Tosha

Hi everyone! This is me again It has been 6 months since I wrote this post and it is amazing to see how things are now! Now, whenever I come to Anton's cage he says "UP!" which means that I have to open the cage and take him out. He is a completely different bird now and our relationship is great! He still can be a bit angry if I touch his toys and food, but if I tell him to calm down, he lets me touch them and does not try to bite. Most of the time I can convince him to do something or to stop doing something if I don't like it. So if you have a grey that is the same as Anton used to be, all you need is patience, time and love and you will get a perfect bird! I look at our relationship not as "an owner - a pet", but as "an adult - a child". He deserves respect and freedom to take his own decisions, but he needs my supervision! So the conclusion is: A bigger cage doesn't make it harder to build a good relationship!

Judygram, thanks for the reply! I am not even dreaming of taking him our of the cage using hands. But sometimes it is necessary to put my hands in. The food and water bowls are inside the cage now, so I have to take them out and put them in. In the new cage I will be able to do it from outside. He gets treats during the day all the time and he doesn't have any problems with it and of course I talk to him and sing songs.

Hello! I have bought a new cage for Anton. http://www.rhrquality.com/wp-content/gallery/kooien/00021bigben.jpg As you can see it is very big and I would like to know your opinion. I have had Anton for 1 month now and we are still building our relationship and now it is very fragile. He is a a little afraid of hands after his 2 previous owners and of course he is trying to avoid any contact, except when I give him sunflower seeds or nuts (he eats pellets normally). And he can be aggressive when he is in his cage, tries to bite my fingers when I close the door and when my hands are inside, but hasn't had chance to do it yet, I am very quick. So my question is, can a bigger cage effect him and make our relationship even harder to build, because he will have a chance to hide at the back of the cage (it is a corner cage, so if he decides to stay away from me, he will be able to do it) I would appreciate your opinions! Thanks

Shelly Yokum, Congratulations on your new baby and good luck! Judygram, it actually doesn't look so painful, because he is as happy as usual and doesn't even touch the wound. He wanted to go out desperately and was staring at me and calling his name (he actually thinks it's mine!) all day and was hyper active in the cage, so I let him out. But I put blankets around the cage and moved the sofa close to his corner. He was very glad, today I even heard him "laughing" for the first time I wanted to get an appointment at the avian vet today, but she is busy until the end of the week. She is one of the few avian vets in Copenhagen and maybe the best, so she is quite busy. I think he has had it before. When I got him I noticed there was something like skin flakes in that area and a couple of weeks later I saw that there was a bald area and I thought that he had fallen down and injured himself. And then he did it again.

Dave007, thank you. I will definitely go and look for the aloe gel tomorrow, but now it is too late in Denmark and everything is closed. Is it not dangerous if a bird swallows some of this gel while preening? Birdnut, He seems to be fine now, playing, talking, singing, eating and wants to get out of the cage really badly. When I got him (3-4 weeks ago) he didn't have any flight feathers on his right wing and now there are 4-5 feathers growing and Anton thinks he can fly now, so he tries to do it. Here you can see his bad wing:

Hi, My grey doesn't fly because of a terrible wing clip by his previous owners. So today he got scared of something in the window and "flew" on the floor. When I came to pick him up I saw that his chest had a little blood on. He doesn't let me touch him so I couldn't see much. But it looks like the skin is split and there is a wound 3 mm (=??inches) in diameter. I had to use a stick with a cotton ball with hydrogen peroxide to clean it as he doesn't let me do anything to him, but I am worried. The avian vet in my area will be in the office only on Monday. I have never faced anything like that with my birds, so I don't know how serious it can be. The bird is playing, eating, talking like always and it doesn't seem to bother him much. Here is a photo: Does it look serious? Can it heal itself or I need to take him to a vet? Thanks...

Hello! Very interesting discussion! My grey gets fluffed up when I come home from work or if I was away for longer than an hour. I come up to his cage and he gets very very fluffed up and I can't figure out whether he is mad or it is just excitement, because he is not trying to bite, just sits close to the cage bars and lift/stretches his wings, shakes his head and tail and raises his feathers and listens to what I am telling him. He even puts his head down against the cage wall like if he wanted me to scratch his head, but he doesn't let me do it yet, because I just got him less than a month ago and he is a little afraid of hands still (was treated not very nice in his previous home) It happens for the first 3-4 minutes, after that he is back to normal again. So is he angry or what is it?

Hello:) This is our cage and playstand. I am still working on them, because it has been just 2 weeks since I got my grey!