Pregnancy, newborns, babies, and CAGs. Help.

[munch]

Great news, I'm pregnant. Bad news- we just got our grey, she's only 7 months old now. We let her fly around the apartment. I've been told she's fine to keep except not to handle the poop. That is just about impossible if we continue to have her freedom. Also nervous when the baby is born about having her fly around the house...especially when she gets closer to her terrible twos. I'm quite concerned about her and we are going to do. My husband is great but he isn't the cleaniest person and he doesn't notice all the poop and birdie things that would need to get cleaned up frequently. We can keep her limited to her cage, but that's just cruel.

 

Anyone or opinions on the cruelty of keeping her cage bound? Is it really as cruel as I imagine?

 

Anyone have experience with pregnancy, newborns, etc and a grey? How about a very young grey? Does it make a difference?

 

Any other diseases or things I should be aware of during this time? other than the one transferred via poop, forgot what it's called.

[ranaz]

HI There munch,

First congratulations on your pregnancy...great news.

Well My brother & his wife have faced the same dillema when my sister in law got pregnant, but they have found a compromise. They have kept their parrot coucou yet they have restricted his freedom to one room in the house. Whenever he is in the living room with them, he has to be in the cage, but he still can fly around i the guest room. He gets few hours of freedom daily in the guest room, where my brother gets to play with him. My sister in law avoided that room most of the time and of course cleaning that room was the husbands duty.

Now their baby Lynn is almost 10 months old. Coucou still enjoys flying in the guest room, but has to play in his cage when he is in any other room. Seems to work out fine. Baby Lynn loves watching him and he loves immitating her voice. Seems to work out perfectly for all...

 

Hope you find your own solution soon.

Rana

[Luvparrots]

Congrats on the new baby. I am a grandmother so I babysit my new grandson occasionally. He was born 3 months premature and is as cute as a button. Anyway, when Dino is around Ana Grey seems to know that he is very special. Where she dive bombs the other birds if I am interacting with them she knows that Dino is off-limits when I am holding him or really at anytime. When Dino was littler (he is now 19 months old) Ana Grey would just sit on the back of my chair and watch him while I was feeding or rocking him. She seem to know that he was a baby and very delicate and much more needy then she. Now Ana Grey loves to be with me and on my shoulder (we are always fighting that one) but when Dino is around she is very cautious and watchful and very careful to give him room. She patiently waits until I am free to tend to her. I personally believe our greys understand what is going on and really do want to fit in and be a part of the family. Of course, I never forget that Ana Grey is an animal and I keep a very close eye on her when Dino is around as I do when my older pug is around the baby.

[reggieroo]

We picked up Murphy as a 12 weeks old grey when our daughter was only 5 months old. My thinking was more along the lines of if we have them both around the same age they will grow together & learn to respect one another & this does seem to be the case. Now Murphy is just over 12 months old & my daughter is just over 14 months old & they don't bother one another in any way. My daughter is crawling all over the place & Murphy is fully flighted & no poop accidents yet. I recently bought a cage with a seed catcher skirt round the outside to catch any poops just in case my Daughter thought Mmmmm what's that on the floor, it looks tasty. It all seems to be working out ok, my daughter doesn't bat an eyelid when Murphy swoops past with his pterodactyl cry & vice versa when she starts crying, he doesn't seem to notice or bother.

[hammco]

I would consider clipping wings for a while, for the safety of bird and baby. Dont clip the babys arms tho...thats not necessary! Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!! Congrats on the baby! Timmy is clipped for his own safety as well as my 1 year old daughters safety and it works fine. He has access to alot of play areas by climbing to and from them and he sits on the perches in rooms with us...the baby cant reach him and he knows he cant go anywhere. Timmy is VERY VERY happy and one day he will fly, in a year or so when its safe for everybody.

 

As far as the poop and mess while ur preg...just keep it clean and everything will prob be ok. If a vet or vet tech has a baby on the way they keep working and dont have any probs, so you and the baby will prob be just fine...they are around WAY MORE POOP THAN YOU!

[munch]

Thanks for the advice! A lot makes sense, i hope it works out. I had my neice and nephew over yesterday, 4 and 2 years old. Took's first time around children, she looked like either she wanted to attack them, the competion perhaps, or was only displaying curiosity. Somehow, I think its the former. She tends to be a little aggressive. But I hope it was the latter and she was curious about the children! It was the first we ever saw her try to approach anyone other than us (hub and me).

[mrmontana]

If it helps you.. I grew up with Sam... My parents CAG.. they got him in 1975 and he is still doing quite well! My parents raised 3 children.. My sister came in 1976 and I was 1978.. they even had my little brother in 1992... Anyways bottom line.. My mother handled his poop and whatnot while pregnant... No problems.. Sam was there before us and now he is still there and when I say he is part of the family I mean it! He was a powerful figure growing up.. I remember him seeming to almost look after us kids when we were young and would yell when we would fight and get my sister and I in trouble. He is a powerful influence in my life. I hope yours will do the same with your children.

[rbpittman]

I'm gonna ask the dumb question - why would you handle the poop? It's not like cat poop which harbors deadly bacteria and has been proven to cause prenatal problems. (BTW - I had cat's while pregnant with my oldest, now 25, his father scooped the poop.) Precautions can be taken either way - wear rubber/latex disposable gloves while cleaning cage, wear a simple mask while cleaning cage, put husband in charge of cleaning up cages. Congrats on the pregnancy, and the baby grey, they will be life long friends.

 

This link should prove helpful: http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/pets.html

Edited January 14, 2011 by rbpittman

[Morana]

Congrats on the pregnancy!:-)

Please don't clip your birdies wings! :-( There was a good thread about restricting his freedom to one room in the house and put him in a cage when he is in another room (when the baby is born). Hubby can clean the cage and the poop. And a good thread about the gloves and the mask if you clean it yourself.

You can gradually introduce baby to your birdie and vice versa, of course with your or hubby's constant supervision. I think birdie will know that he is a baby and be careful about him.

My Zak is always very quiet when I am sick. He watches me all the time and sometimes comes to me to check on me. If he gets somewhere on me (hip or shoulder), while I lie, he stands very still, doesn't do much of anything, except watches me. He knows I am not well, respects that and takes care of me the best way he knows how. So there is a good chance your Grey will also figure things out and they will grow together as friends. Make sure that you don't neglect your baby Grey.. :-)

[chezron]

I agree with previous posts, in that these guys are much smarter, more sensitive, and because of this, have a tendency to act appropriately in new situations. Also, please don't clip the bird's wings as developing their flying skills while young is an important step for the bird in becoming a confident adult, and good household family member.