greymom

Hi All, I haven't been here for some time now. Rita just started doing something new and strange. At night when she is covered she makes a quiet beeping sound like a telephone that is low on its battery. She does it on and off. The intervals between the beeps vary and she doesn't do it the whole night. Some beeps are lower, some a bit louder. Has anyone ever had this occur with their greys?

Hi, For quite a while now when Rita is on my hand she will bite and put her head down for me to scratch her neck. If I am doing something else she will continue to nip at me (hard pinches) until I scratch her head and neck. What to do? I think she is being bratty but I'm not sure what to do because I want her time on my hand to be positive.

Hi All, Rita does not like new things. I just added a lovely natural wood perch on the outside of her cage to give her more perching options. She does not like it but will still sit on the top of the cage and talk. So I guess she is not completely frightened. I once tried that nice curvy perch that you can shape. Well, she freaked. So it is put away. What is the best way to introduce new things to a grey with who dislikes change. As I am writing this she looks a little more comfortable. That is, she is no longer "paralyzed" but is climbing around but avoiding the new perch.

Hi All, I have a quick question. Rita discovered a discarded cardboard coca cola carton and started chewing on it. I took it away because I was worried that the colored carton might be toxic. What do you think? She really loved it for the minute she had it.

Hi All, I finally have a minute to tell you the amazing story of the Return of Rita. As you know Rita flew away on Tuesday about noon. After that I followed each and every suggestion that you and others sent me. Fliers, craigslist, newspaper ads, shelters, vets and my community. There is a wonderful organization in my small city that was created to enhance the lives of seniors and people with special needs. As the group developed they help all who ask. When a pet is missing they send out a blast email with a photo and info. It goes to hundreds of people who send it on to their friends. My little city has less than 5000 people and is heavily vegetated. Well Tuesday and Wednesday went by and we were devastated. This morning I got telephone call that Rita was seen just about 1000 feet from my home, up a hill and near a canyon and she was flying. We went there and called her and called her and she flew above me and landed on a bluff just sitting. I scaled the bluff all the while talking to her and she just remained still, watching me. As I got to the top I put out my finger and she approached with her head down. I got hold of her upper beak and pulled her toward me and she just stepped onto my finger. I scurried down the bluff and held her to my chest not letting go of those little feet. I got to my car and my friend opened the carrier. I put Rita in and went down the hill to my house. She was tired, hungry and thirsty. She started talking as soon as we got home and we are beyond happy, I really think Rita is happy too. Thanks to all of you.

RITA IS HOME I just wanted to thank you all for your prayers, good wishes and inspirational messages. I just got her back. I will write to tell the whole story later today. I need to go out and remove all the fliers I put up and call all the folks who were helping. Thank you over and over again. I still can't believe it.

Thank you all so much for your thoughts. I can't tell you how awful I feel. Your stories of returned birds gives me some hope.

Thank you all for your suggestions and kind wishes. I have taken all of your suggestions and am just hoping I get her back. We are heartbroken.

Rita's wings were clipped and though she could float a little in the house she landed on the floor. Today I took her out on her perch on the deck to spray her. I have done it before. Today she just soared away. I am heartbroken. I notified neighbors, put up fliers, send out an email to a large number of people, notified the avian boarder in the neighborhood. I have looked and looked for her. I just don't know what to do. I am in Del Mar, the San Diego, California area. Do they ever return?

Actually it happens mostly on her perch. She is seldom in her cage except at night. But my little lady happily takes the trip from bowl to bowl. She doesn't mind a little exercise. It certainly isn't a big problem and she really seems to enjoy 'dunking.' Who can blame her?

Hi, Rita is loving the Zupreem fruit flavored pellets. She eats and eats them. Lately she puts a pellet in her mouth crunches and then dips (cleans) her mouth in her water bowl after each pellet. I change her water several times a day. I am happy that she is eating her pellets and enjoying them. But I was just curious, have any of you had the same situation with messy water bowls?

Rita seems quite happy on her cage and other perches around the house. However, if I bring her into some other rooms in the house she seems quite nervous and grips my finger with a death grip. She even bit me when I tried to transfer her to my husband. As soon as I take her out of those 'scary' rooms she goes right back to normal. Should I try to get her used to the other rooms or just not take her into them?

Thank you all. I did call the company and they suggested, as you all did, that I file the perches and rough them up. I did some filing but I am also going to cross hatch them with a little saw. Thanks again.

I just bought Rita a beautiful table playstand made by Kings Cages. It is made of Java wood and has lots of nice twisted branches. Rita took to it quickly and she doesn't always like new things. The problem is the wooden branches are slippery and sometimes when she is climbing around it she slips and because her former owners over-clipped her wings she falls off. She and I really like the stand and would like to make it less slippery. Somewhere I read about vet wrap. Do you think if I put vet wrap in different places along some of the branches this would help? Any other ideas about making this playstand less slippery for Rita?

Hi, I just got Rita a new striped cotton perch. She is really afraid of it . So I took it out of the cage. Today I showed it to her again when she was on top of the cage and she would not go near it. Do you think I should get rid of it or just keep trying? Any suggestions?

Thank you all for responding and making me feel better. Rita is just fine and has started her talking again this afternoon. I think judygram was right when she said that it might be a Monday kind of thing. No one really likes Mondays and maybe Rita gets a Monday morning blues. Thanks again. You are invaluable to a new mom.

Today Rita has been quite quiet. As you know I have had her for a little less than a week and she talks and whistles a lot. Today she has said a very few word and is spending her time eating and preening and sitting on her perch . I can't really get her to talk. Is this unusual or do they sometimes have a quiet day?

Hi, I have posted on the welcome page.

Hi, We re-homed a seven year old CAG female, Rita, last week. Many years ago I had an African Grey that I had to give up. Lately I began thinking about having one. We are both retired and have quite a lot of time. I went to the avian vet that I used decades ago to talk to him about wanting to get an African Grey. He just happened to have Rita who had been given up about 4 months ago. I brought my husband to meet her and we both fell in love. The vet told us that she was a lovely bird and very talkative. She did not say a word when we got her home. By that evening however, she started talking. She loves to have me hold her and 'scratch' her neck. She talks and talks and talks. We can't understand everything but she has a wonderful vocabulary that we do understand and everyday she says something that we haven't heard before. We are thrilled. Oh yes, the cats and the dog are curious but they stay away and we carefully protect her. Glad I found your forum.

We re-homed a 7 year old CAG last week. She has an extensive vocabulary. A large portion of her talking seems to be lengthy telephone conversations. Some of the things she says are extremely clear. But there are some things we can't understand. We did not get her from her original family but from the vet who took her in. So we are unable to find out what some of the unclear words are. We are hoping that she will learn new words and phrases from us. How likely is that?

Thank you all for answering me. I definitely will not have her plucked. I will wait until her feathers grow back. This is my first time on the forum and I am so happy with how responsive you all are.

Thanks. It was my gut feeling that I should wait. The plucking sounded painful and not necessary.

I have just re-homed a 7 year old CAG. She is very social and talks a lot. The people who gave her up had her wings clipped so that she has no flight at all. The avian vet that I got her from said that in time those feathers will be replaced. But I was at a bird pet shop where they groom birds. They told me that I should bring her in and they would pull out every other clipped feather and that way the new feathers would grow in quickly. That sounded awful to me. I would rather wait until she molts. What do any of you think? Have you ever heard of pulling out the clipped flight feathers? Thanks, Greymom