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We finally had one day of decent weather this week so I dashed home from work and went for a walk with Alfie in his backpack. My housemate came too to make sure Alfie was doing ok during the walk. I tied a cardboard bangle toy to each side of the perch and that seemed to give him a foothold that helped steady himself. He seemed quite happy throughout the walk - he even tried to join in with our conversations by mumbling incoherently in my housemates voice. He even asked for head scritches from my housemate a few times, which meant Alfie pressing his head up against the mesh and my housemate trying to scritch him through it. My only problem now is to sort out the water bowl and food bowls. They go into a little fabric pouch which then uses velcro to attach to the carrier, but Alfie can easily pull these off and throw food everywhere. I'm then left with a food bowl rolling around the carrier. The water bowl doesn't hold much water and even when I half fill it I still end up tipping it everywhere when I walk. So I need to try and find a way to supply water which doesn't tip everywhere. I did debate about a rabbit water bottle with the stainless steel ball-bearing but I'm not sure if that would work so well with birds?

I do think greys take a little longer to adjust to any changes. They're just so sensitive about every little thing! Glad you're seeing an improvement. But sorry it's caused you to distrust him a bit. I would be leery to reach out to Alfie also if I thought I might truly get bit -- that sort of confidence takes a while to rebuild -- patience is the key. And greys can sense if you're even slightly afraid of them. And some greys deny boundaries. Plus, greys can be liars. You can usually read the mood (and eyes) of many parrots -- but greys can lure you in all calm & friendly and then BAM -- bite time. Sad but true in some cases. Good luck -- hope things will continue to settle back in a comfortable routine for you both!