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I'm not sure about the plywood, but it doesn't sound like a great idea so I'd err on the side of caution and do something else. Have you tiled up there yet?

Hi everyone, thank you so much for all of your input and advice! I apologize for being mia for so long...I have been dealing with some serious family issues. Poppy has gotten so much better since I posted this (fear-wise). She is less jumpy. I will try blocking her from getting onto my shoulder with my other arm. She cares nothing about climbing down my arm and will actually hang from my arm and maneuver her way to my shoulder if I try raising my arm so it is a steep decline. I could try out the egyptian pose though...maybe that will work. I got Poppy from a woman named Pat in Florida. She is wonderful. She and her husband owned a pet store in Ohio for 30 years. I love Oak Harbor, by the way...we are in Mill Creek/Bothell. Sorry, I am trying to reply to multiple people in one post:) The main big complaint I have now is Poppy not leaving me alone when she is out of her cage. She HAS to be on me at all times which makes it very difficult to get anything done. As of now, I have no easy way of getting Poppy outside without taking her cage out there. Kind of a hassle but as soon as it warms up, I will do so

Thank you. You are very kind!

No, but I'll volunteer. I was 90 last September.

When I came over with Moses.........(I'll be 71 in June) never ask a lady...

I can't remember what I did when Precious laid an egg (I bet I"m older than any of you!) but I remember being concerned about her calcium. Fortunately, it happened only once.

When I got Dorian and it had been a year he was still afraid of my hands, biting when he felt I wasn't listening to him, which in turn made me afraid to put my hands anywhere near him. He was not stepping up, and still totally cage bound, So I got desperate and hired an animal behaviourist to come over for a couple of hour to observe us and 'talk' to Dorian. The best advice I got from her was to approach him as if he was already the bird I wanted him to be. With the stepping up that meant to offer it as an option to him and allow him not to choose it right now. Same with being cage bound. I left his door open and allowed him to choose to stay inside that day. As silly as it sounds I became aware that I approached his cage with different body language when I kept this advice in mind. It was a few weeks of this and he became noticeably less bitey, and one day he left his cage and had a little wander round the outside! I really believe my change of attitude made him feel safer. Have you checked out the tread, in the training room I believe, called Behaviour Most Commonly Seen, or something like that. It will help you pick up on your birds subtle body language before they get to a bite. My Dorian usually wakes in a lovely mood, but every now and then he wakes up on the wrong side of the perch, and I now can tell before I even open the cage door. On those days I don't offer my hand for the inevitable bloodletting. You need to learn your birds body language so you can cut him off at the pass before he gets to a bite. Part of that is keeping him off your shoulder where you can't see his body language. If you have to get creative, do. Maybe sew a stuffie to each shoulder so there's no room for him? Has anyone ever taught you the Egyptian pose? If he lands on your forearm, drop your elbow so it's lower than your wrist. It goes against their instincts to climb down. This worked for me. Dorian used to try to climb to my shoulder all the time. Now that I'd actually trust him on my shoulder, he's not at all interested! When you hear flapping wings put your arm out as a place to land. If he lands on your forearm go into the Egyptian pose, if he lands on your upper arm immediately put your opposite forearm in his way blocking his path to your shoulder as was suggested above. If he does get to your shoulder, have you ever tried getting him to step up onto a perch? I've trained Dorian to step up onto a perch and now he does it obediently 99% of the time. I use it if I want to move him from a place like my desk, or his playstand at bedtime, but he isn't in the mood to obey. They can get in downright pissy moods at times. I usually give him one chance to do things in a civilized manner, then I bring out the perch. To be clear, he's not at all afraid of the perch, he just seems to recognize that he's pushed mommy just a little to far at the moment and steps up for it. I even give him a minute to take out his frustration on the perch when he's been returned to his cage by grabbing it by an eye hook I've got screwed into the end of the perch and beating up on it for a minute. That part is quite cute, but I'd never tell him that! As for his fear of men, have you ever wondered if a man did something that scared him badly while he was in transit to you? I don't think a reputable breeder would have shipped a bird with this intense a fear response. You may never know what happened, but anything you can do to bring down your birds' overall fear and increase his confidence will help his reaction. When I rescued Dorian his previous owner told me I could never date a man with grey or white hair because Dorian reacted so badly towards them (her husband had white hair). But then again Dorian was overall a very fearful bird. Now he's such a confident little bugger I doubt he'd even have a reaction. Anyway, for this reason I don't think I'd clip him right now. He sounds like a very fearful bird. You need to increase his confidence in his ability to handle situations that are frightening to him. Clipping would do the opposite. By all means put the travel cage out where he can get used to it. It will come in handy if you ever have an emergency. Let him explore it when there's no emergency and he won't freak out by being put in it if there is one. Sorry, this turned into a long post. I hope there are some tips here that you can use.

Do you take your bird out into the sunlight on nice days? I found sunlight (outside and not at a window because it blocks important rays) is so good at mellowing my guys out. I call is "birdie valium". It is amazing to be how calming it is. Clipping tends to make greys more timid and neurotic. I wouldn't do that. Try sunlight and a better diet. Avoid pellets with artificial colors and flavors and emphasize organic fruits and vegetables, and other organic foods.

The trick is to find something else that your grey likes to destroy. I had a similar problem with Alfie when he discovered the shelves in the living room. He threw everything off the shelves then started chewing them/pulling them apart. I discovered that he loved to destroy cardboard boxes so I found some that fit perfectly on the shelves. Now, when I let him out, I clear all my things off the shelves and leave a few cardboard boxes and toys up there for him. He will happily sit and shred the boxes for hours and leaves the shelf well alone. The chewing is a natural behaviour- you just need to find a way to redirect it to a more desirable object if you can. (e.g boxes, old bits of paper, telephone directories... anything he can chew and shred) Depending on your cabinet- is it possible to tile the tops of them? One of my colleagues also has a grey who loves sitting on the top of the cabinets- so they put tiles on top. Can't be chewed and are also wipe clean! He also fills the space with various toys and boxes to keep his grey busy/distracted.

My Grey is 13 weeks old. I've been told to not clip his flight feathers until he learns to fly. Well, he is getting around pretty good now. The only problem is he likes the top of my cabinets. He keeps chewing at the cabinets, which can't be good for him and his is destroying the wood. I tried to put a piece of cardboard on top that overhangs to actual cabinets by an inch or so but he goes under the cardboard (even though I tried to put tape holding it down) and still picks at the wood (along with the tape). Any suggestions? Should he mainly just perch on his play area above his cage? He seems to like the top of my cabinets better than being on his perch on top of his cage. I feel bad because I have a small apartment and think he should have another perch area, but there really isn't any other places.

A parrot even with clipped wings can fly and be lost. A proper clip is the same amount clipped from each wing, A small breeze with the fid flapping, can have the breeze lift her and deposit her on a nearby tree which they can then flutter from tree to tree...Before you clip, please do all the research you cam.

Hi, This is Maggie, Jayd's wife, and he asked me to answer this since I have the same problem...sweetheart, there is no cure (that I have found yet)...you have been selected...you are the CHOSEN one... you have a new BFF...unless your Poppy changes allegiance to someone else, this will continue. My BFF is our Salsa and Joey (Our Amazon and Grey)...when one is not on me, the other one is....I feel like I have a permanent rolling bowling ball attached to my shoulders and my clothes all have the same green stains and patterns... When it gets to be mating season (which is now), it gets worse unless they are napping...(Whew)...I use the excuse of going to the bathroom a lot and locking the door...LOL...No, seriously, I do love every minute of it because I know it will not last forever...Sometimes, I can get them to stand on a perch, counter, or bucket next to me while I do something if I talk to them the whole time and bribe with a treat such as a "Good nut" (Raw spaghetti pasta or pistachio) When we were breeding cockatiels, I had between 10-30 babies on me at all times...in my hair, hanging on my nose, picking at my ears, playing hide-and-seek under my clothes... I do not know how much this helps except that you are in an exclusive club....Maggie

Hello everyone I'm new to this site, I re homed my 17 year old CAG in August 2017 and I'm enjoying every moment of caring for her. She seemed very ill last night and I was very concerned. She was on the bottom of her cage and would not get up. She seemed to be straining and making croaky squawking noises. All of a sudden an egg appeared much to my relief and surprise! She seems to have bonded with my father and displays mating behavior when interacting with him - which I've tried to discourage but he is a 'bird man' and so 'he knows best'. I wonder if this is why she has went into laying mode? I'm in touch with the previous owner still and she has never done this before. Any advice would be gratefully received! Thank you Leanne

Wow, your a great looking 90, your also smart.....

I gave her half with the shell on last night, she ate all of the egg and most of the shell. She seemed to really enjoy it I'll give her the other half tonight.

How precious!

The hard boiled egg is a little better with the shell on for natural calcium and help replace any nutrients loss..Please don't feed supplements with out a vets approval...You know us old people, I hide my own Easter eggs and forget where I hid them in 5 minutes.....

It's ok haha I have actually been meaning to try her with boiled egg. She loves toast dipped in yolk in the morning.

messed up... Sorry

Greetings, Welcome to the Forum... Suggestion, put a hard boiled egg cut in half, shell and all in her cage, one half at a time..Another trick is to bake egg shells at 350 degrees until crispy...

Well, there has been a development. She ate the egg! I'm thinking this will replace any nutrients she may have lost. We have replaced it with a fake one for now - my father has bred birds in the past and apparently this is good practice. She was her usual quirky self last night although a little moody with me, not surprisingly if she is nesting. When I left this morning she was on the bottom of the cage again so I think she'll most likely lay again today. Thanks for the replies guys!

Good responses, the time of year Spring with the daylight length increasing can be the trigger for egg laying. Good for you adopting her.

My 12 year old Cag has never laid an egg but my sun conure has and I left it and she added another then sit on them for several weeks then took 1 away, couple of days later I took another. I was advised by Dave to leave them for if you took them away they will continue to lay to replace it. Be sure to provide some calcium in her diet as laying eggs can deplete their stores.

i re-homed a 20-year old Lilac-Headed Amazon a couple of years ago that laid an egg. I was told by a reliable breeder to leave the egg along until the zon no longer cared about it; which I did. Then I removed it and my zon has not laid an egg since then. (thank you Dave007, I still miss you).

Hello, I too have a 2 yr old male timneh named charlie that i got at 3 months old from florida, i live in washington as well. Bought him from a bird farm from the owner dave, wonder if its the same place you got your girl? Anyway, charlie just loves my husband andy, always wants to be on or near him. Andy gives charlie a lot of time during the day but when enough is enough he puts charlie in his cage for awhile. I also have a male and a female congo. Charlie loves to dive bomb them and knock them off their perches, he likes to make sure they know he is boss in the house. The congos prefer not to fly, they like walking on the floor. Wing clipping did nothing good for charlie the one and only time i did it. He became depressed and cried a lot. He even just threw himself off his cage sometimes knowing he couldn't fly. I decided wing clipping was not for my greys. The cage thing..... i found that if you place the travel cage in a place they can check it out, in time they will explore it and get comfortable with it to where you won't have a problem putting her in it. It may take a week or longer maybe, just set tbe travel cage out for her to explore so shes not afraid of it. I'm in oak harbor btw.

Frankly I believe that clipping her will add to her stress. Right now she's able to remove herself from situations that frighten her. Imagine her stress amplified once she discovers she can't take care of herself by way of flight anymore. Could result in her becoming a stress plucker. Poppy has chosen you, which is what Greys do. They simply adore their chosen one, and they do what their instincts tell them to do, which is to be with their person. My Maalik has chosen my son, but I'm his close second. Maalik won't have anything to do with 3 other family members, and the 4th he hates, simply because my son extended his negativity towards him. These Greys pick up energies big time, and do not forget that energy. In the case of my son, Maalik will dive bomb him whenever his back is turned towards him. Solution? When my son's in the room, he faces him at all times. Otherwise he goes elsewhere in the house. Bird behavior is extremely complex. In order to understand them, we must try to place ourselves into their worlds, looking out and seeing things from their point of view. I believe that Poppy senses your discomfort, which could be amping up her perceptions of things. I have 11 birds, some of which will freak out whenever a stranger passes by their cage. They can definitely identify strangers, who I think they see as scary prey.

I'm not sure if I have much useful advice to offer. I just wanted to say I'm sorry about the situation you're in as I can appreciate it's tough to know what to do for the best. Alfie is 14 years old and he will still give me a nip/bite if he's not happy about something. Over the years, I started to become scared of being bitten and worried about handling him. I think he picked up on this and it made the situation worse. It has taken us both a long time (years) to work through this together. He will still give me a nip if he's grumpy about something but I have worked on learning when and why I might receive a bite. I have also learned to approach Alfie with more confidence and this generally gets better results. That's not to say I am boisterous or try and pick him up when he doesn't want it. But I try and remain confident in my body language and my voice when handling him. It sounds stupid but it has helped. I find if I am nervous and Alfie picks up on it, he is more likely to bite because either he is nervous as well or he is pushing the boundaries (e.g trying to stay out past bed time!) Typically I know when I'm likely to receive a bite and I ride it out and talk through it. Nowadays they're not even that painful (except for the odd one) because I think he's realised he's not getting as much of a reaction. Alfie is also a 'no shoulder' bird. I do not trust him on my shoulder because he will not sit there for long before pulling at my hair or trying to get to my ears. That makes me uncomfortable because I cannot see what he is doing and I am worried that he may manage to catch my eye one day. So I persevere with the 'no shoulder' rule. When he lands to my arm he will try and make his way up it because he wants to sit on my shoulder so I put my other arm in the way. He will either step up onto that arm or he will move back to my forearm/wrist. Typically when I am sitting down he prefers to sit on my knee/leg anyway, which suits me just fine. Poppy is still very young and has a lot to learn. I'm afraid I don't have any useful suggestions for you but I hope you, the family and Poppy manage to find a way forward that works for you all.

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Greetings, Clipping would probably push her over the edge and would only make things more stressful for her. This young bird looks to you as her"Soul Mate" and her life partner, .Your past posts I've read are great. It may help to give her chamomile tea, Rome was not built in a day...nor the trust of an African Grey...

Wow thanks tiles are a great idea. Yesterday a cut a piece of pine plywood 3/4 thick and put it on top. I made it so it overhangs 4in. on all sides. So far so good, but the clean up will not be as easy as tile. I'm worried he will chew the plywood now and found out it contains glue. I'm wondering if this is safe for him?

I have had my greys since they were weaned and they are not chewers and love to sit on boings that I have in each room of my home. If your grey is a chewer, give him something else to chew on. When he perches give him a nut, treat, etc. to chew on.