EZFrag Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Hi there, I received my African grey from a breeder this week. I suspect it is female, so for now we can call her Clara. I'm not using names for her yet, incase she is actually a he. Anyway, Clara's chest is very bare. There isn't any fluff on the crop area. I was told by the intermediary that the breeder didn't care much for the little ones, so I suspect that it might be formula that wasn't cleaned off that may have caused it. Also, her crop is pushing up over on the right hand side of her neck. I am uneducated, and so overfed her last night and was horrified by how she seemed to moan out of pain. Stayed up with her, caressing seemed to help a lot though. At around 02:30 her crop went back to normal, and I let her sleep on my chest (a move I regretted a little bit later the morning) It seems she is fond of playing with anything that is bright lime green and bright red. Is there anything I should be concerned about? (I'm following the feeding schedule posted somewhere here in these forums) Kind Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranaz Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Hi EZFrag, I have replied to your other post concerning bathing your baby. Now i understand it might not be an option for you to send your baby back to the breeder till it is completely weaned. I am sure other members will give their advise too. Please be careful with the amount of formula and the temperature. At this age the crop is visible so dont over feed. It is NOT recommended at all to let the baby sleep next to you. Many babies were sadly lost this way. You could wrap the baby in a soft towel and put her in a small box close to your bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EZFrag Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 Ah, I see. Small box. She hates the boxes. She becomes extremely aggressive when I put her in one and after a while she just manages to climb out. I'll figure something out for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acappella Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 What about a plastic bin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EZFrag Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 (edited) I try to keep her there, but she climbs out again, even with a small blanket over. So I just put her with the bucket into the cage now, just as a precaution. I'm going to see if I can get her proper toys today. She doesn't seem interested in the custom one I made her anymore. She is eating properly still, vigorously asking for more food afterwards. Her weaning time is coming soon though. Another week or so. Even though I enjoy doing it, I cannot stress how important it is to get the little ones when they are already weaned. It is literally (yes, literally) a crap load of work, and the process of raising an unweaned little one takes up a lot of time. Three hours of my day goes to only feeding her. Then there is the huge amount of time going into supervision. There is no free time with this, and it can definitely NOT be done by anyone who is running a normal day job, with kids, without discipline etc. The load would simply be too much and the little one would suffer severely. Edited February 23, 2015 by EZFrag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Lots of breeders keep their babies in plastic bins that have sides high enough they can't climb out of, be sure to put some kind of small stuffed animal or a small towel bundled up to resemble one so she will have something to snuggle up to. About the weaning, let her decide when she is ready for weaning, in other words continue to hand feed her formula for as long as she will eat it, we call it abundance feeding. You can soon start giving her small pieces of vegetables and such for her to try eating but give her the formula as long as she will accept it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brat Birds Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 You don't say how old she is, but from what you did say, I would say she is no where near weaning. Does she eat any fresh foods or pellets? If so, how much? If you really want to cut down, start with one of the mid-day feedings. But, don't take the morning or evening feedings away until she tells you she is ready. Mine didn't stop his evening feeding until he was almost 5 months old. Some have not given up the last one until even older. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 I dont recommend getting a baby before sixteen weeks. That is not always what works for some families. I can imagine the work it takes to take care of those unweaned birds. I got Kiki my Amazon at sixteen weeks, but it took her an additional nine months to be fully weaned. YIKES! Yes,,,, she became the BEST eater of veggies and healthy stuff and taught everyone else how to eat right, but it was alot of work! EZfrag hang in there! Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robopetz Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 How is little Clara doing? Is it possible to post a pic of the chest? Wishing the best! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EZFrag Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 How is little Clara doing? Is it possible to post a pic of the chest? Wishing the best! Little Clara isn't little any more. She EXPLODED in size. She is eating her pellets like it is a new hobby (Still giving formula though) and I started to introduce her to the outside. Let her prance about in the backyard while I stand guard. Luckily the neighbour's cat is too fat and lazy to try anything, and our own one doesn't give a hoot. The dobermann is submitted to her today, so I think everything will be just fine. Somewhere in the next 2 weeks I'll let her try veggies, and fruit maybe. I'm trying now to get her to drink water as well. I drink water from a clear bottle in front of her, and then pour the rest into her water bowl. I did that with her pellets as well. Unfortunately a no go for the water yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 (edited) Little Clara isn't little any more. She EXPLODED in size. She is eating her pellets like it is a new hobby (Still giving formula though) and I started to introduce her to the outside. Let her prance about in the backyard while I stand guard. Luckily the neighbour's cat is too fat and lazy to try anything, and our own one doesn't give a hoot. The dobermann is submitted to her today, so I think everything will be just fine. Somewhere in the next 2 weeks I'll let her try veggies, and fruit maybe. I'm trying now to get her to drink water as well. I drink water from a clear bottle in front of her, and then pour the rest into her water bowl. I did that with her pellets as well. Unfortunately a no go for the water yet. You really shouldn't try to train her to drink water because all birds drink water in very tiny amounts throughout the day. If any bird didn't drink water, the bird would die. All you need to do is show her where it's located and make it easy to get to. The bird will do the rest. One other training thing----a bird can't be trained to drink water. Edited March 13, 2015 by Dave007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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