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CAG

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Hey everyone, new guy here. I owned a B&G macaw for 14 years (raised from just 9 weeks old!) and loved it, amazing bird. Unfortunately I had to sell him several years ago, but he went to a great husband and wife who owned other parrots and animals on a large farm, so that was good for him.

 

Anyway, I've wanted another parrot for a long time, it was between another macaw or a grey. Due to a variety of reasons I decided on a CAG. I just put down a deposit on one, been looking for a long time. It'll be around 8 weeks old when I bring it home. Pretty young but I hand-fed and weened my macaw with no issues so I'm confident this will go just as well. :)

 

I'm on the hunt for a really nice gym, don't want a cage, never had one for my macaw and he was amazing, basically lived on me or his gigantic play gym. Any suggestions for manufacturers/builders of great gyms? Space is not an issue, the bigger and more elaborate the better I suppose. :)

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Now why didn't I think of that user name? :D

 

Welcome to the Grey forums. Have you considered a hanging play gym? We're ditching our floor standing gym in favor of a hanging gym. They already have cages that they use as gyms - in and out and all over. Might be something to consider. We ordered ours from Parrot Play World

I was stumped for a user name...tried something generic...and was surprised it wasn't taken! :D

 

Thanks for the link. I really like the idea of a hanging gym, specifically for the floor space savings and ease of cleanup under it. Then again, some of the floor standing models seem to have a bit more real estate for the bird to climb around on. I have a couple months to prep for its arrival so I'll keep researching...

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Hello Cag and welcome to our family.

Yes it is surprising that no one has taken that user name until now but its short and sweet.

In my opinion I think you should invest in a cage even if you don't plan on using it for what will you do with your bird when you go out for a while or take a trip for a few days, a bird needs a safe place to be when no one is home to keep them from getting into something that could harm or kill him. You may be at home all the time but you never know the day may come you have no choice, accidents happen after all and if you have a cage handy then it will be a life saver for your grey.

Please do read thru the many threads here as possible for lots of useful information from members who have been there and done that and do not hesitate to ask any and all questions you may have.

I look forward to seeing some pictures of this new baby when you get some to share with us.

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Welcome to the forum CAG. I look forward to hearing more about the baby grey you have chosen and seeing photos when you have the opportunity. Compared to a puppy dog mentality macaw, your going to find a grey is much more complex and challenging. As Judy said, I would really recommend having a cage for your grey. They need a safe place they can be in when time outs are needed or when you are away or have company that might not enjoy getting bitten. :)

Edited by danmcq
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I was stumped for a user name...tried something generic...and was surprised it wasn't taken! :D

 

Thanks for the link. I really like the idea of a hanging gym, specifically for the floor space savings and ease of cleanup under it. Then again, some of the floor standing models seem to have a bit more real estate for the bird to climb around on. I have a couple months to prep for its arrival so I'll keep researching...

 

That's exactly why we're moving to non-floor standing gyms. The only drawback is you have to have a hook in the ceiling wherever you want to have the gym. Moving a hanging gym is much easier than our homemade floor model. The floor underneath a hanging gym can have a flat blanket or whatever instead of some wrapped mess. It can all disappear in a matter of seconds too unlike the floor gym. As for real estate, they make a version for Umbrella Cockatoos and Macaws that is fairly large. Our floor standing gym is huge and they don't use 3/4 of it. Our two birds fight over the top-most perch and they seem to spend 90% of their time around that perch.

 

Here's my thread inquiring about hanging gyms when I first started looking. Check out Shanlung's response and links. His stuff is always interesting. I'm planning to make a couple of versions like his for foraging opportunities in their bird room (my wife doesn't want eyesores in her living room so I have to get a nice purchased one for that space). The clay pots mimic what they forage on in the wild. Pretty interesting stuff that guy blogs about. Worth reading his stuff but there's lots of it.

 

I've been researching hanging gyms for a while and those are the best I've come up with off-the-shelf. Keep us updated on what you find, you might find something a lot better than what I found.

Edited by SterlingSL
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Hello Cag and welcome to our family.

Yes it is surprising that no one has taken that user name until now but its short and sweet.

In my opinion I think you should invest in a cage even if you don't plan on using it for what will you do with your bird when you go out for a while or take a trip for a few days, a bird needs a safe place to be when no one is home to keep them from getting into something that could harm or kill him. You may be at home all the time but you never know the day may come you have no choice, accidents happen after all and if you have a cage handy then it will be a life saver for your grey.

Please do read thru the many threads here as possible for lots of useful information from members who have been there and done that and do not hesitate to ask any and all questions you may have.

I look forward to seeing some pictures of this new baby when you get some to share with us.

Thank you for the opinion on the cage, you make a very good point. Although I will be with the bird most of the time and I never liked the thought of keeping a bird confined to a cage, safety is obviously a primary concern. I think I will buy a cage and use it for the occasions when it's absolutely necessary.

 

Welcome to the forum CAG. I look forward to gearing more about the baby grey you have chosen and seeing photos when you have the opportunity. Compared to a puppy dog mentality macaw, your going to find a grey is much more complex and challenging. As Judy said, I would really recommend having a cage for your grey. They need a safe place they can be in when time outs are needed or when you are away or have company that might not enjoy getting bitten. :)

Thanks! I know the birds are smart, and probably smarter and more complex than I realize yet. After the advice here I think I will get a cage, though it may see very little use it'll be there when I need it. :)

 

That's exactly why we're moving to non-floor standing gyms. The only drawback is you have to have a hook in the ceiling wherever you want to have the gym. Moving a hanging gym is much easier than our homemade floor model. The floor underneath a hanging gym can have a flat blanket or whatever instead of some wrapped mess. It can all disappear in a matter of seconds too unlike the floor gym. As for real estate, they make a version for Umbrella Cockatoos and Macaws that is fairly large. Our floor standing gym is huge and they don't use 3/4 of it. Our two birds fight over the top-most perch and they seem to spend 90% of their time around that perch.

 

Here's my thread inquiring about hanging gyms when I first started looking. Check out Shanlung's response and links. His stuff is always interesting. I'm planning to make a couple of versions like his for foraging opportunities in their bird room (my wife doesn't want eyesores in her living room so I have to get a nice purchased one for that space). The clay pots mimic what they forage on in the wild. Pretty interesting stuff that guy blogs about. Worth reading his stuff but there's lots of it.

 

I've been researching hanging gyms for a while and those are the best I've come up with off-the-shelf. Keep us updated on what you find, you might find something a lot better than what I found.

Thanks for the links! I'll keep you updated.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I ended up ordering the "Ribbonwood Deluxe Rotating Flyer" from Exotic Wood Dreams. Great people to deal with. I had one of their large floor standing models for my Macaw and it was great. I'll post a high-res pic of the actual gym when it arrives.

 

100621lg.jpg

 

Still on the hunt for a cage, the "AE Large Corner Cage" might fit the bill.

 

large_corner_cage_l.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

I'm going to pick him/her up this Sunday, just a wee 8 weeks old. Got a bunch of toys and some Kaytee Exact High Fat Hand Feeding food; not sure if I'll use it until I talk to the breeder about what they've been feeding [no name yet]. Picked up this large cage (black, though):

 

Kauai%20PT%20450%20New.gif

 

And this gym from http://www.exoticwooddreams.com/:

 

(click to enlarge image)

unnamed.jpg

 

And last but definitely not least...out with all my non-stick cookware and in with stainless steel stuff. SS is strange to cook with at first, not that I know what I'm doing behind a stove, but when I actually attempt "cooking" and get side-tracked with life at least I won't prematurely end my birds' life! Obviously I'll update this thread with pictures when [no name yet] is home.

 

Sooo...here goes nothing!

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Hello CAG, welcome aboard. The Grey is in all the means a superb petting right discussion stage that has an incredible attraction to its regular comers to it, and it surely seems to all of us that this is a amicable platform to have our most desired happiness; now anyway, specializeddatarecovery is a clean website for moving for a loved moment while for all for a period of great relationships to refresh our inner mind to accelerate our further actions next time; good luck for our awesome Greys and happy parrots for all of us, see you all next time visit, keep okay.

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When we got our first parrot, I did a lot of reading about what to do right. This forum has been a tremendous resource. Also, just before bringing home my baby, I found "The Parrot Problem Solver" by Barbara Heidenreich to be an excellent asset. By reading about some of the issues some parrots develop, it opened my eyes to human behavior that seems to feel right in the beginning with a baby but might set the stage for later issues. It gave me the insight to ask questions and think long term. This time of bringing home your wee one is so very special. Enjoy every moment. Congratulations on your little one and thanks for joining us.

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Home safe, she's doing great! Seems to be adjusting very well. She's eating pretty well right off the bat, I was expecting about ~40mL 3 times a day but she's been telling me she's done after about 20mL, so I've been feeding until she quits and then again after about 6-7 hours, 3 times a day. Crop has been fairly full after feeding, completely empty in the morning.

 

Couple questions...

 

Do they get enough water with the Kaytee Hand Feeding formula alone? I've given her warm water, she's not quite sure how to drink it from a bowl yet but she's taken some gulps and seems to be figuring it out. Just wasn't sure how much water they usually drink by themselves at 8 weeks.

 

Around what age do you start introducing other foods?

 

She fell asleep in my arms last night after she preened for a while, so I'd say she's adjusting nicely.

photo.jpg

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