Chuckie

Hi all, chuckie is doing good. I managed to remove that shackle in no time without him even noticing. He is all playful and now when we call him from far he will answer back with a light whistle :-), he also started flying on the spot and perching. On rare occasions he plays roughly and bites a bit harder than usual I'm not sure of what I should do to avoid him doing that. Yesterday he didn't eat much formula, I tried with pallets but it seems he does not manage to crush them, I'm monitoring his weight and poop but everything looks good. I gave him some boiled carrots and he really liked them. Then in the evening my wife came home and he took 30cc of formula from her (I guess he already has his favorite parent). This morning he also took another 25cc of formula.

Thanks for the advice on the vitamins, I had no clue that's why I asked. About the shackle yes it's meant for restraining him from flying around and I have no intention of using it. I was thinking about removing it however I don't want frighten the bird, as it could be hard to remove. I'll just leave it there for now and remove it when he has more confidence with us. We already have a bird who is flying around with us all day so it won't be a problem having the second one (just a bit more of poop cleaning to do ) . I don't even like the idea of clipping their wings.

Wow thanks for your response you really given me some peace of mind. His (or her) with name is chuckie. I tend to worry a bit too much. In the afternoon he was sleeping completely lying on his chest and I was also worrying, but when he woke up he started playing with us and he is also getting used to our tiel Kiki. That thing on his right foot is the shackle, the pet shop owner told me that if u don't put it on him when he is very young he would never be able to get used to it. On his left foot he has the closed numbered ring. Btw I am sending this from Malta. Also a friend of my wife's who has a grey told her to start giving him vitamins which apparently are in some kind of drop from (added to the water or on top of his food) with what do you think about it? Thanks again

this is my first post here. Unfortunately I did not read that much in detail about greys and now that I have, I seem to understand that one should not buy an unweaned grey unless they are experts. Anyway, what is done is done, the hand-rearing experience me and my wife have is with two cockatiels which we brought home at the age of about 4 weeks (one of which ran away ). following is the story of the grey: Yesterday we went to a pet shop to get a grey we wanted (we actually called the breeder, who we have been told is a respectable one - he told us that he has one for sale at this pet shop), the petshop owner told us that he already started eating some seeds and that he feeds him twice a day 60cc each feed. when we got him home our tiel was very curious and wanted to take a close look but the grey was really scared of him. When the tiel got close to him, the gray sarted making a sound like he is running out of breath - so we kept them away from eachother. Anway, evening came and when we came to feed him it didn't seem he was that much hungry (we remember the tiels would destroy the syringe if they could). Slowly and patiently we gave him about 30cc and I was getting a bit worried that he isn't eating as much as he should. This morning when we tried to feed him he absolutely didn't want any, at that time he weighed 510g, also we could see some broken seed shells so he must have ate a bit during the night.I checked that the food was at 39degrees and stirred it very well to avoid any hot/cold spots. Since we got worried we called the petshop who told us he used to give him food at room temp!! I was shocked...but there was nothing to do now. at mid day I weighed him at 493g and tried to give him food at room temperature which is 25degrees and he ate about 20cc, his weight got back up to 510g. he doesn't look week or anything, when we put him out he is running around playing with any shiny/colourful objects. and now that he's alone i can hear him making very faint short whistles and other noises - some of which resemble a dog's cry. im worried that my grey isnt eating enough, or is this normal since he started eating some seeds? Also about the temperature of the food, anyone can suggest anything? Thanks