Another bird?

[Spider]

Hi Maggie--Spider and I are getting along. I have resolved myself to taking it slow with the food issue and am experimenting with different seed mixes and use pellets with fruits and veg mix daily in another bowl. I also give her some of my food if I see an interest. She and I will be traveling to Minnesota the end of August so it will be an experience. It is interesting that she is not much into toys but seems to get enough entertainment from being on my shoulder and following my household trekking. I sometimes do a little rough and tumble play with her (not too extreme) like put her upside down and tickle her neck with a finger--she sits still for a bit for that then its a twirl around and back on my shoulder. I hope I don't scare her one day?

I was thinking of a companion bird in the future. Would a Quaker parrot ( I was thinking of two) be a good match or should I focus on another Grey? I am also interested in live birds? What is your take?

[Maggie-]

Please be careful about the play with Spider. Remember she is a PREY animal and not a dog. If you terrify her, she will become phobic of you. That can be resolved after a long period of rebuilding trust, but you don't want to put her through it.

When something scares an animal (predator and prey), they can become phobic of what was with them when the pain occurred. For example, if a dog is hit by a car, it may become phobic of the tires....or the last thing seen...or a man with a hat trying to help him....it is all association. If you rough house with Spider and scare her so much that her genetic wiring triggers her instincts into a FEAR OF PREDATOR mode, she will be phobic of you. This happens often with Greys because they are "slow maturing" animals (takes them a longer time to develop), so she is missing much of the training, especially parental training, of what is/is not a predator.

This is a long way of saying please be gentle and slow when you play with her. The on back and tickle and swirl back to shoulder seems okay but do it softly. I say this because a GPR subscriber wrote me one day that their Grey was terrified of them....what happened? They had just been playing all kinds of chase games with her the night before. Well, the answer was that the chase game terrified the bird and triggered his phobia.

Also, if you are traveling, you need to get her acclimated first. Has she ever been in a car? Have you taken her on outings? Do you know what you are putting her in on the trip and is she comfortable with it? When they are away from their territories they become nervous. The first time is scarey....so you need to work on some of the steps before you go out. The Helpful Hints section has tips about travel.

About food: please give here more fresh, organic chopped vegetables than other things. Please refer to the article section which has lots of nutrition articles. I give my guys the MASH diet. You may want to read about it. I give my own version of it.....but you can read about the concept. http://www.africangreys.com/articles/nu ... shdiet.htm

Do you have a copy of my book: African Grey Parrots: A Complete Pet Owner's Manual? If has lots of good tips, and a whole chapter on nutrition. You can order one through me or Amazon.com
http://www.africangreys.com/greyplace/autographbook.htm

Forgive me for the onslaught of advice.....but I also write things for others to read while helping you. So, please don't get overwhelmed. And PLEASE do not stop posting. We don't have enough people asking questions here.

Have a wonderful day!!!
Maggie-

[Spider]

Hope you are well. Thanks for the reply. Spider has traveled in my car and we go out for walks. I think she'll adapt well to the trip on the plane and the new surroundings. Food is another matter. She will not eat mesh of any kind. I have four ice cube trays in the fezzer since last month. I am experimenting with seed mixes now. Last night I experimented with three mini bowls of mixes for her to chose one and she seemed to like one more than the other two so that will be her primary. I am thinking the veggie and mesh takes a long time so I'll just keep trying with different veggies until I see she likes an assortment. Right now its pees, corn, and red string beans. The only fruit she likes is apples. Of course she'll drink OJ and any shake mixture (I think bc of the suggar). She also likes yogurt. She won't touch Harrisons. I've done most everything published to get her to eat it. I took advise of one of your subscribers, however, and mixed the Harriosn's with her fruit and veggies and hope she will eat some of it in a effort to get used to it.

Today I showered her, but she did something different. After drying, I placed her on her perch and she went to her water bowl and continued to sprinkle herself with water! Her first self bath.

In terms of the play, Ill be more gentle. I try to get cues from her if she is in a position that may not be too comfortable. Usually there is a squawk or a squirm which prompts me to let go. She seem to like being upside down. But I am holding her so as not to fall as so that she feels secure. She also seems to like to hang from my finger for a few seconds upside down too. I usually use this as a distractor when she is getting into something mischievous. But I'll be gentle. When she flies off, I wait then see when she is looking and pick her up. I also do this if we are out side. I wait till she gets to the ground safely then ask her if she want to go up. Its always met with a look upwards --a yes type look!!

Hope you and the babies are well.

John

[Maggie-]

John,

The best way to introduce veggies is to get excited about them yourself. ..eat them...and be possessive about them. Then when Spider is REALLY curious, let her try and then grab it back. Keep doing it until she is into eating them. I'm sure you do that as it sounds like you've done lots of reading. A primarily seed diet is not so good.....Have you tried pureeing something like sweet potatoes or butternut squash? That will get some of the beta carotene in her and you can disguise the veggies in the puree. If this works, perhaps you could give her a spoonful or two every few days. I do this with my "girls" often.

Please do go to the Helpful hints section on travel. There are lots of tips about flying. Also, when you are on the trip, she will be more nervous than usual. She will not eat much. That is a time when you can let her have her fill of her "JUNKFOOD," as it may be the only thing she will eat when very nervous. The nervousness is normal in a territory which she has not experienced:
http://www.africangreys.com/hints/travel.htm

The showering sounds great! You may also want to get a glass casserole dish and put some water in it on top of her cage.....encourage her to play with the water and take a bath.

You are a GREY'T Dad and are working so hard with this special little lady!!! Congrats! But I have one last word of caution about outside. I think I'm reading that she can fly and you take her outside. When she flies away, you let her go to the ground and pick her up. Please be aware that if there is anything out of the ordinary that may scare her, such as a car backfire, or someone yelling, and so on...... that bird is going to take off and she will not know how to get back to you. PLEASE do not take her outside unless in a carrier when you are on your trip.

I have had to comfort SO many subscribers who have lost their birds by flying away outside. It usually is a miracle when you get them back. They cannot care for themselves outside. They do not know how to forage. They don't know how to come back home. Just PLEASE be extremely careful.

Blessings,
Maggie-

[Spider]

Hi Maggie--

OK to quell fears, I did not mention that I have her in a flying suit w/ a poop pouch. She does not go out without it and it has really helped when, exactly as you said, a car horn has beeped or something has scared her and she has taken off. Interestingly, she flies with full throttle force and she is in a different zone. At that moment she is unable to obey the step up command. The leach attached simply suspends her a foot in front of me and I get to glide to a safe place on the sidewalk below me. I wait till reorient her self and she looks up then I bend over and ask her to step up. This is all happening with plenty of on lookers--I wonder what they are thinking? I live in a part of NYC with many Latin Americans so parrots are perceived as endearing and fun, so most folks are more curious than fearful, many of the store owners know her by now and welcome her--even when she is squawking in the store to my schagrin Anyway, her wings are clipped so she cannot get height. If the suit does not go on, she does not go out.

After writing to you, I want back to the ice trays of mesh and tried one cube. WOW. This time she did eat it it. I was so impressed. She made a mess but it was a good mess as she was nibbing at the morning oatmeal mesh I had made several weeks ago. I will try the evening veggie mesh tonight and see. I think its an issue of age, comfort and experience. She is still a baby, 5mo. If it took many years to figure out what they liked, I will have to be patient and maybe she'll grow to like some of the meshes over time and the raw stuff too. Today its off to the farmer market for some of her favorite raw veggies for the week. Her resistance is my resistance to eating my own daily veggies and salad. I guess I have to do what my doc has been saying for a while too..

Thanks much for maintaining this web sight. Maybe few postings meas everyone is content

John

[Maggie-]

Good morning John,

I am relieved to know that Spider is in a harnass when outside. What a relief. I'm sure your posting will help others reading see the the need since you describe that she goes in a different "ZONE" when scared. Her instinct steps in and her survival adrenalin is running. You are handling this perfectly well.

Since she is only 5 months old, I also suggest that you do feed her pureed foods every other day or so. This assures that she is getting some nutrition while learning to eat. Five months is SO young and she is JUST learning to eat on her own. In the wild, they stay with their parents for the first year....and as they learn to eat on their own, their parents continue to feed them the regurgitated foods. The puree is a way of helping to sustain her while she is learning to eat. I suggest that at night you think about giving her some pureed butternut squash.

You can get Earth's Best baby food butternut squash in the little baby jars or cook it on your own. It is so easy that even I can do that! LOL! All you do is put a small amount of water in a casserole dish (one half inch of water)....then cut up half of the squash. Put it in the dish with the skin facing up. Cook it at 350 for half hour or so, until soft. Scoop it out...add a tiny amount of water to help you puree ...cool and feed her one or two spoons full. You can add other kinds of foods you want to do in there too. Do this at night so she goes to bed feeling secure and not hungry.

I can imagine what the New Yorkers are thinking! You are a GREY'T Dad!!!

Blessings,
Maggie-

PS: I HOPE everyone is content....but they can ask questions, if they need to.

PPS: I know you know this, but I need to add that we have bacteria in our mouths that can make our birds very sick. So, humans should NEVER give their birds food that has been in their mouths. I just always feel a need to write this when mentioning food.

[Ann]

[Maggie-]