Understanding Grey body language

[Halo]

I have a 4month old african grey and just recently I am observing some strange behavior. I cant make out if its anger or happiness, I would love for someone to look at it and tell me what they think the bird is doing. I have included a link in dropbox to the video;

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rgqjs7q3rskuq07/20170904_064828.mp4?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/q2nn90sjlljllld/20170904_065422.mp4?dl=0

he comes to the door in happiness when he sees me, I took him out and sat him at the top of the cage, I made 1 scrambled egg, which I give him once a week and once cooled down put it in the cage and put him in also. i left the door open but when i went close to him he has bopping his head with beak open like he was telling me he is really hungry feed me fast. then i was seeing signs telling me to piss off. so not sure.

his diet on a daily basis is a mixture of nuts and little seeds with 80% tropican high performance pellets. I also give him apple, blue berries, melon on a daily basis also

 

[Tami2]

Hello Halo,

You have a very young bird there. It appears from your description and videos that he's not yet weaned. You need to feed him like his parents would.

Also ease up on the daily fruit. My Avian Vet recommends fruit more as a treat than a daily staple. The fruit is high in glucose and can cause increased bacterial growth in their gut.

He's adorable! Good Luck.

 

[Halo]

Hello,

You have a very young bird there. It appears from your description and videos that he's not yet weaned. You need to feed him like his parents would.

Also ease up on the daily fruit. My Avian Vet recommends fruit more as a treat that a daily staple. The fruit is high in glucose and can cause increased bacterial growth in their gut.

He's adorable! Good Luck.

Thank you for the fruit advice, is that the same for veggies? would the bacteria growth cause problems? i have been giving him fruit mixed in the pellets for a week now so is there something i should look out for if there is bacterial growth?

Well he only does that when really hungry otherwise he will sit and eat the nuts and pellets on his own. maybe the weaning process was a little sudden.. it happened over 2 days. he stopped eating liquids and started eating pellets within the period of 2 days. so far he has been eating pellets for 1 month.

he does poo alot can be watery, white, green and can be black if he had blue berries

should i do anything to ensure he is weaned fully or will it just stop over time do you think?

 

[Halo]

i notice he has little to no powder. his feet are pink, is that normal at this age? when do they start producing more powder? I had a look online and could not find reliable information

 

[Tami2]

Hello,

You have a very young bird there. It appears from your description and videos that he's not yet weaned. You need to feed him like his parents would.

Also ease up on the daily fruit. My Avian Vet recommends fruit more as a treat that a daily staple. The fruit is high in glucose and can cause increased bacterial growth in their gut.

He's adorable! Good Luck.

Thank you for the fruit advice, is that the same for veggies? would the bacteria growth cause problems? i have been giving him fruit mixed in the pellets for a week now so is there something i should look out for if there is bacterial growth?

Well he only does that when really hungry otherwise he will sit and eat the nuts and pellets on his own. maybe the weaning process was a little sudden.. it happened over 2 days. he stopped eating liquids and started eating pellets within the period of 2 days. so far he has been eating pellets for 1 month.

should i do anything to ensure he is weaned fully or will it just stop over time do you think?

I'm not sure about the whole weaning process. However, I would hand feed him when he is doing that for sure. Eventually he will get it as he develops and matures. Is he drinking okay? My Grey prefers his water warm and gulps it up.
My vet recommends 50% + Nuggets/Pellets and than fresh veggies, grains etc. There is a wonderful list on foods what's appropriate and what's dangerous. I'll see if I can find it & link to it.

I'm still new here myself.

 

[Tami2]

i notice he has little to no powder. his feet are pink, is that normal at this age? when do they start producing more powder? I had a look online and could not find reliable information

Here is the link.
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...afe-fresh-foods-toxic-food-lists-sprouts.html

I'm not sure about the powder or feet coloring. As this is my first parrot.
Levi's feet are dark gray.

Scroll through the forums, there is a wealth of knowledge here.

Good Luck.

 

[LordTriggs]

Halo. He's not weaned fully and needs to go back to the breeder for a few days. Don't undertake hand-feeding yourself as it's insanely dangerous for the baby. 2 days is in no way enough time to fully wean, they need about 2 weeks really of eating solids without begging to be fed to be considered weaned

 

[Halo]

Hello,

You have a very young bird there. It appears from your description and videos that he's not yet weaned. You need to feed him like his parents would.

Also ease up on the daily fruit. My Avian Vet recommends fruit more as a treat that a daily staple. The fruit is high in glucose and can cause increased bacterial growth in their gut.

He's adorable! Good Luck.

Thank you for the fruit advice, is that the same for veggies? would the bacteria growth cause problems? i have been giving him fruit mixed in the pellets for a week now so is there something i should look out for if there is bacterial growth?

Well he only does that when really hungry otherwise he will sit and eat the nuts and pellets on his own. maybe the weaning process was a little sudden.. it happened over 2 days. he stopped eating liquids and started eating pellets within the period of 2 days. so far he has been eating pellets for 1 month.

should i do anything to ensure he is weaned fully or will it just stop over time do you think?

I'm not sure about the whole weaning process. However, I would hand feed him when he is doing that for sure. Eventually he will get it as he develops and matures. Is he drinking okay? My Grey prefers his water warm and gulps it up.
My vet recommends 50% + Nuggets/Pellets and than fresh veggies, grains etc. There is a wonderful list on foods what's appropriate and what's dangerous. I'll see if I can find it & link to it.

I'm still new here myself.

that would be fantastic, he drinks well but does not really eat red or green peppers, or many veggies. ill keep trying.. look forward to this list you are looking for

 

[Halo]

i notice he has little to no powder. his feet are pink, is that normal at this age? when do they start producing more powder? I had a look online and could not find reliable information

Here is the link.
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...afe-fresh-foods-toxic-food-lists-sprouts.html

I'm not sure about the powder or feet coloring. As this is my first parrot.
Levi's feet are dark gray.

Scroll through the forums, there is a wealth of knowledge here.

Good Luck.

BIG thanks

 

[Halo]

Halo. He's not weaned fully and needs to go back to the breeder for a few days. Don't undertake hand-feeding yourself as it's insanely dangerous for the baby. 2 days is in no way enough time to fully wean, they need about 2 weeks really of eating solids without begging to be fed to be considered weaned

ok so let me clarify, the breeder weaned him gradually by decreasing the liquid feeds to twice a day by he was 14 weeks. i then spent another week by continuing to do this but he gradually didnt want it and within 2 days stopped eating liquids and loved solids. he does eat and its just in the mornings he does this for a few minutes. i put the food in his cage and he takes to it.

i dont hand feed based on what you said in the hope he will just stop doing it. even if he doesnt i see no harm as he then eats when i give him the food in the bowl. as long as this is not sounds of anger warning me to go away and i am not reading it correctly. then im not bothered

 

[LordTriggs]

Halo. He's not weaned fully and needs to go back to the breeder for a few days. Don't undertake hand-feeding yourself as it's insanely dangerous for the baby. 2 days is in no way enough time to fully wean, they need about 2 weeks really of eating solids without begging to be fed to be considered weaned

ok so let me clarify, the breeder weaned him gradually by decreasing the liquid feeds to twice a day by he was 14 weeks. i then spent another week by continuing to do this but he gradually didnt want it and within 2 days stopped eating liquids and loved solids. he does eat and its just in the mornings he does this for a few minutes. i put the food in his cage and he takes to it.

i dont hand feed based on what you said in the hope he will just stop doing it. even if he doesnt i see no harm as he then eats when i give him the food in the bowl. as long as this is not sounds of anger warning me to go away and i am not reading it correctly. then im not bothered

I would recommend calling the breeder and saying he's begging for food. He shouldn't be when home with you, like I say 2 days of refusing feeding isn't enough, hand-feeders here have had birds who will refuse for a couple days then go straight back to begging and 14 weeks old is young for a grey, that's normally when they start to wean, not finish weaning. If you don't want to do that then you need to check his weight daily with a scale. If it drops then he isn't getting enough food and needs to have those evening feeds which once again is the breeder's responsibility

 

[Halo]

Halo. He's not weaned fully and needs to go back to the breeder for a few days. Don't undertake hand-feeding yourself as it's insanely dangerous for the baby. 2 days is in no way enough time to fully wean, they need about 2 weeks really of eating solids without begging to be fed to be considered weaned

ok so let me clarify, the breeder weaned him gradually by decreasing the liquid feeds to twice a day by he was 14 weeks. i then spent another week by continuing to do this but he gradually didnt want it and within 2 days stopped eating liquids and loved solids. he does eat and its just in the mornings he does this for a few minutes. i put the food in his cage and he takes to it.

i dont hand feed based on what you said in the hope he will just stop doing it. even if he doesnt i see no harm as he then eats when i give him the food in the bowl. as long as this is not sounds of anger warning me to go away and i am not reading it correctly. then im not bothered

I would recommend calling the breeder and saying he's begging for food. He shouldn't be when home with you, like I say 2 days of refusing feeding isn't enough, hand-feeders here have had birds who will refuse for a couple days then go straight back to begging and 14 weeks old is young for a grey, that's normally when they start to wean, not finish weaning. If you don't want to do that then you need to check his weight daily with a scale. If it drops then he isn't getting enough food and needs to have those evening feeds which once again is the breeder's responsibility

Ok thank you for the advice. I will check his weight daily. What should the expected weight be for a 17 week grey or is this irreverent. Also dont they lose a bit of weight when learning to fly. He has just started flying?

I could just give him a liquid feed once at night before bed myself rather than staying him out and sending him back. Which is a 2 he drive each way. By hands weaning him am I not in the danger of causing him to stop eating solids.

 

[Halo]

I hope more people will reply back. Its there not many members. Maybe the subject is of no interest. Thank you to those that have advised. Today he didn't make those noises and just fed from his bowl. I weighed him at 482g and I will monitor thus daily

 

[Birdman666]

What I see is a bird who is not especially confident yet, which is common with young CAGS. He wants to interact, he wants to take food from you, but he is still somewhat afraid/nervous around approaching hands...

CAGS do that. This will resolve itself with time and trust. CAGS need to be taught to accept things, and every bird goes at his or her own pace. Gradually expand the bird's comfort zone until he is confident with everything, and everyone, in his surroundings, and they aren't so hesitant.

 

[SailBoat]

Parrot Forum is a World Wide Forum that as a result has members in near every time zone. The Members that make-up this great Forum come with a very wide exposure to All things Parrots! Many enjoy reading and learning and rarely create Threads or write Posts to Threads like yours. It comes to a level of comfort with the subject matter and whether they believe that what they have to say will be of help, or worst of no help!

- Your Thread deals with very specific Topics that most Parrot owners have very little /limited knowledge.

- There are no paid experts here, only members providing their time to help others. That means that most all members are busy with their lives and stop in from time to time to catch-up with friends and when they 'feel' that can contribute create a Post. There are some Threads that may only generate a single Post. That happens! That said, that single Post may contain all that is needed at that point.

Enjoy, you're doing much better than most!

 

[Billdore]

Haha my Timneh afraid can grey tops the scale at 308 grams and is 2 years old. Only had her for a year though so I'll live the younger days vicariously.

 

[Aidualc]

Just my two cents: Nemo (my CAG) still does this (to some extent) and he is two years old. Of course keep an eye on the weight as has been mentioned but I think there is a level of bonding in the behaviour as well. When we first got Nemo we did get a small bag of eggfood from the breeder and I would feed it to him myself.. just to be on the safe side that he got enough food during the day and didn't just throw it all on the floor. It was more like an evening ritual that also helped with the bonding process so he understood that we would take care of him. He still eats eggfood when we present it to him, but it's more like an occasional treat. We knew he came from a good breeder who kept him a bit longer to ensure he had been properly weaned before coming home with us, but being a kid I think Nemo really enjoyed "being taken care of". It helped for us and we have never had any issues with him both mentally or physically. But obviously.. keep an eye out weight wise and look out for any behavioural changes. Otherwise use common sense and I think and should all be fine !