Attention all new Members

[judygram]

Hello and welcome to the family, Muscleman, glad you could join us for a good time. My, that name conjures up some picture in my mind, maybe you can share a photo of yourself with us.

 

I am so proud of you for rescuing that grey from your brother, what a shame he was mistreating it, no animal deserves that kind of treatment. I'm sure he will flourish under your tender care.

 

We have loads of threads that deal with many topics that would be of good use for you to gather lots of useful information on different aspects of grey ownership. Read thru them for ideas and opinions.

 

What is your grey's name and do you know the sex and how old is it?

 

If you have pictures you would like to share we would love to see them, we always love looking at and admiring each other's greys.

[birdmom]

Hello, I'm Joanna. I'm here typing away, I should be sleeping but I have a very itchy girl on my arm here that wants scritching and doesn't like bedtime at all (6 yr old Buddi). Somebody has been pulling feathers out of her neck, now she has a ring around her neck that's plucked. So, I am glad to see those posts about the aloe vera juice, I will try spraying that on her and I am doing more baths, twice a week now. I took her to the vet last week and he ran a gram stain and found she has a little yeast, so she is on fluconazole .25 ml. 2x a day for 18 days I give her in a little syringe. The plucking started about a year ago but only a tiny little spot, and then it grew really fast in the last several months, I think it was due to getting another CAG in April she got stressed and I also got her a new cage in April. So it may be she had the yeast going a year ago, and it probably came from some antibiotic I gave her 18 mos ago for high negative gram bacteria that was caused by stress from long distance move. Anyway, I learned my lesson I should have put her on probiotics right after the antibiotic. Now I have a plucker, but I hope she will stop now that the yeast problem is being treated. She doesn't seem as itchy and the vet also gave her a Lupron shot since he said sometimes that helps females who pluck hormonally. Well, like all Greys, she likes her head and neck scratched, always has, but I'm not seeing entire pin feathers on the cage floor, and she isn't yanking them out right in front of me now.We'll see, I'll post on that progress.

 

I also have a male, 4 yrs. Charlie (pronounced with an English accent, according to him). He is a healthy 450 grams, pretty consistently. I am a bit concerned about my female Buddi's weight, she has gone from 442 to 436 over the years but this year she has dropped to 426. I don't know if it's the meds/yeast infection, or since I changed the diet a bit in July, cut back on the sunflower seeds, millet, cob corn, and the apples and high calorie fruits, since the vet said they are birdy candy and not good for them. I think it could account for 10 grams wt. loss in two months because back in April and May I was buying alot of grapes, canteloupe and strawberries, right? She eats the Zupreem and loves that. Her calcium is on the low side of normal, but she won't eat Kale, and most veggies bore her. Any ideas for calcium foods? Or probiotics eg: grape seed, or apple cider vinegar? I hear mixed things about that. Any help is appreciated. Joanna, Buddi and Charlie in California (time for bed birdies!)

[danmcq]

Welcome Birdmom!!

 

Thanks for the very detailed introduction.

 

It sounds like you have taken all the right steps and are very meticulous about your Greys health and have a great vet that knows Greys VERY well.

 

Your questions are very good ones and should probably be answered by your vet, since the rest of us will just give our opinions based on individual experience, rather than doctoral knowledge and results from lab tests.

 

I look forward to hearing more from you. It sounds like you bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to this forum. :-)

[Guest]

Muscleman and Birdmom welcome here

[judygram]

Hello and welcome to the family, Birdmom, we are so glad you could join us and we look forward to hearing more about your greys, Buddi and Charlie.

 

Thanks so much for the detailed introduction, most of our new members can be a little stingy with the info but this helps us get to know you better for we are here to help one another.

 

Sorry to hear that Buddi is a plucker but maybe you can get her straightened out and put that behind her. We have many threads with detailed information on various topics that may be of interest to you, please read thru them at your leisure for good info. If you want to ask specific questions that is fine also, we will do our best to answer as best as we can and help you in any way we can.

 

We would love to see pictures of Buddi and Charlie, if you have some you would like to post, we always love seeing photos of each other's greys.

 

As Dan stated, your vet is your best source of help, we give more opinion than fact but our experience, especially some of the ones who have had greys for years and years, acccounts for a lot.

[birdmom]

thanks judy. i guess i could post a picture, but it would look like all the other CAGs: big bird, grey, looks kinda like a pigeon with a white face, big old pointy beak and big red tail. that about sums it up. LOL

[birdmom]

Hi Muscleman,

I'm birdmom aka Joanna, (Buddi and Charlie).

Yes, you should keep them apart since greys are known not to allow other species in their flock. You may know that some parrot species allow others to roost in their flock, but not the Greys. (I saw another posting from someone here, who put their brother's lovebird in the cage with the grey, and the grey killed it.) Most birds are territorial with their cage, but notwithstanding that, Greys don't always mix well with other species unless they're brought up together or you get lucky. My advice is dont push your luck and you will enjoy your Grey and he is a very lucky birdy.

 

I have two Greys and I don't let them perch together, since they are both bonded to me, and jealous of one another. But I have two big cages one for each, plus a small travel cage, and a large portable breakdown cage, plus the usual T stand and a big old Playstand. So, there's a place for them both to play anytime and get out of their cages without being near each other.

[birdmom]

Hi there 2233! Well you are much braver than I am. I've had my CAGs since 2003 and no flying around here.

I do have the wing trim every 2 mos or so give or take. I recommend you minimize encouraging flying, but its a personal preference like anything else. I just know they can injure themselves so easily. One reason is my female Buddi, tried to fly off my arm and headed for a towel rod in the bathroom but grabbed onto an electrical cord that was dangling there by mistake. The cord wasn't plugged in, however at the other end of it was a magnifying cosmetics mirror that weighed about 3pounds. Sure enough, when she held onto the cord, the mirror came down and the bird fluttered to the floor, and the mirror followed her down, narrowly missing her, she scuttled out from under its path at the last moment. But she was so frightened by it that her knees gave out and she started shaking violently. I held and comforted her, and it was over it a couple minutes. But it was a close call. You just don't know what they will grab onto or how steady it is. My other CAG Charlie flew off his playpen one day when I took out the trash. I came back in and couldn't find him anywhere I was so frantic. After about ten minutes, I spied him perched about two feet off the ground on the side of a folded up travel birdcage, that I had stored behind the front door. So, I could have smashed him behind the door when I opened it, but luckily I didn't open it that far. You just never know. Also, if you let them be flighted, their shoulders will get strong, and then if they ever get loose, they can fly further away, have developed strength and some endurance. They can fly several miles. Just a heads up. I personally don't want my birds to go too far, if they should ever escape. But good luck and be safe. Joanna Buddi and Charlie

[birdmom]

Thanks FairY. I'm looking forward to making some new friends here.

[birdmom]

Hi Mervyn2233,

Yep I agree, it's normal. My female Buddi1 does it. I haven't heard male Charlie grinding beak, but I've read it's not unusual and indicates contentment? Well in any doubt, I buy a new toy, she likes to tear apart those colorful pinatas.

[birdmom]

Hi Dan MCQ,

Yes, it's a case of TMI. Whew. Well I'm really glad to find this forum I don't have any friends who own birds that I can dump my worries on. I guess we're an odd bunch, talking to birds and all. My friends think I'm nuts. The truth is my CAG Charlie is a nut-job, he calls me a poop. He says, "Did you poop? Do you want some poop? Joanne Pooped." I always reply, no thank you Charlie, you're the poop. He laughs and there you have it. Joanna

[Guest]

I finally posted some pics of Radar. They are not the best, but he is beautiful anyway.<br><br>Post edited by: radar, at: 2007/10/08 14:06

[battle]

hi

my name is Sean and i've just purchased Coco, 6 months old african grey according to the shop!

she's pretty good and can whistel, and is ryign the hello and morning already.

any suggestions would be most welcome esp. iro of cleaning her and feeding!

[lovemyGreys]

Hi Sean nearly there Scroll to the top of the page & you will see a little red box which says post new topic.

 

post your intro in a new topic , some members miss this thread ! but if you start a new one they are likely to see it more, & they are a great bunch, just that we are all on at different times being all over the world.

[danmcq]

Radar - Great Photos, very nice looking Grey!!

 

BirdMom - We all know what you mean, none of our friends or co-workers understand our love Greys and jsut don't care to hear or talk about them either....their loss!!

[Guest]

Hi Sean, welcome here - I am happy you joined

[fourtrap]

Hello Battle and welcome to the group. Congratulations on your new baby grey you will have years of enjoyment.

Have a great week.

 

Benny

[battle]

thanks mate

appreacite the message. its a real journey understanding but so far she's been great.

chat further soon

Regards

Sean

[battle]

thanks for the reply

who do know in the forum that i can chat about washing the my parrot and also using aloe vera spray?

thanks

Sean

[battle]

hi lovemygreys

sorry only replying now but i missed your earlier message as i am still adjsuting to how the forum works.

thanks for your input and help so far

Regards

Sean

[susie]

hi everyone

i have just joined this wonderful site after having a good read of the forums.

we purchased an african grey yesterday and hes wonderful.

the only problem is that he wont let me touch him ,he goes to bite me.and it hurts lol

my husband has no problem though.

 

any advice would be great

 

susie from buckinghamshire england

[sassysadie]

Hi there,

 

My name is Kathy and I am new to forums, but not African Grey Parrots. My daughter is teaching me how to use computer forums and signed me up after my bird Sadie drove my adult children nuts over Thanksgiving with the screaming and bird sounds she picked up when we boarded her at the pet store. She stayed there for only a few days while our wood floors were re-varnished, but came back with a variety of imitations of other birds.

 

Sadie is one year old. She is the third African Grey that my husband and I have had, but she is by far the best talker we've ever had. If anyone has helpful hints on how to re-direct her from screaming, please share. I've looked through some of the old postings, but we are desperate to get her back on track talking without so much screaming!

 

Kathy

[judygram]

Hello and welcome to the family, Kathy, glad you could join us and we look forward to hearing more about Sadie.

 

I know what you are talking about, she was in the company of other kinds of parrots, probably some cockatoos also, and now she is screaming imatating their calls. Now that she is back home, she will gradually do it less and less and in time she will in all likelihood stop it completely.

 

What you can do is ignore it, do not react to her screaming, your reaction will only reinforce her to continue it for the attention she gets. Do not pick her up or reward her in any way when she screams, in fact turn your back on her and ignore her, she will hate that.

 

If Sadie is the third grey you have had, do you still have the other two, if not what happened to them? I am just curious to know and it helps to get to know you better.

 

Please read thru our many threads on various topics for lots of useful information. If you have specific questions just ask and we will do our best to get you an answer and help you in any way we can.

 

If you have a picture of Sadie that you would like to post we would love to see her.

[chapala]

I can imagine the noise she's making after being at a pet store! I took care of a Red-lored Amazon twice for a total of 3 months. He made a very irritating, high pitched bark like sound that the owner's husband couldn't stand (and he was eventually re-homed because of it). Well of course Kali my Grey bird picked it up. After the first time the bird stayed with us, Kali finally stopped about a month after the Amazon left. The second time we took care of the 'Zon was very reinforcing (!), and it took many months before Kali stopped making those irritating sounds.

 

I'd suggest just ignoring the sounds, and rewarding talking and other pleasant noises. The screeching will not be reinforced (he won't be around those birds anymore!), and your bird eventually will stop making those noises.

[Slayer]

Hello all,

My Name is Mike (Slayer)<----dont ask lol, long story. I have 1 5 month old Congo African Grey, 1 4 year old Quaker, and I had ;( a Mulucan cockatoo R.I.P.

I was the forth and final owner of the cackatoo, I adopted her from an abusive/neglectful life. Not sure how old she was but she was spoiled the 2 years I had her. My sole purpose here is to try to help this community as well as learn from this community.

One question right off the bat I have is How do I get my African Grey to take a bath, she does not like the water. Could this possibly be because she is still so young (5 months old)? I have tried at least 15 times to slowley introduce her to a bath and shower, she likes neither. thanks in advance for any insight or suggestions.

 

Mike