Greywings

I will add having patience while Lilly (nice name) adjusts to her new home. She may be slow to trust and it could take some time to see her personality blossom. Welcome and glad to see you join us.

First of all it hurts, hurts you finger and even worse your feelings. Trust is maimed as badly as your fingers so I would back off and work on trust building again this time for you to be the one learning to trust again. Hard to know for certain what was going through his brain right then but it sounds like his reaction was excited and we do not want to reinforce any of the bitey behavior. If it was me he would be caged immediately and ignored for a span of time say 15 minutes or so. Remember carefully to notice any change in his body language just prior to the bite so you have any clues to help you avoid getting another good chomp. Distraction often helps I have found it a good tool when working with people, birds or dogs that are being difficult or overexcited.

Lucky you to get fresh eggs like that. I would think cooking should be all that is needed I personally do not add shells to my birdy bread. I personally know of a bird who got an injured crop after eating crushed shells in birdy bread a sharp piece punctured or scratched the interior of the crop and he was one sick bird until they did a scope to view the crop viewing the injury with a bit of shell remained.

I think it would be safer for the birds as they may drink from this fountain to just clean it frequently or add some small algae eating fish like Mollies, Guppies or small Goldfish perhaps an Plecostomus. Vinegar strong enough to clean with would make your bird sick and diluted enough to be healthy to drink it would kill the algae. I would avoid the Copper for certain.

Murfchuck is also not too far away from you both. I am down just outside Houston.

I think she may be whispering into Pats ear, does he even realize she is able to manipulate him yet?

Always learn a little about the home they live in when they repeat what they hear, nice video. Much better than a recycled bird that cries,swears and makes siren sounds.

I agree the largest cage you can almost afford is what many would recommend, the occasional bird may feel unsafe in a large cage like Miss Gilbert. Our flock all have the larger cages and Sparrow is our bird most likely to panic and fall so she has a wide shallow height cage to prevent falling too far. she is missing a portion of one wing so unable to ever fly and balance is difficult when in a fright panic.

Very true!

Here to learn , that is a good thing. We all can share what we know to make our birds relationship with us humans just that much better.

Do find out what his favorite foods and treats are so you can provide them for him. A slow gentle approach for now calm voice, relax and try not to stress they can read our body language so very much better than we can theirs.

Yes you can, I believe they make them smooth to facilitate cleaning. Some among us wrap the branches in Vetwrap to make a better grip.

Sounds like one of those videos of the wild Chimpanzees doing their rain dance, hair on end and constant wild motion. 1:46 [h=4]Male Chimp Rain Dance | Survival: Tales From The Wild[/h]youtube.com

[h=5]Mental math helps monk parakeets find their place in pecking order[/h]

Aww I guess some one has to have limits, lol. Red fronted Macaws are so funny not quite like any other Macaws-they will melt and slide down you trusting you to keep them from falling, silly birds.

Break out the Zydeco music it is time for a celebration Cajun style.

That is BIG grey progress graduating to bell beating! go Gil girl!

Pookie was unflighted at 21 years old when she adopted us. It took most of a year to get from dropping like a rock to short flight capable. Lots of wing flapping to build up those flight muscles and as she grew stronger I encouraged her with gentle tosses from my hand to our bed starting with a one foot gap until she was able to cross over 5 feet of space. Having a large King size bed gave her room for landing errors with out injury. Now she can fly really fly and maneuver, make trick landings and go where she wants. She has been with us for almost ten years now and like you would expect prefers for human slaves to come when called to taxi her to share some sofa time.

Powerful words and such a very tender moment you shared with all of Ms. Gil girls fan club. Thank you through the misty moments!

With Greys balance issues often stem for a low calcium diet, sometimes they just are unable to utilize the Calcium due to lack of Sunlight (vitamin D). I imagine that a poor diet would have long lasting health challenges that could affect a bird or a person for the rest of their lives. "UVB light is blocked by all solid materials (glass, plexiglass, etc), so all indoor birds should be given 30 minutes to 1 hour of supervised time outdoors (as weather permits/when the temperature is greater than 70 degrees Fahrenheit) or have access to a full-spectrum light (including UV B wavelengths) for three to four hours a day. In areas where natural sunshine is limited (winter months in the northern hemisphere, indoor living area, etc.) full-spectrum lighting is recommended for African grey parrots. There are many types of UV lighting available, and they are not all created equally. Some more powerful UV bulbs have caused superficial eye lesions when kept too close to the bird. To be on the safe side, consult your avian veterinarian for the best lighting setup for your situation. Calcium Calcium deficiency is commonly seen in grey parrots. Hypocalcemia is the term used to describe low-calcium levels in the blood. Despite getting appropriate levels of calcium in the diet, many greys tend to have lower levels of calcium in the blood compared to other parrot species. Greys seem to be more sensitive to this slight hypocalcemia, which can lead to clinical signs, such as weakness, seizures or other neurologic signs. Seizures can become life threatening if left untreated. It should be noted that not all seizure activity is related to hypocalcaemia. Older greys under severe stress, such as during or after a trip to the veterinarian, can also have seizures. A physical examination and blood tests will help your vet determine the cause. Hypocalcemia most often affects pet African grey parrots, and not wild African grey parrots. This is due to a lack of natural sunshine, which prevents conversion of vitamin D to its active form, which, in turn, does not allow for adequate absorption of calcium. Vitamin D conversion via natural sunlight or full-spectrum lighting occurs in the skin and uropygial (preen) gland. In addition to the vitamin D converted within the skin, grey parrots absorb the vitamin D in the oil produced by the preen gland, thus aiding in the absorption of calcium. Feeding our greys a diet of calcium-rich foods, along with providing access to natural or full-spectrum lighting, are important factors in preventing hypocalcaemia. The best sources of calcium are dark green leafy vegetables, such as kale, turnip greens, collard greens, mustard greens, and dandelion greens, in addition to broccoli, carrots, endive, figs and okra. Kale is an excellent source of absorbable calcium, while spinach, chard and beet greens should be given sparingly since they are known to block the absorption of calcium. Other sources of calcium are baked eggshells, walnuts, hazelnuts, filberts and almonds." bird channel

Happy to meet you Leo.

It seems he is growing quite nicely even with half a tongue, good job by you!

What a fun idea, just remember birds spend more time flying horizontally than vertically.

Sweet, now we will all want to see some pictures-please.

A typically twisted sense of humor, so very Grey. :>