Greytness

Well, it's a great soothing auditory tonic for Greys!

This is the type of music my fids love. When I was singing to Maalik, it was along these lines. Of course I don't sound anything like the Libera boys's choir!

Ha! Ha! Ha! My sons will love this one, especially my professional athlete son!

Harley, my Pan AM, really liked this one.

How cute, Jeff! Gracie's voice sounds so very close to yours. I'm hoping that Maalik doesn't end up having my voice, as that would be very disturbing to me! He needs to have a manly sounding set of pipes.

Maalik and I practice this every day: What does the duck/doggy/kitty/cow/piggy say? He's pretty good at answering with the correct animal response. His favorite one to say is, 'quack quack quack'.

KimKim, are you getting one of these babies, too???

For the past several weeks I've been dealing with a bratty little Maalik. I've tried redirecting him, perching him, and laddering him, but nothing's worked, at least, for very long. Today, as he began his slow upside down turn while hanging onto my shirt to take a pinch of my inner arm, I decided to make up a pretty, but somewhat haunting melody. As I kept on singing, all 8 of my fids stopped chattering to listen. Maalik looked at me, and then slowly moved himself up onto my shoulder. There he sat with his body pressed against my neck. As I continued on with my song, Maalik began licking my face, my fingers, and then turning his head upside down into the palm of my hand for scritches. It's been such a long time since I've been able to connect with him in this way. We had 'a moment', and it was beautiful! Hopefully I've stumbled onto a way that will always work to help calm and relax him from here on out.

My heart goes out to you. I'm so sorry...

That's hard to say. They usually get papaya, blueberries, pomegranate seeds, a grape, mixed super greens, pea pods, sweet corn, carrots, butternut squash, and sweet potato, along with a cooked avian mixture of beans, etc. Their bowls are usually 1/3 filled. I cut everything up daily, as I want to make certain their chop is doled out equally to each bird.

Ray, that made me tear up. I was right there with you as I read your post. I believe that Cricket was there that morning. She was giving you her essence in spirit form, which is why it was such a timeless moment for you. These precious creatures are such a blessing to us. And Cricket was very blessed to have been loved and cherished by you.

My routine is uncovering all the cages and chopping up all my fids' fresh veggies first thing in the morning while sipping my cup of Joe. I go around and chat with each bird before I go about our family's daily routines. Every afternoon I change out all their water, seed and pellet dishes, and remove all the fresh veggie dishes. During this time I begin taking my birds out. First out come the little ones and the very last one out of the cage is Maalik, as he usurps all my time! The little guys are out flying all over the place for around 45 minutes or so. Then they must return to their cages for safety reasons. Out comes Harley, my Pan-Am, my Ekki, Ziggy, and finally...Maalik! Harley chooses to stay on top of his cage to play, even though he's flighted. Ziggy must be watched very carefully, because as soon as he can he'll climb out of his cage, strut across the floor and then up onto another fids' cage to harass them. Ziggy's flight feathers are all grown out (rehomed baby), but he wasn't ever given a chance to fledge or fly. Flapping his wings is the extent of it. Maalik usually hangs out on my shoulder while I fix dinner or what have you. Once he starts his annoying behavior of climbing down my back, and then hanging upside down to reach over and pinch the tender skin on the inside of my arm, I back up over to the chair filled with blankets for him to 'perch'. Usually he flies right back over to me. This is repeated over and over while I try to find something else for him to chew on. Usually it's a dampened paper towel that holds his interest the longest. My large birds are out of their cages for several hours. It is my goal to work towards taking the little guys out earlier in the day so that they can spend more time outside their cage. Wish I could have them all out for longer periods of time, but must also juggle my 4 German Shepherds placement inside our home. Two of my German Shepherds (females) don't get along while I'm present, so I must keep them separated. My world has become a very fine balancing act! Between 8:30 and 9:00, I say good night to each of my fids. I open a side door to give them scritches and then cover them up. Maalik is, of course, the last one to say good night to. That's because he's the sweetest, most loving baby at this time of night, and will eat up all the attention with his little eyes closed and looking all ready for dreamland. I simply love my babies. <3

That's what we use. Papermart and Uline sell it as well.

We use blank newsprint sheets that we purchase from a local packaging company. It comes in 50 pound bulk size, so it lasts forever!

When Maalik was a baby, he loved to scratch around on the floor. We put a little cardboard box there with some crinkle paper that he'd dig through. He lost interest in hanging out at the bottom of his cage when he was around 6 months old, and his scratching need stopped.

Many Greys like to receive comfort formula feedings after they've 'officially' weaned. My guy continued wanting them for about a month after I'd gotten him, after which time he weaned himself off. The practice is called abundance feeding. At first it was twice a day, but then we reduced that to once in the evening until he was done. Giving it more often than that and your baby could regress.

Large hookbill blend from Our Feathered Friends/A Bird Haven (local San Diego store). It has more dried fruit and veggies mixed into it than it has seeds.

Oh, I'm so envious! One day, I keep telling myself. One day.

Congratulations! Glad she's made it to you safely! Just wondering if she arrived completely weaned or not. Maalik needed 2 syringe feedings a day for a few weeks, and then one daily for another few weeks. Did he send you with a packet of food just in case? Can't wait to see pictures! I wonder if she's from the same pairing as Maalik was. If so, then I know that she's absolutely stunning! ;-)

We put colored tape across the windows which quickly solved the problem for us. Before we tried this method, our birds had hit them a few times before they determined that it's not a way out for them. They learn pretty quickly.

Maalik's almost 13 months old, so not very close to 2. I can relate to your saying how GrecieMae harasses the other birds. Maalik and my Panama Amazon, Harley, have turf wars on top of Harley's cage. They posture and peck at each other until Maalik eventually flies off, which is usually before Harley gets himself into actual nipping range. Harley is definitely afraid of Maalik, and Maalik approaches it as a bird game. All the recent changes that have taken place around here, including my oldest son's return home last week after having studied abroad for the past year are most likely contributing to Maalik's behavioral changes. I'm very interested to see if this continues or dissipates slowly over time. Hoping for the latter.

Wow. These are all very plausible thoughts as to what could be causing his recent 'brattiness'; the super moon, losing my Bogart whose song he still sings for me. I never thought about these recent events as being contributory, all of which make a LOT of sense. Maalik likes to tear up dampened paper towels, so I'll giving him some when he's hanging out with me to see if it distracts him for awhile. I'm not ready to ban him just yet from hanging out on my shoulder, but will do so if his behavior doesn't change. He really likes to be with me while I'm preparing dinner. Thanks everyone, for your insightful responses.

This past week Maalik has become even more of a brat bird. He was one before, but now he's kicked it up a notch. The past several days he's become a stronger nipper. He'll click loudly, snort, and then take hold of my finger or what have you and twist it in his beak. I continue to put two fingers on both sides of his beak to remove him, saying, "No biting", but all he'll do is fly to the top of his cage. Then he'll usually fly back over to my shoulder, slowly work his head underneath the back of my hair and take a tiny piece of my skin to pinch. Can the terrible twos be the terrible ones instead? Sheez! He's clicking and snorting more now, like he's got a "bigger than thou 'tude." This, too shall pass, and hopefully soon!

Such great news! So happy for you and Escher!

Thank you, everyone, for your kind words. Maalik continues to sing Bogart's song off and on throughout each day. So significant to me that he's doing so, especially since he's never imitated Bogart before his death. It is my belief that Bogart may have passed around the time that Maalik began singing his song. It's a thought that helps bring me a little peace.