Rrrma

ah, ok, thanks. I'll pick some up this weekend then.

So yes to yogurt, is there anywhere else they can get those kinds of bacteria? How much should she get during that 1x every 7-10 days? I've been giving small amount more frequent instead of large amounts less often. Is that ok? Can I just not do cheese, or is it a requirement? I'd prefer not to have to do cheese unless it is really necessary. I am allergic to milk and I wouldn't impose my own diet on my birds, but I'd prefer not to have to buy cheese if possible. Oddly my diet already closely resembles theirs, it is kind of strange lol! I eat organic and locally grown as much as possible, I make everything myself, I eat a lot of orange and green veggies, I don't eat much fruit or it upsets my stomach. I eat organic whole grains and brown rice. I love sweet potato and kale/collards/etc. I only eat chicken and fish and I like sprouts. Comes in handy that they eat what I eat and I eat what they eat... I often times snack while I fix their meals and then they snack off my plate. It is just a cute coincidence that our diets are similar. Jayd. The egg is blended in a blender, shell and all, and then cooked scrambled style(minus the oil/milk/butter. I just put it in the pan and constantly stir until it is cooked), then I keep it in an airtight container in the fridge and add it to the fresh food in the morning. So canned fish is ok? I would have thought the sodium would be bad?

Ok I'll stop the cheese. There is so much conflicting info on the net, you say no white cheese and yes to yellow/orange cheese and others say no yellow/orange cheese and yes to white cheese. I'd rather avoid milk products altogether if possible, so is that ok? What is the point of the milk products anyway? just the calcium? Wouldn't the fact she eats her leafy greens every day and also bone be enough calcium to cut out the cheese/yogurt? The egg probably is given 2-3 times a week, since I rotate it out with everything. I give 1/3 a teaspoon at a serving. Is that ok to continue? Can I do just the bone and the egg? I give her a whole wing, the part with the () shape and the little ^ end. Is that ok?

Thanks and sorry if I seemed defensive. I'm so worried about all 3 of them because I got all of them way into adulthood after years of neglect and improper diet. I want to make sure they are as healthy as possible, but realized after the fact how completely different all 3 of their diets are and have had to do a crash course of their dietary needs. Im still learning. I offer her everything but the fish(just haven't been to a store where I can get uncanned fish since it was suggested to me), she gets a finger of wheat toast with a thick coat of peanut butter on it a day. She only gets a small piece of fruit a day(one normal grape or one grape sized piece of apple or one grape sized piece of some other fruit) and sometimes she doesn't bother eating it. I rotate out the yogurt, cheese, egg, and bone. The cheese is usually cottage cheese, is that not ok? The egg is a whole egg that I blend in a blender and then cook scrambled style(but without any kind of oil or milk, just heat and stir). The "bone" is actually broiled chicken wings I give her 1-2 a week, just a whole wing and she tears it apart. She has dry food available to her all day, though she isn't as fond of it as she is the wet. I put harrison's, nutriberries, flax flakes, an almond or two, and a tablespoon of seedmix in that. She tends to only eat it when she has run out of wet food or doesn't like what is being served and she always goes for the pellets first and often times doesn't touch the other things.

But she did lose weight, that is the thing, and she lost it suddenly(well, within the first month I had her). The vet agreed it was lack of protein/fat in her diet(and the added exercise) and that she was underweight. If the vet(who is an experience avian vet) says she needs to gain weight... doesn't she? I'm not fixated on the number, I try to offer her everything I can. Pellets, flax, fruits, veggies, grains, sprouts, yogurt/cheese/bone/egg, seeds and nuts. I posted a thread about her diet when I first joined She eats good, she is a very hungry girl(though only slightly hungrier than my amazon who is only slightly hungrier than my eclectus), but she finally has feces in all her droppings(she had lost them and this required an emergency vet visit and a full bloodtest etc, which is when I found out she wasn't getting enough fat/protein). I just want to make sure she is healthy and I didn't hurt her because I didn't know they needed so much more fat/protein than my eclectus.

Thank you for the chart.

I'd have to disagree. Firstly she is 14 years old and I only acquired her 2 months ago from a not so perfect situation. She lost a large amount of weight and we are working on gaining it back. She was of her healthy weight when I got her and then lost a significant amount during the stress of being rehomed and changing her diet from a 14/16% breeder diet to a low fat(was too low) fresh food and pellet diet. Sadly I didn't get to weigh her before she lost the weight, so I have no way of knowing what her normal weight is. Although I can't measure her exactly yet(too scared of everything that is new) I got roughly 14" when she was calm enough for me to try. The vet gave me some things to add to her diet like yogurt, cheese, bone, and egg and the people on the forums have helped me figure out her diet wasn't quite right for a grey(I'm used to feeding my eclectus). So she isn't at her normal weight and it definitely isn't a good weight, her plasma proteins were down and the vet said that was from a lack of protein and good fats in her diet. She isn't going to grow, I know that, but she is anorexic looking at 470 grams and wasn't so when I first met her. It was my lack of proper knowledge that caused her weightloss and I am trying to fix that and figure out what her appropriate weight is supposed to be.

So how do you decide if they are large/very large? I'd say she is large, but not very large, though I haven't seen any larger than her in person. I'd say from my own math and guessing she should weight 520 to be perfect. Our goal right now is 500 and we are slowly creeping up there. We were down to 450 and are up to 470 now.

I can never seem to find very good info on grey weights. It's like anywhere from 250-600 grams... well that is a HUGE scale! lol! Of course the lower end is TAGs and not CAGs, but how do you really know which yours should be? Their body sizes range so much. I would classify my Norma as underweight by her current feather condition and her painfully obvious keel. The vet agreed she is underweight, but not in a worrisome way. We are working to gain back the weight she lost when switching from a breeder/seed diet to a pellet/fresh diet. She has a rather big body. I've seen a handful of CAGs in my life and she is definitely at the top of the list for 'height'. She weighed 470 this morning and I think 500 is probably the minimum she should be. But how do you really know when they are good, or slightly under, or slightly over, or really over? It seems like it would all depend on feeling the keel... but that seems like it leaves a lot of room for error for owners not experience in feeling the keel. So, what is your input on this?

I pull out my own hair and I bite my fingernails, but I don't do it because I am unhappy. It usually starts as a nervous tick, but then I have the hardest time kicking the habit once I start it! I think birds can be the same. Though not always started because of stress, can be a habit that is hard to kick once you start!

Did yours come with the instructional DVD? I'd watch it if it did. Norma doesn't want to have anything to do with it, she is very afraid of it. It is probably going to take weeks or even months to get her used to it! Rosie doesn't care though, she let me put it on right out of the box, she will let me do ANYTHING to her though. Hardy... I don't expect to ever get it on Hardy because I can't even touch him, let alone think about putting anything on him... but we will see.

I totally agree, people just don't expect such a small bird to pack such a punch. I've always loved sun conures! I planned on working my way up to large parrots over the years. I started with my budgies, then cockatiels, then OOPS! Rosie decided to adopt me lol! If it had gone the way I planned I would have gotten a conure next, probably a sun, but I kind of jumped from smaller to larger parrots in a hurry. My mom loves her birds to and I consider them like nephews and nieces, so I help her pick out new ones when she is ready. I think a sun would be fine for her, that or any kind of conure really. She had budgies and cockatiels now, so next step up is something like a conure or quaker.

Screw taking in rare birds! We will avoid them for that. Likely the new bird will be a sun conure though, and probably a sun conure someone is rehoming on craigslist. Conures seem to be the only birds that make it to our craigslist, dunno why. In a month you might see 3 "I need to rehome this bird" ads and 2 of the 3 are conures and the other is a cockatiel. And usually they are Sun or Jendays and never anything else.

lol! Yeah, luckily she is hard of hearing a bit... but of course we'd have to find one and meet it and I hadn't even heard of them, so I doubt we will be able to locate one in the drivable vicinity.

LOL! Well at least we know! And now I'm really wanting a Golden Conure in the family!(my mom is considering a new addition in the next year and I get to help pick it out lol!)