MarcusCAG

Anyone heard of anything like this in Greys? Earlier today I came across an ad on Craig's List where a family had a very inexpensive, adult male Grey advertised who, they said, has a skin condition where all of his feathers fall out. The pictures provided show him almost completely covered in down, with only his wings and his head really having real feathers remaining. My husband thought that maybe the bird is a plucker and they just don't want to say so. Either way, I felt bad for the Grey's condition, and I hope he finds a new forever home that can give him whatever attention he needs! But again: anybody know anything about a condition like that? Would it be contagious? I'd worry about bringing such a parrot into an already established flock in such a case. Anyway, thanks for any replies. (And if there's a thread here about something like this already in the forums, I'm sorry, I just really shouldn't be on the computer right now and so I'm just throwing this out as quick as I can!)

Aristotle sounds like a happy, vocal Grey. And that whistle was from The Andy Griffith Show, wasn't it?

Wow, I didn't even realize this thread is still active! Sorry!!! But thank you for all of your sweet comments that I've missed these past weeks--yes, we are a bit surprised how quickly the two of them hit it off, all things considered. But we're not complaining. The only thing is, now Tybalt acts rather like a bully of a big brother to poor little Bunsen when he can get away with it, I think because he and Beaker are now so close; and he (Tybalt) and Beaker have become the Meanie Greenies and create all kinds of trouble while I'm not paying attention... Their new thing is to climb inside of Marcus' cage while he's on his playgym or the Boing and eat his food and yank his toys around. Considering how huge the cage and toys are compared to them both, it's really kind of funny to watch!

Yeah, I know... like I said, my hubby thought I was overreacting, but considering the whole issue with mold, I couldn't help but worry over him mouthing the slimy shower curtain. But she just asked if he was acting like he normally does, and he has been (today, too, he's been a wild one on the Boing, and rather chatty), so I guess it's not the big deal I thought it would be. Good thing!!

Albert is adorable--I love the messy face!

I am so glad to hear how much exposure your situation is getting, Paul. I keep thinking of you and Murphy... I'm hoping very much that your situation has a happy ending soon.

Thank you so much, Birdnut, that's really a very sweet thing for you to say. Warmed my heart. And Judygram: you think he's full of himself?? Haha, he might be, I dunno! And everyone else, truly, thank you for your lovely comments and encouragement, I'm glad you enjoyed watching the video too... Marcus has come a long way from when we first adopted him, I think, and now that he's really starting to act "like a bird" as my husband puts it, we're just thrilled!! We just want our 'son' to be happy, and we're so glad to just see these seemingly small things (like his jubilation at being whirled around on the Boing) that indicate he's really kind of happy here with us.

Oh, Ziggy is gorgeous!! I'm very glad to hear you two had an uneventful but companionable day together--it's a few steps in the right direction, definitely. Please keep us all updated as things move along for you and your family with her...

Hello Samy, Welcome to Greyforums... I just read over your thread in the training room and skimmed over your post here when I saw there were two. First off, I'm sorry about that nasty bite. Ziggy obviously has some issues that she's dealing with right now, and that your family is consequently dealing with now, too. My question though, is how long have you had Ziggy? If you mentioned that already and I just missed it, I'm sorry. But sometimes these issues these intelligent Greys have can take a LONG while to get worked out of them, until a decent level of trust is built and they understand everyone's various places in their new household. If Ziggy is still new to your family, this might be 'growing pains', but of course you will need to take precautions to protect everyone involved in the meanwhile--including Ziggy. In terms of Ziggy's diet though, I would say at this point, don't sweat it too much. It took our Marcus quite some time to accept solid vegetables and eat them with enjoyment on his own. We've had him about nine months now, he's close to nine years old and didn't have the best situation(s) before we adopted him. He took to the organic pellets we switched him to almost immediately, and he enjoyed fruits and then almonds in the shell, but for a while he would just pick out his veggies from the grains/beans mix I would make him, and he'd just toss raw veggies on the floor of his cage. For a little while I would nearly puree the greens and such and he'd eat a bit of that on and off, apparently according to his own whims. Now, finally, I found that he likes the full-sized big leafy greens and will eat those... don't know if it's just the timing, or if he hated the 'baby greens' so much, but the stores nearest us only carry the baby stuff so it took me a while to find him anything other than that to try and give him. So perhaps my point is, if she's still VERY new to your household, as long as she's eating regularly and your vet isn't worried, just let her relax into things on her own and keep offering the various foods--I had stopped for a while with Marcus, but a friendly reminder here prompted me to try again. And it paid off! Hopefully your Ziggy will come around in time, too. And as regards your other questions: I know that someone else will post after me who will be able to help you better than I could, I just am sorry you're dealing with these 'bumps' together right now, but with time and patience more than likely these things will all get worked out for all of you; and hopefully Ziggy will end up being that good influence on your son that you had hoped she would be.

Birdhouse, I just got of the phone with the vet's office, and they were very nice and said I am, in fact, being a little "paranoid" but that's okay--they like paranoid pet owners, haha. She asked if he was acting normally and I said just fine, he's having a blast up on the Boing right now (I moved it in here to the den so Marcus could be with me while I clean this morning), and I told her about the ACV in the water too... So, apparently, thankfully, there's nothing to worry about. Whew! And of course I ran the silly shower curtain and the plastic lining through the wash again this morning, just so there isn't a repeat scenario before I can actually remember to buy a new one at the store!!

Wow, Dan, I totally didn't even think to say that while he was spinning like that! Haha, thank you for the reminder! And thank you, everyone, for all of your lovely comments!!

Hee-hee, actually, that was Marcus!! He's picked up my giggle and uses it sometimes but when he really is enjoying himself, he generally goes back to the deep male laugh that he learned in one of his former homes.

Oh, that is a lovely picture of the three of them! I'm glad to hear that Sterling seems quite unaffected though, that could have been a very bad situation for him if you hadn't been there.

Sigh. Okay, my hubby told me earlier not to be paranoid about this, but this is what happened: When I had Marcus out today, at one point he flew from the birdroom into the bathroom and landed in the tub. I asked him if he wanted a shower and then turned the spray on lightly, a cool but not cold temperature. When Marcus started grabbing at the shower curtain I turned the water off, and he stepped up onto my arm. I put him back in the birdroom up on the Boing, his new favorite toy. He looked very good and smelled lovely, and he was in a chipper mood, but it ran through my head about the shower curtain and so I walked back into the bathroom. It has been discolored around the bottom edge for a while, we need to get a new one and just haven't managed to get around to it, but I do bleach it and run it through the machine sometimes. Yet when I felt around the bottom edge where he had been grabbing at it with his beak, it felt a bit slimy. So I got to thinking, is mildew (because I assume that's what was slimy-feeling) something absolutely wretched for Greys, and parrots in general, like black mold? What if Marcus licked some of it? So I put some ACV in his water after I mentioned it to my husband, who said I was just overreacting and that he's fine. Does anybody know anything about this? I did a search here in the Health room for 'mildew' just now and nothing really came up... Thanks in advance for any input.

I am so sorry to hear that distressing news about Tumba. But at least he must be very relieved to be back home with you now, and I hope that however much time you still have together--whether it be just a few precious months or many, many wonderful years--that your days together are happy and bright and full of love. Thinking of you...

Okay, I've never posted a video here in the forums before, so I hope this works all right... but I just have to share our Marcus with all of you, I just keep thinking of this incident that I recorded earlier today and it keeps making me smile. (Even with me still awake at one in the morning!) For the first time ever, yesterday Marcus stepped up onto the Boing that is hanging in the boys' room. Today I was able to put him up there again, and he seemed very happy about it. Then, I don't know what possessed me to do this, but I started spinning the Boing with Marcus on it--he was acting like it was some fantastic amusement park ride! He kept giggling, and going "Whooo!" and he just was such a darling, so I grabbed the camera and recorded some of the fun. I hope you guys enjoy watching it, too, and hopefully it won't make you dizzy at all!

Yes, congrats on the smooth move! And a crab claw--you mean real crab? I have never heard of feeding a Grey crab as a treat. Interesting.

Your Gabby is a very attractive Grey, very sweet-looking but if the beak is just overgrown then when it is filed down (through Gabby's own devices with a perch or toys, as mentioned, or if the vet thinks it needs to be tended to by humans) then it should look normal and not 'crooked'.

^^ Morana, that was just beautiful. And Paul, she's right. There is still time for Murphy to come back, and you know you will always be welcome here regardless of what the weeks and months bring for you. Happiness, we all hope, and joy at a reunion with your Murphy. I mentioned in my last post about a B&G macaw who was reunited with his owner after a few weeks--well, I read once at a site online (of a sanctuary, I think) about a conure who accidentally escaped from his home one day while his owner was getting new furniture delivered, or something like that. Anyway, it was about a year before they were finally reunited... he flew far away, and a nice but bird-ignorant family decided to 'adopt' him when he alighted in their back yard, tired and hungry, yet after a few months they realized that owning a parrot is far more work than they thought it would be, and that they weren't cut out for it! So they put him up for adoption--something--and an experienced animal care worker, or maybe it was a vet, noticed their "ad" and realized there was probably more to this talkative, loving conure than anyone else could see. So they looked up past records from all around, old lost ads and everything, and finally the conure was reunited with his mom. Again, it was almost a year later, but it did happen! And so there is always the chance that someone far away might come across Murphy even if you don't, and that you'll get to be with your little buddy again, and all of this sadness will just be a past thing...

Well, even if Pancho is a bit of a couch potato at this point, I'm just so glad he seems to be settling in so well with your family.

I'm sorry, did you mention how long you will be gone? That might have some bearing on how your Grey will handle everything...

I love the photos! Thank you so much for sharing those.

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Oh... I was hoping I would hear some good news when I logged in again tonight. My hubby and I were out of town today at a convention and over lunch and on the way home I was thinking of Murphy at odd moments... I know you must be exhausted and so depressed that nothing golden has happened yet, but like a lot of others have said, sometimes it can take a little while for a parrot to be reunited with their owner--for a lot of reasons. I just keep thinking of a B&G macaw whose lost ad I found on Craig's List a while back and, amazingly, he was finally reunited with his daddy a number of weeks after the fact. But it did happen! So I'm going to keep hoping and praying that, even if it ends up taking that long for Murphy to find his way back to you, he does find his way back. He misses you, Paul, I'm sure of it. He wants to be back with you as much as you want him home...

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