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Yes, sadly, life does get in the way sometimes. I have had some sad pet tragedies in the last few weeks. A little on the depressed side, but I will get back here and contribute more in time. Love to everyone ❤️

With our warmer weather here in Arizona, the fans have come back out of storage and Joe (our Grey - scaredycat) has retreated into hibernation.... In the nine years that we have used fans until we have to use the air conditioner, Joe has HATED the dreaded fans. I have tried different colors, types, etc. but he was never fooled and always beat a hasty retreat when confronted with that dreaded creature. Well, things go slowly in Grey time but we made progress today. Joe actually flew from the safety of his kitchen perches and flew out to share breakfast despite the fact that the fans were out. He did not stay more than 1/2 an hour but that was a MAJOR leap for him... Maggie

The last year and especially the last six months have been very hard on me, but I hope to be back on track soon.. And as always thanks for caring Jay.

When the decision was made to bring Gilbert home, I was prepared for anything. I was expecting the long adjustment period of a bird his age with all the expected issues. What I could not have hoped or imagined is how he is doing today, on his first day home. He is eating everything I offer. He takes food from my hand, he is calm and accepting of me reaching into his cage to move perches and add dishes. He bows his head readily inside or outside his cage to allow me to scratch his head. He gently nibbles my fingers as he tests and tastes. He is accepting new toys. He ate warm beans and grains from a spoon because he was getting into it faster than I could get the dish in the cage. He climbs in and out of an open cage and is brave and willing to explore. He is talking, vocalizing, preening, stretching, yawning and making happy beak grinding sounds. He must be exhausted after clinging to the bars of his cage for hours last night in the car. What a beautiful beautiful boy. As our British friends would say "I'm chuffed".

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.

Greetings guys My question : 1. Now i can be close to his cage but I should lie down next to his cage and then it seems he likes it when ever i do that he puffs up and start playing with his toy or eating food and preening , but when i stand up he screams:/ he He lowers his neck and cautiously looks at me . I try to increase the height of his cage but still I don’t see any differences , and by the way, I returned him to my room again he didn’t like the living room When i put his cage in my room again it seemed he was very thrilled 😁, he was very relaxed and fluffed up his feathers . P.S : i heard if my parrot puffs up for a long time he is sick , but how long exactly?

The predictability of a Grey is unpredictable.

Okay, where have all the flowers gone? Do you of this Great Grey Forums realize that some of the most knowledgeable and caring Grey Parronts exist, to offer their knowledge, learning and help just out of their love of parrots?!!!! Okay, then start posting, Talon, Luvparrots,Judy, Ray and Accapella, Greywings, kittykittykitty, Timbersmom, and everyone else I didn't mention..Where's your posts, SRseedburners love your posts, Greytness and everyone I haven't mentioned. Please, if I didn't mention your name, I meant no slight. (Maggie's serving dinner)... Every member is a major and useful contributor to The Grey Forums!

Ehugs for the sad days and cheers for the good ones, hope to see more of you soon it will gladden my heart as well.

About the time you think they will never budge they surprise you again.

Yay!!! Keep on truckin'...It's slow but you are getting there and doing everything right. Furthermore, you have made a new friend in Aura!

We need all to make the Forum a whole......

Thanks so much!!! Everyone has been so helpful. She destroyed a cardboard box last night and all for some head scratches today

Sometimes when introducing new toys it helps if you hold the toy at a distance and show the bird how much fun it is. Get excited about it, show them all the colours and materials and talk about it excitedly. Sometimes the curiosity overcomes the fear and the bird shows a bit more interest. Typically if you have something your grey will want to know what it is.... so use this to your advantage when offering new toys. I do similar with Alfie whenever I show him new toys and also when I'm bringing something into the house he might not like. For a while he was scared of the washing basket- I have to carry it past his cage to take laundry to the washing machine and he'd get a bit freaked out about it. So I would cheerfully walk into the room with the basket and explain what it was and where I was going. I would also make a 'ooo' noise to sound excited about it. I do the same kind of noise whenever I introduce something new or 'scary' to him. As a result, when he's looking at something new and working out whether or not he likes it he often goes "oooo!". A few weeks back we had a load of snow and I set him on the window ledge so he could look at it. He stomped up and down in front of the window, eyes pinning, going "ooo!" "oooo!" because he was checking out the changes outside and wasn't sure to make of everything being white. It's always a good idea to start with new items from a distance, as others have mentioned. Watch the reaction of your bird and slowly move it closer. Depending on the bird, this could be done over hours, days or even weeks. Eventually you can get to the point where the toy is hanging near the cage, then on the cage and finally in the cage. Always move at your birds pace. Some are more change adverse than others. They do eventually come round and realise that the shiny new toy ISN'T out to get them!! Bath times... well, that's a whole different ball game. There is a thread somewhere on these forums about bathing parrots... if I find it again I'll post a link but I remember it being quite helpful. Alfie tries to bath in his water bowl, which unsurprisingly doesn't work so well (his butt doesn't fit!). He will tolerate a spray bath for most part- so long as I let him bite the nozzle of the spray bottle a few times so he can show it who's boss. I did buy him a bird bath that hangs inside the cage but he never learned to step inside it. He would sit on the edge and drink from it but would revert back to his regular water bowl when trying to take a bath.... even though the actual bird bath was much larger and big enough for him to walk into. Some birds prefer being sprayed, some prefer a dish of water where they can bathe themselves, some like showers, some like sinks.... it might take a little while to find out what your grey likes best (or will tolerate...) but do persevere with it because regular baths are important... however much they might grumble about them!

OK you have a wood butcher or what can be called a normal African Grey. You have been given some good ideas when it comes to the butchering your cabinets. One word of caution.!!! When your Grey is on top of your cabinets make sure they are not perched on a open cabinet door before you close them. My Corky loves to be high so we have to check and make sure she is not perched on a open door, any door in your house !!

Thank you Ray, How true....I learned a lot from this man...

One of the lessons from my loved amazon Cricket was, talk to your companion and not at them. Try using a soft voice as you sit on a chair or stool next to their cage. Some times sit next to their cage and read or munch on a snack and not say anything. Talk to them like you would talk to your best friend in a calm voice and they will listen. This is about building relationships. They can read your body language and if your tone of voice is calm and soft they will enjoy you being there..

Hello my friend, Singing is great... Talk to him as much as you like, feel comfortable with him. A gray can tell how you feel...

Im a little bit confused because I don’t know how long I should speak to him sometimes i sing to him with music in background is it good ?

Hi everyone I have a pair of african greys which have laid eggs a month ago I thought everything was fine until about a week ago I started to see liquid coming out The eggs looked fine perfect around the top and sides but as of today they are dented and obviously no good can someone please tell me what went wrong?

Thank you Judy, Dave, A grey breeder extraordinaire, check out the sticky's in the Forums rooms, need I say more...Your cage doesn't have easy access to the parents or clutch...As you've seen, breeding greys is quite complicated, Fledgling them is a nightmare...My strongest advice is to work with a known breeder from hatch to fledged, if you wish to breed parrots...I'm sorry I won't be able to help you, I'm too old and too tired... I did it before on the Forum, in my younger days...You can't believe the stress and fear in raising and fledgling a clutch. No book can prepare you for the actual physical time and involvement needed and all the problems you are not aware of unless you have raised several different types of parrots. A Grey is one of the hardest to breed...if your heart is set on breeding, I advise to get proven pair of cockatiels and an experienced coach They're one of the easiest to breed....that includes costs etc..... Here's some sample questions: Are you going to use a syringe? A galvage tube? A Spoon? What formula are you planning to use? What temperature do you feed formula at? You start by feeding 6 times a day (24 hr)... When you pull them from the parents, what will you keep them in? Or, will you just remove them each time from the parents? What will you use to heat the clutch? What causes a crop impact and how would you attempt to cure it? What is aspiration and how does it happen? I won't even go into fledgling now.... My reasoning for pointing this stuff out to you is death is only a moment away at all times with no emergency care or cure...A proven point is the chance of getting a wonderful parrot by letting the parents raise them or hand-feeding is the same. What good breeders do now is leave the babies with the parents until they are on three feedings a day and 95% of the problems are gone. That way, they already know how to eat, they have seen you because you visit every day, and feeding is all they are interested in and they don't care who feeds them.... Whatever your decisions and choices are, we stand behind you....

Our beloved Dave, may he rest in peace, always stressed that pet greys do not make good breeders and with that setup it doesn't look like they get the kind of privacy they need to properly breed. They do not like an audience for their mating practices. I would give up on trying to breed them if you keep them in this enclosure. Even if they were successful what do you plan to do with any babies? I don't mean to be so critical but do you have any experience with breeding greys?

Thank you very much...you are doing a wonderful job...Suggestion; when using a water bottle, it's advisable to wash with white vinegar daily (don't rinse with water after using vinegar, never soap or bleach). Since you are so creative, Go to Amazon, type in "food and water bowls for parrots". There are some bowls you can get. Bless you...keep up the good work...we'll check back.

Thanks jayd i will make some modifications.The nest box is "L" shaped and both of them fit inside comfortably I will add extra bowls but I can't put out a water bowl had that originally and they made a disaster they prefer tipping it over rather than drinking out of it.I appreciate your input it has helped a lot and I will keep u up to date when she's ready to nest again

All of us are here for you my true friend... Bless You...

Thank you...I am only offering suggestions. More suggestions; you should have more than one feeding dish, one for seeds, one for pellets if you wish, one for fruit, and one for vegetables. The fruit and vegetables should be removed after 2 hours. Another suggestion; you should remove the rabbit water bottles and replace them with water bowls. The reason is it's a proven fact that drip bottles can harbor bacteria. You have a beautiful set-up but it's not really a breeding set up for a Grey. A Grey breeding cage should be approximately 2'x3'x6' cage, a "L" shaped nesting box with an entrance hole on the top large enough for the two of them . As a minor tip, a few chunks of safe wood should be lined around the cage to ensure they can chew up their own bedding material. A calcium block would not hurt anything either. We also have a reef tank, an African Shell dweller tank (Tanganyika) and a live Shrimp/Plant tank and they all operate on only foam filters (all natural filtration) All the best wishes...

Thanks jayd but like i said i have seen them copulate she is steady every year come January she prepares the nest they become very aggressive with me.you can't see from the pic but they have a huge food dish 2 rabbit water bottles pine chips bedding.I really believe it is the nutritional values that are lacking i will start introducing eggs and greens tomorrow as well as seeds i believe she might go to nest again in July hopefully by then she's up to speed if that doesn't work i will take to the vet.

Everything is beautiful...one of the nicest aviaries I have ever seen... Again, this is just suggestions...I would definitely try to reduce the lights to 10 hours a day. I feel a most definite would be a more austere practical breeding cage, a more barren and less distracting, (small} just a cage, perch and food bowels...Another point, the greens and wood might be safe, but they might hinder breeding.....

So Jayd are u saying u think that diet is the problem with the eggs not hatching like I said the birds are doing everything there supposed to they look like they will be good parents just really pissed if it's been my fault this whole time.

Will she/can she lay another clutch this year?

Thank you guys , best AG forum I’ve ever seen:)

Thank you my friend..laying down is not natural for you or him. If a person continues to do something like this, the only time a Fid will calm down is when you are in this position. A Grey is extremely literal; another important point along the same reasoning is that is you are upset at your Grey, you talk to him in an upset tone of voice and a happy voice when you are happy with him.

Can you sit on the floor in front of his cage? That's how I started with Dorian - sitting on the floor in front of his cage talking to him and playing with toys.

Sure , I’ll act normal, but my reason for laying was that he wants to see everything from higher height , if He sees me in his level he screams, and screech. thank you for your answering I really appreciate your help 🙏🙏🌺🥀🌹🌷💐🌸🌼🌻

She is sitting on eggs hardly seen her in the past month I was going to feed eggs but read was just better to feed her high quality pellets.They do everything right so maybe I'm not some advice please on what I can do to ensure success please.

Thank you, Are they sitting the eggs? Most of the time a pet and a breeder are not productive...Are you running the lights longer? (longer days) Have you raised the temperature a little and are you feeding them more egg? (Higher protein)

Thanks for replying jayd this is the first time these 2 have had eggs she was with another male but after 2 clutches not 1 was fertilized so I got another male.I do see them copulating this is why I am surprised they are not hatching

The gestation period for the eggs after laying is 28 days on average when the parrot is bred in captivity....Have you ever seen the eggs fertilized?

Greetings. How may eggs have they laid before? Any hatched? More than likely they've been ignored, possible nutrient problem...

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?

Aw thanks. I miss being able to contribute here as often as I would like! But sometimes life gets in the way. I have spent a little time catching up here this evening. I hope to be back on a more regular basis.

We miss you.....

I have had to revert back to occasional lurker recently due to lack of free time but hopefully my schedule will ease up over the next few weeks and I can go back to commenting on posts rather than just skim reading them when I get a spare minute or two!

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?

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.

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.

From my cell phone, This is Vada, she a rescue from a kill shelter in Alabama, she's coming to me next Saturday night ?

Vada has been home 2 weeks, what a joy! She's the sweetest girl ever!! I'm very lucky. The birds startle her when they fly off, but she has learned very quickly that they are a "no" and "off limits"....but I watch constantly when they are out. Nilah still perches on my hand while Vada cuddles on the couch at night. ❤️

Thats wonderful Dee but I don't want to burst your bubble but this is the honeymoon phase right now so maybe when he really feels comfortable he will show more of his true personality so there may be more of what Sarah told you about, not wanting to upset the apple cart but you should be prepared for him to back off some when the newness wears off. Nothing would please me better than to have him continue to be as sweet as he is right now but this is more than you expected isn't it but this scenario has played out in so many homes before so I just wanted to remind you it could change some.