was cast iron, or else my budgies would have been dead. Teflon is also found in irons, hair dryers and self cleaning ovens. Look around your house and find it all and get rid of it. Got a bizillion toys, most of which are conducive to foraging. Have you read this about parrot enrichment? I think it is required reading for new parrot owners: http://www.phoenixlanding.org/PEAB_V2.pdf I am having a humidifier installed in our furnace here soon. Our house air is hellishly dry and it makes ME itchy - I'm sure a grey would hate it. I want to do everything I can to make sure he won't start plucking. I've asked my friends from my mom group to set aside any branches when they prune their bird-safe trees. So now I've got a source of wood for toys and chewies. I've also got a stash of toy-making parts. One thing that I haven't done yet is I was going to write up a meal plan until I got into the routine of feeding my grey. I want him to have as natural and fresh of a diet as possible, and I want him to forage for a lot of it, and I need to figure that all out. Those are the major things. Mostly I've just read every day. It really helps to hear about problems people have, so hopefully I can arm myself enough to prevent things. Good luck with your new bird child!<br><br>Post edited by: sugarbeth, at: 2009/02/18 17:23

Oh, I'm so glad, because we have a ton of legos around! I have a Jr. FIRST Lego League team so I needed to get a bunch of them for the kids and I scored a ton of them off craigslist. I'm sure my own kids will love building stuff for our future grey to destroy! lol!

Thanks, you guys. It's kind of like being a first time mom again, isn't it? But instead of baby stuff, it is bird stuff. lol! luvparrots, if you could pm me the name of your breeder, I would appreciate it. I'm starting to gather info on breeders, as a backup plan. Thanks!

We've got our basement remodel mostly done, and I've spent the past year researching and getting ready for a little grey child. I've got a ton of bird loot so far, see? And I just went to a warehouse sale today and got a bunch more stuff for 10% over wholesale. I got: *a bunch of manzanita perches, manicure perches, cactus perches, a mineral perch and a cajeput perch for the new cage. (Now that I write it out, I maybe got too many perches - lol!) *a pump spray mister *aviator harness *a big bag of vine balls *water bottle *shower perch *250' of cardboard rope for making toys *and of course a bunch more toys I think I've pretty much got all the miscellaneous items a parrot could need now. All I need is a cage and a bird! I've been keeping an eye on craigslist and kijiji, but no luck so far. I want to get a Timneh, preferably a boy. I have to be a little particular since I have kids, so he'll have to be pretty well socialized. If I haven't found one by the time the breeders have a bunch of babies, then I might go the baby route. We'll see. I'm in the Seattle area, so if anyone has any leads, let me know! I hope to be posting here more rather than lurking soon!

That was funny! I looked up the original link in case anyone is interested... http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/openletters/19amazonparrot.html

Oh, but I would ask them about pesticides, first.

Of course! I wish I had bottlebrush near me because I would do the same thing. But I have to settle for other bird-safe wood native to the NW.

I don't think I would use that size mesh for an african grey. 1.5" squares seems perfect for getting a head stuck. I would go 1" or less. And also, since it's in China, you will have to pay shipping and any customs fees. I would check out local suppliers, either for construction or farming. That's what I plan to do when I get building.<br><br>Post edited by: sugarbeth, at: 2009/02/06 20:08

I want to make an outdoor playground eventually too. What you need to look for is "welded wire mesh". It comes in all sorts of configurations and gauges. You want to get one that has a spacing like the bar spacing for a grey's cage. And a decent wire thickness so that the wires don't bend too easily. Ideally, you would want to get stainless steel, but that can be cost-prohibitive for a large aviary. I think that for a playground situation (not a permanent home) you can use the galvanized-after-weld wire as long as your bird has a lot of climbing options other than the zinc-laden wire. People who use this for birds give the wire a scrub down with vinegar to get rid of the excess zinc. I would look for the wire locally, because the shipping costs can often be as much as the wire costs.

My experience is only with human kids, (so take this all with a grain of salt) but I am curious about the rest of their routine in the morning - like in that first hour that the birds are out, are they just playing or are they eating, too? Because maybe if you arrange it so they haven't gotten breakfast yet, you could entice them back into the cage for that if you really need to get them back in there for a bit each morning. (not meaning to starve them, but just to make the yummy part of breakfast not available until they go back into their cage for it.)

How much out-of-cage time does he get? How often does he bathe? I ask because in the video in your previous thread, he looks like a very lonely, understimulated bird. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/african-grey/75404-my-caf-constant-squeeling-when-im-not-by-cage.html#75404 Breaks my heart. I really hope I'm wrong and that he has a better life than what you've shown so far.