neoow

Just a thought- as Alfie prefers it: Rather than spraying him directly, try misting it above him so the mist falls on him, rather than being sprayed directly on him. So hold the bottle a little further away from the cage and angle it up over him. Keep it on the mist setting you are using but aim above his head so the water falls on to him. Keep it at a mist rather than a squirt. Alfie much prefers it this way and he's not a massive fan of baths either. (His favourite bathing method is to go over to his water bowl and fling water all over the place! More ends up on the floor and walls than it does on him, but he still persists! :rolleyes:) You could also try giving him a shallow bowl/tub of water. It might be that he prefers to stand in water and throw it over himself (which is what Alfie tries to do in his water bowl). You may need to play with the water yourself to get him interested though. It might be worth you looking around the other sections on these forums and posting some new threads in the relevant sections whenever you have questions. More people might see the new threads and will be able to give you extra advice.

I was in the kitchen tidying up and happened to crouch down when I heard a FLAP FLAP FLAP of Alfie flying to me from the living room. Unfortunately I was too slow to stand up so he flew over me and landed behind the microwave. He sat there for a while supervising what I was doing and checking things out (he hasn't been in that particular spot in the kitchen before). He also discovered the big glass water jug I have stored behind there and took great delight in tapping it with his beak to make a 'ding' noise. His head kept popping up over the microwave so he could check to see where I was/what I was doing. It was quite sweet.

Alfie trying to hide in the kitchen.

Wow check you out with your new toy, Sully! You've clearly got a clever human wrapped round your talons!

Alfie keeps an eye on the cats for me. I know when they're up to no good because I'll hear "Oi!" followed by "No!"

Love this! I can't spot all of them- even when zoomed in! I'm look for a stand similar to the one you have in the middle of the photo- with the two birds on. Is that handmade or did you buy it from somewhere?

So happy that things are going so well for you. It sounds like Alex i settling in really well... and that's all on you. Well done for taking him in and adapting to life with him. They are awesome birds and I'm sure you'll have many more awesome/amazing experiences with him in your life!

That's an awesome idea! Not sure how "doable" it would be though, seeing as most of the forum members seem to come from over the pond. I guess it would be a bit too expensive for most! Some kind of forum member meet up would be pretty cool. Especially if parrots could attend too! Again, cost/travel might be an issue for most though.

Aww, what an adorable little greyby you have there!

It doesn't look like I'm going to be able to go. My car has a problem with engine compression so won't accelerate very well when on dual carriageways/motorways- especially if there is an incline. It's currently at the garage being looked at and I've got a feeling it's going to be the worst case scenario. I don't know of anyone else who would want to come with me (who would be willing to drive as well!) so it looks like I'm going to miss out this year. Boo. There's always next year though, I suppose!

What a clever girl she is!

Yes not sure it would be worth the trip!! I wish I knew more people who lived nearby who had an interest in birds/parrots who would want to go with me!

So glad you're having so much fun with her! Greys really are special. I haven't heard that they typically like women's voices better. Alfie goes against the grain on that one. He picks up, listens to and mimics male voices more often than he does female ones! To be fair, he seems to go against the grain on a fair few grey characteristics at times haha!

I use a different tone of voice and may raise my voice a bit with Alfie but I can't recall the last time I had to yell at him. I yell at the cats all the time because they're stubborn and don't listen when they want to cause mischief haha. So Alfie will quite often join in with an "oi!", "No!" or "Off!". Alfie generally reacts pretty well to my "I really mean it!" tone of voice and generally listens... most of the time!

I had a camera set up for a while but it was one way only, I could see and hear Alfie but couldn't communicate back in any way. I know you can get similar cameras which allow you to speak through the camera but I haven't seen anything that would allow video as well which doesn't need some kind of interaction from the person (or parrot) at the other end. Unless of course facetime (or similar video conferencing software) can be set to auto-answer incoming calls?

Welcome to the forums! What a clever parrot you have there- look at all the writing he's done!

Awesome video! How old is Kilaya? She knows lots of words and sentences!

Welcome to the forum! This is an awesome place, full of helpful people and LOADS of advice. Tell us more about your CAG- is he/she a baby or adult bird? We LOVE photos! (that was s subtle hint...! Haha)

Are there any forum members going to the Think Parrots show (UK based) this year? http://www.thinkparrots.co.uk/ I've never been and would like to go, but my car is too unreliable to get me there at the moment and I can't convince anyone else to go with me. Just wondered if anyone here had been previously/was planning to go this year. Come to think of it- are there many UK members here? I don't normally pay attention to locations in posts!

When you bring him home sit near/next to his cage and talk to him. Get him used to your voice- and let others who live with you do the same. Get him used to people moving around the room and near his cage. As for handling, there's a lot of information already on the forums about this. Check out the "stickied" threads (the ones at the top) as they usually have loads of information.

Hello and welcome to the forums! Congratulations on your baby grey! Personally I'd let him get settled into his cage and surroundings first before showing him the rest of the house. He'll need a little time to explore the inside of the cage and get used to everything around him. I'd then take it a room at a time rather than showing the whole house all at the same time.

When I got Alfie he was 11 weeks old. I was still hand feeding him with a spoon as well as offering him seeds, veggies etc etc. So I finished the weaning process that the breeder/pet store had started. I can't remember if I had to feed him once or twice a day when I first got him though... it was 12 years ago! Sorry! It might be that you are in the same position.

Phew! Glad I'm not the only one! I rotate Alfie's toys fairly regularly as he's in the cage when I'm at work. He plays with his toys a lot and goes in and out of favour with them. His "toy of the moment" is his paper roll holder which he can shred, chew and unravel (it's a bit like a plastic loo roll holder). He hasn't played with that for a while then suddenly it's his favourite and there's paper everywhere! I need to get him a new boing as his has seen better days and I need to replace a couple of his older perches. I also had an idea of getting some plastic chains so I could hang some toys a bit lower in his cage and also give him more to climb on... then I saw some other toys I thought he might like.... it quickly adds up! Plus food + treats... this is why I make use of the "save for later" option. Then I can choose what I like the most and buy it in smaller chunks over a couple of months or so. Otherwise I end up with more toys than I know what to do with!

There is a real lack of stores that stock bird related (especially parrot related) goodies around here. Most pet shops are centered around your typical dogs, cats, small animals etc. The pet store chain I used to work at (10 years ago now... blimey!) stopped selling birds and most of their bird related stock. So all my bird related purchases happen via a website called "Northern Parrots". The site is awesome and filled with all sorts of wonderful foods, toys, treats, cages etc etc for all varieties of birds. Great! ...Except that I am currently browsing around the website adding all sorts of goodies to my basket that I can't yet afford. I'm already at £120 and still going....!! SOMEBODY STOP ME!!! They do have a neat little feature (which I'm abusing the heck out of) called "save for later". So everything in my cart is currently being relegated to that area. I don't get paid 'til Friday and need to be careful of how much I spend. I do need to feed the cats (and myself!) next month, after all. So Alfie WILL get some goodies... but I'll have to be a bit more selective than I'm being at the moment! Anyone else have a problem when they find an awesome pet store (online or otherwise)?

Oof glad poor little Java is ok! I wonder what suddenly got into Miss Gilbert. Glad both of them calmed down after a while. Hopefully Java heals well!