Barbara2

Neo came to me with a clip of just the ends of the flight feathers. He could still fly down. At the first vet visit the doctor said something about clipping and I told her that I did not plan to keep him clipped. That seemed to be the answer that she was hoping for as she told me that with a grey, you have to be very careful with clipping. She said that greys have heavy bodies and they can split (I forget the term she used but it is on the front of the bird).

My thoughts are with you Liefie. I'm so sorry for your loss.

My Hahn's macaw takes a bath when we vacuum.

I have to thank Roseanna for inspiring me to give Neo a bath. I had tried spraying him while he was in his cage. That didn't work but he did act like he wanted to bathe himself. Unfortunately it was the little bowl on his playstand and he can't get much more than his head in there. I tried spraying him on the stand. That also didn't work. I put shallow dishes with water in the bottom of his cage as well as on the playtop. He showed no interest. I cleaned up the dog's dish that looks like a giant parrot bowl and put water in there. I splashed and tried to make it look fun but Neo wanted no part of it. So today I filled the kitchen sink with a couple of inches of water and plunged him in. I sprayed his back really well so he has finally had his bath. I only got one bite on my thumb. It was a warning bite but not painful so we're good. Then I put him on his playstand and he bathed his head. (Goofy bird!) So thank you to Roseanne for posting this and mentioning Bathing method #2. I will now go thank the person who posted the instructions. (BTW, the ping pong ball did not distract him in the least! I did have some multi-grain cheerios as a back up distraction though and that worked, sort of.)

This is an answer that I found when I did an internet search (The question and answer are on this page) http://www.petsfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php/7950-African-Grey-saliva Unfortunately without a veterinarian, the only part of the advice that would be helpful to you is to weigh him every day.

The good thing right now is that time is in my side. I won't be trying to take him out until it warms up in the spring. He's 4 months old now so I'm not planning on visiting any classrooms until he's older and more confident. Right now I have the harness laying in his play area on top of his cage so he just gets used to it being around. With the training I'm going to begin with running my hand over his eyes like it shows in the video. That's it. I'm not going any further until we get that down. I plan on taking BABY, baby steps.

I'm glad you posted that so we can get a sense of the time zone. It's 10:40 p.m. here right now. That means I won't have to wait as long once I get up to "meet" your little guy.

The only other thing that I can think of is a rope perch. That was the recommendation from the breeder of my bird. I have other perches as well but he prefers the rope. (Probably because that is what he is used to) It might help with a bird who needs something to grip into though.

Yes. It is a little magnifying glass and it is at 100% as the default. This is in Internet Explorer 8. ETA....I don't HAVE to do it. It's just easier for watching this screen and the T.V. Yeah, that's the ticket.

I am very much interested in the experiences of others who have successfully trained their grey to wear the aviator harness. I watched the video and I'm afraid to say that I think he made it look too easy. I started with step one with Neo today and he didn't even like me touching his wings, much less lifting them. I'm thinking I need to break the training down even more than he did and start just with the head which Neo does like me to touch. Anybody else have success/not-so-successful experiences?

I thought so. I know that it is good for digestion in humans so i figured I must have read correctly. It did get one of the three fids to eat oatmeal. The other two weren't fooled.

I have read that it is good to add cinnamon as well. Is cinnamon good for greys?

I received the aviator harness today and watched the video to learn the proper training technique. I started working with Neo with just touches as the video described. The training did not go well and I think part of it is due to the fact that I skipped step one which was to move him to a place with no distractions. So we will try again tomorrow!

It looks fantastic! I am very excited for ALL of you!

Continued prayers and positive vibrations to you both. And thank you for all of the updates.

Definitely good advice! Delete without opening. Another tip is to have an "order only" email. Gmail is one source that gives out free email accounts. If you are using it only when you order, you will not be in anyone's address book with that account so you will be very unlikely to get a virus sent to you. When I get one of those emails in my main "Friends" account, I know immediately it is bogus because I never use that account when I order.

That is wonderful that you saved that little guy from death. This was a great story to start my day!

Outstanding pictures! Thank you.

I considered "Brutus" for my grey, but I decided on "Neo" instead. :cool:

I have a lot of trouble reading this forum because the light colors don't contrast enough for me to see well. I have to squint A LOT to try to see. I am viewing on Internet Explorer. Down in the lower right hand corner is a magnifying glass that gives you a zoom level. I moved this page to 150% and it is MUCH easier to read. Hope that helps.

I found with mine that if I give raw veggies like carrots, I have to run them under hot water until the chill is taken off. He doesn't like food straight from the refrigerator.

Neo had his wings clipped when he came to us but it was a very modest clip. He can still fly down. I have ordered an aviator harness that should be here by the end of the week. I hope to get him accustomed to the harness and plan to never have him clipped again.

Absolutely beautiful! Thanks for sharing. I LOVE pictures!

Welcome! And all I can say is that you have come to the right place. This is a great place with wonderful people and helpful advice.

This isn't a joke but an actual true story: Last Wednesday we went to the golf course. We were in the clubhouse paying at the same time as a woman. The man with her was out at the car that was parked next to our car. We got our cart and were getting the clubs on the cart when the girl from the clubhouse came out and said to the man, "You have to pay if you are going to play with her." The man said, "I am a member." The girl looked at the woman and said, "I thought you told me that your husband is not a member." The woman said, "Oh, this is not my husband!" For some reason that cracked me up. Maybe you had to be there. :cool: