ecodweeb

I'm in ajlinva's camp. My parrots were all over the age of 10 (years) when I got them. However I think that's the most adorable photo!

Everyone's said what I would say: Flour or corn starch if you don't have styptic powder (get some you'll need it), and don't panic! In the wild this thing happens, and they do survive. The real dangers are (correct me if I am wrong here) with losing wing feathers, if the shaft doesn't seal up in time they can bleed out quickly -- I've been told as soon as a 20 minutes.

I got into a debate with a hybrid owner about emissions and overall fuel economy, plus the expected service life of a vehicle. It ended with the Prius owner saying I was a bird brain. I smiled and said thank you, did you know that it's been scientifically proven that an African Grey parrot is as intelligent as a 3 year old child with the empathic capability of a 2 year old child? It's been proven over 30 years of study and Animal Planet even took one and did a standard oral examination that a Kindergarten child would take to advance to first grade and the parrot actually did better than most of the children. He just stopped talking and walked away.

I was going to say it might be too old for it to be used, but Wikipedia tells me that Teflon has been around since the 40s and was part of the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, TN, and was first sold on cookware in 1961. when in doubt, don't use it.

i don't buy PTFE treated products, even cell phones. I guess I'm just as paranoid.

your right I didn't think about the age. he isn't sexually mature (see, I tend to work with the older ones...) You could also try some aloe vera juice spritzing if it is molting/pin feathers that are causing his irritation.

hang in there buddy

My boy does this every winter just about. He'll hate me for no reason, lunge at me, and then randomly he'll turn back into the sweetie pie. You can try my remedy: tofu. raw, cooked it don't matter. Dr. Pepperberg says that the estrogen like qualities tone down the male's horniness (which many think is manifested in this stand offish-ness that you're describing) and bring back the sweetie pie. For $2 whats it gonna hurt to try? If he's like the boys I've experienced, he'll almost rip it out of your hand to eat it -- it's certainly a top treat for the males, I've not had one yet that refused it. Girls however, not so fond of it!

I believe rbpitman is in the Charleston area....

I think he means confident enough to speak with someone in the room, Dave And sadly, I don't know of a method for that. Talula will talk that pretty grey head off... when I'm out of sight. She will speak when I'm looking at her occasionally... but normally its when I'm not in eyesight. Phoenix is the same way, but lately, he's gotten more pronounced about saying "Hey Buddy" when I come into the room. For a while Talula said Hello when you walked by her cage. Now she sometimes says either "Pretty girl" or "Hey baby girl" ... it's garbled and I can't really make out anything but "girl"

Yes, it's ok to give them some OJ every now and again but the acid in those kinds of foods or juices long term could be a health problem. Like anything else, moderation. Except it seems avacados, they seem to be kind of deadly. But I have no first hand exposure or knowledge of this. Just what I read.

Those photos are amazing. Mine just hate each other. I don't know if I can get them to perch like that, the photo of them sitting near each other took ages to get.

A word of caution on birds in the kitchen.... primarily ensure you do not use PTFE/Teflon coated cookware. The plastic lining gives off a gas at high cooking temps (above 140F) and these are lethal to parrots, as in a matter of minutes. Otherwise your plan is quite good. You just need to get him used to being around you, socialized. You're doing just fine

prayers for spock

Hi Taz, Sunflower seed diets are not very good for these parrots. I would advise you go online and order some Harrisons or Roudybush or even Zupreem brand pellets and mix these into the seeds to try and encourage the parrot to eat them. Immediately I'd start with fresh fruits and veggies. Beware of Avacados and critus fruits, I'd suggest you start out with some red or green peppers, perhaps a bit of tomato, some bananna, apple slice, a grape (seedless) and even some celery, carrots and corn. Fresh/frozen is best, I don't like how canned foods tastes myself so I don't subject my parrots to them. I bet he will come around with the fresh food, also try some breads down the road. Also the bird is adjusting to your new home, so it may not be eating because it is scared. How have you acted around the parrot since he's come home? Have you let him decide if he wishes to come out of the cage or required he come out of the cage with step up? These are all important depending on the timed you've had him.

So hard to believe he is 40-something.

I hope things are progressing along well with Sampson. Tell him I'm sorry I held his feet when we met last week, I didn't mean to literally step on his talons like that. He's a sweetie pie, but he's still getting adjusted to your space. Oh here is the cage I think he'd like: http://cgi.ebay.com/24-x22-Play-Top-Bird-Cage-for-african-grey-macaw_W0QQitemZ230428807446QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item35a6a09116

My partner would kill me if I brought home another grey right now (but I'd love to, esp a real baby). I was just in Atlanta this week buying a car. If I had seen this I likely would have brought home a VW New Beetle AND a parrot ....

I have a 10 year old female who was not trained to step up on a hand. Here's my advise: First, find a favorite treat and spoil him with it. This is good right now as he's frightened and you're concerned for him, and you're sort of miscommunicating (it's ok, we ALL do this with new parrots). Keep working on step up. Have you offered a stick or covered arm? He may be trained to step up on that (Talula was). Don't push for petting/touching at this time. Open the cage up and let him come out on his own and sing and do whatever. He was probably ignored a fair bit in the last home(s) and thats why he does things to entertain himself. I'd suggest trying him on fried tofu (mine loves it fried in red palm oil w/ cayenne pepper sprinkled on top). This may help calm down some moodiness as this IS molting season/mating season. Read to him, the paper, a book. Always talk to him and whistle/call for him when out of the room. Use aloe vera juice and water to mist him and help foster the feather regeneration. Diet is important, talk to the vet about it. Lastly, I can't stress this enough, just don't give up. Talula throws her foot up for me when I walk y and chirps/flaps her wings to get my attention. This is after I think 7-8 months in the home. I have photos of the scars she left on me at first and videos to back it up. She only lets me pet her when she's sitting on my tummy when I lay flat on the sofa. That's it. She bites me otherwise, and I'm clearly her favorite person. HE will talk when he is ready to talk. Just wait. Setup a recorder for when your gone, I bet you'd be surprised what you hear.

I don't want to think about it. its around 30 bucks for two bags of food which barely lasts a month it seems, and the toys I tend to spend $20 minimum every other week minimum.

In my eyes: Abusive: Taking the bird out on a 36-40F day with windchills and heavy rain, letting the animal get soaked to the skin, for more than 10 minutes (like you're out for a walk damn the weather, the bird is coming too). Questionable but not abusive: giving the bird 10 minutes of playtime in fresh snow. Naturally I'd be worried about germs and stuff in the snow, but, there have been reports of B&G Macaws surving 3-4 Boston winters with annual reports of the bird being seen IN THE WINTER.... so... I think that we're a little over protective sometimes. Now if the bird was left in a cage out in this, that's abuse.

oh wow, came for flight pics left happy with the Rescuers reference (almost forgot about that great movie).

I have two rehomed CAGs, 10 and 17 (or I guess 18 and 11 now... it's 2010), and they are in their cages from 11pm-3pm. From 3pm-11pm they are out of their cages and allowed more or less free roam of the house. My little girl has stopped plucking and is letting her beautiful feathers regrow, and she's talking up a storm. She's adapted quite well to our schedule. The boy has known this for some time (over a year) and he is quite pleased. Both our birds tend to stay up later with us (and scream if we cover them but we stay up), and I think they sleep mostly after breakfast during the day. Mine seem OK with it, but your in a different situation. I'd think that rehoming would be harder on the poor guy, he knows you and only you, don't take that from him.

my 10 year old girl talks quite often. my 17 year old boy hardly speaks.

I'd say this is the time of year, the winter. I've found everything from red tail feathers to flight feathers, tons of down, and breast/back feathers. And when I give head scratches I get tiny little head feathers everywhere, too.