Elvenking

The gentleman ended up giving them to a sanctuary after I said I was unable to take it on right now. My baby is probably alright hanging out with my Conure. It would kind of be a lot to do to invite another Grey into the home who probably also needs some special care and more socialization. I just don't think it will solve the problem. If I had an expansive area for more birds, maybe...but I live in an apartment. I will continue to devote myself to Isaac.

average cage size for an adult grey

 

I would say that is as small as you could go with a cage for a grey.

Yeah I am not too sure about making this kind of move now. Given only a chance of success and living in an apartment, I don't think I could take it if anything other than the ideal situation came to be. I may be projecting sadness by imagining Isaac at home alone. When I check him on camera, he usually seems in good spirits and is either resting, chewing up his water bottles, or making his noises. I do also have my Conure, so it would now be three birds. At least the two of them are together. My heart gets me into more trouble than anything else, so I have to watch it.

Thanks for the replies. I would so love to give Isaac a bird-friend, but I am so worried that it creates a tougher situation than I already have. I would have a chance to try them out together. I work here with the guy who has em. I might go visit the other grey first. Uhhhg....what am I doing.

Hi all. Most know my relationship with Isaac. We are super close and neither of us could do without the other. It's also a thought that is a little scary; I am the primary concern of my little buddy. Over the years it has occurred to me that Isaac may never see another of his kind. I have a Conure, and he seems to pay a little attention to him with some chatter here and there. However, it does occur to me that Isaac down't even get a chance to relate to another parrot like himself.

I was recently approached by someone at work who made me aware that he is trying to rehome a Blue and Gold along with A Grey. Now the BG is totally out of the question, but the availability of the Grey got my mind going again. I understand that it is probably not the dire situation for Isaac as it is for me. Maybe he thinks little other than the things that come into his life. I don't know. Many times I would feel better if Isaac had more than me to look forward to. I am at work all day and it always kills me to leave him behind for any period of time. I am really sensitive to it all.

So, anyone had similar thoughts in the past or tried a 'friend' for their grey. Someone talk some sense into me. My heart says yes but my mind says no. Two children in the house....hell...Isaac keeps me busy. LOL. Speak freely!

I do boiled whole grain noodles with red palm oil. He likes it!

Yeah it is the kind of sound that it takes practice to get over. I know it because others do cringe if get to hear that. On the plus side, I'll know not to put something away if he beeps. "Okay I'll leave that out for you" (if I can...LOL). It's funny to just understand him so well.

Isaac is hilarious. I also find it funny that I now laugh about this sound that is so incredibly pure high pitched loudness.....maybe that frequency is getting burned out of my ear...who knows. Anyway, I know he knows I don't like it, and he uses it to express his displeasure with actions he disapproves of. I was putting him to bed tonight, and he 'beep'-ed right after each thing to close things down. After turning the TV off, after putting him in his cage like 3 seconds after hitting the perch....and three seconds after pulling the plug on his overhead lamp. Guaranteed....every time...every night. Just too funny. He's way more controlled than he was when he first discovered the power of this noise. He knows I ignore him when he does it...but he does seem to know somewhere that I do not like it....and I know it's his way of letting me know the things that he doesn't like. Thankfully he isn't overbearing with it. If someone brings something close to the cage, he will do the 'beep' of displeasure. If it persists, he will fluff up and go "whhhwwWWOOOoooww" like a swelling whistle. I think he teaches me parrot things. HA! I love him to death. He's out there burping and laughing at himself right now!!!

losing hope very fast ! 3 yr old cag had him 8 months is on a pellet diet with fresh fruit and veg palm oil 4 times a week sparyed with aloe vera juice 3 times a week lots of toys and out of cage time but still he plucks...bites...and he knows where to poo but continues to do it anywhere he wants my previous cag i had 20yrs was no problem and a joy to be around give up

I know this pain you feel. Look up anything with Isaac and Plucking and you'll come across the myriad of things I have tried. It is tough. I can tell you, the bird you have now will never be like the bird you had before. It's like people and personalities. We are all brought up in different environments and from different origins. When you threaten to "give up" the only one you are condemning to a fate of suffering is your parrot. So please, if you don't feel like you are up to the task of caring for the bird without feeling resentful.....no matter what happens.....then do find someone who can handle the situation. I have had to accept for myself that my baby might be something of a plucker in some way for the rest of our lives. I continue to be hopeful...even after 3 YEARS of this. If yer nervous a lot about this, the first thing is to definitively decide where you stand in the situation. Are you going to help the bird through life or is it far too much. I can understand if it is far too much....it is gut wrenching...I know. However, I am committed if it kills me....I am just a nut over my bird that way. So do decide. It's fine if you can't but help find him someone who has the time to care for your bird.

Hopefully I don't come off too strong. But when you title a thread 'Give Up' in a forum of a bunch of people who value some of these companions more than humans, you have to expect something right? LOL. So that is my piece. Help save the little struggling life inside that bird. Not sure how much plucking you are referring too, Isaac fuzzed up his tummy and the upper back of his wings. It's broken my heart multiple times, and yes...it makes you mad when you love a bird sooooo much and the universes return to you is that. It hurts really bad. I have cried over my baby a few times. Please don't get angry with your feathered friend. That will only magnify the triggers for plucking.

On a final note....for the sake of animals that do not have a say in their own lives but to be born into a completely random situation....in some hope that they are loved......do not give up. You'll be tested, but try to think from the bird's point of view. Thanks.

Stephen

Ahhh the unwanted sound. Now heed this well, and I am sure others have said it. The only way that noise is ever going to go away is by ignoring it. On top of that, all the things you are doing REINFORCE the unwanted behavior. Because they all start with "going up to the cage".....exactly what they are looking for. By now, it is a fun game that they will have to unlearn. However, if you suddenly start doing nothing when the noise happens, maybe they will lose interest sooner. Patience is the key. Yer gonna think it's a crazy idea to do nothing when it's happening, but I think it is the only thing that really works.

Firstly, are the birds where everyone else is? They want to be around people for sure. I also have the same bird combo, and my Conue has taught my Grey some of those screechy noises. Also, I will never for get when Isaac liked to do the smoke alarm for a while before he forgot about it. (deafening at close range) It may seem like forever that they will forget it...but trust....it gets better....so long as you do not respond to those noises. We have to ensure that those noises mean nothing changes.

Are they waking you up in the morning. I am able to black out the area they live in in order 'let morning in' when I get up. If they see the sun come up, they will start up. I know how it is, sometimes I forget to close the blinds at night.

Isaac has quieted down with me ignoring those noises. They aren't 100% gone...he'll try them from time to time. But if they don;t get a reaction...they usually move on to something else. So I go wild whenever he does something I like.

They do love their ice baths. I can video GreycieMae because as you can see, she has her bikini on:

 

Anything will work, even a nice stew pot!

 

 

And everybirdy has their prefered way of bathing. Caiques hate ice baths. Much prefer steamy showers

That first video is the one that gave me this idea to try with Isaac. Sooooo cute!!!! Thanks for the great tip!

That's great! So silly that he wants to bathe in private!

He didn't get too wet, but he played for a long time in there....like 30-40 minutes...standing on the edge.....dipping feet in....taking it slow. I am sure he will probably do more in subsequent tries. He made a big splashing mess...but I was happy for him and kept telling him what a good boy he was and to have fun! It had to be really cold though. I put just cool water out first...not interested in much but trying to tip the dish over. Add ice cubes....and now we have captured his interest. He proceeded to play.

HEEE'SSSS BATHING!!!!! It worked. My boy LOVES cooooold cooold water! I got a rectangular Pyrex dish and he is playing in the cold water right now. It took a while for him to uhh.....warm up to the idea. But he is in there right now. I hear splashing in the kitchen. He doesn't want to be watched and pictures make him stop...so I'll have to catch him some other time. But I am excited to see how wet he will get himself. HA!!! It worked! What turned out to be great was that this Pyrex Dish....with the added water....turns out to be too heavy for him to lift. So he can;t go and just make a mess of the setup. Cool.

The birds living out of doors at the sanctuary often bathe when weather is it's coldest-weird but that is what they choose. Maybe it is a way wild birds rid themselves of external parasites?

Ha ha ha....I totally bet Isaac is one of these cold water lovers now that I think about it and remember a few things. He loves to go for ice cubes...but it has been a while since I had any in the house, and I can remember one time when I put refrigerated water in his bowl....he tried to bathe in it. But when I put warm water out, no dice. LOL. Tomorrow I have to try cold water in a large Pyrex pan or something similar. I think it may be just crazy enough to be true.

So over the holidays we got together with friends and friends of friends. Well one gentlemen (who had a bit too much to drink) began to tell us about a friend of his who also owned an African grey. Well as the stories continued I became more and more angry learning how this poor animal was treated. Apparently it leaved in a large dog cage in a basement....He then continued to joke how the bird was "evil." It would snap at the cage door and scream constantly he said, with the birds owner then using a hockey stick to smack the cage to "shut it up." He said the owner specifically had the hockey stick for that purpose. No wonder the poor bird screamed and was so upset! It lived in darkness! In a dog crate! With a terrible owner! My husband was squeezing my hand secretly the whole time because he knew I was getting more and more angry and I'm definitely not one to stand down when it comes to animals. So of course I pipe up with a horrified look on my face saying how awful that is. The guy telling the story definitely knew I didn't think his stories were funny. "Yeah but it was an evil bird who bite everyone".......yeah I wonder why?!!? Sadly the bird died in a house fire he said....again I can't even imagine. I'm sorry but if my house was on fire and Sully was inside, I'd need to be pinned to the ground because I'd be racing right back in to save him. I don't understand people sometimes....Sorry just needed to vent

Would have told that gentleman that the world is going to be a better place when he is dead, and that if he needed any help in expediting the process, I'd be glad to assist. I would also recommend to him not breeding offspring. You know, just in passing. Evil is not born is molded and created by other evil people, such as an a**hole with a hockey stick and no sense of perspective. I do have faith that somehow, people don't get away easily thinking like that. I am sure life saves only the best for them. Feel free to show him my post!

Any simple type of mister can be used. It can have soap, windex, counter cleaner, window spray,---Any kind that's usually perchased in household goods/ cleaner dept. in stores. The sprayer has to be thoroughly cleaned out until there's no trace of the original product that was in it. The mister on the top of the plastic bottle has to have one feature on it which all sprayer bottles/plastic have---there's a knob on the top that turns clockwise or the opposite. There's usually 2 holes---one hole says *spray* and the other side says * stream* ,

The stream shoots out like a squirt gun and the other side comes out like a fine mist. You'll be using both holes. The stream will allow a strong jet of water to enter any closed areas like where the wings sit tightly against the body. Most birds aren't too eager to spread those areas. The mister will be used on all the white fluff areas plus all the rest of the body. The trick is toSOAK DOWN THE BIRD UNTIL THE SKIN IS SOAKED. Your bird will screech and squawk and try to fly around the cage. Pay no attention to this. DON't react. Just keep on Squirting until the bird is soaked. DO not towel dry him.!!!!! LET HIM DRIP DRY HIMSELF!!. THIS WILL TAKE AN HOUR OR SO. MAYBE MORE, MAYBE LESS.

 

There's many methods in the link I posted to you yesterday

Ahh okay. I thought you had a continuous mister or something of that sort. Okay...I'll get him wet. I use a bottle I got special for spraying him. Adjustable mist for those times where he challenges me with distance. HA! I'll get some of the Aloe Juice today and I'll make a mix later. I keep it warm enough in the house so I am not worried about him getting cold.

On that note. I have seen Greys who like to bathe in ice water...with cubes. LOL. I wonder if Isaac is such a freak. He does seem to be fascinated with ice.

Hey Dave, what kind of mister do you use?

You shouldn't be shampooing your bird ever. Only birds that have special feather problems like the wild birds that've gotten stuck in oil spills need shampooing. Greys and other parrots don't ever shampoo themselves.

As far as the Aloe Vera Juice-----------it should n't be mixed or diluted at all.

 

http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?189967-100-natural-aloe-vera-juice

I'll have to give the aloe shower a try Dave!

EDIT: I have just heard that this website (wingingitaviary) has been very slow filling orders and is not very responsive with customer service inquiries. It's been a while since I ordered, so this may be a recent change. I have another source for a very similar product and am going to order now. It has some of the ingredients (chamomile and calendula) but not the red clover, and adds lemon grass and lavender (which sounds DELICIOUS to me!) so I am going to try it with Megan since it's time to order more of her tea. I will let you know how the new mix works and can send you some if you'd like to PM me your mailing address.

 

http://www.wingingitaviary.com/avianpro-teaks-tea4beaks/ but grab it now! It's my understanding that the person who developed this is no longer with TEA4Beaks and is developing other teas, but not are identical to this one. I may start looking for the ingredients and mixing my own. Our vet (a certified veterinary herbalist) did say that the red clover could exacerbate hormonal episodes and to pick it out if Megan acted broody. I don't know if this would apply to a male as well, I can ask her.

Yeah. I'd be curious about this because I haven't heard too much about it. Have there been any studies around this? I am not sure I want to just try something else because maybe. I might just try stepping up his showers more for now.

See my previous reply re: shampoos. I did mix the aloe juice about 50/50 with warm chamomile tea as chamomile has both calming and skin soothing properties. I think the main problem with Megan was that she *HATES* showers unless SHE initiates bathing. So I believe any benefit of calming or skin soothing from either aloe or chamomile was lost to the huge stress reaction of being showered. I finally gave up and now I let her tell me when she wants a shower and that works for us.

 

Edit: Clicked the link to see what was in the shampoo and this:

 

"... as well as famous TV celebrity Marc Morrone (Parrots of the World) " was enough to make me never buy it. That man is a shill for Kaytee as well, and a serious animal abuser. Go to YouTube and watch some of his gimmicky videos and see what he does to the poor animals he uses. He's like a clumsy version of the Sham Wow guy but with animals involved. He mixes predators and prey animals, drops them off tables, handles them COMPLETELY inappropriately, all while showboating like some carny or snake oil saleman. This guy is SUCH a joke. I call him Marc Moron.

This is encouraging! If you can link me to where you get your tea from, I will order some up. Just let me know how you go about it and how much you get. I would like to do the exact thing that you do for your baby for Isaac.

You shouldn't be shampooing your bird ever. Only birds that have special feather problems like the wild birds that've gotten stuck in oil spills need shampooing. Greys and other parrots don't ever shampoo themselves.

As far as the Aloe Vera Juice-----------it should n't be mixed or diluted at all.

 

http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?189967-100-natural-aloe-vera-juice

This is a special avian shampoo designed for parrots.

http://www.amazon.com/Kings-Cages-Feather-Shine-Shampoo/dp/B0032XLUPG

...but do let me know if you think that is a no-no.

Also, if there is a regimen I could start with Isaac using aloe, I'd like to understand how. He is a fighter against baths and tolerates them because...well he has to. I have to have him enclosed in the cage or he will try to rip my fingers off for squirting at him. If I so much as hold my hand up and make the sound of a sprayer spraying, he will get a bit upset with me. LOL.

Are you using a humidifier?

I do have one for them and darn it I forgot to put it out today, have to stop by at lunch. I do run it but have to move it because Isaac likes to go after the knobs and such. I just have to keep using it.

The air has been super dry in our area, so it could be related to that. He could have very itchy skin from the low humidity. How often do you give him baths or a spritzing during the winter?

Whenever this time comes around, I try to give him more Showers with a little aloe based shampoo in it. I could still step it up more.

So for the past three years, right in the month of December, Isaac likes to pull about 50% of the feathers from his tummy and back areas. Wondering if anyone experiences or knows why December would be a good month for this. Two other unusual things happen during this time, I take a week off from work, and I run the heater to about 72 on days where it gets just too darned cold during winter months. He seems to be sensitive around this time. Is this when mating season would be for them? I have totally come to accept this is just some expression of Isaac's because I have tried many things to help him along and he just has a habit of really picking up during December. Then it'll take the majority of the year to get them all back in, just in time to go and pull those bastards back out again. LOL. I have noticed that he may do this if he feels I am not paying enough attention to him as well...or so I think. I give the bird my life though and there really is not much more I can do. We're still happy though and playful as always. If you have any thoughts on this kind of plucking though, please share. Cheers!

PS: Here is the little plucker-doodle now. Mr. Fuzzy my little boy.

Stephen Gyves

About a week ago or so, Isaac began to take his fun with the plastic water bottles to another level. LOL. Firstly, for whatever reason, this is the best toy in the whole wide world. A water bottle. He has been chewing on them, flying with them in his talons, pouncing them for quite some time now. He had one the other day he was playing with while I was sitting on the couch. So I tossed it over toward the table top and he quickly flew and pounced on it, wrestled it off the table and to the ground for a few seconds. Then he grabbed it in his beak and gingerly flew it back to me....tossed in into my lap and looked at me like....'Do that again'. So I did...and again like before....flap flap flap POUNCE! We did this for about 20-30 minutes the other night...it was great fun. Now he will regularly fly a bottle over to me to play when he wants to, and I always oblige. HA! I have a video I will post of this later.