Thursday, December 23, 2010

Meet Gracie

Sorry for the long delay since the last message -- the volunteer who updates the blog has been busy at work and was unable to update. Now that things have calmed down, she hopes to keep up again. Everything has been fine at the Center, though busy, as usual!

Here's Gracie, a 10 year old African grey parrot that was recently surrendered to CARE.Gracie is a DNA-sexed male, but we sometimes call her "she" due to his name! He was very loved at his previous home, and surrendered due to an illness in the family. Greys produce a lot of dust and shouldn't live with people who have lung issues.

Gracie is extremely tame and a pleasure to be around. He frequently says the word "Cool!" though his previous owner doesn't know where he picked that up. He steps up on your hand and says "Cool!" Someone sneezes and he says "Cool!" The phone rings and he says "Cool!" It's kind of fun to be around such wonder!
Although we currently have a family interested in adopting Gracie, we're not sure that everything will work out. Stop by if you've been thinking about adding a grey to your family and would like to meet him. He's a real treasure!

We will be closed this Saturday, December 25, for Christmas, and next Saturday, January 1, for New Year's Day.

4 comments:

Amy said...

He's awesome! I would call him Grayson!

Anonymous said...

I am wondering: if you are sensitive to parrot dander, what can be done about it?
I know I had a friend that was able to take a medication to help her with horses, but I haven't been able to find out anything about parrots.
Thank You.

centerforavianrehab said...

Anonymous,

With the caveat that this information is not coming from any kind of health professional, the biggest thing seems to be reducing the amount of parrot dander. Frequent, thorough cleaning (preferably by someone that doesn't have sensitivity), a good, high-quality air cleaner and furnace filter, and frequent baths for the parrot. Fresh air as frequently as possible with open windows.

Some parrots tend to be more problematic than others. Specifically: budgies, cockatiels, cockatoos, and greys tend to cause the most problems in their human companions.

Loratadine, generic Claritin, can help and is over the counter. Nasal steroids like Flonase can help as well but you need a doctor's prescrition. An allergist can do specific skin testing to the types of parrots in your home and determine if they are the source of the problem. Common things being common, you are more likely to be allergic to pollen, molds, etc.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so very much!
I appreciate the help!