Talon

I AM PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE WINNERS OF OUR HOLIDAY PHOTO CONTEST!!!! 1ST PLACE: TALONSIS 2ND PLACE: LUVPARROTS & BIRDMANB 3RD PLACE: JEFFNOK 4TH PLACE: WINGY & SASSY We had some great entries. Thanks to all who participated, and for those that voted! The winners can now show off their New Titles each & every time they post!! :cool:

Greymom, your story is exactly what I went thru with my Rikki. She was 2 1/2 years old when I adopted her, I was her third and final home. She too had been clipped her entire life and couldn't fly at all when I got her. After about a year or so, she was able to fly. As Luvparrots, I was home most of the time and my 3 parrots were always out. My house is filled with boings, tree stands, perches, hanging swings everywhere. My birds wanted to be everywhere I was. I have dogs, cats and 2 smaller birds as well at that time. Rikki couldn't control herself, she would fly anywhere she wanted wherever she wanted. Her favorite thing to do was t fly to the top of the doors every when they were closed and chew bits of the woodwork off in a blink of the eye. It got so out of hand, I had such frustration after months of this. Ths went on for a long period of time, i was at my wits end so much, that I considered clipping her, or rehoming her.....an absolute NO NO in my believes, but I would cry with frustration it was so bad......I didn't know what to do with her, I tried everything that was suggested here. I lavished her with attention and things to do, but It didn't make much of a difference. In desperation, I went to the craft store one day and bought a variety of feathered fake birds that they sell to put in flower arrangements, they were medium in size. I taped them over all the doors of my house. It was quite the sight for decorating!!! My visitors thought I was a bit weird, but I didn't care. Rikki was so scared of them that she stopped flying to the doors and chewing the wood work. I also put empty cardboard boxes above my cabinets for her to go up and chew. After several moths, she stopped her behaviour and calmed down. I eventually took down the birds,kept the boxes and she rarely flies to the doors, and when she does, I yell at her by name and she flies off, she knows it's a no no cause when she did it in the beginning, nothing worked except my screaming at her...she didn't Like me upset. Fast forward, she is 7 years old now. She is an angel, a loving well behaved bird, and very happy. In hindsight, I realize now, she was a very angry bird when I got her, I didn't know that at the time. She was very close and bonded to her second home family, her bonded owner,, the husband died, and the wife eventually gave her away. Rikki never got over that and I didn't know those facts until I looked back, saw the moodiness she had, one day, happy, the next angry, not having been allowed to fly, given to 2 more homes, she was a very angry confused bird, I wished now I had known that, I would have treated her differently and with much more patience than I did... She finally after 2 years adjusted to us, got over her mourning, her anger towards not being allowed to fly early on, her 4th home, her moodiness. She is now the sweetest most loving adorable grey ever! I am so proud of her, I admire her strength, she had a difficult beginning with us not understanding her situation , but NOW I do, too little too late. I adore her. So I guess I am sharing my story so you can understand when they aren't allowed to fly, I believe when they finally can, they have anger and frustration to work thru. They will act out and as Rikki did, she seemed to get out of control. I did find that putting her in her cage for about 3 hours every day in the afternoon, calmed her down. She needed a routine, n a free for all which was what it was in my house when I was home. It really seemed to help her adjust.

Welcome to our family. Your doing a greyt job understanding and bonding. Look forward to hearing more

My birds don't beg......I DO!! With 3, they eat everything off my plate, And I have to beg for my share or eat fast so I get some!!

Welcome back.. I am sorry to hear of Phoebe.. but I look forward to this new chapter...please stay, dont be a stranger . YOu have lots to share!

Hi Claire, Welcome to our Greyt family!! I am very happy you chose Bird of Paradise for your grey. I live about 3 1/2 hours away, and make the trip there once a year to stock up on bird toys for my flock. I also bought my amazon from them. They are FANTASTIC people there. I use their auto-ship program for their fresh ultimate blend which I am sure you will feed your baby when he or she comes home. Cant wait to hear more, keep us updated! Visit our nursery, start a thread and keep those pics coming so we can watch your baby grow!!

Yes, I am a from believer as Jay is on the first member of the flock, first, the next one second, etc. I NEVER stray from that and I believe it made the transition of a new flock member easier. As for bed time, I put my second bird to bed first usually cause she's the easiest, then sometimes, one or third next. Depends on the night....my third is a feisty amazon and she gives me the most trouble in putting her to bed..usually I save that fun for last depending her attitude for that particular night. If you checkout the amazon room, you will see the trouble I was having at bedtime with her. She goes thru bedtime ritual stages, her latest one is to sit on the top shelve of her cage and try like an attack Doberman to bite me as input Rikki to bed...she fluffs her feathers, fans her tail, hisses at me and reaches out almost falling off to bite me!! I have to dodge and duck when input my grey to bed and get the cages ready. It's quite comical, I'm much faster and quickens at ducking than her. Lol

I just want to say.... Imo......when my birds first learned to fly (after having their wings clipped since before they came to me) they had no stamina, were panting and had shortness of breath after a very short flight. It took quite a while to build that up. . Im not saying this is the case with your bird as i dont know the history since you've only posted here 7 other times, i am just throwing that out there. But by all means, I agree with Luvparrots, quality is most important. Please get another opinion, work out a budget plan., this is what happens when you have pets etc. they all tend to have health issues at the same time when you are strapped tightly..please keep us posted andnletnusnknow what you find out. You don't want something to happen and your bird suffers in any way.

Yay! Can't wait! I am so excited for you. This will open up a whole world that you never knew existed! There is nothing like an amazon to know and love. Very different from a grey relationship. Can't wait to follow this new addition, Nilah says....yippee!!!!!!!!!!!

Nilah says, thank you.....and happy new year back at ya ! But don't tell the others, this is an amazon secret only,,

Well Dan, we all know Dayo is the exception. He's been incredibly raised by two wonderful parronts who have gone above and beyond to turn him into a more human like grey due to the love, and patience you shower him with, whola allowing him to be his trueself. He is a one of a kind celebrity here..... I love following his life.

That's a greyt video. Always love it when Dayo comes to show us how smart he is! Especially love when he talks in your voice Dan! Thanks for sharing!!!

Don't thnk a grey wil love the window. I have lots of windows in my house. My amazon will spend hours on the windowsill watching the outside. My greys get scared and fly off me if I try to show them the outside thru the window or front door. They also don't enjoy sitting in the sunshine, but my amazon can't get enough! Just use the avian light and it will be fine. Be careful tho, Talon got a severe sunburn on her right face and eye frm one. It took 2 vet visits, antibiotics and none of it worked. Took me 2 weeks to figure out it was the new avian bulb, threw it,it and bought a different one. Sunburn went away right after.

I don't believe an amazon male of female will have much interaction with a grey so I wouldn't worry about at. I could be wrong as imhave a house full off females except for a male cockatoo. Doesn't seem to,make any difference to my girls.

Don't do it! If he is used to being allowed to fly, then this will be dry detrimental to him physiologically. He will have enough to deal with in adjusting to,a new home, new surroundings, new people, new routine. Many amazons don't care to fly as much a greys do. He should be allowed to if he desires. I seriously doubt he will just go flying off thru your house on his own when he doesn't know it. Amazons prefer to stay in the same room as people. They don't want to go exploring on their own.

It's a DEFINATELY buy! Very nice and spacious. what a great price! Don't worry about it being a forever cage. My 3 have had 3 different cages each over the last 4-7 years. once you fill it like they are used to, and allow them to explore. They will be fine if you decide to buy a different cage.

Hmmm, what does he say the $200 is for? Havent she already agreed on a price? I would stnd your ground if she did, and certainly don't give her any money upfront. Also, before the home visit, get a signed contract from her. If se is legit, then she won't have a problem with it. Sounds a bit off, so you need to protect yourself and don't let her to your home until you ave a signed contract...just in case. That's a lot of $$, but worth it as long as she's honest. I paid $1200 for my amazon, then had to buy a cage, etc.

It is a common behaviour they do. No worries, they will trim their own nails as needed. Talon does it, sometimes also.

26 x 22 is way too small for an amazon. I have 2 greys and an amazon. An amazon needs alot more room to climb around. They are more active with their climbing and playing, thus requiring a large cage. once you fill it with enough perches and climbing things and toys, there needs to be enough room for them to stretch as amazons love to do. Congrats btw on your new flcok member. Can't wait to see pics!

That's fantastic news! What a huge step!

Remember! There's one week left before this contest ends and the voting begins!!! Hurry! Get those cameras out!!!

That's a riot! Loved watching it...

Great advice! I too, had a cat that my daughter adopted last year, she hid under her bed in her room and didn't come out for almost 3 months! Now she's all over the house.

Hi and welcome to our family. I understand your frustration, however, she has only been with you for a very short time. A month in a greys settling in time is like a day or two. You have to understand from her world.....she only knew one home, one owner, one cage, one way of life. She has no idea what happened to her, why she was taken away from the only world she knew, and taken to a place she's never seen, with strangers, strange sounds, a strange cage, and a routine she doesn't know. She doesn't know up from down, doesn't know her place, and it can take months for her to feel relaxed enough to start to bond with you both, feel comfortable and start to show her true self. She will pick who SHE feels a little bit comfortable with for reasons we can not understand, not always the one who cares for her and tries very hard to help her feel comfortable. My best advice is to calm down a bit, she will feel your frustration, it will only aggravate the situation. Relax, and let her decide on the pace SHE wants to move at. You will have bad days and maybe a good moment, but that can not be forced on her. You should NEVER get a bird with the thought that you will find it a new home if it doesn't work out the way you expect it will. It is their world, and trying to make them fit into it the way you expect will only make it harder for them to adjust. Remember, YOU know WHY she is here with you, but she can't possibly understand.....hope this helps you to understand where she is coming from and help you be patient. It can take months and they will go back and forth in deciding who they like the best, but once they are settled in, they will allow both of you to do things. Don't force it, it will only backfire.

Thanks Ray, my birds just love to ebut of their cages and hang out in the same room. Many times just hanging out on their playstands or hanging perches. Of course Nilah wants to be perched quietly on my hand, just chillin.... Makes me feel ad that I used to be home most of the day and they were always out of their cages. Now I work full time and they spend most of thir days in their cages......