Rrrma

I've had Norma almost 2 months and she is around 14 years old. She was a breeder who refused to let a male anywhere near her back. I'm her first real pet owner and I've probably spent more time with her in these 2 months than she has had her whole life with any one human. So this evening she was out on her playgym and I reached over and brought her to the recliner I was sitting in. She got lots of scratches and then decided to climb up my chest onto the back of the chair(this is the second time she has climbed up me). We haven't had any face encounters. Like I mentioned she was a breeder and she was meant to be untamed, even though she is very tame... so I don't risk any chance encounters yet. So she is sitting atop the recliner and starts doing this weird little dance and making a funny noise. She is maybe this low whisper sound and smacking her lips a lot and turning in circles. Then she put her body low and her wings kind of cupped around her, then turns around and around. Then facing away from me she like... exposed her back? Then again turned around and around and made the whisper like noise and lowered her wings, then faced away and exposed her back again. She was also nibbling at my hair and ear and glasses during this. I don't really know what she was going, but she did it for like 4 minutes until I got up. I took a video of it, but it is almost black. Anyone else experience this kind of behavior? know what it is?

She is definitely underweight though. Her keel is visibly sharp when you look at her and it is very pronounced when you feel it. He feels she needs to gain weight too. She was of good weight when I brought her home. I think 500 is probably her ideal weight. She is quite large/tall for a CAG as well. I am very lucky that she likes everything. She eats about anything. I think she thinks EVERYTHING is a treat lol! I guess just keep on feeding her the same stuff and make sure she gets egg/yogurt/bone every day. I know she will probably bulk up when it starts cooling down, it has been 100F+ all month.

I just posted my novel of an introduction and now I need some advice. Norma came to me almost 2 months ago as a breeder bird on a high protein and fat seed diet. She was kept in a chicken wire breeder cage and never allowed out, she didn't have toys and she didn't much like her mate. Since being in my house she has gotten a new cage and a new diet and lots of toys. She is very active and she eats very different. I've been trying to do a lot of research, I was apparently a bit undereducated when I took her in. I have had an Eclectus for almost 2 years and I am used to her low fat diet. I know Norma needs much more and I have been trying to offer that without offering unhealthy options. Apparently I wasn't offering enough because she dropped a noticeable amount of weight with the exercising and new food and it was the end of her breeding cycle and I think she is beginning a molt. I took her to the vet and everything came back normal except her plasma protein. The vet believes that is because of her change in diet and loss of weight. He recommended I give her 1/3-1/2 teaspoon a day of egg, yogurt, or cheese. She is already on Harrison's pellets and gets a variety of fresh foods. I need some help to try and get her fattened back up. Her current weight is ~460. I am weighing her every morning to make sure she doesn't drop any more. Since adding the daily dose of egg/yogurt and the occasional chicken bone she has gained maybe 5-10 consistent grams. I feel like she isn't getting everything she needs though. So maybe you can help? I try to offer them a rainbow of wet foods, both cooked and not. Here are some examples of what we are having this week: Brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole oatmeal, millet and quinoa - all cooked Corn, white potato, egg, yogurt, pineapple Sweet potato, orange peppers, carrots Red peppers, craisins, grapes Kale, green peppers, peas Every day they get home sprouted seeds and beans such as: Black eyed peas, chickpeas, lintels, adzuki beans, barley, miller, quinoa, alfalfa, radish, clover Then at all times of the day they have dry food available to them. They are offered a handful of different pellets and Harrison's seems to be the favorite across the board. I will continue offering the variety of pellets until we run out of the less liked brands. Mazuri, Lafeber, and Roudybush are the others. They also get a scoop of dry herbs/flowers and a tablespoon of seeds/nuts. They tend to just eat the Harrison's and pick through everything else. Norma also gets some crushed cuddlebone in her dry food bowl and a chicken wing/leg on the days she doesn't get egg/yogurt. I've had her since July 3rd and that is when she started the new diet. Since August 7/8th I have been trying to increase her fat/protein intake and weighing her daily. I guess that would be a little over 2 weeks and she has gained a little, but it is very little. I'm just worried I'm not feeding her enough of the right stuff. What do you guys suggest? I picked up some cottage cheese at the store to try as well.

Hi there, wasn't sure what to name my thread. I thought I'd introduce myself first. My name is Sara and I recently became the new birdma to a Congo African Grey named Norma. Norma is about 13-14 years old, and comes from a rough background. She was born to a breeder who owned her parents and decided to keep her as a pet. He kept her in the house until she became of sexual maturity and for one reason or another decided to turn her into a breeder instead. From what I was told, he tried for 5 years to breed her and she would never do it. He DNA sexed her to make sure she was female, and in the end sold her to a breeder in another state(my state) who was certain he could get her to breed. This breeder takes pretty decent care of his birds. He quarantines them, deworms and gives them some sort of detox(I forget the name now, but my vet recognized it) before introducing them to the flock. He doesn't feed them the best way though, they all get a seed mix that is good for breeders and a vitamin supplement. He said it had been 20 months since the last time he get a new addition to the flock. He said he tried for almost 8 years with Norma and even had her DNA sexed again just to make sure she was female and they didn't mix it up. Her thing was she would go through all the process except let the male on her. As soon as a male got anywhere close to her back she'd hide it and run off. She just had nothing of it. She was very interested in people and would much rather socialize with them than with anything else. I figure this is because she was originally a handfed parrot in a home and that is what she really knows. I think I could type for days to explain all of this, but I will try to keep it short. I rescued an Eclectus a couple years ago from a tough situation. She grew up with an African Grey named Cocoa and when their owner suddenly died they were placed in separate homes. When Rosie came to live with me she attached to my talking budgerigar and they were like best friends. At the end of last year Ranger(the parakeet) passed away and this really broke Rosie's heart. I tried everything I could think of to make her happy, but she was very depressed and I was losing her. I searched everywhere for Cocoa in hopes of finding her and being able to reunite them. Rosie talked of Cocoa all the time, so I knew she still remembered her. I was never able to find her, but in all my searching I came across a craigslist post of this breeder's who explained Norma's story. I figured it was worth a shot to go meet her, see if she might fit in at our house. I'd always wanted a CAG. There is one at a local petstore that is kind of their display parrot(he is 8/9 now). I've known since he was being handfed and I am one of the few people he likes. I've many times begged them to let me take him home or if they ever decide to sell the place, let me know. He has a lot of offers like that though, of course. So when I saw there might be hope of finding Rosie a friend and fulfilling my wish of having a CAG I drove up state to meet Norma. Well let me just tell you that the chemistry between the two of as at first meet was like *BAM* lol! She was one of maybe 15 greys there, but we instantly spotted each other and wanted to touch each other. I let her lick my fingers a little and she said her hellos. On the drive up there I thought I'd just meet a whole bunch of cool birds and come home empty handed, but I was wrong. That spark just can't be ignored. I've had it with every one of my pets and it is just amazing feeling. I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about! I brought her home that following Saturday and she has adjusted so well to being in the house. She seems to be very interested in Rosie and Rosie keeps calling her Cocoa lol! Rosie has stopped plucking and returned to being her old self, and Norma... you would never think she had been in a breeder cage for almost her whole life!(and according to the breeder, never even outside of her last cage for 6 years) She is no longer fearful of new objects and is very interested in everything. She talks up a storm and seems very happy. Gah I could keep going on and on! Anyway, it has been almost 2 months since bringing her home, she has been to a vet and checked out. Everything but her plasma protein was normal and that is one reason I came here. I've joined a couple of general parrot forums and they have been helpful, but I thought maybe you guys could help more. I'll start a new thread in the food area for that. So sorry for the uber long post! Here is a picture