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Look at that handsome boy! Very nice aviary for your spoiled boy to enjoy!

I read the whole thread, but only advice I could give is time. I can now have Sukei on my lap and absolutely no more biting. He comes up and snuggles now with me and Kasey, my German shepherd. i have no reason why but time. It seems to me greys do what they want to when they’re good and ready. i hope your issue is resolved, mine seems to be. I really hope that people reading these things understand a grey is not a toy, but a life commitment.

I'm late too but Happy New Year! GreycieMae actually tanked up on eggnog news years day. What a piggy.

So I think I have managed to create a bit of a 'problem' with Alfie and stepping up. It's not major- but am just looking to see if anyone has any advice. Over the years Alfie has been known to lunge and bite if he didn't want to step up. We went through a time when our trust broke down a bit and I had to re-evaluate if I was the best owner/home for Alfie. Long story short, I was able to make some changes to my life and living arrangements to improve things for us both. I am still sometimes a bit wary of Alfie lunging/biting. Although he doesn't normally break the skin it still hurts and I feel it sets us back. So I always try and read his cues and avoid the possibility of a bite. It's been working well. One of the things I did during this time when we were rebuilding our trust was use a wooden dowel perch for him to step up on if I needed to transfer him somewhere else or get him back in his cage. That meant if I read it wrong and he decided to lunge, it would be the stick that would get the damage and not me. When I was more confident about things I would use my arm (he doesn't step up for a hand, only my wrist - always has). This was generally fine. Alfie gradually learned that he didn't need to lunge to tell me "no" - he could just turn away and I would respect that and back off. I've now noticed though that more often than not, he will refuse to step up on my arm but will willingly step up for the perch. So I'll offer an arm and say 'step up' and he'll back off/turn away. I back off (because otherwise I know I'll get bitten). I go and fetch the wooden dowel and he hops straight on it before I've even said "step up" Very occasionally he will step up on my arm and I will heavily praise this and offer a treat. When he steps up on the wooden dowel he gets a treat and a 'good boy'. It's not a major problem - but I would like to try and swing it back so he's more reliably stepping up on my arm- as this helps if we're visiting my parents or elsewhere where I don't have a wooden dowel handy. However, I know that if he refuses the arm and I go back and ask a second time, he's probably going to lunge... especially if I'm not confident in my movements and ask. (He seems to be able to read me SO well!) Any advice for trying to improve this?

Love the pics! He's adorable!

Sorry to hear about the recall. Found it humorous that your birds have you feeding them frozen waffles and only a certain brand. Who's running that show anyway?!? My birds have me trained on Honey Grahams. And we call them 'cookies' around here. They go wild when I ask 'who wants a cookie?'. GreycieMae will hang from the cabinet door where the cookies are stored.

Found the FDA SKU list: https://www.fda.gov/media/182860/download?attachment

Are you able to research the SKUs being recalled and compare those to what you have? Hopefully all will be okay. Fingers crossed.

Quick update on the Corey stroller experience. Corey does NOT like the moving stroller. Apparently, moving the stroller makes the stroller evil. She even flies out of the stroller [and lands OK on the ground] in the house and she is very reluctant flyer. Hopefully, we can get her through the "the stroller is evil" phase. P.S. I will post a picture of the finished stroller when we get there.

I have two Bengal cats, Widget and Pixel who are both indoor cats. They will be 14 years old later this year but are still quite energetic when they want to be. They co-exist with Alfie quite well and both learned from a young age to leave him well alone. They pay Alfie no mind and don't harass him whilst he is in his cage and I separate them when I let him out- they typically get the upstairs and Alfie gets the downstairs. My living room door handle had to be taken off and put back on upside down to help with this, as otherwise Widget could open the door and let himself in. Anyway, this works well as the cats have everything they need upstairs and it gives Alfie enough room to fly around, get some exercise and generally cause all sorts of mischief. The other day, Widget was asleep on the sofa in the living room and I needed to let Alfie out so I woke Widget up, gave him some fuss and then shooed him out of the room. I let Alfie out as usual and he flew over to his tree on the dinner table. Then he immediately flew over to his standing tree at the other side of the room. He then flew back to the original tree. That was a bit unusual as he usually stops somewhere to stretch and preen first. All of a sudden, Pixel scurries across the room, looking a bit worried. Last time I'd seen her, she was upstairs and I obviously hadn't noticed her wander in to the living room at some point. Alfie was still flying around because he knew it wasn't right that she was there. Thankfully, I was able to get Pixel to stop running around and picked her up to remove her from the room. Phew! Alfie then settled ok and we carried on with our evening. I think Pixel was too scared of all the flapping to know what to do but I'm just so glad she didn't try and chase Alfie - or spot him before he spotted her. The stupid thing is, I normally do check around the rest of the room to make sure I got both of them out. That one moment of complacency could have ended very badly... although I'm honestly not sure who would have come off worse with that one... either way, I felt very guilty for a good while after! Have you ever slipped up/made a mistake and had a near miss as a result?

I've done similar in the past- it was quite a few years ago and I was cleaning out Alfie's cage. He was in the cage as the cats were about. I took the bottom tray out and started cleaning that, then for some unknown reason I then took the grill out of the bottom as well and took that outside to wash it off. I heard some commotion because Alfie was jumping around his cage and knocking toys around, walked back in and saw Widget in the bottom of his cage having a good sniff around. I think it was a similar thing to your Wilson - he wasn't phased by or interested in Alfie, he was more interested in this space that he normally can't get to. So I quickly ushered Widget out from the bottom of the cage and put the grill back in place before apologising profusely to Alfie! 😬

I've had more near misses than I like to think about. In this case, all's well that ends well, and I suspect it won't happen again. Things like this will happen, but when it does I think it makes us even more vigilant. I have two maine coon cats. For the most part, they seem more curious about Timber than predatory, but that can change in a heartbeat. Timber on the other hand, is frighteningly fearless when it comes to the cats. I remember once when Timber was in his very large cage (about six feet tall, about 6 inches off the ground. Timber was out as usual and I had went in the bathroom, which is only feet from his cage. I thought the cats were confined to another area as usual. I came out of the bathroom and there was Wilson (one of the cats) inside the bottom of Timber's cage. He was not looking for Timber, just curious about what was in that "forbidden" area it seemed. Timber was rapidly making his way from the outside of the cage (he was on the playtop) to confront the trespasser. I grabbed Wilson and returned him to the other room. I think I was more terrorized than either of them!

He definitely has a 'tude! If he's in a grump about something then stay well clear, because he will be damn sure to let you know otherwise! And he is SO quick as well.

Alfie looks like he has some Huey'tude. He has that grumpy old man look just like Huey.

Alfie spent some more time in his aviary yesterday after his routine vet visit to have his beak filed back. He has crossbeak and needs an appointment with the vet every so often to help keep it in check.

Super nice! Love the pics!

That is so cool! He looks like he's enjoying it

Totally 100% agree with you! If they aren't fully trusting you, that is an issue for sure. They need to feel secure when they are perched.

I think there is a lot to the "unsteadiness" of an arm. Timber has a hand thing so hands are out. It has to be my forearm. I've noticed when he's on my arm he's adjusting to keep balance and fight slipping. I usually grab the bottom of my sleeve and make sure the surface he steps on is tight, which really helps. I can see that being at least a part of it.

I totally get this! He has communicated to you he doesn't like things from behind & it is great you underatnd that & respect it. There is no nail polish or a ring he might not like on your hand or wrist? When you ask him to step up onto your hand, what part of your hand are you using & where do you place your hand? Also, he will feel your hesitation, so always be confident & if you do get bit, don't react, they love to get emotion out of you & that will quickly reinforce his biting behavior when stepping up. Sometimes when I expect a bite, I will lay my hand flat & strong, palm down. I always place it at the belly just above their feet, placement can be everything. Let us know

Have you tried offering him a favorite treat while positioning your arm or hand behind him so he'll be distracted while stepping back onto you? Whenever my greys put out a spicy mood vibe, I'll grab a snow pea pod, offer it and while they're taking a bite they'll automatically step back onto my waiting wrist.

Gosh, I dont know what to advise. If he likes the dowel, I would just use that until he is so comfortable with that & time goes on that he forgets about stepping up on you & biting. can you take the dowel with you to your parents? Als, my 2 greys & my 1 amazon will step up onto my arm, but really don't prefer it as there is nothing to really grab onto, and your skin can slide..grap your arm tight with your hand & twist it, your skin isn't firm & it's easier for them to lose balance & fall. they prefer something they can dig their claws into if need be. He might like the dowel because he can wrap his claws & hold on tight making him feel more secure. I offer my hand in moments of being unsure about getting bit, but ALWAYS make a fist, if you have a tight fist, there really isn't much to bite or latch onto. I would contiune with the high praise & reward when he does what you like, but replace your arm with a sturdier item. keep us posted & Good luck. remember be patient as we live in their time which passes slowly vs our hurry up world!

She misses you. And something changed with your environment. I’ll bet misses you is top of mind.

This is a picture of Corey playing with my husband. John wraps her up in a t-shirt and bounces her above the bed in a birdie sling. She loves it: makes chicken sounds. It's only taken us 20+ year for her to be willing to be on her back. When we first got her [as an adult] she would NOT step up to our hand. It "only" took about 6 months before she was willing to come out of her cage onto our hand. Like you guys say: it's "grey time".

What great pictures! Thanks. Wish I could find something like that where I live.

Wow, Alfie went shopping! I would love to go to that and take my GreycieMae.

Very cool!

I LOVE this! Looks like you both had a blast! So happy Alfie went with you, looks like he enjoyed all the loot! Thanks, for sharing!

So bizarre when something like that happens. I don't think we'll ever truly understand what makes our parrots tick. Has Talon got a food or treat that she absolutely loves and will do anything for? I wonder if you can use that and only ever give it to her when she goes into her cage without being towelled. Or maybe you can break it down into steps. If she steps up nicely, treat, take a few steps towards the cage and pause, treat. Put her back down where she was. Then try again but get a bit closer to the cage, pause and treat. Assuming all goes well and she doesn't spook/fly off then eventually work your way up to getting her in the cage and she gets a big reward/treat and lots of praise.

Maybe a little more time. Sukei seemed to enjoy her week of boarding. Made some new friends. :)

UPDATE FROM TODAY!! After almost 2 weeks of toweling her & her screeching while I take her downstairs to her new cage which she seems to LOVE! I let her out from her sleep cage upstairs & kept our morning routine just as it always has been. I work from home today, so I thought worst case scenario, she goes in my office with me, but then I thought she would LOVE that & try to do that every day...I had a small box on the counter which she loves, she went in while I was making their breakfast & chewed away..peeking out at me every so often to see what I was up to....After I was totally doen & ready to go to work. I debated...do I throw a towel over the box & put her in her cage??? Or do I make a normal attempt at her stepping up & walking her to her cage.....Tough choice cause I hate chasing her around the house..I tried the latter...She was GOOD AS GOLD! She stepped up & said her usual " be back soon okay?" and I set her in her cage ..SUCCESS! It made my whole day, I was so excited I had to call my husband and tell him at work LOL So lets hope tomorrow goes as well also. But for today, I am thrilled!! :)

Had anything been changed, moved or added to Talon's cage before she escaped?

Yes, very weird. The worst earthquake I ever experienced was the big one in Silmar, located in So. Cal. It was over 7.1 in magnitude, and the earthquake sounds along with the shaking, rattling and rolling were frightening. My dog dived under my bed, and my brother went outside to watch the ground ripple and roll. My goldfish also swished out of its aquarium and unfortunately died. We usually have smaller quakes, thank goodness. Many of the epicenters are to the north of us and in the desert regions.

When I was stationed in California I rode through a quake. You always imagine what they are like and then when you are in one it's totally different. I remember the rise and fall of the building we were in and some back and forth in different directions. When it was over all the trees and street lights were swaying. Very weird experience.

Oh, that's a keeper! Great pic of Alfie. Greys certainly love to destroy cardboard, don't they!

i just LOVE this! I have been playing it over & over for my NIlah,,she loves it also & I think secretly trying to learn it..I hope so!!

I have to hide round the corner and poke my phone out to get any videos of Alfie. He's exactly the same- as soon as he spots the phone he clams up! Not that he sings... mostly whistles.

I love how zon's talk and sing.

Aww, so cute! My zon sings, but she makes up her own songs.

So adorable! Not to mention impressive!

The peace still holds, if, it’s just me, Kasey (my GS) and him. I noticed the stink eye, if Mom is around. So I stay away 😀 This is the longest Détente, we have had in years. 😀

Yea, Sukei can tear a soft wood block 6x6 inch, in about 45 min 😀 Not that expensive if you go to Home Depot, and cut it yourself.

Same as everyone else- blank newspaper sheets here too. So easy to swap out.

I'm always slightly envious of those with the really talkative greys. Alfie is not a big talker- and I fully accept that. He chooses what he wants to say and when and words/phrases often go in and out of favour. And he still is often able to add comedic value to any conversations going on- even with his limited vocabulary. I know he understands a lot more than he lets on too. You could be right about Sukei learning from Kasey. Either way- having your flesh intact is still a major win!

Well, you know how you get brave after a few beers on a Friday night? LOL ? This time while he was on the perch whilst I was cleaning the cage, I said “Good Boy” and the head went down. Moment of truth, no bars. Head went down, I proceeded to scratch him on the head, and he just took it, not a flinch. He went back after cleaning and down went the head again for more scratches. I have a theory. I think he is learning from Kasey (My German Shepherd). I scratch her head and say good girl when we play ball. Might be wrong, but I still have all my flesh intact LOL

Well, this particular part of the war is over. Every night since I first posted, he goes in his cage no fight, bows his head so I can scratch his head through the bars. Hasn’t tried one time to bite. Stays there as long as I scratch. Any suggestions on what else I should chance some flesh on? LOL😂

I line my carrier with towels, they can't perch when they are traveling very well. I would use a fun cute voice full of distraction, getting them interesting in what you are saying or teasing them with a treat. Then quickly but smoothly back them into the carrier & be quick to close it, all the while giving reassurance in a kind voice. Sometimes th eother hand behind them around their wings where they cant see it so they can't open their wings to fly.

I use blank newsprint sheets, size 20x30 that I get from a local packaging company.

Any time I hear 'more than usual', I believe a vet visit is warranted. They are masters of masking illness until they no longer can.

Sounds like a great setup! Greys can be notoriously change adverse at times so they sometimes take a little while to adjust to changes or new things. But it sounds like she is settling in just fine with you and her new cage setup!