pmaholm

We removed the seed guards from our cages and got 2 plastic computer chair mats that are about twice as big as the cage footprint, so now food waste or shreds of toys go on the mat or the carpet and poop only goes on the mat if they're on the outside of their cage.

That's a great story. Karma for you. -Patrick

I still think if the area is enclosed it may still be a bit too dangerous with an open pool, I would hate to take the chance of having my Grey drown.

My jar of palm oil says to NOT refrigerate on it. I don't know how it could hurt it other than making it more solid. I've found about the only way joey will eat her palm oil is to put it on a small part of bread and toast it , it draws the palm oil in and she loves toast. I tried straight from the spoon the first night and that didn't work too well. she'd dip her beak in it and then fling it everywhere!! walls, carpet, curtains, my face.... nothing was safe. At least the toast keeps that from happening. :whistle:

I forgot to mention, for the materials to construct the lower sections(not the wooden playgym parts) was about $37 a piece.

I thought I'd repost the pics of the stands we made for Refund and Joey. They both love them Refund's Stand Finished. Joey's Stand Finished. Both stands together with birds. -Patrick

Ugh! Refund has plucked nearly all of his pins in one night. We've received the Red Palm Oil, I'm going to start them on it tonight. It's just so frustrating because he left them along for almost a week then went on a plucking binge. I may mix the oil in with a little rice and veggies. with some flax seed too. any suggestions? -Patrick

Congrats! I'm sure Chloe will be warmly welcomed when she comes home.

I'm tossing in my 2 cents for Girl. No real reason just the gut feeling. -Patrick

Both Refund and Joey are clipped right now, we did this for safety of Refund since when we first got him he'd fly off your hand, his cage, anywhere he was and crash. He's tried to fly a couple of times since the clip and has learned to go down and not crash into things. Joey was clipped by the lady we got her from before I could ask her not to. We have decided that after they molt out all of their flight feathers we're not clipping them again. Was kind of a one time thing until they were "tame" and used to us. -Patrick

Blue Country are you referring to kind of a sour smell?

Yeah Carolyn's right, either or. Our 2 don't seem to like their carrots cooked so they usually get them raw.

Yeah, seems to be pretty normal(yet annoying with the dirty water bowls!). Joey and Refund both dunk pellets, Joey does seem to however forget some pellets in her water and make soup. Although I noticed she only leaves the blue and or the yellow ones. -Patrick

FYI I just checked it looks like www.mybirdstore.com will ship to Ireland. Looks like for 1 smart crock shipping to Dublin would be ~$24US on top of the $7.99US for the crock. I would think that they would sell these in Europe too.

Whoops! Sorry I forgot you were across "the big water" :lol: I do know these work pretty well Meg used to have on for her rats. -Patrick

Ohh actually I found that Bird Paradise carries these too in a larger variety, you might check that out at http://www.mybirdstore.com It's under "Accessories and Cleaning" and then "cups and bowls" Hope this helps!! -Patrick

If your bars are vertical you could try this. its all one piece and the lock is on the outside of the cage. They might make them for horizontal too I'll keep looking. -Patrick http://cgi.ebay.com/SMART-CROCK-5oz-Clear-Bird-Food-Parrot-Macaw-Bird-Toy_W0QQitemZ250285782770QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

LOL Nah, he had his first molt many moons ago.

I can't remember off hand exactly how old he is but I do know he's pushing 20. -Patrick

Thanks all, We've been giving them both aloe baths. They still seem to hate it but tolerate it.

Hey all, we've found a few feathers from Refund in the past week. I was wondering is there any way to tell by looking at the feather if it's been plucked or has come out due to a molt/on its own? We've also noticed Refund is beginning to get a ton of pins on his chest and head. Any thoughts? Thanks! -Patrick

I would think that food grade dye would be ok. Anyone else want to chime in here?

Ack! I think we just got hit by a Drive By Spamming. Anywho dragging us back on topic. Joey doesn't seem to approve with baby food so far and thinks it more fun to grab the spoon and try and dump the food. -Patrick

Actually our vet recommended to buy white pine from a lumber store or home improvement store, if you buy some "higher quality" interior trim white pine it shouldn't be treaded(make sure you ask though just to be 100% sure) and here it runs about $12 for a 1"x4"x10' piece, that's a lot of wood for our bids for $12. He suggested making some blocks and drilling small holes and filling them with peanut butter to allow the birds to tear the wood apart foraging for the food inside. As for pre-cut and dyed I'm not sure. I personally wouldn't trust anything from a craft store just because I wouldn't know 100% what's in it. You may have to go through a bird supplier or on the net to get what you're really looking for. I'm sure if anyone else knows more information than I do(which I'm sure someone does ) they'll chime in. Hope this helps! -Patrick

Hey all, Wanted to chime in here and saw how encouraging all of this is. As you all may know we got Refund and Joey from a breeding situation they weren't abused(except for Refund from his first owners) or neglected per say, but didn't have any other interaction but each other. They apparently don't like one another well enough to breed, and they started plucking one another. I do have to admit that we originally took Refund in on a whim but finding this forum and scouring the internet has helped us learn a great deal about Greys in a short time. Just after having Refund and Joey for a couple months they both will play with their toys take treats from us and step up with a minimum of grumbling(mostly from Refund). Joey seems to have completely stopped plucking and in 2 months we've only found about 5 feather from Refund, and only just recently. We've taken them off a seed mix and switched them to pellets which they both love, and they get at least a couple of hours of out of cage time a day to sometimes almost 8 hours on the weekend. Joey ~2 months ago. Now Refund July 18 now I know it's not a huge difference but we're happy that we could make them happier than they were. Sorry for such a long post! -Patrick