mareeee

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the support! I hope to introduce all the baby furniture and 'stuff' slowly, so not to freak him out. I like the idea of using a baby doll too, hehe. I found links to baby sounds (like crying and babbling) on a site that talked about getting your dog ready for a new baby... It kinda spooks Charlie right now, but I'll try to get him used to it (although I don't want him to start repeating the sounds quite yet..). I'm sure I'm being over anxious, but I know it is going to be a huge change in our house. Hopefully we will all survive!

*Long (hopefully not too incoherent) post warning!* Hey everyone! So, I've been wanting to make this post for awhile now, but I finally worked up the courage. My husband and I are expecting our first (human) baby in August. Charlie, our TAG, is about 4 years old and I'm worried about how he is going to adapt to not being an "only child" anymore. Pretty much whenever we are home, he is out of his cage chilling with us. I know the first few months with a baby are going to be difficult anyway since I probably won't have much sanity and very little time beyond trying to figure out the whole 'mother' thing. Anyone else survive being a first time mom with a bird? How did your feathered kid react? Charlie is a pretty resilient little bird. He has traveled Africa, survived a month all alone in quarantine, moved several times, survived being randomly left for a week or so at a time (with strangers checking on him), and he is a happy bird who still loves us. I know that ultimately after we figure out a new routine, he will adapt just fine, but I'm just worried about making the transition and easing the growing pains. I'm also worried about jealousy. Originally he preferred my husband, but he switched his affection to me about two years ago when we left Africa. (I was around more and my husband started working crazy hours.) Charlie doesn't mind the other person, but he plays favorites. Since I have been pregnant, he started to shift his affection a bit back towards my husband. I don't know if its because I've been grumpier with shorter patience (since I haven't been feeling great) or what. This is probably a good thing though, since I hope my husband can be more of a constant for him (ie: won't have a baby hanging from his boob for long periods of time...), but I know he will still be jealous of the baby getting more attention. Fortunately, Charlie seems to have gotten used to being 'ignored' occasionally when we can't give him the attention he wants, as long as we love him later, but he gets grumpy sometimes. So, is there anything I can try to do now to help ease this transition? I have a million and one other things on my mind with this pregnancy, but Charlie is a huge part of our lives. Ever since we started trying to get pregnant, we've talked about how Charlie will deal with it. He is our first baby! PS -- I've been taking pics of the belly, laying down with Charlie on my stomach. I'll post a slideshow progression once done

Ouch Dave.

Hi everyone, I know people do it for dogs, and I did it occasionally when I had a hedgehog, but have any of you tried oatmeal baths for dry skin on your grey? I figured it couldn't hurt since its all natural and he likes oatmeal anyway, so I gave it a shot tonight. I put some dried oatmeal in an old sock, let it sit for a few minutes in a small amount of warm water, then squeezed the sock to get the oatmeal 'juice' on Charlie's back and chest. He wasn't extremely happy about it, but as he chewed on the yummy oatmealie sock, he did get distracted for a few seconds so I could finish the job. He is pretty grumpy now though... more grumpy than I've seen him in a long time. We'll see if it was worth it...

hmm... Now the photos aren't working. Lets try them a different way...

Sheesh! Sorry for the monstrous picture size. I didn't realize I uploaded them at such a large size.

This is Charlie's favorite way to bathe. Whenever we see him trying to take a bath in his water dish or my water glass, I know it's time to get out the bath. He loves it. He gets all riled up. All of a sudden he'll jet out of the water and fly up to the shower or towel rod, sit for a minute, then bolt back to his bath. He chatters away the whole time. He doesn't get completely drenched on his back though this way, so every so often we'll bring him into the shower for a good soak. He doesn't quite enjoy this though. In the shower he does everything to escape, and when I make that impossible, he just sits and pouts. Anyway, maybe your fid would prefer bathing at her own ease like Charlie rather than being forced. We used to have a shallower dish, and when we switched to this one, he was afraid of it for a while, but he got used to it.

We have a big metal stand for Charlie in the corner of our bedroom, but I needed something more mobile and light weight. This was super easy to throw together and is light enough to bring around the house so he can join us wherever we are. (Mainly the kitchen while I'm cooking or the basement while we're watching a movie.) This was my $6 thrift store solution: -thrift store stool - $5 -thrift store plastic platter - $1 -2 random end pieces of dowels, 2 screws (I think 2.5"?), and a washer from past projects I've wanted to put this together for months, but never took the time to do it. It was so fast and easy though, I feel silly for having waited so long! (Seriously -- drilling 3 holes and putting in two screws.) There is a long screw through a hole in the middle of the stool to hold on the perch. It is very sturdy and Charlie likes it!

Here is a better shot, but this was 2.5yrs ago. With his last molt, he lost all the red factor, but its slowly starting to reappear.

These are the kind of red 'freckles' I'm talking about. This was about 2 years ago and these particular ones molted out on their own.

Charlie has a little red factor. He will be turning 4 in about 2 months. He occasionally gets red 'freckles' on his wings or an almost solid red tail feather (he is a TAG). For the past year or so, he hasn't had any red come in. Over the last few months though, some red has started to reappear. The Problem: Charlie doesn't seem to like the red so much anymore. He selectively chews on the feathers with abnormal red and ultimately (over the course of a few days or weeks) will finally pull it out. There aren't a whole lot, maybe one every few weeks, but enough to notice. He has never had plucking issues before. We haven't had any lifestyle changes. Is he self conscious of the difference in feathers appearance? Do they feel different to him? Some of the red spotted flight feathers seemed to be not as solid as they should be... could they be weaker or getting damaged on their own more easily and he is just trying to get them out of the way? Any insights, theories, or similar experiences?

So I thought I would show you how we ended up 'fixing' Charlie's destruction. Unfortunately he completely destroyed all hope of fixing the old keyboard, so we had to replace the whole surface. And a white one was $100 less than a black, so we now have an oreo computer. Ha!

Just a heads up if you use zupreem: You can print a $2 off coupon from their website. The current one expires 12/31/10. I don't know if they always have one, but back in March (the last time I had to buy food... ha!) there was a similar one. Great deal though if you use zupreem. http://www.zupreem.com/special-features/coupons

I guess I'm thankful he left the cords alone... I was just saying to my husband this weekend that we need to get him some new toys because lately he's been searching out more and more things to destroy. if only...

Anyone know a good recipe for stuffed parrot??? :mad:

ha! I was just lamenting with my husband over the fact that Charlie keeps asking for peanuts non-stop. We're trying to start him on pellets, but he prefers to just keep requesting peanuts rather than eat the dull new pellets. :whistle: He used to repeatedly ask for 'water' whenever he wanted to take a bath. Hasn't done that in a while, but he still knows the word and says it along with water noises when he sees us drinking from our nalgenes. These AGs... they're pretty smart little fellas!

Hey guys - I appreciate the advice. I was just afraid I was going to end up doing more harm than good by spoiling him now when I know that I won't be able to spend this much time with him in the future. He's been getting plenty of shoulder time: helping me with laundry and cleaning, eating lunch with me at the table (he really likes meatloaf?!), even sitting on the shower rod in the bathroom while I'm getting ready in the morning. I'll just keep on spoiling him for now and deal with the transition of going back to work when that comes. Who knows how long it'll take to find a job anyway right now... But thanks again for your answers. It makes me feel better.

Hi everyone! For those of you who don't know, my husband and I brought Charlie, our TAG back from Africa recently. He just got out of quarantine last week and he's doing great, but is having a little anxiety with all the changes he's been through. First of all, he is being very needy. I definitely understand the behavior, only I think I might be doing more harm than good. I've been spoiling him and spending most of my time with him. Even if he was just sitting quietly on his cage minding his own business, when I leave the room without him, He squawks and tells me to pick him up ("come here! up! up!") as he shuffles back and forth on his cage and is ready to fly. (He won't fly 95% of the time though because he has problems with his flight feathers on his right wing) Charlie has gone through a bit of regression as well since we were evacuated from Guinea. Before we left, he was talking a lot. After we left, we spent 3 weeks in a training facility in a neighboring country and 6 weeks traveling (while we waited for his import permits). During this time, he stopped talking almost all together and again was pretty needy. Now that he's back with us from a month in quarantine and hasn't been on the move for once, his vocab is coming back a little bit (he even said 'go potty' today for the first time since September!) but he's far from his pre-evacuation chatty self. So my questions for all of you: -(I think) I understand his behavior. It was a pretty traumatic experience for a little bird and he needs a little stability now and something to trust in. We're trying to stick to a routine to give him reassurance that the trouble is over, but its hard to do since we're in the middle of job searching/interviewing/no reliable schedule. I just want to know: Do you have any advice on helping him cope with these changes to make the transition smoother and quicker for both of us? -I'm a little worried about spoiling him too much now and then finding a job and leaving him home alone soon. Any advice on easing his anxiety without encouraging his needy/clingy behavior? He has been AMAZING meeting so many new people and accepting change and his new home, but he has become more of 'my' bird, choosing me over my husband. He used to have no distinction (except on an off day where he was being a punk and only liked one or the other of us for some featherbrained reason..) My husband did start working though last week, leaving me home alone with Charlie during the day, giving us much more bonding time. Now I'm just worried what he'll do once I start working too. Has anyone had any birdy trouble while transitioning from being home a lot to being gone a lot or through other big changes? I've read through some past posts on needy birds, but would love to hear any advice or experiences you might have! Thanks, Mary

I just had Charlie, my TAG shippped via Continental. He arrived on a night when it was -6*F with -30* wind chills. They took great care of him. If you don't mind waiting around, I'd suggest going early to pick Morgan up. I was advised to get to the cargo office a little before the flight was scheduled to arrive to kindly 'remind' them that there will be a live, warm blooded animal that they need to get off quickly and warmly.

I am broke, so started searching for bird food coupons. I found this one for $2 off any zupreem product (2lbs or larger), so figured it should be shared. http://www.zupreem.com/special-features/coupons It says its good until 3/31/2010. Ok... anyone else have any coupons to share?

Thanks everyone for your support! I am definitely glad to have him back jess -- since you already have a US bird, it is apparently at lot easier. Just make sure you get all his permits and paperwork and stuff BEFORE you leave the country. I think USDA site said something about a pet passport if you plan on him traveling often? I didn't learn as much about that though. Something I read mentioned something about in-home quarantine instead of USDA quarantine too in those cases, which will be a lot easier on you and Yoshi! In other news: Charlie ate pellets for the first time yesterday! I was pretty excited that he was willing to try them. I had to trick him in to trying them, but now he's eating them just fine! Giving him an all-fresh diet is not as practical here as it was in Africa...

And now for a long story: My husband and I recently returned from two years in Guinea, West Africa as Peace Corps Volunteers. During our first year, we decided to adopt a 5 month old TAG we named Charlie. He was wild caught in Guinea. (I know I know... we'll save that one for a different forum topic...). We weren't sure if we'd bring him home with us or not at the end of our service, then a friend of ours with a parrot said that they had changed the process and said it was now easy to do. (as it turned out, it is NOT easy, but before it wasn't even legal at all, so I guess that's one improvement.) I see why they don't want to make it too easy to import exotic birds, but I still wish it would have been a little more user friendly. But, we're dealing with the government here, so I may be asking too much. While I was going through this though, I wished I could find ANYONE who I could talk to who had endured the importing process. So, now I want to offer my experience to anyone crazy enough to try to import an african grey. THE PROCESS: First, you have to have lived out of the US for at least one full year to even consider importing a grey. Next you need a bunch of paperwork and permits: -CITES permit issued by the country you're leaving -Federal Fish and Wildlife permit for importing a live AND protected species (to get this, you need a copy of the CITES permit, proof of where you acquired the bird, and write a bunch of signed statements about a bunch of stuff - ie: its a pet and not for resale, etc. This was the worst one to get. AND it takes about 3 months to get it after you apply for it.) -USDA permit to import -Application for reservation at quarantine -Health certificate signed by a GOVERNMENT vet Each of these costs money. -FFW permit is $50 -USDA permit is $137 -Quarantine is $440 -CITES permit from Guinea was amazing: $1 -Health certificate, the government guy actually gave it to me as a gift. I think he felt sorry for me. Then there's the flight and approved pet kennel. We actually found a free kennel and just had a bamboo perch and cloth cover made for it. The flight on Royal Air Maroc charged $200 for him, but they allowed him to ride in the cabin under the seat, which was great since it was such a long international flight. After the 30 days of quarantine in New York, we had to figure out a way to have him sent to us in Utah, where we now live. This is the only point we used a broker, which kind of sucked, but was our only option. We paid a broker $150 to pick him up from quarantine and drop him at the airport. The cargo shipment from Continental Airlines cost $160. There were much cheaper cargo options, but Continental has the best pet program and the only one who will ship when its this cold (Charlie arrived on a day when it was -6*F, with -30*F windchills... yuck.). USDA recommends that you use a customs broker to deal with importing/paperwork/permits/etc. I understand why: IT IS THE BIGGEST HEADACHE! Especially when you don't know what you need to do and are dealing with government officials from long distance. Brokers are quite expensive though... That said, it is possible to do all on your own! Just be prepared for it to be difficult and time consuming. Especially if you're doing it all from overseas. For us, the worst part was that we were living in a corrupt third world country that dissolved into turmoil. We actually had to leave 2 months before we were scheduled because of a massacre on the public by the military and resulting political upheaval. Fun. But again, that's a different, very long story. Luckily for Charlie's sake, we had already started the process to get all the permits. If we hadn't we would have had to leave him behind. Also luckily, the people at the permit offices were very nice and willing to work with us from afar, even though it was a weird situation. We ended up just traveling around for a month while we waited for the permits to be processed. They also allowed us to get the health certificate from the Mali government, since the Guinean government didn't really exist anymore. So it all amazingly worked out. At every step though, we kept asking ourselves: is this worth it? Everything just seemed so difficult trying to figure out and accomplish from afar. But now that Charlie is back on my shoulder, I am glad we endured! He is such a trooper! Getting evacuated from Guinea, traveling around for over a month, and then being stuck in quarantine for a month were not the easiest on him, but he stayed happy through it all and still loves us. I was worried that he would be mean or forget us after such a long time in quarantine, but the first thing he wanted when I let him out of his kennel was to have his head scratched. He bowed very graciously and let me love him as long as I wanted. Anyway, sorry for such a long post, but I mean it to be a reference in case any one needs information on importing a grey. If you are, I am more than willing to answer any questions or help you as much as I know how. Like I said, the toughest part seemed to be just figuring it all out!

oh -- also, if you haven't lived out of the states for at least one solid year, it's not even an option to import a grey since they're protected. don't know your situation, but just FYI.

hey Jonno -- My husband and I actually just imported our grey from west africa. (CHARLIE WAS RELEASED FROM QUARANTINE AND MADE IT HOME ON THURSDAY!!! YEAH!!!) I'll write up a long post in a day or so telling all about the crazy process it requires, but it is possible. It will end up costing you *at least* $700, if not 2 or 3 times more, to import a grey. (fees for permits, quarantine, plane, vet, etc... if you use a broker, that's what will really cost you the most.) It adds up quickly. We were told by a friend before we bought Charlie that the process had been simplified, but it was still a MAJOR headache. For us it was worth it though to keep our baby. quarantine is only 30 days coming into the states. (no going to hawaii though.) if you haven't gotten one yet, i agree: wait til you're state side.