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Happy New Year, Grey Family!

I love Einstein too! He's hilarious!

We love Einstein too. We watch his Scary Birdy Ghost stories every year around halloween.

Poor GreycieMae needed a pep talk. Her just couldn't take the heat, Huey...everything that gets a girl down. 😍 🥰 GreycieMaePepTalk.mp4

Hi, I have actually been a member here for awhile, but havent been on the forum in a long time. I have a seven year old Timneh Grey named Breezy. He is primarily bonded to me, but he likes my husband as well. Hoping to keep learning about Greys here.

So many great birdie memes out there. Which ones are your favorites?

Here's that dang smile right in my own house - complete with hamster cheeks. Right at the end, she hits me with her cluck-n-smile. This girl can make me do anything 20191120_062950.mp4

Well, I did it. I adopted 2 older kittens (6 and 9 months old - spayed but need booster shots next week) through an amazing adoption agency that basically rescues kittens from shelters right before their euthanasia date approaches. Dora and Dottie (I didn't name them but the names seemed to fit!) are no special breed -- just simple domestic short hair cats (Dora is a white with some grey tabby markings and Dottie is a pastel calico -- both are mostly white. It took them a couple days to bond, but both had past experience with other kittens and dogs so within 36 hours they learned to play well together and bonded. It was a risk to adopt not knowing if they would easily bond or if it would take a LOT of work on my part. I basically just acted like I didn't care at all and let them work it out -- and things went great! Their youth probably helped. I've always preferred pedigreed longer haired cats (Persian/Himalayan) or longer haired domestics, but I think their short hair status will make grooming much easier on me (and they are adorable just as they are!!!). Snickers adores them -- watches them intently and will head bob and whistle when they are running wild! It never occurred to me that maybe he misses Zuri. Snickers time out of cage is much more limited while we work things out -- but he doesn't seem like he wants to go after them. I am basically letting him just play on play gym on top of his cage and (when kittens are sleeping) holding him VERY protectively on sofa -- since sleeping kittens could awaken quickly with a parrot loose in home. I put a metal grated fireplace screen around his cage for cat protection and to discourage them from poking their arms inside his cage; but they have actually been remarkably respectful of him. After 22 years, Snickers understands cats, and in the past, has proved his trustworthiness. I think he gets they are just babies who mean no harm. But I will never trust a parrot and cat together, loose, without extreme supervision (which I haven't tried yet -- only had the kittens 1 week). Too soon. These kittens (I find them gorgeous) but they are probably just run-of-the-mill common cats; but they have brought some joy back into my home. And they look absolutely NOTHING like Zuri, which I appreciate. Their energy levels amaze me! I got them a new cat tree, beds, scratching post, Cat Dancer toys, soft toys that squeak like a mouse, a globe than rolls itself (batteries) and a wand-type feather toy I have to swing about for them. I wanted them to have things that didn't belong to previous cats. Even at such older-kitten ages, the play hard but sleep like the dead (sleeping time is Snickers the CAG out-of-cage-time) here. But if a kitten awakens, I put him back up. The new kittens can't erase my grief, but it does bring some activity and joy back to this home. And I can't get over Snicker's whistling and playfulness with them around either -- he seems to delight in the new cat television in living room. Snickers is definitely not bored during cage time. lol

Please do not apologise. Karen summed it up perfectly - we are a community here and we will be with you through the good and the bad. I think we can all appreciate that losing a pet is very difficult and nobody would think ill of you sharing your sad news. I had 13 years with my dog Ben. Whilst I miss him, I have lots of happy memories that still make me smile to this day. We never did replace him and in fact it took us years to get another dog after our first dog, Sam passed away. If/when you get another cat/pet I don't think you ever 'replace' the pet that you lost. You will still have all the memories and you will still have the hole that they left behind. I would love to have another dog (but circumstances don't allow it right now) but he/she would never be a replacement for Ben... or Sam for that matter. Every pet is an individual and will bring something new to the family/flock/household. Nobody can tell you the 'right' time to get a new cat/pet after you have lost one. It's a very personal decision. I hope you are doing ok and that Snickers is looking after you. We're here if you need us.

Prayers from all of us here at Greyforums ❤️❤️🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

The purpose of this forum (in my opinion) is to share our triumphs AND our sorrows. Most of the forum members have furbabies as well as fids. There is no reason why you should not share your loss with like-minded people. As for me, thinking of the ones I lost brings fond memories. I firmly believe I will see all my loved ones when I cross into eternity (human and nonhuman), so I see it as a temporary parting, not a forever goodbye.

Wife has a new classroom this year. I thought it was pretty nice of the school to install a nice skyhook to hang a batbird from. She hung there for about an hour before she wanted down. Crazy bird.

Very cute!😋

think you mean a joist. It is all a Parrots' playground.

No guilt, Just normal behavior. So what`s the problem ???

I found that by direct pasting the youtube link into the post it will automatically retrieve the video thumbnail image. All I did was grab the URL under the 'share' option from youtube and past it here:

I see no guilt in that Tiel, none must be a set up.

No idea how the school hung that -- or what it's real purpose is. Can't imagine they hung it just for a CAG or other parrot to dangle/play with. But I would love something similar, in brass or oil rubbed bronze, to place a hanging plant on. But after looking at the pix, Snickers might be making a real mess of my plants if I figure out a similar design. It would have to be bolted into a ceiling rafter (or whatever that's called -- for strength) since hanging plants are heavy -- esp after just watering.

My meme but not my bird. The owner of the bird got a kick out of it...

Love his non violent protest of bed time. Whisper is a confirmed bat bird can often be found hanging from the roof of her cage to sleep at night.

The dust is the worst for me! Wiping down my grey's cage is a burden. He is constantly chasing and nipping at my cleaning cloth (and fingers!) -- he thinks cage wipe downs are a game. For a thorough wipe-down (and esp a real cage cleaning) -- he has to be caged elsewhere for a moment. He also dislikes newspaper removals -- lunges and grabs at them! Greys are real stinkers! lol

This isn't a meme, but I thought I'd post it here since this thread is active. I know someone has posted it here but I just saw it again on facebook and it still made me laugh. A lot of truth in it! 13 Ways to Really Prepare Yourself for Getting a Pet Bird Are you thinking about getting your first pet bird? This 13-step guide will emotionally and physically prepare you for what it’s like to live with one. If you follow this, you will have a fairly good idea what it’s like to have one of these lovely creatures in your house. 1. Take a big bite of carrot. Chew it up well, but don’t swallow it. Now go out to your dining room and spew it all over the wall. Leave it there until it dries. Get a sponge and a scraper and scrape it off the wall. Repeat daily! 2. Go to the bird supply store. Buy everything you need for the month. Then with the leftover money, go to the grocery store and pick up a five-pound box of macaroni, some parmesan cheese and some margarine. These provisions should last you about two weeks, and it’s about all you’ll be able to afford after all that money you spent at the bird supply store. 3. Take a newspaper to the bird supply store. Place it in the bottom of an empty birdcage. Read it while it’s laying on the bottom of the grate. This is how you will be reading the newspaper from now on. 4. Get some pelleted diet, some chopped up vegetables, borrow some bird poop from the bird supply store (they’ll look at you funny, but they probably won’t charge you for it), some parrot feathers, pieces of bird toy parts, some wood chips and some almond shells. Combine in a one-gallon container. Throw some of it on the floor. Now clean it up. Throw more of it on the floor. Now clean it up. Repeat at least twice a day. 5. Get a screwdriver from your toolkit. Make some gouges in the paint on the wall. And while you’re at it, use it to rip one of your lampshades and smack up a couple of picture frames. 6. Make sure you know the meaning of all of these terms: Cloaca, preen gland, PDD, PBFD, calcium to phosphorus ratio, polyomavirus, E.N.D., and boing. This task involves a lot of research. At least you'll be on your phone for a good reason. 7. Measure out a cup of flour and place in a sifter. Move about your house and lightly coat all surfaces with the flour. Now dust all the surfaces. Repeat at least three times a week. 8. Look up some wild parrots on YouTube. Turn the volume up on your phone to full blast and place it right next to your ear. Repeat at least three times a day for 45 minutes. 9. Take some of that bird poop you borrowed from the bird supply store and place it on a spatula. Now reach over your shoulder with the spatula and rub the bird poop on the back of your shirt. Let dry and then go grocery shopping. Count the number of people who either stare at you or tell you that you have bird poop on your back. 10. Do a little dumpster diving and collect odd items like water bottle caps, pieces of raffia, tree branches from bird-safe trees, pieces of cardboard and old plastic clothesline. With these items, attempt to make an interesting toy. You have 8 minutes. You may begin. 11. Save the wild parrot sounds onto your phone and set them as your 6 a.m. alarm. Make sure they are on the loudest setting possible. Repeat every morning for the rest of your life. 12. Get some bed sheets. Now take that screwdriver and make various beak-shaped holes in them. Take some of that bird poop and smear it on the sheets. Launder and repeat at least twice a month. 13. Find a reputable bird veterinarian and make his car payment for him. Repeat at least once a year for each bird you intend to get. Do these exercises for as long as you can. If you can keep this up for at least six months without losing your mind, you just might be ready for a parrot 😂😍😋

Ha, isn't that the truth! He actually knows BEFORE I have snacks. He hears my footsteps cabinet doors etc., and starts his "baby bird" cheeping before I even get the wrapper off.

Absolutely. Those stickies are priceless.

So just a quick run down i adopted a Male Congo African grey from an adoption agency. He is 20 years old and he spent a short time at the adoption agency. His original owner passed away and i believe was an older women. I am a 34 year old male I have a good amount of experience with other birds but i am trying to get some advice from someone that has more expertise with African greys. I have had him for 2 weeks. He came with his own cage which is very spacious and has his original toys and perches. I have a large variety of zupreme food and fresh fruits and veggies i give him daily. So he is absolutely terrified of me. He shakes in fear when i put food in his bowls. Occasionally he will take a treat from me through the bars but if I move too close he falls to the bottom of the cage and does a human scream like ahh ahhh ahh ahh. I leave the door open on his cage so he can go to the top and have free range but he always stays in his cage and never comes out even when i'm not home. I have tried to very slowly and gently place my hand under him to pick him up from the bottom of the cage a couple times but he screams and has bitten me hard enough to draw blood on 2 occasions. I have him in a medium travel location near my kitchen so when i prepare food and watch tv he is near me. What I want to know is, should I just go very very slow and just feed him and give him his space or should i press the issue and hold him. I am not really afraid of the bites i just want to know the best way to help him get over his fear.

Yes he is sorely missed and maybe by me more than any other individual on this forum, he truly was a blessing to those in need of greyt advice here and a true personal friend, I'm so glad he made all those stickys that we can refer back to when needed.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw Dave 007. I certainly miss his incredible posts. For those of you who are new here, he left this world a few years back, but his noteworthy teachings live on right here on Grey Forums.

Yep, If you have it they want it. It`s the law.

Here's another one that we can all relate to:

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT ?? ?

I've said this elsewhere, but mine will hang upside down off my hand/fingers at bedtime -- pretty hard to put an upside bird on a perch. He's all limp and thinks this is hilarious. I often have to just lay him on bottom of his cage until he lets go of my hand and realizes it IS bedtime. lol

Hilarious! I've always wondered why they enjoy hanging upside down like that. Guess I'll never know...

My activity here is always in fits and spurts. Sometimes I only get time to read posts and not reply. Other times I have the luxury of being able to reply and start new threads as well. I try and stay active but unfortunately life gets in the way sometimes.

A lot of practical and helpful responses. I realize no one has the power to force a forum to become busy and active -- it just has to happen on its own; and it has to feel effortless and be enjoyable for everyone. And yeah, life does get in the way sometimes of being active in a forum. A woman can dream though: maybe one day I will come online here and there will be too many active threads for me to even read them all!

The one thing about this forum is that the members care, but often get tied up with life in general and their post will come and go as they work their way through life. I know and understand as my personal in the last two years has been filled with tragedies that has taken up a lot of my time. I am getting back to posting again as this forum means a lot to me with the friends I have made. Some times a post will lack response but others will have many. I often will bounce round different subjects until I find one that spark a response. My did you know post are meant to give tidbits of info as food for thought. Others are just stories about my grey, or trying to be help-full to members in need Some times you hit a home run and some times you strikeout out. It`s all part of the game This forum is needed and we are the forum.

I've noticed the same as most. Facebook is IMO the cause of the decline in Forums. I was a moderator on another forum for years and as FB groups became more prevalent, participation dropped significantly. I, like most, signed up for this forum and really honestly hoped it would be a busy community of people full of knowledge and participation but it seemed like the "Facebook effect" had already taken hold. However I would hate to see this site and all of it's valuable information be archived. I'd like to offer my assistance if it is needed. I have time I can dedicate if needed and am very technically minded.

I wish we had more than 5 regular posters. I am trying to post more but feel like my efforts may appear as an attempt to dominate the boards here -- and I am just a newly hatched and well aware of such. I would do anything to inject more interest here -- to have people wanting to post more. I just feel like there are so many nice people here (well, any grey lover HAS to be somewhat nice)!!! I am open to any ideas, newbie that I am. I am not a member of any other bird forum on the internet. (Well, I used to sysop on CompuServe for John Benn's Pets/Cats/Dogs/Bird forums (also had a fishnet and a horses forum) -- but that was back in the early 90s when there was no internet to compete with). Plenty of mods here -- but too many chiefs but not enough contributing members is death to forum. I know this well and remember all to well when CompuServe died. I don't mind liking others posts but I am dying of thirst for real discussion. I only have a grey, a multi-homed (somewhat scared and disturbed grey) yet an amazing trusting loving cuddly companion for me I've had since 1997. So, my interest is mostly in CAGs/TAGs these days, parrot-wise. I (notice, so far, every line begins with "I") just want to do anything I can to get people talking. I am not argumentative -- I can take criticism -- I'd like to see all sorts of views shared -- even if yours never leaves the cage and is only offered a seed diet or if your grey has an outdoor aviary and gets fresh fruit/veg every day) we can still learn from each other. And grow. Or entertain each other with silly stories of stuff our greys do. Even if you've already shared your funny stories, newbies (like me) may not have read them yet. Or we can just repeat a million times how special greys are, or how smart, or remark again on those wonderful red tail feathers. Is there a FB page for this site -- some way to let others know it exists??? HOW can I help? I mean, REALLY help? Or should I just shut-up and let a dying forum go? Is there a poll someone could put up and see what people here really want? I will leave if needed, but was just so happy to find this forum and then so sad to see that maybe folks don't realize it's okay to repeat old stories and advice, it's okay -- to newbies it's all NEW! In most forums, I find, most don't search for old threads, they start new ones. Or join in ongoing threads. Most don't take the time to read all the old stuff. If I worked in internet advertising -- this forum would be my new project.

Well, we’re making changes, and I think a big one is allowing read only. It was thought that by forcing signup to read that might do it, but it had the opposite affect. Folks went right back down the road they know so well, Facebook lol. So being able to read again, and the new software being html friendly, we should get a lot more google hits about grey questions. Were going to keep at it as time allows. Thanks for being here.

Afterthought: I am very active on Arachnoboards -- a very busy forum! How is it possible more people want to chat about their tarantulas (which are pet rocks, not an interactive pet, and certainly feared by most people) and yet a wonderful grey forum like this one isn't that active? It just seems that for every tarantula owner there should be thousands of grey owners, yannoe? Greys are so loving, cuddly, interactive, intelligent, independent, creative, etc. -- tarantulas just sit in their enclosure waiting for food drops. If older members are willing to commit to more content here, then I can certainly try to post/respond more (and not just lurk and read). Lurkers don't really help a forum grow. I suppose I never posted much here because there aren't always a lot of threads I feel I have something valuable to contribute to; and the threads I start tend to not get past page 1. I do remember being so excited when I first discovered this forum --C'mon -- a GREY FORUM? What's not to love?

The GreyForums is the truth behind the care and raising if not only the African Grey parrot but also all parrots who grace these pages and enrich our lives so much. Truth is found here. We will try to post weekly.

It's great to hear from you Ray P. Sorry to hear of so much going on and the loss of your wife.

I think it's time that I give you and the members of this great forum an explanation of my absence over the last two years or so. It started with a very ill wife who passed away on Valentines day 2018 and than her younger sister in Dec. of 2018 followed by her older sister in May this year. We lost Willie our cockatiel at age believe it or not at age 27 followed by 5 very good friends and two of our dachshund one of old age and one unexpected.. I have a 44 year old special needs child that still lives with me that we adopted when he was 14 months old. I have not had much time to post but I check in to see what's going on. And than there is Corky my awesome Grey that has kept me going who will be 19 in Dec. of this year. I will make every effort to start posting again to keep this forum alive. KevinD you are doing a great job with this forum and I will do my best to step up as a member to support this Grey Forum.

This forum probably saved Timber's life. I was such an "idiot" when I got him, with no clue as to how to handle him or what to do. I would sure hate to lose it. I have no idea why participation has slowed to a crawl or why new people don't stay. I know people come here when they panic, then leave when they have their answer. I don't post often because nothing has changed here at my house. However, I do check the forum almost daily to see if anyone has posted.

Absolutely that must have been a frightening time. Sending love your way.

Oh Maggie...you know my thoughts and prayers are with you both daily. You are one brave woman..you just take it all in stride and stay strong for Jay. I can’t imagine the worry you live with on a co start basis. I know that God is watching over you both...love and strength to you both..and Thank you, Thank you for keeping us updated..I know it’s difficult for you to post..but it means a lot to your greyforum family and friends. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️😥❤️🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻