SRSeedBurners

This thread did get a little off track...but to be fair, you started it haahaaa. Somewhere there's a thread on here I started about being a bird person. It started with me when I was wee little. I grew up on a cattle ranch and we killed everything. I grew up shooting prairie dogs because of their destructive nuisance problems. I shot stray cats. I shot stray dogs. I've even shot at stray neighbors kids from across the river - no joking. They were shooting our horses with pellet guns and I got out my dads .308 and started hitting the bridge they were hiding under with lead rounds. I shot a bird once and watched it fall lifelessly to the ground and have never been the same since. There is something so innocent and beautiful about them that separates them from the rest of the horde - at least for me. The downside is, I have a real hard time losing them. I accidentally killed my pet pigeon I had when I was 22 and it took me a long time to get over that. I can't wait to go home and see my birds every day. I can't wait to get them up in the mornings. It's not the same with my dogs, although I don't mind having them around and one of them is a really sweet boy. My cats are the biggest users around...even showing up my Greycie. Of course my wife says I've never met a Persian. Bahh.... I can even get overly attached to chickens - the ones that are picked on, helpless, defenseless...those are the ones that usually end up living in my backyard vs the barn. I had one that required a lot of round the clock care for a few weeks before it came around and we had her for a long while before she got taken by a hawk. That hurt. Flip side - the young roosters or overly dominant hens that end up getting overly abusive with the others and are just downright mean, I can kill those with my bare hands. They really can piss me off with how mean they can get.

My first thoughts were, I'd buy earplugs and completely 100% ignore the screaming. You might be right about the getting covered up is seen as a positive reinforcement to the Grey. At least he's getting attention. I only thought of the earplugs idea because we use them all the time here: - I have to sleep with them in or I sleep very restlessly - I ride a motorcycle and the wind noise inside the helmet get deafening after a while - I read, my wife watches TV at an ungodly high level. However, Greycie spots my earplugs and it's like I have a rabid buzzard on my head. She won't give in till she gets it out of my head.

A Grey that keeps himself in shape and studies Arabic - excellent! I heard a rooster @ 1:33.

Wait a minute...you mean there are CAGs that are not brats? Not selfish and not bullies? I wonder if I can get a refund

Heart sank when I read the thread title. Started reading and thought...ahhh, I know and have seen this kind of abuse. It's the type of abuse that runs rampant our household.

I'll bet Halloween is fun around Kizzy's house!

Go with the medium (assuming you have a CAG). At 6mos they don't have a lot of head growth to go. The part that has to fit is the head loop. The rest of the harness is super adjustable and has a lot of room for variation. Plus you may go through a harness or two as mine did just through chewing it to bits. If you want to, you can contact the manufacturer and ask them to reinforce the 'welds'. My Greycie got the original version apart at one of the welds so I had them do a reinforced version which is holding up better.

Our BuckyKatt has a knot on the base of his tail thanks to Greycie. He's the one that's in danger haahaaa!!! She attacked him while he was sleeping on the back of my chair. Plus he was de-clawed on all fours when he came to us so it's an unfair fight.

Sorry guys, I didn't intend to derail the thread. I've been meaning to post about our lil Raven over in the Memorials.

We lost our lil sweet Jardine's parrot sometime during the night before the Labor Day weekend started. I typically leave Saturday mornings before our birdy's get up. I came home to find my wife covered in mud crying her eyes out. She had just planted a Bird of Paradise over our little Jardine's resting spot outside of our bedroom window. She came to us with PDD - we didn't know it at the time. She was in a filthy dog/cat/farm animal rescue. We went to see her on a whim the same day I went to visit my Greycie Grey who was still a baby at the breeders. I believe some things just happen for a reason and 'Raven' coming to us was one of them. Pretty much the planets had to line up in order for us to have brought her home. - we emailed the place that had her on a Saturday night, they're only open for business Mo-Fr - my wife got onto PetFinder and found her. She had never been on PetFinder before and we were not looking for another parrot as we were bringing a Grey home in a couple months. Something about Ravens pic drew us in. - I was extremely partial to Greys and no other breed was getting in the way of THAT! Much less a breed I'd never heard of - a Jardine's parrot?!? - 'Raven' responded to me at the rescue and would have nothing do to with anyone else and had been brought back a couple of times already. - The lady at the rescue just happened to check her email on a Sunday which she hardly ever does. - They wanted WAY TOO MUCH for a dirty rescue bird. So we were 10 minutes headed home when the lady the runs the rescue calls and we go back to see 'Raven'. As mentioned she responded to me and the lady was really trying to sell me on giving the birdy a chance. We drove off without her initially...but my wife than asked if we could go back and get her. We did. We paid WAY too much but I don't regret it for a minute. Raven turned out to be a wonderful bird. She was as sweet as can be with my wife. She didn't much like me which is peculiar because she responded to me at the rescue. But I saw her preference for my wife as a sweet thing. She was a momma's girl. There were so many cute things about her. She had the Jardine's "my way or the highway attitude" which was endearing to me. She really was the sweetest bird I've ever known. We fought her PDD for 5 months as we found she had it after a couple of months. We spent an insane amount of money on her which I told my wife - the check for her is blank...do whatever you need to do. We still tear up over her and I've made my wife promise that we will find another Jardine's to help us keep her memory alive. I got real attached to her in the short time we had herbecause she never really had a chance at life. In the last few weeks caring for her became very tedious but she always seemed happy and still loved to be rolled over and preened. I always dreaded the day I was going to have to take her in and bawl in front of the vet and staff - thankfully that never happened. We are really missing her...

Just keep exposing him to it. It took Greycie a few weeks before I could get her into hers. You may try putting it on without tightening it a couple times per day for a few days and slowly start to tighten it down. He'll eventually get used to it. Greycie is very used to wearing one but the instant she's spots me with it she flies all over the house to keep away. Once I catch her though she grumbles and whines but goes through the motions.

I've lived in California and had first hand experience at those 'swap meets'. I would love to cage some of the vendors. Don't support those bastards - find a reputable breeder.

They get into your soul. We had a Jardine's for 7 months that was the sweetest bird I've ever known. Lost her last Friday night- she had PDD. We're still crying off and on and I don't cry over much of anything. She was a sweet sweet soul. She's buried outside our bedroom window with a bird of Paradise plant that has the feathery leaves and orange flowers just like the Jardine's are known for. Loved that bird...

Attitude is everything, sounds like you already have what she needs. These birds don't chose to be captive but when faced with it, they just want to be included.

I have a camcorder set up on a tripod in the kitchen. Greycie doesn't even care. I'm trying to film her playing catch on top of the fridge but the problem is me. I'm too lazy to make sure it's charged, has room on the card etc.... Tonight she was vocalizing words for both of us and we can't figure out what she's trying to say but she's saying something. I was telling my wife we're lucky because some people have Greys that will only practice in seclusion. Our Greycie loves to ham it up right on my shoulder. If only I could get my lazy ass to record and throw it on youtube....

I think this is Japanese. You gotta love what they come up with sometimes. On second look, maybe it's British?

I may be technically out of the running for the award but my former Grey that I got when I was 21 is 24....wait, did I just date myself? She is currently living with my Aunt but will be returning to me when my aunt can no longer care for her.

This might explain her sudden return to super sweetness recently. She used to to be super sweet with me, wanting to be cuddled, gentle nibbling, a little bit of cooing and Greycie sweet mumbles. I thought she had grown out of it as I wasn't seeing it to much but she's returned to that as well. Of course I'm taking full advantage of it while it lasts. Now I'm thinking she's really asking for some help with the preening. Tough job - keeping a Grey looking in tip-top shape. Girl needs a little help.

Greycie has suddenly within the last couple of weeks begun to lose feathers at what is to me an alarming rate. So far she has no balding spots and you can't really tell by looking at her but we see the feathers all over the place and I keep seeing her with a feather in her beak while she's preening. I've watched her and don't think she's plucking or scissoring them off which leads me to believe this may be normal?!? We've seen all sizes except the long flight feathers. Some as large as the shoulder feathers. Lots of flooffies too. She is also acting really itchy on her head and has stepped up her scratching intensity and frequency. All else appears to be normal. Might be time to investigate the aloe vera misting maybe? Is it molt season?

Try tripping over a paper sack walking down the hallway. You'll quickly see who your Grey values the most. Greycie is happy to leave me to do the fighting

That's one smart Pelican. He's learned to train humans about as good as a Grey.

The biggest issue is it's put out by 'Bird Tricks'. Pretty well known scumbags. I confirmed that when I read something by Barbara Heindrich (sp?) about them. I can't stand their predatory advertising practices. I won't have anything to do with them but that's just me.

The Volkman ingredients look cleaner to me. Vita Prim 'color added' <boo - hisss>. Cucumber, pumpkin and corn are ok. The seeds you need to steer clear of are pit type seeds. Apricot, cherry, apple etc...

That's nice. To me it shows how much those birds mean to you to get something like that.

Yep - divorced here too. Lost all three of my birds to it as well. Wasn't fun, thought it was the end of me for a very long time. Took me a couple of years to get through it but I recovered. Stay strong for the birdies and yourself.