Char

I say "good girl, what a smart bird you are, good girl" and then I reward her by immediately picking her back up. She has come to expect it and as soon as she goes she moves toward me to pick her back up.

What sweet birds! Thanks for sharing their personalities with us.

Glad Ernie is ok. Whisper has days like that too. Which is why one of the things she says is "Are you okay?" I used to get all worried too when she would have a quiet day. Now sometimes I welcome one every now and then.:cheer:

Go back to the vet asap.

How old is your bird?

She finally took care of the feather today. Either that or it was the feather fairy. I came home today to find it on the floor. Glad that is over.:dry:

My vet says that after the baby stage they should only be petted on the head. She said that after the baby stage that anything more than that confuses them. She says that in the wild birds do not pet and cuddle except for mate and mother preening them.

I have never heard my bird's heartbeat and she spends a lot of time up on my shoulder near my ear. I am pretty sure that is not what your friend is hearing but if she thinks something is wrong she should take her to an avian vet.<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/01/29 11:53

BMustee wrote: That is good to know. Thanks.

Well no rhyming here but she does draw it out. Like this "Whiiiissssppper":lol:

To let the bird on your shoulder or not is a personal choice and one that you have to make for yourself. Mine lives on my shoulder but I trust her completely and it is easy to scratch her by reaching up with my hand of the shoulder she is sitting on. I can scratch and surf the internet at the same time.:laugh: Just something to think about. Sounds like he is a little too flighty for that right now.

No contact calls so far.

I told you guys in another post that Whisper was getting a little sister. Her name is Mischief. She is going to take a little work. She is 8 mo old. Someone had a deposit on her and never came and got her so apparently she has not been handled in several months. Hence the "work" part. After 3 days she is getting better about stepping up but she wants to bite me after she gets there. I don't think it is an aggressive bite. More exploratory but much too hard and repeatedly. I feel confident though that I can teach her. She won't let me scratch her either but it has only been 3 days so I am giving her some space. She sure is pretty! <br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/01/28 23:01

I think I saw this post on craig's list recently also. Yeah buddy we will just pack our babies up and ship them off to you.:evil:

Well she has still not taken care of it and is still squawking whenever she moves in a way that moves that feather. It is a large feather in her wings. I wish she would just go ahead a take care of it as it is making me a nervous wreck.:laugh:

Thanks mas. Not sure about the quick stop being toxic as my avian vet recommended it. I got her out of the cage for a little bit this morning before I leave for work. No sign of it but like I said it does not bother her when it is in place under her wing.<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/01/28 12:38

Thanks Judy. Will the feather continue to be painful for her until she gets rid of it. I can't stand for her to be in pain. It happened when she slipped off my shoulder. She was screaming and acting crazy but I could not see the feather then and did not know what was the matter. I held her out if front of me and said and said what is the matter sweetie. Then she did the most amazing thing. She looked at me and in the most pitiful voice she said " I need a scratch". I ask her all the time "do you want a scratch" and that is what she says back but I swear I have never used the words "I NEED a scratch" but that is exactly what she said very clearly. But of course nobody but a grey owner would believe that she spoke a sentence that she has never heard before.<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/01/28 03:22

Whisper has broken a feather that is kind of hanging there. It is very painful for her and she yelps when she moves. It only bothers her when the feather gets ruffled out of place and is dangling out of place. When it goes back in place she is ok. No bleeding so far. I believe it is one of her new feathers that recently came in. It was near bedtime so I put her in her cage and covered her up so she would not move around very much and get it out of place again. I am worried about tomorrow while I am at work. If I am able to go to work. We are in the middle of a terrible ice storm right now and the roads are treacherous. The power was out for a little while earlier but is back on. I was so worried about how I would keep my birds warm and where I would take them if it did not come back on. I have some quick stop on hand if it bleeds. I have toweled her before to trim her nails but I am not sure how to towel her and still get at the wing if I needed to put some quick stop on it. Do you guys have any further advice or words of wisdom about the feather. I will call the vet in the morning.<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/01/28 03:00

Whisper spends a lot of time on my shoulder. She is a very gentle bird. She tried going up on my head when I first got her but I wouldn't let her and she quit trying after a few times.

That is great. Whisper talks the most with music on too. Not sure why they like to have the background noise.

That is great! Thanks for sharing.

Little sister is home and settling right in. Whisper has not seen her yet since we got home late last night. Well it became apparent very quickly that the name will not be TinkerBell. Her name is "Mischief".:lol: Can you guess why? She is going to be an entirely different kind of bird than Whisper. Whisper is so good and quiet and sweet. This baby has a gleam in her eye that says "how much can I get away with?" :lol: I think the 3 of us are going to have a lot of fun together.<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/01/26 16:39

I will be frank and blunt. I believe that a breeder who would let a baby go at 4 weeks to a inexperienced hand feeder is irresponsible and could not really care about their birds. I would not have any confidence in that breeder and would look elsewhere for a bird. Also every bird is different. One might me fully weaned at 16 weeks and another might take another month. Greys usually take at least 16 weeks. When I was talking to breeders back when I was getting mine one told me that they would not even consider letting a grey go until 16 weeks. That is a responsible breeder. I brought mine home at 16 weeks. I had to take her back to be weighed one week later to make sure she was not losing weight. If she had lost more than 10 percent of her body weight they told me they would take her back for more feeding. I had to agree to this before they would let me take her. Luckily she had not lost even one gram. Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/01/24 13:13<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/01/24 21:33

Well day after tomorrow. I am so excited. I have been trying to get Whisper accustomed to a little less shoulder time and more playstand time so I will be able to spend time with both of them. Funny thing is now that I am leaving Whisper on her playstand longer she is talking more. She is practicing new words. Last night is sounded like something from a scary movie. Aaaaar youuuuuu a goooood girrrrrl? It was funny.

Thanks guys. I am going to pick her up this Sunday. Looks like it is going to be closer to 5 hr drive one way. Oh well. I chose to make the trip for this bird because I wanted a sweet female.