BaxtersMom

Congradutalions Berna. He/she is a cutie pie!!! I think you should find a name that goes with Elmo from Sesame Street. That would be cute.:laugh:

:laugh: Great story Lisa. I got a big kick out of it.

I seen this post when you first put it up and knew I would have to say hi and tell you that I too have a grey and a conure that are buddies and wanted to tell you about them. And Today I read what happened and I am so heartbroken for the birds and disgusted at who ever did this to them:angry: I agree with Judy, what a heartless b****. I would love to bake her a cake with a good dose of rat poisening in it.

When I brought Baxter home I think one of the things I stressed over most was his diet. I read through so many threads and what people fed their greys, then seen so many things people said not to feed them and I got more confused than ever and that is why I thought this thread would be useful especially for the New grey owners out there that might be overwhelmed like I was:blink: I thought a basic diet plan to start off and refer to could be helpful to some and hopefully relieve a little stress. As time goes by, I know everyone gets thier food routine down but in the beginning I was lost and just wanted some simple and basic foods to give Baxter. I was told to only feed Baxter a seed mix from Walmarts by his previous owner and not untill I joined this website did I know any different:ohmy: Luckily I found this site right away. So I do hope this thread helps. Thanks for your input.

Yes, we were a sight to see I'm sure. :laugh: And we have to do it again:blink: I know I will miss the green grass. We always had such a beautiful landscaped yard here:( In Texas the grass was brown and very prickly. My dog didn't even want to walk on it:huh: But it was 80 degrees when we were there and the sun was shining brightly. A T shirt was too much. I will miss the snow at Christmas time only. The brown grass I am used to cuz I lived in Oklahoma for 20 years. In the short time I was down there I felt like I was "home" again. I was born in Michigan but the west is my home.

I adopted a 12 year old grey this past July. He was cage bound and hadn't been handled in years if ever. Poor guy:( . He didn't even know how to step up when I got him. Dan gave some great advice and I ditto all that. Mainly give him a few days/weeks to settle in, offer treats and talk to him as much as possible to build the trust. I think my main mistake with Baxter was pushing him too fast and wanting to handle him and love him and pet him too fast for him to handle. Because of that I got bit alot!!!! He even bit me till I bled several times:pinch: but looking back I know that was my fault. Take into consideration his point of view as well as your own. Baxter wasn't sure of me or his new surroundings and I didn't help by always wanting to touch him. My intentions were good but he probably just thought I was some crazy lady:woohoo: :blink: I should have went more at his pace than mine. Another tip is not to have a time table set or certain expectations or time limits. Let him go at his own pace untill the trust gets built up good between you two. With all that said, it took about 6-8 weeks for me to be able to touch Baxter all over, his head, back, wings, chest and him feel comfortable. I knew from the start that we bonded right away, kind of like you said yours did so just be patient, loving and kind and it will all fall into place. Open his cage door up so he can come and go while you are home with him and let him venture out on his own. And please keep us updated with all your progress. I love hearing rescue stories and their outcomes. I asked a ton of questions, between this forum and your resources at the vet I think this is going to be a great success story!!

I am going to cheer for the Steelers this year:) If Arizona happens to take it, that would be fine, too. I just hope it is a good game & not a blow out by either team. I atleast want it to be an interesting game:) Not one that you know the outcome in the first or second quarter.

I am in the middle of packing my entire household so we can relocate from Michigan to Texas:blink: That's why I haven't been very active on the forum lately. My husband has a job opportunity in Texas and although the economy is bad all over it seems, Michigan has been hit extremely bad with the Autoworkers & such. In my opinion the job situation is bleak at best right now and think it's best to get out of this state while we still can:dry: . So it's off we go to warmer weather, starry skies, tumbleweeds & long horn steers:laugh: I am very excited for all this to happen (except for the packing:S ). We have already taken a trip down there to check out the area and found a place to live. We drove. It was a 3 day trip we crunched into 2 days:whistle: We played out several different scenaries about our flock on the initial trip down there. To board them? Have someone watch them? Take a couple, board a couple? We have 4 and a small dog:ohmy: In the end we decided they could all take the trip with us:laugh: They all had nice travel cages and Baxter & Bonkers rode together in the largest cage. Tigger & Cooper had their own cages. I am so happy to report they were not stressed out about it one bit. They traveled better than I had hoped. I know we must have looked like a band of gypies but who cares:laugh: They kept us entertained the whole way there and back. We let them out of their cages in the hotel rooms and I even think they liked it. It didn't seem to phase them at all. I took pictures, I might end up posting them later on. Anyway, that's what I've been up to lately. Now I am relaxing for a while and am going to enjoy the Super Bowl later on tonight.

Jac is a beautiful cat and I wish him a speedy recovery.

Animal Spirit made some good points. I already had a grey, eclectus and a conure before getting my amazon. If I hadn't had the other ones I think the amazon would have intimidated me quite a bit. He is almost 2 years old and very headstrong. He is always lunging at me when I pass by (it's a game to him) or when I tell him to step up. It's just his way or personality I think. Usually when he grabs/beaks me it doesn't hurt and he puts very little pressure when grabbing me but it is scary to see when he is lunging:ohmy: If he is overly excited or playing hard he will bite and it does hurt. Since I know this it isn't a problem but if a person doesn't know thier personalities it could be very intimidating and painful. If I were to show fear with him I think he would take advantage of me completely. These are just my experiences with my dyh though.

I think that was a super bowl commercial few years back. I loved it and that was before I had any parrots:laugh:

Ah yes, I know the "OW!" Sound well. :laugh: Now the fun begins:woohoo: but I think you are up to the challenge.:silly:

I like the noise too. It can get loud sometimes but it's soothing to me:laugh: Mine doesn't shriek or scream (I'd hate to hear it if he did) but he has a loud hysterical laugh and he cries exactly like a baby, the baby cry I could do without but the laughing is hilarious. If I want to use the phone it is a must that I go into another room and close the door :laugh: Mine acts like a little kid most of the time. He can't keep his mind on anything for long and seems to have a short attention span. Likes to play with several toys at once but does occupy his time pretty good. I really enjoy him. He is the comedian in our house:woohoo: And he is not scared of anything. If he is on his cage and sees something across the room he wants he has no problem climbing down and walking through the house to get it either. :lol: :silly: :side: So, are you going to get one?:whistle: Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2009/01/31 16:15<br><br>Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2009/01/31 16:17

Yes, it was a problem at first. I thought the more attention I gave him the more he wanted it. I felt bad and mean putting him back on his cage all the time so we worked it out by both giving a little;) I found that if I give him some attention when "he" wanted it, he was less likely to come flying to me later.

I have 3 other birds besides my grey and they all have such unique personalities and they are like your tiels too. So fussy with things. 2 of mine like plain, pellets while the other 2 will only eat fruity blend:S My grey likes carrots and brocolli, but my eclectus prefers fruit. My little conure won't eat his food from his dish very much but prefers to steal from other cages:evil: and my amazon will eat anything you put in front of him. Yep, they are just like kids:) I think you would make a great Grey mom, too;)<br><br>Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2009/01/31 15:30

I have an eclectus that does this. When he wants attention he will now fly to me whether I want him to or not. At first it was a problem and I felt the same way as you do. I put him back on or in his cage but he still kept coming. I don't want to say that I gave in to this behavior but basically worked with it so it could work for me as well. Now when he flies to me I will either let him ride around on my shoulder for awhile and do my chores or what ever I am doing or I will get his table top perch and put it close to me so he can see what I'm doing and be near me and this has worked very well for me. When he is with me, he is so content and he obviously feels he needs this attention. When I let him ride on my shoulder or be on the tableperch he is happy as can be and when I put him back in his cage he seems content. Before when I would just take him back to his cage without being near me he would just fly back to me a few minutes later and when I went to make him step up he would get angry and give me some small bites showing me his displeasure with this. He knew I was taking him back to his cage and was mad about it. But yes it was a problem for me. It's like he wouldn't leave me alone at first so I just worked with it untill we both were happy. Life is much better for us now and we are both happy. Good luck to you.

I am really excited for you now and can't wait to hear more:) It does sound like he has chosen you and you will do well with him I'm sure. My grey bonded with me right away and I gained his trust pretty quickly. He was 12 when I got him. I feel so bad for him stuck in the small cage for all those years:( and just pretty much abandoned. No wonder why he plucks! It sounds like you are already really taken with him and have what it takes to give this bird a wonderful life. I think it's ok to change his name. I changed my greys name and he learned it pretty fast, plus since he is getting a brand new start, a brand new name seems fitting to me. Although I do like the name Earl, too. We would love to see some pictures. I don't think any of us care if he has feathers or not, atleast I don't. I'm sure you will find this so rewarding taking in an older and neglected bird. Baxter was neglected but not as severe as your Earl but it has been one of the best experiences in my life. I have since taken in 3 more birds, not greys though. Please let us know how things go. I am so interested to hear all your upcoming accomplishments and sure others are too. More Karma for you for saving this birds life:)

What a great picture. Charlie is adorable. congradulations

I agree with Lisa on this one. It sounds to me like your breeder and the training course you spoke of are taking some big liberties in some of the things they state and to suggest that seeds are the only thing need (from reading your other post) is really not good advice at all and your precious grey may suffer because of it. I am so glad you joined the website though. This is a great place to learn alot through the experience of other grey owners. There are lots of misconceptions everywhere about greys and that's what makes this forum so helpful. We talk about a big variety of subjects, share fund stories and ask for advice when we need it. We are all here to help one another. I know it was a huge help to me when I first brought Baxter home and both of us are doing great with the help of all the members here. I really learned alot and still learn every day. Please read through all the threads we have to offer here. There is some great info on here pertaining to our greys and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

I forgot to ask what is your new greys name? How old is he or she? Where are you getting him or her from? Do you know the greys history?

Hello & welcome to the forum. Well, good for you taking in a bird that needs some serious attention and rehabilitation. I hope you love it and give it all the attention he needs. With love and attention a bird can just flourish. I think I would wait on the prozac as it may not even be needed. You said you got a nice cage and have all kinds of plans but please don't forget that love works miracles which you didn't mention that in your post. I think you called him/her a "project" They are living sensitive birds that need lots of attention, talking too and out of the cage time. It sounds like he might have been neglected and I would try companionship, love and attention before the prozac and other drugs. They are remarkable companions and so darn smart. Please keep us updated on him and good luck bringing him home. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. There are many knowledgable members here on this forum and always ready to help when we can. Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2009/01/31 00:20<br><br>Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2009/01/31 00:22

What kind of training course was this? Sounds wierd to me. I hadn't heard this one before.

I think greys are just very cautious about everything in general including food. They are edgy about trying new things and are creatures of habit. But they are curious as well and when they see you eat something they cant help but want it too. Atleast thats my theory:laugh:

Birds in the wild eat a variety of things such as fruits & berries, nuts, leaves, veggies, worms & bugs, etc (and all natural in the wild) depending on what kind of bird they are but domesticated parrots in my opinion should not live on seeds alone. There isn't much nutritional value to the seeds mixes (or so I've heard & read) and considered more of a filler and I believe that is why avian vets recommend pellets as a huge part of their diets. They need extra nutrition than what a seed only diet will give. I do still give my birds seeds because they enjoy them so much but the biggest part of their diet is pellets and veggies. When I buy their seeds now I make up my own seed mix from the Whole Food Stores which are all human grade, fresh and organic.

I have had a couple older parrots that weren't used to eating pellets when I got them so I know how hard it can be. It took my eclectus about 5 months to finally start eating pellets but I was persistant because I do think it is important for them. I would encourage you to keep trying and keep on trying. There are a few other threads here in the bird food room on tips for the "picky eater" and Tips on how to get them to eat pellets that are worth reading. Some of the things I have tried was soaking pellets in apple juice, mixing them in with cooked oatmeal and scrambled eggs, corn bread, pancakes and other table foods and noticed that they don't realize they are in there and go ahead and eat them and finally accept them dry. It may takes several months but persistance is the key. And don't give in to them like I have done so many times:laugh: All my birds loved seeds and was their main diet:( when I got them and I think that was the problem. When I went to offer them pellets, They would eat the seeds and leave the pellets. Try giving them mostly pellets in the morning and just pinch of seeds or what ever they usually eat. Mine would of course eat the seeds first but I didn't give them alot so they had to go to the pellets if they wanted to eat more. If you put a lot of seeds in, they will get full on those and leave the pellets. Even your vet said he should be on pellets so I think your vet has already answered your question. If they don't get proper nutrition, just like people they can get vitamin deficiencies, lack of energy and poor feather condition & other health issues. I give my flock about 60-70% pellets and the other 30 to 40% is small amount of seeds, as much veggies as they will eat and some cooked human foods. Sometimes they get fruit, too but they like the veggies better. Just keep on trying, eventually it will happen. When I wasn't happy with the amount of pellets they ate I tried as hard as I could to give them more veggies, which sometime was a chore too cuz they would throw it out. They can be so stubborn:angry: But eventually, I got all my older adopted birds on the pellets. Don't give up;)<br><br>Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2009/01/30 23:50