rjhammy

Thanks all. My boyfriend said the same thing. Just wanted to make sure.

Hi All: Ash, our CAG, has been with us for about a month. Today, while cleaning out her cage, I found a red tail feather. Should I be worried? What do I need to look for? It looks like it broke off. Any advice? I don't think she's plucking, but I'm not sure. Thanks!

She's not in the kitchen... she's in the living room. But my place is so small you can see the kitchen from the living room (think of a square room... kitchen on one side, living/dining room on the other side). I will definitely try the warning. Wish me luck!

Ash is our 4-month CAG. She's used to the noise from the heater and hair dryer, but she gets very scared when I cook. Usually if it involves oil and stir frys. Any tips? She'll drop to the bottom of her cage and shriek whenever she hears the oil popping. I'm scared if I have her near me when I'm cooking, she'll fly into the stove or hurt herself.

Hi All: I give Ash fresh veggies/fruits/pasta/breads twice a day... but she's gotten into the habit of picking out what she likes (the sweet fruits). Any thoughts of what I can do? Should I just stop giving her the stuff she likes so she'll have no choice to but to eat the veggies?

Thanks all! I had another follow up question... if plush toys are okay for parrots... how come I've never seen them attached to parrot toys?

Can African Grey's play with plush toys? I'm trying to expose our 4-month CAG to as many objects, colors and textures as possible. I have random plush toys in the house. Can I give them to her?

No... Ash was on her outside perch, about 2 feet from my boyfriend, who was at his desk doing some bills. Ash is currently on Zupreem Fruit Blend and Zupreem Wild and Spicy. No water bowl. I use a Water Buddy bottle. Also, she gets two helpings of other foods. Once in the morning and once in the evening. This includes fresh veggies, steamed veggies, fruits, pasta, tablespoon of seed mix, dried fruit, almonds.. etc. Any advice or thoughts on her diet is appreciated. The breeder had her on Zupreem and I haven't read any bad reviews on it, so I kept it the same. Thanks!<br><br>Post edited by: rjhammy, at: 2009/02/15 19:02

Last night, Ash (4-month old CAG) coughed up(?) or vomited(?) a white foamy mucus. Anyone had this experience? It was a good amount of white foam and sticky goo. No signs of food in the mucus. I called my breeder and he said that as long as she was standing on her perch and acting normally, that she would be fine in a day or two. My vet is about 40 miles away. I have not been able to find a good vet that I trust around here. Before I cart her down to the vet... wanted to know if you have any thoughts. She's eating normally. No drastic changes in diet recently (except I gave her a piece of pear for the first time on Friday)

Tycos_mom wrote: Hahahaha... I can totally see him whining! Thanks for reading everyone. :kiss: I have to admit... I'm kinda jealous. I probably do 95% of the work taking care of Ash... and HE'S the one she loves!

Hi All! I just wanted to share a quick story. Almost everyday after work, my boyfriend gives Ash, our CAG, a "tour" of our condo. It's actually very cute to watch... he walks around and describes everything he sees and if she clicks or chirps, he responds. Anyways... he was in the living room with Ash and I hear him yell "Get in here! Something's wrong with Ash!!" I run over to him... and what do I see? My boyfriend sitting on the floor panicking while holding Ash. His pants had chunks of Ash's partially digested dinner. :sick: Ash had regurgitated on my boyfriend, but he didn't know it was a sign of affection. (I'm pretty sure she was regurgitating because she was pumping her head up and down, and not whipping side to side) Now... instead of being grossed out, my boyfriend strutted around the house, taking every opportunity to show me the puke stain on his pants.:laugh:

Thanks everyone. After reading (and thinking) this through... I realize that it's me getting too excited and pushing Ash too hard. I have so many things I want to do with her and share with her... but I know I need to move at her speed.

I put in a new toy on the outside of Ash's cage last week. For the last few nights, she's been poking at it and picking at it. Additionally... she and I would play with it outside of the cage. Last night...I put it on the inside of her cage in the top left corner (the same place as it was when it was on the outside, but now inside). After that, she scrambled to the bottom of her cage and would not move to the top perch. Or... she'd climb up halfway and jump down. Not to mention she was shaking and wouldn't close her wings all the way. I'm pretty sure she was spooked. My question is... what should I have done? -Move it out of the cage and back to where it was hanging outside? -Leave it inside and cuddle and give her treats inside the cage? -Play with the toy inside the cage?<br><br>Post edited by: rjhammy, at: 2009/02/06 22:26

Now that Ash has settled in to her cage/food/our house... my boyfriend and I have a few disagreements. I'm more of the... "this-needs-to-be-done-to-insure-a-better-life-for-Ash-down-the-road" My boyfriend is more... "let's-not-scare-Ash-and-cause-her-stress-and-if-we-don't-need-to-we-shouldn't" Anytime I try to teach her something that causes her to get a little flustered... it upsets my boyfriend. But I really think these needs are necessary... like toweling, litter training, bathing, eating veggies... For example... toweling. I want to be able to do it now... rather than wait until an emergency. I've kept a white towel by her cage for 2 days and then left it by her outside perch. Last night we tried toweling her with very little success. We were too scared to hold her tight and she scrambled out and hit the floor. After that... she was really shaky and my boyfriend was upset at *ME* for forcing him to help me towel her and said that we should stop trying. Thoughts? Obviously I don't want to traumatize her... but I also want her to be a good parrot citizen.<br><br>Post edited by: rjhammy, at: 2009/02/05 19:21

I would like to learn and practice toweling with Ash. I don't want to wait until an emergency to start learning how to towel. I've tried searching online, but feels like there's not enough information. I've tried wrapping her with a towel, but she starts flapping. Do I need to put her on her back immediately after I get the towel around her? Your advice is greatly appreciated. Any one have videos?

Speaking of moving toys... how do you guys move out toys? Do you just take it out? Or do you move it to right outside and then phase them out?

Thanks all for your comments. I think I'll keep her favorite perch and the food/water perch stationary and move the rest in a month or two. I have odd working hours some times, so it's nice to have a grey who does well with change.

judygram wrote: Thanks Everyone! My avatar is two dwarf hamsters snuggling up in a ceramic hide-away. In addition to Ash... I have 8 hammie-kiddies. <br><br>Post edited by: rjhammy, at: 2009/02/04 01:37

Ash is our 4-month CAG and does well with new toys. I've done a lot of reading about rotating toys, introducing toys, moving toys...etc. However... I recently read that in order to help AGs deal with their environment... that you need to move around perches as well. Thoughts? Right now, Ash has 6 different perches in her cage. I set them so that she can move around the cage easily and access food and water. Do I need to move around her perches? Should I move around her food and water?

Hello All! Ash joined our family last week and she is absolute love love love! I look forward to advice, new friends and ideas to keep Ash happy. Here is a picture of Ash doing her impression of the US Post Office Eagle. :laugh: <br><br>Post edited by: rjhammy, at: 2009/02/03 17:11