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Never mind, I just took him to the vet to remove whatever was left of the feather down by the base. Hes all gooood now.

My Buddy just jumped down and broke a blood feather. I have not had this happen so I've been reading everything I could atm. I pulled out the feather that was broke, it came off pretty quick. I then put flour around the bleeding area, he is not like pouring blood but there was blood. He was in pain prior to removing the feather and now seems to be quite fine. But I have just read something about making sure when you remove the feather you get the follicle, how can I tell if I got the follicle out? I put the flour on about 10min ago and am going to check him in about 2sec after submitting this. Thank you.

Recently in the past few days my Buddy has been doing a lot of extra wing stretching. Is this caused by new feathers growing in? (he was clipped when I got him) or is this just general? I only ask cause the 5-6months I have had him I haven't seen him do it so much (its not like 50 stretches in a row) Thanks

Thank you for the reply. Yeah, I do not/would not have it blowing on him directly I just wanted to know if that would be considered as a draft or not cause If hes on me and I'm walking about my room and the fan happens to be blowing at us for more then just a second. Anyway, thanks again for the quick reply.

Summer is approaching and its getting quite hot out. This is the first summer with my grey and I usually put a air conditioning unit in my window. My birds cage can only stay in my room. its not a small room but its not huge, is an air conditioner safe? comparing to drafts can get your bird sick. It would not be pointing directly at my bird obviously but its not like across the room =/ Also can someone clarify about drafts and birds. If its like 80 degrees out and I have a fan oscillating and the fan were to blow on my bird is that considered a draft that could get him sick? or is it only referring to when its cold outside and cold air is blowing through the window onto him. Thanks.

Thanks for the replies =D

How long should you let your greys nails grow until its time for a clipping/filing?

I have had my grey for about 4 months now (he is about 6mo - 1year old) and he is on Zupreem pellets. I have tried giving him carrots lettuce and other greens/veggies and all he does is throw them around lol, he doesn't eat them. He likes apples and oranges but I shouldn't be giving him those EVERY day so I do not (or should I?) What should I do or what should I try to feed him // when and how much? ie. What is a good break feast for him? Are pellets alright for dinner? or what should I give for dinner? And how do I get him to actually eat them instead of tossing them around lol Thanks. Thanks.

When is it safe to bring my bird back into my room. The raid was sprayed yesterday. Can the smell/aroma alone get them sick or it has to be like physically sprayed into the air and land around them for them to get sick? It was sprayed under like a stove in a corner. The aroma I think is slightly there my mom says she can't smell anything but I could just be overly paranoid and smell something. Thanks.

My bird got like a 1 to 2 minute of exposure to RAID bug killer, I quickly moved him to the other side of the house in a fresh room. My mom sprayed it around where I said I saw ants, I guess she did not really know...... This raid was not sprayed in his cage nor really near it. It kind of just whoffed over and I smelled it which clearly means he was inhaling it. Is there a chance he can get really sick from that little exposure, I know its REALLY bad...... =[ =[ =[ =[ ahh I'm stressing out realllllly hard. Rite now hes in his other cage in dif part of house. I don't know what to do...........

Over the past 2-3 days I have seen a few ants in my room. If I were to buy ant traps are they safe for Greys? If not any suggestions on what I could use/do? I can't move him out of my room so if ant traps are not safe hopefully someone knows a way to get rid of them. Thanks

He has never been in a home. I bought him from Parrots of the World, co-owned by Marc Marrone. You may recognize him if googled, he is a bird breeder who owns pet shop and has a few books and is on T.V. and the sorts for animals. Anyway, he gave me the grey and said he was 3months old, but I have posted a picture of my bird and people suggest by his eyes that he could be 6months to a year. Unless some greys eyes change real early on. I don't think Mr. Marc Marrone would be wrong about telling me my greys age, hes been breeding and owning that shop for a LONG time, so could he really be 3 (4 now) months old with eyes that look like this? What you posted Acappella sounds like it will help me out a great deal. I appreciate it.

I am so lost on what to do. I feel completely clueless. Yes it has only been so short, I have had my grey for 3 weeks. How long does this last? Do I just have to have extreme patience? but what about - When do you start to train step - up, what clues let me know when I should start getting physical training with him. I open his cage he comes rite out, and sits on top. Eventually he comes up to me ( I NEVER TRY and force him up) but he comes up for the wrong reasons, it feels like he doesn't want to but does and goes straight to my shoulder. Is he still getting use to me or something? Do I just give up on trying to teach him "step up" until I dunno when. If he comes on to me he will sit for a second and either go straight up to my shoulder or start biting my hand/fore arm. It doesn't seem like hes just "being curious" my arms have black and blues and little scabs around my thumb area. I reward/praise him if he comes up and sits there but that doesn't seem to have an effect. He does not want to be anywhere but on top/in his cage or on the bar at the end of my bed. Do I just stop trying to interact physically with him for a long time? Are we just never going to have a bond and that's the way it has to be? Am I not the chosen one? (He's 6mo - a year (I think) Please help..... -He ate his dinner, got on top of his cage. Made a squeak noise and I went over and he came rite on to me. He sat on my arm for 2seconds and I just talked to him. After 2 seconds he begins to bite for what reason I do not know. This is what my arm looks like (this is not just being curious?) Someone said in another post, to just man up to the biting? how do I do that when my arm is swelling up from them...... it hurts!. The swelling is not from allergies..... Do greys usually go from aggressive biting to wanting to be scratched?

I have had my Buddy for about 2-3weeks now, and just now he bent down and let me scratch his head, and has let me do it again. I thought it was so cute =D so happy, it made my eyes water up.

I will read through that. I prob should of mentioned, he does bite though when I go near him. He bit tip of finger enough to bleed and broke skin around my thumb =/

I have had my grey for a week. I think hes 6months - a Year old, I dunno. I come home from work and I leave his cage door open and he pretty much comes out immediately or within 5mins and just hangs out on top of his cage. Sometimes randomly he comes up on me but it seems like for the wrong reasons, he just climbs straight to my shoulder and I do not want him there for my own safety cause he has bit my ear before. So I am able to get him onto my bed from my shoulder where THEN he goes straight to my bed post which is a black round bar small enough for him to fit his feet around so he uses it as a perch. From the bed post perch I can not get him off of it, or like before ever so often he will come onto me and go straight for my shoulder. I can sometimes get him to do the hand walking and he will stop and not go for my shoulder for a few and I praise him ect. ect. (Hes got a long reach with his neck lol so its hard for me to not keep him from clipping onto my collar and pulling himself up) Note: I work until 6:30 pm home around 7pm where I let him out. He usually doesn't climb onto me for a while and by 10ish hes on my bed post and won't come off. By that time I need to start getting him into his cage for bed. I can usually only get him to come up when he comes onto my shoulder, but isn't that kinda *un-teaching* him not to go to my shoulder? and I would not like to go about getting him up that way. Any time I go near him he goes to try and bite me. So what are some suggestions for me to do to get him to come up on hand (without biting) so I can bring him to bed and learn step-up in general. Is this something I just have to deal with for the time being and let him go to bed when he wants, or just do the shoulder thing? *confused* Any suggested e-books/free sites (along with these forums) on bird training and how to go about it, I feel like I need to have a fresh start with him cause its been back and forth this whole week =/ Hopefully this rant made sense to whomever responds, and I know its only been a week. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

Where did you get this cage, it looks like a nice size for my room. Thanks.

I have not seen my grey sit on one foot before, and was curious to know if the link below is accurate translation. http://www.itsagreysworld.com/fun/bodylang.htm He is sitting on one foot fluffed up, that means he is "really relaxed"? Thanks.

Any time my grey hangs out on me he bolts towards my shoulder, biting on to my t-shirt to get him up (he took a good chomp of my nip! =[ I don't think he under stands step-up yet. But like I said, when he does step on to my hand he goes rite to the shoulder. What practice can be taken to prevent him from going to the shoulder? Even if hand stepping he will continously reach his head out trying to get a hold of my t-shirt to pull him self up. Another question, when training what do you guys give your grey as treats? I dunno what my guy goes crazy for, I have only had him for 2 days! Thanks.

I named him Buddy =D

So I'm so excited. I just got my buddy to start eating in front of me. I have only had him for 30 hours or so or something around that. But he has just started to pick up his food from his dish and eat. and he has been eating for the past 5min now. I am excited for that =D How ever, he does not like to take water from his water bowl. If I put it in front of him he just kinda bites the side and disregards it. How ever I bought a little bottle type that dispenses water and he will play with that to get water but I have no way of mounting it on the cage =/ it didn't come with one strangely (only $8) I could pick up another one with mount I guess tomorrow. But for the mean time.... I don't see him drinking what do I do to get him to drink from his bowl. Or do they do that in private when I'm not around?

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I have read that eyes turn color earlier then others. I bought a grey from a reputable breeder/shop owner Marc Morrone. If you google him you may recognize who he is. He personally helped me with picking out my grey. He said my grey was 12 weeks old (3 months) and his eyes seem to be light yellow with a darker yellow around the edge. Some pics below.

I was reading on how the eyes would change colors depending on his age. I picked up my grey from a reputable shop owned and operated by Marc Marrone (google and you would prob recognize him) he himself helped me pick out my grey and what not. He told me he was 3 months old but after looking into the eye color it doesn't seem to match up. Here is a picture (they are a little more yellow then what the picture shows, white balance mite be off) By those pictures does this give any indication to his age?

I had just picked up a new 12 week old Congo Grey. In my current room I have only a propane heater, is it safe for my Grey? I have not been able to find a solid answer via google searching. My Grey is just kinda sitting in his cage at the moment in one spot, his stomach is puffed up and is shaking a bit ever so often. Is this because he is still getting use to his new owner and environment? I had read that puffing could possibly mean he is sick but also a vary of other things it could mean. I have not seen him touch his food or water since he has been home, how often do Greys eat? or is this again having to do with him getting use to a new environment and new owner. Thank you.