more about ravenous Grey

[lyndell]

Sorry, I was away .

thanks so much for the helpful insights re: 14 year old starving grey. Ive had her since she was a chick. Shes my baby. We go on walks together for fun....thats why she cant fly , inside or out, she just goes down. shes a walking bird. i do most of it for her.she does peruse the floor and shred carpet when she can.

Over the years she has gotten sores on her feet. The vet told me i was overfeeding her, she shouldnt weigh more than 500 gms, so thats where i started cutting back on her food. i also changed her perches, got her a rope to stand on and slimed her feet with aloe vera, (she hates it). My parrot store recommends the same perches i was using and they know their stuff, so I still couldnt figure it out except for her weight. Well, she thinks shes hungry, starving.i feed her now more than every before and all she wants to do is eat more. If shed eat more veggies it wouldnt be so bad. She is very picky and throws broccoli down like its an insult to her integrity. i finally got her on carrots recently,13 years later, but only the little ones, she doesnt like the fresh ones from the garden.

So, is 509 grms NOT a concern? Ive just NEVER fed her so much food before, so I am trying to not over do it. she sure was happier when she pigged out at will.

lyndelle

[judygram]

According to Dave, our resident expert, a grey will not overeat, your grey just eats more than most but if she wants it then give it to her but make sure it is healthy food and a good variety of it, she just has a healthy appetite and enjoys her food, much like a lot of us.

[lyndell]

Thanks for the expert input. Today I fed my sweetie lots more and she was the happiest bird.

Gads did she put away food!!. We went on a walk to the Day of the Dead festival and then i took her out at dark for halloween and she had so much fun.

So if it isnt weight and i have the appropriate perches,which Ive been told, what causes the sores on her feet?

She has gotten them for a long time.

[danmcq]

Her weight of 509 is not heavy for a grey. It all depends on if the are small, medium or large framed. YOu may want to seek another vet if the one you presently use thinks 509 is some type of an over weight flag. Greys can weigh into the 600 gram range.

 

It sounds like you are doing wonderfully and she is a beautiful Grey.

[JillyBeanz]

Hi Lyndell - Harvey never has his head out of the trough! I am sure that if there was a parrot eating contest he'd be up there for Gold! The sores on his feet could be caused by him rubbing them in the wrong manner or climbing using the "wrong" part of his feet. I'm a few pounds overweight - but there's nothing wrong with the soles of my feet!!

 

Like Dan says, he isn't too big - there's been people on here with weights of 600g before - there's a weight thread around somewhere. Like Judy says - as long as the diet is healthy with plenty of variety he'll be fine. Sounds like you are having great fun together!

[Greywings]

I would ask if they have done a skin scraping to look at or done a culture to see if she might be fighting a little yeast or bacterial infection if not you may want to look into that. You can also sanitized her perches every few days in case there is something there.

[Chris and Matt]

What sort of food does she eat anyways? Lots of fruits and veggies? Pellets? Seed? Does she toss a lot of her food out of her bowl or is she actually eating it all? Just curiosity!

[lyndell]

thanks,

When the vet said she was overweight, he did a culture I beleive. My husband has had problems with yeast so I wonder if weve passed on something to her regarding her appetite. I dont think the perch is causing any infection, sores perhaps.

Ive tried giving her less sweets, more veggies, she just gets mad but at least shes eating carrots now and loves them. took 14 years!!

lyndee

 

 

I would ask if they have done a skin scraping to look at or done a culture to see if she might be fighting a little yeast or bacterial infection if not you may want to look into that. You can also sanitized her perches every few days in case there is something there.

[lyndell]

She gets cooked cereal in the am then some fruit/veggie pieces before i leave for the day, now i try to give her carrots and celery as she will eat those. Broccoli is an insult. I was giving her pellets during the day for a while after we went away and she ate plenty of those .I give her Roudybushs pellets for dinner or the green organic ones which powder alot. She tosses broccoli and anything else she doesnt want but otherwise seems to consume most of the food. She loves seeds but gets obsessed with them so they are a treat and i give her more of those in winter. She gets some food from my plate from time to time, potato, salad, fish, egg. She just didnt use to obsess with food before. It happened after we moved her into the dining area also, but was worse after we returned from a trip. I dont know what happened, but she started insisting on getting food at lunch time too and thats where it all began.

[chezron]

Is her liver function good? I don't know if African Greys can get fatty liver disease, but one symptom is the appearance of unusual hunger. A long time ago my quaker parrot acted unusually ravenous and it turned out to be fatty liver. I stopped feeding him fatty foods like egg yolks, and seeds, and switched to fruits and veggies and organic pellets. He got some medicine and he is fine now.

[lyndell]

What sort of food does she eat anyways? Lots of fruits and veggies? Pellets? Seed? Does she toss a lot of her food out of her bowl or is she actually eating it all? Just curiosity!

 

i changed her pellets and shes much happier. strangely the organics didnt seem to agree with her.

she eats too much fruit but ive been changing that, cooked cereal i make, pellets and veggies/fruit. she tosses what offends her.

[chezron]

I think I would get a second opinion about the weight. My grey is close to 500 gms, at 470, and the vet thinks he's fine. I sure don't think 509 is too much. Is she flighted?

[judygram]

If she is a large boned grey then her weight is fine but I would get her off the sugar laden foods, she definitely doesn't need fruit every day, more veggies with some grains, legumes, some seeds and pellets. I usually leave pellets available at all times for my grey.