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Really sorry to hear about this. Thank goodness everyone came out of it ok. A house fire is one of my worst nightmares so I can only imagine what you must have been through. I hope Sterling Gris comes round in his own time. It was one heck of an ordeal so it's no surprise that it has rocked the boat and caused some distress. Hopefully he will get back to his old self eventually though.

You better be back soon.!! Take care of that wrist and we will try and entertain you until you can type again.

So sorry....rest up....we look forward to keeping up with you

Thank you for your continued efforts

Sorry to hear that! wishing you a speedy recovery!

☹️🙁 So sorry....How do the fids feel about cast?🙃

😉Good Luck my friend.. Rev Jayd

This was very scary to both you and your fids but each has their own personality so you have one that didn't fare well with the trauma going on. As has always been the case it will take lots of grey time for Sterling to come around but he will and hopefully before the plucking becomes a habit, hang in there Janet and please be more careful in the future.

OMG today he stepped up when my daughter asked him too! She brought him into my room and put him on my bed next to me!

Long story short, I have sprained my wrist and am in a soft cast for as least a week so I will be reading your posts but typing less so be good. As Arnold says, ''I'll be back.'' Luvparrots

Both cats went out in the aviary for a few minutes when I got home from work as it was sunny and warm enough for them. Unfortunately it started to rain soon after so I had to bring them back inside again as they didn't appreciate getting wet and I didn't want to rock the boat too much as they were obviously a little on edge. Although they are getting along fine in the house now they were a bit creeped out by being in there together and didn't get much chance to settle before I had to bring them back inside. Wish the weather would make it's mind up! It's been sunny all day but as soon as I got them out there a big grey cloud formed and it keeps raining on and off. It's a bit too cold to let Alfie out at the moment but the weather forecast looks good for this weekend. Fingers crossed that I can finally get him out there to see what he thinks! I missed a golden opportunity last week because I was ill when we had some really warm weather so I hope I get the chance to let him try it out this weekend.

That’s wonderful! You gave me thoughts for my indoor cat !

Yes it's going to be multi-use for the cats and Alfie... but not to share at the same time for obvious reasons! Alfie has a box full of toys, perches and swings out there so when he is able to go outside I can hang them all up and make it fun for him. I can then pack these away when the cats go out there. They will have the two shelves and the box to climb on. I'm also on the lookout for some trees/branches I can use for them to climb on and destroy. My cats are indoor cats so it allows them to enjoy the outdoors in a safe way. I wouldn't trust them to go outside and roam because there are a lot of neighbourhood cats they could start a fight with and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if they got injured or worse, as they have never been outside on their own before. So the enclosure should give them enough space to climb, play and lounge around and enjoy some sunshine. Similarly, Alfie doesn't go outside unless in a carrier, so this will give him the opportunity to enjoy some space to fly around and play outside in the sunshine... when we get some more!!

Thank you for keeping the forum going.

Oh, oh, oh!

😉So glad warmer weather is in front of you...may all your labor go smoothly....😊

Yep, she wants back in her sunroom. She loves that thing. Huey hates being outside and prefers to be sitting in there too. They do need sun though so they're gonna have to suffer through this. Haahaa...I had the phrase "this too shall pass" rolling through my head earlier today. I broke the damn water line trying to figure out how to untangle it and the electrical conduit. The hole filled back up with water before I could shut the valve and I was soaking wet.

Steve its always something isn't it and soon it will be a part of the past, roll on spring.

Love the pics.

Oh my goodness! Good thing you found it out now tho....now Gracie Mae says...get back to work

Oh my gosh!!! I am so sorry ...I have a lot of personal trauma going on in my life and missed this...I am so very sorry this happened. But thank God you did what you had to to save their lives. How lucky you are to have rescued them..that is the only reason I keep carriers next to their cages with pillow cases for that very reason. i have no doubt that in HIS grey time....he will come around. That was some pretty severe trauma he went thru...I’m sure he is in shock still...remember..he doesn’t understand WHAT happened and WHY you did what you did...he has to come to terms with what in his mind..YOU did to him....and what happened..just the alarms going off are enough to set my birds into a panic...he had a lot more he went thru..... You may have to start from square one again...sitting next to his cage...singing to him...talking softly....reading to him in a quiet voice...just loving him as you do...and giving him space....but on HIS terms.....not yours....and PATIENCE will be key here.... please keep us updated...his is our family too

Yeah, he's just being cautious, especially since he's now decided to step up. Our Huey took about three months before he started to trust us. Now he bites when we want to put him down and he still wants more dancing (bouncing around). That's a beautiful boy there ❤️

Not a good update: GreycieMae has had to move out of her lavish quarters while crews (me, myself and I) are repairing some issues found while digging out the rest of the aviary for the crushed granite. Our sewer pipe apparently broke 10-15 years ago when the foundation crew lifted the house in that area. We've never seen any issues, I just happened to find this when I was digging a little deeper in that area to see if I could locate a water line, as I would really like to have a water hose in her aviary. Well, I found the water line and a busted sewer line to boot! So far I have the whole thing excavated and part of the pvc removed. Still need to blow-torch the other joint off and seal it back up. Then I can install my water line and also fix the electric conduit the idiot before us put in improperly and backfill with sand and we're back in business. No worries, she has her best men...errrr....man on the job. One thing that gave me a clue that something was going on around where I was digging was excessive root growth. The closer I got to that area the roots got really thick. When I discovered the broken pipe, the roots were all growing into the pipe. Fortunately I was able to auger it all out so we have a clean drain now. It eventually would have clogged up completely.

(S)he is a sweetheart and moving along very quickly!

Sterling Gris no longer trusts me; I hope he will get over it, but he is a very spooked grey; he always has been so I'm sure it will take awhile for him to forgive me. Ana Grey and Sophie are just fine. They are mellow parrots and go with the flow. Thanks for asking Jayd. th

Beautiful.............................

It is sounding really good! ☺️

Yes, please 🙃

🙂Greetings Luvparrots, how are all of you and Sterling Gris coping?

😁Updates please😉

It is so interesting! He is actually a she, according to the vet! So she watches me endlessly and if I sit down in my chair next to the cage, she will move onto the gate protecting her cage. This puts her very close to me! Slowly she inches her way closer to me, especially if I pretend like I don’t see her!!! She tops about 1 foot from me, puffs up, pulls one leg under and takes a nap! I can not move closer to her yet but I can talk to her. I’m on Grey time now!!!!

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 friend sliced a pool noodle to fit the top of her doors to prevent them closing on little fingers, I wonder if this is something you could put on the top of open cupboard doors for a landing place and your grey could chew on that perhaps. Also, Home Depot carries a vinyl flooring called Allure which could be fitted over the plywood to make cleanup a little easier and it has a really hard backing on it which might withstand attempts to chew it. It comes in 6 inch strips and is easy to handle.

Wow what a great idea! Never thought to put tiles there..my birds live my cabinets. I buy the wooden houses for rabbits and put them on top of my cupboards, they mostly chew them.

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?

This is from a post I did way back when but it's still relevant.... Posted May 24, 2010 Abundant feeding Abundant feeding, is exactly what the name apply, To have enough food available for your growing baby that they'll never have to search or worry about food. The change from "Rapid weaning" to "Abundant Feeding came about in the early "90's". A study of wild and hand raised Hyacinth Macaws showed that hand raised H macaw's of the time were stunted, smaller, and out of proportion. At the time, rapid weaning was in favor, hand feeding would be cut to force the birds to wean and eat solid food sooner. Through these studies, Abundant feeding came about. What is Abundant feeding? At all times you have more food available then is needed for the babies, yes some food is wasted, but you have a healthy bird...Have plenty of pellets and seed's available at all times, fresh veggies through-out the day, and most important, hand-feeding as long as the baby wants it, no exceptions. Posted May 24, 2010 Go ahead with the food, at this stage they do more playing with it than eating but they will start eating...remember to remove your soaked pellets after 2 hours. I don't suggest adding anything to the formula other than a 1/4 teaspoon of peanut butter if the baby is underweight. The formula actually stimulates the desire for solid foods. ...every baby is different. Does your baby have big feet and large bones? Spock has extremely large feet...he always has... How many times are you feeding your baby a day? My personal feelings are no...I worry too much about stretched crops. I've seen it too many times. The crop should be spongy when you touch it with your finger...not tight. Another concern of mine regarding feeding formula is I've seen incidents where too much formula has been given and it cools too fast and impacts which sometimes can be resolved and other times not. In the early ninety's with the impending law to stop all importation of new birds to the US, the bird pet industry went into overdrive to captive-breed existing parrots. During this time, we were paid $20 a day to feed 80-100 babies a day. This was with a Gavage needle inserted into the crop. This is definitely NOT my way of feeding unless I have a sick or injured bird. Jayd

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.