trail_rider

...........and one more!

eventually I will get this picture to load. third time is a charm right??

Finally I have some pictures of Francis. Does anyone have any pointers as to how I could make his cage more easily manueverable? Since he is mostly plucked and his nails are short, he has very bad balance. He has fallen twice that I have seen and it just makes me cringe when he does. What can I do to make things safer for him until he gets his balance back?

what confuses me tho; is that the lady I got him from said that he only ever offered to bite her once and it was just a warning pinch and left it at that. So either he doesn't like me, or he is just testing me. I am pretty sure tho that he is just testing me.

Oh yes......he drew blood on the last bite. He bit down one last time and ground his beak into my finger. He meant business, but so did i! I have company coming over tonight so I don't think it is a good idea to take him out. Today is only day four of him being with me so I don't want to overwhelm him to much. If I do I am sure he will be sending another firm bite in my direction. But its ok......I still love him!

I brought Francis home two days before Christmas. He is pretty badly plucked and his nails are pretty short. When I take him out I usually hold on to one of his toes with my thumb to steady him. The only feathers he has right now are the ones on his head and most of the ones on his wings, but no flight feathers on the wings at all. How can I make his cage easier for him to manuver around in? He has fallen twice since I brought him home. I don't want him to get hurt. I want to put some natural branches in his cage, but they would be to big to put in the oven. Would it be safe to put them in without baking them? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

......and i lived. He bit me three or four times before he stopped and I didn't pull my hand away. I told him a very firm 'no' and left him alone for about ten minutes and ingored him dispite his effort to get my attention. He was dancing and making all kinds of noise to get my attention. When I went back for round two he stepped up like a perfect gentlemen. it did hurt, but it wasn't as life ending as i thought it would be. dont get me wrong tho......i am not looking forward to the next bit. I am sure that wasnt the last.

haha.....im sure he will. I have to either buy or build a playstand for him. He just hung out with me on the couch tonight. After eatting a few treats he snuggled down and fell asleep. So I took advantage of him being out and I moved some stuff around in his cage to make it easier for him to find his way around. He is not to steady on his feet being all plucked and his nails are a bit to short. I am SOOO excited!!

YAY! We made progress! I had to just stop being a weanie! HAHA The only thing going threw my head was 'I only have 10 fingers to spare'. haha well I just went up to his cage tonight and asked him if he wanted to come out for a while and put my hand up to him and he stepped right up! YAY I just had to share.

Oh it is definately to late to let him out tonight. it is after midnight. He stepped up perfectly for the lady that had him before and that is how she would get him in. I only brought him home yesterday, so I have not pushed him to hard. I dont want to stress him. He just started playing with his toys tonight. I figured I would give him time to see that I am not out to get him before I asked him to step up.

I have been offering him treats all day and he is more than willing to eat them up. I gave him broccoli, carrots, grapes, and a piece of bananna. he took them very nicely without taking my finger with them. I could leave the door open for him; but how will I get him back in? The lady I got him from said that he loves to spend time out of the cage. He has lunged at me a few times as I have been in the cage putting up a toy or changing his water. I haven't pulled away or anything like that. and he hasnt made contact. the only time he has put his beak on me is when i was giving him a piece of broccoli threw the bars and he just put his beak on my finger and went back to eatting

I have one prech in Francis' cage along with a few rope ones. I would like to put in some natural ones. I have apple trees in my back yard that I can cut. This land has been in the family for the last 40 years, so I know that there has never been any pesticides used. My question is.....do I have to bake them? My cage is huge and branches that will fit into it will not fit in my oven. What should I do??

I got Francis home yesterday!! I am so thrilled and can't wait for him to settle in. As much as I want to just take him out and love him I am letting him get used to me and his new home. How long do you guys think I should let him be before I take him out? For those of you that haven't read my other threads, Francis is a 6 year of CAG. He started plucking when his family went away on a 2 week vacation. They decided that they didn't want him anymore if he was going to pluck. The lady I got him from brought him home from his family that didn't want him anymore. He let his feathers grow back in but when she started going to horse shows and getting busy he began plucking again. She felt that he would thrive on attention and she felt that I could give that to him. I will share pictures as soon as I get batteries for my camera. Any advice for helping him settle in is welcome!!

I suppose I should introduce myself to you all! I am not a new bird owner, but I am a soon to be new grey owner. I bring Francis home two days before christmas. He is a six year old CAG. He started plucking when his previous family went away on vacation. When they came home to a plucked bird they took him directly to an avian vet to have a complete check up done on him to find out why he was doing this. The vet told them that he was perfectly healthy and that the root of the problem was not health related. So they brought him home and put him in a back bedroom because he wasn't 'perfect' anymore. So he continued to pluck. When they got tired of it they decided to get rid of him. The lady that has him now is wonderful and said that when she gives him attention on a daily basis he lets his feathers come back in. She has been busy with horse shows and life in general so he has started plucking again. I contacted her about another bird and after talking for about two hours on the phone she told me about Francis. As she was telling me his story my heart was melting. She said that she only told me about Francis because she really liked me, and she would understand if I wasn't interested in him. She emailed me a picture and I fell in love. She and I have talked several times and she has been telling me everything about Francis. I go to meet her two days before christmas to bring him home. I have gone out and bought loads of stuff to make toys. and I am going to be busy the next few nights getting things ready for him to come home! wow......i feel as though I just wrote a book for all of you!! Sorry about that!

So the pellets are a no no in general for a plucker? I thought it was just the ones with the coloring dye in them that were not good for a plucker. The lady I am getting him from said that she hasn't found a fresh food that he won't eat. She said that his all time favorite is scrambled eggs.

Thanks guys for all the words of encouragement! The lady told me that he is sweet as pie and I cannot wait to get him home. I am going to get his cage all set up this weekend for him. I went today and bought him some toys and some stuff to make him some toys. I got this really neat foraging toy and I hope he likes it. I also got his food for him. Right now he is a zupreem pellet diet; which is what I feed my teils, but he is eating the fruit blend one with the colored pellets and a small amount of seed. So I bought a small bag of the fruit blend and a bigger bag of the zupreem without the die in it so I can switch him over to the natural pellets. I cannot express my excitment enough!!!

Hello everyone. I am new here and seeking advice. I am bringing Francis home two days before christmas and I cannot wait. The lady that has him now is a great lady. She saved Francis from a bd situation. He started plucking after his former family went on a two week vacation. When they returned to a plucking bird they took him straight to the avian vet. everything checked out so they deemed him to have a 'mental illness' They decided that they didnt want Francis anymore and gave them to the lady that has him now. She had planned on keeping him for ever, but when I had inquired about another bird and we talked for about two hours on the phone she told me about Francis. She said that she would understand if I wasn't interested but because he would thrive on attention and I seemed like a nice person, she told me about him. He is very sweet, steps up for most anyone, eats about anything you will give him, talks up a storm, ect. She said that when she is able to give him one on one he will let his feathers grow back in, but when she is away at horse shows and busy with other stuff he starts plucking again. Initially I was looking for a bird that I can spend time with and interact with. I have a huge cage and all the time in the world. I have done tons of reading and research on greys, but I am open to learning more, so send the information my way!! I would appreciate any advice anyone has to offer.