Caspersmum

Where did you get it from? Julia

Its SOOOO unfair! I wish we had all the great shops you have - I'm kind of busy studying at the moment, but for all you budding entrepreneurs, I think there's a big gap in the market for decent, reasonably priced parrot toys in the UK.... please....!!

Wow - well done - and it's very brave of you! I think all the above advice still goes - I've not read for the love of greays, but I know the book I mentioned has quite a lot of advice on previously traumatised birds - it's why I got it. But as everyone's been saying, patience is the main thing - it's kind of like adopting an abused child - she's likely to have a fair amount of enotional baggage, and you have to let her earn your trust at her own pace. Let us know how you're getting on, and just let us know if you have any more specific questions, Julia

Hi Deedee, Welcome to the forum. I'm going to answer your question with a load more questions I'm afraid! Firstly, how old is Pepsi? Who did you buy her from, and did they give you any information? And most importantly of all, how do you react when you get bitten? Let us know, and we'll be able to offer you some more specific advice, Julia

Can't help, I'm afraid - but you have a much better selection of bird stuff in the states than we do in the UK. Whenever i google parrot toys, I start getting VERY jealous! If you're wanting to save money, you can buy parrot toy parts online to make your own toys - which can be better than buying the whole thing as you can tailor the toys to your parrots preferences. Shop well! Julia

Hi Pollysfamily, First of all, is Polly hand reared? If so she should be pretty tame already - and the more you can handle her the better - just be confident and gentle. If you haven't already got a book, I'd recommend you get one ASAP - this forum's great for specific questions, but I don't know what I'd have done without a good basic book. The one I've used lots is 'Parrot Training: aguide to taming and gentling your avian companion' by Bonnie Munro Doane. It gives really sensible advice on how to handle your bird from the start. Hope this helps to get you started, Julia

Hey all, Casper does the bathing in his waterbath thing every now and then - it's quite a deep water dish, and it always makes me laugh - the first hint that somethings going on is that it sounds like he's about to burst out of his cage. If I sneak into his room, he stands on the side of his water dish then paddles into it with his feet, gets back onto the side of the dish, then splashes the water all around with his beak. Stupidly, I thought this meant he liked water, but other attempts to get him clean failed miserably (the miserable part being the parrot sqwauking as if someone was trying to kill him). I finally got tough with him - I got a shower perch, introduced him to the bath (first without water), and then afew visits later started up the shower. He'll now tolerate a shower, although he's still not entirely happy about it - but his feathers look fantastic, and he obviously doesn't hold it against me. - So beccy, just keep persevering - try a few different approaches, but if necessary, just go for it (gently)! Julia

Hi. Your'e on the right lines with the height thing, but it's a bit different for birds. Although some people disagree, there's general consensus that a bird will think it's dominant to you if it's head is above yours. You could try varying the heights of the perches in your bird's cage to see if this alters his attitude towards you. It certainly works for me - I make sure Caspers play stand is lower than me, and his cargo net, while huge is also quite low down. When I want him to step up, I stand so that I'm higher than he is - and if I try to get him to step up from below he'll usually try to bite me! As for the indicators, body language is REALLY important in parrots - and the differences can be very subtle. There are some good web sites on body language - you can google it. But it's often a matter of trial and error - getting to know your own individual bird - I find that Casper's eyes give away what sort of mood he's in - when I first got him, he'd put his head down for a head scratch, then savage my fingers, until I worked out what his eyes looked like when he was being 'good' and what he looked like when he was 'evil'! Unfortunately (as you seem to have realised) it can be a very painful example of trial and error. I hope this helps get you started Julia

Hi Amy, I think you hit the nail on the head with the dominance bit - I think he's probably just testing out his boundaries, combined with a bit of nervousness at being in a new environment. I don't know if I can help you with all the points, but when Casper tried to bite me from the top of the cage I used a step so that I could get above his height to get him down. Now he's fine, and I don't need to use it any more. As to the stepping up, I find it amazing that he'd learnt to do this before you got him. I think the main thing here is confidence. When you know just how strong their beaks are, its easy to get scared if it looks like they're going to bite. I find that using my forearm instead of my hand decreases the likelihood of bites. And be as confident as you can, saying 'step up' in a firm, gentle voice (sorry if you've heard all of this before). When I got Casper, he'd never been taught to step up, and I had a few chunks removed from my arm before we came to an understanding! It really helps if you do step up training in a quiet environment - just the two of you in the room, with no background noise. And keep it up for about 5 minutes (some of the books say 10, but in my experience birds get bored!). And remember that he might not be trying to bite you - they test the stability of surfaces with their beaks, especially when they're young - so try not to pull away, as it'll knock his confidence too. I have a funny feeling I'm rambling a bit. Hopefully someone else will be able to translate this into coherent English for you! Good luck, and let us know how you get on, Julia

I've never seen one of those before - must be an american thing! I've got plastic covered fabric that I use - it's alot easier to keep clean than the old towels I used to use Thanks for the pictures, Julia

I like that idea dweamgoil - do you have any photos? Julia

I was wondering how old sonia is - there are big differences between babies and pre-owned parrots. It might help us to help you a bit better! And have you owned any birds before? Julia

Hi Amy, welcome to the gang, and feel free to post away! We've all been there, and know how exciting/scary it is when you first get your bird home. I used to kep checking on mine during the night to make sure I hadn't inadvertently killed them or damaged them in some way! Julia

Hi Beccy, I think Zoesdad's given you some great advice there. I do the same thing with Casper - when I wake him up in the morning he'll usually whistle when I leave his room to go into the kitchen - we then whistle at eachother until I come to get him out of his cage. He used to sqwauk really loudly, but I seem to have ignored it out of him - you're right to just ignore what you don't like, because if you give him any response you're just reinforcing it - when I first got Casper he'd sqwauk really loudly, then scream 'SHUT UP'. Although it sounds quite funny, it's really pretty sad, and shows that his previous owners just didn't understand bird behaviour. On your other point, I know parrots can get really clingy when they're babies. I think you need to ask yourself if this is acceptable in the long-run - do you want him to be so clingy, or will there come a time when you're going to want him to be more independent? If it's the latter, you need to break him of this habit now, by making him abide by your rules instead of his. Does that make any sense?! Julia

Hi, I think Judy's given you some great advice, and there's not much to add, but another book that I found really useful is a guide to taming and gentling your parrot by Sally Blanchard - it gives particularly useful advice for birds who've been 'pre-owned' and/or neglected. It gives really sensible advice on different strategies to try, and helps you inderstand what's going on inside their little parroty heads! Julia

Casper's the same - He'll jabber away when I'm in another room - especially if I've got friends round - but will only whistle when people are in the room. However, when it's just the two of us, and if I'm busy on the computer, he'll start muttering away to himself - and he's doing it more and more in my tone of voice, rather than his previous owner's. I read that if ou want to speed up their talking you should work out what they're trying to say, then say it correctly - in the same way you'd reinforce a child's speech - the only problem is I haven't got a scooby what he's saying! Julia

Hi, Talon's absolutely right - they are messy eaters - especially when they eat crumbly food like pellets, mainly because they haven't got cheeks around their beaks to hold the food in while they bite into stuff. I've not had any concerns about Casper's eating, but I have a couple of observations that might help you - Casper loves cooked pasta - and I've noticed that unlike most of his food, when he eats pasta, almost all of it ends up indside him not on the floor! The same goes for a lot of soft foods - he likes eating houmous and thick vegetable soups off a spoon, and he likes eating mashed sweet potato, cooked rice and cous cous from a fork (or right out of my bowl if he gets a chance)- all of which are mixed together with whatever sauce I've cooked. With all of these he gets more food inside than out. It's all trial and error, and in your case, I think a set of scales will help to put your mind at rest Hope it's all going well - and keep us posted, Julia

Hi Wendy, Have you tried him on houmous? Casper loves it - especially the lemon and corriander one from Tesco's! Hope you're having a good weekend, Julia

Getting back to the poo thing, I've tried this technique with Casper - and it's worked really well. He now goes on his play perch which has a wipe-clean mat underneath - and as Talon said, any mistakes now tend to be my fault. The only problem is that he doesn't like pooing in his cage now, which means I have to get him out regularly for a poo - I'd love to know if BirdLady has any suggestions on how to prevent/ reverse this problem. Here's hoping Julia PS - hope you're having fun in Hawaii, CD!

Don't think this will have made it over to the states, but the only programme casper really likes is the Clangers - it's a kids program from the 1970s, and the characters 'speak' using swanny whistles - I think he likes the noise, although it's one of the few noises he hasn't imitated yet. Beccy - the Cartoooons thing is seriously cute! Julia

Hey beccy, I know where you're coming from - but i think it depends on the individual bird - as i'm sure you've read by now, while TAGs are meant to be more adapatable than CAGs, there's a lot of variation between individual birds. And I think you can tell a lot when they're babies - they show their natural personalities when they're really young. If you want a really friendly bird, I might advise your mum to get a ring-necked parakeet - they're the tarts of the bird world - I had a lovely ring neck who would cuddle/ kiss/ play with anyone who was willing to play with him, and he was a great talker too. Julia

Hey Beccy, It sounds like you've done just about everything I'd suggest. Is his cage in your living room, or is he in a quieter part of the house? I'm lucky with Casper, as his cage is in the study, and when he's out, I have him through in the lounge. So when he goes back in his cage I give him a treat (I make him go on his sleeping perch for his treat, so he's in the right place), close the blinds, and then cover his cage and turn the lights out. I then don't hear a peep out of him until morning. I think it's more difficult if he's in the living room and knows that there's fun stuff going on that he's not involved in! Julia

Hey Jules, I'm afraid I have no idea what it could be, but I think most people here would say to get your grey to an avian vet as soon as possible - and keep us posted. What's the blister like, and how bothered is he by it - does he seem his usual self? Has anything changed in his routine recently? Julia

Hi Sarah, I've just had a look on your profile, but can't work out where you're from, so this might not be too useful, but hey, I'll try to help! My advice would be to get a baby parrot if you've never had a bird before - it's pretty scary bringing a bird home in the first place, and rescue birds tend to have bad habits, which can be hard to deal with if you're not used to it. If you look online there are lots of sites listing breeders. You can then phone a few of them up to get an idea of what they're like. Once you've found a few you like, I'd suggest you go to visit them - and you'll get a good feel for how they treat their birds - does it feel like a production line, or do they really care for and understand their birds? I'd also recommend visiting while your bird is being hand reared so it can get used to you before you take it home. That's my take on it, but I'm sure others will have more to say! Julia

Wendy, I love it! And another scot on the site - I thought I was the only one.