Big_Squishy

Well with this and the post I have up it looks like BoBo (CAG) being only 4 months old and weighing 455 Grams might turn out to be a chubby bird of just big boned. I will really keep an eye on his diet. His portions are measured with the exception of the fruit and veggies which are still small in size. Might have to get him a birdy tredmill. Well at least I know he and I will have something else in common lol. JC

BoBo was Hatched on Feb 2nd 2008. He was fully weaned when we brought him home on May 6th 2008. He is 4 months old , I miscounted before. I believe he has fledged, ( meaning he is learning to fly. I believe he would be successfull if his wings were not clipped. His current weight is 455 grams I weighed him again this weekend. He is a Congo and I just wanted to get a rough idea of where a healthy weight is. He eats well. We feed him fresh bell, jalopino, chili and other asorted peppers, strawberries, grapes, broccoli, carrots, bagles, oatmeal and then pellets with a seed mixture, we exclude sunflower seeds from regular meals and use then as treats when he behaves as we would like him to, or at least when he attempts to. Thank you all for your input. I will add his weight to our chart of BoBo's life and his traits. JC

BoBo weighed 446 grams on the 6th of May when we first brought him home. We weighed him this evening and he weighs 455 grams. How do I know how much he should weigh. How do I know when he should stop gaining weight? I am surer just like people each bird is unique but is there an adverage? Is there a growth rate from hatch to lets say a year?? Could someone help me out so I know how to monitor our Bestest Buddy BoBo?? JC

I would sugest a non lead based paint to start. but from what little I know "Powder coating" is one of the safets and best paints out there. I am not certain if there are diferent kinds but i would look into those. not sure how much it would cost to do at home but would be worth the money to pay for it to be done. I am sure here soon others will offer their input and am sure they will know better than I. Just thought I would offer what little I know and see if it helps you. JC

I read all over that their greys love to cuddle. How exactly do you cuddle with your grey? how do you teach your grey to do that? I have seen birds that like to hang from their beaks, some that hang upside down, others that will lay on their backs in the crook of an arm. I know these things happen but how do you go about discovering what your bird will do without freaking them out or hurting yourself and them?? I would so love to be able to Cuddle with BoBo but am still not clear on what exactly everyone means by it? JC

Looks like I have a new thread to follow. Happy Friday the 13th!!! JC

BoBo 5 months old hatched 2 feb 2008. has a blooming personality. he has already spoken a couple words a couple times. He will step up and go down with no problems. <----- at least for me. My better half does not seem to have the luck I do with him. BoBo actually bites her and will only let her pet his back. He will allow her to pick him up but only after making her stand then and give the command repeatedly. Amanda ( My Better half) is getting down about it and is loosing her desire to handle BoBo. I do not want this!!!! I plan to be with the both of them until I pass on ( Please let that be a long time!) lol. I have explained to Amanda that she can not show signs of fear and explained to her about "earthquaking" when BoBo tries to bite her. She does it but I know there has to be other thing I/we can do to help their bond grow, even if it is not as strong as a bond as BoBo and I have. Please help me train BoBo and Amanda to get along! JC

I like the sound of Greeley. It sounds like it could be a Unisex name and it might be an easier name for your bird to say compared to some of the other names. JC

Might sexual bonding be a bad thing if I am trying to promote a dual or multiple bond with BoBo? I remember reading in one of my books something about the chance for agressive behavior to others when that type of bond is established? What do you think. JC

Welcome Amberly! I am still pretty new to the forums and to Grey ownership. However, I could only sugest patience and alot of reading. Owning a grey is like nothing you have ever done before, even if you have owned other birds. Don't be afraid to ask questions, Please post information you find that you might not have been able to find here. This is a wonderful place to seek help or find answers and the people here are top notch. JC

Still looking for information about the materials used to make the toys in my post directly above this one. I would also like to know what style of weaving it is and how I might learn. Thanks again. JC

When we got BoBo sexed the bird store staff used blood from his toe nails. I watched them shave ever so little off until they got it to bleed. Had a card with a spot for the blood sample. Rubbed the blood on it and sent it off. I got the results back in just over a week. BoBo did not show any signs of being bothered. He did not favor his foot or show any other signs of being irritated. I would go with the DNA sexing. Just my input. JC

Ok I guess I have a couple questions. BoBo has been nipping when I go to pet him. His normal sign that he wants to be petted is to raise one foot like he is going to step up and then putting his head down. Lately when I have been doing this he will turn his head all diferent directions and grab at my fingers with his beak. He never bites hard nor does he show any signs of agression such as fluffing up or hissing. I will allow him to get a hold of my hands and trust that he will not bite hard. So far so good. Also while my finger is between his beak I will use my other fingers to lightly grab the sides of his beak. More or less placing fingers beside the beak. There is no pressure I do not hold his beak but it almost seems like he is playing. I say this because he will regurgitate a couple times while this goes on. So my questions are: Is he playing? Why is he regurgitating? I also notice after I walk away he will attack one of his toys. Is BoBo unhappy?

I got that part about the bird, I was just commenting on how it was mentioned that he deserved to loose both of them. I just thought it was funny how no matter who did who wrong he got the blame. I would have kept the bird and since he already knew her name I am sure I could have altered his phrases to something a bit more satisfactory. LOL just teasing but I am sure the thought would cross anyones mind who has been cheated on in a serious relationship. Did not mean to rock the boat too much just a jiggle. Peace love and hair grease, JC<br><br>Post edited by: Big_Squishy, at: 2008/06/12 15:43

Funny how the guy gets cheated on and now he is the bad guy lol. I do agree that he could have kept his bird though.

Sorry I was not able to give you that boot title the other day. I threw my back out and am just now getting back up to speed. Here is the title: The Healthy Bird Cookbook Author: Robin Deutsch Here is a link that talks about the book as well. It is not the home page but one that give you some information.. http://www.crittersonthings.com/cookbook.htm I hope it helps! Here is a list of some other books I have read. Barron's Guide to a Well-Behaved Parrot, Mattie Sue Athan The Birdkeeper's guides " African Greys, Greg Glendell The African Grey Parrot Handbook, Mattie Sue Athan and Dianalee Deter Breaking Bad habbits in Parrots, Greg Glendell The Parrot Problem Solver, Barbara Heidenreich Parrots for Dummies, Nikki Moustaki I enjoyed reading all of them even though some of them covered the same material, but all had info that another did not. JC

I am at work right now but when I get homeI will log on and give you the information about a recipie book for parrots. I have used it and they all seem to work. I am told I am lucky because my BoBo eats pretty much anything I give him. But until then I would sugest removing the sunflower seeds or getting a mixed seed that does not have sunflower in it. I Feed BoBo Pretty bird African Grey Mix pellet, a general medium parrot seed mix ( minus the sunflower seeds) fresh peppers, strawberries, grapes, dried apricots, brocoli etc.. I use the sunflower seeds as treats or rewards for good behavior and I rotate what I feed him. If you give your bird too many options at one time they will pick out what they like best and refuse or throw what they don't want on the floor. Since I feed BoBo twice a day I alternate seed the first part of the day and pellet the second. In the evening I offer some sort of veggie and I make sure to only put in about a half cup of food in the dish at a time. It has worked for me and I hope some of this helps. I will log back in when I get home here in about an hour and get you that book title. JC

Well that is a relief. Thank you very much. Was pretty worried and afraid i was doing something wrong or not doing something I should have been.

Ok so I have been reading around the site more often and have seen it mentioned that Greys fluff up as a defence mechanism. My grey BoBo fluffs up all of the time. However, he does not try to bite me, there is no screaming or screaching. I am worried that BoBo is feeling threatened? Nothing other than the fluffing apears to point to this? Any thoughts??

Ok I found a link with pictures to describe what I want to learn how to make. I found out that palm leaves are used but have not been able to find any how to's on making them. If you happen to know of a book or a link that might help out please let me know. Here is the link: http://www.fowl-play.com/cart/en-us/dept_61.html

BoBo the African Grey Congo is 5 months old and loves to shred. I purchased about 10 toys the day we brought him home. I found some that he loves and are colorful and made of some sort of colored reed or natrual fiber. It is flat and almost looks like the stuff you can make baskets out of. Ours was weaved and braded. It had braided pieces that resembled finger traps. Besides the natrual fiber rope and cardboard, plain wood etc. Could someone help me with infomations about what kind of materials I could purchase to make some toys of the same style. Also am looking for mor sugestions on safe home made toys that don't look home made. I am sure I could be more clear and if i had a picture of the toy i would put it up. V/R JC

I have a new Grey, been in our home for just about a month. His name is BoBo. BoBo is 5 months old. I too have read many books and post about talking and only point out what I believe to be true. From what I have read and been told inflection plays a big role in gaining your birds attention. BoBo spoke his first word 2 days ago and has only said it once. He he said hello. When my family speaks to BoBo we do so in a way that is enthusistic and makes us laugh. We kind of sound like we have just polished off a full pot of coffee. The more excited and silly we act the more interested BoBo is in what we are doing and saying. So if you are not already, be enthusiastic and have fun. Another thing we have been trying is to stay out of view of BoBo and start off making the sounds he already makes, ( in your case words as well). After we get him to call back we have tossed in other words and sounds we would like him to learn.BoBo seems to want to know where we are all of the time and when we call out to him he responds almost every time. No not alot of progress but we have figured out what stimulates him verbaly and boy does it get noisy. I hope this might help and I can understand how you might want to hear results in a short amount of time especially since you have an older bird than we do. Just have fun and I am sure pretty soon you will be posting asking how you get your bird to be quiet. V/R JC

May 6th 2008 Big_Squishy and his family brought home their newest member. African Grey Congo hatched 2 Feb 2008. Current age is 3 months 6 days. We got the largest cage that would fit through our front door. More toys that the bird can chew through in a couple months and about 6 or 7 dif types of seeds pellets and about $40.00 in fresh fruits and veggies. We are truely happy and hope our new companion will be too. Will post more soon.

SO will it be bad if I wait to get the DNA sexing results back in about 10 days before we come to a solid name? That would give us time to get to know our new companion and make sure Fred does not lay and egg in the future?? If that is the case what should I call the bird until the results come in??

MazyAK I wanted to thank you for the links. I had seen the sites before but for some reason associated them with another store that I did not like. I found two AGC just about 9 months old. The price is a bit higher than I was quoted a couple other places but I think Our Feathered Friends and their sister store A bird haven will have everything I need and more. not to mention a bird that they say should be perfect for me looking that I want a talker and a bird that is active. I know it is only a guess but I hope they are right. They give a one year return/ exchange clip the wings and nails for free for as long as I own the bird or they are in buisness and will do all they can to answer any question I can not find the answers to myself. The guy at the store says he believes you gave him your card and information and he thinks he lost it. I told him you turned me on to his store and that you bought the bird down here and took it to Alaska. He is looking to get intouch with you. Thank you once again!! Lets hope all goes well and tomrrow evening my new family member should be home!!!!!!