Couple of Questions

[cliftonite]

I recently adopted a CAG and have a few questions. Ive had Shadow,my CAG, for about 2 weeks now and I have a couple of questions. I am looking to get her a full spectrum lamp for her and I was wondering if this
one is adequate. I also wanted to know what kind of fixture I need to run on of those. Could someone find a link online? How long should the light be on? 8hrs a day? Or less?

She was in a 24" cage all her life and I got her a 32" wide cage right away. She also has quite a few toys and loves playing with them. The thing that is worrying me is that she is missing some feather. Under her neck, under her wings, and a little bit on top of her wings (right by her neck and it is much more obvious on the left side). However I have not seen her pluck any of her main feather. However she does pull out the white down feather occasionaly. Hopefully the vet gives her a clean bill of health next week. Now she has plenty of pin feathers under her wings, under her neck and on top of her wings and she absolutely LOVES getting scratched all over (only inside her cage and sometimes while she is outside ON her cage but never when she is on my arm) She used to bite in the first week, however she hasnt done that in a while.

While i scratch her she likes to chew/lick/nibble on my fingers. I try to discourage this behaviour with varying succes but she still trys to lick me. I have read as much as I could read about CAGs on this board, on google groups, the wonderful group on MSN, upatsix, etc. before I got her and am really trying to make sure that she has the best enviroment possible.

Her diet consists of Zupreem pellets, veggies (squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, kale, tomatoes, peppers (she loves habeneros), etc.), and fruits fruits (loves grapes, apples, watermelon, canteloupe, HATES bannanas with a passion (she will freak out if she shes an unpealed banana)). She will eat them raw or she will eat it with me at dinner as curry with rice. She also eats bread, will DEVOUR chapati and occasionaly will eat some chicken.


From the things that I have picked up on this board I have purchased dye from Vitacritter, added sweet potatoes and squash to her diet (helps with feathers), and bought a ton of crafts from oriental supply as well as random parts from ebay as well as paulie for the toys. I have also found this and this
websites for more toy parts.

I think thats all for now

[Skyebirdsmom]

No matter what the manufacturer says, no longer than 6 or 7 at the most hrs a day. Or you will start their hormones getting into an uproar!! 6 is all I use for my birds and it's perfect. No more, no less. I have the kind from Drs Foster/Smith that is clamp on light and I clampit onto the cage and have the bulb about 12" from the cage. He can bask in it after a bath or just hop around his large cage...getting 'sun' or not, as he chooses.
Good Luck,
Linda & Skye~

[kensbuns]

I have heard of some sucess with the Avi calm. You may want to look into that. Greys dont like change. They get kind of freaky. Try to limit change to small bits at a time. Good Luck

[ParrotletLover]

Some greys can be pretty sensitive, Barb is right. It sounds though like Shadow is adjusting well. I would recommend, if she'll allow it at this point, you bathe her more. It may help with the feathers, especially if she is going through a molt. However, don't do it if she doesn't agree.. it may overly stress her.

[cliftonite]

Originally Posted by ParrotletLover

Some greys can be pretty sensitive, Barb is right. It sounds though like Shadow is adjusting well. I would recommend, if she'll allow it at this point, you bathe her more. It may help with the feathers, especially if she is going through a molt. However, don't do it if she doesn't agree.. it may overly stress her.

She doesnt like it too much, but she gets a bath every other day right now. Hopefully when her shower perch arrives, she can have more fun in the bath. BTW, how long should her bath last? I try to wet as much of her as possible.

[The Outlaw]

Your bird will take about a month to settle in. Greys are by nature quite suspicious. I would continue as you have and introduce new things very slowly. Your cage sounds fine and the diet very good. Please be sure to add lots of dark green leafy foods (kale,mustard greens, collards, Swiss chard, broccoli) and even some cooked eggs and eggs shells to keep her calcium levels at normal levels.

Greys are notorious pluckers. I have one here that arrived a bloody mess. I'm happy to say that today she is in absolute perfect feather. It can be done. Don't push this bird too quickly. Make sure that you allow it to become comfortable with its surroundings. Spend as much time as you can near its cage, with the door open and simply talk to it, read to it and share whatever you're eating (so long as its not on the unapproved lists of course).

Do you know the gender of your bird? You can usually tell by looking under its tail. If there is any grey or pewter coloring on the red feathers, especially the tips, it is most likely a female. The males have solid red tail feathers.

I think you're gonna do very, very well. Congratulations.

[greyburd]

Congratulations on your new baby. I don't have any words of wisdom other than what's already been posted. But I wanted to emphasize what Nancy just said. Give Shadow some time to come around. S/He'll let you know what's appropriate and what's not. If you haven't done so already, pick up a copy of Bobbi Brinker's book "For the Love of Greys". I can't stop reading it. It's so helpful.

Please keep us posted, and post some pics!!!