Screaming parrot... Help!

[brfussne]

brfussne, I just noticed you're in San Diego. I got Nikko at a store (Our Feathered Friends) near Friar's Road and Mission Gorge Road, and I highly recommend them. Be prepared for major parrot noise if you go into their bird room, however!

I don't recall them having many greys, but they typically had a number of older macaws and cockatoos and a few eclectus, along with many young conures, cockatiels, and lovebirds. They also had several newly hatched poicephalus parrots of different types. The people who work there are knowledgeable, and will be able to answer your questions about parrots and help you find a companion bird that will really fit your lifestyle.

I also noticed that you're 21. Young is good when it comes to greys because they can live 50-60 years. Dante is very likely to outlive me. I would encourage you, though, to spend some time thinking about your life plans for the next 10 years. If you have plans for college or travelling or moving a lot, a grey might not be the best choice for you right now. You and your potential future companion grey will be much happier if you are sure you're going to have a reasonably stable life before you consider adding one to your flock.

Thank you Naurthon for answeing my question! I actually just put a deposit down on a CAG egg from a breeder in Texas!! I'm so happy with my decision! I've practically read every article I could and watched every Arican Grey video there is but there's nothing like hearing it from an actually African Grey owner. I know that Grey's aren't known to be loud but you never can be too sure! I got to be careful what I allow my Grey to hear .. i.e the smoke alarm lol. I'll be living in an aparment for the next 2 years here in San Diego, so I wanted a "quiter" bird. Constant babble, noises & talking is perfectly acceptable, just not screeching. I think a Grey is perfect. I have been to Our Feathered Friends. I did not really like their store. I had a deposit on a Yellow Collared Macaw and when I asked the store workers about the Macaw's previous owner or lifestlye that had caused it to pluck it's entire belly,back and legs and they couldn't tell me anything. They seemed very sketchy. The rest of the birds did not look plucked. Another bird store I visited was Bird Crazy. I really liked that store. They made you sanitize your hands before touching the birds, and they had workers monitoring the birds. I'm only in California temporarily for 2-3 years until I move back home to Indiana because my husband is in the USMC. I think my Grey will be comfortable with me working part time night shifts, only 6 hours a day, 5 days a week? My husband will be home with it during the nights I work. It will never be alone. I have everything planned out cage wise, and I already bought a few things for it's cage. I'm so excited. If you have any other advice or stories you'd like to share I'd love to hear them!!

[Naurthon]

Congratulations on your new egg!

Our Feathered Friends sometimes takes "troubled" birds and helps rehome them. There was a severe macaw there one time that was "severely" plucked. They rehomed it, at no charge, to a married couple with a good deal of parrot experience, and I was impressed that they actually interviewed the people to be sure they were actually able to give the poor bird the care it needed and weren't just someone looking for a "free" parrot. With rehomed birds, they may not know many specifics about the environment and care (or lack thereof) the bird previously received. I'm sorry you didn't have a good experience with them.

I'm guessing your husband is at Miramar? I used to live in Mission Hills.

[Munchy]

My niece has a grey. He is beautiful. He has not talked yet but he does imitate sounds, like her alarm clock

[brfussne]

Congratulations on your new egg!

Our Feathered Friends sometimes takes "troubled" birds and helps rehome them. There was a severe macaw there one time that was "severely" plucked. They rehomed it, at no charge, to a married couple with a good deal of parrot experience, and I was impressed that they actually interviewed the people to be sure they were actually able to give the poor bird the care it needed and weren't just someone looking for a "free" parrot. With rehomed birds, they may not know many specifics about the environment and care (or lack thereof) the bird previously received. I'm sorry you didn't have a good experience with them.

I'm guessing your husband is at Miramar? I used to live in Mission Hills.

Thank you for the congratulations! It should be about 10 more days till the egg hatches! Then i think the breeder said 3 weeks till hand feeding, pics and DNA sexing. I didnt have a preference between male or female. I should receive the baby in February at the earliest.

The Yellow Collared Macaw was 15 years old and was apparently living on the second floor with another bird & when they separated them it began plucking itself. I just don't know why they didn't try to stop it from plucking? From what I understand, it has lived at Our Feathered Friends its whole life. I never was given a straight forward answer so I'm not 110% sure. I ended up taking the deposit off of it because it was too loud for our apartment and it seemed to have a lot of issues I didn't think I was capable of fixing. I don't think anyone ever worked with it. It wasn't very friendly, sadly.

Yes, my husband is stationed at Miramar, but we live in La Jolla. I can't wait to move back home, im not very fond of California. I guess there's just no place like home!

[Munchy]

brfussne congratulations on finding your new family member. I really liked that yellow collard macaw from the pictures you showed, plus I am a sucker for wanting to help those in need. But it is always best to be honest with ourselves and make the decision we know we will have to live with for the next (however long the bird will live) years. I hope when you get your new you show us pictures.

With all the talk about the pet store I think I am going to visit it when next I am down that way. If my life were conducive to having another animal right now I'd go that that macaw. But to be honest I don't have the space or time for another bird. Animal Hoarders is keeping a close eye on me

[Naurthon]

How does a Marine afford to live in La Jolla! LOL Pay must have gotten much better than when I was in the AF!

I love La Jolla. I used to go to La Jolla Cove to meditate on the night of the full moon. There is some great snorkeling off the little beach at the north end of the park there (the opposite end from Children's Pool). And if you're feeling adventurous, in July and August, at La Jolla Shores, there are leopard sharks (sometimes hundreds of them) that come in close to shore. You can go snorkeling with them too! I made a video of snorkeling there. The picture quality is pretty bad...I had a cheap camera inside of an old peanut butter jar so I could film under water...but the adventure was still fun.



I was glad to get back home to Washington State. San Diego is nice, but I honestly got tired of the constant sunshine and warm weather. I missed my Seattle rain, not to mention my mountains and trees!

[brfussne]

brfussne congratulations on finding your new family member. I really liked that yellow collard macaw from the pictures you showed, plus I am a sucker for wanting to help those in need. But it is always best to be honest with ourselves and make the decision we know we will have to live with for the next (however long the bird will live) years. I hope when you get your new you show us pictures.

With all the talk about the pet store I think I am going to visit it when next I am down that way. If my life were conducive to having another animal right now I'd go that that macaw. But to be honest I don't have the space or time for another bird. Animal Hoarders is keeping a close eye on me

Munchy, I promise I'll post pictures of my baby Grey!

You're right about the being honest part. I really did want to save the Yellow Collared Macaw but I was worried that 15 years of abuse would be nearly impossible to correct & I began to question if I could rehabilitate it. I had 2 Budgies 5 years ago. I had no clue how to rehabilitate an abused bird. My husband & his family talked with me about it and they helped me decide that it was best to just buy a bird from a breeder and start new since I hadn't had a bird in 5 years. I hope somebody adopts the poor thing!! When my 2 years are up here, if it's still there, I think I'm going to go a head and adopt it. I should be bird savvy again in 2 years with my Grey. I also know what you're talking about with space and time. I have 2 dogs & 2 Chinchillas right now who need a lot of attention. Growing up, I've always had a lot of animals around. I just loved having a variety of animals living with us. Always have, always will. I already promised my husband after the Grey I wouldn't get any more until we moved back home though. I think 5 is plenty for us right now though haha If you get to visit the Yellow Collared Macaw please update us and let me know how it's doing! I plan on going back and visit it as well.

[brfussne]

How does a Marine afford to live in La Jolla! LOL Pay must have gotten much better than when I was in the AF!

I love La Jolla. I used to go to La Jolla Cove to meditate on the night of the full moon. There is some great snorkeling off the little beach at the north end of the park there (the opposite end from Children's Pool). And if you're feeling adventurous, in July and August, at La Jolla Shores, there are leopard sharks (sometimes hundreds of them) that come in close to shore. You can go snorkeling with them too! I made a video of snorkeling there. The picture quality is pretty bad...I had a cheap camera inside of an old peanut butter jar so I could film under water...but the adventure was still fun.



I was glad to get back home to Washington State. San Diego is nice, but I honestly got tired of the constant sunshine and warm weather. I missed my Seattle rain, not to mention my mountains and trees!

La Jolla is a nice but there's still plenty of creeps here too. Some guy followed me up to my apartment and was looking in my windows once. We live near the UTC area, not in the La Jolla Cove area. Traffic is really bad here, there's literally a wreck outside our apartment everyday. People out here CANNOT drive. I seriously think they buy their license at the local Wal-Mart. We visit La Jolla Cove, La Jolla Shore & Black's beach a lot. I love the Harbor seals at La Jolla Cove. We have never been snorkling, or scuba diving, but my husband did surf for a little bit. Your video is awesome! I can't imagine swimming with sharks, I would be terrified!! I see dolphins quite a bit.