snoepgoed123

once your guy will start to perch is when to start training step up, start by having him on your hand over the couch, like an inch off the couch... remember that this is a new sensation for him because his first perch is a solid stick that doesn't move while your hand is incredibly unsteady

you may be better off with a hybrid cage, where the bottom of the cage is made out of plexiglass and the top half is made as a regular cage... say for example you're looking at a 6 foot tall cage (actual cage, not including base) you could do the bottom of the cage (say about 2 ft) thats made out of plexiglass, you'll have the food and water in this zone, with a door and a slide out panel to clean the stuff on the bottom, and the top 4 ft of the cage could just be regular caging material, you could hang toys and such up there. this way there will still be proper ventilation without any contraptions but then you still need to have a place for your guy to climb down, plus you need a door and a way to clean the bottom without needing to dismantle the whole thing.... this is just a general kinda idea of what I mean (plus that cage is made for degus)

it's a great start, but you can feed dairy, like a little bit of cheddar or yogurt once in a while (once a week TOPS) I read somewhere that cabbage (and things in cabbage family) should be limited, don't remember why, also spinach has been known to cause calcium absorption so it should also be given in limited qualities. Oh and on the second page, I believe they're called persimmons not permissions... lol it was a cute typo

Archimedes did the same thing!!!!! except he gave all the shortcut commands new commands (like *increase text size* turned into *open up new window*) and no matter what I did, I couldn't get it back to normal... eventually I just restarted the computer and it fixed, but darn that was annoying haha.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has a grey who LOVES buttons, remote controls, keyboards, phones... you name it, they go after it. So we decided to give Archimedes his own keyboard... we got an old keyboard, took the whole thing apart, sanitized it, and got the crumbs out, got rid of the wires and such... and put it back together... well... he loves it... he's learned how to pop off the keys too, sends em flying every which way, and they easily pop back on... best part is, it distracts him from the real keyboard...

In the health room, there are 4 stickied posts about halfway down the page that discuss pro/cons of flighted and nonflighted, if you haven't read it, go read it, because it's a great piece of information showing both the pros and cons

the breeder sounds fantastic, I hope it works out! I'm wondering, is the wing clip something they do automatically or something that you want? Personally I love having Archimedes flighted, and I know that it's healthier for him in the long run... would you consider leaving your guy flighted?

aww, I'm so happy I've got a brave CAG... as long as I have it in my hands first, he'll play with anything... heck he demands that anything in my hands is his

well one side of the house has 2 chinchillas, the other side of the house has a CAG... but we have an open floor plan so Archimedes often flies to the chin cage... by now they've gotten used to it (though I'm sure my girly on the bottom is happy she's on the bottom)

Doug, foot toys are the best! And Ellie wouldn't need to be on the ground in order to play with them. You could have her on your lap or a table anywhere... a foot toy is just a small object that she could hold in her foot and chew, like a wooden block, or some plastic spinny toy, or a straw... anything really...

I was too far away to see how he managed to get in there, but he was hanging upside down still grabbing the chains (but one of his toes was caught between the 2 links), and he was screaming his head off like he was being murdered, then after I got him down mr. smartypants climbs back up and gets stuck again... so we just took the chains off and now it's become a supervised foot toy... heck, why risk it kwim...

Archimedes' wings aren't clipped, so he's fully flighted, he's able to fly from anywhere in the house to anywhere, (like living room to family room).... once (or sometimes more times) a day he'll shoot off like a rocket and will just fly around like crazy, not quite sure knowing where he wants to go (he'll usually lap the house twice or so, or just flies back and forth a few times, before finally landing (or crashing) somewhere... after he does this though, he seems winded and it takes him around half a minute to recover back to normal self... I'm curious if this is normal for him to get winded... Is it just cuz he's a baby and still learning to fly.... it just makes me curious what type of flyers greys are in general too... are they distance flyers, or more short "hey lets move to the watering hole 500 yards that way" kinda flyers

Have you checked out birdbreeders.com there are 8 breeders that breed congo greys (though I'm sure they could get you a timneh if you want) sometimes with breeders, money talks, so as soon as they have birds available, call them and put down a deposit.

I still can't believe he's already 20 weeks old already, but it's true! he's lost his baby squeak, and I don't remember who said it... but you're right, I kinda miss it! But the squeak has been replaced with wonderful babbling! When I put Archimedes in his cage for his afternoon nap he resists, just like any toddler would, and he'll just start talking to himself for a good 15 minutes before some light beak grinding and then finally doze off to sleep I snuck a video with my cellphone for you guys to all see! he went on like that for a good 20+ minutes, my favorite parts of his babbling is he'll make pretty whistles and then all of a sudden will just squawk

what a big ole smarty pants... I will say, I've never seen an eagle swim before!

xsarahx, it may be different here (US) than in England, but generally, they want the bird to get get tested within X amount of days of being home (unless they do the testing themselves) and if the bird has any illness, they'll have various policies on buying the bird back, or if the bird dies within 1 year (obvious from illness not being stepped on or something).

keep feeding DJ baby food, if he eats it then great! Personally, seed mixes aren't the healthiest for greys anyway. I know you live in Dubai, but I'm sure they have some sort of pellet mix available... the fact that he eats slow doesn't matter, as long as he feeds. I do suggest getting a scale so that you're able to take his weight.

I feel that maybe they may be sick, if you do end up getting them (though it does sound fishy) run a full (I mean EVERY test available) health check at a vet... then also sign something that if they have something, you will be reimbursed....

I think it's possible to hoover up those feather balls without it being intentional. Say you're vacuuming the dust out of the curtains and your bird is curious as to what you're doing... now in the case of our greys they won't get sucked in, but they could get a wing sucked in... but a little guy like a caique or parakeet wouldn't stand a chance. I do feel that a lot of stuff on the list is common sense (but you know what they say, common sense isn't so common anymore)... having a parrot is having a tinier flying 2 year old toddler. And when your parrot is out, you have to be watching him/her or have someone else be on watch. Don't cook with your bird on your shoulder, for example... bird may drop something in the cooking... and second he might glide off your shoulder while cooking, also don't leave boiling pots unattended... overall the list is awesome... it's a reminder for what we need to be diligent about.

Archimedes has picked up another new habit... I call it floppy grey syndrome... it's usually combines with Idontwantit and Idowantit... his symptoms include randomly flopping over when he sees something he wants (like my cellphone), or flopping over when theres something he doesn't want (his cage) the flopping over isn't the issue (though those nails are a killer, time for trim!) it's that he get's all bitey when he realizes he's upside, and he'll grab onto a finger and just chomp on until he's turned around... or worse... he doesn't have something to chomp on so he'll pinch... yipes... anybody else's bird suffer from floppy grey syndrome?

Archimedes goes through similar stages too, one day he will eat a veg like it's the best thing ever and will refuse anything else, and the next it's like I'm trying to poison him. I say just continue to give Bill a variety of foods as you normally would, and model eating in front of him. Nothing drives Archimedes crazy when I eat something in front of him and keep it just out of reach. You could also make an omelette but use just the littlest bit of egg just to bind it all together, and a whole bunch of veg

aww I wanna try this tomorrow (not the full jar) we have almond butter from trader joes thats so good... wonder if Archimedes will like it... usually any time I give him food he looks at it like I'm trying to poison him

And while I'm not planning on feeding Archimedes crabapples, are they safe for him to eat if he were to be on the tree?

that's around the time that I started Archimedes with his harness, looking back I did go too fast, so really take it slow. Now at 20 weeks Archimedes is so comfortable with the harness he practically puts it on himself!

he saw the daffodils... and he was not impressed... so we just hung out in the backyard a few minutes, just enjoying the sunshine. He is getting REALLY good at getting his harness on! To the point that he's *helping* me with all the steps, I think if I were to time it, we could have him zipped up within 20 seconds if that, I think it's because he realizes that we get to go do something fun when he's in his harness. Archimedes is at a point that he's ok with going outside, as long as we're only outside for a little bit... but we're able to venture out a little further from the house every day (I know when he tenses up and climbs up my shoulder and tries to sit on my collar bone he's out of his comfort zone) sad story... today on the way back inside I let him perch in the crabapple tree in front of the house (btw are crabapples safe for greys, no fruits on the tree yet) but the branch that I put him on was dead... well he stepped out to the branch, and his weight snapped the branch... poor thing nearly had a heart attack. Good thing is he flew right back to me. After that event I brought him back inside and he wanted plenty of snuggles... and who am I to deny him snuggles?