bran

that was awesome!! Thanks for sharing~!!

I hear ya! I was always taught "it's not what you say, it's how you say it", and I think sometimes the delivery could be one of kindness, and not judgmental. I usually don't get involved in disagreements, but I felt like I read the same post, and was just as offended as OtheG. Besides, I really didn't think there was anything wrong with your suggestion, in fact I really liked it. It would be nice to have links to all of the stickys that are rated as important, and in having that it may stop someone from making a fatal mistake.

“A meeting or medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged.” That’s what the first definition of forum is on Wikipedia. I joined this forum July 19,2010 to learn, share and discuss ideas. I however did not join this forum to watch people being berated because of a difference of opinion, or a simple suggestion. I am aware that there are various “stickys” around in certain categories etc. However some of the members of this forum have not necessarily been here long enough to know that or have been able to explore each individual room and topic as you have. That does not make them any less of a good parrot owner, nor you, more of an expert in all things African Grey. It especially does not give you the right to insinuate that because someone has not read a specific thread is lazy, or misinformed. I would also think that a little compassion is due to the people that have lost their pet, instead of the “you got what you deserved” attitude. How about trying to help people get educated, instead of bullying them into looking for another forum? I think an area with some FAQ’s that has links to these said stickys is a great idea (thanks Twix) and would be great for these people that “are gone with the wind” to utilize and find the answers that they are looking for there, instead of repeating a thread that has been addressed. This just might eliminate some confusion, and maybe help some of the visitors get answers. Also, who cares if there are hundreds of people that float through the forum and ask questions, maybe it has saved a Grey’s life or inspired someone to change their way of thinking. It is after all about the birds, and not status on a forum.

Welcome! I love to hear other people re-homing Greys! It's so rewarding!

Okay, great information, thank you for being thorough! Since you are already using aloe, maybe try and add Vitamin E to your little mixture. This will add in the healing properties of your salve, and Vitamin E is just amazing. Just make sure it's 100% Vitamin E oil, and hasn't had anything added. Also you could try Wheat Germ Oil as well, it has done magic on some of my animals wounds! Also I was looking, you could try this website ASK A VET they could probably give you a better idea of what else you could do without a local avian vet. I hope this helps.

Hi, Please don't think I am off my rocker here. I am a retired medic, and I am wondering a few things. Are the affected areas warm and tender to the touch? Are there any lesions/abrasions that have caused this condition? From the pictures, it looks like it is more internal. Could this be Gout or some other arthritic condition? Do you feed your bird a lot of grapes or foods high in purines? The skin appears to be "rubbed off" in these areas? Was it like that before any inflammation? I am not a vet, an am unfamiliar with veterinary medicine, but lesions, abrasions, and infections, are usually pretty standard in appearance. I like the idea of aloe vera if it is some sort of irritation, but I would say that a petroleum product on an open wound of any kind is a bad idea, because it traps bacteria, therefore should not be used on irritations, burns or rashes. (http://multiculturalbeauty.about.com/od/Skincare/a/Is-Petroleum-Jelly-Safe.htm) I would also think that a trip to the vet would be a good idea. There may be some underlying problem that you can't see. good luck!

I need some serious advice.... I got Cooper (my 11 year old CAG) a little over a year ago, from a couple that had just gotten married. The wife, was Cooper's second owner, and had owned him for three years. Before that he belonged to an elderly woman, that had him since birth. During the interview process I noticed that Cooper was extremely aggressive towards the husband in the house. The husband was in fact was not allowed in the same room with Cooper when out of his cage, otherwise he was the victim of being bullied out of the room. I look back and I think that the husband might not have been the nicest to Cooper, especially when his wife was not around. (:confused: red flag #1) We went through an interview process, and actually I enjoyed the fact that it was so thorough. They wanted to make sure that we would be a good family for Cooper and I actually thought that showed a lot about how he was taken care of. He was taken to the vet annually, a DNA proven male, and very large for being a CAG. I remember bringing him home, and asking the introduction questions here on Grey Forums, and the way to let him meet our TAG Dexter etc. I got so much positive feedback for adopting Cooper out of a home that no longer had time for him and so much of the advice was spot on. *Including the "honeymoon" phase that JudyGram pointed out, yep, should have listened to that one.* You know how they say hind sight is 20/20, well looking back I see some flags that I didn't notice back then. In all of his photos, no matter where they were he was puffed up, and in aggression mode. At the time I was not familiar with the temperament of the CAG as opposed to the TAG. Let's fast forward. Cooper now likes to use me as his chew toy. I have so many scars from his various attacks. They are not everyday, and not all the time... however they occur randomly and like a world war. I know parrots bite, and I am not a reactive person (always) when he bites. I have done the iron fist method, the wave back and forth... but I think I am more interested in why he is biting. I try and be mindful of the energy that I bring to our interactions, and I have read several books about positive reinforcement. I allow him to choose his participation, and he will actually come out on his door when he wants to be picked up and taken to his play gym. Sometimes he just bites down, just because, and it isn't a pinch, it's a bare down, draw blood and not let go kind of bite. This has made me leery of trusting him, and interactions are short, and guarded. At times when I walk by his cage he gets defensive, and gets ready for actions, even with pinned eyes. We work on target training, and he doesn't like that either. I sit with him, read to him, praise him when he does something good, all the things that I have been told to do. He gets aggressive no matter what the activity, or where, and has gone as far as to try and chase my feet across the floor. My main questions are; I read about fear aggression, is this what is going on? Does Cooper just hate me? :mad: Do you think that Cooper is harboring anger towards men in general? Are there any book that you could recommend? Should I look into finding Cooper a female owner? I'm perplexed, tired of being gnawed on and rather frustrated. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.[/font]

I kind of agree, it says they have posted a few times, and yet it shows only 1 for posts. Crafty people.

It all depends on the setting that you are using. Fabric uses little steam, mop uses a bit more, and cleaner uses gushes of it. So, using it on the mop setting, and with the mop pad attached is like using a swiffer wet jet. I love that it doesn't soak your floor, and you don't have the lingering chemicals. The pad then un-velcros off and you just throw it in the wash. My wood floors and tile floors have never looked better!

I ordered A Bird of the Air, and it was such a great movie! I will say that I wish there was more "bird" in the movie, but it was such an endearing story! http://parrotearth.com/2012/04/19/a-bird-of-the-air/;)

I have a SteamFast 3-1 and I LOVE it! I even wrote a post about it! I got mine for very inexpensive, and it was the best investment that I made for my birds. http://parrotearth.com/2012/03/12/steam-mop-where-have-you-been/

This is a post and video from Parrot Earth a while ago, from the "Chop" that I made. I went to the local farmers market and the ingredients with everything totaled about $40... It made about four months worth, and that accompanied with their pellets, and other goodies... makes for some happy greys. http://parrotearth.com/2012/02/19/chop-video-2012/

My TAG Dexter used to be the pickiest bird I had ever met, meanwhile my CAG Cooper is a pig and will devour his chop. After some sound advice from a few people on here, and trying different ways of introducing it to him, he now awaits his special breakfast every am. They will pick and choose what they like out of it, but there is always great stuff attached to the things that are healthy for them, like the quinoa, wheat germ, amaranth, etc. that sticks to the carrots that they seem to love. This way they don't know that they are eating healthy. I call it sneaky, and now Dexter will try new things, and is healthy as ever. I think the chop concept works at including different ways of getting a balanced diet, and true quality and continuity of care.

When I was going to write the article, I actually started to go down that path, and I threw in a couple references. However, I had to reel it back in, because not everyone has seen that movie, and it would have been confusing. I might have even sounded a little crazy! haha!

Thanks for the heads up! I just fixed them. I am a bit of a grammar and spelling natzi, but i spent a couple days editing, and I was exhausted when I wrote the article. I do enjoy constructive criticism, after all in life you learn more from mistakes sometimes, than you do from your successes. As far as the music, I had to put something in, the camera picked up every conversation and sound in the room. That with the echo, it was unbearable on video. I'm working on getting a new camera though, so that should help out a lot.