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How to tell if my grey is a baby


staggy

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Hi all

I have had so many awesome responses from you all in my previous threads that i thought i would ask you on this one.

I purchased my grey on 08/01/07. he was sold to me as an 8-10 week old baby. Having prior handfeeding experience with other birds i decided the weaning process would be fine to do at home. My wife and i took the bird home.

The first thing we did was have him checked by a vet. all was good. no problems there.

As we started to learn more and more about things we looked into what the info on the band ment. We were kinda shocked to see that the band on our grey showed 2006. Having purchased the bird as an 8-10 week old "baby" we were surprised to see this. We have a breeder friend near where we live we took Simon too. He is now "supposedly" 15 weeks old. The breeder took one look at him and told us this was no young bird. he said his eyes are not almost completley black and he could just tell he was older. We were shocked at this, after we had been feeding him since we took him home.

We called the petstore and they are telling us this is the age they say....so why does it have on an 06 band?

Any info AT ALL will help us.

Also is it legal to put a previous years band on a new baby?

Thanks everyone!:P

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Hi Staggy,

 

Is the ring on his leg a closed ring ? by this i mean a complete ring that can only be put on a very young baby, or is it a split ring,you will be able to see if there is a join in the ring where it has been shut together with closing pliers ?

If it is a split ring it could have been fitted at any time,if its a closed ring it would be put on at a few weeks old.

 

Baby greys will have dark eyes, that start changing gradually at around 6 months of age.

 

Also many baby greys have a dark tip to their red tail feathers, they loose this during the first molt.

 

Can you load a picture for us ?

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Unless you have the hatch day from the breeder once they are a year old there are no ways to really tell.

Well untill old age starts showing but even then it is at best a guess.

When they are young they have no eye rings. When they get grown CAG have yellow eye rings and TAGS have grayish eye rings. You an see TAG eye rings on Ques fluffy pictures I posted.<br><br>Post edited by: Tari, at: 2007/09/08 23:49

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The band is closed. Although isnt is possible that they put that 06 band on an 07 baby?? This is so confusing! His eyes are light, but his tail is BRIGHT red tipped with a darker color, almost black. i'm going to try and upload a picture!!:laugh: this should be interesting

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:P Thats why i asked !!

Well i thiought i had solved it !! :angry:

 

Well he is a baby by the picture you loaded & i checked your pictures on your profile.

 

Does it say 07 anywhere on the ring ??

 

Some breeders here in the UK number their babies he may have been baby no 6 ?

 

Your rings are most likely different from what we have, can you make out anything else on the ring ?

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Staggy -

 

Comparing the Photo you posted to my CAG Dayo, he looks under 6 Months. Dayo is 19 weeks old now ...4 1/2 Months. With a flash or normal lighting in a room, his eyes look the same as your Grey.

 

It just sounds like an old Leg Band was used, as someoone already suggested. :-)

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:laugh: yum Branston , a girl after my own heart :)

 

Well i thought as much,im afraid i cant help no-more as your rings are different from the UK ones.We will have to see if any of the us members know how the rings are worked out here.

 

 

 

yes the band is annoying, but hey I wouldn't be too worried he is definitely a baby, i would say he is about 4 months old, As long as he is healthy & eating well, is he eating seeds or pellets along with what you guys are feeding him ? fruit & veg ?

Perhaps think about cutting back his handfeeding to maybe night times so he has a full crop before bed :)

 

Any worries give me a shout :P

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danmcq wrote:

Staggy -

 

Comparing the Photo you posted to my CAG Dayo, he looks under 6 Months. Dayo is 19 weeks old now ...4 1/2 Months. With a flash or normal lighting in a room, his eyes look the same as your Grey.

 

It just sounds like an old Leg Band was used, as someoone already suggested. :-)

 

Totally agree Dan i thought around 4 months, is it illegal Dan to incorrectly use a leg band ?

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Guest Monique

He is definitely a baby. His eyes will actually turn to a pale yellow when he grows up.

 

The bands are just something the breeders purchase (some don't even use them now) so they could be putting on bands that say "06" on them in 2020!! :)

 

The bands were originally created due to problems with people smuggling in birds from other countries because you could prove you had bred a bird by putting a closed band on it - that would be the only way you could get that type of band on is shortly after birth. Now there are plenty of parent birds available in the US and there aren't really concerns of people importing birds any more (at least not the common species that most of us keep as pets).

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Here is a picture of Makena taken a couple of days ago. He is 4 months old today. So that can kind of give you an idea of what a 4 month's old eyes look like. :)

 

makena_eyes.jpg

 

When we first got him you could barely distinguish the pupil, now there is definite distinction.

 

I think the bands have different meanings for different breeders. Makena's says "Aloha, HI 473". I guess it is a code that only they would know!

makena_eyes.jpg

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As others on here have said it still looks like your little guy is a baby. I am sure it is only a couple months difference from the date they told you. The pet store shouldn't have lied... but as long as he is happy and healthy I wouldn't worry about it! In the big scheme of things what's a few months :P??

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