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Alex, my rescued 18 years old African Grey


samansad

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Safe for birdy bell:

 

icon-img-ss_bell._607.jpg

 

Also the fastener at the top, we used to use those until I spotted my Jardines one day with his toy hanging from his beak. He got it off, then got it clipped onto his beak and the hole near his throat. We have since switched to quick links. He can undo quick links too, don't ask me how, but he can't screw it back together on his beak. I swear, he's a little engineer birdy....

 

Quick-Link-Primary.jpg

Edited by SterlingSL
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Lovely video of Alex playing with the toy you made for him. You are so right about how these greys watch everything we do and figure out how things work. While we were traveling, Gilbert learned to open her locked travel cage. I used a "quick link" to secure the cage door in addition to the lock and she watched me and disconnected that as well. She had a lot more time on her hands... er talons. As every day with her passes I am finding more surprising things after years with her.

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Thank you guys :)

 

So latest update for Alex is that I brought him to vet. You can watch the video on how his vet treated him. Sad news is that Alex is 1.2lbs while his vet said he should be 2lbs. He said Alex had bad food for a year or even more. That is why he is so thin. I hope I can help him to eat better food. Feel free to give me comment on better feeding and his vet.

 

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It is a good idea to wait a few weeks on rehoming prior to the first vet visit. Our vet explained that the stress of changing homes make a lot hormonal changes and is not the best baseline for bloodwork. It was surprising that your vet weighed Alex in pounds/ounces, it is the first I have heard weight expressed that way rather than in grams. It isn't as bad as you think, the vet said 1 pound 9 ounces which is over a pound and a half. He would like to see him gain 7 ounces to get him to about two pounds. Feeling his keel bone is an indicator of thinness as well. You are doing well with Alex, these changes will not happen overnight even though his care and food improved overnight when he came to live with you. I would suggest getting a gram scale and weighing Alex once a week just to keep track. I have a perch to set on my scale and that seems to be the easy way to weigh Miss Gilbert. She is a Timneh and weighs just under 400 grams. Don't let yourself worry, just keep up the good work with Alex, the rest will come.

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Whoaaa - I 've seen a lot of "What does your Grey weigh" and not once have I ever seen a Grey even come close to the 2lbs (907 grams) mark. 1.2 lbs sounds about right to me but I guess that vet would know what they are talking about. Is Alex a really big Grey or something?

 

Wondering if anyone else here has ever heard of a Grey reaching 2lbs?

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It is a good idea to wait a few weeks on rehoming prior to the first vet visit. Our vet explained that the stress of changing homes make a lot hormonal changes and is not the best baseline for bloodwork. It was surprising that your vet weighed Alex in pounds/ounces, it is the first I have heard weight expressed that way rather than in grams. It isn't as bad as you think, the vet said 1 pound 9 ounces which is over a pound and a half. He would like to see him gain 7 ounces to get him to about two pounds. Feeling his keel bone is an indicator of thinness as well. You are doing well with Alex, these changes will not happen overnight even though his care and food improved overnight when he came to live with you. I would suggest getting a gram scale and weighing Alex once a week just to keep track. I have a perch to set on my scale and that seems to be the easy way to weigh Miss Gilbert. She is a Timneh and weighs just under 400 grams. Don't let yourself worry, just keep up the good work with Alex, the rest will come.

 

Well Alex was 1lbs 9 ounces with the towel and the towel was 7 ounces. This means Alex is 1 lbs and 2 ounces only. But still that means almost 500 grams which is heavier than Miss Gilbert right?

Also his vet said that when he touches Alex chest he can feel that Alex is under weight.

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Whoaaa - I 've seen a lot of "What does your Grey weigh" and not once have I ever seen a Grey even come close to the 2lbs (907 grams) mark. 1.2 lbs sounds about right to me but I guess that vet would know what they are talking about. Is Alex a really big Grey or something?

 

Wondering if anyone else here has ever heard of a Grey reaching 2lbs?

 

Ok you guys are right. I just did a google search and almost everyone said that normal weight is around 400-500 grams. I also like to hear from others.

Honestly I am doubting the vet now! I mean I am not sure if he was a good vet or not.

 

http://beautyofbirds.com/AverageBirdWeights.htm

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Miss Gilbert is a Timneh and they tend to be smaller. My Grey is a Congo and she's a big girl yet she's never broken 490 grams. She's typically 460 grams but she's a female.

 

Some people freak out when they can feel the keel bone. This is normal, even more so in birds that are not flighted. My girl is a constant flier and she still has a very noticeable keel bone.

 

Question about your vet, which I may have missed: is this an actual avian vet? I know it can be hard to find avian vets.

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Question about your vet, which I may have missed: is this an actual avian vet? I know it can be hard to find avian vets.

 

Well I did a search in the internet and comments said this is a good vet for birds. He by himself said he has 30 years experiment with birds. But now I am not sure at all.

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Sterling is right, Miss Gilbert is a Timneh (TAG) which is smaller than the Congo African Grey (CAG). However, she is also on the petite range of TAGs at 385 grams on a recent weigh in. My mistake on the towel weight, I thought he said he subtracted the weight of the towel. Regardless, there is quite a range between Congo African Greys, so, while your vet could be accurate in wanting to see Alex gain some weight, I just would be greatly surprised if your boy is meant to weigh 2 pounds. Like I said, I never heard a vet express the weight of my birds, or anyone else on the forum express the weight of their birds in pounds rather than in grams. My thoughts are that you shouldn't let yourself worry too much about how much Alex weighs or should weigh as much as keeping a weekly diary so you can see any trend and more importantly you can identify a significant weight loss which would be more of a concern than a stable weight or slow steady gain over time as he gets settled in with you.

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The first thing I would do is call the vets office and ask what weight they recorded for Alex. The vet could have misspoke or you could have misunderstood.

I think in the video it says 1 lbc and 9 ounces and then we weight the towel and it was 7 ounces and in his summary it written 1 lbs and 2 ounces

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You have had Alex about three and a half months now. I am in awe at how well he has made this transition. The two of you seem like old friends and he is very talkative and responsive to you. This is a match that is meant to be, you are both very lucky! You are such a natural with him and he already has a lot of rapport with you and just seems like you have been together forever. Congratulations on being such a great companion to him. He seems so happy!

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Is he saying Alex as well in there? Sounded like "Alex.. good!"

 

Alfie was listening intently and kept responding with the odd whistle!

 

Love the video. He definitely thinks he's a good boy! Hehe

He is very lucky to have ended up with you!

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What makes us laugh is when he says "No No!" Then after that he says "Alex.. good!" He does it because when he screams, we tell him "No", and when he does a good job we tell him "Alex good" or "good job Alex"

So basically he says "No!" then he encourage himself saying "Alex... good" hahaha :D

  • Haha 1
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