murfchck

Prior to the vet visit, he wasn't interacting. It was only when at the vet did he perk up, that is when we deemed his diagnosis as neurotic, lol. Since the vet visit, he has turned around and whistles and makes his noises again. Laughs when he does something that makes me work a little harder. I hadn't heard him laugh in weeks. He did begin to barber himself but I am keeping lots of shreddable things in and around him for when that urge hits. He is being spoiled again and he does love that but then again, who wouldn't!

Welcome and congrats! The journey you are about to start will be slow going and sometimes frustrating but never give up! You have done a wonderful thing giving this guy a chance at a new life and, in time, you will be rewarded by him like something you have never experienced before. As everyone has said greys have their own time line and what is months, even years for us is like days for them. Let Peatree tell you when the time is right, in the meantime just build the trust with him by doing what you have been doing. Sitting beside the cage and talking, singing even reading a book out loud to him will all help him with the trust. Learn his body language, the little ticks and whistles he will do and make to let you know how he feels about what is going on. One of mine will make a click noise when he doesn't like something, another one will lower her head like she wants her head scratched but in reality she is saying put your hand near me and I will remove it for you, lol. My third will stand up tall and slit her eyes at me to tell me to go away. They each have their own personality and learning the signs of his likes and dislikes will help you a lot! As for the cage, most of the cages that come with these guys are not adequate for them but if his is the right size then use it but if it isn't then I would put him in his new cage sooner than later. Best wishes to you both and I can not wait to follow your new journey!

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2014/10/13/parrot-missing-for-years-returns-speaking-spanish/

Oh my goodness is he a cutie. Congrats!!

Oh there must be something in the air ( something other than the flying cotton balls that is). My entire flock is acting up, Koko bit Pat last night, Gus bit him the day before that and Lily, well she doesn't bite but boy is she unsettled. The weather changed and over the weekend, they got to spend a lot of time outside, then it got rainy and cold so they came back in and they sure do want back out. We had Lily and Koko together in the flight cage Sunday and Lily tried to bully Koko like she did Gus but Koko held her own and came out the alpha bird, but now she has changed, she acts like she is alpha all the time, even with us now. :-) Gus won't stay on the stand with her now either, so he just stays in his room (out of the cage, free to come out anytime he wants to and join us in the living room area) but chooses to stay in there and scream. Chacho has finally figured out that biting me when he sees Pat isn't working so he full on attacks Pat now. I have never seen a bird fly at someone with talons out, beak open going in for the kill. On the bright side, when he gets to high for me to get him down I just call Pat into the room and he flies down to attack him. Not the best idea but it works for now. lol We made the decision to clip him, had a big old brain fart when doing it though, we over thought it and our warped logic won. We trimmed him backwards, meaning we cut the back feathers, not the front so the little bugger still flies and still flies very well. It took me a day before the lightbulb went on and all I could do was say 'Doh!" Our logic was we could trim the back feathers and he wouldn't look trimmed when he had his wings closed and that it was the back feathers that gave him the flight upwards, where the heck that silly idea came from neither of us know. This isn't our first wing trim, so why we changed is beyond me. Now the poor guy has trimmed feathers and we can't trim him correctly until they come back in. Oh what a mess we made, poor little boy.

Seem to be almost back to normal now. I think he just needed that "extra" attention. lol He sees that acting out gets you more face time than being a good boy so he thought he would try it out. I had no choice yesterday but to put the crock back in the cage, he dumped his water at least 4 times before I left for work and it was my long day so I worried all day long. He did dump it again sometime during the day but there was still some left on the bottom for him if he needed a drink. I didn't want to chance it again though so when dinner time came and I filled it again and he dumped it again (rinse repeat 3 more times) the crock came out and was put in the cage. He tried hard to dump it but ended up just banging his beak on it and gave up. He is whistling and laughing again so I am very happy about that, also he destroyed two of his toys yesterday, yeah, instead of his feathers! Who knows if it will last but there is always going to be hope!

He is first and has remained first. First for coming out of the cage, first for feeding time. What I did today was I brought him out this morning to help me make breakfast, then we had to go out for the afternoon so when we got home he came out and helped me with the dinner. He really seemed to like that time with me. Thursday night when he was helping me with the dinner, he kept getting scared off my shoulder by the flying cottonballs landing on my arm. I have noticed a weird sound he is making so I do think this is part being jealous and part not feeling good. We will see next week.

So after work yesterday the birds all came out as normal but Bongo just didn't seem "right". After his plucking ( which we have found out is barbering all over his body) and little things that have been happening, like he bit me for the very first time in 3 years, toes seemed colder than usual, fluffed up and mouth open tongue flicking ( like panting but not ) just thought it best to get him in. Other than being slightly over weight, his exam went well. One thing they forgot to ask me and I forgot to tell them was that he is flighted, lol. They took him to the back, he stepped right up for the dr, let her touch him, put him on the scale, stepped back up for her then decided he was done and took off around the room a few times. That's my boy! So after a long discussion, it has been determined that he is just upset about Chacho moving in. She discussed some meds for him to maybe change up his behavior, then wean him off of them but I am not ready to drug up my lil boy. I ordered the Rescue Remedy for Lily and will try that for him. We are going to move him to the living room for some time off and to get away from the others and see if that helps any. It is amazing that he was our first bird and 7 others have come since and it is the 8th that bothers him. Chacho has however chosen me where all the others chose Pat so I can see where Bongo is upset by that. The difference in Bongo at the vet though really bothered me. He was so happy to be around other people. Laughing and whistling and just happy to be the center of attention, I feel like I have let him down.

Way to go!

Credit issues holding us back. Sucks, we haven't given up hope though.

I am sorry, I have no advice. My rule of thumb here is I am even slightly worried then it is time to worry and to the vet we go. Let us know what is up with the eye please.

Happy Hatch Day!!!!!!

and we're moving in!!!!!!!!!!!! Just our 9 birds right now then 10 more in the next few months, your ok with that right???? lol I am sure they can all pull their weight there. Gabby would be a great herder, Lily too! Gus can give the roosters a run for their money with the am wake up calls. Cotay, I am afraid she is all bark and no bite and those big dogs with them long necks would scare the poop out of her. Bongo is the kitchen supervisor and really good at it. The macaws, well they would need to find their place because they tend to be supervisors too and, well, they can't all be leaders! heehee

Hi there. It is right not to unless you have the air cleaner. I have 3 greys and two macaws in the same room with a cleaner. The macaws nasal is so large that all that dust goes right in there causing respiratory issues a lot of the time. Better safe than sorry.

I am joining your club Elvenking. My boy Bongo started plucking also. Right now he looks like he is wearing a boa, lol. My first thought was that he felt different than the others since he is 2 of 9 that are not naked, and wanted to look like the rest. It seems though that a crock bowl was his trigger. He was dumping his bowls so I put a heavy crock in and bam, the plucking began. (he was also lacking shredding toys but that wasn't the reason I have found out) I put in toys and removed the bowl and all was good for a week then one night my hubby was changing the water and he dumped it 3 x's on him so Pat put the crock in again. The next morning there were feathers on the bottom. I removed the bowl later that day and all has been okay again, just a few here and there. Now I can't say 100% that this is over but my hopes are high. Last night he dumped his water when Pat was changing it again so he moved the bowls around on Bongo, we will see tonight how that went over. Don't give up! As much as it hurts us to think about, what about a cone to break the habit? It would just be for a short time and if it works yeah? Cotay use to wear one with her previous owner and as soon as it was removed she picked again so we decided not to do that to her but it could work for you. If Bongo keeps it up, I have thought we would for him since it is so new for him to pluck, break the habit before it becomes one.

On Wednesday, Pat was changing the waters and Bongo took his bowl out 3 times and dumped it, Pat put a crock in to try and beat him at his game. They didn't get to come out that day because we went out to dinner. Yesterday when I got home, Bongo was a little ruffled and there feathers on the bottom again. So I have narrowed it down to either he is afraid of crock bowls or was mad because he didn't get to come out. I put his metal bowl back in and gave him a good bath and brought him out, we will see how today goes.

My bite turned into a very large blister, not sure how that happened. lol I do not love him any less but the poor little guy loves to get near my face and ears and now I redirect him and he seems confused as to why. Umm, sharp, painful, strong beak maybe? He is just so sweet when Pat isn't in the house. Last night we had to take a chance and I took Chacho into the living room to play with him and Pat came in and changed his cage papers. Pat announced he was coming into the room to tell me not to have him on me but the paper was in the other room. He saw Pat and his eyes changed, he looked for different ways to get to me but then after Pat was gone, he went right back to his playful self. Pat blames this on the fact that he had to towel him when we were bringing him home but I have had to towel him myself when he was outside and wouldn't go into the carrier to come back in and he is still fine with me. lol I do have to say though, I am very nervous about getting bit again, that bite is in my top two all time worse bites, the other was Bubba, our macaw, when he ripped my bottom lip in half giving me a "kiss". (haven't offered him my lips again)

Well that would explain why the computer gets left on and some keys went missing.

She has mastered all hardware. This was an enclosed latch system. Still not able to figure out how she did it. It is enclosed in the metal and just the little knob is visible and it is on the outside of the cage. She managed to get every last piece out of it, from the outside. Lol. We don't get it. If we had tried to take it apart we would still be working on it!

Aw, good try anyway.

How funny i did to. Just said it couldn't hurt checking.

Meant adoptable, could still be there.

Not to be silly but could it be carly? That is only a two hour drive.

Koko can now get out of the double macaw cage that has the "unescapable" latches. Her answer to that was to remove the entire latch, not just the knob. Pat couldn't figure out how she was getting out, all 4 food doors were locked and by the 3rd time he had to put her back in the cage (he was home to brush his teeth and go to the dentist) he took a bite on the arm and then saw her very abruptly go to the breeder door and come right back out. She was pretty depressed the rest of the day because he had to wire it shut. She will get over being depressed when she notices that there are 4 more doors with the same latches!

Oh boy is he ever. I am his as painful as it is! Lol