New grey...questions about several things.

[Trinkapuppy]

I brought home a two year old grey yesterday (see my post in the welcome section for....well...too much info).

Very little info came with her. I am her fourth home in two years. Her final home, too, if I have anything to say about it! ANYWAY. Her owner previous to me had her for six months. She knew NOTHING about her life before she got her--apparently bought her at a flee market. =0 (

Anyway, today she emailed me, and sent a scan of the hatch certificate she thought she had lost.

Soooo....I just go off the phone with the breeder. I have no info between 12 weeks of age and six months ago, BUT. What I have learned....scares me. Why oh why do I ALWAYS take rescues with needs!?

 

Anyway.

My concerns.

 

She incubator hatches. =0 ( (this was devastating for me, as personally I think this is the same as taking a puppy away from mom at birth and bottle feeding, with no contact of any other dog. I'm a firm believer in "no dog to be separated from mom before 12 weeks and no bird to be incubator hatched, ever" Maybe with the exception of, say, the Spix)

 

Her babies are weaned by 12 weeks of age. She thought abundance weaning meant "offering more than sunflower seeds when they wean"

 

She sends them to a couple of different hand feeders who hand feed for several breeders, and return them to her when they wean.

 

She does NOT have a closed aviary, it is not MAP certified, and she does a four week quarantine w/ an avian panel (no CBC, no tests for PBFD, PDD, chlamydia, etc.) before putting her breeders in with the others. (Thankfully, I have most of those tests done or in the works for her....$300 for her and a decent cage, $300 at the vet. Go figure. Everything we have back currently is negative).

 

She has the birds clipped before they fledge. So far as I know, she has never had flight. =0 (

Her primary breeders are those birds that went nuts at puberty and were no longer workable as pets. (fantastic genetics, right?)

 

More than one of her breeders (she sent me pics of her aviary over email--PROUD of it!!!! Blech!!) is plucked!!!! AGH!!!!!

 

Her breeders and her weaned babies are all kept in hardware cloth cages. The pictures CLEARLY showed white deposit on most of them. Jynx, my caique, was diagnosed w/ zinc toxicity. I did several injections of calcium to chelate the metals out of him, and only recently has he been pooping properly and gaining weight. This baby is a bit slender, but her poop looks OK. I'm thinking that two years later, she probably doesn't have problems. I hope? May contact my vet about this to e certain. She ONLY eats zupreem bright coloured crap. I mean. Pellets. So far, anyway.

 

Finally, and this was from doing some research and talking to someone else who has a bird from her, she smokes in her nursery.

 

I mean....is there anything else she could do wrong?

 

So....my question is....what kinds of challenges do I face with her growing in flight feathers? I have 24' ceilings. I'm VERY concerned that, as she learns to fly, she's going to hurt herself BADLY by getting up to the top and falling. Hubby's not keen on the idea of putting up netting to divide the middle area. Oh, and, mostly tile on the ground floor. =0 (

 

I'm concerned about the fact that she was incubator hatched and force weaned...anybody else have birds with that known history? Any advice?

 

Anything else you can see from this list of horrors that you would suggest I prepare for/keep my eyes out for/start preventative training for?

 

I am horrified. I'm glad she's mine. I'm glad I know. Knowledge is power. But.....I just want to cry over this news. Honestly....it just horrifies me. Believe it or not, I have never managed to buy a brand new baby bird, but I have researched what to ask about...and basically, she had the opposite answer to EVERY question I would ever think to ask. I loved this girl the moment I saw her previous owner let her up onto her shoulder, and then inform me "oh, well, now we have to wait until she's ready to come down. Hope you have an hour or two" (I got her off her shoulder with no injury to either of us in moments) and saw that she had one perch, and learned that she had three toys, all six months old (all just rope at that point--no chewies, no puzzles, no leather, no anything), and learned that I was her FOURTH home. She stole my heart. And now I'm terrified about what I've stepped into. What is her puberty going to be like? What can I do to prepare?

Help! I'm scared....and I want her to live a happy and healthy life!

 

Advice? Back pats? Horrible Nostradamus type prophecy? Please help! She will stay with us as long as we live, but I need to prepare for her future!!

[judygram]

Don't be such a worry wart, you are not the first by a long shot to get a grey that came from deplorable conditions and had less than satisfactory background but from what you have told us she is a sweetheart and is with someone who seems to know what she is doing so leave that all in the past and go forth from this moment. I assume you have had her at the vet for a wellness check and if everything checks out fine then all is fine and at two years of age she is still a baby yet so enjoy your grey and quit worrying about what was.

[Trinkapuppy]

LOL....But I am a worrywart!

Just is who I am.....I like to prepare for potential problems before I encounter them, and I think that by preparing myself for the things that can go wrong, I am more prepared to deal with them when the situation arises. And don't get me wrong, I don't let the worry bleed over to my interactions with the birds. I aim for "steady confidence" when dealing with them. I suppose I just need to talk out my worries once in awhile.

 

In any event, I think my biggest immediate concern still remains--she has been unflighted for two years, and never was allowed to fledge. What kinds of problems should I anticipate having to deal with as her flights come back in, and what kinds of precautions should I be taking for when she does?

[danmcq]

What a heart wrenching first 2 years of life. Thankfully, she has landed in a knowledgeable and loving home.

 

As the primaries start coming in and lift becomes available to her, start trying to get her to hop/flap to say your arm or from your arm to couch, bed etc. so the landing s are soft and she gets the idea and most importantly starts building muscle and confidence. It's not like she will be instantly flighted in one day with all primaries in. The downfall of not having all primaries as you teach her, is she will not have full control for a while. Turning, hovering etc. will only come with lots of practice. Being 2 years old and never allowed to fledge means she will be at a little disadvantaged in learning flight skills, as those neural network paths were never built in her fledging weeks that most birds are learning those skills between 10 and 20 weeks old.

 

You'll be ok, based on what I have gleaned from your introduction and thoughts/questions. Just take this initial time to make her feel safe, loved and in a non-confrontational environment with no stimulus from toys, foraging etc. You are going to be introducing her to things over time that will bring her 180 from this point in time. At 2 years old, you will of course be dealing with the terrible twos as she is trying to assert her will. Just learn her body language and you'll be fine.

[Trinkapuppy]

Alright, so rather like fledging a baby, but with more care, b/c it'll take longer. We used a blanket held by a couple of ppl when we were fledging birds at the bird specialty store I worked at....oh, so long ago. LOL....I suppose I can probably use a lot of the same principles.

[Luvparrots]

Not to worry birds are meant to fly and if they want to, they will. When I got my grey at 4 months the breeder had already clipped her and it was a whole year before she could fly. When she started to get new flight feathers she would practice to fly on her own. She so wanted to fly and at first I was terrified that she would break something as I have hardwood floors. I did the launch to the sofa and close hanging perches until her wings got stronger. When I realized that..... Hey, where would she have learned in the wild... daaa.... the forest and the hard ground.... I quite worrying. As long as she was getting some "wind" in her wings, she was okay. And that is the thing if your grey is getting some "wind" in the wings the landing will be okay. Some do fall like lead weights and will need more practice. So read your grey and see where her comfort zone is. Ana Grey is a real flyer now, she zooms around the house and can make the sharpest turns in the house. So don't worry about, could happen, might happen, pat yourself on the back and get on with your sweet grey's new and happy life!!!!! Enjoy!!!!!

[MarcusCAG]

The original post has been removed.

Edited April 1, 2016 by MarcusCAG