Michellec

We are hours from an certified avian vet........ I called and left a message with the gal we bought Nala from to get her advice but have not heard back yet, and being a new parront, I'm naturally concerned. I think there is a vet about 2 hours drive from here who is not avian but I heard they see birds....not sure of hours on a weekend. We live VERY rural. Suggestions? Thanks. Michelle

I, too had dreams when I was a child about flying. As an adult I do pretend best I can via skydiving. birds are magnificent creatures!

He is adorable and has a great name!

Thanks for the responses!

I'm afraid to use adhesive. But we need to do something. Husband thought a paste made from sugar....that would be safe. What do you use? Michelle

Nala loves family mealtimes!

Nala does have the sweetest face! We all miss her during the day when we are all at school (husband and I work at the school). We've been working on all the behaviors the aviator harness says you need to get your bird a accustomed to....and while Nala tolerates all of us working with her, my 14 yr old son (the one doing the homework in the pic above) can get away with anything with Nala! He is the person she latched onto in the bird shop and is why we brought her into our family instead of the Timneh that we thought we'd get. Life is so much brighter with her in our family! Yesterday we made her a play stand so we can move it from place to place. Attaching a pic. (Not sure why all my pics post sideways) Have a great Sunday!

I have not posted for a few weeks. Nala is doing great. We adore her and are so happy she joined our family. We had an extra half day off from work yesterday due to the blizzard which meant more time with Nala. I'm going to attempt to post a few pics......

Thanks. Haven't tried to put it on yet because the instructions advise acclimating the bird to being scratched under the wings and raising the wings up. We've been working on that daily and Nala is more accepting. She s a joy!

She sure is. She sat at the dining room table with us for supper today. now she's watching football with husband.

Ok....will try to add more here.

Thanks. She is doing beautifully. She has different interactions with each family member. It's really neat to see. We all adore her! Working on her socialization and loving her lots.

Thanks, I'll check it out.

Thank you everyone.

Thanks. I will order the medium.

I want to start getting her use to it even though we are not going outdoors anytime in the near future. The info says a size medium but is a young gray a lot smaller than an adult? I'd rather not have to buy two sizes......I spent money earlier this week on a sleeping/travel cage and the budget is really stretched this month. Thanks!

How do you find bird fairs in your area?

Wow! Thank you!! Michelle

http://nalanitoys.com/Africangreybirdtoys.htm Where else do you order toys? i want her to be busy and challenged during the workday hours she is home alone. I would like to switch Nalas toys out every few months....except for any that she seems really attached to. When/how often do you rotate toys?

I know not to have them alone....they are under direct constant supervision. We are so worried though. A mini schnauzer instincts are to chase small creatures......the standard poodle is often used as a bird dog.( but ours does not live that life) During the day or anytime we are not home our standard poodle and mini schnauzer have always been and will be in their crates. Before Nala joined our home, our Siamese (our daughters) would have free roam of the house. She is an indoor cat, 11 yrs old, and will eventually go with our daughter after college. We've had all our pets from the time they were old enough to leave mom. How do we do this? We don't want to endanger Nala in ANY way. Thanks.

I will get it up prob tomorrow. Now onto homework while chattering with Nala. We LOVE her!

Day2. Enjoying fresh sweet corn.

Thanks. I believe that is exactly what has happened.

Thanks. The research of parrots in general was oing on a while, then I spoke to bird shop owners, bird parents in person, was thinking about a specific macaw and visiting it.....but realized it was not the correct match. Then spent time talking more with shop owners, one person in person.....then decided on a gray. Thought I better get more input so came ere and asked the same questions again.......thinking we would bring a gray home next spring/summer. Then all kinds of interesting things appended ths weekend...... Yes, we named her Nala. First day went very well, but I think that s prob easy with a baby? She steps up, stretched her wings a lot while perching on our hands, made some grumbly noises, chirped ( or what do you call it?) a few times. What is most surprising is how involved my husband has become!! Wasn't expecting him to be proud of her, attentive to her etc. I thought it would really just be myself and my son working with whatever parrot joined our family, but husband is going to be right in there. I'm really glad for the ongoing support from the shop owner also and the answers from folks at online forums like this. Thank you for that. It's funny, the reading, asking questions, and meeting and talking to people and birds was great, but realizing a 20+ year dream in the way this all fell together is something I can't adequately express. Goodnight. Tomorrow, unfortunately is a regular work/school day here. Wish I could stay home!

Hope this worked.