Jayd

At 3, it, bonding, not unusual. A female can become "bitey". They'll also cuddle and shake when you pet them..Jayd

Thanks Doug, again, it's the chemicals used to make some of the food coloring read the ingredients...Jayd

I luv you, Janet, your special...Jayd

No painted toy from anywhere is safe.!!! Smell the Twine, feel it, it has a odor and in some cases you can feel the oil! Play it safe, buy only from a "Pet Safe" store. Did you known that some food coloring is also toxic to our Fid's, "Gel's for example. Garlic is ok for humans but can kill a Grey! Chocolate is healthy for humans but Will Kill our Greys. If your Grey only "Licks" fine, but if he chews, it will accumulate and kill, stunt or shorten there life....Jayd Note: What we feed or give our fid's to play or chew with is our own free choice. Carpet Fresh and Teflon will kill our fid's almost immediately yet have little if no order and doesn't hurt humans, dogs or cats.

NOTE: No painted toy is safe for our Fid's!!! A while back I contacted Rustroluim and Krylon about "safe paint and Child safe paint" asking if they were safe for our birds...Rustroluim answered "No", Krylon replied No, and stated that if the painted item is "licked or put in a child's mouth, it's safe! If it's bitten or chipped, then"NO", The informed me that since they had some many people ask this question that they've sent a memo to there rep's...[The thread is somewhere on the Forum]. Sisal and twine from a hardware or craft store "is" treated, and can kill our fids....[smell it] Thanks Jay

I know it's late, but thanks and bless you all Jay

Thank you Dave...Amen

At this point in time the only place you should touch her is her Head, Beak and Toes.

Is her Wings Clipped? What color is her eyes?

A note, all birds are differrant. With 2 Cags, 2 'TOO's, 1 Zon, 1 IRN, 2 Gray cheek conures, and the Sun's they all get along, there all afraid of the Gray Cheeks...LOL...Always be careful..You've been given some Greyt advice.

Salsa flew and lighted on my shoulder this morning, she beaked my ear and said 3 times: "Spock"s a good boy"

Here's a post we made that might help you...Thanks Jayd http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190462-We-Feed-Our-Fid-s!!!-Update

My bad....Playing mind games and playing finger, toy games or Peek-A-Boo are two different things. There is a fine line between teasing and playing. Let me give an example: to say "Open your mouth, here comes a choo-choo train" is different than eating something in front of your child that they may or may not like and saying "Oh it is so good" and not sharing or offering anything. Now remember, with a Grey's mentality, they are just liable to say "If you like it so much, you eat it!" A lot of people play "If" games with Greys to the point that that is the only way to communicate with them. (If you give me a kiss, I will give you a treat) When you raise a baby Grey, either from a hatchling or a four-month old, you do what is called "abundant feeding". You put way more food at all times in the Fids' cage than they will ever eat. The reason for this is that if a Grey does not have access to an abundant amount of food, they will develop a fear of never having enough to eat! This is the same as "If" games, mind games and withholding games. Another example is talking and communicating with your Grey. Talk to them as you would wish them to talk to you. Very little baby talk...a Grey is very advanced and picks up and retains every word and phrase that is used to communicate with them. If you want them to call you Dad, don't use the word Papa. When they get older, you can introduce new words meaning the same thing in order to further their vocabulary. Thanks, Jayd

I'm sorry, what you heard on the other site is just wrong to say!!!! It's not fair......

I'm sorry, I hate to hear things like this, it's not completely true. A 'Too or Grey requires more patience and understanding then other bird. To start with, If I may, look into getting a Amazon, please visit our Amazon room. With the experance your having with your 'TOO, a Zon would be a great bird for you. Lets start with your 'Too...Noisy? Yes, most 'TOO's are noisy, this isn't "Behavioral", this is natural, they love and greet the day and there life. Demanding, This is natural for them, them are about the most demandi...ng parrot there is. Grudges! A "TOO is very forgiving if they are understood and the particular 'TOO's problem is handled correctly. A Rose is one of the harder "TOO' to rehome. Many things can cause plucking, both in Greys and "TOO's...It sounds as if your Rose is abused, not just a re-home. I'm afraid she'll be re-homed again, this is bad..... Greys: I feel a person should have atleast good experiences with owning a larger parrot before getting a Grey. To having a Grey is very similer to having a child. You need to research, talk study, TALK, before even thinking about getting a Grey. A Grey is treated much as a child is, be prepared to take up 24/7 care of a Grey, no vacation unless you have some one who will take care of them the same as you. A Grey has the mentality of 6yr old and the emotion of a 3yr old. Any bird is what you make of them, it's how you treat them and care for them. Yes, Greys require more care then most birds, "TOO's require more attention then then most birds, All birds require research and study before there purchased... Read our Forum and you will learn a lot from these Greyt people... Thanks Jayd

Please be careful with any game playing with a Grey, "They think so there fore they are!" Here"s a example, put the cage by a couch or a soft back chair, sit there and talk to your baby, a good treat is "Pine nuts" [limit how many you give] One day she'll climb down to see whats going on, this can take a long time, just be patience...Thanks Jay Visit the training room...

Hi Doug, Sorry, in our area they start selling Grey at around 9 weeks, as soon as they're eating on their own, Some sellers clip their wings at 8 to 9 weeks olod claiming if they clip them at that age they'll never miss them.[They never fly] Some sellers sell the Greys while there still hand feeding saying it helps to bond with the new owner... Think of a Grey as more of a human child than as a bird, each one independent, not a stereotype. A Grey is a animal that learns by obseriving. note, it will be around 200,000 years before a parrot will be domestacated like our dogs and cats. Aexample of how a Grey thinks is: If a Amazon parrot falls, he gets up says "oh well" and fly's away. A Grey, sits there for a while and says to himself "Do I really want to do that? what if I fall?. Cags come from a large area in Africa, the come in diffrant colors of gray, and vary in size, so it's very easy for a group of Greys who are raised together to be completely different... Thanks Jayd

Just a short reply right now, I'll do a thread on diet later later today. Go to Zupreem, Hagen, Harrison's, [search them on the web] and email them asking if they have a sample of there product]. I guess your bird is on seed[?] give i/4 cup of seed at all times, try a pellet, Zupreem nut is a good one your baby might like. In the afternoon put a bowl in the cage with 1 red grape, 1 small slice of apple, 1 small slice of orange, add to this a kale leaf or dandelion leaf or carrot top, or beat tops, plus a slice of summer squash, or zucchini, small slice of corn on the cob, all rinsed in apple cider vinegar. [rotate]Look for my diet thread in the next couple of days... Thanks Jayd

Doug's post is a good one, as a side note, rinse the corn in vinegar.[i'll get into that in a later thread]. Feed you fid fresh corn not caned or bagged, if you want to use frozen, read the ingredient's for salt and chemicals/preservatives, if the salt isn't to high you can soak and rinse it. Just because something is good for us,[humans] that doesn't mean it's ok for our fids....Thanks Jayd

YES! you must remember that bird food is a business, a way to make money...Read the ingredients in your mix, you'll be surprized at what is in it. Packaged mixes from a pet store with peanuts is the most dangerous kind to buy...Pet food storage isn't controlled like human food is. Whats worst is rhe mold can spread to the rest of the bag due to heat and moisture Do not buy or use any mix that contains nuts in the shell or packaged nut from a pet store. It's best and safest just not to feed your companion them, why risk it... Thanks Jayd

Hi, Conure males kick there baby out as soon as they fledge, A Amazon leaves the nest at around 6mo's, a Grey is another story. In the wild, A Grey stays in the nest, learning family routines, and doesn't leave the nest till around a year or so. For the next 3 years or so, they stay within the family group, helping out while maturing. At around 4 years of age, they start looking for a mate and settling down, their eyes and tail feathers have changed to there final color denoting there maturity. There's some myths associated with hand feeding, yes it helps with socializing and trust issues, here in is where part of the problem might lie. To bond is to form a love/companion relationship. A fledge Grey should not have bonded with his breeder/handler, one of the hardest things for a breeder is to get to attached to his young one's that are to be sold, the same goes for the baby's in question. If your baby was four month old when you got her, she had already fledged, during the time after her fledging, the breeder/handler probably took care of feeding and making sure she was okay. In the case of your fid, she might have went on developing her own independence since she had no group to learn from, she sounds as if she is a very strong willed Grey, a little on the introverted side, some what like a strong orphaned child would be, knowing right from wrong but having nothing to compare it to. How to possibly handle this is to take time, you have a Grey who is old for her age, treat her as such. You must start over, not to gain her trust, but to socialize her, show her she is not alone and can share and not only recive love but give it. Find a spot, pull up a chair and talk to her, don't push 'touch' on her, hand her treats and touch the tip of her beak each time you give her one.[no beak touching the first few time.] Let her set the pace, you must be patience, to rush could push her away. Don't under any circumstances let her see if your discouraged or upset. Yes, to treat her as a older re-home/rescue is what you have to do. Do to the fact your baby was sold a long time after fledging I consider this what I call "Unintentional Abuse" from the breeder. I feel she will be well acclimatized to you by the time she is a year old. Please remember and don't be discouraged, a Grey chooses who they bond with. Thank Jayd

Hi, I'm afraid if you go much higher they'll just be no good, or explode. Walmart sells the unsalted in the snack section.[Wonderful Pistachio brand] You can also get them at a nut or health food store. You also can break a walnut in half and they forage out the nut.[Walnuts are the best for Greys] Dave shows in one of his threads how to nip off the end of a walnut and let your fid do the rest. All these nuts are better then peanuts in the shell... Thanks Jayd

We pray deep prayers for you....

Hi, bake at 325% for 20 to 30 minutes, keep away from moisture. Inspect all shells foe "discoloration", look for clear clean unbroken shells...The temp still isn't high enough to destroy the mold, but with "hand picking" and inspection" it can help reduce the risk. What we have substituted is "Pistachio's" in the shell.... Thanks Jayd

I'm sorry if I crossed anyone, but peanuts in the shell are roasted at temperatures bellow 350%, which is not hot enough to kill the mold. Mold can lie dormant after processing,then its bag, stored and shipped, which with the small amount of moisture in the package it causes problems. Raw peanut also never be served to our fids either. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to cause any problems, I'm just stating a fact and a caution.. I feel it is better to err on the safe side. As a side note, there is "No one" I respect more than Dave!!! Some people feed apple seeds to there fids and say there safe, I don't. Thank you Jayd Side Note: I've personally seen what "Aspergillosis" and "Cyanide" does to our parrots...