24 minutes ago, Ray P said:

Hi Jay

The one thing I noticed with my tiels is the bald spot on the top of the head of my lutinos,. this is common with that mutation.

My pearls and Pieds  not so much

Hi old friend...The Lutino was one of the first "Color bred 'tiels" and everyone cross bred them so much their gene is everywhere, Your other 'tiels are also color bred but not as much as Latino's.

Here's a favorite web site of mine, I've never been a member but have trolled them tor years.

http://www.cockatielcottage.net/

Thank you sweetheart, Old friend...Jayd and Maggie

How to tell if a Cockatiel has been inbred too much? All 'tiels "have a bare spot" under their "tiel" the larger the bare spot, the more they have been inbred

Jay and I both thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Jay is not doing very well. He has developed some short-term memory problems (expected) so whenever he can't remember, he researches again with my help. Example: I can be typing and am being told when I finished, he had something else to add but when I am done, he cannot remember for quite a while what he wanted to say. It frustrates him...the same goes when he talks to the doctor. He turns to me numerous times during the conversations and tells me to tell the doctor what happened since he forgot. Things are changing....will keep you all updated. Luv, Maggie

To eat or not to eat....What to feed our fids...

Our personal feelings are to feed a basic diet and then supplement that with other bird-safe foods...By feeding a basic diet, you make it easier for you and your FID...it cuts down on the worry of spoilage, it guarantees a basic foundation of nutritious diet, and you supplement this with other safe foods.

The order of feeding:

• Base Diet: Safflower seed based mix or pellets (Volkman's Safflower Cockatiel Blend, Harrison's Pellets)
• Lots of green leafy vegetables
• Carrots (parboiled to bring out nutrients)
• Nuts daily- (a couple of almonds, walnuts, pistachios) Note: Only feed human-grade unsalted roasted peanuts (no raw)
• Beans and legumes
• Sweet potatoes/yams
• Food items two-three times a week:
• Hard-boiled egg with shells
• White potatoes (no eyes)
• Chicken breast and leg/wing bones, albacore no-salt tuna/salmon/cod,
• Lightly on garbanzo/chickpeas
• Organic salt-free peanut butter
• White Rice (white rice is processed, removing some of the arsenic)
• Raw or cooked pastas
• Fruits: A parrot, especially a Cockatiel, needs very little fruit. A couple pieces a day no bigger than their head is good for any parrot. Pomegranates, grapes with seeds, papaya/mango, etc. Fruit is 99% sugar with very little nutrients and goes right through them.

These are just examples...

Here is a reason why you shouldn't feed too much rice...

'...when it comes to arsenic the less nutritional white rice is better than brown. The carcinogen is most prevalent in the outer layers of the grain and white rice is polished removing some of those layers.

Consumer Reports suggests rice eaters limit themselves to one serving a day, especially for babies. Rinsing and then boiling rice in a 6 to 1 water ratio removes about 30 percent of its arsenic. They also caution that children under the age of 5 should not be given rice drinks as part of their daily diet.'

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/arsenic-rice-report-finds-worrisome-levels/story?id=17267872

Example: Don't feed sunflower seeds to a cockatiel. I have proven it to myself and have researched it on the net, that sunflower seeds make cockatiels ornery (Hyper).

By all means, share and feed from the table...give them that occasional no-no...and stay away from known bad foods. If you suspect something, err on the side of caution and don't feed it.

Major piece of advice...The bird's droppings are a major way to see how well they're eating and doing....study Poopology 101...

Will add to this when brain is less fuzzy...

4 hours ago, Erfan said:

1. Why is my parrot so aggressive in the morning ? and whistles a lot i guess he’s calling his flock  but why aggressively? 
2. Why does my parrot tremble his feather in his chest whenever i talk to him? 

#2. Your parrot is trembling because he is content, lucky you..A parrot prefers to whistle over talking, don't whistle back...

#1. You are correct...[which could be you.]   Aggressive? Time to discover his baggage and how much he carry's this could take time...

Your doing great, keep observing...

That's great!! Clipping shouldn't be a problem. Keep up the good work! Included is a portion of our main diet. This is all healthy and "Volkman's Large Hookbill [Saffron]" is really good for them and has no sunflower seeds. We don't feed pellets but a lot of people like Harrison high potency pellets .

"Greetings, (Maggie (Spock) writing for Jay)... If I may, We feed mainly "Volkman's Large Hookbill [Saffron], There are many good foods out there. Over the years we have fed our fids many different forms of food, please check some of our past posts. An excellent pellet is "Harrison's". We still feed our fids a warm dinner which is usually some type of veggies, warm sweet potatoes, rice, pasta, chicken, chicken bones with meat, scrambled egg, etc. (you get the idea ) They also eat off of Jay's plate (not mine LOL what I eat might not agree with them LOL) like Cheerios, Bran flakes, quinoa with kale (cooked), kale slushes, brown rice with swiss chard and tofu, fish, salmon, cod, halibut (bites), and their favorite, Tuna sandwich on 12 grain bread (LOL)...We make sure they have non-colored pellets, only vet-ordered supplements, no added salt, salt-free, no added sugar, no monkey nuts, (ONLY human grade roasted unsalted nuts). Concerning peanuts, we do not serve them too often because of high cholesterol and fat content. Sunflower seeds....very, very, very few...they are fattening and addictive...they are excellent for a training treat (3-4 a day). Pistachios (roasted no-salt) are an occasional great treat. Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) occasionally (once a week) are good because they bind good vitamins from the parrot. Walnuts are excellent and three almonds a day will turn your parrot into an Einstein" (Post from BIRD FOOD)

If Jay is quiet too long, Joe will call out "Papa, are you okay?" and then fly over to Jay's shoulder and stay there until he wakes up, kissing his cheek and cooing softly until Jay wakes up.....(SWEET!)

How are things going? Please let us know...

Welcome and please go to a vet as Judy suggested, I agree with Judy...A lack of D3 and  calcium are of major concern..Get your baby some sunshine and hard boil a egg, cut in half and feed it, egg shell and all. I personally wouldn't give  any supplement without a vets okay..

Welcome, Looking forward to pictures and story's...

Yes, she has done it for years and often prefers it to a plate! Thank you Talon for the wonderful picture. Try it with your Zons...When I give her a plastic spoon, she recycles it by chewing it up after she is done...hahahahaa....

Fingers!!!!!   I do have manners! After all, I wasn't raised in a chicken coop! No savage here, I eat with a spoon (sometimes 2)

HEY MAGGIE! Can you wipe my beaker?

Thanks, Maggie

Hi, Maggie here.... When we have our oatmeal in the morning, Joe has often come to join us but never participated, having a preference for Cheerios only. After approximately 7 years with Joe (when we got him, he was 2 with a HUGE amount of baggage), he decided last week he wanted to try oatmeal and surprised both of us by eating three teaspoonfuls . Then, he insisted on a piece of toast!

Since then, he has settled into a routine....When we have oatmeal, he has two spoonfuls (but never on Sunday...he refuses to eat it on Sundays LOL), and then demands a piece of toast. BUUUTTT....it has to be no more than 1/2" to an 1" long, has to be toasted golden brown, and MUST have canola margarine from end to end. The other day I made the toast a little too dark and he just gave me the evil eye look......and I had to give him a new piece of lighter toast.

Yes, it has taken years but I guess in Grey time, only a flash has passed before he has decided to expand his horizons and gain a new taste profile...

2 hours ago, Talon said:

Yes, I agree. No raw potatoes, no garlic, no onion, no avocado, no mushrooms, and no salt...although I do let them have some chips on occasion with sea salt. Sugar is a no no as well...but they get an occasional sweet snack...

i didn’t know for a long time that unlike us humans, birds can never get rid of the salt and sugar we feed them,  it just accumulates until the harm is done.😢

Thank you Talon, no truer words....we don't feed what we know we can't and everything else in moderation so we don't have to worry about accumulation.

In a few days, I'll add to this thread....major food no-no's.

All these replies are great and you can count on. I want to personally thank everyone for these responses. We all learn...

Love these answers...thank you! It is good to see that we are finally treating Greys as they view themselves...human.

There are some foods (as everyone already knows) that we do not feed them, such as avocado, caffeine, etc. One ingredient that I am tending to avoid more and more is garlic. I found out that in Greys, it causes the red corpuscles to explode. It doesn't bother all Greys but I tend to err on the side of caution. Once again, moderation is the key..

We have a lot more members who can share what they feed...everybody learns from these posts.

On 3/13/2018 at 8:41 PM, KevinD said:

He is only 5 give or take a few months.

Thank you KevinD and Sukie...In nature, at 5, they are still helping with the family and learning how to be an adult. A Grey matures between 5-7 years old. I would never breed a Grey before 6 years old. At this time, they are finding out stuff about their body and interests they didn't know, or weren't aware of. This is also the time where they reach out, exploring boundaries and expanding their personality. This is a period where a lot of Greys change favorites among their flock (you, your wife, your children, your dog ).

Between now and 8 years old, you will see a lot of changes. Some Greys stop talking and whistle more, some will develop interests like music, looking out windows, calling your dog, cat, or you to see your reaction, and some will have a complete personality change. They are also really learning how to talk. You'll notice at times that your Grey, while you are talking to someone else will be just looking at you or you will walk by the cage and hear them mumbling sounds. What they are doing is learning and practicing how to say words with their beak.

At this time, they will also go to the limit, push outside the box, and destroy the box in an effort to get a reaction out of you. Unfortunately, if our reaction is wrong, we are stuck with this bad habit. (They own us...) Unfortunately also, sneak attacks are very common at this age. The best thing to do is ignore, don't react and praise positive behavior through positive feedback and treats. Remember, we live with them, not the other way around. They own us....

3 hours ago, KevinD said:

Under normal circumstances, all the posted advice is applicable, but nothing has changed, this just started abruptly. Nothing has changed in the last year and a half.

I dunno. Will wait it out, cant last forever. 

The reason I ask Sukie's age is because a Grey will go through developmental stages at different ages, Unfortunately, when the hit around 40, they go into what I call the age of contemplation. They basically stop talking, spend a lot of time just perched, and spend a lot of time what I call as contemplating their navel. They are also famous to just abruptly change their normal behavior, such as: Who's my mate?, Can I bite you?, I no longer eating what you gave me yesterday!, and I don't care about my behavior for the last year and a half! It is different today!

In all the parrots who have passed through our doors and who we have worked with, the Grey socially and psychologically, is more different than any other species. They are more human-like with life-cycle signs such as youth, puberty, maturation, and old age. A Grey, at the drop of a hat, can literally change from black to white and vice-versa and forget all previous behaviors. Biting is a trait they learn from humans. It is a rapid action for attention. In the wild, they don't bite. In captivity, we take such good care of them, they have little options left to be themselves with their wild instincts.

We must remember, as opposite to other parrots, when a Grey is fledged, they are not kicked out and forced to leave. They stay with their family group and help out until they are ready to mate, at which time they bring their hen to the existing family group. A Grey's family consists of generations.

12 minutes ago, Timbersmom said:

Timber is extremely picky.  You may remember my experiments and failures with every pellet made.  After Timber's seizure issues and his weight loss, what is in his bowl is pretty much whatever he will eat. Daily, he gets nutriberries, quality seed mix, a piece of avicake. In his "people" food bowl, he has mashed sweet potato, peas, pinto beans, hamburger, mac and cheese, and cooked Higgins rice mix. He has sweet peas on a skewer, and usually has corn on the cob or an artichoke to mess with.  He eats dinner with us, whatever he can (or will) eat safely. He usually has a small (maybe 1/16th slice) of toast with a little peanut butter at breakfast time. I'd love to improve his diet a bit, but he won't eat birdy bread or any chop I've tried (or pellets or any other vegetables etc. etc. etc.). He gets a chicken wing bone every week (sometimes he will eat it, sometimes not) and a piece of boiled egg fairly often.  He eats a bite of banana with dad occasionally, but really isn't a fruit eater. As a treat (like most of his diet isn't already a treat) I give him a cashew, an almond, and a couple of peanuts in the evening.

Oh, I almost forgot the cheese... He gets a very small piece of sharp cheddar cheese a couple of times a week. I'm sure there are other things I'm forgetting, but those are the staples!

Great diet, have you tried Cook cauliflower?

Jealousy

Not of another bird, but of another person [people}...This happens, your fid see's you paying attention to another and you get a swift bite...How old is your Sukie ?

What's in your food bowl? We told told you what we feed our fids, what do you feed yours? pellets? What kind? What else Smash, Clop? mash? Seed?  Baby food? Share,

FYI, a smorgasbord: Cut the tip off and lightly boil the carrot it beings out the nutrients... Feed less spinach than other green leafy veggies, it has a lot of natural salt,,,If you feed pasta or rice, rinse before serving,,, Raw pasta and raw veggies pasta are okay for our fids...Yogurt is OK for our fids, it's missing one of the enzymes found in dairy...Low fat milk as in the small amount they receive when we share our cereal is okay, in Moderation...Moderation and Acclamation, is the cure and prophylactic to a healthy Parrot...If everything you feed your parrot follows the rules of moderation and acclimation, you'll have one healthy bird. Moderation means how much initially. Acclamation means how much over the life of your bird. We all feed our fids too much...we need to reduce the amount of food and treats we feed them. Just as important is the total amount of any one thing we feed our fids over their lifetime. Example: that small amount of salted chip we slip them each year will not hurt them  at the time. But the amount of salt accumulated over a lifetime can kill them.

To be continued:

3 hours ago, Luvparrots said:

You know Jayd you are needed around here.  All you knowledge has helped oodles of new members and us established members as well.  So you get better you hear!!!

 

 

How beautiful ..Brought tears to our eyes...love you..

Well, what can you do? Approach her with a coffee cake or a fruit bowel, invite he over and introduce her to your fids. Explain to her how you love them as much as she does her fine dogs.. Swallow your pride and work out a time that each day you could have them out...This is a no win situation, you don't want to aggravate it, so compromise.