Zoom Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Hi. I live with a giant orange pussycat named Duncan, a 7-month old lovebird named Oboe, and a 13-year-old Double Yellow Headed Amazon named Kazoo. We recently put a deposit down on a baby African Grey Congo who will be coming home in early April. I got Duncan at the Humane Society several years ago. I raised Oboe and his siblings from the age of two weeks. I adopted Kazoo three months ago from his original family. I love them all a lot, and they all seem pretty fond of me too. I can't wait for the new baby to arrive. I've done a lot of reading, but I have two questions I hope someone here can help me with. 1) I understand his name should be something easy for him to pronounce. Can you give me some general guidelines about what makes a word easy to pronounce? Should I avoid certain letters? Only use one or two syllables? 2) In terms of health and quarantining. Is quarantining to protect the new bird, the existing birds, or both? The baby is coming from a very reputable breeder. I doubt that he will pose any risk to my other birds. The Amazon lived in a one-bird family his whole life until I got him a few months ago. He seems very healthy. The lovebird has been exposed to other lovebirds - his parents and siblings from two clutches. He and his parents all seem to be perfectly healthy. But I understand lovebirds can carry (but not show symptoms) of diseases that could be very harmful to Greys. I don't have a huge amount of money for vets, but I want to take any essential precautions. Should I take the lovebird to the vet and have him tested for these diseases? Thanks for any light you can shine on these questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Hello Zoom and welcome to our family, so glad to hear you are adding a baby grey to your flock, you are in for some greyt times. Please read thru the many threads for lots of useful information and do ask questions you may have and we will help you in any way we can. The quarantine period is to protect them all as the new one might have a disease that you don't want the others to be exposed to and vice versa. If you want to take your lovebird and have it tested then that is up to you and your new grey should be vet checked even though it comes from a reputable breeder, its just good common sense. If you want to share some pictures of Obie and Kazoo we have an other birds room where you can put some of Obie and we have an amazon room where some of Kazoo can be shared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 (edited) There's very few diseases that parrots can have that don't show themselves. These diseases are extremely serious and death can occur. Most of these birds need long term treatment with avian DRs. Some will get sick and it'll be obvious. Others will get sick but never show any symptoms. They're know as carriers. Most of the diseases that I'm thinking about will usually kill a small parrot. The reason for quarantine of a new bird is to make sure that the new bird is healthy and can be mixed in with other healthy birds. I don't know where you heard that lovebirds are carriers of any diseases. If the lovebird was a carrier, the first bird to get sick from it would be another lovebird. If the lovebird is a carrier, it would have gotten it from the original parents and others in the clutch may have also been affected. You say all the birds were well including the parents. A carrier of a disease will more than likely infect other species besides greys ( For instance, your amazon, not just greys ). Any of those avian diseases won't affect 4-legged animals. Personally, I think what you heard or read is wrong. Thousands of people have lovebirds mixed in with other species of parrots and have no problems. The birds that are considered high risk carriers of diseases are the wild birds outside ( birds that can't be pets) such as chickadees, titmice, sparrows, robins, crows, juncos, orioles and more. They're known as natural carriers Many deers are also carriers of disease ( deer ticks). Many rodent type animals in the wild are also carriers ( rabbits, squirrels, rats, mice) Your best bet would be to stay with a bird board such as this one so that you can actually see specific problems concerning greys and other species. About the biggest compaint concerning lovebirds is that they're very loud and a small amount of greys will imitate it. Disease? I don't think so but if a vet check will make you feel better, go for it. ***I understand his name should be something easy for him to pronounce. Can you give me some general guidelines about what makes a word easy to pronounce? Should I avoid certain letters? Only use one or two syllables?*** A grey will pick up just about any name or sound that's appealing. Not all greys like the same thing. It's an individual thing. As far as actual talking, it's not a good idea to only use one word. Greys are well known for imitating sentences and those sentences should have highs and lows in it. Understand that some greys may never talk in the human language at all so don't get the bird because of talking abilities. Edited February 22, 2011 by Dave007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoom Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 Thanks Judy and Dave, for taking the time to reply. That's reassuring that my little lovebird probably isn't carrying some secret hidden plague. I had heard this information on the Eclectus forum a few months ago, when I was still trying to decide between an Eclectus and a Grey. I'm toying with the names Simon, Wilbur, Finn, Flynn or Avery for my baby Grey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenzMama Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Welcome! You've come to a great place full of wonderful members who are eager to help & share in this new life-long adventure. The personal experiences give a more realistic viewpoint of living your life as a parront. Be sure to get all the health records for your new baby + locate an avian vet with a good reputation. Your possible name of Simon really jumped out at me! Guess it's my inner child having fond memories of playing 'Simon says' so long ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Hi Zoom, welcome to the Grey family! Can't wait to hear about your new grey when you find the right one. Are you looking for a Timneh or a Congo? We have an Amazon Room so I am looking forward to hearing about Kazoo. Pictures of your flock please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butttaxi Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Hey I am new to parrots let alone Greys, I didn't even know anything about issues with difficult names. I think we probably gave ours a very difficult name because I had a time saying it to be honest. It wasn't until he started saying his name that I actually started calling him by name. His name is Rorschach (rawr-shack) it didn't roll off the tongue if ya know what I mean. David (bf) would repeat his name and call him by name all day while I was at work and he eventually picked it up and he says it very clearly and he seems to LOVE it! He is always saying " Hey RAAWWR SHACK!" or my personal favorite "Do the Rawrrrshack" (quot my bf and I love from the new shriek movie "Do the rawr!" ) I like Simon, thats stuck out to me as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animalINSPIRED Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Congrats on your baby Grey. All your names are cute. I have a year old grey whose name is Averi. She says says it "Avvv-reee", it's quite adorable. Whatever you choose will sure to be a great fit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoom Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 I met my baby last night! I got to pick him from five little boys. I took someone's advice from somewhere on this forum - I can't remember exactly where I read it, but someone suggested letting the baby pick you. So I kneeled down and started talking to them, and they all hung back except for one little boy who toddled right over to me. I picked him up and he snuggled right in. He was so warm and soft and affectionate. He gently explored my nose and chin and fingers with his beak and tongue, and he really seemed to like my voice. We were both smitten. (I was so happy about that, because I usually have trouble making decisions.) I can't wait to bring him home. Four more weeks. I still haven't decided on a name, but I'm leaning towards Simon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdnut Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 I like the name Simon, too. It's different. (My son's name is Simon, and he always enjoyed being the only Simon in his class.) Whatever you name him, it sounds like you two have already fallen for each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Yes sometimes it happens that way that the bird picks you but no matter which one you get it will eventually come to love and trust you, it just takes time, glad you got to see the babies and now it is a waiting game and that is the hardest part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Welcome! With Greys, a simple name is not necessary at all. If they decide to use a word or phrase, they can say it just as well as you can, down to sounding exactly like you or the voice they decide to use. Half the time my wife thinks I am talking to her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Can't wait to see some pictures of your chosen one!!!!! Congratulations!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoom Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 This is Simon on March 2, 2011, the day we met and fell in love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Simon sure is a cutie and snuggling up on you, so sweet, thanks for sharing the pics with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 What great pictures of you and Simon!!!! And yes, he is a cutie!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katana600 Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Oh golly, I just love seeing all the new babies. I also love the idea of naming him Simon. Then when you are talking about him and say "Simon says" we can see how many people jump to play the game. He is just beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenzMama Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 What a handsome little boy ~ and the affection is already apparent from your pics. May he fill your home with joy for decades to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezron Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Awww! Sweet stories! I am glad he made your decision for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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