jbsmomto1

how much harm am I doing him though if I keep giving him the zupreem? how bad is it for their kidneys?

So you might remember that Storm saw the vet last month and we were waiting on test results, well everything came back within normal level and seems I was just worrying for nothing (which is what I seem to excel in). Anyway at that visit the vet suggested that I switch his pellets from the coloured zupreem to harrisions. She gave me some ways to encourage him to eat it but not one seems to be working as well as I thought so wondered if you can give me some different ways. So far we have tried: Smashing up the big pellet into a crumble and adding some non sweetened apple juice, when that failed I tried water. mixing both the zupreem and harrirson's together Tried playing in a dish I keep near his table perch in hopes he would get nosy pretended to eat some and made a big deal of how yummy it was and how he would like it... tried offering it by hand as well as different and the same dishes he normally eats from.... All the failed, he DOES pick it up and grind it into a powder but I don't think he is actually eating it or at least not much of it....I called the vet today and she said that after he has had his breakfast (mash and some zupreem) to take away the zupreem and try just giving him just Harrison's.....I did try that but after an hr of him not touching it, I got anxious and gave him the zupreem back (which he didn't gobble down until later, so maybe got anxious to soon?).... what else can I try. he does like the Harrison's bird bread, and he seems to like the pepper power treats but I think he can tell the difference b/c the power pellets are different colour and look much smoother than the cubed course pellet. I have been trying for a month now, should I just resign myself to the fact that he hates everything but zupreem and let him have it? She said the dyes can be hard on their kidney's long term so I would rather get him off it.....he won't eat any other pellet either, I have tried. Oh man have I tried.....

Neither Storm nor Quincy are afraid of each other, Quincy is so used to birds, he just doesn't care anymore. Mind you when Storm wants on the back on the couch to window watch Quincy will get up and move in a hurry....Echo used to pinch his butt when he wanted to be where Quincy was in order to make him give up his spot, now when he sees Storm wanting his space he moves lol.

i found a lock yesterday so I locked the 2 smaller side doors, he was a little confused last night when he realized he couldn't open the door...he gave up quickly and went to his roosting perch to sleep and i didn\t hear another thing from him until 6am this morning when he was chewing on the door trying to get out....he hasn't yet figured out the front door, but given his sassyness and cheekiness I expect it won't be long til he has it all figured out.

I take Storm in the shower with me usually once a week, he doesn't love it but he he really doesn't seem to mind it either, he now lets me take him under the running shower with me, when he starts looking for his shower perch I put him back on it, Sometimes I will spray him with the sprayer while in there... HE gets pretty wet, not as wet as I think he should but for not it works, he is also only 7 months old so we have lots of time to learn about showering.

oh YAY, I'm not crazy....I was noticing the same thing since Storm's visit. He isn't biter or behavioural (yet) but he has become much more vocal and interacive

LOL Storm played me for a fool tonight and won!! I sang his bedtime song, and put him in his cage and shut the door. I turned away for a second to say something to my kid, I look back and low and behold there he is OUTSIDE the cage. Thinking I must have only thought I put him to bed, I did the routine over again, and again put him to bed, leave the room and sure enough there he is outside the cage AGAIN, standing all chuffed up and cocking his head from side to side as I am laughing, knowing that I am not crazy and I really did put him to bed probably twice now...so This time I go through the routine again and put him to bed yet again....only this time I watched him.....I WAS putting him in but he was going out the side door, its a feeding door that we never use and it's always closed. Guess when we were away today, he figured out how to open it and I didn't notice, he was in his cage when we came home just like I left him so I didn't think anything about it...in one door and right out the other, what a smart boy he is, but at only 7 months old,I am suspecting i might be outsmarted many many more times before he has me trained. Now I gotta figure out a way to prevent him from unlocking it and getting that door open, It just isn't safe to be free when I am not home. The dog won't hurt him but he is a mischief maker and no clue what kind of trouble he would/could get himself into.

Storm was dna'd before I got him, but even if he hadn't been I would have done it anyway. It can help to rule out some things like egg binding bc I know he is a male. But honestly even without the test I would have known he was a male, his head is so friggen flat, I am certain you could easily rest a small plate on it lol. When talking about rough perches, what do they mean? Storm has several different ones, Rope, wooden, calcium, branch and one that is tapered and made of something like cement but its to light to be so, it does have a rough surface, is this the one? Why not to use rough surface? out of all the ones offered he much prefers the rope ones and I don't even think I have seen him use any of the others

oh I do offer seed but more often then not, its better for dumping than eating lol.....he gets a nutriberry in between breakfast and lunch and *usually* eats that...he ate an avi cake today which surprised me actually ...as he isn't much for seeds at all, but he seemed to like it.

yes I abundanced weaned him, he ALWAYS has a variety of fresh, premade foods as well as pellets and water...he doesn't eat big meals at any one time, EXCEPT his breakfast when he will eat the entire dish and sometimes ask for more lol he loves his sweet potato mash, otherwise he picks at mostly everything now, though he doesn't like some fruits or veggies, but he does he loves brocolli, pasta, couscous, carrots if they are shredded as well as some other things....I see a full crop usually day, sometimes it might be a little smaller but if I run my finger down it gently its obvious its more full that I thought, though it has been known to be empty about 5:30 and I think this is why she says to lay off the handfeeding or have it randomly instead of at a certain time because she feels that he may be holding out for the "good stuff" ....its about the same time of day, sometimes if he has been with me much longer than usual it will seem shrunk but will still have food in it...he started to want (need, demand) to be with me more since Echo took off out the window but he is getting better at entertaining himself.

no your'e right, I was worried and rather than continue to worry I took him to be seen so I could either have a reason to worry or stop doing it lol. I was nervous about putting him to bed with no handfeed, but he went right to bed without any problems. I am a little sad b/c it confirmed what the vet said. He doesn't need it and while I love having that special few minutes with him, there are tons of others ways to get that satisfaction...It was harder on me than him lol. I think I am extra nervous with him bc the last grey we had just didn't work out, he was a breeder bird and when his mate died, I was pretty sure that I could turn him into a pet..all that did was result in me having to replace a wall in my rental home, and watching him stress and stress....But Storm IS a pet, he is NOT a breeder bird and unless they can magically change into a breeding bird I am really stressing for nothing (they can't can they, once they are pets they are pets right??) ....so no tonight I will sleep without worry that he is not well....I am sure the vet is right and the tests all come back normal.

Thank you, I feel better now. But am wondering if I just wasted almost $400 on an unneeded vet visit lol.

I took Storm to the vet for a checkup, there doesn't seem to be much wrong with him, but his weight seems to fluctuate daily. When I first got him he was 326G than in a few days he went up to 331, today he is at 314. So quite a loss in my opinion given that many grams seems like a massive loss. She was great, so good with him and he seemed to not mind being handled by someone he has only met once before. She took more blood to compare the results with the tests she took in November when we brought him home. They were all normal then and she suspects they will be again normal. She also took the poop samples he was kind enough to give every 10 mins or so lol, but again she expects them to be normal. She said weight loss could be nothing but it can also have many causes, most are benign reasons and something that just happens. We went over his eating habits and she said it sounded like a well rounded diet, she asked me to stop giving him his handfeed at night except for maybe 2 nights a week, OR to give it randomly in the daytime, SHE thinks he is holding out for formula at bedtime and therefor not eating as much other stuff in the later part of the day because he doesn't want to miss out and be to full for formula lol ...yeah Echo did this as well just not as bad. She said by offering it randomly he will never know when to expect it so will eat anytime bc he doesn't know if or when it's coming. He is 7 months old and she said formula now is simply for comfort for the both of us (more for me apparently and more habit for him) but not needed to receive proper nutrition. And she is right, he has been fully weaned for a good 8-9weeks now, it's just something I have continued because they don't eat at night. Oh she said she would like to see him off the coloured pellets just to help with his colour pickiness but that there was no real hurry to switch that. She said that as long as he doesn't look sunken in or that you can feel his keel bone sharply that he isn't losing that much weight and since he does fly around the house and is quite a busy boy, that will also burn calories. He apparently is within the average TAG weight. When I mentioned that sometime he DOES look sunken in in the crop area, she said that they know when to let their crop empty fully before adding to it again. She assured me that while it might look sunken in she COULD Feel food in his crop. It isn't uncommon for them to lose weight when they go from the breeder to owner...said the more I relax about it the more he will relax about it She also took a swab from his mouth though I never asked why, I am guessing she is looking for yeast or something else?? It was a good visit and she was happy to see a TAG, said she doesn't get many greys in at all but when she does they are usually always CAGS. She would like to see him socialized a bit more, I guess bc he was much more co-opeerative with his bloodwork when I chickened out and went to wait outside the door to listen and and not watch. Feathers are in great shape, he seems to be adjusting and adapting well...She will call back when she has ALL the results back and let me know if he is ill or not but she feels he is just fine and that i worry to much. is she right about the sunken in part...do your greys get sunken in or do they always look rounded and full? Does your grey's weight fluctuate like his seems to? I weigh him morning and then again in the early evening and there is always a gain in the evening but a loss when I weigh him in the morning, but he was up 4G this morning from yesterday so thats good news. My main concern is the 326 the day i got him than the 331 a week later now a 314G 3 months exaclty...yes he has been with us 3 months exactly today, hard to believe that its ONLY been that long, it seems like so much longer, like he has always been here really.

Whoever made this blanket statement clearly has never had a grey snuggle under their chin while the loe is soaked up. He must have sat there for a good 20 mins.....

So since we lost Echo last week, I decided to move Storm's cage over to where Echo's was in order for him to be closer to me. I thought he would like that idea....However.... Since I moved him there he became quieter, eating but not as well, not really playing and spending a lot more time in his cage, He wouldn't stay in the room alone, always of and looking for me etc etc At first I thought it was because he was missing Echo but wanted to give him a few more days to see what would happen. But yesterday I had enough of this behavior change and moved him back to where he used to be....sure enough within an hour he was out of his cage, whistling, doing his grey clucking noises etc etc and eating....He seems so much more happy and content, I swear I see him smiling. His old corner is in an actual corner so he has 2 walls, Echo's had only 1 wall and so was a bit more open. Either he doesn't like the lack of 2 walls or he hates change or possibly both. Either way I am happy that my little man is happy again. What a relief. I don't doubt he is missing Echo but it seemed so extreme, today he seems back to his old crazy 7 months old self lol. As for us humans we are adjusting to the loss of our sweet baby. Our house is so quiet, nobody is asking what the matter is or screaming for apple, nobody is telling the dog to hush, nobody is whispering after he has been told to shhhh.....I am still undecided as to whether I want another parrot just yet. I suppose though if I found one that needed a home I would probably jump at the chance....I probably do deep down, but I feel a ton of guilt towards Echo and his demise that I feel like I shouldn't be allowed to own another parrot. But yet I would like for Storm to have a buddy, even if they weren't friends or anything but another parrot for him to hear etc etc would be nice.

thanks everyone. We ALL miss Echo terribly. The hardest part is at bedtime, I miss singing him the quaker song and getting my kisses and the loud "i love you" I miss walking into a room and hearng say "hey you, how are you?" I miss feeding him because he was such a good eater. We put his cage away and filled his corner with some furniture, it was just to hard to look at his empty cage and I thought it might help Storm to not see it. The house is scarily quiet as Storm doesn't make a ton of noise at the best of time. BUT he is doing much better, he whistled a bit today, still not as much as usual mind you but something is better than nothing, he is eating ok but he just seems to sad. He has NEVER been the only bird, at the breeders he had his bird friends, here he had Echo. He seems to like my daughter more then he did now though so as odd as it is, it's very welcome. I am in no hurry to get another bird and I certainly won't get a quaker again b/c as far as I am concerned, Echo was the best one ever. I feel horribly guilty, and I am pretty sure I won't be cleaning my windows for a very long time. It's funny bc i always have him on my shoulder when I am cleaning I usually forget he is there until he gives me that bite on my ear. He has been outside with me thousands of time and never once even attempted to take of, It was simply a series of chain reactions that cost my precious boy to lose his life. Sure it could have been prevented had I been more aware of him on my shoulder, I mean I knew he was there but didn't even clue in when I pulled the window open and down to clean it, it just all happened so fast, before my brain had even processed what had happened he was already over my neighbours roof. he only had 3 flights on each side so I am really kinda surprised that he got as high and as far as he did. His ashes will be returned to me in about 4 weeks. In the spring I will sprinkle them under an apple tree. Echo loved apples and asked for them all the time. If you gave him something else he would throw it and say "No, want apple" he was so smart, so loved, so mischievousness, and now, so missed.

......Tuesday, I decided that since the sun was shining I was gonna clean my windows. Echo the quaker was on my shoulder as usual. We live in a heavily mennonite populated area who often drive their horse and buggies through town. At the worst possible second one decided to come trotting down my street. My crazy 10lb dog who is convinced he can take on a horse started to bark. Between the horse's hooves noise, Quincy barking, Echo got scared and took off out the window i was cleaning. It all happened so fast. I ran outside to get him but he was gone. I posted on fb for my town to be on a watch for him and went with my friend to drive around looking for him, calling him, asking if he wants apple. He never responded nor could I see him anywhere. He was seen at the public school across the street but nobody that saw him knew who he was or that he was a pet. We went out again that night but to no avail. Yesterday morning I got a call from someone about 2km from me saying that they had found a green and grey bird on their driveway, their dog refused to come inside and wouldn't leave the spot. When the owner went to get the dog he saw my sweet Echo bird lying dead in a shallow snow pile. He was in tact which I suppose is comforting to know that he wasn't tortured or mauled etc etc but he is still gone. My heart is broken in so many peices, and I don't think it will be able to be repaired. Storm is not doing well with it at all, he isn't doing bad but he hasn't made any noise, and is a bugger to put to bed, he paces and climbs the bars and will not settle. if he continues this way I might have to look at getting another bird which I don't want to.

I know logicaly I can't force him to but how can I get Storm to eat ALL colors of his zupreme. He leaves the orange, red and purple ones behind. This is such a big waste of pellets....I tried switching him over to a non coloured pellet but he won't touch them unless it's to throw them at the floor, me or the wall. I tried mixing the old and new with some unsweetened apple juice, and I tried putting them in his mash but he is a smart boy and won't be fooled. Is there a trick or secret that I haven't thought of yet to have less waste? I have so many bags of food here, some coloured some not and the zupreme fruity ones are the only ones this booger ball will eat.

at mealtimes? Echo begs worse then the dog does, as soon as he sees that you have food he starts running in circles saying "want more" lol...he is a terrible beggar and if you do not offer him at least a small bit he will fly to you, steal a piece and fly off before it has even registered in your brain that the cheeky bird has stolen your food lol. I admit fault for the begging, I eat multi grain bagels for breakfast and I did offer him bites, now he figures if you have it he MUST as well. He really puts my dog and any other to shame when it comes to begging. Storm is starting to beg, but he doesn't steal it from you, he just starts making these very quiet squeaking noises and will stare at you, if you offer it to him, he doesn't usually want it, but i guess he wants to feel part of the group by at least telling you he wants it, even if he really doesn't. the dog begs, but what dog doesn't ?

those feathers look normal to me, they don't appear to be butchered, chewed or mangled in anyway. I say she is just dropping feathers b/c thats what birds do

I think I would be inclined to put a rope perch or another that she likes, so she may be encouraged to come out more often and she might do so if she had a comfy place to watch the happenings. both my boys have perches on their doors, Storm could care less about his ..as soon as his door is opened he is outta there. Echo uses his quite a bit.

this sounds so silly, but it seems Storm's baby eyes are slowly making their exit...at first I thought it was the just the way the light filtered, but now I know its age. He is only 6 months old (and 3 days) I knew it was due to happen soon, I just am not ready for it to happen NOW. He is my last baby bird, as our family is complete with Storm and with 1 child, 1 dog and 2 parrots and many many kids running around and my own daughter, adding another would be silly and stressful, plus I love the way the 2 parrot boys get along with each other and I fear that adding a 3rd will not work as well as this did, given a Quaker's attitude and territorialism..once was lucky, 2nd time probably would be disaster..... It's weird because people have said "i thought he had yellow eyes with a black center" when I said he will some said thats when they wouldn't like him as much b/c the pinning eyes are "scary"..I personally like them, you can see so much expression in them if you just use your own eyes and look and his body language will help as well. He is just 6 months old (and 3 days) I knew it would be coming soon but wasn't sure how soon, he has been with us not even 2 months yet (even though it seems like he has been here years)....he is growing into a "big man bird" so fast and I know he won't be a "mature" bird for a good while yet, that last physical change is here. How long before the change is complete and his eyes are finished going through this change....? Does the actual eye changing affect his vision at all, does it become more clearer or has he been able to see as well as he does from hatch, well when his eyes opened?

I would and have taken Echo the quaker out several times, he usually comes with me to pick kids up after school in the warmer months. He hasn't ever made any attempt to leave me. Storm I don't think I will ever be able to take him anywhere as he is quite the mischief maker at 6 months old, I can't see this getting better but worse.... we had a gcc conure at one point (kitty) who my daughter carried around like nobodys business, that bird was so bonded with her, she would never attempt to leave. She took her to a friends house one day and when she returned (hrs later) without Kitty one day, I freaked out. I asked her where Kitty was and she said her friends mom wouldn't let Kitty in the house, so she put her in a tree.....I told her that Kitty was probably gone and if she wasn't eaten by a cat, hawk, bigger bird or flown away we would probably never get her back...Kitty the crazy conure made a HUGE lier outta me when I went to the tree and sure enough there was Kitty in the tree, alive as can be...napping...... she was safe but I was so mad, my kids behind almost met my hand for the first time that day.

He absolutely needs to be locked up while I am cooking, bc he has this HUGE need to be with me or in eye sight all the time, and I am just to afraid to have him that close to the stove. I can totally see his curiosity getting the better of him and severely burning his feet or himself, which would probably be fatal...he hates being where he can't see me and will "cry" until I return to his sight. Even if I talk to him from another room he will stop long enough to listen to me than start "crying" again. Echo also cries if he is locked in but his cry is a kittens meow or a dog bark and the kitten cry is so pitiful sounding lol, if you ignore the meow or bark for to long, he starts with "hello...helloo...helloooooooo, HELLO" he kills me LMAO. For a quaker he is a great talker and sound mimicker.

Storm has become very attached to me and I cannot do anything without him somewhere very close by, he sits at the window when I wash dishes, comes into the bathroom when i have a bath, sits on the back of the couch when i am there etc etc....today i needed to make more mash for their breakfasts and of course Storm was right there, he was on his window perch watching every move I made, but something I put in it must have gotten him very excited. He climbed down in no time and was checking it out and helping himself lol.....he is so funny. He went from a bird who wouldn't try anything new 6 weeks ago and now he will eat anything, or at least try it. He even tried a fried egg, he won't eat scrambled much but when i had fried eggs for dinner he was doing the dance....Echo just yells "WANT MORE!" so the little dance seems so polite and so strange. Anyway here is the pic of him helping himself. It wasn't even fully made yet but he didn't care, he just knows he wanted it.