BaxtersMom

What a cool idea. I will have to try that too (if I can find a good treat Baxter is willing to work for that is) Thanks for sharing your idea. I love the pics.

Mine does it too. Weird isn't it.:blink:

Hi and welcome to the forum. She's a cutie. I don't know what a splay leg is and was wondering if this is something she will outgrow? Sounds like she already has quite a personality:)

Hi Corissa, Hope to hear more from you. Sorry you got such a nasty bite though.

On Bonkers second day he was just a little terror and my husband said someone probably "opened the door" for him and I thought that might have happened. Since I've had him though I can tell he is an expert flyer and could see him easily being gone in the split of a second. I would almost put money on it. I think he got out and flew away! Sometimes he comes from another room through the house and I don't even know he's there untill it's too late:ohmy: We will have to be careful too. I am so sorry you lost your Bella. That must be devasting.

Well it's been a week today since Bonkers has found his way to our hearts and home:) And we have not had one call about a missing bird. I think we may be his new flock. He's a really good bird. Loves to be held and we can touch every part of his little body. He's been handled a lot. He knows what a dinner plate is and will steal a piece of food when you're not looking;) He's an expert flyer and can fly all through the house, make turns and do precision landing, too. I was surprised at how quiet he is. A few squaks a day is all we hear and I am home all day usually. Usually if we hear his squaks it means somethings up like a big noisy truck outside or he has flown off his cage and looking for us. A lot of time when he spots us he will let out a call and zoom to us. He loves to be on a person all the time! I think he's quite happy here but think he probably came from a great place, too. I would love to know where he came from and how far away did he come from. I don't know if it's a boy or girl but call it a boy for now. We will probably do a dna eventually because I am very curious to know. I'd also like to know how old it is. Is there any way to tell? Would the dna test tell that, too? If someone was to call about a lost bird now I am not sure what I would do:dry:

Great photo! Kasko is one mighty fine looking bird.B) Isn't it amazing all the things we are willing to for them?:side: :woohoo: Sounds like you are doing real well with Kasko. Alot of people use photobucket but I have a file/folder on my desktop where I put all my photos in and just download them from my file. They need to be sized around 500 x 500. I have to shrink my photos or they won't download. I guess anywhere you store your pictures at is the place to download them from. It took me awhile to figure it out. There is a post on the forum how to download them too. You got one in. The rest should be easy;) I noticed if I post them in the photo album they also go on my profile page.

I just seen the name. Kaskoo. Ok. cool name:)

A couple more question...What is your CAGs name? And does he know how to step up yet? Baxter didn't know how to step up and to get him out or in his cage was not a good experience when I had place him from one spot to another and it did not help building trust at all so what I did after I had "captured" him and pulled him out of his cage was make him step up from one hand to another (away from his cage) and I would say step up step up each time I did it. I read this in a grey book and it worked perfect. 1 or 2 days later he knew what it was and life is so much easier. He really learned it fast. The book said to do this training 2 or 3 times a day for about 10 minutes each session. Of course I would always praise him and pet him during these training sessions and give him a cracker after we were done. Your bird is still so young so if my 12 year old can do it yours should be able to do it much easier. Baxter is loving his new found freedom and experirnces, even when I do things he doesn't like:) I have come a long way with Baxter because all the others on this site giving me great advice along the way. I love it here:) AS for trimming his nails...Baxter had long nails and felt like razor blades on the ends of them. It was so painful to even hold him and I was bleeding daily. I got his nails clipped and his feet are so soft now and it even seemed to improve his disposition tremendously. I would highly recommend a nail trim. It doesn't have to hurt to hold him at all:) Keep us posted. Love to see some pictures of him too if yoy can :silly:

Just wondering who took care of him the first year of his life? What kind of cage was he in and was he allowed out of his cage? Did he have any toys to play with? I just adopted a 12 year old CAG last month. He had a lot of the same symtems and I believe the previous owners did not treat him right and was very neglected. He was cage bound and only had 2 toys:( . He does not fly and he is not even clipped. I think all he had to do before was perch and sleep and that's all he knows. I put up a post about him not playing with toys and they all told me to play with them first and introduce the toys and it is working. I will play with them, he will watch and then he is eventually getting curious and is slowly starting to play with them too. He won't hardly do it on his own except for the small plastic balls with bells in them or simple bells. My cag was only on a seed diet and he didn't like anything else I would try to feed him in the beginning. He would throw it out of his cage instead of eating it. I kept putting the fresh veggies in daily and now he loves them. (took about a week) I also have a small table top perch that I take in what ever room I am. It has a food and water bowl and that is where he seems to "chow down" the most. It is the best place to introduce the new foods I have noticed. My cag has the sweetest disposition (most of the time) and it's just taking some time. I bath mine with a mist bottle and he didn't like it at first either. I think it was scary for him. Now he stays perched on my finger and I can really soak him down. I don't know if he likes it but he really doesn't seem to mind it anymore. He has never experienced anything fun and it's all new to him. He just didn't know how but is really willing to try new things for me now and really liking his new found freedom and fun. He is a little leary of things at first but I just keep it up. I think mine didn't do anything because he was never allowed to do anything. He's really doing good now:) and I enjoy every minute with him. He's come a long way. Good luck.

Yes, it was funny. He was giving me some pretty funny looks and stretching that neck quite a bit like "What in the world are you doing?" Silly me, didn't know wht a keel was:P

OMG!!! I know Buddy is really sick but this sounds like good news compared to the liver failure scare! Atleast it sounds treatable. This has made day. I have been very worried about you both. Sounds like he will need some special care at home but hopefully he will be back to normal shortly.

LOL.:laugh: You have me cracking up now. You said keel and I didn't know what or where that was so I went to the online dictionary. It said it was the bottom of a boat so I figured it was the bottom of Baxter:) . I was poking around on his butt to see how much fat was there:silly: :blush: I did check his breast bone and I definately felt that. So his breast bone is the keel? I'm gonna ask this time. As for the food thats about what I give Baxter too. About 1 1/2 coffee scoops of of the seeds, about 1 1/2 of the pellets and 1 1/2 more of the dried fruit mix. So that is about right you think? Or too much. He leaves so much. Then a few goodies through out the day. It's funny he will eat club crackers but throw the saltines away:P

I checked him out some more. I don't think he's fat or overweight. I think you might have misread an earlier post. It said I could feel his breast bone. It actually feels kind of skinny there. He is good sized bird but I have been checking his areas and don't feel any fatty parts. His legs look the biggest out of anything. I am worried that he does not eat. I feed his his normal stuff in the mornings and of course he gets other things a few times a day but at night his bowl is almost as full as when I started. That was another worry I had. I didn't have anything to compare his eating to untill the Bonkers the conure came here and that little thing eats like a pig :woohoo: but figured he's more active so he burns more calories. I still think Baxter should eat more. How much does a "normal" grey eat a day? Does anyone know?

Thanks DanMcQ, you always seem so knowledgable and explain things so well. I appreciate everyones help and advice because Baxter wouldn't blossom without everyones input. (It takes a village to raise a grey:) )He can only go as far as my knowledge will take him and that's why I need everyones help. I am definatley limited with experience but Baxter and everyone on this forum really make it fun for us. I think Baxter will be a great success story thanks to all everyones help. Thanks everyone. It means alot to me.

We are learning this bird "stuff" together:P . That is why I say the longer I have him the more I think he was really neglected. Step up is a must it seems and he had no clue. When I picked Baxter up the previous guy told me if I wanted to pet him to use 2 fingers and go down to the top of his head between his eyes and he said NEVER put your fingers below the beak. Poor Baxter. Never got any affection. Untill now{Love-0002011E}

Hi Kevin, Loved your introduction. Welcome to the forum. I am someone that did not have large bird experience and I adopted a 12 year old grey who was cage bound, only had 2 toys and never got handled. Luckily he didn't have any major issues. It is so fulfilling to see him grow and trust and come so far. I wouldn't trade it for the world. It has been so fulfilling. I am looking forward to hearing more from you and following your story. It sounds like you are more than qualified. Keep us posted.

Oops, sorry, won't happen again;)

That's very good advice Tycos Mom. I just need to make sure he has a cushiony spot. I really don't care if he flies or not. I just want him to be able to land safely. And very helpful info on the toys. Just curious, where do put the foot toys? On the bottom of the cage? do you tie them and hang them. Baxter used to love his little round ball with the bell on it. He would swing it back and forth and finally zing it off the cage:laugh: . Then one day he just quit playing with it untill I hung it beside his perch on a short short chain about 2", now he plays with it sometimes. I've heard others talk of the foot toys. They seem pretty popular with greys and maybe he would like more of them but he doesn't go to the bottom of his cage very often and when he's on top he spends most of his time on the big perch up there. I think he's just been on a perch almost all his life and he don't know what else to do. He is changing though and He is so willing once he gets over his skiddishness. Tonight I got his table perch and put it on the floor and we played "Newspaper" That was great fun:woohoo: I would tear strips off and let him watch, then I would show him and he would back away. He started "testing" the paper out with his tongue and finally when I was tearing the strips he was stretching his neck to get them and pull them from my hand and kill them:laugh: Paper strips are evil you know:evil: I had a blast untill untill the game was over and I realized the mess we made:angry: And he is such the lover at night. He never gets tired of me petting him and his eyes will get all foggy and then eventually close. The head tilts back like he is in heaven. About an hour later I get sad because it's bedtime and I hate to put him to sleep because my nights over:( Here's a (bad)pic of us playing newspaper. (the flash was too bright) Maybe we will do it again tomorrow:silly: Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2008/08/21 06:54<br><br>Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2008/08/21 06:57

Thanks, That link was very helpful to me.

he weighs 465 kg

I just went and checked as good as I could. He let me check a little but was freakin out. LOL I know he has like Turkey drumstick legs but didn't really feel any excess fat down below. I can feel his breast bone.

Welcome Nesha, I joined a month ago after getting an adult grey. This is the place to be. Everyone is wonderful here and if you ever have a question they are all here to help and guide us. It's like a big family. My grey is older (12 years) and he talks and mimicks but he also has his own language that your bird seems to know:woohoo: . The grumbling muffled words. He laughs like a mad man too. I can't get enough of him. Glad you joined up.

I weighed him last night and he weighed 15.9 ounces, so almost a pound. Is that about right? He seems pretty heavy to me and that would make sense why he drops down like he does. That was a great idea what you said. Thanks. I will try and be near the sofa when he is flapping or guide him that way. Didn't think of that before (Duh):side: . :whistle: I don't want to discourage him but it would crush me if he got hurt. He is having lots of new "firsts" with me and I think he likes it. Thanks again.<br><br>Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2008/08/21 05:15

I forgot to mention every time I asked him to Step Up, I would say "Step Up, Step Up" too so he know what it means. Now he says "Step Up" back to me;)