Scarlett

Hello Sue and Ollie, welocome to our flock! Look forward to hearing more about the antics of Ollie.

When we first got our grey several weeks ago we were told she only liked women and wouldn't let any men handle her. Since we have gotten her, my boyfriend has been able to get her to step up (which I can rarely do) but I can "scritch" her on the head which she won't let him do. She talks mostly for me, and rarely when he is home alone with her. Everyday we both work with her and everyday she is becoming more responsive to both of us. It just takes a lot of time and patience!! I'm sure with time your grey will come around. I wish you luck

I have a question. Scarlett, my grey, seems to preen ALL of the time. She has only picked a few feathers but always preens, it's almost like a nervous habit. I've had a grey before and while I know they preen a lot, Scarlett seems to do more than any other bird I have known. Anyone have any opinions on this?

I would like to thank everyone for their condolences on Lacey. We miss her but are coping. Scarlett, our grey we got just a week before Lacey got sick, has been a great comfort and it's nice to have her to come home to every day. She has quite the personality and is talking and whistling more every day. Our vet that took care of Lacey was wonderful and a few days after she passed we received a wonderful poem and certificate stating he had made a contribution to an animal charity in her name. It was very touching and its nice to know she was being remembered in such a nice way. Anyways, thanks again to all of you. Your thoughts and words are appreciated.

As many of you know, 2 weeks ago my female eclectus, Lacey, had surgery to remove a bound egg. So many of you helped me in suggesting foods to get her eating again and had great words of encouragement. Although she appeared to be getting better, last night she began crying and seemed to be getting very weak. By this morning things were no better and she didn't want to eat at all. After my boyfriend came home and checked her at lunch she was no better. I knew when he said she refused peanut butter things were not good. I bundled her up and took her to the vet. I sang to her the whole way there (Rockin' Robin was "our" song) and told her I loved her. The vet put her in the incubator but it was too late and she died within the hour. He did an autopsy and the poor little thing's intestine had ruptured. There was nothing any of us could have done. I want to thank everyone for their encouragement during these last few weeks. We will miss her terribly but at least she is no longer suffering. She must have been in such pain. It's nice to know that there are people like you I can talk to about this who understand how much a parrot means to someone. We still have our new grey, Scarlett, and will lavish her with all of our love and attention now but there will always be a member of our family missing. REST IN PEACE LACEY - YOU WERE LOVED.

I am so happy for you. You were so lucky. My first grey, Bella, escaped from us about 2 years ago. We searched for days, checked with all the local vets and animal agencies, put up signs, everything. She was never found. We cried for weeks. We have learned our lesson and never, ever leave a cage door open when there is access to the outdoors. Our Bella hated the outside and NEVER flew towards the door, always away from it and her cage was on the opposite side of the room. My boyfriend opened up the door to let a plumber in the house and for some reason she panicked and flew out the door. My boyfriend followed immediately after but couldn't catch up to her. There is nothing so heartbreaking. I walked the neighborhood every day for weeks looking for her. But since then we have two wonderful new birds and we have become mighty protective parents:cheer: Keep us updated on your baby and let us know how she is progressing. We send our hugs and kisses on her safe return!

Thanks again for the advice everyone! Tonight I scrambled an egg with just a little a milk in it for calcium and mixed her antibiotics in them. She ate them! Then she had a little rice from my chinese dinner and lots of pomegranite juice. Tomorrow morning we'll try some oatmeal. Tomorrow is her last day of anitbiotics so I'm sure she'll be getting her appetite back but I still plan on trying some more of your great ideas.

Thanks for your suggestions! We did try the human baby food and she seemed to tire of it. Perhaps since she's been off of it a few days, I'll try again. She used to love regular mashed potatoes, I'll try those and the sweet potatoes too.

Awesome progress with Boo! Keep up the good work. I, too, have recently adopted an older grey (7 yrs old) and she is wonderful. When I first got her 2 weeks ago she was very skittish of anything new in her cage and didnt want to play with any toys. I've since gotten her to start playing "catch" with me with a small ball when she is on the top of her cage. She loves to babble and talk and she is such great company. It sounds as if your Boo bird is going to be a great companion too. I'm very happy for you!

Lacey (my eclectus) is fresh off surgery and we have been having to hand feed her. She is on antibiotics and her appetite is not very good. On top of that she is quite finicky. We started with baby food and she has grown tired of that. She likes pomegranite juice so we are giving her that. But it seems like whatever we give her she tires of within a day and doesn't want it anymore. WE've gone thru peas, blueberries, strawberries, applesauce and bananas. She'll eat a few occasional seeds and tonight I gave her some peanut butter which she really liked but I know all of the fat in peanuts isn't good for her so I'm trying not to give her too much of that. Do any of you have any other suggestions that your birds like? We are doing mostly soft foods now and will slowly try to transition back to more solid foods. Thanks for any help!

Since I messed up so bad on the last attempt at posting their pics, here's the link for their pics on snapfish. Lacey is my "miracle" Eclectus (she just survived horrendous surgery) and Scarlett is my grey. http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=254558583/a=158906789_158906789/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

Welcome Aglover09. I have also just gotten an older grey. Scarlett is 7 and has had 2 previous owners. She is a wonderful bird but has her "nippy" moments. I'm sure Boo Bird (luv that name by the way) will also come around. I've learned that patience is the most important thing. Hope to see some pics!

Welcome! Always glad to see new members. I, too, am new here and have a grey and an eclectus. I've had my grey (Scarlett) just over 2 weeks, she is 7 years old, and she is a chatty little thing. Every day with us she seems to be picking up new sounds and words. My favorite is her laugh. She laughs everytime she hears someone else laughing, which just makes me laugh more. Anyways, glad to have you. Please post pics when you can.

ok I officially give up trying to post these darn pics!!! Here's a link to a snapfish page that has the pics on them. http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=254558583/a=158906789_158906789/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

Lacey...

Let's try again...

Sorry, couldn't get them to load, I'll try again.

Here are my babies. Scalett is the grey, I've had her for 2 weeks and already love her to pieces and Lacey is the eclectus. This picture was taken pre surgery.

Welcome. I'm excited for you! Just be ready for a full time committment. Grey's are awesome but they do like to be the center of attention (or at least mine does..lol). Are you getting a baby or an adult. There are advantages and disadvantes to both. Can't wait to hear all about your new addition! Please keep us informed.

Believe it or not the vet tech is coming to our house every day to do them. She lives nearby and will be stopping after work. We had the option of doing it ourselves but neither the boyfriend or I are very good at that kind of thing.

Lacey came home today. She is very quiet and napping a lot but the vet said she is doing better than expected. She must take an antibiotic injection every day for the next 5 days. We're still not competely out of the woods but, so far, she has been a little miracle. The vet said he would have never expected her to survive 2 hours of surgery. He had remove her uterus and repair her intestines and the egg was HUGE!. He thinks she'll make a full recovery. Thank you again for all of the kind words and thoughts sent our way. I'll try to post pics of both Scarlett and Lacey later this week!

Lacey is out of surgery. The vet said she actually had 2 eggs inside of her and the first one was so large many of her internal systems had fused to it. He's not sure if she will survive or not, the next 24 hours are critical. He said it is one of the worst cases he has ever seen. Thanks for all of the prayers and support. They have helped me make it thru the day. I'll let you know what happens.

I just joined this forum yesterday but am glad I have people to communicate with who will understand. Last night when we got home from work, Lacey (my eclectus), was huddled at the bottom of her cage and not moving and wouldn't open her eyes. We called the bird shoppe we trust and they recommended a great avian vet about 15 miles from us. He was nice enuf to stay late and let us bring her in. Long story short, Lacey has a huge egg (vet said the size of a macaw egg!) blocking her system and it must be removed. Vet said he will try without surgery but will surgically remove if he has to. He says its very risky and I am very scared. Lacey has been a part of our family for 2 years and she is the sweetest, most loving bird I've ever seen. Please keep her in your thoughts today. I'll let you know how everything turns out (as soon as I quit crying!) Thanks for letting me share. Mary (Scarlett is the name of my grey)

HI! I'm new here and just wanted to say hello. I have a 7 yr old female eclectus and a brand-new-to-me 7 yr old CAG. We've only had the grey about 10 days. We adopted her from another owner who had too many birds and not enough time. We were told she didn't respond to men but loved women. Funny enuf, she'll let my boyfriend get her out of the cage but I have to wait until she comes out of her cage herself before she'll step up without biting. However, she'll talk for me but not him. Either way she's wonderful and we're having a wonderful time with her. She's the perfect companion to our quiet, huggable eclectus. so glad to be here and can't wait to read all of the helpful advice I'm sure I'll find. Have a great day everyone!