animalINSPIRED

I have a double one for my two Greys and all three of us love it!! They are great for walks, car trips, ect. I've also enjoyed eating outside at casual restaurants while my birds are chilling in their pak o bird.

Whoops this is the video I meant to attach!

Some simple tricks my Grey does are going through a tunnel (I started by using an oatmeal container with the ends chopped off) and now use a giant birdie bagel tunnel thing. Another simple trick is the spin or turn around. Teaching him to put things in a cup also sets the basis for harder tricks like basketball and grocery shopping.

I thought this was a very cool story and thought everyone here would enjoy it as well! http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/need-to-read/2012/03/29/missing-parrot-finds-nine-year-old-owner-s-daughter-at-school-91466-30647696/ Enjoy!

Congrats on your new girl!! What an exciting day for you! I can't wait to hear how she settles in.

You can buy an avian sun light bulb for around $30 and put it in any normal lamp. I use them in the winter when my girls can't be out in the sun. http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/234401/product.web Aloe will address the problem if the cause is itchy skin. It certainly won't hurt to increase misting Ajax... other than that I would suggest an vet visit if you haven't done so yet. If health problems are ruled out, you may give avicalm and featheriffic a try. It helped Averi when she was over preening while recovering from a skin infection.

I hope the vet visit went well!

We do yearly check ups for my two. I also try to weigh them once a week, to keeps tabs on them. I have a gram kitchen scale from wal mart.

Congrats on your baby! She's gorgeous!!

What adorable little babies!! Congratulations!

Another thing to consider is a corn allergy... Featheriffic contains corn which could have aggravated him if he does have an allergy. I hope the vet gives you the answers your seeking. It's so hard to pinpoint why they pluck sometime and his case seems to have become severe in a short time.

Congrats on your new baby!! She/he will bring you so much joy!

Aww what a cutie pie! Congrats on little Roxie!

My bird story- My freshmen year of high school my mom checked "Alex and Me" out from the library. An avid reader and animal lover I finished the book in a matter of hours. I immediately researched African Greys, and much to my disappointment found out that they wouldn't fit into my busy lifestyle. A couple months later, my family and I happened into a pet store. They had an older Grey who completely took to me. She climbed all over me and wouldn't let anyone else pick her up. I was smitted and even talked with the owner about working there to pay her off. But as much as I wanted her, I knew I really didn't have the time she deserved. That summer a lot of things changed. I felt that I was wasting seven hours/day in school, so I chose to take my classes online, freeing up a lot of my time. I ironically found a breeder less then ten minutes from my house on this forum, while trying to locate an avian vet. My parents were convinced after a year of me researching that I was dedicated. I visited Beaker's Aviary and picked my little Averi out at four weeks old. She is a great bird and I love her so very much. She has taught me so much in the past two years and she means the world to me. I am grateful for her every single day. Around the time Averi was ten months old, we left her at the breeder while we went on a cruise. When I came to pick her up, she was ecstatic to see me and I took her home. But, she seemed depressed over the next couple days and often called to the other birds. It broke my heart to think she was lonely. My vet had recommened keeping at least two birds in the same home to prevent loneliness but this was the first time I had experienced it. I talked to my parents and they were excited about the idea of a second bird. I did some research on other species, but I just kept coming back to the greys. I love their personality and they just really mesh with my lifestyle. I came across Tilda's ebay classifieds ad, as I had 100s of other Grey ads looking for new homes. I had decided almost a year early to add another. For some reason her ad really caught my eye. I emailed her owner, and promptly attempted to forget about it. I couldn't forgot about the sweet little picture of her, but I felt I was probably setting myself up for disappointment. When I got the e-mail back from her owner, I had butterflies in my stomach. I just knew she was going to be mine. Four months later, we had ironed out all the details, and drove five hours to meet her. She was so cute with her oversized feet and sweet cooing noises. I was sitting talking to her owner, hoping she'd warm up, when she voluntarily reached her foot out to step-up. I took her home that night. I'm lucky in that both my girls are young and friendly toward each other. They are sweet and curious about each other. They are always supervised. I must say that I love having two. They entertain each other and me with their endless chatter. Averi seems so happy and relaxed, even if she has to sepnd an abnormal day in the cage. They make me smile every time I see them playing with the same toy on a stand or eating out of the same bowl. They are still cautious towards each other, but they are warming up. I also must that for the forseeable future, two is my limit. If I were ever to pick out another one, it would likely be a Grey. If not a Grey, it would at least be around the same size. I wouldn't want to have to worry about out of cage time becaoming deadly with vastly different size beaks. I do love Hawk head parrots from the ones I have interacted with, and I love the zons, too. But, I'm a Grey girl at heart.

Yes, I'd definitely invest in some stainless steel cookware. It's healthier for you, too. Also don't forgot about wafflemakers, muffin tins, and cake pans that could all be coated in teflon. The automatic oven cleaning option on ovens is also toxic to our Greys. I find it works well to put my Grey girls up while I cook and eat. I feed them their cooked soft foods at this time of day, which gives them a break and lets them eat dinner, too!

I am encouraged by all your successful aviator harness stories. Averi wore an aviator as a baby, but after a slight accident in which she got tripped up in the harness, she has been scared to wear it. My other Grey, Tilda just turned a year and has never worn a harness. I'm going to start re/training them both to wear them this week and I'll let you all know how it turns out.

Do you have any pictures? My Grey Averi started picking a little excessively at ten months. She was also overly irritable, which I was told was just an independence stage common in Greys around her age. I talked to her vet, but she chalked it up to her oncoming molt and unless it got worse, told us not to worry. Right after her first Birthday, her picking became extreme, and we took her to the vet. She had a bacterial infection on her back, most likely from excessive scratching due to the molt. She was put on antibiotics and the picking almost immediately stopped. If I could go back, I would have taken her in when I first noticed the problem. It's taken her a year to grow her beautiful feather back in.

Aww he's gorgeous! And huuuuggge!! My Averi weighs about 375 max, so he almost doubles her weight. Congrats on the new addition!

That was actually our foster cockatoo's cage. He was with us last winter until he was adopted. We are in the process of getting a second Grey though. We are thinking we may have to go with another corner cage. We love it!

These may not be the best pictures, but they will give you some idea-

That's a really good idea. Averi's breeder normally watches her, but is unable to at the end of this month. We are still struggling to figure out who we are comfortable leaving her with. A manual for whomever ends up watching her would definitely ease some of my concerns.

I have that corner cage! I love it very much. Averi has tons of room and utilizes all of it. She flaps and flies and plays and has ample room. My trays pull out of the front, so no trouble with moving it to clean.

Averi has a sleep time cage that is covered. It's up in a separate room, but I worry about it getting cool in there in the evening so I sewed a cover.

We have four sugar gliders and a grey and have no problems. Their cages are in two different parts of the house and we have a glider-proofed room that the gliders get out in that Averi doesn't have access to. Also gliders are nocturnal, so Averi's normally in her night cage before the gliders get up. Gliders and birds can work together, just like birds and dogs can work together. You just have to take the necessary precautions.

If you're looking for a breeder in Indy, feel free to pm. I have a great breeder in mind. We have gliders as well!