Azzie

I think you should listen to your heart, not with your head in this instance. You want to be talked out of getting this little bird, which tells me that in your heart, you do want to, but are hesitating by your mind's notion of only wanting needy birds. I agree with Ray in that a needy bird is a bird that needs a loving home.

Agreed with Xtreme. Smelly poop can be an indicator of a bacterial infection called Clostridium, which can be deadly to a bird. If you get another smelly poop, take a fresh sample of it and take it to the vet for microscopic analysis and a culture.

Go in and make them a reasonable offer ; ) Point out to them this bird isn't getting any more sellable.

I first added palm oil to warmed up vegetables, so the vegez were coated in it, much like Dave suggested. Then I added a liberal helping of chili powder to it, since I knew Cleo loves the taste of it! Now, she eats palm oil no problems.

Greys are well known to have hissy fits and throw tantrums if things don't go their way. I guess life isn't easy have the intelligence of a 5 year old and the emotional IQ of a 2 year old = )

Could it be a birthmark? A slight overgrowth of bloodvessels causing it to appear like that?

As I said earlier, Cleo is very hard to take photos off. The moment she sees a camera she moves, so I end up with a shot with no bird, or the end of a wing or tail.

Finally after 2 years, Cleo is learning to enjoy scritches on and around her head. She likes it especially on her lower jaw and around her ears, and closes her little eyes and leans forward. She's so cute and sweet when she does it, but it feels like petting a soft feathered cactus at the moment. She is shedding a lot of the smaller feather on her head and neck.

Is that a groundhog or ground hog?

I get a bit obsessive compulsive sometimes, and I can spend hours grooming my lorikeets and grey, picking off the keratin lol. One of the keets loves it, he sort of collapses on my lap and starts making baby noises and cheeps.

No use 100% aloe juice. Tocopheryl is just vitamin E, often used as a preservative, which in itself is ok. The triethanolamine is nasty though, it's an alcohol product, as the name ethanol suggests. It can cause allergic reactions in humans, and there is some speculation that it is linked to tumour growth. As Birdhouse suggested, if your bird will let you, taking the spent keratin sheet off the feathers can help as well. You will know it's ready to come off by looking at the colour. If the keratin is white, it's ready. If it has red or a dark grey/black colour in it, there is still a live blood supply. Keratin that is ready to be removed will flake off very easily with a light rubbing motion. Growing new feathers is much like a baby teething. New feathers grow through the skin in hard pointy spikes, and it can be painful and itchy. Showering or bathing can help soften the keratin and make it less uncomfortable.

What an awesome bird! Thank you for sharing!

Bah humbug....

Hi Megan and welcome to the family! Have a browse through the forum, maybe do a search on specific keywords, and above all, feel free to post any questions! We have an awesome bunch of people here who will be more than happy to share their experiences and give advice. Enjoy!

I don't have a recorder = (

Try this little clip. It's Barbara Heidenreich from GoodBird Inc.

I'm almost organised with my birdie first aid supplies. The one thing I don't have yet is something to provide heat in case one of my 3 fids becomes ill. My question is this: Would a heating pad be better for a sick bird, or a heat lamp?

Cleo LOVES meat! Any kind of beef, whether it be steak or ground. Chicken is also a huge favourite, and as others have mentioned, a well cooked drumstick with a bit of meat left on it. She will gleefully crack the bone and eat the marrow, which is rather disconcerting to watch. She goes crazy over egg as well, scrambled, from the microwave only, she turns her beak up at stuff that's been made in a pan.

Maximising the bird's exposure to a variety of different people on a regular basis might help with a bird being more accepting of other people. In spite of my efforts however, Cleo doesn't really like anyone but me. She cannot stand the sight of my roommate, and will fluff up and lunge at him when he walks past or talks to her. It doesn't help he is terrified of her and is very skittish around her, and the little witch knows it! She will dive bomb him occasionally when she is out, simply because it's fun to see him flinch and jerk back and squeal. Socialise your bird as much as you can.

Check out this link, it contains some really useful info on body language. It's made by a New Zealand guy named Andrew, who lost his beloved grey Tui after following the advice from "expert" Chet Womach ( who else! ).

http://www.nbr.org.nz/ Watch the videos! This bird had me in hysterics. At first I wondered if it was real but it soon became clear it was. Enjoy!

Ahhh good thank you. I recall a Disney movie from many many years ago, when the northern wind blows or something. There was such a sad scene in it where a dog died, and it had such an impact on me I still remember it some 30 years later.

Does it have a happy ending? I'm not going to look for it if the bird gets hurt or dies. I can't stand movies like that.

That's exactly it, if he felt confident enough to join you on the floor, he would have. So leaving him to it was the best thing you could have done. Go easy on feeding grapes though, as they contain a lot of iron. From what I've read, experts recommend no more than 2 grapes a day for a grey. Maybe you could try sunflower seeds as a treat. One seed when he's been a good lad as a reward. I am a little concerned about the use of the phrase "upper hand". Parrots don't respond positively at all to being dominated. If you want a good relationship with Timmy it needs to be based on mutual trust and respect. You can use food as rewards, or even a bribe, but bribes only really work to encourage a bird to do what it's willing to do anyway. If a bird isn't willing to step up, trying to bribe with a reward just isn't going to work. However if a bird IS quite happy to step up usually, but won't this time, a bribe might well persuade him to do so.

So I bought a nifty new digital camera, which takes amazingly clear photos. I thought I'd regale you all with some updated photos of Cleo, but the little witch won't sit still. The moment she sees the camera (and she sees EVERYTHING!) she moves. I've taken dozens of shots, and they're all blurry, have no bird in them, or part of a bird such as a tail or only a wing. She already had her cute nasty little tongue on the lens and tried to bite off parts, and squawked loudly when I shooed her away. Maybe she is just camera shy?