Reno912

Hello everyone, so I've been looking at cages and http://www.kingscages.com seems like they have the best value for the $$. Any thoughts? We're still eagerly awaiting baby to join us and I've done a lot of studying. Also, I am concerned about the bird as the weather gets colder. We have to pay for the heat in our apartent and it gets cold when the heat is off, but the bills for only having the heat on only when we were home and awake and being very stingy and cold were way too high. We really shouldn't be leaving the heat on all day so I've been looking at cage heaters. But, do they really work well and are they safe to leave on all day, unsupervised, while we are out? Anyways, my mom has been texting us pictures. I'm happy to see that baby looks like he is holding up well and is having fun. I wanted to upload a pic that she sent me of him enjoying a toilette paper tube, but I can't figure out how to do it through either my phone or tablet so you just have to trust me that he is a cutie! And I was talking with Diana (my fiance) the other night. Maybe we have turned into jaded New Yorkers, but we really are amazed at all the quality and caring advice readily given on this forum. And I took birdhous's advice and ordered "The Parrot Problem Solver" from Amazon and I found another basic book on Grey's that I could download off of Kindle for immediate reading. It was titled "African Grey Parrots" by Nikki Moustaki. It was an easy read for Grey newbies that was very careful to cover all the basics, and it made me see the importance of getting together a proper emergency kit and my local avian vet's number together, especially before Baby makes his long 4.5 he car ride to get to us.

Oh, and another thought....I see that there are a multitude of books out there on African Greys. Can anyone here recommend a couple of good ones? Besides needing to learn the basics of their care, I would like to learn more about Grey behavior and training.

Wow, thank you everyone for the welcome and kind wishes. You have provided me with a lot of useful advice to start off with! I was happy to hear that a lot of people thought it wold be best to get baby right into his new cage. We can't wait for baby to come join us, but since we do have to wait, I will use this time to find a good cage and and read through this forum. Thanks again!

My Grandmother passed away this week and she left behind her twenty year old African Grey named Baby. Baby was my Grandmother's pride and joy and my fiancé and I are excited to take him home and adopt him into our family. At this moment we are heading back to NYC by train after attending my grandmother's funeral and unfortunately we may have to wait two or three weeks until a family member can drive him out to us. In the meantime, we see that we have a lot of research to do and we would love some friendly advice. I was very concerned about how he would transition, he would only trust my grandmother to handle him. But, at the moment, he seems to be doing very well. He has spent the last few days at my parent's house and he is talking up a storm, he has a great appetite and he his keeping his feathers clean and in good health without any plucking. He seems to enjoy all the new activity. I used to be afraid to put my fingers near his cage, but he's been willing to accept food from my hand and he's let me go into his cage to exchange food and water without biting so I'm hoping that he will be able to adapt to the changes in his life well. At my grandmother's house he used to sit on top of either his cage or his perch and he allowed my grandmother to hold him as well. In hoping that gradually we can get him to trust one of us and that we can work on getting him out of his cage. And speaking of cages, he needs a new one. He's been in the cage for twenty years and it's natually a bit grimy by now, perhaps a bit small too. My fiancé has noticed that she is a bit allergic to the bird so we need everything to be as clean as possibe, but are there any thoughts about when and how would be a good time and way to introduce Baby to a new cage? I'm concerned that he already has a lot of change to deal with. Also, on the subject of dealing with pet allergies, can anyone recommend a good air filter that won't cost more than a few hundred dollars? And, maybe this is too much for one thread, but my grandmother used to clip his wings and he hated it. My mom said she used to put a towel over him to do it. If I do get him out of his cage, should I continue the clipping. If so, should I do it myself or take him to a vet. I am scared of losing his trust once I've gained it. For everyone who read all this, thank you so much. I would love any advice on how to transition baby into his new home. He really is a cool bird and we want everything with us to work out well. My grandmother would be so happy! Carrie