Life is Greyt

Welcome to the forum!! Sounds like Jasper has lots of friends already Please share pics when you have a chance

Agree!!

Thanks so much ChelseaB. Sorry for the loss of your Annie...even though we know it's inevitable it doesn't seem to ever get any easier. I really appreciate your support and understanding.

Thanks judygram!! You guys really make me feel good about my old girl...especially at a time when the checking account doesn't feel so great. There's so much more I wish I could do for her, but don't have the financial resources. When I originally wrote the post I was so stressed and down because she was in a down time-she goes through good weeks/months and then bad ones. When she's in a down period I get so worried about whether or not she will come back out of it...or if it's "that time." My boyfriend and I keep talking about it and we really feel that she will let us know when she's done fighting, but I think she's still got some fight in her yet!! My vet is also amazing and always seems to know what new med to introduce to see if it helps her. I really appreciate everyone's support. I adopted her when she was 9, so I'm having a really hard time with the idea that I don't get to have her for longer, but she's my baby and I'll do anything for her until she tells me otherwise.

Sounds like to me that puffers is setting a perfect example for papito. He's seeing her behavior and seeing she's ok, so he probably feels safer trying it too. I love that he says "thank you" when you pick him up. That is too cute! Such a polite guy!

thanks so much and I agree!!!

Thanks for asking ChelseaB!!! She's doing ok...the wound is still there, but it's somewhat better. It goes in cycles where it's really bad and opens up, and then it will heal up some. I clean it with a chlorhexide scrub and spray it with vetricyn. We also upped her daily tramadol (pain med) and added previcox to her daily meds. That has really seemed to help her mobility. Before the previcox she was starting to have a really hard time moving around. Now, she can at least move around and use that leg better. They really think it's a two-fold problem-1)She opened the wound by licking because the plate was irritating her, which they think was due to her body rejecting it because it's been in there for so long and, 2)She now has a resident staph infection on the plate that causes the wound to remain open. It's a frustrating cycle, but I'll do anything for her. We carry her up and down the stairs now every time she goes outside, for fear that she'll fall and further injure herself. She'll be 14 on April 15th (tax day! lol!) and I told her she can have a big old cake from the local doggie bakery!

Welcome to the forumOzzie! Congrats on bringing Lucy home! I would say that it's best to follow Lucy's lead. If she seems comfortable then bring her out and let her be with everyone. If she starts to seem overwhelmed then you can put her back in her cage for a while. I wouldn't recommend just leaving her in the cage because that doesn't help her get used to her new home. Also, greys are flock animals, so you want her to get used to her new flock and not feel left out of it. She may just be eating less because of the new environment, but definitely keep an eye on it as she should pick back up eating normally. Bathing her really depends on what she's already used to...ask the breeder if they bathed her and if so how did they do it? If they didn't then you can gradually start introducing it in whatever form works for you. Some use spray bottles, some the sink, and some the shower. She probably won't like it, since most greys don't like baths, but find a way that works for you guys and try to be vigilant about it. My breeder told me that I could bathe my Chickie as much as I want, but you always want to do it in the morning so they have enough time to dry before bedtime. I started out bathing her in the sink with the sprayer and now she showers with us when we shower. Questions are always welcome and there's lots of people here with answers and help

OMG he is just too cute!!

Maybe you guys just haven't hit on his favorite type of toy yet??? Or maybe he's just low key and still settling into his new home. Try different toys and see if he likes any more than others.

I'm not sure how involved I want to get in this conversation however, I wanted to say that I don't think anyone has condemned Joe or come down on him for having a wild caught grey. Others only suggested a viable way to help stop the wild caught bird trade, besides an inexperienced breeder starting to breed. Then, as others have said, the thread got a little weird. I think all involved here are doing what they think is right for greys. Yes, there's passion behind it because we are all passionate people about animals. The issue was not whether or not anyone has a wild caught grey, the issue has become the weirdness of asking for a breeding pair and then saying that it was only done to prove a point. No point was made, nor proven.

He might just be the cutest bird I've ever seen...next to Chicke of course (Don't tell Chickie I said that!!) lol

BEAUTIFUL tank!!!

Ha ha ha!! It's so true Ray!! Who really trains who??? LOL

Ha ha ha...you're right. He's one of those prehistoric looking fish with a head that looks like an alligator. I had to laugh because it's not the first time that I've gotten that reaction. It is an odd fish to have, but we found him in a pond store for only $20, so I decided why not...lol. They're not any kind of an exotic species here. They're actually more of a "trash" fish here. I'm originally from the southern US, where fishemen kill them when the catch them because they eat the baby desireable fish. We feed him 2 goldfish once a week and other than that he's pretty low maintenance-which is great! As far as the insurance topic goes, VPI does cover the US for sure. I LOVE having all my pets covered by them. Chickie's insurance is only $22 a month and that covers $1500 per incident and up to $7000 per year. Also, once a year she can get a checkup, wing/beak/nail trim (if needed), and bloodwork done that is totally covered by the policy.

He is such a CUTIE!!! He looks like he's smiling at you in the pics!

Welcome!!

Welcome to the forum!

My Chickie will ABSOLUTELY fly to us when we are eating something she thinks she might want. I call her a "snack whore"...lol

I use VPI, but I'm not sure if it's available outside the states. All our animals have insurance policies, and VPI has been wonderful to deal with so far. Claims are really easy to make and you get reimbursed pretty quickly.

I can't take credit for that bit of info, as it was taught to me too I never worried about it either with my baby until it was put to me that way and then it made sense why i needed to do it. I agree with you...love this forum.

Congrats on bringing Varo home!! With "step up," if the breeder didn't really work with him you'll just have to be really vigilant about teaching the command. I try to give Chickie a choice most of the time, "want to step up?" or "want to come out?" but if there's some kind of emergent reason that I need her to step up I just say "step up" and she does. Clipping is a personal preference and it really depends on what works best for you and your baby. Chickie is trimmed, but she can still fly. The difference is that she can't fly from room to room or to the top of the cabinets. She can, however, fly across the room and fly and land safely. My breeder slowly trimmed her back and we stopped once her flight was inhibited just enough to have more control over where she goes. When she's older, and we have our relationship established, I would like to let her be fully flighted, but we'll see. As far as food, I would suggest switching to a completely pelleted diet, like Roudybush or Harrisons, and then supplement with all the yummy things you listed. He may just need time to settle in to his new home.

Ha ha ha...charley grey is too cute of a name!! I was the same way when I finally named my little girl. I kept calling her my little chicken, but didn't like chicky...so I changed the spelling to Chickie and loved it! congrats on your baby finding you and welcome to the forum.

Marco is growing up to be quite the cutie! it's really awesome that you don't care at all what sex your baby is-we love them anyways- :)but, just food for thought, it might be a good idea to have him sexed only in case of medical need. From what I understand it can help the vet out a lot to know whether it's a male or a female when/if problems present themselves.

Such a cutie pie