shannon

This is not for my Grey, but rather for my caique and pionous parrot. The two rascals got into coffee grinds this morning (we have small plastic containers of them) and tore the tops of the containers, spilled some, etc. I do not know that they injested any of the coffee grinds, but I fear they might have... their breath doesn't really smell like it, but after tearing the coffee up they ventured over to a fruit bowl and ate fruit so their breath mostly smells of apple. Are there any suggestions of what to do, if anything. This was just minutes ago. The closest avian vet to us is two hours away. They are both looking normal and fine now.

Another video of Omar... He is doing a lot of meowing in this one. He throws in a scream and a bit of opera, as well as some itsy bitsy story telling. And maybe one bomb.

Omar and my daughter, Siarah. She is 12, he is 10. He loves her so very much and vice versa. He comes to the office with me some days and starts calling for her like clockwork at around 3 o'clock, as she gets home from school about 3-330. Now, how the heck can a bird figure that out! That is awesome. Every time the back door opens (and chimes) from three forward, he calls out, "Siarah!"

Omar and my daughter. They love each other so very much!

Omar is soooo smart, that when I bought a book to try to work on training him a little, he showed his appreciation by eating part of the front cover and first 14 pages. Since this pic was taken, he has eaten quite a bit more of the book. I think he's against this whole training idea. He marches to the beat of his own tweet.

Not to sound biased or anything, but my Grey Omar is the smartest on this planet. Here he is entertaining himself. For some reason, every time I put a camera near him to record, he only half-ass entertains himself. He is like 10 times better than this when there is no camera around.

Yes, he is at our office. I bring him about three times a week.

Okay, so no offense to all the great Greys out there, but my Omar is the smartest bird on Earth. It is no bird's fault that Omar is smarter than all birds, he just happens to be that way. Don't hate on him. LOL Here is a video of him doing nothing, but even his nothing is fun because he's THAT GOOD!

My Congo Gray, Ozzie, had injured his foot (particularly his back toe) some weeks ago. We doctored it and dealt with it a while (it was so bad it was raw and even the scales were "missing," just the pink skin). His toe now looks normal, but his toenail had been looking terrible, like it was practically twisted around. He picked at it a bunch and last night I noticed the whole toenail is MISSING! Well, I can see something inside his toe, like maybe the nail broke off at the base, but for the most part it is missing. He has a doctor's appointment Friday to get his nails clipped, and I am thankful for the timing (cause it takes forever to get an appointment with our doctor!), but are there any bits of advice, comfort, suggestions, etc. anyone can give regarding a missing toe?

I keep saying I will post video on my birds bathing. I've got some video of Omar trying to bathe- don't worry, he gets a shower too, but when he tries to bathe himself, which he does almost daily, it is sooo funny. What I do with my other grey, Ozzie, is just set him in the bottom of the tub and turn the shower on. He runs through the water again and again, getting a real kick out of it. Anyway, here is Omar bathing.

Our Omar and Ozzie are pretty spoiled. I hate to think of parrots that aren't-- they have so much to give when they are loved and spoiled. Mine get brought to the office (we own our own business so that makes it easy)- Omar comes at least four days a week and Ozzie usually around 3 afternoons (he has to come in low doses- he will not behave and stay on his cage like Omar, he just climbs down and gets into stuff- we repair computers and one time he walked down the hall eating the on/off buttons off of all the repaired computers. We had to replace six in all! The other day he ate through a UPS box that had just been delivered and ate the cord to the power adapter that belonged to a surveillance camera we were going to install! I think Ozzie needs his own surveillance camera) Anyway, they are spoiled with attention and love and they deserve every bit of it!

Great book, I agree. I,too, cried at the end even though I well knew how it would end. Gosh it was good though. I found this on YouTube of Griffin, taken after Alex' death. Griffin sounds so much like Alex it is eerie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_Fpad20Zbk

That is awesome that you got the parrot. I'm not an expert but what I do know is that with a Grey, everything takes time. They don't rush into anything so neither should you. Just love him, talk to him, hand feed him treats, play music for him, particuclarly calming music during this transition. Remember, this bird's whole life has been turned upside down. Everything he has known has changed in a brief while. Greys are extreme thinkers nad he has to be very nervous. He has to get to feel comfortable with you and that just takes time, but also it will take him a while to build up good trust in you as he is unsure of what is next for him. Be his friend. At first, don't leave him alone for too long of periods. That is where I erred with one of my birds and we had to kind of rehabilitate him, which took a while.

I agree, that does look like her crop. I would definitely get her to a vet. I know that may not be what you want to hear, but if it is staying swollen and it is her crop, it could be infection or it is not emptying properly. How does her poop look? As far as the egg laying goes, I know they are supposed to lay an egg every other day until they fill their "clutch" or something like that. I am not an expert, just have read. I know it is also their instinct and a very strong one to sit on the eggs and if they are allowed to, they will sit on the eggs for the entire gestation period (even though the eggs might be infertile they don't know this). As far as whether they are allowed to sit on them, I think there is no sure answer, but I am not sure. I am debating the same thing with my cockatiel. It's like so sad to watch knowing she won't get to see them hatch, but then what do you do? It's also sad to take them away. The big concern during this period is calcium and also I have heard of birds dying while laying an egg, but I don't know much about this. Usually something triggers the egg laying, like warm weather or them taking their human companion's affection too seriously, something like that. Please check on that swelling, though, that is concerning. Is there an avian vet in your area? I hope everything is okay.

I agree on separating them. I have cats and a dog. I remember after I got Omar (my grey) that I had read a very important sentence that sticks with me still today. It was something to the effect of, "If a cat and a bird or even a dog and a bird get in a fight (even a play fight), there will be a guaranteed loser, and that is the bird." If the bird isn't killed by the animal itself, then it can die days later from the illness that will follow the infection it will almost surely get if cat claws penetrate its bird skin. It's a tough one, and I've always been very careful. We have 3 cats- Rita, Tillie and Sylvester. Rita and Tillie have no desire whatsoever to interact with our two Congos. They are barely even humored by the fact that the birds call them by name. Sylvester on the other hand lives up to his name and is constantly dreaming of playing with one of the birds, or whatever else a cat may dream or wish for when it comes to birds. We never leave Sylvester unattended around the birds. And just to be on the safe side, we even close the main door to Omar's and Ozzie's room when we are gone, even though we do trust Rita and Tillie, we would just be devestated if something happened and there is no sense in leaving that window of opportunity open. As far as your cat, I also agree with the other responders. Don't be so mad at the cat. It is instinct. For reason, some cats, such as Rita and Tillie are able to completely get over that instinct and not even seem interested in the birds. Others, it's just not so easy for. It's not the cats fault. If you have a big enough home, you should keep them separated. I hate to see anyone have to give up a pet, but you do have to ensure the safety of both, and please don't be mad at the kitty. Have you had both of them - the bird and the cat- a while? I found with Rita and Tillie that at first they were both very interested in the birds, but when they saw that we loved the birds and we loved them, that to me is when they realized that they shouldn't mess with them. Again, Sylvester is just different and I wish it weren't the case, but that's just the way it goes. Maybe one day he will come around. Good luck with this.

I thought by dive bombing you meant the sound that birds make when they go- well really i can't even type it- you know when they make that sound like they are bombing something and then it lands with a crash. Omar does this when the UPS man comes in with packages. He always bombs him. Also, there are a couple of our customers that he bombs. Not so sure why, but it is amusing.

My grey, Omar, always amazes me with his thought patterns and self-training. Several months ago, we lost our beloved Basset Hound, Flash. We all loved Flash, including Omar and Ozzie (our two greys). Omar and Ozzie, particularly Omar, called Flash often and loved to see Flash come when he called. A few months after Flash passed away, we adopted a Basset Hound, Fred. Omar was so excited to see him, and immediately started barking upon seeing him (a Basset bark, by the way, which Fred didn't quite know how to do yet since he was just a puppy- it is sad to say that I think Fred learned to bark from Omar) Well Omar was determined to call Fred- at first he'd say Flash, but quickly corrected himself, just sticking with "Here, girl" and then whistling (even though Flash was a girl and Fred a boy, but who's keeping track, huh? Poor Omar was trying). So, Omar trucks along calling "Here, girl" and carefully listening, apparently, as we called Fred. One day we caught him practicing-- "Flaa..ed" "Flaaash- Fleeeed" "Flash-ed" "Flash-Fed" "Fed" "FlaFled" "Fled" It was "Fled" Omar ultimately stuck with, calling Fred "Fled" for a few weeks, and that was okay with us and okay with Fred and we thought okay with Omar too. But Omar never fails to amaze us. One day a strange thing happened. We also have a cat named Rita who Omar loves as well. He loves to call Rita (by name, a clean, crisp "Rita"), and say "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty," and meow like a kitty as well sometimes. It was just a few days ago, we overheard Omar practicing the name "Rita." Over and over again. "Rita" "Rita" "Rrrrita" "Riiiita" "Rrrrrrrrrita" Again and again. I thought it strange because Omar already clearly knew Rita's name and had for a good three years (we got Rita in 2005). But then, everything made sense to me finally when Omar started rehearsing something else- "Frrriiiita" "Freeeeta" "Frrrr" "Fr" "Frr" "Frrrriiiiiiita" "Friiita" "Frita" "Freeta" "Friiita" and so forth. I was absolutely amazed as I realized his technique! At some point, and some may think me crazy for thinking this but you can't convince me otherwise, but at some point Omar became frustrated that he couldn't get the "r" in "Fred" and at some point Omar reasoned that he was able to get the "R" in "Rita" without any problem, and at some point, Omar concluded that he could achieve success in saying "Fred" by working on combining what he is having trouble with (Fred) and what he can say easily (Rita) into the word "Frita" After a few days of practicing, Omar can now say "Fred," though it is still a little laborious and he gets it mixed up some still, but still practices when he thinks we aren't listening. Pretty impressive! I wonder if some speech therapists would have put all that together and solved a problem that way?<br><br>Post edited by: shannon, at: 2009/03/07 18:36

I hope I have some good news, but really only time will tell. When we got Omar, about year later he started plucking obsessively. I'm mean not to where he was completely bald, but enough to where he had a big bald spot on his belly and he was pulling wing and tail feathers. I did everything you did- baths, made sure he had plenty of sun, made sure his cage had two corners that were wall, made sure he got plenty of good foods, kept clean water and a clean cage, really everything I could think of. Then, we had testing done because I was scared to death he had something, after all he was only a year and maybe he had come to us with something. He was our first and I just didn't know what was wrong. All the tests were negative and so the vet said it was psychological rather than physiological. Strangest thing and I did this only because I was desperate but I found the name of a "bird psychologist" on the Internet. I would never normally do something like this but again, was desperate. I paid a flat fee of like $60 and she spent like 30 minutes or so with me on the phone asking questions. Two things she discovered that said needed to be changed and so I did, and within a month or so he was well on the road to recovery. One was to get him a separate cage- a sleep cage if you will- and put in another room (he was in our room and we watched TV until late and even though we were covering his cage, the lady said that probably wasn't good enough and so he needed to be put in a good quiet and dark room. After seven years, he has finally outgrown this and he sleeps in his regular cage but that's a whole other story! Other thing was that she suggested since I got him at 3 months and wasn't given any instructions for some hand feeding (I just didn't know any better) that he may need to be "babied" a bit. And so that I did-- now don't take this as a recommendation without others agreeing, but I began giving him some bottled baby food (I thought what better to baby him with). I would warm it some (just a bit) and he would go into total baby mode and lap it off of a spoon as I fed it to him. He loved the warmth and really I think that helped get him something of what he had apparently missed. We still do this sometimes as a treat but not too often because by the time he is done, there is baby food all over his beak and all over the wall from where he slings it once he is done, and often all over me as well. It is like having a real baby! Anyway, those are some suggestions. The sleep thing is the biggest. They have to get at least 10 hours and probably more like 12 of solid sound sleep so they need solitude to do this.

Okay, I finally got Omar a little more vocal. He wasn't so shy this time, only he was ready to go to bed. (Notice, he keeps saying "Ready to go bed.") He was very very sleepy, and can be a riot during this time, like a kid fighting between wanting to stay up and "party" and wanting to go to sleep. Anyway, he was more vocal than in my last video. Hopefully sometime soon, we can get him in peak form. He is quite the character. Here is the link to the full video: (He makes a little phone call at the end) And the link to just the Boogie Fever part (He loves the old Sylvers song, "Boogie Fever" and when in peak forum can even sing "I think it's going around. I took my baby to the drive in movie, you knows she ate a pizza dancing to the beat - he gets the words mixed up. <br><br>Post edited by: shannon, at: 2009/03/02 01:37

Yes, we were at the office. Omar comes to our office a good bit. He loves greeting customers with a "Hello" and he gets really excited when a blonde woman comes in; for some reason he is wild about blondes. Also he likes to take care of a lot of his phone business while he is at the office. He is a very professional bird, though he never says "bye" before making the hang up sound.

My Omar refuses to perform for camera. For months, I have been trying to get him on video because he really is a good talker. But each time I try he quiets down, sometimes just to talk as soon as I give up. I got him a little here, but mostly he was mumbling on this one. He does what he wants to do! Anyway, I wanted to show him off.

Yeah, mine have this happen a lot too. Only a maybe a handful of times I have seen where a broken or bent feather actually irritates or even hurts them, they get irritable and pick and pull until they get it out. Once Ozzie did this and when he finally pulled it out a bunch of blood squirted all over the blinds and it flipped me out. I got my bird first aid kit and put some of the syptic (sp) powder or cornstarch looking stuff and and poured on a wet washcloth and clotted the area. It might have already clotted by the time I got everything together (now, I don't bury it deep in a drawer!), but I still got him good and cornstarchy in that area to be on the safe side. I put him to bed early 'cause he lost a bit of blood and everything was fine in the morning. Just same ole' Ozzie, waking us all up at dawn.

Thank ya'll very much for the info. I finished the book yesterday and it was so good, and so sad in the end, even though I knew what would happen (obviously) it didn't deter the tears upon reading it.

This may have already been discussed and if so, I am sorry, but I am new. I am reading (and almost finished with) Dr. Pepperdine's Alex & Me. It is such a good book, I mean it just is so interesting and enjoyable and I really would not have thought that about this type of book. Has anyone else read it? I also wonder was it ever determined as to why Alex died so young? Is Griffin stepping into his role a bit (I mean I know there will never be another Alex, but her research has taught so much, I hope Griffin or another Grey can fill those shoes at least a little). Shannon Parent of Omar & Ozzie Hall

I don't know what happened with Omar and Ozzie. Omar was extremely hurt when I brought Ozzie home, unfortunately. I really didn't expect that and it hurt me too. I had just seen Ozzie at a pet store and everytime I went there over the period of about two months, he was still there (I said he was around 4 months old when we got him, but thinking back it was really closer to 6 months). I just fell in love with Ozzie and I really thought Omar would be happy to have a bird friend. Au contraire, it did not happen that way. However, they starting being friendns and hung out with no problem, but them at some point Ozzie started bullying Omar. Ozzie is a good bit bigger, meaning more stout, than Omar, and maybe he was just being a bully. I let them out separately during the day, Ozzie in the morning and Omar in the evening. At some point Ozzie learned to open Omar's cage and would scare Omar into a corner. I had to close the door between them but still occasionally Ozzie would end up in Omar's room and start trying to cause trouble. After probably a good two-three years of this, Omar started fighting back and that's when it got really bad. They tied into it twice and I seriously thought I would lose one of them, so I am really careful now about keeping them apart. They seriously appear to want to kill one another. I just hate it.