Oscar is home :)

[aeriga]

On friday night Oscar finally came home.

He was obviously a little scared so we let him look around and get comfortable with the room he will be staying in and his new home. He did not sleep on friday night which is not a surprise.

On Saturday he seemed very comfortable and he got up at 6am and woke us all up with his bell

He got some food (Harrisons - which im a little concerned because hes never had only harrisons as his base pellet) he did eat some though. He did lose a little weight as he didn't weigh a lot before he came home. only 416 grams i think he was, and he is now about 389. i havent yet looked today so maybe he has gained a bit. A friend from the pet store is comming by today to take a look and see if hes doing ok.

We introduced him to some new foods - fruits and veg - so that we can start to incorporate them into hi diet and to see what he prefers (so far seedless grapes[no skin] and corn) he also while looking around his room came across the toys we bought him(under the cage in a bucket) and decided to check them out and play with them so we decided he was ok with them and hung a few inside and above. He took right away to the atom and flew to it as soon as he saw it.

Sunday There was a family gathering at home (no kids) and he got to interact with some new members on a one to one basis with new people at first and we gave him a lot of praise when he would let someone new pet him or show affection. He got to sit outside for a bit too(when everyone left) in his outdoor cage in the afternoon. He seemed content and not scared at all but it was only for a short period of time (maybe 10 min) and then he went inside and had some lettuce and then it was his bedtime routine. He watches tv with us(while hes in his cage) from about 10-11pm and then at 11pm its bedtime.

 

Now i assume the transition went extremely smoothly because he was already comfortable with us and trusted us because we would visit with him for a few hours every day (4 months now) but obviously we know that there still are new things for him and we are trying to keep him as stress free as possible. But we are so happy that he is home now we are just waiting for his vet appointment.

[danmcq]

Congratulations!!!

 

I wuold reccomend, that if your switching him to pellets, offer a little measured out carefully in small quantities so he can't eat his fill of it and make sure he has eaten pellets before hand. Gradually decrease what he was eating and increase the pellets. Keep the good veggies going, also be aware that corn is valueless nutrition wise and so is lettuce. Replace these with other veggies like green beans, broccoli, snap peas, cooked beans of many different varieites, oat groats etc. Only give a little fruit 2x a week at most. Also give good nuts like almonds, walnuts etc in small quantities as a treat or training aid. Keep monitoring his weight to ensure he does not continue losing.

 

It sounds like you are off to a great start!

[Jayd]

Thats grey't, try all kinds of foods and veggies. Corn and Head lettuce and leaf lettuce isn't a good choice to feed parrots, their mostly water, Romaine is better, Dark green leafy veggies are the first choice, Dandelion greens, kale, carrot's and carrot tops, beet's and beet greens, some Swiss chard, Turnip and mustard greens. Also Yellow Squash, zucchini, butternut and acorn squash, Sweet potato's, Snap peas, snow peas etc are great. Then there's Cheerio's, Garbanzo bean's, brown rice, Orzo pasta, Whacky-mac. There's so many threads, check them out...Jayd

[judygram]

Welcome home Oscar and he seems to be settling into his new home already, it will take a while but he is off to a great start.

A word of caution on a couple of things you are offering him to eat, grapes, corn and lettuce are fine for an occasional treat but it should not be a major part of their diet, grapes are mostly water as is the lettuce and corn doesn't have much nutritional value just starch so limit these. A better choice instead of lettuce is greens, dark leafy types, kale, mustard, beet and collard, if you want to include a little lettuce make it romaine instead of iceberg.

I don't know what time he gets up but he should probably go to bed before 11 pm in my opinion, they need 10 to 12 hours of sleep and even though they usually get in a nap or two during the day he needs adequate sleep or he will be grumpy.

That was great that you had family in and they had a chance to hold and play with him, it is essential that they be socialized to make them a better pet, everyone benefits from a well adjusted grey that does't mind having other people around besides their immediate flock family.

Its natural for them to lose a little weight but do monitor it every day to make sure he doesn't lose any more and to see if he gains it back, keep doing it daily to get an average weight and then you can just do it once a week or so.

[Jayd]

Dan Judy and I posted at same time! Haha....Daily weighing as Dan and Judy said is "Really" important!!. Please, "No Peanuts in shell", only roasted unsalted peanuts.......

[aeriga]

I wuold reccomend, that if your switching him to pellets, offer a little measured out carefully in small quantities so he can't eat his fill of it and make sure he has eaten pellets before hand. Gradually decrease what he was eating and increase the pellets.

 

He was on pellets before he left the store but they were hagens i believe, we did give him a few trial pellets of harrisons while he was still at the store to see if he liked them and he ate them so we figured that he would be fine with it. but now he only has harrisons, so i assume it will take awhile for him to adjust.

[danmcq]

I just noticed one thing, your grey is 16 weeks old and only weighs 389? That is on the very bottom end of the weight scale. Is he a small framed grey?

 

Just asking, I am not saying anything is wrong with him. Maybe he is fledging right now and thus they automatically eat less to lose wieght and increase lift for those flying aerobatics.

 

I know you have a vet check scheduled as well, so you'll be in good hands and know what type of health your baby is in. Looking forward to hearing more and seeing TONS of photos.

Edited July 13, 2010 by danmcq

[Georgiesmum]

Oh its so exciting bringing home your new grey Also i bit nerve wreaking hoping that thier ok and that your doing everything right Cant wait to hear how the vet appointment goes Good luck

[Luvparrots]

Oscar certainly is a cutie!!!! I look forward to hearing how his homecoming progresses!!

[aeriga]

I just noticed one thing, your grey is 16 weeks old and only weighs 389? That is on the very bottom end of the weight scale. Is he a small framed grey?

 

Yes he seems to just be small, he weighed about 416 when we brought him home and then he dropped to 370 and now he is at 390.

 

He did go to see the avian vet and she said he was fine we switched his food, and he is eating fine now. I guess he is just a picky eater He also had blood work done and everything came back fine.

[danmcq]

That wonderful news!

 

I would love to see photos.

[aeriga]

Okay here are some photos

[Spock]

Thank you, good looking baby, nice home for the sweetheart. Maggie

[Malikah]

What a cutie pie! One thing I would suggest is getting rid of the dowel perch and find (or make out of bird safe wood) a nice tree branch for in his cage. Try to find one with bark or texture that is not slippery and has varying thickness.

[judygram]

Oscar is adorable and he has a nice setup to play on, he certainly is enjoying his toys at the moment, thanks for sharing the pics of Oscar, what a handsome fella he is.

[Lambert58]

I just noticed one thing, your grey is 16 weeks old and only weighs 389? That is on the very bottom end of the weight scale.)

 

Dan,

 

Our greys: a CAG(F) and a TIMGO(M) have never broken 400g. They've had 3 visits to the vet over the last 18 months and everything has come back just spiffy. Just a data point.