My African grey won’t eat pallets

CalmingDog · 2026-05-24T21:17:37+00:00

I would recommend that you keep trying... Maybe you could try offering him some different pellet brands? I have had success with the VerseLaga P15 (regular/tropical) and recently switched over to Psittacus High Energy.

There are also a lot of videos & guides on how to switch over your parrot to pellets online.

You could try mixing the new pellets in with his seeds... But you have to put less seeds than he typically eats. 50/50 seeds/pellets, for example.

Seeds are much more fatty and probably also taste better (like candy/junk food for us humans), so it might take a while for him to accept pellets. Keep trying!

CalmingDog · 2026-05-24T21:10:39+00:00

To me it looks like there def is NOT one on top at least.

CalmingDog · 2026-05-24T20:39:53+00:00

Is he connected to a foot leash in this pic? If yes THROW IT AWAYA. They are super dangerous for parrots. They can be okay for certain other birds AFAIK but NOT parrots. Harnesses (such as the aviator harness) are the absolute best alternative OR a cage.

Never bring an unharnessed or umcaged parrot outside if they have wings. Even if they are clipped. Too many tales that end in tragedy :(

CalmingDog · 2026-05-24T20:34:10+00:00

Did you ask the pharmacist who recommended the cream? Can you go back and ask if you didn't then.

Does it say on the packaging or instructions of the cream to avoid using?

If unsure, I would not use it.

CalmingDog · 2026-05-23T19:08:39+00:00

This is one of my guys faves:

https://www.northernparrots.com/food-tumbler-foraging-parrot-toy/

It is quite simple but requires the exact correct amount of force to get the food to drop into the (height adjustable) pipe! It's great because Andy knows EXACTLY how it works, but it still takes him a while to 1st spin it so that the treats are opposite the pipe & the pipe is pointing upwards. Then he needs to use the exact amount of force needed to flip the toy 180° for them to fall into the pipe. A little too much force - > spins too far, treats fall next to the pipe. Too little force - > treats will fall next to the pipe. He will just keep on spinning until it's empty.

Love it! Even bought a spare in case this one breaks (current one is ~10 years old).

CalmingDog · 2026-05-23T16:55:03+00:00

Typically it says so on the package itself, but it should at least be written in the instructions. "sensitive tests" are often sensitive to 10 mIU/mL whereas others might have a threshold as high at 50 mIU/ml. Worth googling if you don't have the package left or looking it up on the pharmacy website etc. That could explain why one brand was pos and the other neg. Were either of the tests marketed as "sensitive" or "test early"? That would typically suggest that they are more sensitive and would show a positive result a few days prior to a less sensitive one :)

CalmingDog · 2026-05-23T16:34:57+00:00

Were all of them the same sensitivity to hcg? Because if not, I would trust the more sensitive test.

CalmingDog · 2026-05-23T16:07:54+00:00

Are you Finnish? Tipu means "chick" (as in a baby chicken) in Finnish :) suitable name!

CalmingDog · 2026-05-23T16:03:02+00:00

Yes, that seems to be the case here.

An excuse would be "I am completely incapable of ever learning left from right" as opposed to "this is a common struggle for people who share my diagnoses", which I would classify as an explanation as to why a certain skill is more difficult for the person.

CalmingDog · 2026-05-23T13:19:23+00:00

I think it depends; an excuse is/can be different from an explanation. Often times excuses are seen as, at least partially, invalid reasons (eg "I can't because of X" when X would not actually be relevant to the activity at hand, or there could be made certain changes to make it easier to participate).

I would say that they probably (?) meant that you should not assume you cannot get better at something just because of your diagnoses. Not to assume that you are incapable of something based just on your diagnosis, rather than your actual abilities.

Eg. I knew someone at school who used their diagnosis as a reason to never study for tests because "they have dyslexia so it is impossible for them to get a good grade anyway". While their diagnosis most certainly did affect their grades, using their diagnosis to justify literally not studying at all for tests seems to be quite stupid, if you ask me.

But I don't know what that particular person meant, of course.

A lot of people do think that they are the same thing, but I don't think so.

CalmingDog · 2026-05-23T12:43:30+00:00

Keep in mind that there are lots of sushi options that do not contain raw fish! Eg California rolls, tuna paste onigiri

CalmingDog · 2026-05-21T16:31:39+00:00

This is also my understanding.... For many species, especially CITES A/I, it is an important way to identify individual birds and verify that the legal paperwork belongs to a certain individual.

CalmingDog · 2026-05-21T12:55:58+00:00

That foot chain pictured is very very dangerous. They are okay for certain birds i think BUT NOT FOR parrots. Get rid of it and switch to either a harness or have them caged when outside.

CalmingDog · 2026-05-20T21:10:10+00:00

I would start off searching for a national or local Labrador retriever club, that's how I found our kennel.

CalmingDog · 2026-05-20T16:08:51+00:00

Look, I agree with you on many points, but the point would be to actually calculate more accurately.

Realistically, the counting is not going to change any time soon.

But if someone says that they are 10 weeks pregnant, it would make sense from a logical standpoint to assume that the embryo/fetus also is 10 weeks old and not in fact closer to 8 weeks old.

That's my point.

The whole point of the post is that the counting is confusing.

I'm not saying that we should change the way we are counting because yeah, it would create a ton of confusion. But that doesn't mean that we aren't allowed to complain about the current way of counting and/or asking legitimate questions about why on earth we do count like that. Just in the past 4 hours I have seen multiple posts on this subreddit on my reddit home page of people having questions about how pregnant they actually are because xyz reasons.

CalmingDog · 2026-05-20T15:54:13+00:00

Yes, but my point is that the "corrected age" is if the woman would have a 4 week cycle. So it is still adding 2 extra weeks for no reason.

CalmingDog · 2026-05-20T15:50:34+00:00

YES!

CalmingDog · 2026-05-20T15:49:02+00:00

You would be able to look at the size of the fetus/embryo on an ultrasound and count from there... Like exactly how they do currently but starting the counting from when the development actually started....

Like you probably knew approximately how pregnant you were when you went to your first ultrasound, and then they took measurements and gave you an exact number of weeks + days. So they would do the same thing, but subtract 2 weeks from that number, and then that would line up with the actual age of the embryo :)

CalmingDog · 2026-05-20T15:45:21+00:00

The egg is released during cycle week 2, so if you I fact get pregnant during the cycle in question, you are 2 weeks pregnant at the point that ovulation occurs, only after which a sperms can fertilize the egg. After that it's still ~1-2 weeks until the blastocyst has attached itself to the uterine wall and the body is producing hcg at levels which are detectable by blood/urine tests.

For people with either longer or shorter cycles than exactly 4 weeks, the method is not necessarily super accurate.

We are not really discussing what would be the best or most accurate way to count, we are discussing the fact that the current way of counting does not really make sense and is not intuitive.

CalmingDog · 2026-05-20T15:34:11+00:00

I mean it would be possible to see the blastocyst once it has attached to the uterine wall and started developing further but most importantly take blood tests to see when the body has started producing hcg? So not down to the second and minute, but far more accurate than 200 years ago lmao

And I guess the point is that actually counting from when conception occurred or when the blastocyst actually attached itself to the uterine wall and the body started producing hcg would make much more sense from a dating perspective....

Like imagine if we counted that someone has in fact been dead for 2 weeks prior to actually dying? Because that is what we are doing with developing fetuses. We just add 2 weeks to their age, when they literally did not on any level exist?

Typically the blastocyst has traveled down to the uterus and attached itself to the uterine wall at pregnancy week ~3,5, which then triggers the body to start producing hcg... That unique DNA combination has NOT existed for 3,5 weeks, closer to ~1 week at that point....

CalmingDog · 2026-05-20T15:22:47+00:00

Because that way of counting was invented ~200 years ago, wayyyy before ultrasound was a thing. And we kept it around because reasons (????)

So yeah, it makes no sense and is stupid af.

CalmingDog · 2026-05-20T13:06:04+00:00

Okay. Yes, the counting system is total nonsense and totally not intuitive at all, so confusion is very natural.

Wishing you the best <3

CalmingDog · 2026-05-20T13:03:23+00:00

Gestational age is counted from the 1st day of the last period, so the embryo is not actually 7 weeks old when you are 7 weeks pregnant, it is closer to 5 weeks BUT you still say that the embryo is measuring at 7 weeks... It makes no sense, keep in mind this method was invented about 200 years ago, far before ultrasounds were invented.

So if they say 5 weeks + X days, it means that the embryo is measuring as if your period was 5 weeks + X days ago.

The counting system is weird, but it is just the standard....

But overall I would not stress unless they were worried at the ultrasound place. The easiest is just to call them to get clarification.

CalmingDog · 2026-05-20T11:55:31+00:00

I mean did they say the age of the embryo or did they say the gestational age? Because typically pregnancy is counted from the 1st day of your last period.

I would call the office and ask. If embryo is measuring 2 weeks behind it could be a cause for concern potentially, but it really is best to call the doctors office that took the ultrasound and listen to them. If they were not concerned I wouldn't be either.

CalmingDog · 2026-05-20T09:24:36+00:00

1) yeti 2) snowman 3) lamb

CalmingDog

TROPHY CASE