Chipdouglas

Hi, I know what self-proclamation may look like, especially from any anonymous individual out there, but I'm very honestly exactly like this, for real. I'm not anal about everything, but there are things which I take very much to heart. I live in a brand new home--we've been here for 1 1/2 year now. Basement isn't finished yet, however all outside walls are covered with sheetrock, there's 2'' styrofoam below the concrete floor, and it's pretty clean over all. However, this may not have been the best of decision to have moved my grey downstairs--I did it because of my health issues ( there's tremendous pressure on me, and save for the weekend, I'm quite on the go). Lighting sure isn't the best downstairs, so I've looked at hanging a UV fixture above it's head. How many hours a day is recommended ? 4-6 ? Since UV light is needed for biosynthesis of 25 OH (vitamin D), I don't think it'd do any harm. There's a smaller room upstairs I could put her into, but the reason I haven't is because of the air exchanger output setup in that room--it's winter alright here, and a draft of cold air, I'm afraid wouldn't be that good to her/him health. Of course she'd be about 12' away from it, and said air outlet is located high on the wall, but still, my computer used to be there and when working at my desk, I could feel cold air flowing by, which was unpleasant. One thing I do not know is how dry or humid should it be in my home, taking into account my grey's needs ? Since one significant aspect of disease prevention in humans is lifestyle, I'd tend to think that to some extent, the same is true of birds. Meaning that, every little pertinent and useful things one can do towards better life condition of ours loved ones can result of more robust health. Diet sure comes first and foremost, at least in humans it does. Excessively stressful environments aren't conducive to health either, but this isn't much of a problem here, as I don't have any kids, just me and my better half.

I read you loud and clear Dave, however in an effort nor to overestimate neither underestimate my sense of observation I'd tell you that I truly am a detail freak, so when I say there hasn't been any noticeable change, you can take my word for it. It's very delicate here for me to say this, since this may come across as condescending, while I'm only just telling the truth. As I said, I'm not an avian vet, that's for sure, but by nature I'm a detail freak and since I hold a bachelor's degree in nursing and have worked in the field for a few years, and am known for my keen sense of observation, I really do feel there hasn't been any change in the way my grey acts. There are no visible signs either. I can tell you for sure about signs and habits changes, but I cannot make any diagnosis for sure though, so I'd need to see an avian vet. I'm glad to know that this forum is all about giving out high quality information though. This may very well become my online reference for grey related info. regarding your making reference to an internist, I totally agree with you, I'd make the four-hour drive without hesitation. I'll then arrange for an appointment with that remote avian vet. Reason why I asked on here was I thought those issues I've brought up might be very common and for which there are very likely solutions.

Hi all, I've bought my grey when I was 20 and I'm 36. Ever since I've owned it, I've fed him Hagen Tropican pellets for grey : http://www.hagen.com/canada/english/birds/addinfo/tropican.cfm. He's had beautiful plumage ever since, and has never ever plucked any of these last. He has one of those very large cage, so plenty of room to play and have fun. He has a good deal of toys and plays quite a bit with them. He's roughly 26 years old, because when I got it it's reached adult stage already. he's quite playful, doesn't really want to bite our fingers and overall one amazingly friendly grey. I've also fed him fruits mostly, on top of his pellets. He's never been exposed to a lot of stress. He sings and chirps all day and enjoys play games with us, if I may call those games hehe. Now, we moved him to the basement (we spend a good amount of time with him though). I moved him downstairs cause it was really getting dirty upstairs (feather dust), and I've had some issues with severe stress, so I felt It'd be best if I moved him downstairs for those reasons. Now, after moving him downstairs, we haven't noticed any subtle change whatsoever in his behavior, until we added this : http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/product_detail.asp?pf%5Fid=40112702&dept%5Fid=136&brand%5Fid=118&Page= and calcium rich pellets. From that point on, not that his behavior's changed, but she started drinking more and obviously her droppings were more watery (more urine). We removed those two pellet food, and her water drinking went back to normal, but somehow he still has watery droppings. I can't spot any sign of ailing health though, and I'm a registered nurse and a detail freak--granted, birds aren't humans, but his behavior hasn't changed a bit. It's also important for me to let you know that her droppings haven't changed color, they're just loose to watery. I was told by an avian breeder that it might be that it's getting too much daily light exposure, meaning that he goes to sleep too late at times (around 10 at times). Her droppings smell awful, and I was told it might be cause it's a female and she's menstruating. It's never happened until we moved it downstairs though, so I'm thinking there might be a connection. I do not know whether it's a male or a female btw. She's (I'll assume it's a she) right next to me at the moment chirping and playing with her toys. Although it may not be related, I've noticed that she sometimes closes her left eye, as though from either photosensitivity or irritation. Downstairs there are two air exchanger outlet, one output and one input, and although she's not close to the air output, because it's winter and air is cold, I thought it might be why she closes her left eye nearly shut at times, and then opens it back and so on and so forth. I'm asking you here, cause you may have encountered such experiences and also cause locally, we have no avian vet--I need to drive two hours to get to see one. All we have locally is one vet who does follow-up on birds which have been seen by one of those avian vets in the next city. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. I forgot to say that I've recently removed the following from her diet, because I felt it might be incompatible with one or more of the ingredients : http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/product_detail.asp?pf%5Fid=40112721&dept%5Fid=136&brand%5Fid=118&Page= Incidentally, she LOVES the above mix, but now she's on Tropican alone + fruits and some veggies. The reason why I feed her more fruits (not in excess though) as opposed to veggies is that over and over she's turned them down, but I know I should be insisting more though, so in the long run she might feel like having them. Or perhaps introducing very small amounts of them as part of her other foods. Many thanks in advance.