jeanna

Jasper is FINALLY molting! Woohoo! Haven't seen a clipped feather fall out yet, but every day I notice that more feathers are lost. Well Jasper seems to be pulling out loose feathers as he preens himself. I don't see him forcefully plucking anything, just grabbing the feathers that come out as he preens along. Well every time he gets one of these feathers, he grabs it with his foot and proceeds to chew on them vigorously. He likes to mangle them until he loses interest and drops them to go back to preening. Is that normal? I don't think I've ever had a bird that liked to play with its own feathers like that. He's definitely not plucking though. I just hope he doesn't think it's fun to play with his feathers and end up plucking them out when he's finished molting. He doesn't do it with the downies, just the bigger ones with longer tips.

Jasper has a bowl in his cage. He doesn't dip his food in the water, but sometimes pellets end up in there along with lots of dust and feathers (he's molting). I discovered that he seems to really like using the water bottle in his pak-o-bird (which is also where he sleeps at night), so I think I"ll get a bottle for his cage as well. So I think I'll be replacing that water bowl with another bottle and use the extra bowl space for non-pellet/fresh food.

He sounds like a talking action figure with lasers and such. So cute!

The safety pumice perch is great!

That was sooooo cuuuute!!! "EAT THIS COOKIE NOW!!!" Awww...

My grey only weighed 370 grams at the last weigh-in at about 8 months old. He's really small, isn't he? Well he could always be a she since I hear females tend to be smaller. Haven't DNA tested yet, I'll probably do that sometime in the near future but I like to think of him as a boy anyway.

I am so sorry for your loss. I can't even imagine what you must be going through right now. Maybe you can rescue an older grey in need a loving home! Not as a replacement for Jimmy, but in his honor.

He hatched 12/23/09. Today is just 5 days after that video was taken and he has made even more progress! He's sounding less robotic and more humanlike... I think he said hello pretty clearly today, but it's hard to tell since he was chattering while the tv was on.

Jasper is about a week shy of being 9 months old! Here's a rough video of him whistling, making the mac volume control noise (you can hear my laptop too), and mumbling a whole lot ! I think he even says "Jasper" in his low robotic voice at 0:28. He's getting so close to talking! My baby is growing up... *sniffle* :heart:

I think I will be able to give this bird a forever home if the owner gives him to me at some point. I'll plan around the birds in deciding my housing options, I don't think it will be as hard as I thought. One question I have is if a U2 and a grey will get along if they are both bonded to me? Or will they just be super jealous of each other and want to kill each other? I'd really like them to be able to keep each other company when I'm not home and at least be out of their cages at the same time in peace when I am home.

Jasper my 8mo CAG had a full check up last week. All his tests came back normal except for the in house cytology. Apparently there's gram negative bacteria in his crop? The vet just said she found it abnormal, with excessive gram negative bacteria in the crop and slight on the choanal. She recommended baytril to get rid of the gram negative bacteria, but I am hesitant to put him on antibiotics when there is no actual infection and he's in perfect health in every other way. She said when there's gram negative that is a clue of an infection but that sometimes it's just something he ate and that it isn't necessarily an infection. She also said they can sometimes get rid of it on their own so I'm confused on what to do. Do I put him on baytril or recheck his cytology next week in case of false positives from something he ate? What are some holistic things I can do to reduce the gram negative bacteria in his crop?

I have no idea what happens if I leave. I'm hoping that I can inspire his owner to take better care of him. Do you think there will be any negative effects from me entering Cheerio's life and then possibly leaving a year later? I know that getting involved and providing him a lot of what he's currently missing will help him a lot, so I think I do want to go on with my plan. I'm just hoping that since my visits will be more sporadic than regular, that he won't come to expect me and get stressed if I don't show up. So glad you rescued those toos! I know the owner loves his bird and does take him out at least, so it's not as bad as either of the cases you posted. But I do think there's unintentional neglect going on.

Sorry it's so long. I originally posted this on avian avenue, but I thought I'd post it here too. My very spoiled grey's life is a stark contrast to the life of this 13(?) year old umbrella cockatoo that lives at a dive shop nearby. He stole a piece of my birdy-loving heart the first day I met him when he reached his foot out through the cage for my finger and put his head down for a scratch. He is such a sweetheart. So imagine my surprise when the employee was horrified that I put my finger through the cage saying that the bird bites. I know I shouldn't touch someone else's bird without permission, especially with a sign saying "do not touch the bird!!!" on the wall... but he looked so pitiful and starved of attention that I couldn't help petting him. Ever since then, whenever I visit the shop and approach him, he basically presses his whole body on the bars of his cage wanting scratches. This bird LOVES me and I've only seen him a handful of times over the course of a month. No worries, the owner gave me permission to pet his bird whenever I come in, provided that other customers don't see me. Apparently he bites most people and it's strange that he has taken to me immediately. I would love to improve this too's quality of life, I actually think about him all the time. These are my concerns: 1. His cage looks barren. He has two natural wood perches at the same level and one short polly pastel perch higher up that does nothing for his overgrown nails. Not much variety and the cage is plenty big for several more perches of various sizes. There are few old toys. One is really plain but has big wood blocks for him to chew up, which is good. Then there's a plastic chain and something else I can't remember right now, both which look very old but not really played with. - I'm thinking of buying him a big rope perch, a safety pumice perch, and some toys. What kind of toys do U2s like best? 2. He doesn't get much out of cage time. But there's always at least one employee there for like 10-12 hours every day. No one (besides his owner/owner of shop) takes him out and it's my understanding that he's mostly kept in the cage. Especially now that his nails can break skin when you hold him. He lives in the shop, so he sees customers a lot and I guess sometimes people will antagonize him. Also, his mate was rehomed after she almost died following repeated contact with a filthy guy (worked in lumber or something) who'd always come in and try to touch her with his filthy hands. She probably breathed in whatever was on his clothes because it was a respiratory disease. So there are definitely health concerns with the amount of people that come into the store. - I would totally take him out and play with him for several hours a couple times a week at least. Hopefully his nails can be trimmed soon so that I won't lose the skin on my hand. But I can't do that when there are other customers in the shop so time with him will be limited anyway. He looks to be fully flighted so I'm not sure if I can take him out of the store either. 3. His diet is my main concern. He has a bowl of exclusively safflower seeds and a bowl of these colorful alphabet shaped pellets that probably aren't the best for him. As far as I know, he gets no other food. He's always licking his cage bars too. I'm not sure what the cage is made of, some sort of uncoated metal that's definitely not stainless steel. - I'm thinking I could get some quality pellets for him and convince the owner to get rid of the safflower seeds. I sprout seeds, make birdy bread, and cook all the time for my bird, so it'd be no problem to bring some to the shop along with fresh organic produce that's always in my fridge. Are there any special needs specific to cockatoos or can I give him everything I give my grey? In order for me to do everything I want for this too, it's going to cost me a good amount of money. But I'm willing to do that and commit some time to regularly visiting him. But what happens if he gets really attached and I'm unable to visit at some point? I don't want him to start screaming or plucking. I'm actually kinda amazed that he hasn't become a plucker.So do you guys think I should go ahead and do all this for this beautiful bird? Or would I be doing more harm than good if for some reason I can no longer continue to provide this extra care and attention for him (like if I move)? I have full permission from the owner to do whatever for the bird and come in however often and for however long. But I want to do what's best for the bird not just presently but in the long run. The owner is an older man and the bird is only about 13 so with proper care, he'll definitely outlive his owner. What happens then or even before then if the owner decides to give him up? What if the bird and I get attached to each other? Do I offer to give him a forever home? I can't even offer that now because I have no idea where I'll be the next 5 years since I'm planning on grad school next fall which means possible relocation. I can take my grey with me wherever I go, but I'm pretty sure apartments/condos won't appreciate a cockatoo neighbor and I doubt I'll be living in an actual house until I'm ready to have kids or something. I know how many toos end up in sanctuaries and rescues and I'd hate for that to ever happen to him. Also, whatever advice you can give me about U2s would be great since I'm not super familiar with them.

Thanks guys, I think I'll order the medium. One more question I have - If I'm taking Jasper out with his harness but also the pak-o-bird, do I just leave the harness on him and somehow zip it up with the leash out? I don't know if that would irritate him or not.

I'm looking into getting the pak-o-bird travel carrier for Jasper. He's not big at only about 450g. Based on other reviews I've read and also talking to the manufacturer, the standard medium size would work just fine. The congo african grey modified medium size just has a lower perch and a wider panel at the front. There's a difference of about $70 in cost, the CAG one being more expensive. Cost isn't all that important to me, but why spend more if I don't have to? But I am wondering if it'd be better to not have the extra perch holes, extra headroom, and a wider view for Jasper. So I am stumped! Those of you with the pak-o-bird, which size did you get and how has it worked for your grey?

Jasper is now 8 months old. He has occasionally done the whole drooped wings and panting thing for me for a few months now. I understand that it's a sexual behavior even though he's still very young. Well today he was on his perch on my nightstand when he started doing that going back and forth on the perch. A part of this display included attacking the poor full spectrum lamp on my nightstand with enthusiasm for a few seconds at a time as he continued. He recently seems to need to find something to attack every time he does this behavior, usually one of his toys. So is the attacking other objects thing a part of the display now? Because I might have to hide my happylite lamp...

He's 8months old now. And seems to be getting more and more confident by the day. His personality is definitely starting to show. I think he's more accepting now of everything than when he was younger. I hadn't used the harness since he was about 4months old. Back then he was sooo uncomfortable with it. When I tried yesterday he was grinding his beak, preening around the harness, and even dozed off with it on out in the sunshine.

I'm asking because I read countless posts about gradually introducing new things to their greys and how changes in routine, colors, layouts, whatever bother them too. Maybe it's because my grey is only a baby, but I've never come across that. I move his cage layout around once a month. Perches get rotated and new ones are put in all the time. He gets a new toy every time I go out to buy more food, which is like once every 3 or 4 weeks. He's all about exploring when his cage layout changes. I bring home a new toy and show him, and he's instantly stretching out his neck trying to grab the toy with his beak and reaching out with his foot for the toy. He doesn't mind new situations at all, they don't phase him. Loud noises he has never heard before (yesterday it was the waves crashing and the ferries), he doesn't mind other animals (pets or wild birds), he doesn't mind going to new places or meeting new people, he doesn't mind loud markets with lots of crowds. Really, the only thing bad reaction I've ever seen him have is to a guitar. So after reading so much about how neurotic and sensitive greys are, do they grow up to be like that or are they like that as babies too? Or is my bird just accustomed to constant change and lack of routine?

I can't wait for Jasper to molt and grow out his flight feathers. My old conure was flighted and it was so fun to call out to him in some random room and have him fly around the house looking for me. Jasper will only be outside in his harness and I'll probably get the longer leash for it to do recall training and such. There's an indoor free flight club where I live though, so he'll get all the flying he needs... if those clipped feathers would only fall off! Everyone in my family agrees that it is mean to clip a bird's wings. They're birds, they're born to fly. We're the ones selfishly keeping them in our house as pets, so it's really our responsibility to make him have the most natural existence possible in captivity.

I'll definitely try to do that soon! I'll wear my gopro camera on my head so you guys can get a POV video of it. But for now, here are a couple pics of Jasper at the beach.

Getting it off was even easier! He protested once when I only had one wing out. But it was easy to get him back under the covers to calm down and then I got the rest of it off. He didn't mind getting it back over his head ruffling his feathers as long as I kept scratching him here and there. I hope he eventually gets so used to getting it on and off that I can do it without a blanket.

So I've been able to get the harness on him before, but there was always some struggle and stress involved. Well today I got the genius idea of putting it on him while we cuddled. Jasper loves to lie on top of me with a blanket over him. He can be the most hyper thing and you put a blanket on him and it's automatic lights out. It's also the only time he let's me touch his wings and such. So it was a breeze getting it on him. Cuddle head scratch cuddle harness over the head scratch scratch cuddle over one wing cuddle scratch the other wing scratch scratch quickly tighten cuddle scratch cuddle. Once it's on he doesn't mind it so it works. Now getting it off him is always the hardest part so we'll see how the cuddle technique works on that part. I'll update when we go back home. We're enjoying a day at the beach right now! We'll probably go to happy hour soon (there's a patio where pets are allowed).

TOP is great! I got a sample of them from the bird shop (they raved about the organic ingredients) and Jasper seemed to really enjoy them. Plus I can buy it in bulk so it's way cheaper. I give Jasper a mix of different pellets for variety (TOP pellets, Harrison's high potency course and power treats, and Roudybush daily maintenance) and he eats them all pretty well.

I just got VPI for Jasper. It was $18/mo to get the VPI Avian Plan for an african grey which covers medical treatments for everything I could think of. But I decided to add in the supplemental and routine care coverage to pay for up to $181 worth of his routine exams, blood and poop testing, trimmings, etc. So total came out to be only $23/mo and I think it's totally worth it. http://www.petinsurance.com/Plans-And-Coverage/Birds-And-Exotic-Pets.aspx

Jasper is about 8 months old now. Here I thought he was fearless and then my brother took up the guitar. As soon as he sees it he starts growling. Louder the closer it is. He even hates the ukelele! Is there any way to desensitize him? Apparently he is way worse when I'm not around. When he sees it while on my shoulder, he just shakes a little and growls here and there. I don't want him to be afraid of harmless household things, you know? He was calmer when I kept telling him it was ok and that it's just a guitar.