Quirky

In case your wondering it took a mere blink of an eye for me to take two steps back. Note I take full blame for this one... So right after I was bragging on Jake playing on his swing in another thread he decided to take flight (to my surprise he actually held his altitude several feet before decending) and land in one of his favorite spots the end of our hallway. Here he for some reason loves to chew on the carpet. Obviously this does not please me like it does him so I go to pick him up as usual. Most times he gives me 'tude when I interrupt his play time in this spot, however he usually will step up for me with some coaxing... For some reason tonight was different, he outright refused to step up. He of course went though the rigamarole of fluffing up, shaking his head no, making his warning sounds, clicking ect and yet I refused to back down (dinner had just finished and I needed to make a plate still for my son). After a few minutes he walked over smoothed down and leery, clicking on my long sleeve shirt before hopping up on my arm to chomp down on my hand. I did anticipate that this might happen but still a bit surprised none the less. This is the point where my frustration really began to grow and it seemed like the more frustrated I got the more he digged in with his refusal to step up. It escalated in a matter of minutes resulting in him lunging at me a few times... out of sheer caution for not only myself but for him as well (I was afraid if he decided to chomp down and hold on I might swing him off out of a reflex reaction) I grabbed the one thing I know he fears, I hated having to do it but one look at the bath towel and he immediately stepped up. Really I'm wondering if it comes down to whether I should do some training sessions with the step up command? He know the command, usually though I ask if he wants to come with. I'm a little afraid I just destroyed some of the trust that we have built up over the few months we've been together. Any advice out there?

Wanted to give an update, I love this swing and I'm pretty sure Jake does too. When we first put him on it I would grab an o-ring opposite from where he was sitting and twist the swing around so that it unwinds itself giving him a little ride. In the two short weeks he's been hanging out on it he has figured out if he climbs to one chain, holds on to the chain with his beak and a foot hold onto the branch with his other foot and flap like crazy he can wind himself up. It's so wonderful seeing him climb all over the swing figuring out new ways to play on it. Plus as a bonus although I have seen him fly upward once over a short distance for the most part he only flys down from whatever he's on top of. I'm hoping this kind of playing will help him build strength for future flying (although I must admit he seems quite content to let us carry him around).

That was way too cool, I haven't thought to whisper to Jake might have to try that out some time. Thanks for sharing!

I find it funny that 3 months in Jake seems to understand that he shouldn't poop on me, when he first came to us he would let 'er rip on me evertime he was on my shoulder. Now though he goes out of his way to try to not poop on me. By that same token there was an incident where he was in "trouble" for something and had been placed in his cage. After awhile I sat on the floor trying to coax him out so that he knew I wasn't upset with him. A little while later he finally climbed down onto my arm, up to my shoulder, let a huge poop go then proceeded to immediately climb back down my arm and into his cage. Obviously he had not forgiven me as quickly... I can't help but smile even now at that incident. Ultimately it would be nice if he understood that I have preferences about pooping in certain areas, but that doesn't mean he's going to abide by my wishes.

Coming from an Architectural background I wanted to warn you about using Trex to replace the trim. Alot of those composite wood materials are so hard and last so long because they often utilize PVC to strengthen the product. I know most fids are not necessarily keen on chewing PVC pipe, however somthing that looks like the wood trim they've been chewing on all this time might be way to tempting.

I'm glad your inspired to make a perch for Gilgirl, please share once you've completed it! I just might take you up on the tubing offer. I'm OTP (not by much though) on the west side. We are in the process of moving so I probably won't reach out to you until after we get settled in. I also like to find second uses for items around my house, if I can't repurpose something for Jake, my dogs, or my orchids then it usually hits the trash haha.

Sabina you've had Rio about a month longer than I've had my little guy. I find Jake is the same way, he was slow to say anything and periodically he will go a week or two without talking to me. What I've found that works for us is that I will wait for signs Jake is wanting to make consistent contact with me in the form of whistling. For whatever reason after we whistle back and forth for 10 or 15 minutes he will suddenly start spouting out Hello, hi, come here... He becomes a Chatty Cathy. I know it goes against some advice out there but it seems to make him want to talk more. I have no doubt that even though Rio may not be talking he is most certainly listening. I've read about greys that don't talk much to their parronts for the first year or two and then start letting open the flood gates of all the words they've been absorbing all along.

How exciting for you and Dorian, he's come a long way but I have no doubt that he will try again once he's ready. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed in the meantime that it's sooner rather than later. Go Dorian!

Thanks for sharing, had to laugh a little when she was telling herself "too loud" my favorite sound I had to say is the one that reminds me of when the batteries die in an xbox remote. I would never have guessed they could replicate that kind of sound.

That is way to cool, I may have to get one once I decide to tackle making an atom. That would be fabulous to dangle in the center.

If you do decide to make it the chains are 1'-4" long each and the branches are 13" long. We literally put the whole thing together on a Saturday. I cannot remember the size of the chain links but we picked one that we could easily order wooden parts for to put on it. The most tricky part was making sure we drilled the holes in far enough to not split the branch. I think my next project will be an atom as Jake is making continual improvement in his flying capabilities now that he is flighted

You return a whistle to your fid in the adjacent room, only to find out it was your spouse whistling to said fid.

So the hubs and I saw a really cool swing online a couple of months ago that we thought would be cool for Jake. We discussed how to replicate it cheaper using some branches from our crepe myrtle tree. After some quick measurements we figured out what length of chains we would need for his size and what width the branches needed to be. We thoroughly scrubbed and baked the branches in the oven, drilled the holes and notched the wood so the branches would fit together better. After hanging it near him for the last few weeks he finally took a chance yesterday and decided to step on to it. He seems to love it he played for hours whistling, chirping, and chewing the wood blocks. Overall it looks to be a huge success and we couldn't be happier that he was so taken with it.

You learn about and purchase grains you never knew existed because you want to provide the best diet You learn that your weirdo dog likes lettuce You buy organic coconut oil to use on your dry hands because lotion is now off limits

Welcome Burak! Budu is quite handsome, I second the above comment on trying different ways of preparing veggies. You may want to also look into Chop. My grey came to me on a seed only diet. Once I found out about Chop I made him batch with fresh veggies from our farmers market here. To entice him into trying to eat it I mixed in some of his seed with it, it really helped him with the idea of accepting a greater variety of veggies. Check out the food and diet section you'll find lots of great advice there. Can't wait to hear more about the adventures in store for you and Budu!

Welcome pinklips! Roxy is beautiful, I'm looking forward to hearing more about your adventures together.

So sorry for your loss Muse, I will keep you and your family in my thoughts.

Sorry for the late reply, last week was a crazy work week for me.... Anyhow I did enjoy very much reading all the comparisons between our fids. Jake only said his name two more times the morning after my initial post. Unfortunately we had a little bit of a set back after that... so it was a full week before he said anything to us again. I do think he said the name of one of our dogs this weekend, but it was while saying hello a few times. I'm unsure if he really associated it with the dog as his name is Halo (we pronounce it Halo and Hay-low) so when he said it I couldn't tell if he was just repeating what he may think is yet another way to say Hello.

So I was thinking earlier this evening about posing the question if anyone here had an older grey that does not say their own name. Jake has been with us for almost six weeks and never once said his own name. His first words to us were comeer (instead of come here) since then he has said hello in 3 different voices with different pronunciations. Last week he started something that sounds like Are you here? Which I thought was pretty cool. However he has never said his own name. Tonight all 3 of us and my fur babies are in the living room with Jake and he is whistling and chirping a storm so I start repeating his sounds back while surfing the internet. During this at intermittent times he's trying to say something garbled that sounds like an older man with a raspy voice. I keep asking him what he's saying and repeating back what I understand. Suddenly he spouts off a singsongy Hi as clear as day. I'm tickled pink already, when a couple hours later of repeating even more complicated whistles back he says a garbled version of his name. I am so floored, me and the hubs looked at each other to confirm we heard the same thing. After lots of praise he repeated it two more times. It's so funny that he will occasionally say something when we are not in sight; and then one day he goes off on a tangent revealing more words that are unexpected. To top things off for the night he went into a full on laugh when we were laughing at his surprise name drop. For the previous 3 weeks he would only start a short chuckle and stop.

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome! I told the hubs a few days ago we really did seem to luck out with Jake. For us to be his 3rd (and final) home he seems to have relatively few issues going on that we cannot work through as we move forward. He seems to have taken to us rather quickly after reading about other re-homed greys here, he allows my 11 year old son to pick him up when he flies the coup and tries to beat-box with him which is way too funny I have to say. (I also find it amusing that they are both less than a year apart in age) Jake seems to be taking to me more; this morning I sat on the floor beside his open cage with a cup of coffee. Maybe he was just curious about what I was drinking (probably made even worse as I won't let him have any) but he climbed down and onto me on his own accord and we sat together for a little while. I was super stoked needless to say. He did try the ol' bait and switch with scritches this morning but I think I'm getting better at reading him. Usually I tell him be nice, no bite and a few minutes will go by during which he seems to decide he wants (or will allow) for head scritches after all. Overall I have to say I'm not only excited about him (maybe bordering on nuts haha) I'm also glad to have found a place where I can get advice, tell stories, and share pics with others whom know exactly how I feel when it comes to my fid.

Hello from Georgia. I've been lurking here since mid November and I have to say that after spending so much time here reading, looking at photos, and watching videos... I'm starting to feel like a stalker... so it only seems right that ya'll get a chance to know me too. I am a new companion/ parent (as of late Nov) to Jake a 11 year old CAG, and this my friends is a love affair 15 years in the making. 15 years ago I had my first encounter with a CAG in a pet shop in the little town I grew up in. I was immediately smitten with the 1 1/2 year old parrot that said hello, cried like a baby, and had a huge arsenal of whistles to charm with. I would make up excuses to go to this pet shop at least once a week to visit the CAG for months until they finally sold it. I thought to myself back then I would get one eventually... Through the years I have circled back to the idea on occasion of having an african grey but for whatever reasons it never came to fruition. Growing up I had parakeets and helped my mom hand raise cockatiels, however my first foray into large parrots was a couple of years ago when I had my mother in laws cockatoo for 2 years due to some health issues which have since been resolved. During the two year stay I was only bitten once by the bird known for biting other people (this was while we were playing and was not malicious). My husband also managed to win over the "man hater" so that she cuddled with him just as much as she would with me. Fast forward a couple of years and a new job later, I met my friend whom had a CAG named Jake. Growing up off and on with birds of course led me to ask him one day when I heard his bird in the background of a phone conversation what kind of bird he had. When he said and african grey I of course had to ask what kind and we had other parrot related conversation. Fast forward months later imagine my surprise when I am offered Jake. After a extremely short conversation with the hubs and a very long drive out I became the proud parent of Jake. In his so far short stay here I am in love, he didn't say a word for almost 3 weeks. Just beeps and whistles and I had already decided he was wonderful even if he didn't say a word and did not appear to like me (aka trust). He bonded in the first two weeks with my husband (of course) and was leery of me which led to me being leery of him. After trying to be as bold as the hubs and getting bit a few times (sometimes blood was drawn, sometimes it wasn't) and reading of Shalung's adventures I decided to stop forcing a relationship and let him come to me. After lots of time singing to him, talking softly, making toys, and introducing him to chop and mash I finally hit my vacation time for the holidays. Taking full advantage of being home we have become much closer and I have had (in my mind at least) little victories like stepping up when he was in an area he isn't supposed to be in. Which eventually built up to stepping up from the play top on his cage, and finally the (thus far) pinnacle achievement of letting me give him head rubs which led to a night of him asking for head rubs. I'm still taking it slow with him but the happiness I feel at the achievements made (he really does like me afterall) and seeing him playing with toys I've crafted is unparalleled. Sorry this is so long I really could go on even more, if you have somehow managed to not fall asleep yet you can take a gander at some photos of Jake